Jerry Springer had Pancreatic Cancer Before His Death

Before Jerry Springer passed away, Steve Wilkos was unaware that Springer had pancreatic cancer, and he believes their final outing was Springer’s “way of saying goodbye.”

In the hours following Springer’s passing on Thursday, Wilkos talked with Entertainment Tonight. On “The Jerry Springer Show,” which aired nearly 5,000 episodes between 1991 and 2018, Wilkos served as the previous director of security. His own self-titled talk program, “The Steve Wilkos Show,” which is currently in its 16th season, was afterwards hosted by him.

Almost 30 years had passed since they first met, Wilkos told ET.

To meet together and smoke cigars, Springer phoned Wilkos, according to Wilkos’ account to ET, around a month before to his passing.

“I really didn’t want to go, but since it’s Jerry, I’m like, ‘I want to see the guy and I love him,'” said the speaker. Wilkos declared. He never revealed his illness to me. And now I believe that the last time I saw him was a subliminal method for him to say goodbye to me. I wish I had been aware. I believe he was bidding me farewell in his manner.

Wilkos told the publication that he thought Springer was bidding farewell since they spoke fondly about their time spent working together on “The Jerry Springer Show” – something they didn’t usually do.

The website for “The Steve Wilkos Show” states that Wilkos served in the police before “moonlighting” as a security guard on “The Jerry Springer Show.” Before hosting a spin-off TV show titled “The Steve Wilkos Show” that same year, Wilkos starred in the series from 1994 to 2007, according to The Los Angeles Times.

“He embraced me. He hugged me like he had never done before and he was telling me he loves me,” Wilkos said. “We sat down, and I think back now, we were reflecting a lot on the good times that we had, which we normally didn’t do a lot, but this time it was a lot of reflection on the good times that we had together.”

He said: “I’m hearing that he had pancreatic cancer, but he did not say anything to me. So, I’m really not sure. But if it’s true, then he definitely said goodbye to me in a way that he was letting me know that that was the end.”

A member of Springer‘s family confirmed that he passed away on Thursday in his house in a Chicago suburb.

“Jerry’s ability to connect with people was at the heart of his success in everything he tried whether that was politics, broadcasting or just joking with people on the street who wanted a photo or a word,” the statement said. “He’s irreplaceable and his loss hurts immensely, but memories of his intellect, heart and humor will live on.”