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With roles in nearly 20 Hallmark movies since 2015, Matt Hamilton has become known to Hallmark fans for his comedic turns in hits like “Three Wise Men and a Baby” and “The Cases of Mystery Lane.” But in the early morning hours of February 16, 2024, the wise-cracking actor vulnerably shared another side of himself, tearfully paying tribute on social media to a longtime friend sidelined by terminal cancer.
Hamilton has shared in recent Instagram Stories that he’s currently filming “The Cases of Mystery Lane: Death is Listening” with Paul Campbell and Aimee Garcia in Vancouver. But he spent an evening last week posting a tribute to Dylan Willows, a beloved Canadian radio DJ he’s known since high school. Hamilton struggled to keep his composure while making the moving toast to his friend.
Here’s what you need to know:
Matt Hamilton Chokes Back Tears During Tribute, Saying ‘The World Needs More Dylan Willows’
After nearly 20 years hosting the morning show at modern rock station The Zone in Victoria, British Columbia, Willows — recently diagnosed with stage 4 ocular cancer, according to the Times Colonist — hosted his final show on February 15 after being given “very limited time” to live by his doctors, he told listeners.
In the Instagram video Hamilton made after Willow’s final show, he said that the DJ had “helped me on my whole journey doing this acting thing,” including participating in making the first short film Hamilton ever created.
“We were kind of forever bonded through that,” Hamilton said, adding that Willows helped him on other projects and invited him to become a frequent guest on his radio show.
“I would call in all the time and he’d chat with me and put our stupid conversations on the air,” Hamilton recalled fondly.
Hamilton then choked back tears as he described running into Willows by chance over the holidays. After hearing Willows call out to him, Hamilton was stunned by his old friend’s appearance.
“I turned around and it was Dylan, but he was really skinny,” he said, choking back tears. “And not a good skinny. And he said that he had cancer, and he was fighting it, and it wasn’t like, it wasn’t looking good. But there was still, kind of, hope.”
Willows, 44, took off the month of December to undergo treatments, according to the Daily Hive, and then returned to the airwaves in early January as he awaited tests results, which eventually showed that his rare cancer was not responding to treatment.
“It was so aggressive and so fast,” his co-host Jason Lamb said during their last show together. “You only found out a few days ago what you were facing.”
Crying, Hamilton said in his Instagram video, “Today was his last day at the station because the treatment is not working. And so he’s gonna go be with his family.”
“I just wanted to get on here and ‘cheers’ him,” the actor said through tears, lifting up his drink to the camera. “The world needs more Dylan Willows.”
Matt Hamilton Returned to Instagram to Share Inspiring Story About Dylan Willows
Lots of friends and fans left supportive comments for Hamilton, including one who wrote, “Thank you for your vulnerable post and I’m so sorry to hear about your friend Dylan. I’m thinking to you all and sending you a big hug Matt❤”
The next night, Hamilton posted another video in his Instagram Stories, this time appearing much more composed and thanking everyone for their “kind words.”
“I appreciate it, (but it’s) a little unnecessary, he said. “The whole point of that was to ‘cheers’ Dylan on his last day because he deserves it.”
Hamilton then said he wanted to tell a quick story about Willows from two decades ago, when he worked on the morning show at Vancouver hip-hop station The Beat 94.5. Hamilton said that one day, Willow’s bosses informed him they were going to change the format from hip hop to Top 40.
Hamilton said Willows was against the idea of turning the station into a “generic Top 40 [expletive] cookie cutter radio show,” but that Willows was told if he didn’t go along with the format change, he’d be fired. He chose the latter.
“The courage to do that, standing up for what you believe in,” Hamilton marveled. “You’re making a lot of money in an industry where it’s really hard to get jobs. He went a couple years without getting a job.”
Hamilton said the fact that Willows eventually landed on his feet, on a morning show he hosted for nearly 20 years, is an example of how things can work out when you “stick to your guns and for what you believe in.”
“For him, it worked out very well and for everyone who got listen to him, it worked out even better,” he concluded.
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