Throughout their lives, brothers and professional partners Paul and Barry Chuckle were rarely apart.
As the Chuckle Brothers, the duo worked together as entertainers for 56 years, sharing every aspect of their lives with each other.
Except for one.
When Barry was diagnosed with bone cancer, he kept it a secret for two long years, telling no-one, including Paul.
Desperate to continue making people laugh, Paul told how his sibling lied so that he could keep performing 'right up until his death' on August 5, 2018.
Determined to keep up the facade, as the agonising disease progressed, Barry told Paul the pains in his legs were caused by a trapped nerve.
"He had pains in his legs for about two years and he kept telling me it was sciatica," said Paul.
"He kept it from me and our manager Phil because we would have said no [to him performing]."
"He wanted to work until he died. He wanted to die on stage like Tommy Cooper," added Paul. "He just loved working and making people laugh. He was a lovely guy."
The duo were last seen together on Channel 5's Chuckle Time series, months before Barry's death aged 73.
Barry hated going to the doctor and couldn't bear hospitals and Paul believes that contributed to his death.
He told the Daily Star: "All his life, one of his problems was that he hated going to see the doctor. He hated hospitals. He couldn't stand the smell of them.
"And probably that was a big thing towards his downfall.
"A lot of men are like that. I'm not because my missus tells me to go and get that sorted, go and see what that is. But that's right. You should go."
Lifelong Rotherham United FC fan and married dad-of-two Barry died at home, looked after by nurses from Marie Curie.
"He would have hated to spend his last days in a hospital," said Paul, 75.
"That would have been the worst thing.
"So to be at home and looked after by Marie Curie nurses, it was the best thing for him.
"Right up until the end, he was exactly the same in his mind even though he was dying, even on the day he died.
"It hurts so much. But there's nothing you can do about it. You can't bring them back."
The Chuckle Brothers, real names Paul and Barry Elliott, grew up in a council house in Rotherham where money was tight and the family looked forward to day trips away through the local working men's club.
Paul recalled: "Our parents didn't have a lot of money.
"Our dad was in the entertainment business but only earned just enough to get by.
"We lived in a council house and the first holidays we had as kids were day trips to Cleethorpes."
Starting out as a double act, they won Opportunity Knocks in 1967 and went on to do a string of TV and stage shows.
They were most famous for their long-running TV show ChuckleVision and catchphrase "to me, to you".
While the brothers were close enough to work together 45 weeks a year - "we did argue but five minutes later it was over" - they had a few differences.
"We were like chalk and cheese in what we liked and didn't like," said Paul.
"For example, I'll eat anything but Barry would only eat egg and chips or roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.
"And he didn't like going on holiday because he hated queuing through security."
Barry alway said he wanted to die on stage, which is why he kept his illness secret- knowing Paul would urge him to seek treatment.
"He knew I would have said: 'Get yourself in hospital and get sorted,'" said Paul.
"But he wanted to work forever. He wanted to work until he died, he didn't want to retire."
Sadly grief is something Paul knows all too well.
Not only has he had to deal with Barry's death, he's faced the death of both parents, his only sister, another brother and then his wife Sue's sister shortly after Barry.
Maybe most heart-breaking of all was the death of his three-month-old daughter Nicola, who was born in November 1974 and died the following February.
"We had her at home for six weeks and she was a beautiful, gorgeous little thing," says Paul.
"She had a bit of swelling in her tummy and when we took her for the normal six-week check, the doctor told us to take her to hospital because something didn't seem right.
"Of course we were worried straight away. We took her to hospital on Friday and they kept her in over the weekend, and then said they wanted to keep her another few days.
"They took her from Rotherham to the children's hospital in Manchester, which again worried us that she was that bad she had to go there.
"She was in there about six weeks. Then one day I was away working in Scotland with Barry, and the wife phoned me and told me she'd had a call to say Nicola had gone.
"To lose your own daughter at that age - I was about 27 years old - it's far too early."
It's small consolation, but Nicola's death helped other children live.
Paul says: "We let them do a postmortem because we wanted to know what was wrong with her.
"Her liver was doing its opposite function - instead of making iron for the blood, it was storing iron and her liver was getting bigger.
"They couldn't find that out while she was alive, only after she'd gone, and they thanked us for allowing a post-mortem which helped other children in the future."
Despite the loss in his life, Paul believes you just have to carry on.
"Losing someone close to you hurts, like someone sticking a hot knife in your stomach," he says.
"But life goes on. That feeling is awful but life carries on."
- To support Marie Curie's Great Daffodil Appeal visit mariecurie.org.uk/daffodil or call 0800 304 7025. If you are in need of support, or have any questions about any aspect of terminal illness, including clinical support, call the Marie Curie Information & Support Line free on 0800 090 2309 or visit mariecurie.org.uk/help.
