Cilla Black dead: Star did NOT want to die and it's 'nobody's damn business', says friend

Cilla Black with husband Bobby Willis and her friend John Madejski

NATIONAL treasure Cilla Black did not want to die, a friend of the late singer and TV presenter has said in response to reports suggesting that she was "dying to die".

 

Sir John Madejski rubbished the claims made another close confidante of the 72-year-old star who said that she "willed herself to die" so that she could be reunited with her husband Bobby Willis.

Cilla was married to Bobby for more than 30 years before he died in 1999 at the age of 57 after suffering from liver and lung cancer. 

 

The couple had three sons and a daughter called Ellen, who died after a premature birth. 

Businessman Sir John, 74 has described Cilla as his soulmate and was quick to defend the TV personality, adding that it was "nobody's damn business".

 

anSir John Madejski and Cilla Black were good friends for 12 years

 

Cilla with husband Bobby Willis in 1989

"Cilla was not dying to die. Anyway, it's nobody's damn business. Think of her family - don't forget she's got three sons," the businessman told the Daily Mail.

The Blind Date host and Sir John have been friends for 12 years and likened their "great relationship" to an "old couple".   

"We had a great relationship. I respected her and she respected me. You don't get many relationships like that with the opposite sex. We were, in some ways, like an old couple," he said.

The tycoon was left distraught following news of her death last week.

 

Earlier this week Cilla's childhood friend Terry McCann said that he "wasn't surprised" when he heard the news.

"The last thing she said to me was she was going blind, she showed me her hands, she had arthritis. She willed herself to die. She said, 'Bobby's waiting for me'," Terry told BBC News.

"She just said, 'Look at me, I'm a wreck.' I was trying to cheer her up. She knew something we didn't," he added.

 

Cilla was found dead by her son and agent Robert after suffering a fall caused by a stroke on the terrace of her home in Spain on Sunday.

Last night her body was flown back to Britain nearly a week after she died.

Cilla’s three sons Robert, 45, Ben, 41, and Jack, 35, are due to return to the UK today.

Her funeral is expected to take place in Denham, Buckinghamshire at St Mary the Virgin Church, where her husband Bobby's service was held in 1999.