Entertainment

Loose Women suffers technical glitch during Cliff Richard interview

Andrea McLean apologised to viewers for the TV hiccup.
Andrea McLean apologised to viewers for the TV hiccup. Andrea McLean apologised to viewers for the TV hiccup.

Sir Cliff Richard’s interview on Loose Women suffered a momentary delay as the broadcast cut out.

The music star was on the ITV daytime programme to discuss his new album and his life after his legal battle with the BBC, but was stopped mid-sentence for several seconds.

Viewers at home saw an image of the ITV logo and heard a long, loud beep before he and the Loose Women panellists returned, seemingly unaware of the technical glitch.

Several minutes later, lead panellist Andrea McLean apologised to viewers for the “disruption” to the programme.

Sir Cliff, 78, spoke in a husky tone throughout the interview as he was “saving” his voice.

He joked about his fans needing “psychological help” as many were waiting outside the TV studio from the early hours of the morning to see him.

But he added: “To know that people love you is nice, to feel it is even nicer, and I relied heavily on my friends, family and my fans.”

The singer has just released new album Rise Up, his first after his ordeal with the BBC.

He sued the BBC for invasion of privacy and won £210,000 in damages for the broadcaster’s coverage of a police raid on his home in 2014, which involved the deployment of a TV helicopter.

Sir Cliff told Loose Women he has no plans to retire as “I don’t think that word is in my vocabulary”.