Hairy Bikers timeline: How the TV duo met and became cooking stars

The Hairy Bikers have just announced they will be travelling the length of the UK once again for a new TV series.

It's almost 20 years since Dave Myers, 65, and Si King, 56, first appeared on our screens as food-loving motorcyclists exploring and experimenting with recipes around the world.

They have now made over 20 TV series together and published over 30 cookbooks.

So how did they meet and where has their journey as a double act taken them?

We chart the career path of The Hairy Bikers.

Read more: Hairy Bikers say they never set out to do a food programme

Common interests

Myers, from Lancashire, and King, from County Durham both worked behind the cameras in TV and film production. Myers was a make-up artist and stylist on shows including Prime Suspect and King was a location manager, working on the first Harry Potter movie, The Philosopher's Stone.

The pair met when they both worked on TV drama The Gambling Man in 1995.

With a shared love of motorcycling, food and not cutting their hair, the Northern duo bonded.

TV debut

In 2004 they landed their own TV show The Hairy Bikers' Cookbook on BBC Two. They started off in Portugal, riding around the country enjoying the food and trying out some recipes themselves.

They travelled to Africa, Asia, South America and around Europe and published an accompanying cookbook in 2006, renaming their show The Hairy Bikers Ride Again for the third series.

In 2007 The Hairy Bikers Come Home saw them riding around the North of England, exploring the food they had grown up with and in 2008 they tried their hands at making bread, pies, cakes and biscuits as The Hairy Bakers.

Stage presence

In 2010 the Hairy Bikers took their Big Night Out life stage show on tour around the UK. Directed by comedian Bob Mortimer the show told the story of their lives and how they met and featured song and dance alongside food anecdotes.

The pair also landed their own chat show The Hairy Bikers' Cook Off on BBC Two, featuring competing families and celebrity guests. And their series Mum Knows Best asked for viewers to share their secret family recipes for favourite dishes.

Weight-loss rebrand

After enjoying rich foods from around the world, the bikers had a make over in 2012 when they became the Hairy Dieters.

Swapping motorcycles for bicycles and pies for poke bowls and salads, Myers and King cut calories and shed pounds on their healthy eating mission.

This spawned a whole new series of cookbooks and their weight-loss was so inspiring, they launched their own Hairy Bikers Diet Club in 2014.

Dance moves

Newly slimmed-down Myers competed in Strictly Come Dancing in 2013, paired with professional partner Karen Hauer. He was voted out in week 7.

In 2016 Myers and King published their joint autobiography The Hairy Bikers Blood, Sweat And Tyres.

Read more: The Hairy Bikers recall nearly being shot at during a trip round Turkey

Health issues

In 2021 Myers revealed he had started to show symptoms of sightloss condition glaucoma. Then a year later he announced he had been diagnosed with cancer.

The TV presenter has undergone aggressive chemotherapy to combat the disease and revealed he had to learn to walk again as a result.

The foodie also told how the "brutal" treatment had made him lose his appetite.

Read more: Hairy Bikers star Dave Myers says 'life never will be the same again' after cancer

Back on their bikes

The Hairy Bikers made a triumphant return to TV in December 2022 on Saturday Kitchen for the first time after Myers cancer treatment.

The Hairy Bikers Go Local, filmed before Myers' cancer treatment, aired in January 2023.

And now they are set to film their new series The Hairy Bikers Go West.

It seems there's no taking the air out of these bikers' tyres.

Watch: Hairy Bikers recall how drunken night out ended in a skip