Steve Wilkos Talks about Emotional Final Meeting with Jerry Springer

Steve Wilkos recently spoke about his final meeting with Jerry Springer, revealing that the two got very emotional that night, but Jerry never mentioned his battle with cancer. Steve, who worked on “The Jerry Springer Show” for ten seasons from ’94 to ’07, joined “TMZ Live” to talk about his longtime friend after the news of Jerry’s passing was announced.

According to Steve, he and Jerry hung out just about a month ago, and while Jerry didn’t mention his pancreatic cancer diagnosis, Steve believes that he might have “been saying goodbye to me.” Steve explained that Jerry hugged him in a way he had never been hugged before, and they talked about the good old days, something they rarely did.

Jerry passed away at 79 in his home in the Chicago area. He will always be remembered for his loud and unapologetic talk show that ran for 27 years and helped Steve launch his show. Steve credits Jerry for giving him his career and even his wife and says that no one had a bigger impact on his life than Jerry, other than his father.

Steve was a retired cop when he was hired as a security guard for the “Springer Show” in 1994. He became immensely popular and eventually launched his show, “The Steve Wilkos Show,” in 2007, now in its 16th season. Despite all the ups and downs, Steve says that Jerry was always in his corner, and even at their last get-together last month, he believed that Jerry would outlive him.