Jeff Brazier has made a Jade Goody promise (Picture: Dave Bennett/Getty Images)
Bobby Brazier’s tribute to his late mum Jade Goody on Strictly Come Dancing resonated with so many people, and dad Jeff Brazier was one of them.
The 44-year-old watched as his first son opened up about his grief on a public stage, and he was in awe.
Jeff, who was speaking to Metro.co.uk through Natwest’s campaign to highlight financial scams has now reflected on the special night, and his own promise to keep Goody’s legacy alive.
‘To say it was emotional would be an understatement. It was really brave of him to share his loss with the nation effectively,’ he shared.
‘It definitely produced some tears. Bobby can be exceptionally proud and if that’s the thing he’s always remembered for on Strictly then that’s an incredible and a very worthwhile legacy.
‘He promoted a conversation around grief. Not everybody talks about it and you can imagine a lot of households around Britain would have been doing so on that occasion.
‘It gives people an opportunity to say “I don’t feel so good.” I know he feels proud about doing it.’
Bobby and Dianne performed a beautiful tribute to Goody (Picture: PA)
Speaking about what Goody would have thought of the performance, Jeff said: ‘She would have been proud, but she was proud the minute the boys were born.’
With Big Brother being rebooted this year – the series that catapulted Goody, who died aged 27 from cervical cancer in 2009, into the spotlight, and Bobby, 20, opening up about his experience of losing his mum in his performance with Dianne Buswell, there is naturally more interest surrounding the late reality star again.
Speaking about loss isn’t easy for most people, but Jeff explained that it can be helpful for him.
Jeff is committed to honouring Goody(Picture: PA Archive/PA Images)
‘They say time is a healer but I’m not sure I subscribe to that. We’re the healers. Ultimately I don’t think that we can hope that if 10 years go by and we haven’t spoken about our loss, then it sort of fades away. It is more a case of when you are brave enough to discuss with someone that’s actually when the healing takes place,’ he told us.
‘Unfortunately with grief, we have to solve the discomfort of talking about the worst thing that’s happened to us to move forward.
‘I can speak about grief all day long. I’m just really pleased that Bobby, who doesn’t often speak about it, certainly not publicly, was able to honour his mom in such a special, creative way.’
Honouring Goody is something Jeff is committed to doing: ‘I’m always more than happy to talk about loss because I see that as a responsibility in all honesty.
‘I am more than happy to speak about Jade because she absolutely deserves to be honoured for the rest of my time here.’
Jeff won’t be doing Strictly after Bobby (Picture: Rex)
Bobby has thrown himself into the Strictly experience, and Jeff even joked he is insisting on being called Patrick Swayze this week as he’s taking on a Dirty Dancing-themed salsa.
Jeff is so impressed with Bobby that he’s decided that there is no way he could follow in Bobby’s dance steps and do the BBC series. ‘I can’t follow those hips,’ he quipped.
While he also praised Bobby for his self-confidence – something he doesn’t always have. ‘He’s not worried about what people think, but I’m a lot more self-conscious and probably a little bit more fearful in my approach to things at times,’ he shared.
Jeff is proud of both his sons (Picture: Instagram/Bobby Brazier)
In his recent VT ahead of the contemporary performance to Maxwell’s This Woman’s Work, Bobby shared how he hoped to make his dad proud, and the statement ‘upset’ Jeff.
‘It made me feel sort of upset. I was almost in a rush to say to him, “You achieved that a long time ago.” He doesn’t have to sit there and think “What will my dad think?” or “What do I need to do to get any validation from my parents?”
‘We’re all just happy that he’s in one piece, has good manners, and leaves a good impression on people – that’s enough.
‘Neither Jade or I needed Bobby to act in EastEnders, model for Dolce and Gabbana, dance on Strictly Come Dancing or whatever he does next.
‘It wouldn’t require any of that to make Jade proud or me.
‘He can be a window salesman for example, and I’ll still be delighted.’
Jeff was apprehensive about his children becoming famous (Picture: Jon Furniss/WireImage/Getty)
Initially, Jeff had reservations about Bobby and his brother Freddie, 19, joining the world of showbiz.
‘It was always a concern because I remembered my own experiences. Certainly, both myself and his mum experienced highs and lows. Celebrities were scrutinised to intense levels back in those days, and as a result, your mental health suffers greatly.’
He continued: ‘Naturally when the kids were younger, I was quite apprehensive about what I felt was possibly inevitable given the offers they were always likely to receive because people are always going to want to know what happened to Jade’s kids.
‘I took them out of the public eye so they could decide for themselves at 18. For now, I’ve got one who is ready to find his way in the industry and another who wants to stay private.’
Jeff didn’t want Bobby to just be someone’s son (Picture: PA)
The wise dad had one piece of advice for them both if they wanted to pursue showbiz.
‘I have always told them that you’ll find the industry so much more pleasing if you’re not just there as someone’s son. To not be someone’s son, you need to be something else so Bobby is a model and an actor. Those things can’t be taken away from you.
‘It’s not a disrespect to myself or anything that I’ve done, or to their mother who achieved incredible things given where she came from but I sort of became irrelevant.
‘I was somebody’s partner because I was swept up in the absolute machine. It’s difficult when you lose your identity and so I wanted to make sure that the children very much had their own.’
Jeff and son Freddie are working together (Picture: Joe Pepler/PinPep)
Although Freddie has stayed out of the spotlight more than Bobby, he has joined his dad for the Natwest campaign where they appear in a special advert together promoting a board game designed to educate players about scams.
Jeff shared why he got involved: ‘So many of us have experiences of people dishonestly trying to make us part with our cash. It can be devastating when you fall victim to it.’
According to Natwest’s latest statistics, 13% of Brits have lost money to scams in the past 12 months, and while 73% of people think talking about it would help, 42% rarely or never have those conversations.
‘I want to hopefully promote families having the conversation around scams and to take the shame out of it.
‘Sometimes we want to see the best in people and so we don’t make the best judgments.’
When Jeff’s not playing the board game over Christmas, he’ll be spending time in his campervan – along with sons Bobby and Freddy as well as wife Kate Dwyer, he plans on driving to the coast on Christmas Eve.
In the morning, they’ll take a dip in the sea in memory of Goody: ‘It’s our thing.’
‘Being in the campervan is complete freedom, and although a bit of sun is nice we don’t need fancy holidays,’ he sweetly declared.
‘We’ll have a beautiful time even if Bobby is knackered!’
Jeff Brazier and son Freddie appear in a new Christmas-ad style video to launch a board game by NatWest aimed at raising awareness of common scams. ‘All Mod Cons’ will be available to play in select branches from 1st December so visit the website to see if your local branch is taking part.
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Jeff and Goody had two children together.
