Billie Faiers is ‘utterly heartbroken’ as she shared a sweet tribute to her father-in-law Dave on Instagram on Tuesday after he passed away at the age of 77.
The TV personality, who married husband Greg Shephard in 2019, said ‘life will never feel the same’ after ‘suddenly’ losing Dave.
Billie shared a series of sweet family photos of her father-in-law spending time with her and Greg as well as their three children, Nelly, 11, Arthur, eight, and Margot, three.
She wrote: ‘To my wonderful father in law Dave.
‘Losing you so soon has left us all utterly heartbroken, it still doesn’t feel quite real, all of the wonderful times and memories we made together, I have been so lucky to have such a wonderful man in my life, a man we all looked up to.
‘I always said you was The Best ! And I meant it ,you truly was the best father in law, dad and granddad we could ever wish for.
Billie Faiers is ‘utterly heartbroken’ as she shared a sweet tribute to her father-in-law Dave on Instagram on Tuesday after he passed away at the age of 77
The TV personality, who married husband Greg Shephard (R) in 2019, said ‘life will never feel the same’ after ‘suddenly’ losing Dave (centre)
‘I will miss laughing with you, dancing with you, our chats, making you endless amounts of tea and coffee, playing all of your games, I adored you, you was kind, happy, thoughtful and fun.
‘Life will never feel the same again, I miss you unconditionally. I love you with all my heart’.
Billie’s sister Sam quickly commented: ‘We will miss you Dave❤️ such a wonderful man x’
Her husband Greg also shared a sweet tribute to his dad last week following the say news, admitting he ‘still had so much more to give.’
In his heartfelt statement, Greg wrote: ‘I’m gutted and heartbroken to be writing this, but this time last week, my dad Dave passed away suddenly.
‘He was 77, but still had so much more to give, and that’s what makes this so hard.
‘From the age of 4, you raised me as your own. You taught me how to be a father, and you made it look simple, you were always present, no matter what. You never missed a birthday, a celebration, or any important moment. You always had time for me and my sisters and grandkids.
‘I hope I can be the kind of man you were, Dad, always smiling, always dancing, the most grateful man you could ever meet, and always there for us.
Billie shared a series of sweet family photos of her father-in-law spending time with her and Greg as well as their three children, Nelly, 11, Arthur, eight, and Margot, three
She wrote: ‘To my wonderful father in law Dave. Losing you so soon has left us all utterly heartbroken, it still doesn’t feel real’
Billie shared a series of snaps from their recent family holiday, to winter walks together, and lavish beach days out
She added: ‘Life will never feel the same again, I miss you unconditionally. I love you with all my heart’
Billie’s sister Sam quickly commented: ‘We will miss you Dave❤️ such a wonderful man x’
‘All my friends had a relationship with you too, the parties in our bar will never be the same without you.
‘I can only try to make you proud, and learn how to live with just 36 years of memories, love, and happiness.
‘Until we meet again, our kid… I love you more than you’ll ever know.’
Dave had also regularly featured on Billie and Greg’s show The Family Diaries, and viewers of the ITVBe show shared their memories of him.
Comments included: ‘Was just watching the episode of the family diaries where wee Margot was born and your dad and chatty came round to visit and your dad was singing to Margot ‘raindrops keep falling on my head’ so sorry for your loss Greg.’
Last month, Billie shared she’d been diagnosed with Lyme disease after the symptoms left her bed-bound.
The TV personality opened up about her ‘really tough’ battle with the condition that saw her struggling through periods of agonising pain, extreme fatigue and was forced to rely on husband Greg’s help with the most basic of tasks.
She told The Mirror: ‘Some mornings I couldn’t even get out of bed. I would have to crawl, going to the toilet, I was in bits, I was hysterical, crying, because I was in so much pain. It was hard for me to sit on the toilet without Greg helping me. It was so scary.
Billie explained that it took doctors weeks to work out the cause of her illness, while she was left in agony as her immune system attacked itself.
Her husband Greg also shared a sweet tribute to his dad last week following the say news , admitting he ‘still had so much more to give’
Greg shared a lengthy tribute to Dave in the caption of his Instagram post, admitting he was ‘heartbroken’ to share his ‘sudden’ death
The mother-of-two said: ‘I had so many blood tests but no one could figure it out. One doctor said she’d never seen anything like it. It was frustrating. This went on for about two months before we learnt it was Lyme’.
Lyme disease is a bacterial infection spread by ticks and can cause general flu-like symptoms, including fatigue, headache, swollen joints and a fever, which can last for a few weeks, but for reasons not yet understood, some patients suffer for years.
The former TOWIE star said medics believed she was likely bitten by an infected tick as much as three years ago, but the infection lay dormant in her system.
Despite being prescribed antibiotics and steroids, Billie said her body didn’t respond to the medication and claimed they even made her symptoms worse.
She told the publication: ‘I was so unwell. It was only after [My sister] Sam introduced me to a holistic doctor and I started taking natural medicines that I started to notice a difference and things slowly began to turn around’.
