John Stapleton was the nicest and most human of all the TV presenters I encountered in the 1990s while guesting on behalf of The Skeptic and skepticism in general on daytime talk shows. He was genuinely interested in people, and alone of all the hosts I encountered, while he was hosting The Time, The Place, he would hang out in the green room just to chat and get to know his guests. I was on his show several times, and he was always welcoming.
I assure you his behavior was by no means common, though few went as far as former MP Robert Kilroy-Silk. The several times I was on his show, which was recorded in batches, he avoided everyone both before and afterwards, racing off the set as soon as he was free to go.
On one visit, Stapleton told me how he got into presenting a daytime talk show. He and his wife, the late broadcaster Lynn Faulds Wood, went to Miami on vacation. Their first day there, he turned on the television and saw The Phil Donahue Show. Like The Time, The Place, Donahue featured participatory debates with a panel and audience. As I remember Stapleton’s account, he instantly knew he wanted to do… that. He spent the rest of his vacation in their hotel room, glued to the TV set watching Donahue and the many other daytime talk shows on US television at the time.
My most vivid memory is of an appearance to discuss UFOs. I think Jenny Randles was one of the other panelists. Stapleton was unhappy. A controversy had broken out about who should pay for damage to one of the royal buildings. Internet searches suggest it was probably following the 1992 Windsor Castle fire. Stapleton was desperate to tackle the topic, but instead he had this show on UFOs scheduled. He told me this in our green room conversation.
So we talked about UFOs. Stapleton was, as ever, a gracious and fair host. And then he gave me the last word. And I said what we really needed was for an alien spacecraft to land on the roof of Buckingham Palace, and then instead of arguing about fuzzy photographs and videos we could argue about who should pay for the damage. The show ended, we all got up, and he rushed over, all excited, and hugged me.
I can’t find a reference now, but I recall reading years later that he had stepped down from whatever show he was doing to care for his wife. It seemed characteristic of the man I met.
