Sherna Noah
Sir Cliff Richard has spoken for the first time about his friendship with a former Roman Catholic priest he shares his home with.
The singer and well-known Christian describes Father John McElynn as his "companion" in his new autobiography My Life, My Way.
Sir Cliff, 67, also says he is sick of speculation about his sexuality and thinks the Church should approve same sex marriages.
The star reveals how he met US former missionary Father McElynn seven years ago, while on a trip to New York. He writes: "He hadn't had any thought at the beginning of giving up the priesthood, but when it became clear he was thinking of the possibility, I suggested he might help me with some charitable projects.
"That was seven years ago and our arrangement has worked out really well. John now spends most of his time looking after my properties, which means I don't have to.
"John and I have over time struck up a close friendship. He has also become a companion, which is great because I don't like living alone, even now."
He writes: "As for my sexuality I am sick to death of the media's speculation about it.
"What business is it of anyone else's what any of us are as individuals?
"I don't think my fans would care either way."
Of homosexual partnerships, he says: "Same-sex marriages are perhaps a modern example of how things have changed. I think the Church must come round.
"In the end, I believe, people are going to be judged for what they are. It seems to me that commitment is the issue, and if anyone comes to me and says, This is my partner - we are committed to each other', then I don't care what their sexuality is. I'm not going to judge - I'll leave that to God."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article