‘We loved each other so much’
Popular comedian had found love and was happy in his last months New girlfriend Bernie McKinley was with him when he died
After years of heartbreak, funnyman Ewen Gilmour had recently found love with a Tauranga nurse and the pair were making plans for a bright future together.
Gilmour, 51, died in his sleep early on Friday.
His devastated new love, 37-yearold mum Bernie McKinley, told the
Herald on Sunday the pair cherished their special but intensely private relationship.
“We did love each other so much,” said McKinley, “and we had planned the rest of our lives together.”
Yesterday she was being comforted by Gilmour’s extended family at his seaside Port Waikato home.
She said he did not suffer. “He wasn’t sad at the end of his life. He was happy.”
McKinley was with Gilmour when the award-winning comedian died.
McKinley, a mum-of-one, paid a pictorial tribute to her former partner on Facebook, posting a picture of them in a loving embrace and one of Gilmour with his favourite pet dog
‘‘We did love each other so much and we had planned the rest of our lives together.’’ Bernie McKinley
Rupert the third. Messages of support from family and friends flooded her social media page.
Friend Rebecca Baker posted a touching note: “Your guardian angel in every way.”
Angie Harvey wrote: “The whole of NZ is grieving beside you Bernadette. So sorry for your loss of your larger-than-life man.”
McKinley said the couple had deliberately kept their relationship out of the limelight.
“I was quite private when we were together,” she said.
Gilmour and McKinley had been an item for about six months.
When asked if Gilmour was her soulmate, she tearfully whispered, “Yes”.
But the relationship was such a closely guarded secret, even those Gilmour served alongside on the Waikato District’s OnewheroTuakau community board did not know the identity of his new girlfriend.
Said board member Bronwyn Watson: “Yes he did have somebody but he had not brought her to any of our functions that we had.”
While Gilmour walked through years of heartbreak after the loss of first wife Cathy to cancer in 2011, he had turned the corner a year ago talking about how he was ready for love again, and even spoke about his desire to become a first-time dad at age 50.
And if he was not able to conceive naturally he was just as keen to adopt.
A private ceremony for Gilmour’s family and friends is planned next week, followed by a public memorial later in the week.
An outpouring of love and grief followed Friday’s news about his death.
Tributes flowed from fellow comedians, including Urzila Carlson who said: “He was just a really, really great guy and this is absolutely devastating. [He] will leave a massive hole, I don’t know if anyone could fill it.
“Everybody knew him or knew of him, even if they didn’t know his name they knew ‘that Westie one’.”
MediaWorks, which had featured the Kiwi comic in many of its TV shows, said: “He was a much-loved and respected part of the wider MediaWorks family and had given generously of his immense talent over the years.
“Gilmour was mischievous, intelligent and warm-hearted. He set the standard for many of our young comedians to aspire to, with a knack for telling a wonderful, crazy, circular story that had fantastic gags all the way round. ‘‘He’ll be hugely missed.” Gilmour had been filming in the MediaWorks studio this week for a comedy special, which has no on-air date at this time.