June Bernicoff has opened up about the loss of her husband and Gogglebox co-star, Leon.
The Liverpool couple became much-loved TV stars on the Channel 4 show, and appeared in ten seasons before Leon died last December, at the age of 83.
And although June won’t be returning to the show, she has written a book in which she recalls her relationship with Leon, as well as their time on the show.
81-year-old June told the Irish Mirror that the final episode of last season's run - which Gogglebox dedicated to Leon - was "the start of my grieving process".
She said: "I remember switching the TV off, and I had some wine left in the glass and I remember holding it up and thinking, 'Those cameras will never be there again'.
"I remember taking the glass out and going in the dining room thinking, 'The sound desk won’t be there and the monitors won’t be there. The researcher won’t be curled up in the armchair'. And I thought that had gone. It was a part of our lives. It was a chapter of our lives.
"Until that evening, emotionally speaking, I’d almost been in a peculiar vacuum.
"Leon had always said to me that if he passed away before me, I had to stay positive, keep going and do anything that I wanted to do. I remembered that, and that is what I have done.
"Maybe I am an odd person, though, because that night, while watching the first episode of that eleventh series, I felt I was finally able to start dealing with the sense of loss that I had experienced."
The couple were married for 57 years and got invited on the show after Leon was approached at his bridge club. His quick wit and sense of humour, as well as their obvious bond as couple, helped to make them firm Gogglebox favourites.
