Madeleine McCann's dad will give a candid interview about life after his daughter's disappearance
Gerry McCann has taken part in an honest and raw conversation which will be aired on Radio 4 later this month. In this rare interview, the 50-year-old cardiologist will attempt to comfort and help others who are affected by the disappearance or death of a loved one.
Explaining his decision to open up, he has said: "I decided it was a good opportunity to say something about the special bond between fathers and daughters, thinking that speaking openly might help other men in similar positions. It feels like the right time.'
This comes 11 years after little three-year-old Maddie McCann went missing from the family's holiday apartment in Portugal's Algarve region while her parents were out for dinner.
Two years ago, the McCann's nanny who looked after Maddie and her two siblings during the same holiday, also opened up about dealing with Maddie's disappearance. Talking about that horrific night, she explained to The Mirror: "I walked into Kate crying, friends comforting her, Gerry looking under cars, and it just blew up.
"She was pacing up and down. The worst possible thing had just happened to her. She was crying, but almost in a catatonic state, and Gerry was very distressed. That’s the one thing I really remember from him, looking under the cars. I can’t forget that."
She continued: "We were told to start looking in bins in case her body was in there. It was at that point we realised this was serious."
Gerry's interview will be aired in two weeks - on September 28 - which is one day before Scotland Yard's funding for their Maddie inquiry is due to run out.
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Here's everything you need to know about the Madeleine McCann disappearance
Madeleine McCann's Abduction: Everything You Need To Know
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British police now plan to test DNA samples found in the McCann's holiday apartment in 2007. The move comes less than a week after convicted pedophile Roderick McDonald, 76, was arrested in Malta. He was believed to be living in the Algarve at the same time as Maddy went missing.
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On the 100th day of Madeleine's disappearance, police acknowledged publicly for the first time that Madeleine could be dead. Kate McCann tells a UK women's magazine that she would rather know her daughter was dead, than live in limbo forever.
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In 2008 The Daily Express and the Daily Star made front-page apologies for publishing more than 100 articles on the disappearance of Madeleine, some of which suggested her parents were involved in her death. The papers were forced to pay £550,000 in damages, which went to the Find Madeleine campaign.
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In 2011, on the day of Maddy's 8th birthday, Kate McCann published a book, simply entitled Madeleine, giving her account, in her own words, of her daughter's disappearance.
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In the seven years since, an international appeal for help finding Maddy has brought numerous reported sightings, none of them confirmed.
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She was abducted from her bed in the ground floor apartment she was staying in, while her parents Kate and Gerry were eating in a nearby tapas restaurant, checking regularly on her and her younger twin siblings.
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The McCann's have spoken out about their 'terrible regret' at leaving the children alone on the night Madeleine disappeared. Gerry admitted: 'We made a mistake, but we are paying more for it than anyone could ever possibly imagine.'
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Madeleine McCann was just three when she disappeared while on holiday in the Algarve village of Praia Da Luz, Portugal, on the evening of May 3 2007.
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The bill for the British police investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann is set to top £10 million this year. Several men, including a Cape Verde immigrant and heroin addict who died in 2009, have been considered as suspects- but no one has been charged over the Maddy's disappearance.