“What began as a typically strident exchange between me and a journalist known for his belligerent presenting style became a merciless exercise in how not to interview someone who has experienced a sexual assault,” Ms Hodgson wrote in The Guardian.
TalkRadio admitted the interview “completely lacked sensitivity”, but Whale eventually kept his job.
In 2018, his wife Melinda died of lung cancer. Two years later, he was forced to take a break from broadcasting because his disease had spread to his remaining kidney, spine, brain and lungs.
He recovered enough to walk down the aisle with Nadine Lamont-Brown in 2021. They had got chatting in their local pub in Kent when they found out their spouses were both being treated by the same doctor.
In 2024, Whale was awarded an MBE for his services to broadcasting and charity, and he continued hosting a weekly radio and TV show on Talk.
He lost none of his fiery opinions or ability to outrage, causing controversy by saying the “Navy should be out there pointing weaponry” at migrants in small boats, and clashing with pro-Palestinian guests over the Israel-Gaza conflict.
He carried out his final interview, with his “good friend and political hero”, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, in his garden in mid-July.
Whale also wrote a weekly column for the Daily Express, which on 27 July included a series of tributes from friends and former colleagues., external
Dragon’s Den businessman Theo Paphitis hailed his charity work for Kidney Cancer UK, adding: “They broke the mould when they made James, and there’s a good reason that he has lasted decades as a broadcaster on the airwaves.”
Actor Shane Richie said: “Love him or loathe him there’s been no denying that the Whale was and will always be regarded as a one-off unique broadcaster.
“In the eighties, James moved the goalposts when it came to live TV… his late-night Friday talk show was the stuff of legend and is still regarded as a show that moved the parameters of British television.”
Broadcaster Eamonn Holmes said: “He made direct speech entertaining. With that he was ahead of his time. I’m just sorry he hasn’t had more time.”
Whale kept broadcasting for as long as he could as the cancer tightened its grip.
“I’ve spent much of my professional life winding people up about their stupidity, taking the wind out of their sails, and I can’t tell you how much I’m going to miss that,” he wrote in one of his last weekly columns for the Daily Express.
“It wasn’t always presidents and prime ministers and celebrities and leaders of industry – though they often got their comeuppances – sometimes, it was just normal folk who needed taking down a peg or two.
“But boy have I had some fun, and hopefully created some entertaining, engaging radio that has made people think a bit harder.”