Si King says that Hairy Bikers brand is no more following death of his co-star and best friend Dave Myers

57-year-old King and the late Myers, who died of cancer earlier this year, worked together for two decades and fronted numerous cooking TV shows as the Hairy Bikers. They also wrote a number of books and made many live TV appearances.

Myers passed away aged 66 in February following a long two year battle with cancer. King was one of those who was by his side when he died. He now said it wouldn't be “respectful” to his late friend for him to continue as a Hairy Biker on his own.

Speaking to The Guardian, King explained his decision further and said: “It can't be the Hairy Bikers 2.0. That's not going to happen. It wouldn't be respectful.” He added: “It's definitely a time of change and change comes at a cost and that cost has been my best friend.”

Paying tribute to his late friend, he continued: “What was wonderful about my mate Dave was that he absolutely embraced the moment. He used to drive me mad. I'd tell him to say something negative for a bit, but he just loved being a Hairy Biker.”

He continued: “Dave and I were two very different people with different agendas and priorities, but we adored each other. The only strategy we had was that if one was vociferously against doing something, then we wouldn't do it. But Dave was always ready to say yes, much more than me. More times than not he'd win by being relentlessly positive.”

King also revealed that he found being a Hairy Biker “exhausting” and said the pair had to “hang on a minute” and listen to their bodies while recording the shows. The news comes after King announced that the last ever Hairy Bikers cookbook will be out in October. He said he had wanted to finish the book, titled Our Family Favourites, in honour of his “best friend” and he had finished writing it “with love”.

In a video posted to Facebook, the TV chef said he had talked about the book regularly with his friend before making his choice and said it felt right for it to be published. He told fans: “We have a new book called Our Family Favourites and I just wanted to talk about it a little bit. It's a book that Dave and I discussed at length and I want to finish to honour my best friend.

“It's full of recipes that have remained favourites over the years and stay close to our hearts. It's out in October but you can preorder now. It's a really special book written with love and in memory of my lovely mate.”

King and Myers met when they were both working in the film industry and bonded over their love of food and motorbikes. They became best friends and worked as a duo in their career. They worked on 31 separate projects since they first debuted on the BBC back in 2006. Myers was diagnosed with cancer in 2022 and briefly took a break from work shortly afterwards, before filming his last show with King, The Hairy Bikers Go West.

You can pre-order Our Family Favourites on Amazon now. The book will be released on October 24.