Loose Women star’s daughter dies aged 27 while studying in New York

The daughter of Loose Women star Lisa Maxwell has died at the age of 27.

Beau Jessup - the only child of the British TV actor and her husband Paul Jessup - had been studying at Columbia University in New York City at the time of her death.

The Columbia Journalism School, where Beau was a student, announced her death in a statement on Monday, November 9.

Beau Jessup has died at the age of 27

Columbia University

It wrote: “Columbia Journalism School mourns the loss of Beau Jessup, a student in our M.S. program.

“We extend our deepest condolences to her family, friends, classmates, and all who knew and loved her. The J-School is working with Beau’s family to offer support and assistance during this difficult time.”

The university released no other details surrounding the circumstances of her death.

Beau was born in October 1999 and was the only child of Maxwell, who rose to fame as DI Samantha Nixon on The Bill, and Paul who runs the Great British Teddy Bear Company.

The pair married in 2014, after Maxwell proposed to Paul in a leap-year proposal.

The family has not yet commented on Beau’s passing.

In October, just weeks before her death, Jessup spoke of how her mother’s career and fame piqued her interest in journalism.

Lisa Maxwell was a panellist on Loose Women from 2009 to 2014

ITV

“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 shared in the interview with Columbia Journalism School, which was published following her death.

“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.”

Called “'Special Name”, it required users to pick five of the 12 personality traits they hope their baby will grow into, and then three options would be presented.

Beau got the idea during a holiday to China, when she was asked by friends to suggest an English name for their newborn baby.

Lisa Maxwell is best known for her role on The Bill

The website was extremely lucrative for the then 16-year-old, who earned more than £48,000 in the first six months, and she also delivered a Tedx Talk on the website.

She said the experience gave her “an early appreciation of both the power and the responsibility of storytelling”.

Before moving to New York, she studied at Cambridge University, where she completed a Master’s in Writing for Performance.

Speaking to the Columbia Journalism School, the 27-year-old expressed her hopes to work as a journalist after graduating in May 2027.

“I want to work as a journalist and writer, reporting on people, culture, and social questions with the rigor I’m learning at Columbia.

“I’m particularly drawn to journalism for its power and immediacy, while continuing to write for theater when a subject benefits from being explored through a different form.”