The TV chef Dave Myers has revealed he has cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy.
The 64-year-old found fame as one half of cooking duo the Hairy Bikers, alongside his friend and fellow chef Si King.
Speaking on the Hairy Bikers – Agony Uncles podcast, with 55-year-old King, Myers spoke about his diagnosis. He said: “Anyway Kingy, I’ve got to come clean now, I haven’t been too well recently and, basically, I’ve got to have some chemo, you know all this anyway, so this year is going to be a bit quiet for me, I’m not going to be filming, some of the festivals I’m not going to be able to go to, some may be OK but this year’s a bit of a write-off for us.”
He continued by asking listeners to respect his privacy while he undergoes treatment, saying: “I have had to speak up about this because I don’t want to hide under a rock, but I would love it if people respected my privacy and just let me get on with it and give Si and our team all the support they need, that would be great. But look, the prognosis is OK, I’m going to be fine.”
He added: “I’ve just got to tuck in, look after myself, eat sensibly and get over this mess, flog books, and be a happy person so, within that, that’s where I am.
“I may be a baldy biker for a while so it’s just a warning, I don’t want to make a fuss about it, I look all right bald actually.”
Myers did not specify the type of cancer he has.
King responded to his friend by saying: “No, listen, when I first met you, dude, you looked like an upside-down Hells Angel so I like that look, I’ve always liked that look, you look cool.”
To which Myers replied: “Yeah, I know, and under different circumstances I would embrace it more, I feel, but under these circumstances it’s simply something I have to live with. Get on with it and crack on.”
Myers has previously spoken about health struggles, including discovering he had glaucoma – an eye condition that can lead to blindness. In 2018, Myers revealed he had originally dismissed the condition as a bad hangover.
