AtHomeWithGloriaHunnifordOctober2016 - 59

CLIFF AND GLORIA ▲ AND WITH THEIR OTHER BEST FRIEND: CILLA BLACK GLORIA AND CLIFF ARRIVE AT A LIZA MINNELLI CONCERT PALS FOR 45 YEARS WORDS: LYNNE MAXWELL, IMAGES: STEPHEN WAY, PA IMAGES 'I HAVE NEVER MOLESTED A BOY, GIRL, MAN OR WOMAN - NEVER EVER, NEVER WOULD, NEVER COULD' my knees. A friend who was staying with me said: "Get up; hold your head up; you've nothing to be guilty of and nothing to weep about." 'So I got up, then I got a phone call - and it was you, Gloria! You introduced me to your lawyer.' But it was a very costly two years for Sir Cliff. He spent more than £1million on his defence - but, as he says, he was lucky he could afford to. 'Despite the horribleness of it all, I've been able to console myself with the fact I could afford to fight it.' SO MANY MISTAKES Sir Cliff received a file of disclosure about the accusation. The first accuser made so many mistakes - such as the room an incident was supposed to have taken place in didn't even exist in 1985, among other errors. 'I immediately thought: This is nonsense! The police are going to throw it out - but they didn't!' After the raid, and because of the accusation and the BBC's involvement, Sir Cliff found his name smeared. 'Once my name had been bandied around, more accusations came out. There were nine in total and five didn't even get to the CPS, they were so weak. I have a feeling, though, this may happen to me again over the years. 'But I can tell you I have never molested a boy, a girl, a man or a woman - never ever, never would, never could. I can't tell you what it's like to hear these vile accusations. I can't possibly say what some of them were right now, they're so vile.' To this day, Sir Cliff has no way of proving that he didn't do these things, and his accuser has no way of proving that he did, but Sir Cliff says: 'All I know is I'm innocent. What he does have on me, though, is the fact he only has to make an accusation. 'It's a frightening reality. I do not like being collateral damage. If police have got enough to charge you, then you should be named. But I've spent these past 22 months with my name plastered everywhere and I hadn't been charged. I'm angry with South Yorkshire Police and confused and angry with the BBC - why was it allowed to film the raid?' Sir Cliff went on to reveal that he didn't want to live in his house any more after footage showed police rummaging around in his rooms and through his possessions. 'I'd rather have been burgled. These were police people that seemed to think I was guilty of doing those horrible things. I couldn't live in that place again after that.' Although Sir Cliff has never received an apology from the BBC, the police did say sorry. Gloria asked if he'll sue the police. 'I think I will have to.' And now it is an ongoing legal battle. The CPS swept aside the challenge that the accusers put forward after Sir Cliff 's clearance. In the end, though, he, still doesn't like the verdict 'not sufficient evidence'. He says: 'How can there be insufficient evidence about something that never happened in the first place?' MOVING ON Sir Cliff believes he'll never ever forget what has been done to him. 'If they wanted to damage me, they have. It's changed everything.' He then gave Gloria a good example whereby a family recently came up to him in a supermarket and asked to take their photograph with him. 'I made sure the son stood away from me and I just leaned over and smiled. You never know what he'll grow up to say.' During those low periods, how did he feel, asked Gloria. 'Every time I looked in the mirror, I seemed to be disappearing. There's this old geezer looking back at me. Maybe it was the stress factor, but I suddenly thought I was going to the dogs. Thank God for friends. I didn't want to be on my own. Now, when I look back, I think "Wow, I actually survived it". ' It took a long time to get any of his possessions back from the police, all he had was a CD of his vocal warm-up that he needed to continue with his passion: music. Sir Cliff 's new album Just... Fabulous Rock 'n' Roll, is out on 11 November. www.athomemagazine.co.uk NOVEMBER 2016 | 059 http://www.athomemagazine.co.uk

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