Bill Bailey 'still goes to text' Sean Lock as he struggles with grief over death

14 November 2023 , 11:58

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Bill Bailey 'still goes to text' Sean Lock as he struggles with grief over death

Bill Bailey has opened up about his grief following Sean Lock's death, saying "I still go to text him".

The comedians were friends before Sean died, with Bill saying that he still thinks about his pal. At a recent event, the 58-year-old opened up about how he has dealt with his death.

Bill said that he has found himself experiencing moments where he wants to text Sean to tell him something before realising he is unable to. As well as working together on projects in the past, the pair also shared a genuine friendship away from the day job.

Speaking at a Winston's Wish event, Bill said: "My friend Sean Lock died a few years ago. The nature of grief means that there are those moments that just they keep happening. Those triggers - you never know when they're going to arrive, and you know never know from what source they'll come or what the catalyst will be.

Bill and Sean were good friends (Twitter)

"They can sometimes just ambush. It's happened to me on a few occasions with Sean and it can be anything. Sometimes, I see something and think 'Oh I should tell Sean' and I go to text him. I see something funny and think that he’d like that. There’s a location, a piece of music, even a taste and it takes me back."

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Sean passed away at the age of 58 on 16 August 2021 after being diagnosed with lung cancer just a few years earlier. Many celebrity friends shared tributes to the star, with Bill Bailey completed a charity walk in memory of Lock, raising more than £110,000 in August 2022.

Bill went on to explain that Sean taught him that there's only so much people can control in their lives. He said: "Sean thought a great deal of his own situation and he was brilliant. Through him I learned that the only thing we can control is how we feel about something, our own emotions and how we deal with it.

"Sean would read the stoics; he introduced me to the concept. You know you can't control what happens to you, life just happens, sometimes just like a random curve ball will come out of nowhere. What the stoics taught him, and through him I learned that we can only control our emotions. In a way I found tremendous comfort in that."

Bill has found that writing has helped him with his grief. He said he find it "extremely beneficial" in a way that talking sometimes doesn't.

The comedian has found that he has had others going through a similar thing contact him as well. He said that he has received messages from people who have turned to comedy. He said that "sometimes it's good to just have a laugh about something".

Charlotte Everett