John Barrowman: My first date with my husband was with Cher
John Barrowman tells Harry Redknapp how Cher was at his first date with Scott Gill (ITV)
I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! star John Barrowman has revealed that musical icon Cher gatecrashed his first date with husband Scott Gill.
The openly gay 51-year-old Doctor Who, Torchwood and Arrow actor opened up to fellow I’m a Celebrity contestant Harry Redknapp about how the singer insisted on shoehorning in on their dinner.
He told the former football manager that he was in a play in Chichester when he met his future husband, who he’s now been with for more than two decades, saying: “A friend of ours brought Scott down.
John Barrowman and husband Scott Gill (Anthony Devlin – WPA Pool / Getty)
“And after the show, I spoke to him, and it was then that I knew that was the person I was going to spend the rest of my life with.
“And I said: ‘Look, let’s go out to dinner.’ Well, the night we were meant to go out for a meal, I got a call. They said: ‘We have Cher on the line.'”
“Well, that’s amazing, but I can’t go”
— John Barrowman turning down Cher
Naturally, Barrowman was stunned, responding: “‘What?’ They said: ‘Cher—she was in last night, she saw the show. She wants to take you out to dinner tonight.”
Cher wanted to take John Barrowman for dinner—but he had other plans (Scott Barbour/Getty)
Laughing, the actor recalled how he turned down Cher in order to spend time with Gill, saying: “Well, that’s amazing, but I can’t go.”
Cher happy to help John Barrowman
He was then put through to the superstar, who he told: “I’m sorry, I can’t go out to dinner with you tonight. There’s someone that I’m interested in; I’m taking them out to dinner.”
Thankfully, Cher was more than willing to accommodate Barrowman and Gill.
“She said: ‘Bring them along!'” he told Redknapp. “So our first date, really, was with Cher.”
Barrowman called the conversation with Redknapp, which also involved the former Tottenham Hotspur coach describing how he met his wife of 54 years, Sandra, “probably one of the most loveliest talks I’ve had in a long time.”
John Barrowman told the I’m A Celebrity audience his talk with Redknapp was “one of the most loveliest talks I’ve had in a long time” (ITV)
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Barrowman has previously opened up about Gill on I’m a Celebrity, revealing how his husband—who he married in 2013—was one of the reasons he doesn’t have a child yet.
“I can’t just go out and buy one at Tesco and bring it home,” Barrowman said, before adding: “It has to be a partnership thing and I don’t think Scott is ready for it.
“He keeps saying to me: ‘If you wanna do it, just do it.’ However, I can’t just do that, as he has to be on board.
“At the moment I’ve got a company that I run with my business partner, and I’m still on Arrow, and I’m travelling all over the place, and it would be unfair to have a child that I would never really see.”
Watch John Barrowman and Harry Redknapp’s talk here:
