Bruce Forsyth's widow Wilnelia Merced has opened up about the last few days of his life
The country was shocked and saddened to hear of the passing of Sir Bruce Forsyth last August.
The national treasure, whose career in entertainment spanned more than 75 years, died surrounded by his close family - including his wife of 34 years, Lady Wilnelia Merced.
Speaking on This Morning, she said: "I was so lucky to be married to him for 34 years. It was a very happy marriage."
GALLERY: RIP to the celebrities who passed away in 2017
RIP to all the celebrities we lost in 2017 slider short
Andy Cunningham
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John Heard
John Heard became a household name after starring as father Peter McAllister in the Home Alone films alongside Macaulay Culkin.
Peter Sallis
Peter Sallis was a British actor, best known for being the voice of Wallace from the famous Aardman Studios duo Wallace & Gromit.
Sir John Hurt
Sir John Hurt CBE was a well-known and well-loved British actor. Over his 56-year career, he appeared in over 129 films and many TV roles, with 40 of his characters dying – a record for a mainstream actor.
Tony Haygarth
Tony Haygarth was an actor from Liverpool. His career spanned 42 years and saw him star in many films and a lot of stage shows, for which he was nominated for Lauren Olivier Theatre Awards for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
Chris Cornell
Chris Cornell was a musician, best known for being the lead singer of rock bands Audioslave and Soundgarden. He also wrote and performed the theme song for Casino Royale, the 2006 James Bond film which was the first to star Daniel Craig as Bond.
Bill Paxton
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John Noakes
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Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is widely acknowledged as being the biggest pioneer of rock 'n' roll, having begun his career in the 50s when the genre was just beginning to come about.
Joni Sledge
Joni Sledge was one of the founding members of 70s pop girl group, Sister Sledge, who were known for the massive hits We Are Family, He's The Greatest Dancer and Thinking Of You.
Gordon Kaye
Gordon Kaye was an actor from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. Although he enjoyed varying success throughout his career, it was in comedy series 'Allo! 'Allo! that he really became a household name.
Tara Palmer-Tomkinson
TPT was the original "It Girl" of our time - she was famous for being famous. She paved the way as a 90s socialite, and everyone loved her.
Sara Coward
Veteran Archers actor Sara Coward played her character Caroline Sterling on the BBC Radio 4 show for a massive 40 years.
Erin Moran
Erin Moran was an American actress, best known for her role as Joanie Cunningham on US TV show Happy Days alongside Ron Howard and Henry Winkler.
Moray Watson
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Sir Roger Moore
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Roy Barraclough
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Carol Lee Scott
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Chester Bennington
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Hywel Bennett
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Robert Hardy
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Glen Campbell
Glen Campbell was a country music legend, best known for his hits Rhinestone Cowboy and Wichita Lineman. He was married four times, and had eight children.
Bruce Forsyth
Bruce Forsyth was arguably one of the most favoured national treasures that the UK has ever produced. His career spanned across 75 years, and the Guinness World Book of Records recognised him as having the longest television career for a male entertainer.
Liz Dawn
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Hugh Hefner
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Tom Petty
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Sean Hughes
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Iain Rogerson
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Antonio Carluccio
Antonio Carluccio was a world-famous restauranteur who launched the Carluccio's restaurant chain. The celebrity chef, dubbed the "Godfather of Italian cooking", also helped launch the career of Jamie Oliver and was well-known for his appearances on British TV.
Rodney Bewes
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Keith Chegwin
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Heather North
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David Cassidy
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She went on: "I was so lucky to be able to have his daughters, they’ve been my strength. During the last year they came to the house and they stayed with us a lot. They entertained him and it was wonderful."
Of his five daughters, who she refers to as her "five angels", she tearfully went on: "The last week all the girls they came to the house and stayed and we watched movies and it was a very special time.
"I know how lucky we are to have been able to say our goodbyes."
Admitting that he had "never" spoken about retiring and that he shed a few tears over not being able to do the last Christmas Strictly before he fell ill, Wilnelia said that his fall had been the "beginning" of his major health problems.
She said: "That was the beginning. There was a few other complications, there was the operation. But, we always had the hope that he was going to recuperate, until he had that chest infection."
Poor Brucey :(
But Wilnelia added that the "unbelievable" support from his fans has kept her going, adding that the family will be putting on a show at the London Palladium to celebrate Brucey's life.
She said: "It’s been unbelievable. For his memorial - his celebration as we’re going to call it - we want to celebrate his life, we have more than 50,000 people already have applied to come to that. It’s been very overwhelming.
"He always said that if he ever got to be 100, he wanted to celebrate his birthday at the London Palladium, so we thought it was very appropriate to have his celebration there. It’s going to be filmed on the 21st February."
In a wonderful gesture, Wilnelia explained more about the attendees of the show: “Bruce was always so conscious about his public and his fans, so we took 500 of the first letters he received and we invited them – they were the first people we invited to come."
RIP Brucey. ❤️
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