Si King has lifted the lid on his future as he discussed his late friend Dave Myers in a Q&A screening for The Hairy Bikers: You’ll Never Ride Alone.
The Hairy Bikers: You’ll Never Ride Alone is a celebration of Myers’ life and the enormous legacy he leaves behind, as well as a final goodbye for the fans at home. “He was a joyous man,” King said.
Tearfully, the 58-year-old reflected on grieving for his best friend and he later revealed how he is moving forward with his life.
Speaking at a Q&A for the press screening, King said: “Just because Dave’s passed, it doesn’t stop him being my best mate. It’s not how that works, your mates for life ā and death.”
Dave Myers’ cause of death
His life was turned upside down when his best friend and other half of The Hairy Bikers, Myers, died aged 66. Myers died in February earlier this year, two years after revealing he had been diagnosed with cancer.
King spoke about his grief and added: “There’s no real timescale grief for, is there?”
He said: “It comes and comes and goes. It’s important that I honour The Hairy Bikers’ legacy. It’s important that I also do stuff I want to do still. Dave was very, very clear on that, as I would have for him if the shoe was on the other foot.”
What’s next for Si King?
With Myers never far from his mind, King has been keeping busy. Now months later, the celebrity chef has unveiled his plans for the near future.
He said: “I’m opening a takeaway restaurant kind of vibe in Sunderland. So that’s going on, I’m moving house. I’ve got a book to finish. Do I need to go on?”
Asked at the Q&A about embarking on similar adventures to what he had done with Myers, he said: “No, it would be different. It would be different because that was Dave and I, and he’s no longer with us. I would want it to be different. I think it’s very important.”
In jest, he added: “You have to ask [the BBC] to see if they’ll let me out again.”
But in all seriousness, he added: “It would need to be different but the back catalog, what I’m really proud of, is the legacy that is left. The back catalog that we have is enormous because the BBC allowed us to continue to work.”
Dave Day
The Hairy Bikers: You’ll Never Ride Alone is a one-hour special airing just before Christmas to remember Myers. It includes moving interviews with Myers’ wife Lilli and Si King as well as never-before-seen footage of The Hairy Biker duo and of course their best bits.
The film focuses on Dave Day that saw King lead 46,000 motorcyclists on a 30-mile ride to remember the late Myers. After the roaring success, Dave Day is going to return in 2025 on the 21/22 June. Surrounded by an outpouring of love, King said he was feeling “grateful”.
King said: “Iām a great believer in never taking anyone for granted, people have been incredibly supportive, and people want me to carry on, as Dave did too. Thereās been a wonderful outpouring of support which one should never take for granted, but itās always been lovely to be in receipt of.
“One should never feel entitled that you have that support because itās a lovely thing to be in receipt of. When you do what you do, you do it in isolation. You do it with your crew and then it goes out on the telly.
“Itās not like a theatre tour where itās instant gratification, weāre in peopleās front rooms so you never really know how itās received and how youāre received. Itās always incredibly flattering when people are kind about what you do and if you can make a difference to their day then thatās amazing too.”
King and Myers first met while working on a Catherine Cookson drama. It was an instant love as they bonded over a curry, four poppadoms and four pints of beer. Their friendship would span decades and in that time, they would produce 30 series together.
The Hairy Bikers: You’ll Never Ride Alone
King added: “Iām incredibly proud of the programme because itās a tribute to my best mate. Dave Day wasnāt so much cathartic, it just felt so celebratory of Daveās life. Itās not often Iām lost for words but that day I seemed to be.
“I just couldnāt believe the scale of the event and I think for the motorcycle community it was an opportunity to show their affection for Dave and the Bikers and that was on a mass scale.
“And those who werenāt in the motorcycle fraternity who lined the route was a remarkable collective, emotional tsunami of kindness and love and affection. For us to all come together as a community, it just felt like there was sense of belonging. It was a beautiful day.
“It was an amazing experience, I didnāt quite know what to expect. That was the whole thing, none of us did. We thought at the most weād get 10,000 bikes, we didnāt dream it would be 46,000 motorcycles and a 30-mile tail, it was just insane. I just felt enormously privileged.”
The Hairy Bikers: You’ll Never Ride Alone airs on Monday 23 December at 9pm on BBC TWO.
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