‘I was caught with something more embarrassing than porn!’
Hairy Biker Dave Myers chats cringeworthy hobbies, travelling with his best mate and why he can’t resist a Toffee Crisp…
It’s hard to believe that one half of The Hairy Bikers, Dave Myers, was once a make-up artist for the BBC, creating masterpieces where he transformed actors into unworldly creatures with his prosthetic skills.
But then one day, along with his best pal Si King, he decided it was his turn on the screen and pitched an idea for a cooking show with a difference. That’s how The Hairy Bikers were born, and they haven’t looked back.
Now, the duo have returned to our screens in their new cooking show – Channel 5’s The Hairy Bikers’ Chocolate Challenge. In the series, Dave and Si are overseeing the contestants as they battle it out to create their very own chocolate treat.
Here, Dave, 62, fills us in on the chocolatey madness of his new show and chats about love, friendship and ageing gracefully…
Hi Dave! Everyone knows you as one part of Dave and Si. Are you as close off-screen as you are on?
Yes! We take ourselves off for a weekend once a year to hang out, eat and chat. Last year it was Sweden, before that it was Amsterdam. We are bestest mates and so lucky to have all these shared experiences and get to split the money. We have had some tough times, like when Si had an aneurysm in 2014, but we’ve stuck by each other. We like a beer but try not to drink too much on school nights because it’s not professional to be hungover on TV, and it feels bloody awful!
You met your wife when filming The Hairy Bikers in Romania in 2005…
It was love – or rather lust – at first sight. Not on her part, probably. She was the manager of our hotel – we were actually supposed to be staying elsewhere but Si argued for her hotel so I have him to thank for our meeting. As Lil showed us our rooms she was very serious. I said,
“Cor! She’s gorgeous!” But Si thought she was scary. Lil and I were pen pals and love developed from there. She’s a strong woman and she’s tough with me, but she’s smart and looks after our finances. When we married in 2011 I gained this ready-made family with a stepson, Serge, and stepdaughter
Iza, who have brought me such joy.
What’s the best thing about getting older?
I am much happier now than in my youth.
My fifties were just fantastic! That’s when I got married to Liliana, she’s the love of my life. It was also when I travelled the world with my best friend, and I made some money and started to really enjoy my life.
Are you still passionate about cooking?
Food is my career as well as my passion, and a large part of my weekend is spent thinking about food, shopping for it or cooking it. My idea of heaven is cooking for a dinner party. I don’t find it stressful at all.
When you’re not working, or cooking, what do you get up to?
We have a house in France, in the Loire Valley, where we also keep two race horses, so we go there a lot and go to the races. I am also starting to build a model railway in the attic, which is a childhood dream of mine. I was buying a railway magazine the other day and someone tapped me on the back and said,“Mate, it’d be less embarrassing if you were buying pornography.” Charming!
Tell us about the new show...
It’s a bit like The Great British Bake Off crossed with The Apprentice. Si and me are the hosts, so we don’t have to put ourselves on the line. All the contestants are cooks, not professional chocolatiers, so it’s very challenging. There are tears!
Are you a chocolate fan yourself?
My favourite bar is a Toffee Crisp because I like chocolate and rice, and if they could do a saltedcaramel version it would be even better. Sadly I can’t eat chocolate every day because I have to watch my weight.
The contestants had to create a chocolate structure to represent their hometown.What would you have made?
I would have made a dark chocolate crane to represent Barrow-inFurness. My mother was a crane driver in the war and I’m proud of that. I was a backstreet kid growing up in a red-brick terrace house. We had the best playground in the world, all we had to do was open the gate and there were all our friends. I’m still friends with people I grew up with. We used to talk about our work, now we talk about our retirements.