Dave Myers planned his funeral and hoped mourners would ‘loosen up’ with cocktails before church and a ‘feast’ of meat pies, chips with ‘decent wine’ after the tear-jerking service, can reveal today.
The Hairy Biker, who died on Wednesday aged 66 with his wife Lil and great friend Si King beside him, planned for his coffin to be carried out to his burial to rock anthem The Best is Yet To Come by The Scorpions, saying he hoped it would ‘cheer everyone up’.
And the Cumbrian-born star said he wanted to be remembered as ‘the bloke who had a go’, and that if people learned anything from his life it should be: ‘Never limit your ambitions. Aim for the moon and you might just get there’.
Dave’s funeral is likely to take place in March but the TV chef, who found fame in his mid-forties, set out his wishes before he became seriously ill.
Talking to Rob McGibbon for The Definite Article in the Daily Mail in 2014, Myers revealed his final wishes for his funeral.
He said: ‘I’d like vodka martinis served before a church service to get everyone loosened up.
‘To begin, I’d have a reading of Blake’s Innocence, then Vaughan Williams’ Lark Ascending to get them crying. I would be carried out to The Best is Yet To Come by The Scorpions, a good rock anthem to cheer everyone up’.
He added: ‘I’d prefer a traditional burial as I’m not keen on all that burning stuff. For the wake, I will lay on a feast of meat and potato pie and chips with some decent wines’.
Dave Myers with a cocktail in May 2020 promoting one of the Hairy Bikers’ books. He said he wanted people to loosen up with Martinis before his funeral
The final photo of the Hairy Bikers together relaxing on a sofa while watching TV together last month. Dave Myers said that meeting Si King on the set of a Catherine Cookson film was the biggest moment of his life, changing everything
Si and Dave in Hairy Bikers’ Best of British in 2011. The friends loved pies and Dave said he’d like pie and chips serrved at his wake
Dave with his wife, Liliana Orzac, who he met while filming the series in Romania. They married in 2011
Dave told Mr McGibbon that meeting Si King was the single biggest moment in his life – opening the door to a new career on TV and finding love again after losing a fiancée to stomach cancer in the 1990s.
Speaking about their friendship and career, calling it ‘the event that altered the course of your life and character’, he said: ‘Meeting Si on the set of the Catherine Cookson series The Gambling Man in 1992. He was ordering a curry for lunch when everyone else was having salad. We got talking and became inseparable’.
At that time Dave was a make-up artist and Si was a locations director.
Describing the happiest time together he said: ‘The moment we heard that The Hairy Bikers show had been commissioned in 2005.
‘A pilot had already gone out and then our producer rang to say that two series had been commissioned by the BBC. I was working as the make up artist on Spooks at the time.
He said: ‘Congratulations. You have got a lot of money to spend on food and petrol!’ Before then, Si and I had been scratching around for work and suddenly we were planning to travel to six countries to make our own show. I was so elated I felt like I was floating on air’.
Meeting Si also led to him meeting his wife Lili, who he called Lil, while filming in Romania. He said he had a ‘major regret’ over not having children – but that ‘Lil…had this ready-made family with two stepchildren’ and that changed his life.
He said that Crazy by Gnarls Barkley was the song that meant most to him.
‘It was being played everywhere in 2006 when I met Lil in Romania. It was even playing when we had our first kiss. Whenever I hear it now, it takes me back to that time and gives me a happy fuzzy glow. We got married in 2011’, he said.
Dave was previously engaged to be married to another woman, but tragically lost his bride-to-be to stomach cancer in 1998.
Describing it as the saddest time that shook his world, he said: ‘The day my fiancée Glen [short for Glynnis] died. I’d proposed to her on New Year’s Eve in 1997 and then we found out she had cancer. She died that May and she was only in her early 50s.
‘It was devastating, mind blowing, your worst nightmare. Instead of getting married, I was arranging Glen’s funeral. She was such a beautiful, wonderful person’.
Dave also reflected on how he would like to be remembered when he died.
He said he would like the public and his fans to see him as the ‘bloke who had a go’, adding that his philosophy on life was: ‘Just have a go and never limit your ambitions. Aim for the moon and you might just get there. As my dad used to say, ‘You’ve got to fill in your coupon, or you’ll never win the Pools.’.’
Another snap of the two, posted to Facebook on February 6, shows them smiling as they pose in front of a TV, which is playing their last programme together
Myers passed away on Wednesday with his friends and family by his side
The beloved duo first met when they were both working in the film industry
His final wishes emerged as the last photos of the Hairy Bikers together emerged last night, with the best friends lounging on the sofa together watching themselves on TV.
Dave and Si King were casually lying back on the sofa with their arms behind their heads. A glass of wine and a bottle of water can be seen next to King.
Another snap of the two, posted to Facebook on February 6, shows them smiling as they pose in front of a TV, which is playing their last programme together.
It was Si who announced Dave’s death yesterday.
