Cilla Black

In the light of what has recently happened to Caroline Flack - aren’t we all still at it? Piling in to bad mouth someone most of us only saw on the television or read about in glossy magazines? Most of us didn’t know her.

The difference here is that Cilla is already dead. Which means she can’t be hurt by these comments.

But still.
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I too have heard unpleasant things from someone who came into contact with her, but my oldest daughter loved blind date, and I remember her entering a competition once, where you had to write about your favourite celebrity, she chose Cilla, she was only about eight.

I was never a fan , but she always seemed down to earth, and up for a laugh, but you can never tell I suppose.

Annepl you are welcome. I really love a few of her songs. I honestly cannot comment on anything else.

I wasn't a fan but she seemed to have a good circle of close friends so that says something about her,Paul OGrady was hilarious at her funeral and I'm sure she would have enjoyed his memories of her.I enjoyed the series with Sheridan Smith but it did show she was quite a selfish person.We all have our own faults dont we and seems she was no different to the rest of us .I did like her version of Alfie ,if you haven't heard Rumer singing itFiachna you should give it a listen

I was always surprised that Paul O'Grady and Cilla Black were such great friends. He is a staunch Labour party supporter and she publicly supported the Conservatives, though she claimed to be "apolitical" in later years.

I suppose that demonstrates that a close friendship can still happen between very different people - and perhaps that some people can be wonderful friends but not particularly caring of those outside their immediate circle.

I wasn't a massive fan of her singing but I did think she was quite funny and entertaining. As a person, I don't know what she was like because I didn't know her. So far, second hand reports suggest she wasn't the pleasantest of people. But does any Gransnetter have a more positive account to relate?

It was reported at the time of her death that she had been battling arthritis for many years and was not in good health. If she was as difficult as has been reported, perhaps that was due to pain. I imagine it is hard to be agreeable when you are in constant pain. Some people can manage it but I'm not sure I'd be that nice if I was in pain all the time.

I too thought the dramatisation of her life, in which Sheridan Smith played Cilla Black, didn't always show her in the kindest of lights. It, as someone else said, did suggest that her husband was more or less forced to put his own singing career to one side in order to support hers. I thought she seemed a a bit selfish in that respect, but he could always have said no. Perhaps he wasn't as ambitious as her and was quite happy to do that. In the past - and even now - women often prioritise their husband's careers at the expense of their own - and husbands are rarely accused of being selfish because of it.

I have a friend who can afford to fly first class, she had seen Cilla a few times at airports, said she sat apart from anyone, dark glasses, head turned away etc. I felt she maybe didn’t want to chat to all and sundry in her own time, up to her really.

I watched her on Piers Morgan once, she spoke very movingly and genuinely (I felt) about the death of her baby daughter, and how devastated she was when Bobby knew he was going to die, how totally dependent she was on him organising her life, and how he encouraged her to carry on alone.

I felt for her.

Just watched it and she was a star and knew it! But she was good at keeping the audience entertained job done!

Harris27, the report I read about Rod Stewart was that he, his son and their families tried to gate crash a private party, no mention of a pre-booked table. When the security guard denied them access it got physically and verbally aggressive and the security guard was going to press charges. Who knows what really happened?

All ‘celebrities’ are putting on an act, aren’t they?

Unless we know them personally, it’s impossible to say whether they are pleasant or not in real life.

Sometimes in interviews the mask slips somewhat, but that depends on how skilful the interviewer is!