Gogglebox stars Leon and June Bernicoff were loved by millions.
Following Leon’s death in December at the age of 83, June, 81, has written a book about their lives together.
In an exclusive extract, June reveals how their 57 years of married life almost never happened because of a clash of cultures…
"Leon and I first met when we both arrived at Alsager Teacher Training College in Cheshire in September 1955. I was 18 years old and he was about to turn 21.
He had this deep voice, a smile very much his own and a sense of modesty I found overwhelmingly charming.
We met in the college lounge, at a dance, and then went for a walk, which is where the first signs of romance began.
I was proud of being Welsh but Leon was hiding the fact that he was Jewish. He wouldn’t even tell me at first.
It took him about 18 months to tell me about his faith and, in all honesty, the cultural differences and our differing social backgrounds meant that, in those early days, things weren’t that straightforward between us.
At the end of our training course parents were invited to Open Day.
Leon’s parents drove from Ellesmere Port and my Aunt Maud and Uncle Johnny drove my parents up from South Wales.
As they were about to leave, we literally bumped into Leon and his mother and father.
A moment’s awkward silence was followed by introductions and polite conversation. It was obvious that neither set of parents was completely happy with our relationship.
That September, I started work at Butler Street Junior School but I was not enjoying it because the headmistress was a bit of a dragon. Meanwhile, Leon and I split up for a while.
I wrote home to break the news to my parents. By return post came a letter from my mother, who thought the split was for the best. This, it was clear, was due to our different faiths.
I didn’t see Leon for about three weeks. Then, one day, I got a phone call asking me to meet him the next day.
His parents had also said they too saw no future for us together. Well, at least it meant that both sets of parents agreed!
We met and talked openly, and by the end of the evening were laughing and joking about our predicament. Above all we were really enjoying being together again.
Leon made a rather confident promise: “Things would change.”
Not long after, in January 1959, Leon called and said: “My parents would like you to come to tea and they have agreed to accept you.”
We all sat down and had a lovely time, the unease of our previous meeting seemingly forgotten. Then out of the blue came a bombshell.
“Leon has made it clear how you both feel about each other,” his father Maurice said. “But there is something we need to discuss.”
He explained that if Leon married outside his faith, in an Orthodox Jewish culture he was essentially dead to his family.
Although the Bernicoffs were not Orthodox, they observed the main festivals and kept a kosher home. They had expected Leon to marry a Jewish girl in the same way that my parents expected me to marry a Christian boy.
I was asked if I had considered converting to the Jewish faith for our children to be raised Jewish.
I replied I had been christened and raised a nonconformist Christian. I had attended chapel three times on a Sunday and much of my social life had revolved around the Church. Hence, the thought of converting was impossible.
As far as children were concerned, I felt strongly that as a family we would accept both the Jewish and Christian cultures.
And as we were leaving, Maurice turned to Leon and said: “Put a ring on that girl’s finger very soon.”
I felt happy and rather delighted.
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From that point onwards, both sets of parents were nothing but completely supportive and generous towards me, and the issues that had been there evaporated almost instantly.
Leon travelled to Wales to ask for my hand in marriage and my family were delighted.
We set a date for the wedding but, because of the clash of religions, a civil wedding was decided upon.
On our wedding day, as we began to take our vows, we heard the roll of thunder and an almighty crack of lightning outside. Later, Leon would joke and often said it was a reflection of how we lived our lives together.
We were to remain married for 57 years before Leon died last December, and have two wonderful daughters."
- ©June Bernicoff. Leon and June: Our Story. Life, Love and Laughter by June Bernicoff is out on September 20 in hardback (Blink Publishing).
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