Dave Myers, star of Hairy Bikers, claimed he didn’t believe he’d ‘be here’ this Christmas.
The 65-year-old TV chef, who announced his cancer diagnosis last year, has continued to keep fans updated during his treatment, and at the start of 2023 he revealed that the sickness was “something one learns to live with.”
Dave returned to work this year, reuniting with his co-star Si King in the forthcoming holiday special The Hairy Bikers: Coming Home for Christmas.
The couple prepare for everyone from the medical professionals who aided with Dave’s treatment to food manufacturers who helped him fall back in love with food, as well as loved ones who’ve supported him ‘through his darkest days’ in the episode, which airs on Tuesday.
Reflecting on the new special, he said: ‘It’s a glorious celebration of life and Christmas. It’s a beautiful programme that we are both very proud of.
‘It’s a Christmas I never thought I’d be here to enjoy and thanks to these people I am which I’m heartily grateful for. It’s not closure as I’m still having treatment but it’s a bloody good milestone.’
Dave described the new special as a ‘very different’ and ‘very personal’ programme, as well as a ‘brave’ project for the pair.
‘I’ve been ill for the last 18 months and our work-life has been a mishmash and when it was muted we slowly got back to work and then we did a Christmas special,’ he explained.
‘We wanted it to be different and there’s one thing about food and sharing it with people you love and care about, and it’s so much more vital to do that. This time we shared that food with people I owe my life to.
‘There’s the nurses, the consultants, the physiotherapists who taught me to walk again. There was a guy who sold me a motorbike and got me back onto bikes, because I had to learn to ride again. It really is a joyous occasion.’
He admitted he and Si made sure to open up ‘without oversharing too much’, and it was ‘amazing getting back on the bikes together’ with his friend taking the lead.
‘That feeling of again doing what we’ve done for 30 years was magical. Si’s got shoulders like a bison and following that silhouette into the landscape was joyous. It was like getting my wings back,’ Dave added.
’Knowing Si has been there [during the treatment] is fantastic. A lot of the credit has to also go to my wife, she’s been there through it all with me from the start. It’s absolutely vital and I feel really sad for those people who have to go through it on their own.’
Naturally, food has been ‘vital’ during his treatment and recovery, both with his appetite and ‘getting the calories in’.
‘Sometimes I have to give myself a good talking to because if you’re feeling rough, you don’t feel like eating but you have to do it. There are moments when you get back into food that you look forward to it again,’ he said.
‘It’s important to find things that you like as well during that journey. It’s the stuff of life. It doesn’t matter if you’re a prince or pauper, everyone has something that they like to eat. Pancit noodles now have legendary status for me.’
The Hairy Bikers: Coming Home for Christmas airs 9pm, Tuesday 19 December.
Macmillan cancer support
If you or someone you care about has been diagnosed with cancer, Macmillan can offer support and information.
You can contact their helpline on 0808 808 00 00 (7 days a week from 8am to 8pm), use their webchat service, or visit their site for more information.
Source My Celebrity Life.