Controversial entertainer Michael Barrymore, who is due to appear at Wolverhampton’s Grand Theatre where he will star in Scrooge, has spoken exclusively to the Express & Star’s Sunita Patel about his plans to relaunch his career.
Michael Barrymore is a man who has been to hell and back. Or so you’d think.
Once the life and soul of prime-time TV, the toll of recent years is evident in his gaunt features and withering physique.
But despite his demise as king of light entertainment, the lights are far from out on what to date has been an illustrious, award-winning career.
A spark and desire to bring joy once again to millions still lurk behind the ageing facade.
The 54-year-old has spent the best part of the past five years in New Zealand trying to piece himself back together.
Now, the fallen star is back, ready and fighting to resurrect his career.
And his first curtain call after years away from the glaring spotlight which fell on both his private and public life is to be at Wolverhampton’s Grand Theatre where he will star in Scrooge.
Formerly one of Britain’s best-loved entertainers, Barrymore was born Michael Kieron Parker on the Dickens estate in Bermondsey, London, on May 4, 1952.
He knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life from the age of eight, despite having no theatrical background.
And after leaving school at 15, and taking various jobs which included working as a Redcoat at Butlins, he got his big break when he joined Russ Abbot’s Television Madhouse in the early 80s after winning TV talent show New Faces.
His lanky appearance and madcap, hyperactive personality saw him shoot to fame and become one of the most popular presenters of game shows, like Strike It Lucky and My Kind of People, before the launch of his self-titled variety show Barrymore.
“I didn’t set myself any levels or any heights,” he says.
“I thought if I can earn a living doing what I want to do, I’ll be happy. But it just went a little bit further than that. You just have to desire it and every time you get a bit further you just push it all the time, and that’s when it all starts to come together.”
To describe his meteoric rise in the world of showbiz as a journey that just went that “little bit further” is an under-statement.
One the way to the top, and in becoming one of TV’s highest-paid presenters, he collected numerous awards, including Best Entertainment Presenter, which he received three times each at both the British Comedy Awards and the National Television Awards.
However, his success did not stop him from reaching for the bottle, and as his popularity grew so did his addiction to alcohol.
Then in 1995 he announced that he was gay. His ‘coming out’ ended his 20-year marriage to Cheryl, who had also been his manager. The couple divorced in 1997 and had no contact after their acrimonious split, but Cheryl went on to publish an autobiography entitled Catch a Falling Star: My Life with Michael Barrymore in 2002, before her sudden death three years later, and always maintained he had been the love of her life.
At the time of the break-up, critics expected Barrymore’s career to nosedive, but despite a string of drunken appearances at awards ceremonies, the masses continued to love him and stood by him.
But fame comes at a price, and on March 31, 2001, the death of Stuart Lubbock, who was found motionless in a swimming pool during a party at Barrymore’s Essex mansion, changed the entertainer’s life forever. Months of negative publicity about the death followed, which saw Barrymore “do a Diana” and give his version of events to broadcaster Martin Bashir, eight months after the incident.
He was dropped by ITV following an inquest which recorded an open verdict and from then onwards, it became a struggle to find work and continue to live the dream he had craved for since a schoolboy.
With his image in tatters and the angst of the transition from shooting star to fallen star, Barrymore packed his bags and left for New Zealand with his boyfriend Shaun Davis, where the broken man has since been trying to rebuild his life and career.
A single phone call, incident or performance can either make or break you in the world of showbiz. And it was just that - a call from Big Brother executive producer Sharon Powers, which triggered Barrymore’s return to the small screen. After years of dodging the paparazzi, Barrymore was back in the gaze of millions, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in a surprising and spectacular return to TV.
The comeback was considered controversial; he was in two minds but it turned out to be his saving grace, and he has no regrets.
The rapturous reception he received as he entered the Big Brother house in January was the “defining moment”, he recalls, “when I realised I wasn’t a piece of s***”.
“I was waiting for bricks and stones and something from the Dark Ages happening. That’s where I’d got to in my head.
“Years ago, when I left, I was frightened to show myself sitting in my car. I used to put my arm up like that,” he gestures, lifting his arms up to cover his face, “because I was locked into this world of believing I wasn’t worthy. That is a sad place to get to, but you know what our minds are like.
“If you don’t talk to another human being about how you feel, the most dangerous place is to stay inside your own head, because you are the judge, the jury, the defence, the prosecution, and you always find yourself guilty.
“I lost me, and when you lose you, whoever you are, and you know we all have things happen in our life, you included, I don’t know what yours are because I am not going to ask you, but your pain is no different to my pain over that event, it’s just that mine’s public.”
“Believe it or not, I have actually had for the main part a good relationship with the media, and I do understand, again, believe it or not, that some editors decide, or journalists, they’ve got to do what they’ve got to do, right or wrong.
“I can’t stand there pointing fingers at people, it is for me to deal with my journey.
“I went through some horrible times, staring at the wall, waking up one morning and thinking ‘Oh, I don’t know, I’d be better off out of this’, and then thinking to myself ‘Where the hell did that come from?’ - you know - ‘just put yourself in the shower, have a shower, put some clothes on and just keep yourself in the day’. I never thought I’d get through that psychological time, and slowly I did.
