ANT McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have paid tribute to Byker Grove creator Adele Rose following her death.
Adele’s husband Peter Chadwick confirmed that she died of pneumonia aged 87 on December 28.
Taking to Twitter on Wednesday, Ant and Dec wrote: “We are very sad to hear of the passing of Adele Rose, the creator of #BykerGrove.
“She was an incredible lady and a wonderful writer. We will always be grateful for what she did for us and the North East. Thank you Adele and rest in peace. X.”
The Britain’s Got Talent hosts, both 45, found fame on BBC’s Byker Grove playing P.J. and Duncan.
Dec joined the show first as Duncan in 1989 and a year later Ant joined the cast in episode five of the second season.
Adele created the teen drama along with executive producer Andrea Wonfor, but she also worked as a writer on ITV soap Coronation Street, writing more than 400 episodes between 1961 and 1998.
Adele’s husband told Chronicle Live: “She had a huge sense of humour which was often quite naughty and quite wicked. She loved writing the battleaxes in Coronation Street.
He continued: “She was Jewish and she had a very Jewish mother attitude to life. She had to make sure everybody was okay. Her son said that if she didn’t have anything to worry about, it would worry her.
“Everybody around here adored her. They were a little bit starstruck, but she was very, very warm. It’s been a wonderful 40 years with her.”
Following her death, head of ITV in the North John Whiston said: “Not only was Adele a trailblazer, being the very first in what is now a long line of brilliant female Coronation Street writers, she was also particularly adept at giving voice to some of Corrie’s classic fearless female characters, from Ena to Elsie, from Bet to Liz.
“If you watched Corrie growing up, then some of the most memorable episodes that are lodged in your mind were written by Adele. And for that the show will always be hugely grateful.”
Adele’s other TV credits included Heartbeat, Z Cars, Angels, The Dustbinmen and Robin’s Nest.
In 1993, she received a BAFTA Award for script-writing, but retired in 2000. She is survived by her husband as well as her son Steve and grandson Daniel.
