Devastated TV star Lucy Kennedy has shared the fate of her hit show, Living With Lucy, after she paused filming in the wake of her father’s death.
Lucy revealed over the weekend that her 90-year-old dad, John Kennedy, passed away on October 13 in Altadore Nursing Home in Glenageary, Dublin.
The Radio Nova star said she was in the middle of filming the hit Virgin Media show when she got the call to be by her dying father’s bedside.
Speaking exclusively to EVOKE, she said: ‘We paused filming. There was meant to be three in October and then three in February but now we’re pushing them all into February. It’s a pity. I would’ve loved to have the first three out but these things happen.’
Lucy remained tightlipped about who the next batch of celebrities will be on the series – but said one star is a ‘tough-talking’ UK-based celebrity that she couldn’t believe said yes to being on the show.
‘I have a crazy, crazy person that I lived with. I was so surprised that he said yes. He is a real tough man, UK based. I am obsessed with his family and I could not believe that he said yes.
‘I’ve wanted him for a long time and he said yes randomly.’
Lucy has been plunged into grief after the death of her dad, admitting she feels like she has been ‘hit by a bus’.
‘My body is aching, I’m really tired. I’ve actually given up the booze in the last ten days just because I wasn’t sleeping as it is. I can’t handle the hangover as well as the grief.’
Lucy said it was her dad who encouraged her to start writing books and now one of them, The Mini Breakers, is shortlisted in the An Post Irish Book Awards in the WHSmith Popular Fiction Book of the Year category.
‘I’m not going to win but it was my dad who said, “you must write a book”. Now he doesn’t even know that I’ve been nominated for it. I’m writing a new children’s book that comes out on Thursday and I’m already writing another one that will be dedicated to my dad.’
The mum-of-three recalled the moment when her father took his final breath, slipping away peacefully while his three daughters were sharing a joke with one another.
Speaking exclusively to EVOKE, Lucy said: ‘I am numb. I lost my granny in my 20s but I have never felt pain like this. I’m very close to my dad. I spent 50 years dreading this day but when it happens, nothing prepares you for the pain.
‘We spent ten days by his bedside. My youngest sister Gemma flew home from New York. I called in to see him on Sunday in his nursing home and I knew there was something wrong. The next ten days we were with him as he went downhill every single day.
‘We literally were there when he took his final breath. We told him we loved him, we all had our hands on his heart. It was just the most surreal experience and horrific. He wasn’t in any pain.
‘He waited for the right time (to go). We were laughing in the room and talking about something completely different and then we turned around and saw the colour drain from his face. It’s like he knew we were okay.’
