Sunday Brunch star Simon Rimmer breaks down in tears as he remembers how his father's death impacted his life

The celebrity chef, 62, spoke about the major life event with his daughter Flo, 27, on the Daily Mail podcast The Apple & The Tree. Simon revealed that in the run up to his 60th birthday, he had become anxious about growing older and his life milestones up until that point.

The TV star, who appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2017, said on the podcast episode: “Thirty, forty, fifty – they never bothered me. I wasn’t happy: it felt like a lot of the sides of my life were almost teetering. It was as though if things went the wrong way, the whole house of cards could come tumbling down.

“I knew my dad was fading. I knew we were on borrowed time with him. He died two months after that, and it really brought me back into focus”

Flo revealed that she was worried about her father in the lead up to his 60th birthday, saying: ‘You were quite emotional and sad. You were regretful about certain things that had gone a different way, or where your life was.

“That made me quite sad because you’ve done amazing things. I remember saying to you that night, you need to take a step back and actually look at where you are and what you’ve become. Maybe yeah, you haven’t hit certain milestones – but that doesn’t mean you haven’t been successful.”

However, Simon teared up as he described how the death of his father two months after his 60th changed his outlook on life. He said: “When he died, we were all there together at his hospital bed. We got to say goodbye.

“All of my drive, all of my ambition, started when I was 9 and my dad said to me, if I had my time again: I would never work for anybody else. He told me he’d only do what he wanted to do – and I have never had a proper job.

“My dad was my hero. He taught me everything about being a human being. I will never get over it – I never want to. That’s something I have learned about grief; you never want to get over it.”