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Phil Spencer says parents ‘slipped away’ together in emotional tribute after car crash
21 August 2023, 10:49 | Updated: 21 August 2023, 11:25
The Location, Location, Location star said despite the family's sadness and shock, his parents died "together on the farm they loved".
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TV presenter Phil Spencer has paid tribute to his "amazing parents" after they passed away on Friday during a car accident at their family farm.
The Location, Location, Location star, 53, released a heartfelt statement on Instagram honouring his mother Anne and father David, telling fans they "would have held hands under the water and quietly slipped away".
The property expert explained his parents' vehicle had toppled into a river in Littlebourne, Kent, and despite his brother's best efforts to save them both, neither had survived.
In the emotional social media post, Phil wrote: "Very sadly both of my amazing parents died on Friday."
He continued: "As a family we are all trying to hold on to the fact Mum and Dad went together and that neither will ever have to mourn the loss of the other one. Which is a blessing in itself.
"Although they were both on extremely good form in the days before (hence the sudden idea to go out to lunch), Mums Parkinson’s and Dads Dementia had been worsening and the long term future was set to be a challenge.
"So much so that Mum said to me only a week ago that she had resigned to thinking ‘now it looks like we will probably go together’. And so they did."
The Channel 4 presenter confessed he believed the accident was "what God had planned" for the couple, who had been married for almost 60 years and shared four children together.
He added: "There were no physical injuries and I very much doubt they would have even fought it – they would have held hands under the water and quietly slipped away.
"Their carer was in the car and managed to climb out of a back window so the alarm was raised quite quickly."
Phil admitted that he and his siblings were “desperately sad and shocked beyond all belief”, but found comfort in the fact that "if there can ever be such a thing as having a ‘good end’ – this was it".
He continued: "It feels horrendous right now, but after almost 60 years of marriage, to die together on the farm they so loved will, I know, be a comfort in the future.
"Mum and Dad are together, which is precisely where they would have wanted to be."
Since the news of the couple's death broke, Phil and his wider family have received an outpouring of support from friends and fans.
The telly star's co-presenter Kirstie Allsopp asked people on social media to join her in "sending so much love" to the Spencer family.
Next to the same snap Phil had posted of his parents, the 51-year-old wrote on Instagram: "This lovely photograph, recently taken at their home in Kent, is of Anne and David Spencer, I am desperately sad to have to say that they were both killed yesterday in a car accident near their home.
"They were farmers, animal lovers and devoted parents to Robert, Caryn, Helen and Philip and adored their eight grandchildren, the only blessing is that they died together, so will never have to mourn the loss of each other."
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