Sir Cliff Richard has forgiven his accusers
I may never get over it, but I can get past it and move on
Five months on from the end of a traumatic two years, music legend Sir Cliff Richard has revealed that faith and learning to forgive his accusers helped him cope with falsely being accused of historical sex abuse crimes.
Talking to Lorraine about his nightmare ordeal, Sir Cliff said: ''It's really difficult to explain to people what it's like, you have to go through it yourself to know what it's like; it's a horrifying, traumatically emotional situation that you find yourself in, and you somehow feel that you don't know how to get yourself out of it.''
The 76-year-old veteran singer, who is suing the BBC and South Yorkshire police, was investigated over historic sex abuse allegations, but the case was dropped by the CPS in June due to insufficient evidence.
Sir Cliff, who has always maintained his innocence , told Lorraine his belief in God and finding the strength to forgive his accusers helped him in his darkest hour.
''I forgave my first accuser on the second night because I woke up feeling like, ‘how do I survive this if I have hate and vengeance in my heart?’ I just said to God ‘please help me forgive him’ so I uttered the words ‘I forgive you’ and do you know what, it was a lot easier the next day because I didn’t burn with hate and vengeance, so for me God became a reality much more so than he has done before,'' he said.
I don't know how people manage without someone like that [God] to lean on when you come through really bad times in your life
Sir Cliff, who is back with a new rock 'n' roll album and UK tour, said he's moving on from the profound and lasting damage of his ordeal, and is now looking to the future.
''It's in the past and now I'm looking to the future,'' he said. ''I may never get over it, but I can get past it and move on.''
He added: ''I'm doing the things that I've missed for a couple of years, you know,'' he said. ''It just feels nice to be back in the business that I've been in and loved for so long.''
Just Fabulous Rock and Roll which features a duet with Elvis is out today. Find out more about Sir Cliff's new album, those Glastonbury rumours and his UK tour here