James Watt has emotionally opened up on the passing of his father – saying he feels like he’s let his dad down as he couldn’t give him “a little bit more time”.
The former Brewdog CEO’s father, North Atlantic fisherman Jim Watt, passed away in August shortly after receiving a pancreatic cancer diagnosis.
Appearing on the former Made in Chelsea Star Jamie Laing’s podcast, James opened up on the weeks following his dad’s death and his grief.
Watt said: “I feel like I let him down in a way. I wasn’t able to find a doctor, treatments, or anything that could give him a little bit more time.
“I feel so selfish in my grief. The person I feel saddest for is me. I feel guilty for being sad because so many other people miss him as well.
“I just miss him incredibly.
“Before my dad passed away he was catching lobsters in his fishing boat. To go from being out on the boat to being no longer with us in six weeks was just so fast.
“It felt like it didn’t give you a good enough opportunity to say goodbye.”
James Watt opens up about late father on podcast
James explained the important role his father played in his life, partly due to his strained relationship with his mother.
Watt said: “I was so incredibly close to my dad and I didn’t speak to my mum so my dad picked up the role of both parents.
“He also picked up best friend, mentor and hero.”
Watt, who was recently engaged to Laing’s former co-star Georgia Toffolo, said he still dreams of his dad regularly.
James said: “Every night I dream about him. He loved my daughters. I recently dreamt that I was out on the boat with him and he knew that he was going to die that evening.
“He knew that I was going to take Evie and Mia out on the boat the next day so he had little zip-lock bags that he was filling with toys and books that he was putting in the lobster pots.
“He was putting them out to sea because he knew Evie and Mia would find them. This was typical of what he would do around the house.”
His words left Laing visibly emotional.
James also spoke of the controversy that surrounded some of his time at Brewdog, his experience of being neuro-divergent, and a £50million typo.
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