He would climb into the closet and smell Olya’s clothes: Kostiantyn Hrubych recalls the death of his daughter and the tragedies that changed him forever
17 October 05:23
“I remember that for more than a year I used to climb into the closet and smell Olya’s things. It hurt me, or maybe it was some kind of masochism, I don’t know what to call it, but I wanted to. Now it’s gone, I regret it, but I don’t touch the things.” Journalist and TV presenter Konstantin Grubich said this in an interview for the YouTube channel "Komersant Ukrainian", and also spoke sincerely about personal tragedies that became the most painful moments of his life, including the death of his 17-year-old daughter Olya in a car accident in 2014.
The biggest black hole in my life is the death of my daughter
“The biggest black hole in my life is the tragedy when my 17-year-old daughter Olya died in a car accident in July 2014. This is really the biggest black hole,” Grubych admitted.
The TV presenter noted that although more than ten years have passed since then, the pain has not gone away, and the tragedy has left a deep mark on his soul.
Grubych also shared his memories of another great loss – the death of his mother in 1993. According to him, it happened suddenly when he was studying and working in Kyiv, and his mother lived in Poltava.
“My mother died. Suddenly, well, for me it was unexpected. She was in Poltava, I was in Kyiv. Nothing was expected. It’s not like she was sick there. Back then, there was no cell phone service,” the host recalled.
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Crying in the dressing room – and then smiling on stage
After his mother’s death, Hrubych had to return to work on television almost immediately, filming a New Year’s Eve episode of a children’s program.
“Just a few weeks after the funeral, I had to record a New Year’s program. And I was working in the children’s department. And I had such mood swings that I would run to the dressing room and cry, they would pump me out, and then I would come out and continue,” he said.
Kostyantyn Grubych emphasized that despite any personal grief, on television, the host’s responsibility is not only to the audience, but also to the entire team working on the project.
“Either leave the profession or don’t be a presenter. Not necessarily from the profession, but presenters should know that even if personal tragedies occur, this should not be reflected in their work,” he emphasized.
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