Hairy Bikers’ star Dave Myers has heartbreakingly recalled the ‘destructive’ first round of chemotherapy he underwent (Picture: BBC)
Hairy Bikers star Dave Myers has heartbreakingly recalled the ‘destructive’ first round of chemotherapy he undertook after being diagnosed with cancer.
The 66-year-old TV chef revealed his diagnosis in May 2022, joking at the time that he’d be a ‘baldy biker’ for now.
In subsequent updates, he told fans that his cancer became ‘something one learns to live with’, while his onscreen partner Si King recalled the ‘distressing’ and ‘difficult’ months they’ve faced.
In a new documentary, Dave has now opened up about his treatment, after fearing he didn’t think he’d still ‘be here’ this Christmas.
His wife, Liliana Orzac, also recalled how their world ‘collapsed’ when they found out about his diagnosis.
Talking about the moment he found out he had cancer, Dave remembered the precise time he had been driving on the motorway at night in France when the doctor rung to tell him.
‘I can’t remember the rest of the drive home, it was like everything collapsed around us,’ Liliana added.
‘It’s like, “Where do we go from here?”‘ Dave continued, before Si explained his ‘disbelief’ when he found out.
Dave revealed his cancer diagnosis last year as he underwent chemotherapy (Picture: BBC)
Si King explained his ‘disbelief’ at the news (Picture: BBC)
The 57-year-old said: ‘When I first got the call, what went through my mind was disbelief, and a refusal to believe it in a way.
‘It’s the word, isn’t it, the word that everybody fears.’
He added that the moment it ‘got real’ was when Dave went to chemo for the first time, before it ‘got really real’ when he lost all his hair.
‘The first lot of chemo was very, very destructive,’ Dave shared, recalling how he was told by an oncologist that he would be ‘taken to the edge’.
‘You don’t realise what an impact it can have, the debilitating effects kick in quite quickly.
‘My sense of taste and appetite went, I was poorly, you see your weight drop and you’ve got to eat, but it’s finding something you want to eat.
Dave’s wife Liliana described how ‘everything collapsed’ after the diagnosis (Picture: BBC)
Si recalled the difficulties they faced as Dave underwent treatment (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)
‘I had sores in my mouth. I would fall over quite a lot.’
‘It was hard, and it is hard to see him physically struggling with the effects of the treatment,’ Liliana adds.
‘By the second lot of chemo, my hair came out. It really is quite radical, it’s not a gradual moulting, your hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, beard, everything just goes,’ Dave went on.
‘It was all about survival, getting through from one week to the next.’
As Si spoke about how he watched Dave suffering through that period, he added: ‘I could not see a way forward, I just couldn’t.’
Dave elsewhere addressed why he hasn’t spoken about what form of cancer he’s been diagnosed with, saying it’s ‘my business’, and he doesn’t want speculation over how long he has to live.
In emotional scenes, Dave was back on his bike (Picture: BBC)
‘It was like a miracle had happened’ (Picture: BBC)
‘I was crying inside but I had to be showing him a pretty face and a smile, and maybe push him to get him out of the state of depression,’ Liliana continued, saying it wasn’t ‘easy’ to ‘push’ Dave at the time.
During filming, Dave, who underwent his 37th round of chemotherapy, got back on his bike for the first time in emotional scenes.
‘I knew I’d got my man back,’ Liliana said, remembering Dave returning to a bike shop and putting his helmet back on to take his new bike for a spin.
‘It was like a miracle had happened, because it was something we thought he’d never do again. But he does it.’
‘I was jumping for joy, not for any other reason, but to see my best mate doing what he does,’ Si added.
The Hairy Bikers: Coming Home for Christmas is available to watch on iPlayer.
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‘It was all about survival.’