Freddie Starr turned down the chance to meet up with Bobby Davro last year because he had "not been too well".
The late comedian was found dead aged 76 at his home in the Costa Del Sol, Spain, on Thursday (09.05.19), and Bobby, 60, has admitted he turned to meet up with the star in Spain but his late pal wasn’t feeling great.
He said: "I might have been one of the last people to speak to him.
"I went over to Spain to do a couple of gigs last year. Someone said Freddie was living in that place in Spain.
"I got in touch with him, got hold of his number and phoned him up.
"At first he didn’t really feel like talking, but then he called me back.
"He said, ‘How are you doing, Bob?’
"I said, ‘I’m alright, Freddie. Would you like to meet up for a cup of tea? I’m in town.’
"He said, ‘No … I’ve not been too well.’
"And just looking at those pictures … I want to remember the Freddie we all knew.
"Rest in peace, Freddie. He was fantastic."
Bobby credits his late friend as one of his "heroes", and realised when he was watching him perform that he would "never be as funny as Freddie".
Speaking on ‘Good Morning Britain’, he added: "I remember going to see him at a club in Windsor call Blazers.
"I thought then, ‘Of all the time I’ve got breath in my body I’ll never be as funny as Freddie Starr.’ He was one of my heroes."
TV presenter Les Dennis has also paid tribute to Freddie, praising him as a "total one off".
He tweeted: "Freddie Starr was so exciting to watch live. A true clown who could also sing like Elvis. A total one off. RIP. (sic)"
Younger TV fans will remember Freddie from his short 2011 stint on ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!’.
He appeared on the reality show just a year after recovering from quadruple bypass surgery following a heart attack, but he was forced to leave the jungle early following a suspected allergic reaction.
Freddie shot to fame in the 1970s after appearing on TV show ‘Opportunity Knocks’, and he later landed his own programmes, ‘The Freddie Starr Show’ and ‘An Audience with Freddie Starr’.
Bobby Davro says Freddie Starr turned down chance to meet up last year
