Si King has said Dave Day, a 300-mile motorcycle ride, gave him and his fans “permission” to start grieving Hairy Biker Dave Myers.

A one-hour special called The Hairy Bikers: You’ll Never Ride Alone about the day, which saw 46,000 motorcyclists take part, airs on BBC Two on December 23 at 9pm.

Myers died aged 66 in February following a cancer diagnosis.

King said he decided to make the documentary after celebrating the 32nd anniversary of their friendship and 23 years of working together.

The 58-year-old told PA: “It seemed only right and fitting that after that date passed that we did something and we thought that this was the best way to celebrate his life.

“Because I think what Dave Day did was give permission to a wider audience, I’d say the Hairy Bikers family, to start that grieving process for my best mate.

“So it was twofold, it was permission to grieve, because we all need that, don’t we, which is why we have the funeral services that we have in our society and all of that, and also, he loved his life.

“Yes it’s poignant, but it’s a celebration of a joyous man and his time that he shared with us all on the telly.”

The chef and biker said it was “very nostalgic” to collate footage for the programme and added it brought back “memories of our travels together”.

He added: “We’ve been five-and-a-half times around the world, we’ve been to the moon and back, literally in terms of mileage, and most of that was spent in the saddle of a motorcycle as two friends.

“So, of course, it was incredibly nostalgic and one visual image leaded to the next in your head.

“It was like, oh god, remember that? It was just that plethora of that journey, both physical and emotional, that we went through together as friends.

“It was a lovely energy to evoke and very special, it was very special, and also very hard on occasion.

“When I had to voiceover the show it was tough, it was a tough thing to do.”

King said his “journey” with his best friend after his illness was “different to the rest of the populace”, saying: “What you see on the telly, is what you get off the telly” with the pair, adding that Myers had wanted him to continue his TV career after his death.

He said: “We just did what we did because we were inquisitive, and we asked questions, and I’ll continue to do so on Dave’s behalf as well.

“He would want me to continue very much, and I know that for sure, because we had the conversations, that was very important to us both.”

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The TV presenter said he wanted those viewing the documentary to learn about “living in the moment and being joyous” as Myers had been.

He explained: “Life ain’t easy in the modern world and it’s to be taken as a celebration, the last thing that Dave would want would be anybody crying into their soup.

“He used to say all the time, grab life by the balls, give it a shake and see what happens.

“That was the ethos of it all, understanding that life throws curve balls at you every now and then, so live in the moment, that’s what he’d want people to take away.”

The Hairy Bikers: You’ll Never Ride Alone airs on BBC Two on December 23 at 9pm.