JERRY SPRINGER DEAD: Latest updates as it emerges TV host was kicked off Cincinnati council

Steve Wilkos, the famed bouncer from Jerry's show, revealed he last spoke to the star in March - and that he now suspects Springer was 'saying goodbye.'

Wilkos told TMZ Jerry 'hugged me like he never hugged me before' and that they also reminisced about the old days, which was unusual for the star. 

Wilkos added that Jerry gave no indication he was suffering from the prostate cancer that would kill him just weeks later aged 79.

The security man became such a popular fixture on Jerry's show that he went on to have his own chat show afterwards. 

WWE released a statement on Thursday, expressing the company's grief for the loss of its one-time guest host.

'WWE is saddened to learn that Jerry Springer has passed away,' it said, noting that he was a guest host of Raw in 2010, and played a part 'in a hostile rivalry between WWE Hall of Famers Brie and Nikki Bella, attempting to mediate the conflict between the two on an episode of Raw in 2014.'

He also 'lent his talents' to WWE in 2015, as the host of the WWE Network series WWE Too Hot for TV.

David Hasselhoff paid tribute to Springer, whom he described as a 'great friend' in a tweet on Thursday.

'I never thought I would lose a special friend who actually subbed for me as Captain Hook in the Wimbledon pantomime,' he wrote. 

'He was a terrific, terrific person and I am saddened by his passing.

'What becomes of a broken heart?'

In a column for DailyMail.com. Dan Wooton paid tribute to Jerry Springer's career.

He wrote: 'The snobs sneered and the critics raged, but without Jerry Springer, ordinary people would never have become the biggest stars of the entertainment industry.

'Without him, there would have been no Kardashians, no Big Brother, no American idol.

'Jerry, who died peacefully today at 79 after being diagnosed with cancer, quite literally revolutionised television across the world by proving mere mortals were far more interesting to watch than most of the pampered A-listers who cost millions to hire.'

The Young Turks' Cenk Uygur remembered Jerry Springer on Thursday as a 'really smart progressive.'

'I knew Jerry Springer a little. We briefly worked together at Air America,' he tweeted. 'He was a really smart progressive who cared about politics and policy.

'I get it that he did a TV show for money - he got it too - but it kind of sucks that's what defined him in most people's eyes.

'So I say this as an ode to the real Jerry Springer: Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!'

Actor and comedian John Fugelsang recounted in a tweet on Thursday that he spent Election Night 2016 on television 'with Piers Morgan, Ann Coulter and Jerry Springer.'

He said 'Jerry was the sanest person in the room on the most insane evening.' 

Jerry Springer said last year that he wanted to try retirement while he was 'still healthy', after NBCUniversal canceled Judge Jerry in 2022, adding: 'I don’t have to make a living. I want to enjoy life.'

His family spokesman Jene Galvin said: 'Jerry's ability to connect with people was at the heart of his success in everything he tried whether that was politics, broadcasting or just joking with people on the street who wanted a photo or a word.

'He's irreplaceable and his loss hurts immensely, but memories of his intellect, heart and humor will live on.'

While many across the country are mourning the loss of the iconic television show host, several trans women have taken to Twitter to call him out for his controversial portrayal of trans women on his show.

'I don't think anything else kept me in the closet longer than the way Jerry Springer sensationalized trans people into a mockery for profit,' Alejandro Carabello wrote. 'This isn't ancient history, he continued to do it till this year.

'I'm not exactly sad to see him pass.'

Katelyn Burns also wrote: 'Jerry Springer's show was one of my first ever exposure to trans women. The memories of his crowds jeering those poor desperate women has stayed with me for decades.

'I feel nothing about his passing.'

And another Twitter user said he 'spearheaded irreparable damage... to my psyche as a young trans person growing up in a world with very little trans representation.

'His stage was where the seeds of a lot of shame and self-loathing were planted.'

In one episode of the Jerry Springer show, the famed talk show host shut up a Holocaust denier.

'We know that the six million people died, they're not hiding,' he told one of his guests.

When the man tried to interrupt him, Springer said: 'You shut your face right now,' to cheers and applause as the man tried to lunge at him.

When Jerry Springer was just a councilman in Cincinnati in 1974 when he abruptly resigned from office amid a report that a 'Cincinnati politico' was involved in a two-state VICE probe involving prostitution.

He cited 'very personal family considerations' as his reason for resigning in front of his then-wife, but did not mention the probe.

The next day, though, he made a tortured public confession that he paid prostitutes in December 1973 and January 1974 with personal checks.

Still, Springer was able to make a comeback and win back his seat on the council the next year, and was appointed mayor for one year in 1977.

As he took office as mayor of Cincinnati in 1997, Jerry Springer thanked America for accepting him.

'Thank you for letting the son of refugees of Nazi Germany make it in America,' he said.

Jerry Springer led a very public life before his death on April 27, 2023.

But his ex-wife and his daughter, have largely stayed out of the public eye, despite his decades-long success.

He married Micki Velton in 1973, and the pair welcomed their daughter Katie into the world a few years later. 

The world of showbusiness has been rocked by the death of legendary talk show host Jerry Springer aged 79.

He became America's guilty pleasure after hosting the smash hit The Jerry Springer Show for 27 years.