In a heart-wrenching statement Si said: ‘Hi everyone, I’m afraid I bear some sad news.
‘Most of you will know Dave has been fighting cancer for the past couple of years.
‘Last night, on 28th February 2024, with Lili, Dave’s wife, his family, close friend David and myself by his side, he passed away peacefully at home.
‘All who knew Dave are devastated at his passing. His beloved wife brought him such happiness as did her children, Iza and Sergiu who Dave loved like his own.
‘Personally, I am not sure I can put into words on how I feel at the moment.
‘My best friend is on a journey that for now, I can’t follow. I will miss him every day and the bond and friendship we shared over half a lifetime.
‘I wish you god’s speed brother; you are and will remain a beacon in this world. See you on the other side. Love ya.’
The beloved duo first met when they were both working in the film industry – Dave as a make-up artist and Si as a locations director – and bonded over their love of food and motorbikes.
Over their career the best friends built up a reputation as the friendly faces of TV cooking, with 31 separate projects since they first debuted on the BBC in 2006.
In 2022 Dave Myers revealed he’d lost his famous beard as a result of undergoing chemotherapy for his cancer, while speaking on his on his Agony Uncles podcast
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On the latest episode of The Hairy Bikers Go West, Dave and his co-star Simon ‘Si’ King explored the Wirral in Merseyside
The statement continued: ‘I know Dave and his family would want me to thank all of you who sent messages of support in recent times.
‘It meant the world to him, his family and all The Hairy Bikers team.
‘I am sending you all much love and gratitude for those simple acts of kindness, generosity and spirit. We are eternally grateful for them.
‘May I ask you all for one further kindness and allow Lili, his wife, his family, close friends and I some time and some peace to process our huge loss.
‘I am sure I will see you all soon.’
Following his diagnosis, Myers briefly took a break from work before filming his last show with King, which sees them travel west across Britain from Scotland to Devon.
King previously said that the series, The Hairy Bikers Go West, which is airing on BBC Two, would be one they would ‘always remember’.
The next episode of the series is set to air on March 5, with weekly shows continuing until March 19.
On the latest episode of The Hairy Bikers Go West, Dave and Si explored Lancashire.
During their trip, the pair became reflective with Simon expressing his joy that they were back in action again.
He said: ‘It’s great getting back here with my best mate. We didn’t think 18 months ago that we’d be on the bikes again wandering around Dave’s backyard and it’s wonderful that we are.’
Dave briefly took a break from work before filming the latest show, which sees them travel west across Britain from Scotland to Devon.
Earlier this month Si thanked Dave for making their latest series special, after being able to return to filming.
Si said: ‘It’s a series that we will always remember, not that we won’t remember others.
‘We are very privileged to do what we do and I think this one was particularly special in general because of Dave’s health and his sheer and utter determination and love for what he does.
Si also shared this black and white photo of him sitting with Dave on a bench
Si King and Dave Myers in their final BBC cooking programme, The Hairy Bikers Go West
Karen Hauer and Dave Myers performing during rehearsals for the BBC programme Strictly Come Dancing 2013
‘Especially to continue to do it while he was having treatment took remarkable courage and energy – and adds to why Dave and I will not forget it.’
County Durham-born Si also said there is a ‘lovely moment on the first day of filming where Dave overtook me on the road on the bikes’, showing that it was ‘just like old times’.
He added: ‘Over the comms he was going, ‘Kingy, are you sure we’re going left here?’. That sort of dialogue was great and it’s what we’ve done over the last 20 years. It was really quite emotional.’
As well as his cooking adventures, Myers was well known for his warm-hearted appearance on Strictly in 2013, where he partnered with Karen Hauer.
In one particularly memorable performance Myers did a cha cha routine to Maroon 5 song Moves Like Jagger.
TV chef Paul Hollywood said he was ‘gutted’ to hear Hairy Bikers star Dave Myers had died aged 66.
Dave revealed he had lost his hair after chemotherapy treatment in 2022
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (C) and Hairy Bikers Dave Myers (L) and Si King (R) attend the British Food Fortnight Secondary School Competition at Clarence House, on January 27, 2011
Dave Myers and Si King The Hairy Bikers at the Basingstoke Festival of Food in 2009
Dave Myers and Si King enjoy a brew in London in 2006
He left the audience in stitches with exaggerated moves in a flamboyant silver shirt, before taking Hauer by the leg and pulled her along the dancefloor.
His energetic dances were memorable for their exuberance and then-judge Bruno Tonioli praised him for being ‘entertaining’ but he ended up being booted off while doing a tango to I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) by The Proclaimers half way through the series.
Before his cancer diagnosis, Dave and Si had been open about their own health issues – shedding six stone between them on The Hairy Dieters: How to Love Food and Lose Weight in 2012.
Myers was married to Liliana Orzac, whom he met while filming Hairy Bikers in Romania, and was a stepfather to her two children, Iza and Sergiu, from a previous relationship.