The TV chef Dave Myers, best known as one half of the Hairy Bikers, has died from cancer at the age of 66, his co-star, Si King, has announced.

Myers found fame alongside King, his friend of 30 years, as part of the motorcycle-riding cooking duo. He reached new fans in 2013 when he took part in Strictly Come Dancing, partnered with Karen Hauer and reaching week seven of the BBC competition.

The statement from King said: “I’m afraid I bear some sad news. Most of you will know Dave has been fighting cancer for the past couple of years. Last night, on 28 February 2024, with Lili, Dave’s wife, his family, close friend David and myself by his side, he passed away peacefully at home.

“All who knew Dave are devastated at his passing. His beloved wife brought him such happiness as did her children, Iza and Sergiu, who Dave loved like his own.

“Personally, I am not sure I can put into words how I feel at the moment. 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. I wish you god’s speed brother; you are and will remain a beacon in this world. See you on the other side. Love ya.”

Myers, born in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, announced in May 2022 that he was receiving treatment for cancer. He did not specify what type he had been diagnosed with, telling the Guardian that this was “because everybody then goes Googling, everybody becomes an amateur doctor … And I don’t want to be judged.”

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The presenter’s latest BBC Two series, The Hairy Bikers Go West, started airing this month. The show, in which they travel down the west coast of Britain from Scotland to Devon, is the first since Myers’ cancer diagnosis and has been described as “magical”.

Alongside a festive special, The Hairy Bikers: Coming Home for Christmas, it was seen as marking a more moving, touching direction to Myers and King’s shows, characterised by a growing openness and increasingly poignant meditations on the importance of celebrating life’s joys.

During the first episode, Myers said it was “a dream come true” to be back on his motorbike because he “wasn’t sure I’d ever get back in the saddle again”.

“There was a time I couldn’t balance, I couldn’t walk, I didn’t think I’d be getting on a bike,” he said.

Myers started his working life as a makeup artist and met King in 1995 while working on a TV drama called The Gambling Man. Their first TV appearance together was in The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook in 2004, which was part cooking show and part travel programme. 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, in which they embarked on a campaign to lose two and a half stone in three months and comfortably passed their targets. They followed it up in January 2014, by launching the Hairy Bikers Diet Club, which includes recipes and tips to help people to live a healthier life.

King thanked the fans who had shared messages of support in recent times and asked that Myers’ family and close friends be given time to process the loss.

“I know Dave and his family would want me to thank all of you who sent messages of support in recent times. It meant the world to him, his family and all the Hairy Bikers team. I am sending you all much love and gratitude for those simple acts of kindness, generosity and spirit. We are eternally grateful for them,” he wrote.

“May I ask you all for one further kindness and allow Lili, his wife, his family, close friends and I some time and some peace to process our huge loss. I am sure I will see you all soon.”

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