TV chef Si King has opened up about the death of his Hairy Bikers co-star Dave Myers, describing the past few months as a ‘struggle.’
The star died at the age of 66, two years after announcing that he was undergoing chemotherapy for an unspecified strain of cancer.
He and King first appeared on television together in 2004, starring in the travelogue cooking show The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook. During this first season, they cooked their way across Namibia, The Isle of Man, Ireland, and Transylvania.
Between then and 2024, the double act continued to cook and travel together, starring in over 30 TV series and specials together during their decades-long partnership.
Myers passed away in February this year, with his co-star, 57, sharing an emotional tribute on social media to announce the sad news.
Eight months later, King has revealed how he has been holding up in the time since Myers’ passing.
Penning a piece for The Sunday Times, King revealed 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.
‘Which is exactly what Dave would have wanted. Move forward, don’t dwell on the past,’ King finished.
Elsewhere in the piece, King reflected on their decades-long friendship, which began after meeting on the set of the 1995 TV miniseries The Gambling Man – bonding over beers and a curry.
Of their legacy, King said: ‘Hopefully we caught the attention of people who didn’t normally watch swanky cooking programmes on telly.
‘Overweight, scruffy, working-class northerners don’t often get presented with an opportunity like the Hairy Bikers.
He added: ‘It was a beautiful, magical thing and I’ll miss it. I’ll miss him. But there is a future for me, and I’m excited for what’s coming next.’
Earlier this year, the celebrity chef’s life and legacy was celebrated in his home town of Barrow-in-Furness.
This event, known as Dave Day, included a motorcycle procession from London, a music concert, and a service of remembrance.
More than 20,000 bikers made the journey, raising £127,000 for charity – split between the NSPCC and the Institute of Cancer Research.
During the event, an emotional King said: ‘Dave would be enormously proud of you, you’re a good bunch.’
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