Si King has said that Dave Myers will not stop being his “mate” following the Hairy Bikers star dying earlier this year.
The duo were friends for more than three decades and fronted a series of cooking and travel programmes on the BBC since 2004.
Myers died aged 66 in February following a cancer diagnosis, and the BBC will air a one-hour special The Hairy Bikers: You’ll Never Ride Alone dedicated to him later this month.
King told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “We’ve had so many experiences together that remains, and there’s a resonance to that, isn’t there?
“That energy stays… so just because he’s passed, doesn’t mean he’s stopped being my mate.”
Myers’ death came while the pair’s last series, The Hairy Bikers Go West, was being aired – seeing them travel along the west of the UK from Scotland down to Devon.
King said the filming schedule was the “same”, and it was “tough”, even without the pressure of illness.
“The energy of the man (Dave) and the determination to do one last show, it still astounds me,” he added.
“Dave was a born performer, he loved it, he was braver than me.”
King also said he “nearly rang” Myers the “other day” as it is a “reflex” for them always to be in touch.
“We’re both each other’s reference points because of our friendship together,” he added.
“I think we both thought of ourselves as very privileged because we’re two working class lads from the north, and we never took that privilege for granted.”
The documentary will follow the more than 45,000 bikers that joined King on a memorial journey from London to Myers’ hometown of Barrow-in-Furness earlier this year.
It will use archive footage, new interviews and unseen clips to celebrate Myers’ life and his double act with King.
King said: “I can take no credit for (the) organisation (of the ride), they were absolutely remarkable.”
The Hairy Bikers: You’ll Never Ride Alone will air on December 23 at 9pm.
