TV presenter Michael Barrymore may soon be making a return to our screens after negotiations about fronting a new show.
His agent has revealed that the popular personality has been in discussions with the company Talkback, which makes such programmes as Have I Got News For You and Never Mind The Buzzcocks.
"We are at the negotiating stage," said his representative Mike Browne. "They discussed one format which is completely different from his old shows, which he really fancies doing."
Barrymore was one of the UK's favourite TV hosts until March 2001, when a man died at a gathering in his home. The inquest into Stuart Lubbock's death heard that Barrymore had offered cocaine to guests at the party, and ITV immediately axed him from its schedules.
In a candid interview after the controversy, the 50-year-old admitted to having a drug and alcohol problem, but insisted he was clean and sober and trying to recover.
If he does strike a deal with Talkback, it will not be the first time he has bounced back from personal difficulties. In 1995 he split from his wife Cheryl after 20 years of marriage and told the world he was gay. TV executives and the press thought his career would collapse, but his popularity with British audiences endured.
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