‘It’s a tribute to my best mate’

After experiencing an incredibly hard year, Si King opens up about the Hairy Bikers’ career and friendship in a new BBC Two documentary…

Friends for more than 30 years, Si King and Dave Myers, AKA The Hairy Bikers created more than 30 TV series for the BBC, becoming household names in the process. Sadly, in February 2024, Myers died at the age of 66. Something King has been open about struggling with since.

In new documentary Hairy Bikers special: You'll Never Ride Alone, which you can watch on 23 December at 9pm on BBC Two, King reflects on the duo’s partnership and what made their friendship so special.

While there are moments of sadness, there’s also a celebratory feel to the episode. It highlights the impact Myers made on the world and how, following his death, 46,000 bikers from around the country came together to go on a ride in his name. Of course, King rode with them. In addition to showing footage from the ride, the programme highlights memorable moments in the duo’s career, with King sharing his own happy memories.

“I’m incredibly proud of the programme because it’s a tribute to my best mate,” says King.

The early days

Both King and Myers were following careers in TV and film when they met, though in very different capacities. They both, by chance ended up working on the same production with Myers taking on hair and makeup responsibilities and King a second assistant director.

“I met him in the Egypt Cottage which was a pub near Tyne Tees telly. We were on a Catherine Cookson drama together and we met over a curry, four poppadom’s and four pints of beer."

“He was the chief makeup artist and ordinarily you don’t expect men to be doing that job, particularly in the 90s. He was a talented guy. Literally we were thrown together because that’s what you do on a film crew. We started to talk about things that really interested us like motorcycles, travel and food and I shouted over to the manager at the time ‘what’s the special?’, and he said ‘it’s a chip curry’ and Dave said ‘I’ll have what he’s having’ and that was it, we were off.”

It would have been impossible to predict that a pub meal would spark a life-long friendship and incredibly successful career for the two. “We were kindred spirits; we were naturally inquisitive men.

“We just had a mutual respect for one another, we were very different people, but we worked at our relationship, being close mates and sharing the ups and downs of life together, you just get a deeper understanding of the person. Dave spent more Valentine’s Days with me than he did with Lily. There’s not a wedding photograph on Dave’s wedding day without me in it!”

Their shared love of North England

In 2005, the duo, now firmly friends, presented a pilot episode of The Hairy Bikers' Cookbook on the BBC. It was a success, and they were rewarded with a full series which arrived on TV screens a year later. The duo never looked back.

They spent the years travelling, biking and indulging their love of food. Yet they never forgot their roots. Myers hailed from Barrow-in-Furness and King from County Durham – regions which they both frequently referenced in their programmes.

And, despite travelling the world, the favourite dish King cooked with Myers was one from closer to home.

“Being Northern lads we always had a penchant for pies and the meat and potato pies were Dave’s thing, he absolutely loved them. He loved all food but there were moments when only a meat and potato pie from this shop in Barrow-in-Furness would do, that he used to go when he was little.

“Of all of our culinary journeys, it actually boils down to a meat and potato pie from a baker in Barrow-in-Furness. It was full of nostalgia for him, I used to ask him ‘how many of these did you used to eat?’ He would say ‘three’ and I was always shocked, but he’d just say, ‘I was a greedy kid’.”

A thirst for food-knowledge

While they loved British classics, the Hairy Bikers also embraced food styles and cuisines from around the world.

“Everywhere we went around the world we always felt enormously privileged to be doing it, but I think one of the most special trips was to India because we were there for such a long time.

“It was mostly vegetarian food culture and what blew us away was the alchemy of it all. The alchemy of thousands of years of blending herbs and spices together and wonderful culinary techniques that were just mind-blowing. It was a big learning curve for us because of the imperial and colonial past we have with India and because of that relationship you thought you knew Indian cuisine – as arrogant as that sounds, but we absolutely didn’t.”

Stepping out of their comfort zone was also vitally important.

King explains: “You go to cultures that are different but there are parts of those cultures that are very alien to how we live our lives in the west, and that’s ok, because wouldn’t it be boring if the whole world was like the village next-door? It’s about people’s differences and celebrating them.

“Dave and I did 650,000 miles and that in itself is an experience, and I wanted to have that, we both had a thirst for knowledge about other people because other people are fascinating. Yes, we were out of our comfort zone but it’s very important to feel like you are in a minority because it feels different and that is about an understanding that everybody isn’t the same. We are part of a wider community.”

The Hairy Bikers’ five most popular recipes on BBC Food

With a career spanning three decades, there are no shortage of Hairy Bikers recipes on BBC Food. And the following five are favourites for keen cooks…

Featured in episode eight of the second series of Mums Know Best, 2011, this sausage casserole is about as comforting as it gets. But in the episode the ‘Bikers did give a disclaimer. “It’s a belting dish!” exclaimed Myers before King added: “It is. However, it does give you flatulence.” The many who’ve made it don’t seem to care though, as the dish has received a five-star rating from hundreds of people.

“Don’t, whatever you do, throw that juice away, it’s fantastic for pea and ham soup,” advised Myers when explaining how to make this festive favourite, in the 2011 special, The Hairy Bikers’ Christmas Party. Their recipe highlights that while a honey glazed ham looks like it’s difficult to make, it’s really not that hard.

“There’s pleasure in a pie,” Says King while making this homely dish, before Myers quickly adds: “There’s passion in a pie.” This is one of the duo’s favourite pie fillings and during the making of it in episode five of the 2011 series Best of British. Myers is so impressed with their pie he tells the dish “I love you.” It seems the nation agrees with Myers as it’s an incredibly popular dish.

This featured in episode 10, of the 2013 (second) series of Best of British. As part of the recipe Myers shared a helpful tip for peeling baby onions. “They’re a swine to peel, so if you soak them in hot water for five minutes it makes them a lot easier.”

“It’s like the beaten bronze of Hercules’ helmet!” is how Myers described this dish back in episode nine of the 2011 series of Best of British. However, if you’re still none-the-wiser, he did then add: “It is a bit hot-poty, this is where Lancashire meets Larnaca.”

Watch The Hairy Bikers: You'll Never Ride Alone on 23 December at 9pm on BBC Two. Or, catch up on BBC iPlayer.

Originally published December 2024

Want more? Visit BBC Food on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. Want to watch the latest Food TV programmes? Visit BBC iPlayer.