Jason Donovan has opened up about the death of his father earlier this year.
During an appearance on Mamamia’s No Filter podcast this week, the former Neighbours star shared the bittersweet story of his dad Terence’s passing in July.
“Dad was 91, he had an incredible life, we could see he was getting tired,” he told host Kate Langbroek. “He was very positive but you could see it was taking its toll on him.
“Saying goodbye is always tough… not being able to ring him… it’s a very closed book when you lose a parent.”
Kate explained that she’d lost her own father five years ago and went through the process of “praying for them to stay, to the ultimate love, which is praying to release them”.
Jason agreed and said the grief “comes in waves” but he’s lucky he has a lot of memories he can look back on.
“A lot of photos, a lot of footage, you know, it’s a visual thing for me,” he explained. “I was brought up by my dad, we were very close.
“I feel sad that he’s gone but I’m very grateful he had such a long, full life.”
Later in the podcast, the 58-year-old reflected on what he’s learnt from the experience of losing his dad and how it’s changed his perspective on success.
“I’d like to learn to relax more, I’d like to learn to enjoy my time more,” he said. “I think this year and the last few months has definitely made me question a few things.
“Success to me is really the fact that my kids, on their days off, want to come home and hang out with us, and isn’t that cool?”
Terence, who was a celebrated English-Australian actor who appeared in both Neighbours and Home and Away, passed away in July at the age of 91.
“It is with great sadness but also a sense of celebration of a long full life that myself and my brother Paul announce our father Terence died peacefully last night here in Melbourne,” Jason announced on Instagram at the time.
“Our dad was a huge character, larger than life. We will desperately miss him but we take comfort knowing we were all here by his side in his final days.”
He continued on, saying Terence lived “life to the max”.
“He was our best friend… our world,” he said.
