Hairy Bikers star Dave Myers has died aged 66, his heartbroken co-star Si King revealed today.
The TV chef had announced in May 2022 that he was receiving treatment for cancer, but never specified which type.
King announced his death on social media, saying he passed away yesterday with his family and friends by his side.
King said he will “miss him every day and the bond and friendship we shared for half a lifetime.”
Here MailOnline describes his health history.
Hairy Bikers star Dave Myers (right) has died at the age of 66, his heartbroken co-star Si King (left) announced today. The TV chef had announced in May 2022 that he was receiving treatment for cancer, but never specified which type
King announced his death on social media, saying he passed away yesterday with his family and friends by his side. Dave is pictured with his wife Liliana Orzac, who he met while filming the series in Romania. They married in 2011
King said he will “miss him every day and the bond and friendship we shared for half a lifetime.”
Benign arachnoid cyst
In 1998, Myers was diagnosed with a cyst in his brain after suffering from migraines and memory loss.
In a candid 2018 interview with the Belfast Telegraph, Myers said that year was the “worst” of his life, having lost his fiancée to cancer just months earlier.
Scans revealed a shadow on his brain and Myers was later diagnosed with a benign arachnoid cyst.
“After what happened to her (his fiancée), I was convinced I was going to die,” he said.
Emergency surgery successfully drained the cyst.
He added: ‘Strangely enough, the surgery had an amazingly beneficial effect on my hair.
‘I suffered from alopecia from the age of eight and was always bald, but then my hair grew.’
It is believed that approximately 0.5 percent of the population suffers from arachnoid cysts – the most common type of brain cyst.
It is a fluid-filled sac that is often caused by a split in the arachnoid membrane, the tissue that surrounds and protects the brain.
Glaucoma
Myers had also previously spoken about other health issues, including discovering in 2012 that he had glaucoma – an eye condition that can lead to blindness.
In the same 2018 interview, he revealed that he had initially dismissed the condition as a severe hangover.
He said: ‘When my local optician told me at a check-up in 2012 that she thought I had glaucoma, I said, ‘I don’t think so, I was out last night and I’ve probably just got a bad hangover.'”
The condition is known as the ‘silent thief of sight’ and is usually caused by fluid slowly building up in the front part of the eye, increasing the pressure within it.
As a result, the optic nerve, which connects the eye to the brain, becomes damaged.
About 700,000 people in Britain and more than 2 million in the US live with glaucoma, which is usually symptomless in its early stages.
It mainly affects people in their 70s and older, but people of any age can get it.
The condition is diagnosed by opticians during routine eye exams, which measure the pressure within the eye.
Treatment aims to lower this pressure through prescription eye drops, oral medications, laser treatment, surgery, or a combination of these options.
Myers had also previously spoken about other health issues, including discovering in 2012 that he had glaucoma – an eye condition that can lead to blindness. In the same 2018 interview, he revealed that he had initially dismissed the condition as a severe hangover. Pictured: Myers in Strictly Come Dancing in 2013 with partner Karen Hauer
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
Pre-diabetic
Writing in the Daily Mail in 2020, Myers revealed that a routine GP check-up in 2009 revealed his blood sugar levels were ‘way too high’ and he was told he was pre-diabetic.
He was prescribed metformin tablets and medication to control his blood pressure and was advised to lose some weight.
In 2012 he met metabolic expert Professor Roy Taylor from Newcastle University while filming a new series of The Hairy Bikers.
Professor Taylor’s groundbreaking research has shown that rapid weight loss can help reverse diabetes.
Myers wrote, “One day off camera, he quietly took me aside and told me that if I lost weight, I could reverse the pre-diabetic state, get off the meds, and effectively protect myself from getting complete diabetes.
‘Just two months after the experiment, Roy advised me to stop taking my diabetes tablets and to stop taking my blood pressure pills, as I had clearly lost enough weight that my organs were starting to function normally again.
‘That was a real sensation.’
He added: ‘Roy’s diagnosis was confirmed during a check-up six months after I started losing weight, when tests showed my blood sugar levels were within the normal range.
‘I’ve worked hard to maintain that weight loss and have had my blood sugar tested every six months for the past seven years and the results have remained normal.’
Unspecified cancer
Myers never specified what type of cancer he had after announcing in May 2022 that he was receiving chemotherapy.
Following his diagnosis, Myers took a short break from work before filming his latest Hairy Bikers series, which sees him travel west across Britain from Scotland to Devon.
During their Christmas special, which aired in December, he revealed chemo was “debilitating.”
“The first round of chemotherapy was very, very destructive,” he said, recalling how an oncologist told him he would be “taken to the limit.”
‘You don’t realize what an impact it can have, the debilitating effects come on quite quickly.’
He added: ‘My hair fell out during the second round of chemo. It’s really very drastic, it’s not a gradual molting, your hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, beard, everything goes just fine.’
After his 37th chemotherapy treatment, viewers also saw the emotional moment when Dave got back on his bike for the first time.
He had previously said that after his diagnosis he was sometimes too ill to walk and could no longer ride a motorcycle. He and King were in tears last year when he was able to ride again.
Earlier this month, he also shared in the first episode of the eight-part series ‘The Hairy Bikers Go West’ that he was diagnosed with anorexia after losing so much weight during his cancer treatment.