Sir Ken Dodd has vowed to return to the stage.
The 90-year-old star is currently in hospital battling a severe chest infection, and though the road to recovery will take "a while", he’s determined to bounce back and perform again in the coming months.
He said: "I have been to a very dark place. I will get out and come into the sunshine…
"I feel, with the care I am getting, I am making definite progress."
But asked when he’ll return home, he added to the Liverpool Echo newspaper: "It’s going to be a while yet. There’s a lot of work to be done."
Ken also told the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Cllr Malcolm Kennedy, that he wanted to put on a big show for his charities in either April or May.
He vowed: "I will be there. I shall return."
Ken and his partner Anne Jones were left upset earlier this week when a fake news story that he’d passed away circulated online, but the entertainer believes those who originated the piece will be "punished".
He said: "They are horrible monsters. I don’t think they are human beings. I think they are evil. But I think they will get theirs. I can tell you now, there is a God and he will punish them."
The ‘Tears’ singer went on to thank his fans for their kind messages of support, and also to praise the treatment he’s received at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital.
He said: "The first and most important thing I want to say is ‘Thank you’. I want to thank everyone for being so wonderfully kind and caring.
"The NHS is marvellous. The nurses here are absolutely wonderful and the doctors are excellent. Everyone has been very, very kind to me.
"But I also want to say there are lots of other people apart from me being cared for in this way. The medical attention is superb and the staff do their very best for everybody – it all makes me cry with gratitude."
Ken Dodd will make stage return
