Si King has opened up in his first TV interview since his Hairy Bikers co-star and lifelong friend Dave Myers died at the age of 66 in February.
The 58-year-old is releasing his and Myers’ cookbook – The Hairy Bikers: Our Family Favourites – eight months after his friend’s death, and while talking about it on The One Show this evening, he said their friendship will never die.
Myers died two years after announcing that he was undergoing chemotherapy for an unspecified strain of cancer.
‘It’s the book that Dave and I started before he passed,’ said Si on the BBC show.
‘I really wanted to finish it in his honour. It’s all those recipes that have stuck with us throughout the years.’
Over 20 years, the iconic duo biked across the country and world sharing their warm friendship and mutual love of food with the world, starring in over 30 TV series and specials together during their partnership.
‘Just because Dave’s passed it doesn’t stop you being a friend. The spirit of our relationship will always be there,’ Si said of his life-long pal, before explaining how important food is to humanity and friendship as a social glue.
When asked how he was, Si replied: ‘It’s been a big loss, I’m coping okay, thank you. It’s a big adjustment. I know Dave would have wanted me to keep pushing on.
‘I want to look after the legacy we built because I think it deserves the respect Dave and myself put into it.
‘There will be some pastures new that will come my way I’m sure.’
Earlier this month Si wrote an article for The Sunday Times, revealing that grief left him on the verge of ‘jumping on my bike’ and leaving it all behind.
‘I’ll be honest with you, the past few months have been a struggle,’ he wrote.
‘More than once I was on the verge of jumping on my bike and heading into the sunset. Not tell anyone where I was going. Just clear off and never come back,’ he said.
He continued: ‘Other times I was raging. Raging at that bloody disease, at God and anything else I could think of. People were asking what I was going to do next.
‘The answer is I am going to take some time to reflect on the life I had with my best mate, and think about moving forwards.
Si announced Myers’ death on social media in a heartbreaking statement which said he couldn’t ‘put into words’ how he was feeling.
‘My best friend is on a journey that for now, I can’t follow. I will miss him every day and the bond and friendship we shared over half a lifetime,’ he said.
The One Show airs on BBC One at 7pm every weekday.
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