“I was led to believe I was a piece of s*** by certain media. When I got out of that car for Big Brother, that was a very emotional time. I know I cried for about a week,” he adds, “but it just hit me so hard. I didn’t go in there with any agenda, because I thought that would be too dangerous.
“It was like rehab with cameras, and I have done enough of them.”
The Big Brother gong went to blonde bombshell Chantelle Houghton, the “fake” celebrity, who won the Channel 4 show after fooling her celebrity housemates into believing she was a famous singer.
Barrymore, however, who was beaten into second place, polled 43.6 per cent of the public vote - an indication that he was edging back into the hearts of his audience.
Just weeks later, Bill Kenwright, theatrical producer and chairman of Everton Football Club, picked up the phone to offer Barrymore the lead in his forthcoming Christmas musical, Scrooge.
“I have known Bill for quite some time. He wanted me to play the part before but I have either been busy or not been able to allocate time to it. Then after Big Brother, he gave me a ring,” he adds.
“The worst part is realising that you are old enough to play Scrooge - you are not going to get a part in Dukes of Hazard anymore,” he jokes, which draws my attention to his physique again.
It is hard to imagine this is the same man who had viewers falling off their sofas in hysterics as he bolted up and down the set of Strike it Lucky. He concedes that to play one of Dickens’s most famous characters, who has been brought to life by so many famous faces before him, will be a challenge, but he hopes to bring some of his own experience to the job at hand - and the irony that it is a tale of a man who is forced to face his demons is not lost on him.
“It is about a guy who is made to look back at his past, where he is at the present, and to turn his life around for the future - sounds very familiar to me,” he says, managing a smile.
“It is an amazing role, long and hard. Scrooge has got 11 numbers, and you are on from the beginning, right the way through.
“The matinees are going to be the killer - you just come off and go round to the beginning and start to be miserable again. You have got to come up with the goods.” In May 1999, would-be stars flocked to Wolverhampton’s Mander Shopping Centre, hoping to catch the eye of the TV talent host when he was in town filming for his song and dance series, My Kind of People.
This winter, the tables will be turned as the struggling star continues in his attempts to re-establish his place in the nation’s hearts.
As daunting as it may be returning to the stage for the first time in 10 years for a run from November 14 to 28 in Wolverhampton, before a nationwide tour which seems to be growing by the week, Barrymore does have the added comfort of having trodden its famous boards before.
He last appeared at the Grand Theatre in the pantomime Cinderella when he played Buttons alongside the late Les Dawson and the Roly Polys in 1982-83.
Barrymore was married then and bought his first Mercedes in the town. It was a blue, second-hand one.
“I have very fond memories of the place,” he recalls.
“I had a great time, the people were great and obviously the theatre’s beautiful. I know the stage. I can take you to the dressing room. I know where it is. This is a theatre I am familiar with.
“I remember Les used to sit with the punters having a drink. He didn’t bother with the stage door,” he says, proceeding to mimic his co-star knocking back a drink.
“He would sit with the punters as they were coming in. They’d paid their money to see the show, and he’s sitting at the bar with them. He didn’t give a monkey’s. He was very laid-back.”
TV projects are also in the pipeline in the not so distant future as the offers start to roll in again. But before that is the release of his widely anticipated autobiography Awight Now: Setting the Record Straight, which is expected to hit the bookshops next month.
“It is my version of stuff, and they are the facts as I know them, and that is all I can put,” he says. “I haven’t tidied it up so that it stops me looking as if I’m moaning at everything.
“It is my journey, and including the bad and the crap along that journey, I wouldn’t change anything.
“I obviously wouldn’t like anybody to lose their life, but this is my journey, and I have to put it down as it is and as it was, even if it means having a go at myself.
“I have a go at myself, but I have no worries about it because I have not done anything wrong.
“I’ve been accused of doing things wrong, but it’s a chance for me to give my version. If that doesn’t work out, there is no other way I can do it. It can only be my version of events,” he says.
Being sober for five-and-a-half years has helped him get his life and career back on track, but in addition, he never would have pulled through the difficult times without the support of his family, friends, partner Shaun - and his devoted audience, whom he describes not only as his “friends” but his “life”.
He is now the happiest he has ever been and lives each moment and day as it comes, but is still very wary of letting his guard down for fear of the next blow.
“I’m sure that stuff’s gonna hit me and I’ve got to deal with it - probably with the book,” he says.
“Some will love it, some will think it’s mediocre, some will hate it, some will come at me.
“I can’t say I have been to hell and back; maybe I have, maybe I haven’t.
“The things have happened in my life; I think ‘God, I never imagined this happening, and then just as you go to relax, something else could give you a wallop.
“You have just got to come through these times. You’ve just got to come through it.
“I have never chased my career. It is a very dangerous thing to do.
“The worst part about it is that you end up with that look on screen or on stage that goes ‘Please love me’, and it’s not healthy. Although you get 10, 20 things go wrong in your life, it only takes one phone call to change it around. You have just got to have faith and hold out.
“The worst thing is, no matter how many of those around you, even that have had experience, say to you ‘You will come through this, just hang in there’, at the time you just cannot see how it’s ever going to work itself out.
“But I know, having gone through that phase, that it can . . . and will.”
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