Well-known tv builder John 'Cocksy' Cocks married Dana Coote on Saturday despite having a shortened life expectancy due to suffering cancer.
The daughter of popular TV builder John 'Cocksy' Cocks has spoken of her love for her father and his brave battle with terminal cancer.
He calls her "Popple", she calls him "Papa". Ella Cocks is a mini-me of her dad, the man many Kiwis lovingly know as Cocksy.
"We are the same person but I have hair", she joked.
The Herald on Sunday revealed in March that Cocksy - a star of reality TV shows including My House, My Castle and April's Angels - was battling kidney cancer.
Cocksy, 50, and Ella, 19 have a special bond and share the same "whacky" sense of humour, said Ella.
She was left heart-broken when she found out the gravity of her father's cancer battle, revealing in her first interview about her father's battle that he initially tried to downplay how sick he might be.
"I was there with dad when he was urinating blood".
Dana, Cocksy' wife and Ella urged the reality star to go to hospital, but he was like "It'll be alright. It's just a rugby injury".
But Ella had no idea about the severity of her dad's illness.
"I didn't hear from dad for a while so I thought he was ok. It wasn't till a bit later Dad said the word 'cancer' I realized something was up. It's a bit hard to take in the severity of it when your dad acts like it's nothing too serious".
Ella said Cocksy was always upbeat and positive- even when the news is bad.
"He was saying things like, 'I don't know about chemotherapy it'll be hard to lose my hair'. You don't know what to do because you start laughing then crying".
Builder John Cocks, better known as Cocksy during his time as a TV personality, has kidney cancer and has been given an estimated 2 years to live. Photo / Mike Scott
Cocksy's second eldest daughter was shocked to read he had a "time limit" when the Herald on Sunday broke the story in March.
At the time Cocksy had been given two years to live.
"My reaction was this is not an ideal situation," she said.
"I thought this happens to other people but it's happening to the person I am so close to. But I thought, I can't be selfish with my emotions because it's my dad who is going through this, not me. I am not sick so I have to be stronger than my dad. I am going to have to toughen up and grow up right now - be there for my dad. I don't want him to feel like he's the one that's made me upset."
Ellahas an older sister Georgia [Geo or Baby Girl] 22, and Sophie [Boof or Bubble] 18.
The family moved between Auckland, Tairua and Tauranga for a "different pace of life and Cocksy' building jobs".
"He's an exceptional person- hilarious and amazing. He's always been there for us no matter what. The thing I love about him most is he is genuinely accepting and loving. He tells you how it is."
The girls were too young to fully understand their dad's reality TV status at the height of his TV career but made a few cameo appearances on the small screen themselves.
"Our house in Campbell's Bay was on My House, My Castle and I remember saying 'T B' instead of TV and Sophie was chewing on a gumboot" laughed Ella.
Ella preferred watching the Wiggles instead of seeing her dad "building houses on TV".
Her favourite reality show was when Cocksy and Mikey Havoc sang the Jam song, That's Entertainment on So You Want to be a Pop Star.
There are times Ella struggles accepting her dad's life has been shortened but she believes having a positive attitude helps.
"At times I think, 'Damn it', my life could be better if this didn't happen but it has. I can't run away from it that and I can't make it stop. I have to accept it and not wallow in the fact he has two years to live."
"I think with cancer you have to be positive, if Dad is saying that to us, he is saying that to himself".
Ella feels blessed she has had nearly 20 years of her life with her dad in it.
"I don't feel robbed, I have had time to really appreciate him. If my friends complain about their mother, father or siblings I say to them, 'Think before you say something hurtful'. They could be gone [like what'd happened to me] in an instant."
One thing Ella has inherited from her dad is the "sensitivity gene".
"We can both be silly buggers but we are the most sensitive souls in the world - we really care about other people's feelings. I have a lot of me in my dad - it's a connection you genuinely don't find. I am so unbelievably happy about that."
* Check out tomorrow's Herald on Sunday for an exclusive interview with John 'Cocksy' Cox on his cancer battle, love and life
