Jerry Springer’s ‘DWTS’ Partner Kym Johnson-Herjavec Pays Tribute to Him: ‘My Heart Is Absolutely Broken’

The world is still mourning the loss of Jerry Springer and news of his passing broke on April 27. The 79-year-old died after a brief battle with cancer, and sources say he only shared his illness with close family as he didn’t want to burden his friends. Aside from his beloved daughter and grandson, he leaves behind a host of colleagues and friends who have been paying tribute to him across social media platforms for his contributions. The politician-turned-talk show host continued working up until months before his death, with his final television appearance being a contestant on The Masked Singer. However, it wasn’t his first reality television competition series. He competed on Dancing With the Stars in 2006 in the show’s third season.

Kym Johnson-Herjavec will always cherish her time working alongside the iconic talk show host as his partner on DWTS, what she’ll miss the most is what they shared off stage. In her touching Instagram tribute, she wrote in part: “My heart is absolutely broken [heartbreak emoji] Jerry was many things.. Mayor, politician, news anchor , icon , tv host, great friend , great signer and a pretty good dancer! But mostly, an incredibly loving family man. He cherished his family above anything else and my heart goes out to His beautiful wife Micki and daughter Katie and his grandson who was the apple of his eye…”

They had many personal moments together. As it turns out. Springer enlisted Johnson-Herjavec’s help in learning a dance for his daughter’s wedding. “The reason he was doing Dancing with the Stars was to learn to dance for his daughter’s wedding,” she told PEOPLE exclusively. “They wanted to do a father-daughter dance,” she added. “He was so genuine in the reason why he wanted to do the show.”

She didn’t get to see Springer and his daughter dance in person at the October 2006 wedding, but she and Springer danced the waltz on DWTS that he dedicated to his daughter Katie, who his partner said would occasionally stop by her dad’s rehearsals.

“He went and hugged her at the end. The love they had for each other was so beautiful,” Johnson-Herjavec recalled. “It was great that I could be a part of that moment for him and Katie.”