Bobby Davro is desperately trying to “smile through the absolute agony” of watching his fiancée fight cancer, he has said in a moving interview. The 64-year-old entertainer told through tears how long-time partner Vicky Wright is battling pancreatic cancer.
He said they were dealing with the “devastating” diagnosis by trying to keep on laughing. And he hopes going public will help others whose partners have been struck down by illness, reports the Daily Star.
Bobby, 64, said: “My best advice for someone in a similar position is that laughter is the best medicine.” He added: “I always remember this quote, ‘Don’t let the world change your smile – get your smile to change the world’.”
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Bobby told how Vicky, 63, learned she had the disease last year. The pair got engaged in December after 12 years together and Vicky said at the time: “I’m on cloud nine.” They threw a party to celebrate and a source said: “Vicky was touched with all the messages. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house. They plan to tie the knot next year.”
Bobby said: “To see someone as beautiful as her with this illness is horrific. It’s so sad.” He went on: “It’s extremely, extremely, extremely painful.” And he revealed he had been coping by carrying on working, explaining: “Thank goodness I’ve got my work, because it keeps my mind off this for a bit of time.”
Bobby has just finished a short Easter panto run in Rapunzel. On Sunday (April 30), he will perform at a stand-up charity gig with his old friend Jim Davidson in Great Yarmouth to raise money for The Caister Lifeboat Appeal.
But he said: “I don’t want the fact I’m keeping working to sound selfish. Everyone who knows me knows it’s just a distraction for a bit of time from trying to help Vicky. I need to see people laughing, and I like that I can still make people laugh while dealing with this.”
Vicky’s dad died from pancreatic cancer, which is difficult to spot until at an advanced stage. Dad-of-three Bobby said: “Vicky’s illness is a tragedy, and it’s been a personal and family tragedy until now. But now I hope talking about it can help other people.
“There are millions of other people with partners and wives and husbands who are going through the same thing. I just want to tell them you have to push forward and get back up – and never, ever let life beat you.
“But this is just really painful.” Bobby shot to fame in the 1980s with his Saturday primetime telly shows including Bobby Davro On The Box, and Bobby Davro’s TV Weekly.
He has gone on to star in EastEnders, Dancing On Ice and Celebrity Come Dine With Me.
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