Sir Cliff Richard: Elton John told me to take BBC ‘by the throat’ after police raid

Sir Cliff Richard has revealed that Sir Elton John was the very first person to call him after the BBC televised a police raid at his home and told him to “take them by the throat”.

The Mistletoe and Wine singer said after the “terrible” ordeal, Sir Elton - who had previously won the biggest libel payment in UK history - advised him to go after the broadcaster.

The phone call occurred after the BBC showed helicopter footage of a police raid at the 83-year-old’s home in Berkshire in 2014 following an allegation of sexual assault against the singer.

Sir Cliff, who denied the allegation and was never arrested or charged, went on to sue the broadcaster for invasion of privacy and in 2018, he won a High Court case over their coverage which resulted in the BBC being ordered to pay £210,000 in damages and £2 million towards his legal fees.

In an interview on the Iain Dale All Talk podcast, Sir Cliff said: “When I had my terrible, terrible time with the BBC and the South Yorkshire police, Elton was the first one to call me.

“I won’t say what he said, no, he just said ‘Take them by the throat’.

“And so, he was the first.”

Some nine years ago, the BBC filmed a police raid at Sir Cliff’s home in Ascot, Berkshire after a man accused the singer of sexually assaulting him in 1985.

The footage, which included aerial shots taken from a helicopter flying over his home, was broadcast on the news bulletin throughout the day.

The singer said 76-year-old Sir Elton - who has previously won several libel claims against the press -  was “always very friendly” to him and described him as a “really nice guy”.

In the late 1980s, Sir Elton took a tabloid to court over a series of stories that included false allegations that the singer had been involved with rent boys and had ordered the removal of his guard dogs’ larynxes.

After the high-profile court case, the Rocket Man singer and the paper reached an out-of-court settlement, believed to be worth £1 million, which was described at the time as ‘the biggest pay-out in newspaper libel history’.

Sir Cliff added: “Elton was always very friendly.

“I never saw the Elton that sometimes the press used to show of him screaming at an airport, no, he was just a really nice guy.”