Hemel born TV presenter Magenta Devine dies at 61

TV presenter Magenta Devine, best known for appearances on Rough Guide, Reportage and Young, Gifted and Broke, has died after a short illness.
Magenta Devine pictured second from the right on the top row - backstage at a Mott The Hoople Friars performanceMagenta Devine pictured second from the right on the top row - backstage at a Mott The Hoople Friars performance
Magenta Devine pictured second from the right on the top row - backstage at a Mott The Hoople Friars performance

Ms Devine (changed from Kim Taylor) was born in Hemel Hempstead in 1957.

She started her career in Aylesbury and had her own column in the Aylesbury Roxette fanzine.

Magenta is credited by music fans in Aylesbury as being the first person in town to have seen The Sex Pistols - the band which would kick start a punk rock revolution.

Musician John Otway - who was friends with Magenta, said: "This is really sad. She was a few years younger than me and we all used to hang out at the Bell Hotel at the bottom of Market Square.

"At that time in the 70s there were a few people that made Aylesbury a bit special - and she was one of them."

He added: "She was a wonderfully enigmatic person who helped me an awful lot. We both moved to London around the same time after I'd had a hit record and she was doing her journalism work and we always used to bump into each other."

Described as an 'Aylesbury legend' by Friars founder David Stopps - Devine caught the eye of Janet Street Porter who asked her to present Channel 4's Network 7. Prior to that - among other things - she had worked for Tony Braisby, publicist for the likes of Queen and Thin Lizzy.

More to follow.