Ryan Thomas has paid a heartbreaking tribute to his dad Dougie James, following his funeral.
James, who found fame as a soul singer in the ’60s, died aged 72 in November.
His death was confirmed by his brother Barry on Facebook, who said that James’ sons, former Coronation Street star Ryan, 36, and twins Adam and Scott Thomas, 32, had told him of his sibling’s death.
Since then, both Adam and Scott were seen paying tribute to their dad on social media, with Ryan being the last of the three brothers to share a post in honour of his dad.
It came after James’ funeral took place on Friday, with Ryan telling his dad in a moving statement that he ‘made him proud to be a Thomas’ and thanked James – who was the lead singer of Dougie James and the Soul Train – for giving him the ‘greatest gift’ of all, his two younger brothers.
Sharing an old black and white photo of himself and James together, Ryan wrote: ‘You are the reason I’m proud to be a Thomas, since being a young child I’ve always been in awe of you.
‘Growing up watching you on the stage to people stopping me in the street saying “are you Dougie James’s son?” is something I love more than you will ever know. Last year feels even more special now because me & my brothers got the chance to show you off to the nation we will never forget that.’
James had starred alongside the Thomas brothers in their own ITV series Absolutely India: Mancs in Mumbai.
Ryan continued: ‘Just wanted to take this time to thank every single person for coming out to the Chapel on Friday one of the hardest days of my life but it’s times like this you realise how important your friends and family are.
‘We were overwhelmed with the amount of people who turned up to show there respect he really was loved in Manchester, there were moments at the chapel I’d feel myself looking at all the people with a big smile on face thinking “that’s my dad!!!!” so glad I got to show you off one last time.’
The actor thanked everyone who had reached out to him with messages of support during ‘this extremely tough time’, as he signed off: ‘Dad you always said to me buying you a van was the best gift I ever gave you, I want you to know the best gift you ever gave me was my brothers I couldn’t of done this without you both love you boys @adamthomas21@scott.thomas Shine bright wherever you are. We love you dad ❤️🙏🏼.’
His post comes after Love Island star Scott told fans he was ‘lucky’ to have had his dad living with him in the six months before his death and that James’ legacy would now live on in himself, Adam and Ryan.
Adam, meanwhile, shared a throwback of himself and his father and wrote: ‘My sunshine on a cloudy day ❤️ thank you to all my friends family and all of you guys for all the lovely messages over the past week or so I needed it so thank you x
‘My dad ladies and gentlemen. Mr Dougie James 🙏🏼 RIP.’
James is survived by his three sons and his grandchildren; Ryan’s kids Scarlett, who he shares with ex Tina O’Brien, and Roman, who he shares with fiancée Lucy Mecklenburgh, and Adam’s two children, Teddy and Elsie.
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