Jerry Springer's Dancing With The Stars partner has opened up about a touching moment she shared with the late TV icon.
On Thursday, Springer's family members confirmed that the "Godfather of Reality TV" had sadly passed away at the age of 79 following a private battle with pancreatic cancer.
Close friend and spokesperson for the star Jene Galvin told TMZ that Jerry had kept his cancer battle quiet - only telling his family and a circle of close friends. Galvin said he did this because he didn't want to worry people and just wanted to spend his remaining time with loved ones.
Following Springer's passing, many of his closest friends in showbiz have spoken out and shared their memories with the star. Now, Jerry's DWTS partner has spoken out about helping her friend out before his daughter's wedding.
Springer appeared on the third season of DWTS back in 2006, where he was partnered with professional dancer Kym Johnson, now 46.
The legendary TV presenter revealed that he appeared on the show so that he could learn the Waltz for his daughter's upcoming wedding. And despite some stiff competition from much younger stars, Springer and Johnson made it all the way to week seven on the show.
Following the news of Jerry's death, Johnson has told PEOPLE that she was able to help her partner fulfill his wish.
"They wanted to do a father-daughter dance," Johnson said. "He was so genuine in the reason why he wanted to do the show."
Recalling the time she spent teaching Springer the dance for the wedding, Johnson said: "I'll always remember that moment.
"He was a really incredibly loving family man. He just adored his wife, Micki, and his daughter, Katie."
Kym and Jerry would dance the Waltz together during their time on the show, and straight after, he went over to the audience and hugged his daughter.
In an interview with Genevieve Hassan for the podcast “Celebrity Catch Up: Life After That Thing I Did”, Springer would reveal that dancing the Waltz in front of his daughter was his "single happiest moment in television".
After their time together on the show, Springer and Johnson remained close friends. In fact, Johnson revealed that after she married Shark Tank star Robert Herjavec back in 2016, Jerry took them out for dinner to celebrate.
"It was nice for him to meet Robert because Robert knew how highly I spoke of him," Johnson told the outlet.
Speaking of Springer's sudden death, Johnson said that she didn't know he was ill, before adding: "It must have been pretty sudden. He was just the greatest man."
In a tribute shared to Instagram, Kym said that Jerry became "like a father figure" to her, and that she feels "so lucky to have known him the way I did."
Another close friend of Jerry's who has since spoken out about their final moments together is The Jerry Springer Show security guard Steve Wilkos.
The 59-year-old - who was a retired cop when he was hired - told TMZ earlier this week that when he and Springer last hung out, Jerry did not disclose his cancer battle.
However, the former security guard said the Emmy-winning news anchor might have "been saying goodbye to me," as he "hugged me like he never hugged me before." The pair then went on to reminisce about their old times together, something they rarely ever did.
In another interview with Access Hollywood, Wilkos shared more details about their final meet-up and disclosed: "We reflected a lot and we shared a lot of old stories and he embraced me in a way that he’d never really embraced me. He gave me a hug and was telling me he loved me. I think he knew he was sick.
"I didn’t even know he was sick until this morning because he looked the same to me," Wilkos continued. "I knew there was something off, but I certainly didn’t know he had a terminal illness, or whatever he had. I think this was his way of saying goodbye to me."
Our thoughts continue to go out to Springer's family, friends, and fans at this time.
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