Bobby Davro tried to contact Keith Chegwin in the months leading up to his death.
The 58-year-old comedian was devastated when he heard that the legendary presenter had sadly passed away yesterday (11.12.17) at the age of just 60 after losing his battle with a long-term progressive lung condition because he’d tried really hard to reach out to him numerous times this year but his attempts went unanswered every time.
Speaking on ‘Good Morning Britain’ on Tuesday (12.11.17) Bobby said via video link: "Unfortunately I tried to get hold of him lots of times through the last few months of his life. I didn’t get any luck. He changed his number, or I had an old number, and I was gutted when I heard about it yesterday, really gutted. I loved that guy."
The former ‘EastEnders’ star was particularly stunned by the news because he’d only seen him a year ago at a charity event in Southampton and he "looked so well."
He explained: "I was with him about a year ago – we did something down in Southampton with Jim Davidson – a big charity thing And he looked so well. He didn’t look like he had a care in the world."
Keith’s passing was confirmed by his family – including his two children Rose, whom he has with his ex-wife Maggie Philbin, and Ted, whom he has with his wife Maria – in a statement released earlier on Monday.
It read: "We are heartbroken to share the news that Keith Chegwin sadly passed away following a long-term battle with a progressive lung condition, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which rapidly worsened towards the end of this year. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Severn Hospice for the kindness, support and care they have shown us all over the last few weeks.
"Keith was a loving husband, father, son, brother, uncle and friend. We would respectfully ask to be left to mourn his passing in private."
Keith – nicknamed Cheggers – became a household name in the 70s when he presented ‘Multi-Coloured Swap Shop’ before hosting ‘Saturday Superstore’ in the 80s.
However, despite an impressive start, his career began to sink towards the latter end of the 80s and early 90s when he started to battle with alcoholism.
He then ditched the booze after his appearance on ‘This Morning’ in November 1992 and managed to claw back his career in 1992 when he hosted ‘The Big Breakfast’.
Throughout his time in showbiz, he’s also taken part in reality TV shows such as ‘Celebrity Big Brother’, Celebrity MasterChef’ and ‘Dancing on Ice’.
Bobby Davro tried to contact Keith Chegwin before death
