Hairy Biker ‘struggling’ since Dave Myers’ death

Hairy Biker ‘struggling’ since Dave Myers’ death
11 hours ago
Lucy Clarke-Billings
BBC News

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BBC Si King and Dave Myers during filming for BBC show Hairy Bikers: Best of British BBC
TV chef Si King said the past few months have been a “struggle” following the death of his Hairy Bikers co-star Dave Myers.

Myers, who found fame alongside King, his friend of 30 years, as part of the motorcycle-riding cooking duo, died at the age of 66 in February.

In 2022, Myers had revealed his diagnosis with cancer and said he was undergoing chemotherapy.

In a first-person article for The Sunday Times, King, 57, said while he’s been on the verge of “jumping on my bike and heading into the sunset” he has decided to do “exactly what Dave would have wanted” and move forward.

“I’ll be honest with you, the past few months have been a struggle,” King said.

“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.

“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.”

In June, thousands of motorcyclists travelled from London to Myers’ hometown in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, as part of the first Dave Day, a memorial motorcycle ride in honour of the TV chef.

King has now revealed he has been putting together a new anthology of classic Hairy Bikers recipes and added that “there are a few new projects on the horizon”.

“But even if I end up doing nothing more than making bacon sarnies and playing a few gigs with my band, that’s fine by me. Happy days,” he said.

King described the last series the duo filmed together – which took place after Myers’ diagnosis – as “by far the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to do in my life”.

He said Myers illness was physically obvious but as soon as the cameras started rolling “he’d have his dukes up, ready for a scrap”.

King reflected on the memories he shared with Myers, in particular a camping trip in Namibia in which they had a “spiritual experience” looking up at the African sky, “properly” seeing their galaxy for the first time.

He also recalled how their relationship was sealed “over a tandoori chicken masala, four poppadoms and three pints of lager” after meeting on TV drama The Gambling Man in 1992.

“It was motorbikes that first got us chatting, but it soon became obvious that Dave was just as nuts about food as I was,” he said.

The pair’s 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.

King said he keeps getting asked if the Hairy Bikers have left a legacy.

“Yeah, I’d like to think we made a little bit of difference, here and there,” he said.

“Just two regular blokes, having a go at beef rendang or apple pie. Hopefully we caught the attention of people who didn’t normally watch swanky cooking programmes on telly.”

King added: “Overweight, scruffy, working-class northerners don’t often get presented with an opportunity like the Hairy Bikers.

“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.”