Steve Wilkos: Jerry Springer's friend claims he didn't reveal his illness but was 'saying goodbye'
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: After the news of Jerry Springer's death broke out, his longtime friend bodyguard Steve Wilkos is in shock to learn that the legend is no more. Wilkos said that he met Springer at their get-together in March and states that it makes sense as he believes that he was indeed saying "goodbye."
According to Springer's family spokesperson Jene Galvin, he died of pancreatic cancer at age 79 on Thursday, April 27. He died in his home in suburban Chicago and is survived by his 47-year-old daughter Katie Springer whom he had with his ex-wife Micki Velton, reported New York Post.
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'He never told me he was ill'
A longtime presence on 'The Jerry Springer Show' as head of the show's security, Wilkos later had his own spinoff show. Recalling the day when the late host called him to get together for cigars, Wilkos told ET online that he was tired at the time as he just taped 'The Steve Wilkos Show' but couldn't decline Springer's invite as he was the man who had a great influence in Wilkos' life.
"I really didn't want to go, but it's Jerry and I'm like, 'I want to see the guy and I love him'. He never told me he was ill. And now, I think that night I saw him was his way of saying goodbye to me without saying goodbye," the former Chicago police officer recalls. "I wish I would have known. I think in his way he was telling me goodbye," he said.
'Springer said goodbye to me in a way that he was letting me know'
Wilkos believes that the last conversation of reminiscing the old times he had with Springer on their get-together was unlike any other interactions they had and it now suggests that the TV presenter was actually telling him goodbye.
"He embraced me. He hugged me like he had never done before and he was telling me he loves me. We sat down, and I think back now, we were reflecting a lot on the good times that we had, which we normally didn't do a lot, but this time it was a lot of reflection on the good times that we had together," Wilkos recalled.
"And I was telling my wife, for me, it makes a lot of sense today. I'm hearing that he had pancreatic cancer, but he did not say anything to me. So, I'm really not sure. But if it's true, then he definitely said goodbye to me in a way that he was letting me know that that was the end," he told the outlet.