Josh Widdicombe has announced that his nine-month-old kitten Fluffball has died after being hit by a car, just weeks after the death of his older cat Beryl at the age of 11.
The 43-year-old comedian, who has recently taken over as a host of Strictly Come Dancing, revealed the news on his podcast Parenting Hell, which he co-hosts with fellow comedian Rob Beckett. He spoke about the impact of Fluffball's death on his family, including his wife Rose Hanson and their two children, aged eight and four.
Widdicombe had told listeners in the previous week's episode that he was too upset to discuss what had happened. On Tuesday's episode, he confirmed that Fluffball had been struck by a car near his home.
"I can't deal with this but let's just knock it out. We are down to one cat," he said. "Fluffball got hit by a car on our road when we were in Cornwall. She was found by my neighbour. Grim. Two weeks after Beryl died... Absolutely f**king awful times. I just can't. I just can't engage, talk about it anymore."
He also thanked the pet cremation service that helped his family for a second time in as many weeks, saying: "Can I give a shout out to the lovely man Nick from Moorview Pet Cremation... He's so nice. The vet set us up with him the first time. Second time I rung him up direct."
Beryl's death last month
Widdicombe announced Beryl's death last month on Instagram, writing that his "beautiful cat" had passed away and that he was "absolutely heartbroken."
He explained that he and his wife had got Beryl and another cat, Eddie, 11 years ago, despite him being "a huge cat sceptic" at the time. He wrote that the experience had left him "far too emotionally attached" to cats and joked he would happily have ten, if his wife would allow it.
He described Beryl as "an affectionate, chilled and beautiful matriarch" and a cat that "would somehow always know if you were down and come to see you to make you feel better." He said he had considered not posting about her death on social media, aware that "some people will think it's just a cat," but decided to share the news after repeatedly having to explain to people why he was upset.
He signed off the tribute with a nod to Beryl's medical history, writing: "RIP Beryl, with your kidney problems you really took the cat insurance to the cleaners."
Who is Josh Widdicombe
Widdicombe is a stand-up comedian and broadcaster who has built a following through the Parenting Hell podcast with Rob Beckett, in which the pair discuss family life. He was recently announced as one of the new hosts of Strictly Come Dancing, the BBC's long-running celebrity ballroom dancing competition, taking over presenting duties alongside Emma Willis and professional dancer Johannes Radebe.
Strictly Come Dancing changes
Following the news of Fluffball's death, Widdicombe and his fellow Strictly presenters Willis and Radebe spoke about the upcoming series, revealing further changes to the show's format.
In their first major interview since being unveiled as replacements for longtime hosts Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly, the trio explained how the new three-presenter set-up would work. Willis told The Rest Is Entertainment podcast that having three hosts had been described as a "wild card" choice by producers, and that the format remained "very open" just weeks before the live shows were due to begin.
"There's no like for like, so no one's kind of replacing anybody and at the minute it's all very kind of open," Willis said. "We're having lots of production days where we go in and we play around and we're kind of feeling each other out - well, they're feeling us out really."
Widdicombe told podcast host Richard Osman: "It's going to be like total football, Richard. We're going to be moving everywhere."
