‘I took him to the couch and laid him down and he died just then’: Cecile Blackman

In a heartbreaking account, the wife of Hey Hey It’s Saturday star John Blackman has revealed how he died on their couch, and of two precious hours gifted to her by undertakers that she will cherish forever.

A heartbroken Cecile Blackman has told of her love and admiration for her husband, TV legend John Blackman following his passing on Tuesday evening.

John, 76, a key member of the Hey Hey It’s Saturday team, celebrated voice over man, radio presenter and MC, died at his Melbourne home from a heart attack.

He had undergone minor surgery on Monday to have two skin cancers removed from his face and was feeling tired and flat on Tuesday.

“I said ‘darling, just go to bed. Snuggle down and I will wake you up when I am cooking dinner,” Cecile said.

“He slept for about five hours. I heard him come down the stairs, he came to the bottom of the stairs and he was just holding on to his chest and said ‘I have got this really, really shocking pain’.

“I said ‘come and sit down, sweetheart, and I will ring the ambulance’.

“I took him to the couch and laid him down and he died just then. The ambulance arrived in minutes and they did everything they could, at one stage there were eight people here, but his heart just stopped beating.”

The late John Blackman at home with his wife Cecile. Picture: David Caird

Blackman with Dickie Knee. Picture: Nicole Garmston

Andrew Fyfe, Daryl Somers and John Blackman at the opening of Andrew's exhibition Marvellous Melbourne By Fyfe at Sol Gallery in Brunswick. Picture: Supplied.

Cecile and John met in 1970 and married in 1972, with their daughter, Tiffany, born in 1974.

Cecile said she and Tiffany spent time with John after the paramedics stopped CPR.

“They wrapped him up warmly and the funeral parlour people asked if we would like to spend time privately with him at home,” she said.

“We asked for two hours and those two hours will be embedded in my brain forever, they were so precious and special and important.”

John underwent a harrowing jaw reconstruction in 2018 after he was diagnosed with an aggressive skin cancer on his chin that had spread to the bone.

He underwent many procedures related to his rebuilt jaw in the subsequent six years and kept a watchful eye out for the appearance of further skin cancers.

Cecile said while John had numerous skin cancers removed, he was never diagnosed with cancer and it was his heart that took him. John had been on heart medication for many years.

“He has never had a real cancer diagnosis,” Cecile said.

Blackman with wife Cecile, who has revealed it was his heart, not cancer, that killed him. Picture: David Caird

“He had skin cancer. He had skin cancer on his chin, on his forehead, on his brain, here and there and everywhere on his face. He had the two removed on Monday and he was quite down after that.

“I think it struck home to him that it is not over, I am still drinking with a straw, I still can’t talk properly, I still can’t chew, I still can’t do this, I still can’t do that. He was very down and tired.

“I think his body just went ‘Nuh, I am sick of this’. He died of a heart attack, there was no sign of cancer.”

Cecile said she and Tiffany had been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love for John from fans, the entertainment industry and friends.

Hey Hey It's Saturday’s Daryl Somers and the late John Blackman. Picture: Channel 9

The Hey Hey it's Saturday cast of Russell Gilbert, Livina Nixon, Daryl Somers, John Blackman, Red Symons and Wilbur Wilde at the 2010 Logie Awards.

John and Cecile Blackman in 1991. Picture: Supplied

“I am really proud of him,” she said.

“His sense of humour, his tenacity, his determination to press on, he did not hold back with his feelings and his honesty.

“We really loved each other. He was always funny.

“After his surgery in 2018, he just got on with things. He was not afraid. There was a life to be lived and things to be done.”

Cecile said she was grateful John was at home when he passed away.

“He could have been in the car, he could have been in the supermarket, he could have been anywhere, but he wasn’t, he was at home in a nice warm room, the lamps were on, we were ready to sit down and have dinner as the three of us do every night,” she said.

“Everything was basically normal until he came down those stairs.”