TV presenter Si King has admitted he “doesn’t know what else to do” after the death of his close friend and colleague Dave Myers. The pair were known together as The Hairy Bikers, combining cooking with motorcycle travelogues.
They met on the set of a TV drama in 1995 and were firm friends for almost 30 years before Dave’s death from cancer in 2024, at the age of 66. Dave fought cancer for two years before his death, and he passed away during the airing of their final series, The Hairy Bikers Go West. His death had a massive impact on his family and fans, but also on Si.
A National Treasure Duo
The pair travelled around the world and the UK, talking all things motorbikes and cooking, becoming national treasures along the way. They hosted over 30 television series and specials and wrote 27 cookbooks.
When asked in an interview with the Times how he was doing, Si, who was born in Kibblesworth, County Durham, admitted that while he was still processing the loss of his friend, he is also working incredibly hard as he was unsure what else to do.
Grief Is a Funny Thing
The 59-year-old said: “I’m all right. I mean, look, it’s challenging and I continue to work probably too hard, but I kind of don’t know what else to do.”
Si, who lives near Newcastle, also talked openly about how he felt grief following the death of Dave. Si was at his friend's bedside when he died, along with Dave's wife Liliana.
He said: “Grief’s a funny thing because it’s as individual as those who are feeling it. And it’s as complex as the character that is feeling it.
“It’s painful and it is a constant surprise because there are some days that … Well, it’s a plethora of emotions, isn’t it? It’s all the emotions. It’s confusion. It’s anger. It’s abandonment. It’s all those things that you feel as a human being when you lose somebody that important.”
The End of The Hairy Bikers
This isn’t the first time Si has talked about how much he misses Dave. Ahead of the second anniversary of his friend’s death, he talked about how there was no way anyone could replace him; that it had been the end of The Hairy Bikers.
He explained to the Radio Times: “It’s done. That’s it. The Bikers were plural. There’s no Hairy Bikers without my mate,” he declared. “Nobody’s ever going to take his place.”
Furthermore, Si talked about how Dave’s death didn’t stop him from being his best friend, maintaining that the friendship continued.
He added: “He doesn’t stop being your best mate just because he’s passed away. That’s never going to go. We were like brothers: we drove each other mad, because we were two very different people, but we absolutely adored each other.”
