Mick Kershaw should have been looking forward to settling back into the couch with wife Di for the next season of Gogglebox Australia, which begins shooting early next month.
Di’s death from stomach cancer last Friday has left Mick mourning his partner of 60 years and he will not continue appearing on the hit program without her.
Mick, 80, told Daily Mail Australia that 77-year-old Di fell ill about three months ago when she began having trouble keeping food down.
She spent nine weeks in St Vincent’s Hospital at Darlinghurst in Sydney‘s inner-city and the last fortnight in the Sacred Heart Hospice next door.
Mick and Di Kershaw should be looking forward to settling into the couch for the latest season of Gogglebox Australia, which begins shooting early next month. Di’s death from stomach cancer last Friday means Mick will not continue appearing on the program without her
Mick, 80, told Daily Mail Australia that 77-year-old Di fell ill about three months ago when she began having trouble keeping food down. She spent nine weeks in St Vincent’s Hospital at Darlinghurst in Sydney’s inner-city and the last fortnight in the Sacred Heart Hospice
Di kept her terminal diagnosis a secret from all but those closest to the art dealing couple. The former model, who had been unable to eat and was being fed intravenously, spent her last days surrounded by family.
‘The cancer spread and was inoperable,’ Mick said. ‘The only alternative to that was chemo or radiation but she was far too weak to be put through that.
‘She would have hated to sit around here for six months being incapacitated. So she made the decision to end it earlier rather than later.
‘She couldn’t eat orally so she was being fed intravenously and she chose to terminate that.
‘Part of that decision was thinking about us. A big part of that decision was not wanting to put us through that.’
Di kept her terminal diagnosis a secret from all but those closest to the art dealing couple. The former model, who had been unable to eat and was being fed intravenously, spent her last days surrounded by family
The couple’s son Alex, 45, and daughter Victoria, 43, were just as unprepared as Mick for the outpouring of sadness from Gogglebox fans which has accompanied the death of their mother.
‘The kids and myself are kind of overwhelmed with the response,’ Mick said.
‘We knew Di was liked on the show but I don’t think the kids and myself just realised to what extent. I don’t think Di would have expected it either.’
Mick said filming of the next season of Gogglebox had been due to start in early August and he would not be doing the show without Di: ‘We were a couple’.
Mick and Di had been on Gogglebox since its first season in 2015 and were among the most identifiable participants in the Channel 10-Foxtel program.
‘The cancer spread and was inoperable,’ Mick said. ‘The only alternative to that was chemo or radiation but she was far too weak to be put through that. Di is seen bottom row, second from right, with the cast of Gogglebox Australia
Both were known for their dry sense of humour – and Di for her distinctive laugh – as the pair sat on the couch watching television and sipping wine for the entertainment of others.
‘We always got people that recognised us on the street, Di probably more so than me,’ Mick said. ‘She was larger than life, more so than I was.
‘We’d often get people stop and say, “Hi Di”. They’d think they met us a dinner party or we had a mutual friend. They wouldn’t necessarily connect with Gogglebox.’
Di was a master of the withering put-down if something she was watching did not appeal to her taste but that was not what she was really about.
‘She didn’t suffer fools gladly but was very generous,’ Mick said. ‘If she thought someone was a d***head she wouldn’t tell them.
‘She didn’t have a nasty bone in her body. She was very caring. She was a very strong person. She had a great sense of humour.
‘She had a lot of close friendships that she worked at. She fostered them, she didn’t take them for granted.’
The doting grandmother to six-year-old Harvey was also known for her impeccable sense of style. ‘She was very proud,’ Mick said. ‘She wasn’t vain but she always wanted to look her best.
‘It never would have entered her mind that she should attempt some affectation because she was on a television program.
‘I think what you saw on Gogglebox, that’s how she was. What you saw was what you got.’
The couple enjoyed being on Gogglebox and had no plans to leave the program. ‘We looked forward to it each season,’ Mick said. ‘And we really enjoyed the process.’
Mick and Di were approached to be on the show by a production scout for EndemolShine while ‘having a normal conversation’ at the opening of an art exhibition at Paddington.
The couple was unfamiliar with the original British Gogglebox but the scout saw they had something together that would appeal to audiences of a local version.
Mick and Di didn’t think about the proposition for long. They had sold their art galleries in Darlinghurst and Cairns and had some spare time in semi-retirement.
‘We were both working from home,’ Mick said. ‘We weren’t flat-out like we would have been.
‘We seized the opportunity – it was a terrific diversion. What else would we be doing?’
Mick and Di did not assume Gogglebox would be a success. ‘We had no idea,’ Mick said. ‘Would would have thought?’
‘The premise sounded ridiculous. People watching people watching television.’
Since then Mick and Di had become part of what some call the Gogglebox family.
‘It’s not a term that I use but it’s an apt description,’ Mick said.
Di (pictured in her twenties) began her working life as a model, but it was her career as an Indigenous art dealer for which she was best known. She was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in 2020 for her service to the visual arts
‘We didn’t socialise with the other people on the show but we used to get together once a year so we did get to meet them. We had a warm relationship with the other families.’
‘The way the show is cast they’re trying to get a cross-section of the community so none of us were ever in competition.’
Mick and Di appeared on every season of Gogglebox, but did disappear briefly in 2020 when they chose to self-isolate without a camera crew in their home.
The couple grew close to the production staff they invited into their loungeroom, welcoming births and attending the wedding of one member.
‘We got to know some of the crew quite well,’ Mick said. ‘They’re friends now.’
Di was a master of the withering put-down if something she was watching did not appeal to her taste but that was not what she was really about. ‘She didn’t have a nasty bone in her body,’ Mick said
Mick and Di met on the Northern Beaches when she was 17 and he was 20. They married after five years together.
‘It wasn’t quite like a reality show,’ Di once said of their courtship.
‘It wasn’t anything official like fancy dinners and drinking cocktails at a bar. It was hanging out as a group, drinking rum and Coke – very unsophisticated.’
Di eventually convinced Mick to give up his job as an advertising executive to follow their passion for art. Together they ran galleries and a dealership for more than three decades.
‘We worked together not from day one but for quite a long time,’ Mick said. ‘I guess that’s a test of a relationship
Di convinced husband Mick to give up his high-flying job as an advertising executive in order to follow their passion for art. They ran an Indigenous art gallery and dealership for more than three decades
‘I think the reason that it lasted that long is we had common interests. We liked food, we liked art. We understood each other’s sense of humour.
‘I don’t think you hang in there for that length of time with a person unless you’ve got a lot in common.’
Di was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in 2020 for her service to the visual arts.
Mick was grateful to the hospital and hospice staff who nursed his wife through her last days. ‘She got an extraordinary level of car and expertise when she was at St Vincent’s.’
He is still making funeral plans for Di and has had less than a week to contemplate life without her. Next week would have been their 55th anniversary.
‘It’s new territory,’ he said of his loss. ‘I don’t think anyone can anticipate how they’re going to feel.’
Mick was grateful to the hospital and hospice staff who nursed his wife through her last days. ‘She got an extraordinary level of car and expertise when she was at St Vincent’s’
Source: | Dailymail.co.uk