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Michael Barrymore's Biography

 
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Who is Michael Barrymore?

Michael Barrymore was born Michael Parker on 4 May 1952 in South London.

Barrymore lived on the Dickens Estate in Bermondsey with his mother. Barrymore's father left home when Michael was 11.

Michael Barrymore left school at 15 and had a variety of jobs such as being a Butlin's Redcoat, serving in the toy department of Selfridges, and being a hairdresser. However, he started to do stand-up comedy and eventually broke through in entertainment through talent shows New Faces and Who Do You Do.

Barrymore also did the warm-up for the studio audience of Are You Being Served before getting a regular role in Russ Abbot's Madhouse in the early 80s.

Michael Barrymore became best known for hosting popular entertainment series and game shows like Saturday Night Out, Strike It Lucky, My Kind of People and Kids Say the Funniest Things.

In 1995, Michael Barrymore announced he was gay and split up with his wife Cheryl, who had also been his manager. In hindsight, Barrymore recognises that he was always gay.

In 2000, he starred in the drama series Bob Martin as, appropriately enough, a gameshow host.

A series of controversies culminated in the tragic death of Stuart Lubbock after he was found unconscious in a swimming pool at Barrymore's home.

Michael Barrymore was cautioned for drugs offences following the police investigation of Lubbock's death. The case regarding Stuart Lubbock's death has remained open but in February 2006 a district judge blocked an application to launch a private prosecution.

When Michael Barrymore was doing a book signing of his autobiography, Awight Now, Stuart Lubbock's father confronted him, shouting: "You're a liar. You're a liar, Barrymore."

After Lubbock's death, the media pressure on Barrymore grew so great that he moved to New Zealand. Barrymore has been with his partner Shaun Davis for several years and he said in Celebrity Big Brother that he wants to have children.

Michael Barrymore said that Celebrity Big Brother had been a very good experience for him and compared favourably with his 8 rehabs.

In spite of being dubbed 'Bullymore' by Jodie Marsh and others, Michael Barrymore, who had been favourite to win, regained some popularity towards the end of the reality TV series and ended up second to Chantelle on Celebrity Big Brother.

After Celebrity Big Brother, Michael Barrymore had a swift reappearance on television when he was a guest host of Channel 4's The Friday Night Project.

On 14 June 2007, the police announced that they had arrested three men including Michael Barrymore on suspicion of murder, however he was later released without charge.

The arrests came over 6 years since the death of Stuart Lubbock, who was found by the swimming pool at Michael Barrymore's house in March 2001.

On 10 September 2007, the Crown Prosecution Service announced that following the reinvestigation, nobody, including Michael Barrymore, would be charged over the death of Stuart Lubbock and the case would remain open.

In 2008, Michael Barrymore appeared on stage playing Spike Milligan in Surviving Spike.

In 2009 Michael Barrymore was a roving reporter on Celebrity Big Brother.

In the winter of 2009, Michael Barrymore was helping out sweeping after mechanics at Shiltons Bodyworks in Epping, Essex.

In December 2011, Michael Barrymore admitted possessing cocaine and was fined £780 at Ealing Magistrates' Court.

On 18 August 2017, the BBC reported that Michael Barrymore was to get "more than nominal damages" after claiming his wrongful arrest by police destroyed his career.

Essex Police had admitted that it did not have reasonable grounds to suspect that Barrymore was guilty.

In September 2019, ITV announced that Michael Barrymore would be one of the contestants on Dancing on Ice in 2020.

However, in December 2019, he had to pull out of Dancing on Ice after suffering a wrist injury during training.



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