Veteran DJ Johnnie Walker’s widow Tiggy has admitted she “hated” being his carer before his death.
The former BBC Radio 2 star died aged 79 in December 2024 after battling the terminal lung condition, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, for five years.
The rare, progressive illness scars the lungs and makes it increasingly difficult for sufferers to breathe.
Walker’s third wife Tiggy, who was married to the Sounds Of The 70s host for 23 years, cared for him in his final years, pushing his wheelchair, changing commodes, bathing and dressing him and trying to get him to eat.
She said she felt “trapped” and “exhausted” by not knowing how long Walker had left to live and was “always in a state of high alert”.
“People will say I’m a total b***h but the worst thing was not knowing how long it was going to go on for,” the writer and producer told The Sunday Times.
Tiggy went on: “Johnnie had a terrible habit of taking my hand and telling me he only had three weeks left, but actually he was like the Duracell bunny, indestructible, and I felt trapped.”
She explained that if she knew when “it was going to end”, she could “plan a holiday afterwards”.
“I was always in a state of high alert, not knowing how bad it was going to get and how it would finish, because he was so frightened of dying fighting for breath. The nerves were exhausting,” she said.
Tiggy, who married The Rock Show host in 2002, is now releasing the memoir, Both Sides Now, about their rollercoaster relationship.
The director revealed she wrote most of the “raw and real” book during Walker’s final months after “really difficult days” spent caring for him.
She added that Walker wrote the book’s prologue from his sick bed and also recorded it for the audiobook.
Tiggy said she didn’t cry about Walker’s death until six months later when she’d handed the memoir in, which was when she felt like he’d truly “gone up and left me”.
Walker was first married to Frances Kum, with whom he had two children, Sam and Beth, and then to Alison McDowall for six months in 1992.
Walker and Tiggy’s marriage was rocked by various scandals.
Three months into their relationship, he admitted to having a one-night stand with an ex-girlfriend. The couple split and later got back together.
Walker also cancelled their wedding, although they did eventually tie the knot in front of their closest friends months later.
The radio legend announced in early October 2024 that he was retiring from radio following 58 years after being diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
He died on New Year’s Eve in 2024.
His funeral was held at St Peter’s Church in Shaftesbury, Dorset, and was attended by his Radio 2 colleagues and Led Zeppelin lead singer Robert Plant.
