His whole world! While Jerry Springer was known for facilitating drama on air, he had nothing but love for his daughter, Katie Springer.
The late Jerry Springer host — who died in April 2023 at age 79 — welcomed his only child with wife Micki Velton in 1976, three years after the pair tied the knot. As Katie faced health issues as a newborn and is reportedly legally blind and deaf in one ear, her parents sought to make sure she got all the support she needed.
“I’ve heard this story that when I was first born and they heard about all these problems, they just said, ‘We’re never going to treat her different, we’re going to make sure she knows she’s not different,’” the Chicago resident recalled in an interview with Access Hollywood in 2006.
While Jerry rose to fame with his political career and TV endeavors, his family chose to remain out of the spotlight. However, when Jerry decided to compete on season 3 of Dancing With the Stars in September 2006, he gave his daughter credit for his participation.
“I originally told them no, I didn’t want to do it. I don’t know how to dance and I didn’t think it was appropriate,” the former mayor of Cincinnati admitted to Access Hollywood at the time, noting he wanted to learn to dance ahead of his daughter’s wedding. “But then I talked with Katie about it and we thought, you know what, this could be a way to combine what I do in life, which is show business, with the wedding.” (Katie wed husband Adam Yenkin in 2006.)
Jerry’s daughter’s health journey also served as an inspiration for him to take the risk and join the dance competition. “It’s not much different than Katie’s life,” he explained at the time. “The lesson of life, which you teach your children, is that whatever hand you’re dealt, you go out there and do the best you can and you don’t worry about how good anyone else might be, you don’t worry about vanity of, ‘Oh, I’m going to look silly.’ Katie lives her whole life like that, so I can do it in a dance?”
In April 2023, Us Weekly confirmed that the talk show host died from pancreatic cancer.
“Jerry’s ability to connect with people was at the heart of his success in everything he tried whether that was politics, broadcasting or just joking with people on the street who wanted a photo or a word,” family spokesperson Jene Galvin told Us at the time. “He’s irreplaceable and his loss hurts immensely, but memories of his intellect, heart and humor will live on.”
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