Cheryl Barrymore as himself. Michael later wrote in his 2006 autobiography, "Awight Now: Setting the Record Straight", that Cheryl was a control freak who controlled his every movement including his clothes, and she had created the character that was "Michael Barrymore", which drove him to alcohol, drugs and gay affairs. After her split with Michael, Cheryl's health suffered. In 2003 she suffered a burst ulcer, and in late 2004 she was investigated for chronic fatigue syndrome, when she complained of feeling unwell. On 1 April 2005, she died, aged 55, at St John and St Elizabeth Hospital in St John's Wood, having
Cheryl Barrymore had paid off his mother, who threatened to reveal a previous 18-month-long gay love affair. She later claimed, without contradiction from her estranged husband, that they had had a "full" marriage, including connubial relations. With Cheryl as Michael's manager and the mastermind behind his meteoric rise, he won a 1979 edition of "New Faces". He later became a panelist on "Blankety Blank" and the warm-up man for Larry Grayson on the "Generation Game". From there Michael rose to fame presenting ITV entertainment show "Strike It Lucky" from 1986, followed by "Kids Say the Funniest Things" and "My Kind of Music".