Location, Location, Location star Phil Spencer back to work 3 weeks after parents killed in horror river crash
12 September 2023, 19:01
Television star Phil Spencer has returned to work three weeks after his parents died when their car veered into a river on the family farm.
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Spencer's dad, Richard, 89, and mum Anne, 82, died in August after the vehicle they were travelling in plunged into a shallow tributary which runs through the farm near Canterbury in Kent.
The 53-year-old Location, Location, Location, star's parents were driving to a local pub for lunch at the time when the accident occurred.
Spencer returned to work this week, his fellow presenter Kirstie Allsopp revealed on Tuesday.
She said in a video: "So we're back at work filming on Location, Location, Location and I didn't quite know what my next post on Instagram should be.
"My last post was about Phil's mum and dad, and you all sent such lovely lovely messages and Phil was so grateful...'
Spencer interrupted to say: "Very grateful, and I haven't put anything on Instagram either, but I do appreciate peoples' lovely comments."
Allsopp went on: "You see, he's English and he's a man, he's just done really really well so round of applause to Phil for doing that and thank you, you've all been so kind."
Her caption for the clip was: "He’s back at work, and was very, very touched by all your messages, I even managed to get him to say it on Insta. Bless him."
According to Kent Police, they were called at 12.36pm following a single vehicle collision.
Both parents were pulled from the vehicle and taken to hospital by air ambulance.
Alongside police, three fire engines are also said to have been in attendance during the two-hour rescue operation, with the addition of a water search and rescue team.
A spokeswoman for the force said: “Officers attended along with other emergency services and a man and woman in their 80s were taken to a local hospital where they were later pronounced deceased.
“A third person, a woman in her 60s, was in the vehicle and sustained minor injuries
“The next of kin has been informed and a report will now be prepared for the coroner.”
Sharing a photo of his parents on Instagram, Spencer opened up about his parents' death in the days after the crash.
He wrote: “Very sadly both of my amazing parents died on Friday.“As a family we are all trying to hold onto 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), Mum's Parkinson's and Dad's 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."
He added: “The car, going very slowly, toppled over a bridge on the farm drive, upside down into the river. 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."
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Speaking with the Sun in the aftermath of the deaths, Allsopp said: “I’ve spoken to Phil and it’s tragic for the Spencer family, but his parents were together and that’s something that is a great source of solace to them all.
“The family is very loving and close. There are four children, Phil, Robert, Caryn and Helen, and they had eight grandchildren.
“This is awful for all of the family, but they were together at the end and they were lovely people.
“They were on their way to the pub on a Friday afternoon in Kent, where they lived — they were in the place they loved, with the person they loved.
She added: "They were both people of Christian faith. Phil and his siblings are all consoling each other at this difficult time.”
