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'It's like suing Britain!': Sir Cliff Richard reveals why he nearly dropped case against BBC over child abuse claims

The singer also stated that his legal actions against the BBC had cost him well over $5 million but he only got the half of it back

BY SHIVAM BANIK

UPDATED AUG 24, 2022

Singer Sir Cliff Richard was falsely accused of historical sex offences and the BBC breached his privacy by filming the police raid on his home (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

The 81-year-old singer Sir Cliff Richard has admitted that he was being 'too patriotic' after he considered not suing BBC for filming a police raid that was conducted at his home. "I felt bad about it, I said to the lawyers, how can I sue the BBC? It's like suing Britain," he told the DailyMail.

"But I thought to myself, these people need to learn that I'm serious about this, this was a very serious, nasty, harmful thing said about me," he also added, referring to allegations about him abusing a minor boy. He also revealed that he prayed every night for the truth of the story to be revealed to the public.

"Won't go anywhere near children": Sir Cliff Richard after winning legal battle against the BBC

Sir Cliff Richard gestures to fans after speaking to the to the media in Victoria Gardens next to the Houses of Parliament on July 1, 2019 in London, England. Singer Sir Cliff Richard was falsely accused of historical sex offences and now is lending his support to a change in the law to give anonymity to those who are accused of sexual offences until they are charged. — Sir Cliff Richard gestures to fans after speaking to the to the media in Victoria Gardens next to the Houses of Parliament on July 1, 2019 in London, England (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Sir Richard talked about the rather dismantling effect that the tiresome 4-year-long battle against the BBC for breaching his privacy. He promised himself never to "come close to children again." The singer also won the battle against allegations against him that stated that he had abused a boy back in 1980. He was finally proven 'not guilty' of the said sex crime after a two-year-long protracted legal ordeal.

The singer stated that his legal actions against the BBC had cost him well over $5 million but he only got the half of it back. He also talked about the physical impacts that the stress of the whole situation had caused him. "I came out in shingles all over my head. Fortunately, a local doctor in Portugal diagnosed it. After about the third visit he said, 'it's coming down your forehead, you don't want to get it in your eyes because it can blind you.' I said, 'How do you get shingles?' He just looked at me, gave a little tiny smile and said, 'stress'," Sir Richard said in a Channel 4 documentary that also features radio presenters Paul Gambaccini and Neil Fox, who have also faced sex abuse allegations that dated way back in time.

The documentary, 'The Accused: National Treasures on Trial,' aires on Wednesday, August 24, on Channel 4 and All 4. Sir Cliff, along with Gambaccini and Fox, have shared and discussed their experiences with being falsely accused of sex crimes and the individual effects they have faced in the process of proving themselves innocent of the crimes.