Barrymore starts new life in NZ

By PHIL TAYLOR

Michael Barrymore arrived in Auckland on New Year's Day and, as far as he can tell, is here to stay.

New year, new country, new start.

The 52-year-old comedian, assailed by scandal, addiction and tabloid headlines, hopes to reassemble in the less-pressured environment of New Zealand the Barrymore who was once Britain's most popular entertainer and one of its best paid.

He spectacularly outed himself in 1995 by walking into a gay bar in London singing, "Start spreading the news, I'm gay today".

Barrymore has happy associations with New Zealand and has always been popular with audiences here. His partner, Shaun Davis, 28, a medical student, is a New Zealander.

Barrymore told the Weekend Herald he hoped New Zealand would provide the "foundation for ... a new chapter in my life".

He had been hugely apprehensive about the decision but was prepared to take life one day at a time.

Barrymore perhaps had no option after his comeback in the West End flopped.

Following slow sales and some brutal reviews, he cancelled after three shows of what was to have been a seven-week season.

His spokesman in Britain, Mike Browne, said: "Michael realises he has to go away in order to come back".

One British tabloid announced his departure with the suggestion he had fled a tax bill of £1.4 million ($3.8 million). The Daily Mail said Barrymore had struck a deal with Britain's Inland Revenue deferring payment until May, when his legal battle with Granada TV is likely to be settled.

The entertainer is suing Granada for axing him in November 2001, one year before his contract was due to expire.

In a statement he wrote for the Weekend Herald, Barrymore said his move to New Zealand had been planned for some time.

"Despite media reports, I have not fled the UK, neither have I walked away from my responsibilities.

"My only comment on this [tax] matter is all those concerned are fully informed.

"My home is on the property market back in the UK and, again to correct media reports, I have neither sold this property nor purchased a property here in New Zealand."

He and Mr Davis are renting in Auckland.

Barrymore was this week recording backing tracks for My Kind of Kiwis, an 11-date "heartland tour" beginning in March, in which Barrymore discovers through his guests the essence of Kiwiness.

In person, Barrymore appeared physically ponderous and seemed subdued. He admitted - unsurprisingly given his recent history - feelings of insecurity.

Born Kieran Michael Parker, he was raised in a council flat in Bermondsey in south London, the son of a drinking father. He left school at 15, then tried hairdressing.

He got his first taste of showbiz as a red-coated Butlins boy in one of its holiday camps.

He won television's New Faces and by the early 1990s shared the pay stratosphere with Cilla Black. But a decade further on he cannot find work in Britain.

Until his West End show he had not worked since 2001, when he endured media persecution after the body of Stuart Lubbock was found in his swimming pool.

It prompted Barrymore to confront addictions to drink and drugs.

"It wasn't my responsibility but it happened around that environment," he said in an interview last year. "I haven't seen too many tragedies around coffee and tea."

He was the drunk who needed the bottle not for courage to take the stage but life off it. "It's never, never wanting the party to end."

Barrymore said he looked forward to embracing "my future".