Michael Mosley’s co-star Dr Saleyha Ahsan has called the TV doctor a ‘national treasure’ after Greek police confirmed his body had been found.
Dr Ahsan fronts Trust Me, I’m A Doctor alongside Dr Mosley and described him as ‘hugely talented’ and ‘so personable’.
She also thanked the Mail columnist for making her feel comfortable while she took part in an on-camera audition for the hit BBC show.
She said: ‘I can now appreciate that’s a one-off, not everyone is able to make other people feel so at ease with lights and cameras in front of them.
‘But then to forget about all of that and just to focus on the science, on the story, on the message that we’re trying to get out, is such a talented man, hugely talented.’
Dr Ahsan also heaped praise on her colleague’s ability to make science easy for viewers to understand.
The presenter’s comments come after police looking for Dr Mosley said they had discovered his body close to an area known as The Abyss.
Dr Michael Mosley’s children were just 350ft away from where a body was found when they retraced their father’s steps yesterday after he went missing in the Greek island of Symi.
The walk from St Nicholas beach to where the tragic discovery was made today is around three miles and would have taken little more than an hour.
Dr Mosley’s grown-up children Alex, Jack, Dan and Kate had arrived at the island on Saturday to join their mother Clare Bailey in the searches.
It appeared the Mail columnist had walked around the perimeter of the beach bar at Agia Marina and was heading towards the sea.
A kiosk at the bar looks towards the headland where the body was found and police are working on the theory he had been dead for ‘several days’.
The body was found by staff at a nearby beach bar after being alerted by the mayor who had spotted something ‘unusual’ from the sea. The body was discovered at Agia Marina around 30 minutes walk from Pedi where he was last seen.
Waiter Ilias Tsavaris said he had been sent up to have a look following the mayor’s alert when he saw the ‘glint from a watch’ and a body.
On Saturday a Greek fire brigade helicopter hovered above the spot where the body was found.
Police arrived around 20 minutes after it had been discovered – around 100 metres from the shoreline.
A short while later a coastguard boat arrived and anchored just off the beach while a small tender with more officers reached the scene.
Mayor Eleftherios Papakaloudoukas had accompanied media to Agia Marina but was on his way back to Pedi when he looked back and saw something unusual on the rocks.
He then called the beach restaurant and alerted staff who rushed over towards what he had seen with a group of British journalists who had remained behind.
Officials said the coroner had been informed and was travelling to Symi from Rhodes.
The waiter who found the body, Mr Tsavaris, said: ‘The mayor had been here to give interviews to the media and then left on a boat to return to Pedi.
‘From the sea he saw something unusual and then he called the restaurant and asked them to check it out.
‘I was sent up there and as I turned the fence to go up I saw a glint from a watch and I then I saw the body at the same time.’
Shortly after her colleague’s disappearance on Wednesday, Dr Ahsan wrote on social media that the news was ‘shocking’ and that she was hoping Mosley would be ‘found safe’.
‘I literally feel sick with worry,’ Ahsan added. ‘Don’t even know what to say.’
A major operation was launched to find the doctor after he vanished while hiking alone in blistering 36C (97F) heat on Wednesday.
His wife Dr Clare Bailey, 62, raised the alarm when he failed to return home by 7.30pm and local authorities began tracing his route overnight.
Dr Mosley, 67, was one of Britain’s best known medics, whose revolutionary diet advice made him beloved by millions of Daily Mail readers and TV viewers.
Known for his open nature and effervescent personality, he achieved worldwide renown for popularising the 5:2 diet and released a string of best-selling books.
Police first filed a missing person report for Dr Mosley at 10.30am on Thursday and by midday each of the emergency services in Greece had joined the search on the tiny island of Symi.
The medic was seen leaving Saint Nicholas beach towards the town of Pedi, via a rocky path with steep sections.
CCTV footage showed him passing a café in the town, northeast of the holiday island of Symi.
Police believed Dr Mosley was likely hiking towards the town of Symi, due west of Pedi, but took a wrong turn and ended up on a ‘dangerous’ mountain path heading north.
The coastguard scoured the sea as the fire brigade searched the remote island’s forests and hills – with volunteers also assisting with the effort.
On Saturday, Dr Mosley’s four children arrived on the island to join the searches.
Mosley’s wife, Dr Clare Bailey, had been searching the island joined by her British friends.