Hairy Bikers star Dave Myers feared being 'judged' if he revealed what cancer he had prior to his death

The TV chef died ‘peacefully at home’ at the age of 66 on Wednesday night
Lisa McLoughlin 1 March 2024
The Weekender

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Hairy Bikers star Dave Myers revealed he didn’t want to specify the type of cancer he had after announcing his diagnosis because he feared the public might start drawing conclusions about his health.

The TV chef died at the age of 66, according to a statement on Thursday from his co-star Si King on social media.

King, who was a part of the motorcycle-riding cooking duo, said Myers had “been fighting cancer for the past couple of years”.

In 2022 Myers told The Guardian that he decided not to disclose what type of cancer he had “because everybody then goes Googling, everybody becomes an amateur doctor... And I don’t want to be judged – yet”.

In the wake of his passing, the last photo of Myers emerged showing him posing with King in front of a TV as they watched the first leg of their final series, The Hairy Bikers Go West, together.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, they captioned it: “How did everyone enjoy the first episode of Go West?”

Following news of Myers’ death, his widow Liliana paid tribute to her “wonderful, brave” husband.

In a Facebook post, Myers’ widow Liliana said: “Rest in peace, my love. My wonderful, brave man. Till next time we meet!”

On The One Show, TV chef Matt Tebbutt, who starred alongside Myers on Saturday Kitchen, described his co-star as a “genuinely lovely guy”.

He told presenters Alex Jones and Roman Kemp: “He was very down to earth.

“He was a genuinely lovely guy. Very funny, kind hearted, very warm, engaging.”

“And also, which is a very rare thing, he was the same on screen as he was off screen”, he added.

“And as we know, in this industry, that’s not always the case.

“But Dave was very, very much like that, and to have him around, it kind of made the world brighter and a personality like that, it makes the days go quicker.”

Myers’ Strictly Come Dancing professional dance partner Karen Hauer, who performed alongside the Hairy Biker on the show’s 11th series, also paid tribute.

The 41-year-old said: “Rest well my dear friend. I’m going to miss you so much.”

Myers had started his working life as a make-up artist and first met his co-star and friend King in 1995 while working on a TV drama called The Gambling Man.

Their first TV appearance together was The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook in 2004, which was part cooking show and part travel programme and in the first episode the duo rode the length of Portugal.

Subsequent shows included The Hairy Bikers Ride Again, The Hairy Bikers’ Food Tour Of Britain, The Hairy Bikers: Mums Know Best, The Hairy Bikers’ Cook Off and Hairy Bikers: Best Of British.

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