Tim Lovejoy has opened up about the tragic death of his brother James’ tragic death aged just 37, following a gruelling battle with pancreatic cancer.
The Sunday Brunch star, 52, lost his sibling to the devastating disease back in 2004, just months after his diagnosis – following a doctor’s initial misdiagnosis of his symptoms as irritable bowel syndrome.
He said on the On The Marie Curie Couch podcast: ‘You know, I wish I could have had conversations with him about death, if I’m honest with you, though it happened so quickly at the end that there was never an opportunity to do that.’
Opening up: Tim Lovejoy has opened up about the tragic death of his brother James’ tragic death aged just 37, following a gruelling battle with pancreatic cancer. Pictured in November
Tim added of the moment his brother passed away: ‘It was absolutely incredible and numbing. No one knew what to do. It was mixed emotions.
‘You have anger – it was anger towards why this had happened to my brother and there’s a myriad of emotions that hit you. You don’t know what to do. No one knows what to do.’
The illness had started innocuously for James, who was two years older than Tim – stomach pains that the doctor first dismissed as irritable bowel syndrome.
Happier memories: The star is pictured with his late brother James when they were youngsters
Halfway through 2003, James got married and on his honeymoon the pain became so intense he had to return home, and was referred to a gastroenterologist.
After being told that he ‘had more chance of winning the Lottery’ than having a major illness, he subsequently learned that he had cancer and it was terminal.
Tim, who has previously revealed that he helped his brother’s cancer fight by encouraging him to adopt an alkaline diet, eventually managed and dealt with his grief by speaking to other people about his late brother.
‘I just talked a lot about it to people,’ he explained. ‘I want to talk about him and I want to talk about cancer. We run away from emotions and people think that you don’t want to bring them up, but you still have to live with them.
Grief: The Sunday Brunch star lost his sibling to the devastating disease in 2004, just months after his diagnosis – following a doctor’s insistence that it was irritable bowel syndrome
‘You can’t just suppress them constantly. I do recommend, for anyone who’s going through anything to do with this… talk, talk, talk. Discussions, it’s all about discussions.’
The father-of-three has now prepared ahead for his own passing, by drawing up a will, and wants his funeral to be an intimate affair with a celebratory tone.
He said: ‘I want them to have a celebration of my life, not a celebration of my death. I’d just like them to get together somewhere and have a drink for me. That’s it.
‘I have said to them, “Just don’t waste all your time planning.” What I would like my kids to do is get on with their lives. I feel that, having watched my brother die, that if you call it a soul, it leaves the body.
Alkaline diet: TV personality Tim, 52, has previously revealed that he helped his brother’s cancer fight by encouraging him to adopt an alkaline diet
‘So, I’m not there anymore anyway – you’re just getting rid of the vessel I was hanging out in. That’s how I see it.’
Explaining how his brother’s passing has changed his personal attitude towards death, he said: ‘You don’t know what it [death] is and we’re all going to go through it.
‘So, when that happens, maybe we should be looking forward to it and going, “Wow, this is exciting.”
‘When you were born, it was an experience where you came into the world and something amazing happened. When you die, you never know, it might be amazing too.’
TV show: He is regularly seen alongside co-host Simon Rimmer on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch