Jeff Brazier shares heartbreaking three-word admission after death of Jade Goody

Loose Men made a triumphant return to ITV in honour of International Men's Day on Tuesday (November 19), with Craig Doyle at the helm as guest host. He was joined by a panel including former EastEnders actor Brian Conley, television presenter Jeff Brazier, and dancer Jordan Banjo.

The conversation took a poignant turn when Jeff spoke candidly about the loss of his ex-partner Jade Goody, mother to his two sons Bobby and Freddy. Jeff shared with the panel that he felt he "didn't feel worthy" of grieving for Jade since they had been apart for two years before her untimely death.

Jade, known for her appearance on Big Brother, tragically died from cervical cancer in March 2009 at the young age of 27, after being diagnosed just months earlier in August. Jeff opened up about how his sons coped with their mother's death and how he set his own grief aside to care for Bobby and Freddy.

During the Loose Women spin-off, he recounted the initial months following Jade's passing, noting: "When the boys lost their mum I guess, for the first six or seven months after the loss of their mum they actually didn't really give it too much of the kind of behaviour I was expecting. Then all of a sudden their world completely turned upside down and it was chaos."

Jeff also touched on the differences in coping mechanisms between men and women, observing: "We have all got a coping strategy, and it's more inherent within men than women, women are really good at being human and natural and being like, 'Something really bad has happened I'm going to need to talk about, to connect to people that are close to me because I know that's what I am going to need.'"

"Where boys, lads, dads we will try and sweep it under, will try and avoid it for as long as possible and hope that we get away with it, we step over it or we try leave it behind."

Speaking about his own grief after losing Jade, loving dad Jeff admitted he shied away from the process, which ultimately caught up with him, reports the Mirror.

He revealed: "The truth is, that even I, someone who didn't feel worthy of grieving for Jade because I hadn't been with her for about two years at this point. I avoided what I was likely to be going through, was a really challenging time.

"But I made it all about the kids, and that's probably really typical response for any parent. Of course we put them first."

Heartbreakingly honest, Jeff conceded that he had not confronted how Jade's death truly affected him, until a moving tribute on Loose Women left him overwhelmed by sorrow.

Realising the depth of his uncompounded grief, Jeff acknowledged his unresolved feelings and sought support to deal with the loss of his ex-partner and mother of his children.

Loose Women airs weekdays at 12:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX.