The widow of a Britain's Got Talent star has recalled how his late wife's story inspired an upcoming Emmerdale storyline.
Tina Humphrey, who wowed audiences on the ITV talent show in 2010 with her dancing dog Chandi, died aged 45 after a battle with cancer. She swallowed a lethal cocktail of drugs before turning to husband Steve and telling him how much she loved him as she held his hand.
Steve is now honouring his wife’s memory by working alongside Emmerdale to ensure Faith Dingle's final storyline is executed sensitively and with compassion, as viewers of the ITV soap prepare to bid farewell to Dingle matriarch as she makes the decision to put an end to her cancer suffering and take her own life.
Sally Dexter, who has played Faith since 2017, took advice from photographer Steve on how to play the role sensitively - with the Britain's Got Talent star's widow leaving the actress and soap producers in tears after sharing details of his late wife's death with them.
"We were all extremely moved by Steve’s story. I only hope we have done as much justice to the story as we could," Sally explains to The Sun.
"At the outset of telling this story we agreed all sides of this debate needed to be heard and respected."
Tina and Steve married in 2016 following a whirlwind romance - getting engaged just two weeks after meeting - but just one week before they tied the knot, Tina, then 44, was diagnosed with melanoma after finding a mole on her back had changed shape.
The Britain's Got Talent star remained well for a few months before the disease took a toll on her body in early 2017 - leading to Tina making the decision to put an end to her suffering, having previously seen her parents die of cancer.
"She wanted to be able to hold my hand and tell me she loved me, and for me to tell her the same and to just hold each other. Tina was a very clever, determined woman who knew her own mind and I wanted her to have what she wanted," Steve recalls.
The couple originally planned for Tina to end her life at the controversial Dignitas clinic in Switzerland, where assisted dying is legal, but didn't have the money to fly over - with Tina also being too ill to 'walk down the street, let alone get on a plane'.
Tina took a cocktail of drugs to end her life in May 2017, with Steve recalling how it took an agonising 15 hours for his wife to slip away - an experience that has left him emotionally scarred to this day.
"I don’t know if Tina suffered or not but it was not the death she wanted. She was unconscious and I could only listen for 15 hours as her breathing grew ragged, then she was gasping. It was terrible. I will never forget those long hours," he explains, before adding the reason his wife suffered because she was unable to ask any doctor for help to die.
Steve is now working with campaigning organisation Dignity in Dying to change the law on assisted dying for terminally ill, mentally competent adults.
The photographer has also assisted Emmerdale as viewers prepare to watch Faith die on her own terms, after watching the Dingle matriarch's health deteriorate following her battle with incurable breast cancer.
During a day with all her family, Faith hides her plan to end her life the following day from all of them and even tells Moira it won't be happening soon.
But as the family day comes to an end and Faith is taken to bed the following day, the reality is revealed as Faith turns off her phone, and as she gazes at photos of her loved ones a decision is made.
As Faith goes ahead with her plan, there's a shock as her son Cain Dingle walks in and realises what she has done.
Devastated, Cain tries to keep her comfortable as she drifts closer towards death and soon she takes her final breath.
Cain is inconsolable as he realises his mother is gone, and soon Faith’s family and friends are left heartbroken by the news of her death.
Steve admits reliving his late wife's death 'was a tear-filled experience' as he still struggles to cope with Tina's death, but is trying to move on with his grief and possibly embark on a new relationship one day.