During its time on screen, it showcased a whole host of wild and raucous TV moments - from a guest who had cut off their legs with a saw to a woman who broke the 'sex record.'

Legendary TV host Jerry Springer died aged 79, just months after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. 

Springer passed away 'peacefully' at his home in Chicago after his health took a turn for the worse, a spokesman for his family said on Thursday morning. 

Springer hosted the smash hit 'The Jerry Springer Show' for 27 years, becoming America's guilty pleasure for wild and raucous TV moments. 

Before he was a popular daytime talk show host, Jerry Springer was a news anchor in Cincinnati.

In his final broadcast, he told the city he was determined to be 'more than a paycheck or a hooker in a one-night stand.'

'In trying to prove something to you, I learned something about me,' he said. 'I learned that I had fallen in love with you, with Cincinnati.

'You have taught me more about life and caring and forgiving, and also most importantly giving, giving something back — than I had ever learned through all of the highfalutin formal education I previously received.'

He added that he tried giving back to the city, but he knows 'it can't nearly be enough for giving me the chance to come back.'

Legendary chat show host Jerry Springer, who has died aged 79 after a cancer diagnosis, was born in a London underground station in 1944 during the Blitz.

His parents, who were German-Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany, moved to East Finchley in North London in 1939. In 1943, they fell pregnant.

On the day Gerald Norman Springer was born, Richard and Margot were crammed onto the busy platform at Highgate, which was being used as a bomb shelter.

Jerry Springer, whose namesake talk show blazed a trail for confrontational, 'crazy' television after his political career had been marred by revelations of paying prostitutes with personal checks, has died aged 79.

As host of The Jerry Springer Show, which was a ratings sensation for almost 30 years, the man who was born in an underground bunker in London during WWII became a champion of 'escapist entertainment' - as he put it.

The program was blasted by critics for debasing its guests and shredding family values, but Springer defended the show, arguing that television is 'merely a picture of all that's out there'.

TV show host Montel Williams reacted to the news of Jerry Springer's death on Thursday.

He tweeted: 'My thoughts and prayers go out to Jerry Springer's family.'

In his final interview  with Jersey Shore's Snookie and Angelina on their talk show The Meatball Show, Jerry Springer told Angelina she was 'going off the deep end.'

A resurfaced clip of the viral interview shows Springer sitting down with the two Jersey Shore stars as they drank a glass of wine and told him that he practically raised them when they were home sick from school.

At one point, Angelina pulls out a breathalyzer — to the shock of Springer, who remarks that he has never been on a show where the hosts had to use breathalyzers before.

When she remarks that she is reading a 0.053, Springer remarks that she is 'going off the deep end.'

Then, when Snookie says it's fine because it is Angelina's house and says she will fill up Angelina's glass more, he says: 'No, you're contributing.'

Jerry Springer's bodyguard 'Big' Steve Wilkos went from being a Chicago beat cop to breakout star on Springer's wild talk show before finding fame with his own show.

The former bodyguard has yet to comment on the death of Jerry Springer, who died on Thursday at the age of 79. 

Wilkos, a former Chicago police officer and U.S. Marine, started as the head of security on The Jerry Springer Show in 1994.

Jerry Springer's last television appearance was on The Masked Singer in October 2022, when he was revealed as the man behind the lady bug in a suit costume.

The crowd started chanting his name at the reveal, just as his audience would always do on his daytime show, but he remained humble, saying: 'When I sing, people get involved because they have to guess where the notes were supposed to have been,

'It's like interactive.'

He later said he decided to go on the show, because it sounded fun 'and my grandson would get a kick out of it.'

In another tribute, Piers Morgan said he loved working and joking with Jerry Springer.

'Jeez, this sucks,' Morgan wrote of the news.

He described Springer as 'such an intelligent, warm, funny man,' adding that he 'loved working with him on America's Got Talent, loved hanging out with him, loved arguing with him (he loved his politics), loved everything about him.'

One of the first celebrities to post a tribute to Jerry Springer, was former FOX host turned podcaster Megyn Kelly.

In a tweet, she wrote she was 'so sad to hear this.'

'He came on my show shortly after we launched and told the best stories about his fascinating life and his deep love for America.'

Following the news of Jerry Springer's death, a clip resurfaced of his cameo in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.

In the film, he has Dr. Evil reunite with his estranged son, Scott.

In his final moment on The Jerry Springer show, the longtime host teared up as he said 'anyone can do what I do.'

'What I've learned over our quarter century of shows is that deep down, we are all alike,' Springer said. 'Some of us just dress funny, or had a better education or had better luck in the gene pool of parents.

'I'll say it again, deep down we are all the same. We all want to be happy, we cry when we're hurt, we're angry when we've been mistreated and to be liked, accepted, respected and not to mention loved, is the greatest gift of all.'

He added that he has never once thought he was better than any of the guests he had on the show, saying: 'I am not better, only lucky,' as he teared up.

Springer then concluded with his regular send off: 'Take care of yourself and each other.'

Legendary talk show host Jerry Springer has died aged 79, according to his family. 

A statement from his family confirmed that he passed away 'peacefully' at his home in Chicago. 

They said that he had been diagnosed with cancer a few months ago, with his health taking a turn for the worse this week according to TMZ.