Better Homes and Gardens host Johanna Griggs announces death of mother Leigh

Longtime Better Homes and Gardens host and former Olympic swimmer Johanna Griggs has announced the death of her beloved mother Leigh.

The Seven star, who has been at the helm of the lifestyle mainstay for more than two decades, took to Instagram to break the news on Sunday.

“Early this morning our beautiful matriarch passed away,” Griggs wrote. “She was our fearless leader. Our guiding light. Our voice of reason. Our inspiration.

“She gave us our values, our principles… and taught us the difference between what’s right and wrong.

“And then she taught us to stand up for, or against both of those things. She was beautiful, loving, kind, passionate, vocal, forthright, sometimes crazy and so unbelievably generous.”

Leigh, a former teacher, instilled in her family a “very much we’ll take on the world” attitude, Griggs’ sister Emma Lo Russo told The Sydney Morning Herald in a 2010 profile.

“She was a total boss lady who would fight for all of us like a lioness if we needed protection,” she wrote.

“She has shaped us all in ways that are hard to truly capture. We couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful woman to have been our mum.”