Sex, drugs and death at Michael Barrymore's

British entertainer Michael Barrymore has been freed on police bail in the aftermath of a fatal incident at his home. STEPHEN DODD looks at the TV star's latest nightmare

His lawyer says: "Michael's okay, considering the circumstances", but it is difficult to treat the reassurance as anything beyond banality. The circumstances?

The word scarcely suffices for Michael Barrymore's tally of distress: an arrest over drugs offences, addiction problems, a teetering career and the sordid mystery of a dying man floating in his swimming pool. With details like these to weigh up, could Barrymore possibly be "okay...considering"? All evidence points to the contrary.

An almost impersonal despair lies at the heart of the latest twist to Michael Barrymore's troubled life. The entertainer faces possible drugs charges after a young man drowned in the pool at his Essex home. The dead man had been part of a sex and drugs party; even though it has been claimed he had sex with three people before his death, however, none of Barrymore's guests was even aware of his name.

Barrymore's mother, Irish-born Margaret Parker, got the news at her brother's funeral in Belmullet, Co Mayo. It was distressing stuff: her son was briefly back in Britain from his hideaway in a Dubai hotel suite, facing police interrogation. Two other men had been arrested on suspicion of murder. The repercussions of a dreadful March night at Barrymore's poolside were escalating, adding a criminal dimension to a life long since spun out of control.

It is now undeniable that Barrymore has become a man adrift, fighting the currents to keep his career afloat, seeming to sink slowly in the maelstrom of his own emotions and desires. If he faces a personal demon, it may be the discovery that nothing that fame can buy will ever make him happy. Drink, luxury, sex, acclaim; he has tasted them all often copiously and each new thrill has ended only with inner turmoil, or in the public humiliation of another spell of rehab.

It has all been a singularly unlikely fall from grace for a man who held, so recently, an image for family values. Barrymore, at the height of his popularity, reigned over Saturday night prime-time fare. He was the traditional all-rounder made modern; he could sing, mimic, dance and joke. So clean was his reputation that when he first admitted to addiction problems, London theatre critic Jack Tinker quipped it was like "being told the Queen Mother is a fetishist".

With hindsight, of course, his simple confession of alcohol and drug abuse hid deeper woes, and far darker tragedy was still to come. Barrymore's admission seemed to trigger a progressive unburdening, as though he were sloughing off skins, stripping layers of deceit. He confessed to exhaustion, talked on TV about his drug problems, and then, in 1995, he literally took to the stage to announce a shift in his sexuality.

As his unlikely venue, Britain's most-loved TV host selected a London East End gay bar, on the occasion of a celebration featuring the lamentably titled 'Hot Bums' contest. Barrymore stood beside a drag compére to announce: "Yes, it's time to tell the world...yes, I am."

Though the rumours had been rife, his coming-out was surprising news for most of his fans; heartbreaking for Cheryl, his wife of 20 years. The end of his marriage was imminent.

Tabloid tales rolled in. There were commentaries on Barrymore's ceaseless partying, on his drunken outings to clubs and desperate attempts to clean up his act. Worse was to follow. Last year, he was officially warned by police when drugs were found in his London hotel suite. The discovery came after claims that the entertainer and four men had hired a prostitute. Barrymore, said to be responsible only for funding the incident, was claimed to have sat with one man while another lay on the bed with the naked woman.

The public mask was slipping, again and again. In March this year, Michael Barrymore was drunk on stage at a children's charity concert. Then, at the end of that month, came the fateful Essex party.

The dead man, Stuart Lubbock, had been in a local nightclub at the same time as Michael Barrymore and a small group of his friends. The 31-year-old father of two travelled in a taxi to Barrymore's £2 million home.

Neighbours heard screams at around five o'clock the following morning but thought they indicated nothing more than a domestic dispute. They were wrong. Lubbock was soon dying tests show immersion in the pool was the cause of death and attempts to give heart massage failed to revive him. A post-mortem revealed he had had sex three times and had suffered injuries as a result. Traces of Viagra were found in his blood, along with ecstasy, cocaine and alcohol.

Since March, Michael Barrymore has once again been seeking help. He has left Britain, returning only when he must, and now plans to live permanently abroad, perhaps in Tenerife. Clinical treatment, his minders say, is his main priority. Fame has lost its allure.

Okay...considering: the phrase has become meaningless, because Barrymore can no longer hide the despair of his latest flight from himself. He is still drinking, claim the tabloids, still chancing hopeless chat-up lines with strangers. In a sense, he nowhas everything he ever dreamed of, every luxury and every freedom, except peace of mind. Can any rehab programme ever hand it back?

IRISH INDEPENDENT