He told the host: “Nigel was with me all the time.
“He was at my feet when I’d sit here in my workroom writing most of the time, with Nigel lying on the floor.
“When I go outside in the garden, he’s with me, and we’d go for a walk.
“Everything I write about is either from the garden or walking and he’s with me.
“The day I wrote the last word, he went to bed at 10 o’clock and he died that night.”
Steph’s Packed Lunch airs weekdays on Channel 4 at 12.30pm.