Dave Myers updates: Si King leads tributes as Hairy Bikers star ...

Myers first met King in 1995 while working as a make-up artist, specialising in prosthetics, 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.

They have published more than 25 cookery books.

The pair documented their weight loss in Hairy Dieters: How To Love Food And Lose Weight, when they embarked on a campaign to lose two-and-a-half stone in three months, and comfortably passed their targets.

In January 2014, they launched The Hairy Bikers Diet Club, which includes recipes and tips to help people to live a healthier life, while not starving themselves.

Myers and King are currently on TV in the BBC Two series The Hairy Bikers Go West, which started earlier this month.

TV chef Paul Hollywood said he was “gutted” to hear Hairy Bikers star Dave Myers had died aged 66.

Commenting on the announcement post shared by Myers’ co-star Si King on Instagram, the Great British Bake Off judge said: “Gutted Si, this is terrible news! Love to all mate xx.”

The University of Central Lancashire ,where Dave Myers studied in the 70s, has paid tribute.

The statement read: 2We’re very saddened to hear that Honorary Fellow and @UCLanAlumni Dave Myers has passed away. Known as one of the iconic Hairy Bikers duo, Dave studied with us in the 70s, before going on to become a BAFTA nominated TV chef!”

Hairy Bikers star Dave Myers was supported after sharing “candid” details about his cancer diagnosis in a recent Christmas special.

Myers, who never revealed what cancer he had been diagnosed with, reflected on his treatment during new show The Hairy Bikers: Coming Home for Christmas alongside his wife Liliana Orzac.

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A statement said: “We are devastated to hear of Dave Myers’ passing and send our heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.

“We are immensely proud to have published the Hairy Bikers for over 14 years and will truly miss Dave’s infectious energy and passion for food and travel.

“There was never a dull moment working with Dave, and all who were lucky enough to do so will attest to what a brilliantly inspiring and kind and hardworking man he was.

“This is a huge loss, and all our love goes out to Si, Lil and Dave’s wider family at this time.”

Myers made his Hairy Biker debut alongside Si King onThe Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook in 2004, and have presented numerous shows together over the years.

These include The Hairy Bikers’ Food Tour of Britain in 2009, The Hairy Bikers’ Cook Off in 2010 and The Hairy Bikers’ Asian Adventure in 2014. The projects merged their love of cooking and motorcycles.

The BBC paid tribute, writing: “Dave made cooking a truly joyful adventure and he shared that joy with millions. The public loved him and his unique partnership with Si. Together they made every viewer feel like a friend.”

Myers said he did not want to specify the type of cancer he had because he felt as though the public might start drawing conclusions about his health.

Myers told The Guardian in 2022 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.”

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The Hairy Bikers met on the set of TV drama The Gambling Man in 1995 and formed a close personal and professional relationship.

“At lunch most of the crew were ordering salads and mineral water at the local pub, while I was having a curry and two pints of larger.” King told The Independent.

“When Dave came in he took one look at my lunch and went, ‘I’ll have what he’s having!’ Pretty quickly we discovered that we both loved eating, drinking and motorcycling.”

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Myers and his co-star King have been praised for shaping cookery shows at the turn of the century.

TV writer Stuart Heritage has praised the pair for shifting portrayals of masculinity on screen, too.

Heritage writes in The Guardian about how the biking duo entered TV cooking at a time when Gordon Ramsay was “screaming at celebrities on Hell’s Kitchen and swaggering around like a concussed Liam Gallagher on The F Word.”

“To cook on television at this time, especially as a man, meant leaping through millions of reductive macho hoops to show how tough you were.”

“[They] were sensitive, erudite and boundlessly enthusiastic. They weren’t just unfailingly polite to their host countries, but the ease with which they could access their emotions felt genuinely groundbreaking for the time.”

In a statement shared on X, BBC Food wrote: “We are so sad to hear that Dave Myers from The Hairy Bikers has passed away at the age of 66. He was an incredible man and a talented chef. Sending all our love to Si King, Dave’s wife Lili, family and close friends, from everyone at BBC Food.”