26 July 2023 , 20:00
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If you were watching television in the 1990s, you'd likely have seen Michael Barrymore's face just about everywhere, especially in the mid-90s, as the comedian and presenter was at the peak of his fame, fronting numerous game shows and winning various awards.
This was in part due to his wife, Cheryl Cocklin, who had left behind her career as a dancer in the West End to focus on making her husband a star, working as his manager.
The pair had first met in 1974 and just two years later they were married. That marriage spanned 21 years before it all came crashing down in 1995 and they headed for divorce after the Strike It Lucky presenter confessed on stage at the White Swan in London that he was gay.
News of his performance quickly spread and wife Cocklin was understandably distraught by this revelation about her husband's sexuality. The shock of their split was said to have been so great that a devastated Cheryl had to be sedated.
Michael and Cheryl were married for 21 years (Kevin Holt/Daily Mail/REX/Shutterstock)Speaking about their marriage, the Mail reports Cocklin said afterward: "We were so in love. You could never have predicted what happened to us. It's a tragedy but we couldn't go on as we were because I would have died. My weight plummeted to 5st. I couldn't eat."
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There was undoubtedly more to Barrymore's decision to come out and rebel against his "clean" image, as behind the scenes the star was struggling with alcoholism and also had the desire to break free of being a "clothes horse", something he claims his friend Princess Diana had urged him to do.
"Her original comment was that she was glad when I was in the papers because it kept her off the front page," he previously told the Guardian of their unlikely bonding. "She was one who said you've got to stop being controlled. By that stage, I was just a clothes horse. It got to the point where I would never look in the mirror even before I went out on stage - I just accepted what they had put on me."
Diana is said to have been one of the first to know of Barrymore's true sexuality and encouraged him to come out and when he was later admitted to rehab in 1996, Diana apparently left a holiday early to return to London to comfort him. But while Barrymore believed Diana could have kept on helping him battle his demons if she hadn't tragically died in 1997, Cocklin wasn't so sure about their closeness.
In her autobiography Catch a Falling Star she wrote: "[Diana] seemed to believe they could achieve something truly great and immortal together because they had the key to weeping massive public affection."
She was distraught when he announced he was gay (PA Archive/PA Images)Barrymore and Cocklin tried to make their marriage work for a while longer and had several unsuccessful reunions before finally calling it quits in 1997. Cocklin sadly died of lung cancer eight years later in April 2005, aged 55.
Barrymore - whose career was derailed when factory worker Stuart Lubbock was found dead in his pool in 2001 - previously spoke to The Mirror about not having any regrets about the way his life had turned out, despite claiming he didn't want to get divorced.
He said: "Of course I didn't want me mum to die. Course I didn't want a guy to die in my pool, course I didn't want to not do what I do for a living, course I didn't want my sister to go to sleep and not wake up and my two dogs to die and my partner to leave me and to go through another bankruptcy and start all over again and get divorced and for my wife to die. I didn't want any of it. But it's just my journey.
"I don't have regrets. I know my place in life now and I know I can live with myself. Despite the ups and downs, middles, lows, it's just my journey."
The entertainer found happiness with Shaun Davis (REX)After his marriage ended, Barrymore found love with stockbroker Shaun Davis after meeting him at a gay nightclub in 1998. Just 18 months after getting together, he told OK!TV on ITV that his new relationship had made "a big difference" to his life and admitted that it was a "bit strange and frightening" to start off with.
However, they soon got into the swing of things and the pair were together for almost a decade. During that time they moved to New Zealand to escape the controversy in the UK and Barrymore claimed he'd found happiness in his new relationship, saying: "'I've never been happier than I am now and that's down to Shaun."
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It was reported that they had undertaken a promise ceremony in Hawaii, exchanging gold rings, and according to Davis' mother they were planning to adopt a child together, but they ultimately split in 2007 as Davis struggled to cope with Barrymore's lifestyle.
Following their split, Davis spoke to The Mirror about his fears for his ex, after police began re-investigating the death of Stuart Lubbock. He said: "I'm very worried about Michael's welfare. While we lived together in Auckland life was simple and he had no pressures. He stayed off the booze but coming back to England and then being arrested has set him off on a trail of self-destruction again.
"The problem with Michael is he has a very addictive personality. If he surrounds himself with the wrong people and hangers-on they'll drive him into his grave.
"In his own head, Michael still thinks he's a big star but times and tastes change and other people have now taken his TV crown. Living in the UK is not good for him because he gets bothered wherever he goes unlike New Zealand where he can lead a quiet life.
"But as much as he claims to hate the attention he also adores it. His craving for the spotlight could be another demon alongside the drink and drugs that could ultimately consume him."
The 71-year-old is reportedly planning a comeback (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
He was at the height of his fame in the mid-1990s (Fremantle Media/REX/Shutterstock)In recent years Barrymore has been photographed smiling while out and about with a male companion, but his identity is unknown. The 71-year-old this week announced he was planning a comeback in his first interview in years and shared that he had been "looking after" himself and has been sober for 14 years.
"I can't tell you how happy I am now. I'm the busiest I've ever been and I'm the happiest I've ever been. I am probably the fittest I've been, too. I walk a lot, I eat well and I do what I love. I'm 71 and I feel fitter than I was when I was 40 when I was drinking and all that. " he said to the Daily Star.
He went on to share that he currently lives alone and that he's discovered he's a"good director" after directing a new West End show, Laurel and Chaplin. Barrymore has also garnered a legion of young fans after joining TikTok where he boasts over 1.7million followers.