TV star Bobby Davro has revealed how his acting career came to an end as his late fiancée Vicky Wright battled cancer.
The entertainment legend, 64, was devastated when Vicky died from pancreatic cancer in May aged just 63.
As she fought the illness, Bobby did everything he could to support his partner.
While, for the most part, his stage work remained unaffected, Bobby said he received little to no support from his employer and was instead penalised for occasional lateness.
The former EastEnders actor’s final role was in a Rapunzel Easter pantomime.
Speaking on TalkTV’s news quiz, That Was The Woke That Was, which airs tomorrow at 9pm, he told host Andre Walker about the ordeal.
Bobby said: “It was very difficult. It cost me my pantomime career. I was late twice and I didn’t miss one show, and I worked probably better than I had ever worked before because I needed that, that’s my medicine – making people laugh, getting out there and working. I need that, when I am not working it upsets me. It was painful for me not to receive the support from my work area, they didn’t support me at all.
“In fact, I paid a price for it because I had to keep going backwards and forwards and she was in agony. Not one phone call did I get. They criticised me on a couple of things where I was late and got delayed because of this dreadfulness that was going on. They all knew, but they never phoned up and asked how things were. That’s the trouble with our industry, it is all about money. Showbusiness is a business.”
Bobby, who was previously married to Trudi Jameson until 2003, proposed to Vicky last year the day before she started chemotherapy.
The couple had been together for 15 years prior to that and it took Bobby a while to decide he wanted to tie the knot again.
He told us earlier this year: “I never wanted to marry again after getting divorced.
“The fact that I hadn’t proposed caused us problems. So people said to me, ‘You’re only doing it for her’. But I was doing it for both of us. She was the love of my life.
“I could never have lived with myself if I hadn’t.”
Bobby asked celebrity pals, including Sir Cliff, comic Jim Davidson, singer Gilbert O’Sullivan and Spandau Ballet’s Tony Hadley, to put together video messages.
Impersonating long-term friend Cliff, Bobby says: “He’s such a lovely bloke.
“He said, ‘A little birdie told me you’re getting engaged’. Then he sang Congratulations.
“Tony Hadley joked, ‘So you’re finally getting hitched then you old b*****d’.
“Gilbert O’Sullivan recorded a special song for us called Because Of You. Damien Flood sang a slow version of Fly Me To The Moon.”
Vicky, daughter of singer Joy Beverley of The Beverley Sisters and legendary Wolves and England footballer Billy Wright — who died of the same condition — was diagnosed with cancer in October 2022.
- TalkTV’s That Was The Woke That Was airs Saturdays at 9pm.
