'She will be remembered most of all for just being Janey'

Godley died yesterday (Saturday) around 7am at the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice in Glasgow, where she had been receiving palliative care since September.

The news was announced by her management team with her daughter, Ashley Storrie, then making an emotional update on social media.

“Bye ma,” she said, before adding “Frank, get the door,” in reference to the catchphrase which Godley coined during her daily voiceovers of Nicola Sturgeon’s Covid briefings.

A statement from Chris Davis Management said: “She will be remembered for her legendary voiceovers of Nicola Sturgeon during the pandemic, her hilarious and outspoken comedy, but most of all for just being Janey."

It was during Covid that Godley won an army of new fans across the nation as she injected some much-needed humour into the darkest days of the health emergency.

Yesterday, Ms Sturgeon paid tribute to her friend and described the bond the two developed during Covid. Godley had not only raised the mood of the nation - but helped to save lives by taking important health messages to a wide audience, Ms Sturgeon said.

Ms Sturgeon described Godley’s death as “heartbreaking”, adding that she had visited her friend at the hospice a couple of weeks ago when she was “left in stitches”, despite her fragile state.

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon: My friend Janey Godley ‘helped save lives’ during the pandemic

She added: “Janey Godley truly was a force of nature and one of the funniest people I have ever known.

“Janey was also incredibly kind. And she made the world a better place. A bond was forged between us in the darkest days of Covid when her famous voiceovers of my daily briefings went viral.

“In the toughest of times, she made people laugh - and that was precious.

“She did more than that though. In managing to project the serious public health messages of my briefings to a much wider audience than I would have managed alone, she helped save lives.”

Ms Sturgeon added: “I was so proud to call Janey a friend and will miss her hugely. My heart goes out to her family and many friends - they are in my thoughts today.

“I know Frank will have been there, holding the door for as she went - with a tear in his eye - as I have in mine. RIP my friend.”

John Gordon Sinclair, writer and star of Gregory’s Girl, recalled how Godley served him his first pint of beer when she worked in a bar in Landressy Street, Bridgeton.

“I’’ll raise a wee glass to her tonight in commemoration and lament her sad loss. Heartfelt condolences to her family,” he wrote on X.

Writer and broadcaster Reverend Richard Coles said Ms Godley made him laugh “every day.”

In a reference to the sign Godley held up at Turnberry to greet Donald Trump in 2016, he added: “No one has ever given a more comprehensive assessment of the personal qualities of the 45th president of the United States.”

Television chef and writer Nigella Lawson spoke of a “bright energy no longer in the world” while broadcaster Gyles Brandreth described “an unlikely friend but a real one.”

He added: “A lovely, funny, daring and delightful person who rose to life’s challenges in magnificent style. She was very special - she showed us how to live and taught us how to die, with courage & kindness & laughter.”

Godley was born on 20 January 1961 in the Shettleston area of Glasgow, the youngest of four children, with her home life chaotic, poor and dominated by the drinking of her parents.

Later, her uncle David Percy, was convicted of sexually abusing both Godley and her sister and imprisoned for two years. In 1982, her mother, Anne, was found dead in the River Clyde.

After running a pub in the east end of Glasgow, Godley turned to the comedy circuit in 1994 and appeared at open mic nights where she forged her personal tragedies into laughs. Gigs across the world then followed, from New Zealand to New York.

She went on to become a regular co-presenter on BBC Radio 4’s Loose Ends, as well as fronting BBC Radio 4 series The C Bomb.

Julia McKenzie, Radio 4 comedy commissioning editor, also paid tribute, saying:

“Janeywas a brilliant storyteller who embodied the stoic nature of Glasgow, offering audiences a very honest window into how she processed sometimes traumatic and sometimes hilarious stories from her life.

“Her stories were raw and truthful, both devastating and uplifting, very often in the same sentence; and all shot through with her sharp wit and ability to bring characters to life.

“She has inspired many – not least all of us at BBC Radio 4 – with her instinct to always make people laugh in the face of darkness, bringing both dignity and empowerment to those different aspects of herself.

“Janey was entering a new exciting phase of her career, and she has gone too soon. But what a life.”

Godley’s diagnosis of ovarian cancer came in November 2021 but was given the all-clear the following year. Soon after, the disease returned.

She continued touring with her Not Dead Yet gigs following advice from her friend Jimmy Carr.

In a March 2024 episode of ITV’s Lorraine, Godley said: “The year before last, before I got into the tour, I was told that the cancer had come back.

“So, I decided to cancel the tour, and my mate Jimmy Carrsaid, ‘Is your mouth not working?’ I went, ‘Yeah, my mouth works’ and he said, ‘Well get back on tour.’

In September 2024, she cancelled her autumn tour after her stage four ovarian cancer, which had been kept at bay through NHS treatment over the last few years, returned with what she described as added complications.

Last week, she was given an honorary doctorate from the University of Glasgow with her daughter then saying her mum was in the “final beats of her life”.