Tragedy of 'gay, bald, fat man'

He liked to describe himself as "a gay, bald, fat man" and was one of the brightest of the BBC's rising stars.

As one of the highest-paid presenters on the BBC - he earned as much as Peter Sissons or Jeremy Paxman and more than Anna Ford and Huw Edwards - he had attracted controversy.

One colleague worked out that with BBC Choice's Liquid News programme attracting an audience of only 17,000, he was being paid £14.70 for each viewer.

The son of a Norfolk accountant, he had a self-deprecating style with interviewers and told one: "I am a fat, bald, homosexual - not ideal television material at all."

His style was bitchy and he was not afraid to criticise his employers. Last year friends thought it would have been better had he remained silent rather than criticise the BBC drama Rebel Heart for attracting 3.9 million viewers. It was still more than 200 times the viewers he was getting.

However the BBC hoped that the young audience he attracted to his 30-minute nightly show would quickly build. Liquid News was filmed live for its nightly slot and Price loved the adrenaline rush of performing in a single take.

"I've worked in pre-recorded shows and it's just not the same," he said.

A language graduate, he started his career as a local radio journalist before joining Radio Five Live and BBC News 24.

The BBC was desperate not to lose him and gave him a huge salary despite the anger it caused among older BBC staff.

Nick Higham, the BBC's media correspondent, said that Price described himself as "an unlikely overnight success". He added: "He was witty, caustic and camp by turns and the BBC was grooming him for great things. His death is a great loss and he will be extraordinarily difficult to replace."

Former colleague Robert Nisbet said: "You could not ask for a better friend."