TV psychic Derek Acorah: 'Maddie is dead' It's incredibly distasteful and insensitive. A spokesman for the couple added: "Kate and Gerry believe their daughter is alive and the Metropolitan Police are currently pursuing an investigation to that effect. If anyone credible has any credible evidence that she is alive they would come forward. Mr Acorah, who used to host television show "Most Haunted," added he was surprised his comments had upset Madeleine's family. "I would hate to offend or upset the McCanns as a parent myself," he said. He has claimed he received his information from a spirit messenger called Sam, shortly after Madeleine vanished from a Portugal holiday resort five years ago. He said he had been asked to travel there to assist with the search, but had contacted Sam to seek guidance before leaving. He said: "I sat in my meditation room and I asked the spirit world and Sam confirmed she was dead. It is horrible but he said there was no purpose for me to go there. Mr Acorah added he did not travel to the Praia da Luz resort to spare the McCann family any unnecessary suffering. "I wasn't going to bring extra misery to them," he said. I do know that they will find out what happened to Maddie one day. Mr Acorah, who made his comments to the Sun while promoting his latest tour, is proclaimed "without question, the number one television psychic in the UK" on his website. He rose to fame on "Most Haunted," where he would communicate with spirits, before moving on to present "Derek Acorah's Ghost Towns." The McCann family, who have released a photograph showing what they believe their daughter looks like now on the fifth anniversary of her disappearance, hope a new police investigation will allow them to finally discovery what happened.