Michael Parkinson death: His one regret revealed and a huge name who wouldn’t speak to him on TV

A nation is in mourning as the death of the king of chat shows, Michael Parkinson, was confirmed on Thursday (August 17). He died ‘peacefully’ and was surrounded by his family. He was 88.

Throughout his long and illustrious career, Sir Michael interviewed more than 2,000 guests in a career that spanned five decades. Guests included Madonna, Muhammed Ali, the Beckhams and many more.

The British broadcaster would devote an entire programme to each guest and delve into their life and career and ask questions, much as Kate Garraway does now Kate Garraway’s life stories.

But, despite interviewing the world’s biggest stars such as Elton John, Helen Mirren, George Michael and more, there’s still one that got away and Parkinson never got the chance to sit down with.

This was revealed during an appearance on BBC Breakfast, and he opened up about not getting his time with American singer Frank Sinatra, as well as Sir Don Bradan, Australian cricket player.

He explained: “When I met Sinatra, [musician] Sammy Carr said, ‘Meet Mike Parkinson, he does a great talk show’... all that sort of thing. Then I wandered around, Sammy went off somewhere else, I wandered around but didn’t know anyone but me and Frank Sinatra. I said, ‘I’m leaving now Mr Sinatra, but it was nice to have met you and hopefully I’ll see you in London’.

“He said, ‘Sure thing, David!’, I thought ‘I’ve really made a mark here’.” Michael looked back at the interaction with humour, acknowledging that Frank must have become confused. Despite never getting the chance to speak one-to-one with the singer, Michael was proud of his achievements.