A police spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of an ongoing investigation, said the body was found on a rocky coast by a private boat and formal identification was pending.
Mosley went missing on the small eastern Aegean island of Symi on Wednesday afternoon after reportedly leaving a beach to go for a walk.
A police source has told the BBC the deceased had been dead for a number of days.
His wife had described the search for her husband as an “unbearable” ordeal but had been clinging to hope he would be found alive.
Mosley is well-known in Britain for his regular appearances on television and radio and his column in the Daily Mail newspaper. He is known outside the UK for his 2013 book The Fast Diet, which he co-authored with journalist Mimi Spencer.
The “5:2 diet” set out how people can lose weight fast by minimising their calorie intake for two days in a week while eating healthily over the other five.
He went missing while on holiday with his wife on the small Greek island of Symi.
A massive search and rescue operation was launched, including a police dog and a drone covering hard to reach areas, BBC News reported on Friday.
Mosley, 67, and his wife, Dr Clare Bailey, arrived on the island on Tuesday (local time) where they were to spend a week with a couple who have a house in the village, reported the Daily Mail, for whom Mosley is a columnist.
Together, the couples took a boat up the coast on Wednesday morning, stopping at St Nicholas beach.
Mosley's body has been found. Photo / Greg Bowker
Mosley went for a swim before setting off on a walk back to the home they were staying at in the centre of the island at 1.30pm on Wednesday.
His phone was found in the place he was staying. His wife reported him missing at 7.30pm that day when he hadn’t returned.
A post shared in a local Facebook group was appealing to anyone on the island of about 2500 people who may have seen Mosley.
It read: “Have you seen this man? He set off to walk back from St Nick’s at about 13.30 and failed to make it home. His friends are concerned as it is 6 hours since they last saw him. His name is Dr Mike Mosley and he is a familiar face for many British people.”
What could have happened?
Greek police spokesman Constantina Dimoglidou told the Daily Mail: “He may have slipped, tripped, fallen, even been bitten by a snake, remaining injured somewhere.
“There is just no trace of him. None whatsoever. And that means that for us at least, every potential scenario is open and being investigated.”
Dimoglidou said: “We’re looking everywhere for him … It’s rugged terrain with high spots, so it’s possible that he fell.”
A rescue operation on Friday focused on the Pedi area of Symi after a woman saw him there days earlier, the island’s deputy mayor Ilias Chaskas told BBC News.
Who is Dr Michael Mosley?
A BBC science journalist and author, Mosley is one of the most famous doctors on television. He has written several popular books on intermittent fasting and blood-sugar diets and was one of the first people to make popular the 5:2 diet.
He is an Emmy-nominated host, appearing on NZ screens in the show Trust Me, I’m a Doctor along with a long list of television and radio interviews locally.
Mosley, a trained GP, is known for putting his body on the line in the name of research. He is one of the leading advocates for intermittent fasting as well as low carbohydrate and ketogenic diets.
Michael Mosley was outspoken about the need for governments to intervene with legislation to control Big Food in the same way they have Big Tobacco. Photo / Greg Bowker
He published a book on using diet to improve sleep, called Fast Asleep, after revealing he suffered from chronic insomnia. Another book, The 8-week Blood Sugar Diet, was published at the end of 2015.
He has a podcast called Just One Thing which unpacks “simple things scientifically proven to improve your life” and is currently a regular columnist for the Daily Mail.
The father of four visited New Zealand with his wife in 2023 to talk about weight loss, sleep, wellness, and how the body works in his live show, A Life Changing Experience.
Ahead of that visit, Mosley spoke to The Project NZ. Asked if anyone would want to live to 101, Mosley told host Jesse Mulligan: “What most of us want to do is lead a long and reasonably healthy life and then get run over by a bus perhaps while kite surfing or getting eaten by a shark. That’s my ambition anyway.”
