My fears for frail Sir Cliff
EXCLUSIVE: BY HIS SHADOWS PAL
A CLOSE friend of Sir Cliff Richard has told of his fears for the star, who is still worryingly thin a year on from his sex case hell.
Shadows guitarist Bruce Welch said he is “shocked” at how gaunt the 76-yearold looks 12 months after prosecutors said he would face no charges over historical allegations.
And he said the singer could not have coped if he had been found guilty.
Bruce, who co-wrote hits including Summer Holiday, said: “The other night I went to Greenwich to see the last of Cliff ’s series of concerts – the first time he’s worked since all the s*** went on.
“I had 30 minutes with him before he went on, and saw him when he came off. He was very thin and gaunt, I got a bit of a shock. He was always slim, but .... ”
Bruce, 75, who last played with Cliff and The Shadows on the Final Tour in 2010, went on: “If he’d been found guilty I presume he’d have been going to jail. How could he cope? Nobody would.
“Those of us who know FRIEND Bruce Welch him knew it wouldn’t be true, so that was never going to come. He’s a Christian and he’s lived a saintly life, and what he’s been through is just not fair. We were all very worried about him.” Sir Cliff said last year he thought he was “disappearing” with the stress of being accused in late 2013 of sexually assaulting a child at Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane stadium in 1985. The star, who was never arrested, denied the allegation and in June last year prosecutors said he would face no charges. He has since taken legal action against the BBC and South Yorkshire police over coverage of a raid at his home in Sunningdale, Berks in 2014. Bruce added: “He’s said to me, ‘That publicity and everything, you can’t erase it from people’s psyche.’ He is a good man. He’s been a good man forever. He’s never done anyone any harm.” New album Summer Holiday, featuring artists including Cliff Richard & The Shadows, is released by Sony Music on Friday.
I saw him and he was very thin and gaunt, I got a bit of a shock BRUCE WELCH OF THE SHADOWS ON SIR CLIFF