Bill: Having cancer is so boring
PRIVACY Helicopter footage of the 2014 police swoop RAVE ON Tribute to tragic rock icon Buddy Holly on Cliff’s guitar SIR Cliff Richard led a crowd of fans to “boo against the BBC” during a gig.
There were three outbreaks of jeering when he mentioned the broadcaster, who he recently beat in a privacy case that took a huge toll on his health.
Begging fans during a show at London’s Royal Albert Hall to stop, Cliff said: “Now listen, I understand your feelings. I have felt it many times myself but it’s always confusing to me because I was only dealing with the top echelon of people who run the BBC.
“The real BBC are the people who you listen to on the radio, the engineers, the presenters, the producers. They have been nothing but kind to me.”
But the pop veteran then added: “So, on the count of three, let’s have one last boo.”
He told the crowd after their final bout of booing: “It’s good to get it out.”
Cliff mentioned the BBC at the show as he explained how it had helped him choose which single to put out from his new album, Rise Up.
The release features his first original material in 14 years and the title track will be played for the first time on BBC Radio 2’s Ken Bruce show.
Cliff, who turns 78 on Sunday, was stunned when BY TOM BRYANT his pal Bonnie Tyler got on stage to sing Happy Birthday to him.
Bonnie, 67, told them: “He’s got tears in his eyes. He loves you all. I love you, too.”
Cliff sued the BBC over their coverage of a police search of his home in Sunningdale, Berkshire, in 2014 amid claims of historical sex abuse – which he was never arrested or charged over.
The broadcasters have repeated their apology to Cliff over the distress it caused him and added: “We will think very carefully about our approach in the future – both in tone and style.”
But the BBC also stressed that the ruling “represents a dramatic shift against press freedom”.
Experts have warned the ruling will make it difficult for media organisations to name people in future.
Cliff is on tour ahead of the release of his new album next month. He also has his 2019 calendar out – his 40th.
His calendar sales over those 40 years have totalled more than 1.5million. BY CRAIG SIMPSON PRESENTER Bill Turnbull says his daily battle with cancer has become “relentlessly boring”.
The ex-BBC Breakfast host was diagnosed with incurable prostate cancer in November.
Bill, 62, has had 10 rounds of chemotherapy but the disease has spread to his pelvis, hips, legs and spine.
He told Radio Times: “Having cancer is so relentlessly boring. You go to bed thinking about it, and it’s there when you wake up. It’s there all day, every day – a fact of life you have to get used to. And it’s a massive pain in the backside.”
Bill’s blood count for cancer has been brought down by the chemotherapy but it could return within months.