John Schneider is preparing to have a "rough" Christmas after losing his wife to breast cancer.

The 'Dukes of Hazzard' star, 63, tied the knot with producer Alicia Allain in 2019 but she passed away earlier this year at the age of 53 and has now admitted that he will struggle to have his first Christmas without her as he insisted that his grief will "never" go away.

He told Fox News Digital: "It's going to be rough. Grief is a funny thing. Grief will sneak up on you and smack you in the back of the head. Truly, when you least expect it. But usually right as you're having a great time. It's almost like grief says, ‘No, no, no, no, no. You're not going to smile today, you're not going to laugh today' But, you know, the notion that grief will ever go away is silly.

"Grief will never go away. It's just something we learn to carry. And I'm learning. Not a lesson I ever wanted. Not a skill I ever wanted to acquire. But, you know, here it is. So I'm making the best of it.

The country music singer - who has Leah, 35, Chasen, 31, and 27-year-old Karis with ex-wife Elly Castle whilst Alicia had daughter Jessica from a previous relationship - is planning to spend the festive period with his stepdaughter and her husband Daniel Turner trying to do what they would have done had his late wife still been here even though it will be "very hard" for them.

He added: "We're going to spend all that time together, which is probably what we would have done if Alicia were here. We're going to celebrate her. We're going to miss her. But it's hard. It's very hard.

"We're going to celebrate such a wonderful, wonderful life and such a force in all of our lives."