Gogglebox fans in tears as Malone family pay tribute to 'beautiful' co-star after death

Gogglebox fans have flooded the Malone family with support after they shared a heartbreaking tribute online.

The clan - consisting of Tom Malone Senior, wife Julie and sons Shaun and Tom Jnr - made their debut way back in 2014 on the Channel 4 show. Daughter Vanessa has also made several appearancesover the years.

Since then, the family, and their gang of Rottweiler dogs, have become firm favourites with fans thanks to their hilarious quips, never failing to make viewers laugh.

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And although Tom Jnr left in 2021, the rest of the family have remained on the sofa, and have returned for its 26th series that premiered earlier this month.

Away from the programme, Julie and Tom - who have been together since 1982 - are not strangers to keeping their 292k Instagram followers updated on their day-to-day life.

And this week, the family left fans emotional as they paid tribute to their former four-legged friends. Sharing a photo of them with their late dogs, the Malones captioned the post: “Awww Bobby, Dave, Izzy and Lucy Gone but never forgotten.”

Rushing to the comments section, one person wrote: “Beautiful pups. Lots of love.” Another added: “A heartbreak like no other.”

A third chimed in: “Beautiful picture of you all. Very sad when dogs leave us.” Someone else also commented three crying face emojis.

In June this year, son Shaun announced on Instagram that beloved pooch Bob had passed away. Alongside touching clips and pictures of the dog, he wrote: “Today is the day we had to say goodbye to big Bob, an absolutely great dog like a big cuddly bear.”

Meanwhile, mum Julie shared: "Today we said goodbye to our beautiful protective Bobby, he spent his last day doing what he loved, watching over the Grandchildren playing in the garden . We are heartbroken. RIP our beautiful Big Bob xx."

Bob was the fourth dog that the Malones have lost since 2018. Their beloved boxer Frank died in 2018 and four years later their other pup called Lucy died. In 2023, the family were dealt heartbreak again when Dave also died.

Gogglebox airs every Friday at 9pm on Channel 4.