Chat show host Steve Wilkos believes Jerry Springer was saying goodbye to him in their last meeting before Springer passed away.
The host of the Jerry Springer show died yesterday (27 April) at the age of 79, after having been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
The news came five years after the presenter hung up his hat on his controversial talk show, which welcomed members of the public to air their grievances on national television.
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Wilkos was a familiar face on Jerry Springer as he acted as the director of security from 1994 to 2007, and substituted for Springer as host on a number of occasions.
He went on to start his own talk show in 2007, but last met up with Springer just over a month ago.
Recalling their meeting to Access Hollywood, Wilkos said: "It was a Wednesday, I got done taping and he sent me a text he goes, ‘Hey, I was in New York I’m coming up I’d love to see ya'."
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Wilkos admitted he was tired after filming, but decided to agree to the meeting because he hadn't seen his fellow presenter in a while. As it turned out, the encounter was a little different to their usual conversations.
“Looking back, I really didn’t think anything unusual was happening," Wilkos said. "But whenever I would see Jerry we would talk and catch up on things.
"We weren’t two guys who sit around and talk about the glory days and rehashing old times and all that," he continued.
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"Once in a while, but for the most part he would tell me about his grandson and what was going on in his life and I would be catching him up on my kids and we’d be talking baseball. We weren’t two guys who sat and looked in the past a lot. But that night, we did."
Wilkos went on to explain that he and Springer 'reflected a lot and shared a lot of old stories' during their meeting, and at the end Springer gave him a hug and told him he loved him.
Looking back now, Wilkos said: "I think he knew he was sick. I didn’t even know he was sick until this morning because he looked the same to me. I knew there was something off, but I certainly didn’t know he had a terminal illness, or whatever he had."
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With Springer passing away just a few weeks after their meeting, Wilkos added: "I think this was his way of saying goodbye to me.”
In a statement after Springer's death, Wilkos described him as 'the most influential man' in his life, other than his father.
"Everything I have today I owe to Jerry," he said. "He was the smartest, most generous, kindest person I’ve ever known."
Topics: Film and TV, Celebrity
Emily Brown