Comic Freddie Starr today denied claims he groped a girl of 14 at a seedy dressing room party hosted by Jimmy Savile and Gary Glitter – and said: “Don’t tar me with the same brush as a scumbag and a paedophile.”
The 69-year-old comedian vehemently denied even meeting the teenager who accused him of drunkenly molesting her at the bash where Glitter also allegedly had sex with another under-age girl.
Speaking from his luxury five-bedroom home in Studley, Warkwickshire., Starr told SWNS the woman was “a nutter” and accused her of “picking my name out of a hat.”
He went on to brand Savile – who he claims to have only met on two occasions – as a “phoney”, and a “boring boring man”.
Savile’s reputation is in tatters after a series of women came forward to say publicly that they had been abused by the former DJ and presenter. He is alleged to have raped and molested girls as young as 12 at the height of his fame.
Starr, who is engaged to Sophie Lea, 34, who fell pregnant with his fifth child last November, spoke out after losing an injunction to prevent the press from printing the shocking claims.
Describing the moment he found out about the allegations, he said: “The first we heard of all this was when Dean, my lawyer called us up yesterday after getting an email from ITV.
“He was panicking, because he’s my mate as well as my QC. He said it was alleged I was in a room with Jimmy Savile, and these two alleged 14-year-old girls.
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“I’ve only met Jimmy Savile maybe twice. He came to see me with his mother at one of my shows.
“I always thought he was a flash b*****d, but I wanted to meet him before I cast aspersions on his character.
“He said to me ‘now then young man, I’ve brought the duchess to meet you’, that was his mother.
“They stayed for 15 or 20 minutes before he left me so I had time to plan what I was going to do in the show.
“The other time was when he came into mine and my partner’s men’s clothing shop in Leeds.
“We were sat in the shop and he walked past, looked in and came in.
“In he comes and he starts to show us his bus pass. We just sat there taking the p***. We said surely you have enough money, you’ve got a roller.
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“He sat in his normal pose in the chair taking up all the chair. I asked him if he wanted a drink, he said he just wanted a cup of tea, and he used all of those sayings he had off TV when he was talking to you.
“He demeaned you, by talking a bit down to you, I couldn’t wait to get him out of the shop, he was a boring boring man.
“I used to see him on television, and I always thought to myself ‘you’re phoney, there’s something not right about you’.
“It seems to me that there’s three of these ladies, for want of a better word, all after something, all holding each others’ hands.
“I feel deeply sorry for them for having to go through what that scumbag put them through, I really do care for them.
“But don’t f******g tar me with the same brush as Jimmy Savile or Gary Glitter.
“If there is one thing I’ve always hated it’s paedophiles. If I see something on the TV about a kid getting hurt, like the young girl now, I just have to turn it off.
“I can’t stand that sort of bloke. I’ve always been against paedophiles and always will be.
“I’ve never touched any under aged girl in my life.
“Paedophiles are a pet hate of mine, so I refute it completely.”
Freddie went on to claim the party where he was alleged to have groped the girl did not happen and described his accuser as “a nutter”.
He added: “The party these girls talk about didn’t happen. She’s claiming I made advances to her, it didn’t happen.
“She says she rebuffed me because my breath smelled of alcohol, well that can’t have happened because I’ve never drunk, I’m teetotal.
“This nutter has seven children, three don’t speak to her and eleven grandchildren she’s never seen.
“I have never been in any situation with Jimmy Savile and Gary Glitter, and I have certainly never been with this woman.
“I think these women are very brave to come forward, but they shouldn’t drag my name through the mud.
“A mate of mine has said it wasn’t only Jimmy Savile who did this, there’s more to come out, but I don’t know more details.
“But when I read that I had made advances towards this woman, that never happened.
“I completely understand their predicaments, but when they are doing it for a reason, and trying to pick names out of a hat, saying ‘he’ll do, Freddie Starr will do’ – they could have picked anyone.
“It could have been some other poor b*****d, it’s horrible to be faced with this.
“They’ve done this, going after a book deal regardless of the consequences.
“I think there are more to come forward – and I think there should be a police investigation into it now.”
Freddie went on to say that he had only met Gary Glitter once at an England football match – where he contemplated stealing the rock singer’s wig.
He added: “I was only in the same room as him at an England game in the 80s against Greece.
“I was there with Max Clifford and he was sat in front of me. At half time he got up and Max said to me ‘that’s a wig he’s wearing’.
“He came over and said hello, then went back to his seat, and all I wanted to do was flip off that wig.
“I had visions of it being thrown around the crowd. I was right on the brink of doing it when Max said ‘no, don’t do that’.
“Years later it came out what kind of man he was. But I had no part in the lives of Gary Glitter and Jimmy Savile, none at all.”
