Tess Daly's tears over dad's death after health battle - with sad Strictly twist
Tess Daly opened up about her dad’s tragic death, with her beloved father never being able to see her on Strictly Come Dancing. In an interview back in 2010, the TV presenter opened up about her parents Sylvia and Vivian, admitting that her father’s death seven years prior had been “so difficult” as she navigated her grief.
In 2003, Tess’ father Vivian sadly died of emphysema while she was on her honeymoon with husband Vernon Kay when she received the news, just 18 days after she’d tied the knot. According to the NHS, emphysema is where there is damage to the air sacs in the lungs.
“I miss him terribly because he was just such a strong role model in my life,” she told The Guardian. “The man by whom I judged all others, really, because he was such an honourable and moral person who would never harm another being.”
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As she spoke fondly of her father, Tess, 55, also revealed her biggest regret in life. She added: “Just a positive, outgoing… a great guy really and a brilliant father and I do really wish he could have met his grandchildren. That's my greatest regret, that he never met his grandchildren.”
Meanwhile, during an interview with the Daily Mail in 2020, Tess, who is mum to Phoebe, 19, and Amber, 14, spoke about balancing Strictly Come Dancing with parenting. As she filmed series one of the show, Tess was pregnant with her first child and returned to the second half of the second series six weeks after giving birth.
“My dad had died the previous year. He never got to meet my children – which is my biggest regret, he would’ve loved them,” she said. “But he never got to see me do Strictly either, and he would have been so proud. He loved Bruce Forsyth. He adored ballroom, all of it.”
Having presented Strictly Come Dancing since it started in 2004, Tess has become a familiar face on our screens. But while Tess is busy on our screens, Vernon can be found presenting on his mid-morning show on BBC Radio 2.
In an interview with OK! in 2022, Vernon discussed why he’d never danced on the show himself. “I’ve never been asked, to be honest with you,” he said. Could this be because it would be a conflict of interest, with Tess as presenter? “I never thought of that,” he said.
“I’m good friends with many of them, I play golf with Anton. So maybe that is why they haven’t asked me. I do enjoy the process of getting to know the dancers, I enjoy watching their rehearsal tapes and I enjoy sitting down with Tess and watching It Takes Two.”
