New Zealand comedian Cal Wilson’s cause of death has been confirmed by her artist management agency as a rare form of cancer.
Wilson, who was a beloved fixture on Australian television and most recently co-hosted The Great Australian Bake Off, died on Wednesday at the age of 53. It was initially reported that she had died “after a short illness”, surrounded by loved ones at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred hospital.
She had been in hospital for four weeks prior to her death, Token management confirmed to Guardian Australia.
On Wednesday night, friends and colleagues gathered at Melbourne’s Comedy Republic venue to pay tribute to Wilson. Online, many remembered her warm and generous personality – the hallmarks of a three-decade career that spanned 14 Melbourne international comedy festival shows, two children’s books and regular appearances on series including Thank God You’re Here, Whose Line Is it Anyway? and Spicks and Specks.
“I was always relieved to see Cal,” fellow host and comedian Rhys Nicholson wrote on Instagram. “At very good gigs, very shit gigs, dinners, parties … You knew whatever was going on, it would at least be more funny, more warm and just more bloody silly because Cal was there.”
Rove McManus called her a “shining soul … taken far far too soon from a world that adored her as much as she adored it”.
Comedian Celia Pacquola described her as “quick, funny, fierce, crafty, vibrant, caring and a beacon of warmth and silliness in any room”.
“She was the best of us,” Pacquola wrote.
In a tearful tribute on The Project, Wilson’s Bake Off co-host Natalie Tran remembered her as “a beautiful person, so kind and giving and funny”.
“Cal was like working with a Santa Clause who didn’t care if you were naughty or nice, you got presents anyway,” Tran said. “Every day she was like a cheerleader for every single person.”
