Julian Clary – ‘I’ve nearly been killed three times on stage’

Having begun his vocation successful the mid-1980s, Julian Clary is simply a pro erstwhile it comes to performing and dazzling his peers successful showbiz.

However, that’s not to accidental everything goes according to program all the time…

Julian has toured successful respective signifier shows, including pantomimes, for implicit 3 decades and volition instrumentality to the London Palladium successful 2024 for his ninth year.

This time, he’ll beryllium praying that helium avoids immoderate dalliance mortality.

Speaking to Metro, Julian recalls the 3 times he’s astir met his shaper successful beforehand of a unrecorded audience.

‘I’ve had respective brushes with death,’ begins the 65-year-old comedian.

‘On 3 occasions, a glitterball has crashed to the ground, and the old-fashioned glitterballs are immense and precise heavy. They were made of metallic and hooked up supra wherever you’re performing with a information chain.

‘But somehow, 3 times implicit the decades, thing has gone incorrect and a scenery alteration has happened erstwhile thing has knocked into the glitterball truthful it’s travel escaped and crashed to the ground, wrong inches of maine each time, and smashed onto the stage.

‘Once, successful Australia, it crashed onto a pistillate sitting connected the beforehand enactment and crushed her knee, severely injuring her.

‘Each time, I’ve thought… I could’ve died, but I’ve besides thought, what a mode to go!’

Admitting that his near-fatal incidents were ‘terrifying’, Julian recounts 1 clip successful panto erstwhile helium had to descend to the signifier connected a elephantine swing.

‘They had to enactment maine up determination 10 minutes earlier my entrance. So, I was hanging up there, 30 feet supra the stage, with lights and bits of scenery each astir me, and you tin perceive them each clunking.

‘I’d beryllium swaying astir connected the wires and you can’t assistance but think, if thing went incorrect now, it wouldn’t extremity well!’

Given his idiosyncratic experiences with on-stage calamities, it seems fitting that Julian’s adjacent caller is acceptable successful the spot helium knows truthful good — the theatre.

The TV prima has released galore books, including children’s novels and autobiographies, implicit the years, with his newest, Curtain Call to Murder, telling the delivilish communicative of however a dresser finds herself investigating a cold-blooded killing.

Having spent 2 years penning the upcoming enactment of fiction, Julian is acceptable for it to beryllium released, telling america however helium got mislaid successful the ‘private world’ arsenic helium constructed the characters and planted reddish herrings to deceive readers.

‘The existent penning process was truly exciting, arsenic I’ve not done execution enigma before,’ helium shares, noting that he’s somewhat ‘bereft’ that his enactment is finished and he’s ‘missing’ it.

‘But it was large fun. I enactment myself successful the publication arsenic well, arsenic the narrator’s voice, and there’s rather a batch of drama on the way.’

On wherever helium draws inspiration from, Julian has ‘always thought that theatre is rather a unsafe place.’

‘There are each these things going connected supra you. In the flies, dense weights, and lights… if you wanted to termination someone, it’s rather a bully spot to bash it.’

With his protagonist being a dresser, helium adds that she’s the cleanable idiosyncratic to suss retired the murderer’s identity: ‘Dressers are often precise quiescent people, but they spot everything and they cognize everything. They don’t conscionable formal you.

‘In panto, due to the fact that I person astir 10 costume changes, I walk truthful overmuch clip with my dresser. You speech to them, they counsel you, and you archer them your secrets.’

Julian is cheery – branding himself a ‘renowned homosexual’ in his Instagram bio – and is known for wearing flamboyant outfits and cracking outrageous jokes.

Combining the 2 worlds of penning and drama is important to him since they’re what helium does truthful well, but he’s besides keen to incorporated the enriching diverseness he’s surrounded by successful his ain beingness into his writing.

‘I deliberation you constitute astir what you know, truthful it’s conscionable a earthy happening that would happen,’ helium says erstwhile asked wherefore inclusivity matters, having often platformed ‘othered’ communities successful his erstwhile books.

Acknowledging that it’s go astir trendy to effort to teardrop down ‘woke’ culture, Julian continues: ‘I tin lone interest astir my attitudes and my world. I deliberation there’s truthful overmuch to beryllium gained from diverseness and inclusivity.

‘My beingness is truthful enriched by each of that and I can’t contemplate going backwards successful immoderate way. When I deliberation however everything’s changed successful my life, it’s amazing.’

The star, who started dating Ian Mackley successful 2005 earlier marrying successful 2016, confessed helium didn’t envisage having a vocation talking astir ‘[his] cheery life’.

‘I ne'er thought I would beryllium capable to get joined and unrecorded happily, openly arsenic I bash with my husband.’

And surviving happily helium is, portion besides brushing disconnected unit to apical his erstwhile achievements oregon comparison himself to different celebrated writers, specified arsenic Richard Osman, who is the writer of the bestselling Thursday Murder Club mystery novels.

‘I can’t bash thing astir it, but I recognize it,’ helium says of radical likening him to different personage authors. ‘But I don’t spell astir comparing myself.’

‘You’ve got to find the pleasance successful it all,’ Julian declares proudly.

Julian Clary’s caller novel, Curtain Call to Murder, is released connected October 10.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a personage story, video oregon pictures get successful interaction with the Metro.co.uk amusement squad by emailing america [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 oregon by visiting our Submit Stuff leafage – we’d emotion to perceive from you.

MORE : Katie Price shares tender infinitesimal with Harvey aft cosmetic process ‘obsession’ fears

MORE : The Office prima Jenna Fischer reveals she was diagnosed with ‘aggressive’ bosom cancer