Michael Barrymore has been quietly preparing for his comeback to the spotlight – and it’s a completely different project.
The 71-year-old former Strike It Lucky host, who presented many entertainment shows in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, said he ‘hit rock bottom’ after Stuart Lubbock was discovered dead in his pool in 2001, but is now ‘happier than ever.’
Michael was fired by ITV after Lubbock’s inquest in 2002, which resulted in an open verdict, thereby ending his TV career, and now, years later, he’s making a comeback as a theatre director.
The former Kids Say The Funniest Things host is directing Laurel & Chaplin – The Feud, which is playing at London’s Cambridge Theatre until August 28.
‘I didn’t sure whether I’d be any good at it, but I’ve realised I’m a terrific director,’ Michael said of his new professional route. It gives me the same adrenaline rush as being up there.’
The Blankety Blank singer, who formerly battled alcohol and drug addiction, also revealed to the Daily singer that he had altered his lifestyle and had been sober for 14 years.
He explained: ‘I can’t tell you how happy I am now. I’m the busiest I’ve ever been and I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.
‘I am probably the fittest I’ve been, too. I walk a lot, I eat well and I do what I love. I’m 71 and I feel fitter than I was when I was 40 when I was drinking and all that.’
Lubbock died in March 2001 at Michael’s former house in Roydon, Essex, and a post-mortem revealed that he had experienced a serious anal attack conducive to rape with a foreign object before dying, resulting in significant internal damage.
Michael, along with ex-boyfriend Jonathan Kenney and Justin Merritt, were detained in 2007 but eventually freed without charges.
The TV celebrity later sued Essex Police, alleging that his erroneous arrest cost him £2.5 million in missed earnings, but Court of Appeal judges ruled that he should only get minimal compensation.
In March 2021, Essex Police arrested a guy on suspicion of indecent assault and murder, but he was released without prosecution in August.The case is still unsolved.
Michael has always maintained his innocence and in a 2020 Twitter video, he said: ‘I have had nothing to do with this whatsoever, and yet I keep getting bashed and bullied by the media.’
He also previously opened up about the death on an emotional episode of Piers Morgan’s Life Stories, admitting: ‘I could not be more sad or sorry if I have to be for the rest of my life.’
Michael did make a brief comeback to the spotlight in 2006, when he competed on Celebrity Big Brother, placing second behind Chantelle Houghton.
He later went on The Jeremy Kyle Show in 2014, when he discussed his marriage to former wife Cheryl, his sexuality, and revealed to viewers that he has been ‘clean’ for three years without the use of alcohol or drugs.
Michael was scheduled to perform on Dancing On Ice in 2020, however he had to pull out due to a wrist injury.