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Cliff Richard rumour poo-pooed

Dec 14 2008 by Ken Oxley, Sunday Sun

IT’S hard to believe Sir Cliff Richard was ever serious about appearing in the next series of Celebrity Big Brother.

But the story that he has apparently pulled out because programme makers refused to give him a private toilet won’t do anything to dispel a persistent rumour that has followed him for decades.

Mention his name to members of the public and the phrase “Peter Pan of pop” will immediately trip off their tongue.

Play the same word association game with a journalist and you’re likely to hear words colostomy and bag. The Daily Mail’s agony aunt Virginia Ironside even made reference to the rumour in an article she wrote earlier this year about her own colostomy bag.

Many years ago, one of my colleagues dared to ask him about it during a face-to-face interview.

Sir Cliff sportingly laughed it off.

Yes, he was aware of the rumour, he told my friend. But, no, it wasn’t true.

Now it would appear he has unwittingly allowed it to resurface . . . like a floater that won’t flush!

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