• Steve Wilkos spoke to Leisure Tonight about Jerry Springer, who died on Thursday. 
• Wilkos mentioned Springer did not inform him he was sick after they frolicked one month earlier than his dying. 
• “I feel in his method he was telling me goodbye,” Wilkos mentioned of the get-together. 

Steve Wilkos did not know his longtime buddy Jerry Springer had pancreatic most cancers earlier than his dying and believes their final hangout was Springer’s “method of claiming goodbye.” 

Wilkos spoke to Leisure Tonight within the hours following Springer’s dying on Thursday. Wilkos was the previous director of safety on “The Jerry Springer Present,” which aired practically 5,000 episodes between 1991 and 2018. He went on host his personal eponymous speak present, “The Steve Wilkos Present,” which is now in its sixteenth season.

The pair had identified one another for practically 30 years, Wilkos informed ET.

Wilkos informed ET that Springer referred to as him a few month earlier than his dying to get collectively and smoke cigars.

“I actually did not wish to go, nevertheless it’s Jerry and I am like, ‘I wish to see the man and I like him,’” Wilkos mentioned. “He by no means informed me he was ailing. And now, I feel that evening I noticed him was his method of claiming goodbye to me with out saying goodbye. I want I might have identified. I feel in his method he was telling me goodbye.” 

Wilkos informed the outlet that he believes Springer was saying goodbye as a result of they reminisced about their time collectively on “The Jerry Springer Present” — one thing they usually did not do.

Based on “The Steve Wilkos Present” web site, Wilkos labored in regulation enforcement earlier than he started “moonlighting” as a safety guard on “The Jerry Springer Present.” Wilkos starred within the collection from 1994 to 2007 earlier than internet hosting a spin-off TV collection referred to as “The Steve Wilkos Present” that very same yr, The Los Angeles Occasions reported. 

“He embraced me. He hugged me like he had by no means finished earlier than and he was telling me he loves me,” Wilkos mentioned. “We sat down, and I feel again now, we had been reflecting so much on the nice instances that we had, which we usually did not do so much, however this time it was quite a lot of reflection on the nice instances that we had collectively.”

He added: “I am listening to that he had pancreatic most cancers, however he didn’t say something to me. So, I am actually unsure. But when it is true, then he positively mentioned goodbye to me in a method that he was letting me know that that was the tip.” 

A consultant for Springer’s household confirmed that he died on Thursday in his suburban Chicago residence. 

“Jerry’s capacity to attach with individuals was on the coronary heart of his success in every little thing he tried whether or not that was politics, broadcasting or simply joking with individuals on the road who wished a photograph or a phrase,” the assertion mentioned. “He is irreplaceable and his loss hurts immensely, however recollections of his mind, coronary heart and humor will dwell on.”