Former Norwich City Football Club joint majority shareholder Michael Wynn Jones has been remembered as a “beloved husband” to Delia Smith in a post on the celebrity chef’s social media.

The pair, who married in 1971, were both joint majority shareholders of the football club from 1998 to 2024, with a post on X by the team that manages Smith’s social media saying Wynn Jones died “peacefully at home” on Monday.

The post on Smith’s account read: “It is with great sadness that we received the news of the death of Michael Wynn Jones, Delia’s beloved husband and partner of more than 55 years.⁠⁠“Michael died peacefully at home on Monday 28 September, aged 85.⁠

⁠”We will remember Michael with enormous affection and gratitude, and we will always be grateful that, right from the very beginning of Delia Online, he was there behind the scenes, helping us along the way.⁠⁠“We all send our deepest sympathy and love to Delia, Tom, Hannah and all of Michael’s family and friends.⁠”⁠In a further post on Smith’s website, the former journalist and editor was remembered as “never someone who sought to be centre stage, but he was always a prominent figure to us all”.

It said that Wynn Jones was a keen chef himself and was “quite happy to take over in the kitchen”.

The statement added: “Delia has often spoken about knowing when it was best to leave Michael alone when he was cooking, particularly if she wanted to avoid offering an opinion he hadn’t asked for.

“It was part of their relationship and the familiarity that comes from sharing so many years together.”

The post said Wynn Jones was happiest in the “quieter moments with Delia” at their home in Suffolk and added that he enjoyed doing word puzzles and watching their cat, Omar.

During Smith and Wynn Jones’ time at Norwich City, the club, who are nicknamed The Canaries, achieved six promotions, winning the Championship title on three occasions, the Championship play-off final once, League One once and finishing as runners-up in the Championship once.

Smith’s time at Norwich is fondly remembered by fans for the time she went on to the pitch and took the microphone from the club announcer during a home game against Manchester City in 2005.

She proclaimed to fans in the stadium: “This is a message for the best football supporters in the world. We need a 12th man here. Where are you? Where are you? Let’s be ‘avin’ you. Come on.”

They sold the club to Norfolk Holdings, a group led by American businessman Mark Attanasio, in April 2024, with the couple remaining at Norwich as honorary life presidents.

Some of Smith’s best known cookery programmes include Delia Smith’s Cookery Course, Delia’s How To Cook and Delia Smith’s Winter Collection, which all aired on the BBC.

She also baked the cake which was used on the cover of The Rolling Stones’ 1969 album Let It Bleed.