Chris Evans has returned to his Radio 2 breakfast show following the death of his mother – and told how she left him a letter.
The DJ pulled out of his Radio 2 breakfast show on Thursday after his mother died minutes before he was due to go on air.
On Friday, he was back in the studio telling listeners: “It’s not the loss that gets to you, it’s the love… So much love for a lady you’ve never met.”
But he said of his return: “We are back as mum would have insisted we should be.”
Evans praised sports reporter Vassos Alexander, who stepped in at the last minute on Thursday, saying “what a confirmation of our best friendship”.
And he said: “I sound a bit chipper today but I’m just so happy that my mum is at peace.”
Evans told how his mum left her children a letter.
He said: “During the first half of the Arsenal game, when we all thought we were all right and we’d get back to work today and it will be fine…. my sister phones me up and says, ‘You’ll never guess what I’ve just found’.
“She left us a letter. She left it with the birth certificate because she knew we’d have to get the birth certificate to register the death.”
Evans praised his mother’s carers, saying: “She was only supposed to last a month or two…. five months later, seven months in all, she was still there.”
And he said that the family marked his mother’s loss with a drink – but not her favourite.
“Don’t tell my mum if you meet her one day in the future, we had a glass of prosecco instead of warm Cinzano and lemonade,” he said.