Sir Cliff Richard quits Britain for ‘anonymity’ in New York after baseless sex abuse slurs
SIR Cliff Richard has quit Britain for New York to escape baseless sex abuse slurs.
He is said to love his “anonymity” there after the sex storm and court battle over BBC coverage of it.
Pal Gloria Hunniford, 79, revealed: “Cliff won’t come back and live here. He has made that jump now. He was very disillusioned with what happened.
“He likes the anonymity in America. Some people recognise him but he does not get it all the time like he does here.
“His place is in New York and he likes it there. He loves coming back to perform occasionally and is looking forward to playing summer shows this year.
“But I don’t think he will ever live here all the time again.”
Pop star Sir Cliff, worth £70million, has previously split his time between his Berkshire pad, a £4.2million vineyard estate near Albufeira, Southern Portugal, and a £6million Barbados villa.
The Beeb filmed a 2014 cop swoop on his £2.5million home in Sunningdale, Berks — sparked by false claims he abused a lad, 15, at a 1985 Sheffield Christian rally.
What Cliff’s leaving behind
Shocked Sir Cliff watched the raid on TV while holidaying in Portugal. He was never arrested or charged and the probe was dropped two years later.
The Sun told how in April 2018 he blasted the BBC for ruining his life as he successfully sued it in a High Court privacy case.
TV veteran Gloria was at his side as he attended court.
Last December he laid bare his torment over the fake claims as he spoke to ITV’s Sir Cliff Richard: 60 Years in Public and in Private.
He said: “They have given me something I can never ever be free of. Ever.”
And the devout Christian — who lives with John McElynn, his pal of 18 years — voiced amazement that anyone could deem him capable of abuse.
He went on: “I do not have any hint of that kind of activity in my background. None at all.
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“If I was a paedophile there’s no way I could hide it for 60 years. It’s impossible.”
He said he had grown wary of being snapped near youngsters for fear of sparking further fake abuse claims.
And he revealed the ordeal took a toll on his health.
He said: “I thought I was going to die (of) a heart attack. I had shingles and didn’t sleep more than an average of two hours a night.”
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