Loose Women star’s daughter dies aged 27 - The Independent

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Beau Jessup, the daughter of Loose Women star Lisa Maxwell, has died aged 27.

Jessup had been studying journalism at Columbia University in New York City at the time of her death, the Ivy League university confirmed on Wednesday (11 November).

News of her death had been shared with her family’s permission, said the university. A cause of death has not been given at this time.

“Columbia Journalism School mourns the loss of Beau Jessup, a student in our MS program,” the university wrote on social media.

“We join Jessup’s family, friends and classmates in remembering her.”

“We extend our deepest condolences to her family, friends, classmates and all who knew and loved her,” it added in a separate statement.

Jessup was the daughter of actor Maxwell, best known for playing Samantha Nixon on The Bill. She went on to become a regular panellist on the ITV chat show Loose Women between 2009 and 2014. Her father, Paul Jessup, runs the Great British Teddy Bear Company.

Her family is yet to comment on her death.

Jessup, who was expected to graduate from her master’s programme next year, can be seen in the university’s official “Class of 2027” photograph in September.

Her mother had shared the post herself, writing alongside the photo: “Congratulations guys! Especially my daughter Beau over in NYC making us all super proud.”

On Wednesday (11 November), Columbia shared an interview that had been conducted with Jessup for Columbia News as part of its Notebook series speaking with students at the university.

“Sadly, after interviewing Jessup and going over an edited version of the interview with her, Jessup passed away,” reads an introduction to the piece. “With permission from her family and encouragement from leaders and her peers at the Journalism School, Columbia News decided to publish this insightful discussion in memory of her far-too-brief life and experience at Columbia and in New York City.”

Speaking about what sparked her interest in journalism, Jessup cited her mother’s profession in the TV industry.

“As the daughter of a television actress, I grew up with an unusual awareness of the distance between people’s lives and the stories told about them,” she said. “I saw how journalism could illuminate someone’s experiences, but also how those experiences could be distorted, simplified, or transformed into a public narrative over which the subject had very little control.

“I was curious, from quite a young age, about who gets to tell people’s stories, and what happens when those stories enter the public domain.”

The Independent has contacted a representative of Maxwell for comment.