Television career (1976–2001)
Barrymore rose to fame via appearances on Blankety Blank and Who Do You Do? and his television career began firstly by having his own sketch show entitled The Michael Barrymore Show in 1983, which starred a young Nicholas Lyndhurst; Barrymore also appeared in Russ Abbot's Madhouse as various characters in 1981 and 1982. Barrymore walked out of his contract with LWT, who produced The Michael Barrymore Show, after only one series; he then landed the presenter's role on the BBC game show Get Set, Go!. He appeared in a number of Royal Variety Performance shows, his first being in 1983. He became the host of ITV gameshow Strike It Lucky (which later became Strike It Rich) in 1986 and it grew in popularity over the years, watched by 18 million viewers at its peak.
This was Barrymore's first successful presenting role (Get Set Go! had been cancelled after only one single series), which led then to his own light entertainment show, Barrymore in 1991. However, before that he had his own show between 1988 and 1989, produced for the BBC entitled Michael Barrymore's Saturday Night Out; it was set in Jersey, and the theme tune, "Doin' the Crab" had been released as a single in 1987.
In 1991, Barrymore was given his own show entitled Barrymore, in which he interviewed guests, performed his comedy routines and joined in with other performers on the show. The show lasted throughout the 1990s right up to 2000, and was consistently nominated for awards over the years in the UK. Among the many famous guests that appeared on Barrymore were Cliff Richard, Uri Geller, and Spike Milligan.
Following his appearance on the 1993 Royal Variety Performance, where he performed a version of "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" with soldiers, he became popular on television and on the stage. He became well known through his catchphrases of "Awight!", on making his entrance, and on Strike It Lucky, "Top, middle or bottom?" and "What is a hot spot not?", to which the studio audience would reply "a good spot".
Following on from the success, Barrymore had a very public battle with substance abuse. He went into rehab due to his alcohol and drug addiction in 1994. He left after a couple of months and went on to write a best-selling book about his experiences, including rehab, and he also went on a stage tour called Back in Business in 1994.
He then regained his former status and made another series of Barrymore and recorded a new series called My Kind of People. He came out as gay on 19 August 1995 and divorced his wife in 1997. He made a new series of Strike It Lucky, now called Strike It Rich and another Barrymore series. More editions of Strike It Rich and Barrymore were shown in 1997 and he also appeared in Spice World as Mr. Step.
A spin-off talent show, My Kind of People, and game show, My Kind of Music, followed the success of both Barrymore and Strike It Rich. Following a dip in ratings, Barrymore was cancelled in 1997 (it later returned in 2000). He went on to new projects with Kids Say the Funniest Things, Animals Do the Funniest Things and Barrymore on Broadway. He was voted the UK's favourite TV star several times, and became one of the highest-paid stars on TV. Barrymore won the National Television Award for Most Popular Entertainment Presenter five out of the first six years, lastly at the 6th NTAs in 2000.
He recorded two new series called My Kind of Music and Kids Say the Funniest Things in 1998, along with more episodes of Strike It Rich. Newer editions of all three series were shown, and another series of Barrymore was recorded and broadcast in 2000. That year also saw Barrymore move into acting in Bob Martin, in which he played the character of Bob Martin; he recorded two series of the comedy (2000–01). Barrymore also presented a second series of Kids Say the Funniest Things, which aired in late 2000, and also a fourth series of My Kind of Music, which was on the air at the time that Stuart Lubbock died in Barrymore's pool on 31 March 2001. Following Lubbock's death, both Bob Martin and My Kind of Music stayed on air while the investigation was ongoing, but he did not record any further programmes for ITV. They constantly backed him when asked by the newspapers, and simply waited for investigations to conclude. In October 2001, Barrymore was given a drugs caution, and began recording a new series of My Kind of Music.
