70 Up viewers make a plea to ITV over concerns for 'lonely' Neil Hughes after finale episode
Neil has faced some big struggles in his life7 Up fans have called on ITV with their concerns for participant Neil Hughes after watching the 70 Up finale.
The last ever episode of the Up series has now aired and Neil was seen living a solitary life in France.
Viewers who have followed the show for the last six decades have seen Neil’s ups and downs as he battled with depression.
Neil experienced homelessness, even “sleeping in a bulldozer” once, and needed benefits to get by.
Last night, viewers watched Neil in his final ever interview for Up and they are now desperate to contact him.
70 Up viewers share concerns for ‘lonely’ Neil Hughes
Neil is now living permanently in France in a large property inherited from family. However, it has no central heating.
Viewers saw the pensioner surrounded by piles of cardboard and paper which he was using to burn in an open fireplace.
Neil admitted to being “lonely at times”, with very few friends. He was also keen to stress that people with mental health conditions are not “odd”.
He added: “It doesn’t mean they have chosen to be weird or antisocial.”
Fans, many of who have grown up watching Neil, are now desperate to make contact with him. They are keen for him to know just how much his story has “captured” their lives.
Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, one worried viewer asked: “How can we write to Neil at #70up so he is not lonely? He does not do anything digital, I wonder if he would like that.”
Another also said: “Random thought but… Is there a way people could write to Neil? I feel as if he feels like maybe hasn’t made much of an impact in the world or he’s just been kind of wandering through life alone. His journey has captured so many.”
A third replied: “I wondered the same but then worried that it would just create ‘work’ for him and he’d feel he’d have to write back. I think many of us would like him to know we’re thinking of him, maybe ITV could pass that on to him.”
And someone else simply said: “I hope Neil realises how much people care about him. He’s always been the one we’ve all worried about.”
70 Up: The final chapter
70 Up brought the Up series to a close. The show began in 1964 with 7 Up. At the time, viewers were introduced to Neil and 13 other seven-year-old children; four girls and 10 boys.
They were all from very different social and economic backgrounds and the programme was coined with Ignatius of Loyola’s phrase: “Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man.”
The cameras have returned every seven years throughout their lives, capturing all the highs and lows. Tragically, Lynn Johnson died in 2013. Nick Hitchon also died in 2023 aged 65, although he did make one last appearance in 70 Up.
The remaining 12 participants – all now aged 70 – have decided it is time to hang up their microphones and bow out.
Summing up the ground-breaking show, one fan has simply said: “A truly extraordinary series never to be repeated.”
Are you sad it’s all over?
