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Trinny Woodall's ex-husband Johnny Elichaoff dies aged 55

Johnny Elichaoff was a rock band drummer-turned-businessman

Lamiat Sabin
Friday 14 November 2014 11:14 GMT
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Trinny Woodall and Johnny Elichaoff pictured in 2010
Trinny Woodall and Johnny Elichaoff pictured in 2010 (REX)

Television fashion guru Trinny Woodall is mourning the sudden loss of her ex-husband Johnny Elichaoff who died aged 55.

The What Not To Wear host, 50, was said by a friend to have been "grief-stricken" with the news, as reported by Mail Online, however the details surrounding his death have not yet been made public.

Mr Elichaoff, a former drummer and wheeler dealer on Channel 4 show Four Rooms, remained close to Ms Woodall - who is now in a relationship with Charles Saatchi - and their daughter Lyla, 11, after an amicable divorce in 2009.

A Channel 4 spokesman said: "Our thoughts are with his friends and family."

Mr Elichaoff, who also has a son called Zak from a previous relationship, was pictured with his daughter and Ms Woodall enjoying a lunch on Portobello Road as recently as April this year.

The two were married in Knightsbridge church St Columba's in 1999, which was the venue of her parents' wedding, her own christening and the burial place of her grandfather.

Mr Elichaoff found fame as a musician in 1982 as a rock drummer - also known as Johnny Toobad - who toured with the band League of Gentlemen and supporting U2 and Siouxsie Sioux after playing in his own group Baby and the Blackspots.

His musical career was interrupted in 1984 by a two-year stint in the Israeli army and a job with stockbrokers Bailey Shatkin before moving into rock music management and later becoming a life insurance and inheritance tax advisor.

Mr Elichaoff openly spoke about his addiction to prescription painkillers following 20 operations on his broken leg after a motorbike accident in 2006, before being treated in a US rehab clinic in October that year.

After their divorce, Mr Elichaoff said: "Trinny comes across as cold and aloof, but in fact she is the kindest woman I have ever met.

"She has a heart of gold. The steeliness people see in her is really a cover for her chronic shyness, believe me."

She began a relationship with advertising businessman and art collector Charles Saatchi, 71, in 2012 after he split from television chef and writer Ms Lawson.

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