Location, Location, Location star Phil Spencer has revealed he has returned to work three weeks ago after losing both his parents in a horrific bridge crash.
His co-host Kirstie Allsopp shared a video with the grieving star on her Instagram page on Tuesday, revealing they were back on the set of their travel show.
She started the video with the following explanation: “So we’re back to work filming on Location, Location, Location and I wasn’t quite sure what my next post on Instagram should be.
‘My last message was about Phil’s mum and dad and you all sent such sweet, sweet messages. And Phil was so grateful…” As Phil then fell into the shot, she continued, “but I found him. There he is.’
Phil said: ‘Very grateful, and I haven’t put anything on Instagram either, but I do appreciate people’s lovely comments.’
Kirsty then added: ‘You see, he’s English and he’s a man. He’s just done really well, so kudos to Phil for that and thank you, you’ve all been so nice.”
She captioned the clip: “He is back at work and was very touched by all your messages. I even managed to get him to say it on Instagram. Bless him.’
Phil, 53, revealed last month that his parents had died in a car crash on their family farm in Littlebourne, near Canterbury, Kent, while on their way to the pub for lunch.
His co-star Kirstie, 52, later revealed that despite the recent heartbreak at Garrington Farm, Phil’s family were still carrying on with their lives as best they could.
She told the BBC Newscast podcast: ‘(Phil’s) got a lovely, lovely family and they’re very, very close and they’re all together.
‘Actually his sister got married yesterday, they went ahead with that and today they’re all going to the pub for lunch.
Back to work: Location, Location, Location star Phil Spencer has revealed he has been back to work for three weeks after losing both his parents in a horrific bridge crash
Phil Spencer, pictured, and his family were reportedly still living their lives as best they could
David and Anne, pictured, tragically died last month at the age of 82 after the crash
Their car fell off a bridge and into a river in Kent as they headed to the pub for lunch
Kirstie Allsopp, pictured right, told the BBC Newscast podcast: ‘(Phil’s) got a lovely, lovely family and they’re very, very close and they’re all together’
‘The same pub his parents went to when they died.
“He’s very stoic and pragmatic, and he believes it was right for his parents to go together.”
Flowers were spotted at the remote spot. Phil’s parents, David and Anne, who were both 82, died after their car went over a bridge and ended up upside down in a river.
Despite the efforts of paramedics and Phil’s brother Robert, who fought to save his parents’ lives by cutting their seat belts with a pocket knife and pulling them from the river, the elderly couple could not be revived.
Anne, who was cleared to drive after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, is said to have been behind the wheel at the time.
Her husband was in the front passenger seat and a live-in caregiver – a nurse from the agency – was in the backseat and managed to climb out of the car through a window and call for help.
Flowers were placed near the spot where the elderly couple’s car fell into the river
They died after their car drove over a bridge and ended up upside down in a river
Despite the efforts of paramedics and Phil’s brother Robert, the elderly couple could not be revived
Despite the devastating news, Phil said in the Instagram post announcing his parents’ death that he and his entire family are happy they were together in the end.
‘Very sad, both my wonderful parents passed away on Friday.
“As a family, we are all trying to hold on to the fact that Mom and Dad went together and that neither will ever have to grieve the loss of the other. Which in itself is a blessing.
‘Although they had both been in extremely good shape the days before (hence the sudden idea to go out for dinner), Mum and Dad’s dementia had been getting progressively worse and the long-term future was going to be challenging.
‘So much so that just a week ago mum told me she had resigned herself to the thought ‘now it looks like we’re probably going together’. And they did.
“That was what God had planned for them – and it was a good plan.”
David and Anne met at a New Year’s Eve party in the early 1960s, around the time he was ending a brief career in finance
David bought Garrington Farm, where the couple lived for decades, shortly after leaving a career in finance
The couple met at a New Year’s Eve party in the early 1960s
David and Anne met at a New Year’s Eve party in the early 1960s, around the time he ended a brief career in finance and bought Lower Garrington Farm instead.
The couple’s daughter Helen described it as a ‘step into the unknown’ as she told how David showed Anne the farm before asking her to marry him.
The happy couple then married at Canterbury Cathedral on November 4, 1964, before raising their children alongside running the new family business.
Robert said KentOnline: ‘It was a mixed farm at the time with lots to do, so Dad had little rest and was grateful for all the help he received from fellow farmers when he started.’
He explained how David’s passion was growing hops, and he regretted giving it up in the 1990s when it was no longer financially viable.
The father-of-four had studied engineering at Loughborough University, which came in handy when repairing machinery and buildings around the farm.
Robert added: “They gave us an idyllic life as children growing up on the farm. They would never have left the farm, which will always remain the center of the family.’
Anne was a horse riding enthusiast and was a member of the East Kent Hunt for many years and a volunteer for the Cobbes Meadow Riding for the Disabled Group in Chartham.
A trustee of the charity said Anne was a ‘hugely popular instructor’ among the children they helped and was ‘always happy and smiling’.
David’s best friend, Stephen Twyman, had known the 89-year-old since childhood and said he was a “nice man, quiet and thoughtful.”