To Michael, medical science wasn’t something just for the chosen few – he was passionate about making sure everyone could understand it. That’s why people told him every day how he had affected their lives, writes co-star SALEYHA AHSAN

Michael Mosley taught me how to be a TV presenter. He was my mentor from the first time I met him twelve years ago. I’ve learned from the best.

But despite his vast experience, he always seemed like an eternal schoolboy. His bottomless enthusiasm, his bit of sass and touch of shyness gave him a youthful appearance that was utterly charming. He had a genuine smile and a glint in his eye when science was on the agenda.

Everyone loved him: colleagues, the scientists and fellow doctors he interviewed, and the public. Yet he remained humble at heart, a down-to-earth man, and even though people told him every day how he had touched their lives in so many positive ways, I wonder if he realized how much he was loved.

The outpouring of concern and affection for him this week has deeply touched me and my colleagues, and I hope it has been a source of comfort to his family, to the extent that anything can be. He would be stunned by the reaction in Britain and beyond, by the genuine sense of shock his disappearance caused, and by the sadness that followed today’s news that his body had been discovered.

Dr. Michael Mosley, top left, with Dr Saleyha Ahsan, Gabriel Weston and Dr Chris Van Tulleken in BBC Two’s medical magazine show Trust Me I’m A Doctor in 2012

For Michael, medical science was not just for a chosen few. He wanted to make sure that everyone could understand it, because everything that affects our health is equally important for everyone, writes Dr. Saleyha Ahsan.

In my experience, many people on television are exactly like their on-screen character, but none more so than Michael. I first worked with him around 2012, when I auditioned for Trust Me, I’m A Doctor, the BBC2 medical magazine show that he both presented and helped produce.

For my screen test, we filmed a conversation together to help the director gauge what kind of rapport we were projecting. Although I was nervous before arriving at the studio, Michael put me at ease almost immediately when we were introduced.

He was so engaging and entertaining that I stopped noticing the cameras and the lights and became completely absorbed in our discussion. I have no doubt that this enabled me to get the job, and I have sometimes thought that if the presenter had been someone else, I might not have been hired. From that first meeting alone, Michael had a significant impact on my life, as well as so many others.

Every time I saw him on TV I felt like the two of us were having an entertaining conversation. I’m sure millions of other people had the exact same experience. It’s a rare gift, and one that’s completely instinctive: he never seemed to perform in front of a camera, and he always had so much to say.

I remember watching him prepare for his pieces for the camera with such confidence. I adopted his approach and no longer felt self-conscious.

Dr. Michael Mosley was frontman and producer of the BBC Two show Trust Me I’m A Doctor

His death will leave a huge hole, not only in the lives of those who knew him personally, but also in the television world. There has never been anyone like Doctor Michael Mosley. He will be irreplaceable, writes Dr. Saleyha

For Michael, medical science was not just for a chosen few. He wanted to make sure that everyone could understand it, because everything that affects our health is equally important for everyone.

This applied not only to intermittent fasting and the 5:2 diet for which he was best known, but also to the benefits of meditation, the physiological effects of cold water swimming, and many other topics.

A few years ago I was making a documentary about Ramadan and he arranged for me to interview him about intermittent fasting.

It happened that the Islamic holy month fell in summer that year, which meant that the daylight fasts would be particularly long and hot.

After we finished filming, Michael took the time to ask if everything was okay. I told him I was worried about it. Then he gave me some reassuring advice that I have never forgotten: “Being hungry is hormonal. When your stomach empties, a hormone called ghrelin is released, and that’s what activates the brain. A message is sent saying, “Fill me now!” You can do this.’

That piece of knowledge has proven mentally powerful for me during every Ramadan since. I can literally hear his words. I no longer think about ‘being hungry’ – I just notice that my intestines are producing enough ghrelin. I’m not really hungry, it’s just a hormone.

That way Michael had time for everyone. When we did live events for the Cheltenham Science Festival the room was always packed. And after that, so many people wanted to meet him, and he was so generous with his time and attention.

People were especially inspired, I realized, by the fact that he used his own life as the basis for his research. He did not preach or set rules for others to follow. He shared his own experiences, especially his success in pulling his body back from the brink of Type 2 diabetes.

During the past few days of gnawing anxiety, I was certain that he would somehow make it through alive.

His death will leave a huge hole, not only in the lives of those who knew him personally, but also in the television world. There has never been anyone like Doctor Michael Mosley. He will be irreplaceable.

Dr. Saleyha Ahsan is co-host of Michael Mosley’s Trust Me, I’m A Doctor.