Michael Barrymore is returning to ITV sixteen years after he was dropped by the channel following the death of Stuart Lubbock in a swimming pool at his Essex home the year before.
The former Strike It Lucky host, 65, will appear in an ITV3 documentary on showbiz legend Larry Grayson, who Michael was the warm up act for when the variety entertainer presented The Generation Game in the late 1970s.
Presenting Larry Grayson: Shut That Door! on Easter Sunday will be Barrymore’s first job for ITV since being axed in 2002.
Read more: Michael Barrymore awarded damages for wrongful arrest
“He had an amazing career out of just being Larry Grayson. He was unique,” Barrymore says in his first words in the documentary.
Speaking fondly of the camp presenter, who died in 1995, Michael says: “He fumbled his way through the programme, you were never sure he was going to get through to the end of the show in one piece. But he always did.”
Barrymore – who recalls going to parties hosted by Larry in Paignton, Devon, before his showbiz career flourished and he was a hairdresser – said he learned a lot from the star.
He also reveals during the documentary that many of Larry’s fans thought his flamboyant mannerisms were put on.
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“I remember talking to some old girls and I told them he was gay and they didn’t believe me,” Barrymore says during the two-hour special.
And in a poignant moment, Barrymore is seen contemplating the nature of fame as he visits Larry’s dressing room when he topped the bill at the London Palladium in 1974.
“Larry would’ve sat here and pinched himself and said: ‘I’m here, I’ve made it. This is the Holy Grail,'” Barrymore tells the cameras as he realises Judy Garland – a star Grayson idolised – would also have been resident in the same dressing room.
He adds: “I know what the feeling is like, it is pretty amazing.”
Welcome back #MichaelBarrymore & not before time ❤ pic.twitter.com/YzxPiHltpw
— Richard Stewart (@Richard_GJS) March 23, 2018
#michaelbarrymore set to return to ITV after 16 years after being axed following swimming pool scandal. This is brilliant news. I wish him well in his comeback. Second chance everyone needs.
— Ian C (@YinEnsoYang) March 23, 2018
@MrBarrymore I hope you are well x just read your coming back to itv can’t wait to see you on the screens again x
— lucy diep (@lucydiep1) March 23, 2018
@MrBarrymore great to see you coming back to TV. Wish it was for more Strike it Lucky though. I still watch best bits on YouTube – brings back memories as I grew up watching you on TV! @ITV
— Chris Atterbury (@CaptnSpaulding_) March 23, 2018
Last year Barrymore won damages in the High Court for his wrongful arrest on suspicion of Mr Lubbock’s rape and murder in 2007 when police launched a new inquiry.
But no charges were brought after the Crown Prosecution Service said there was insufficient evidence.
Larry Grayson: Shut That Door! is on ITV3 on Sunday April 1 at 9pm.
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