John Barrowman breaks down in tears after his dog dies in his arms

John Barrowman broke down in tears in an emotional video on Monday, as he cradled the body of his dog and announced the Jack Russell had passed away.

The actor, 58, sobbed as he revealed that the beloved pet had died peacefully in his arms, after ‘waiting until I got home’ to say goodbye.

While unable to hold back his tears, he voiced his gratitude that the pooch – named Captain Jack Harkness – had not suffered and had passed from old age, at 18 years old.

After appearing a fan convention earlier that day, John began the video apologising to attendees who had noticed he was upset, explaining that the reason for his distress was he had known Captain Jack was ‘on his way out’.

Cradling the dog in his arms with his husband, Scott Gill, by his side, he said: ‘It was really difficult. But I got home tonight and he was still with us. 

‘And he waited until I got home and I held him, we put him to bed next to me and I held onto him and I felt his heart stop and now he’s gone.’

Breaking down, John said: ‘He died in my arms. I am sad but it is just the way I wanted it. He waited for me all day. He’s such a good boy. Thank you for all your support and all your patience for me.’

While in the caption, the West End star paid tribute to his beloved pet, writing: ‘Captain Jack Harkness our beloved Jack Russell has gone. 

‘He waited until i came home and he died peacefully in his dada’s arms within an hour of my return with @scottmale Dixie and Tito around him.

‘He was a good boy, a loyal friend and our Jackamo for 18 years. We are very sad but grateful he died of old age and did not suffer.’

The Jack Russell was named after John’s Doctor Who character, Captain Jack Harkness, who he played in multiple episodes from 2005 until 2021, and as the lead of spin-off show Torchwood, from 2006 to 2011.

The Arrow star was flooded with condolences from fans after the heartbreaking video, who took to the comments to share messages of support and comfort.

They wrote: ‘My thoughts are with you both. It’s heartbreaking to lose a beloved pet. You gave him the best life with lots of good memories ❤️’.

‘Heartbreaking news for you both. He will have felt safe and loved right until the very end. Sleep tight little one’; ‘Oh John, I’m so sorry. You gave him such an amazing life. Fly free, Captain Jack ❤️’. 

‘Oh @johnscotbarrowman I am so sorry. I’m glad you were able to make it home and you both had the chance to be together one last time. Sending you both a big hug ♥️’.

‘I am so sorry for your loss. He has had a wonderful life with you all. Sending so much love to you all at time. Its never easy.’ 

‘Run free over the rainbow bridge Jack. He had such an amazing life with you guys. Sending so much love and hugs your way today ❤️❤️’; ‘I’m so sorry, this breaks my heart! I’m just so glad you could say goodbye.’

While a slew of celebrities also voiced their sympathies to John for his loss, with his former Dancing On Ice co-star Ashley Banjo writing: ‘I’m sorry my friend ❤️’.

 He was joined by radio presenter Sonny Jay, who penned: ‘The day we all dread coming. Sending love John’ while glamour model Bianca Gascoigne commented a string of heart emojis.

Gossip blogger Perez Hilton added: ‘Big hug to you both! Light!!!’ as Coronation Street actor Daniel Brocklebank echoed: ‘Sending love. ❤️’

And Big Brother star Kate Lawler wrote: ‘I’m so sorry John this is a heartbreaking video. What a grand old age though, the luckiest boy to have crossed the rainbow bridge in his Dad’s arms. Sending you both so much love xx’. 

John’s tragic loss comes after a difficult few years for the Scottish star, after he was ‘blacklisted’ following misconduct allegations.

He has struggled to find work since he was accused of exposing himself to co-workers while on set of Doctor Who and Torchwood, between 2005 and 2011.

The apparent behaviour came to light in 2021, when he was dragged into a Guardian investigation into Noel Clarke – his one-time co-star on Doctor Who – who faced allegations of bullying and sexual misconduct from 26 women. 

John was quickly dumped from his job as a judge on ITV’s Dancing on Ice and has said since he was ‘blacklisted completely’ from the entertainment industry, causing him to fall into a depression and have suicidal thoughts.

However, last year he insisted he does not ‘regret anything’ and defended that on the set: ‘Everybody was doing outrageous, silly things. It’s just that they weren’t dragged into this situation by a piece of lazy journalism.’

Speaking on STV’s Scotland Tonight, John insisted ‘nobody complained’ and that he didn’t see his behaviour as ‘outrageous’.

Hesaid: ‘I don’t regret anything. It’s not so much regret; it was something that was stupid and silly and it was done.

‘I don’t look back and go… because at the time, everybody was laughing. Everybody on set was having a laugh.’

And when questioned if he was ‘basically flashing’, he denied: ‘No, no, no, no, no. This is where it gets a little misconstrued. I was not walking around flashing people randomly and doing things like that.

‘If I were doing a nude scene… they’d say, ‘do you want to go back to the trailer’ I’d say, ‘no just leave me here’ – it was meant to be a closed set – and I’d say, ‘leave me here and let’s save time, I’ll just stand here and it’ll save time that I don’t have to go back, have to change, then you have to bring me back and we have to start all over again’.

‘So I would stand there, if I was in a nude scene, completely naked, and if somebody walked on set, which they weren’t supposed to or they were, I might just do something like that [jiggles] and it was nothing outrageous.

‘I didn’t see it as outrageous. It was a different time.’