Dave Myers: Hairy Bikers star’s wife Liliana pays tribute to ‘wonderful, brave man’

29 February 2024

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption,

Myers met wife Liliana while filming in Romania

The wife of Hairy Bikers star Dave Myers has posted a touching tribute to her “wonderful, brave man” following his death from cancer at the age of 66.

Myers was known as one half of the much-loved TV cooking duo.

“Rest in peace, my love,” Liliana Myers wrote on Facebook. “My wonderful, brave man! Till next time we meet!”

More tributes have flooded in from those who worked with Myers and his TV partner Si King, and who they met on their motorcycle trips around the UK.

The pair travelled the country and the world over two decades to make much-loved shows about the food and people they found.

Image caption,

The Hairy Bikers Go West is their latest and last series

Their first series, 2006’s The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook, was partly filmed in Romania – where Myers met his future wife, who was working in a hotel.

They kept in touch but didn’t fall in love until she came to the UK to visit him on holiday a few years later.

‘My heart melted’

Speaking in 2021, she recalled: “I was blown away by one tiny little thing. He picked me up from the airport… It was about midnight and he opened the fridge and he said, ‘What do you want me to cook for you?’

“I’d never ever in my life had a man cook for me. So that was the very first thing that just hit me. I was visiting as a friend, but from that moment on my heart just melted.”

Following Myers’ death, tributes have also been paid by fellow TV chefs including Paul Hollywood, Nigella Lawson, Andi Oliver and James Martin, who described Myers as “a very special man”.

Saturday Kitchen host Matt Tebbutt told BBC Radio 4’s The World At One that he was “one of the good ones”.

“He was an absolute joy to work with,” Tebbutt said. “He was just so down to earth, self deprecating, he was normal. There were no airs and graces.

“He was a genuinely lovely guy who genuinely enjoyed and loved what he did. I think that shines through in all the shows.

“The nation loved him because he was that bloke that you could relate to. Whether you saw him out in the shops or down the pub or wherever, he was just a normal, nice guy.”

Prosthetic work

Before finding fame, Myers worked as a BBC make-up artist for 23 years, specialising in prosthetics. He met King when they both worked on the set of 1995 period drama The Gambling Man.

Actor Robson Green was among the stars of that show. Green wrote on Instagram: “David’s warm smile, hearty laugh, and genuine love for people were not just the ingredients of his success but a reflection of his zest for life.

“His presence brightened our screens, and his heart and soul inspired all who knew him and many others to embrace the simple pleasures of sharing a meal with loved ones.”

TV journalist Pam Royle also knew Myers before he moved in front of the camera. “Truly lovely man,” she wrote on X.

“Enjoyed conversations with Dave in make up room at TyneTeesTV during filming of Catherine Cookson dramas. His prosthetic work was phenomenal.”

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Video caption,

Watch: Dave Myers spoke on BBC Breakfast in November about how he and Si King became friends

The Hairy Bikers also made an impression on the many people they met on their travels.

Matt Waldron, head chef at the Stackpole Inn in Pembrokeshire, which they visited for The Hairy Bikers Go Local, said he was “such a genuinely nice bloke”.

“They had such a passion for food and travel,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live. “The infectious energy that they had, especially trying to support local producers and local restaurants, that was their key.”

Jo Williams, former head of Wilson’s Endowed Primary School in Over Kellet in Lancashire, recalled the pair’s visit in 2008.

“They made the children laugh, they were so giving of their time,” she told BBC Radio Lancashire. “He pushed his face against the glass and made silly faces at them to make them all giggle.

“And from that, he just became a friend of the school. The children would send them Christmas cards and they would reply. Dave in particular would send us texts and good wishes.”

‘He always lit up a room’

Jimmy Butler, a pig farmer in Blythburgh, Suffolk, also hosted the Hairy Bikers, who sampled his wife’s cooking “and then we went out to the pigs, and they sat down in the mud”.

He told BBC Radio Suffolk: “What I particularly liked about them was, whether they were on camera or off camera, there was absolutely no difference to them at all.

“The pair of them were just nice, friendly people with a terrific knowledge of cooking and the world. And they’re just nice people to work with. Just a joy.”

Chef Tommy Banks echoed those feelings. “I really enjoyed the times that I spent with Dave he always lit up a room,” he wrote on Instagram.

“Such a genuine, kind and good person. Always so positive, even in the last few years. He really was one of the best and he will be sorely missed.”

‘Never a dull moment’

Fellow chef Gennaro Contaldo wrote: “Such a lovely man, I’m going to miss your smile and optimism.”

The Hairy Bikers’ publishers Orion Books remembered Myers’ “infectious energy and passion for food and travel”.

“There was never a dull moment working with Dave, and all who were lucky enough to do so will attest to what a brilliantly inspiring and kind and hardworking man he was.”

Meanwhile, fans on social media said the Hairy Bikers had inspired them and their families to try more cooking.

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