TV Chef Simon Rimmer breaks down in tears remembering his late father on new Mail podcast
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Sunday Brunch presenter Simon Rimmer was reduced to tears when telling his daughter, Flo, the impact his father’s death had on his life.
Father and daughter were speaking on the latest episode of the Mail’s ‘The Apple & The Tree’ podcast, which pits parents against their adult children to ask intimate questions about their shared family history.
TV Chef, Simon, 61, recalled how turning sixty had created an angst within him, which he only managed to come to terms with after his father passed away two months later.
Simon is best known for his work with Mail podcast host Tim Lovejoy, presenting ‘Something for The Weekend’ between 2006 and 2012.
‘Sixty was the only birthday I ever had that I was bothered about’, Simon said.
‘Thirty, forty, fifty – they never bothered me. I wasn’t happy: it felt like a lot of the sides of my life were almost teetering. It was as though if things went the wrong way, the whole house of cards could come tumbling down.
‘I knew my dad was fading. I knew we were on borrowed time with him. He died two months after that, and it really brought me back into focus.’
Flo Rimmer, 27, who works in sales, admitted she was worried about her father’s behaviour on the advent of his sixtieth birthday.
‘You were quite emotional and sad’, she commented.
‘You were regretful about certain things that had gone a different way, or where your life was.
‘That made me quite sad because you’ve done amazing things. I remember saying to you that night, you need to take a step back and actually look at where you are and what you’ve become.
‘Maybe yeah, you haven’t hit certain milestones – but that doesn’t mean you haven’t been successful.’
Simon juggled a successful presenting career with the managing of multiple restaurants across Manchester.
He is also an author of cookbooks and has appeared as a contestant on shows Strictly Come Dancing and Celebrity Mastermind.
In tears, Simon described the death of his father and how remembering some advice he had given him as a child cured him of his gloom at aging.
Struggling to speak, he said: ‘When he died, we were all there together at his hospital bed. We got to say goodbye.
‘All of my drive, all of my ambition, started when I was 9 and my dad said to me, if I had my time again: I would never work for anybody else.
‘He told me he’d only do what he wanted to do – and I have never had a proper job.
‘My dad was my hero. He taught me everything about being a human being.
‘I will never get over it – I never want to. That’s something I have learned about grief; you never want to get over it.’
To listen to the full episode now, search for 'The Apple & The Tree', wherever you get your podcasts.
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