Si King has opened up about feeling guilty while filming his first solo show Channel 4’s Top of the Stops following the death of his Hairy Bikers co-star Dave Myers in 2024
Television chef Simon ‘Si’ King has opened up about suffering guilt after making a huge decision in the wake of his Hairy Bikers partner Dave Myers‘ death.
Dave, who became a household name alongside Si through their BBC cooking and motorcycling programme, died at 66 in 2024 after a cancer diagnosis. Si has since returned to TV, but described it as an “odd experience” stepping back into that rhelm without his dear friend and long-time collaborator for Channel 4’s Top of the Stops.
During an appearance on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs with Lauren Laverne, the TV personality revealed: “The first year, I didn’t want to do anything at all, I just didn’t have it in me and then when I was shooting the show, I felt a sense of guilt that I was doing something that when he wasn’t there.”
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He elaborated: “It was a very odd experience, because I was having to remember and deliver pieces to camera that I’d go ‘ah you can do this’.” Finding comfort in his production team, the TV star shared: “What was wonderful was that I had my lovely, lovely, gorgeous, talented crew, and the creative shorthand just came back like that.” Reflecting on the bittersweet moment, he added: “It was wonderful, it was just odd that he wasn’t there.”
Si also spoke about Dave’s determination to “fight” after receiving his diagnosis and their shared focus on “keeping those motorcycle wheels turning.” The phenomenal success of the Hairy Bikers brought with it significant pressures, Simon revealed, including a gruelling schedule of 200 working days annually.
This demanding filming schedule ultimately played a role in the breakdown of his marriage to ex-wife Jane. Reflecting on the impact, he explained: “It just changes you.” He added: “I’d seen so much I didn’t know what to say anymore.
“I didn’t know what to say to anybody,” Si admitted. “Because I’m not there, I don’t know the day-to-day of everybody’s lives, and what the crack is.” The TV chef went on to describe the emotional toll: “What then happens is that you become, as a person, very inconsistent emotionally because you don’t know where to put it.
“And that’s very difficult for Jane particularly, the mother of my children, and it’s the most destructive thing because nobody ever knows where they are, and there’s no sense of deep security there, which was the antithesis of what I wanted.” He candidly admitted: “I don’t mind admitting that I completely lost myself. But that was a very private thing for me and my family and my friends.
“And it wasn’t horrible. It was just well, he’s away from home and living in this mad world.”
The complete interview will be available on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds from Sunday March 29 at 10am.
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