Barry Chuckle, real name Barry Elliott, died aged 73 in August last year. In an emotional interview, his brother and long-time professional partner Paul told Express.co.uk Barry had never been religious during his lifetime. “We were chalk and cheese,” Paul said of their relationships with faith. “I believe in the afterlife, he never did.” However, the entertainer said he feels Barry’s presence in his dreams since he died is his way of telling Paul he now knows there is life after death.
“I know he knows there is an afterlife now because he’s been in most of my dreams ever since he died,” Paul explained. “And I’m sure that’s his way of coming back to say, ‘You’re right.’”
He called his faith “comforting” as he continues to process the grief of losing Barry.
Opening up about the months which followed Barry’s death, Paul said: “You’ve got to grieve, you must grieve.”
He also voiced his belief in the power of talking about loss and speaking openly about grief.
“You remember those good times, rather than grieving all the time,” he said. “Talk to people, about the time we went to Skegness, that time we went to Benidorm…
“You remember these things because it helps if you talk about it to family or friends or whoever. Just find somebody to talk to.”
Barry died of bone cancer on August 5, keeping his condition secret from his brother until just weeks before his death.
Following the heartbreaking news, an outpouring of love came from Chuckle Brothers fans who paid tribute to Barry who, along with Paul, was a beloved part of so many people’s childhoods.
One particularly poignant moment was when, during his first outing to watch his beloved Rotherham F.C. since Barry’s death, both Millers fans and Ipswich supporters chanted an uproarious tribute in honour of the late Chuckle Brother.
Choruses of their catchphrase, “To me, to you!” rang out across the stadium before the crowd also burst into song, singing: “There’s only one Barry Chuckle.”
“It was moving to be there,” Paul recalled. “I stood up and blew kisses to both ends of the ground. Because even the away fans — the Ipswich fans — sang.
“It was upsetting at the time,” he added.
Paul also spoke about the funeral, which saw fans line the streets new Rotherham’s New York Stadium to say their goodbyes before Barry’s coffin was carried in and a private ceremony held inside the ground.
“Because he wasn’t religious, he didn’t want a religious ceremony,” he said. “So, they did it at New York Stadium and there was loads and loads of celebrities turned up.
“Some that we’d only met once or twice, others that were really good friends.”
Remembering the moment he helped bear Barry’s coffin into stadium, Paul added: “There were hundreds and hundreds of people there applauding. It was a really good send off.”
Paul recently took part in a panel to discuss grief and loss as part of Marie Curie’s Great Daffodil Appeal.
The event aimed to break down society’s taboo around discussing death and dying.
Praising Marie Curie’s nurses who cared for Barry and his family in the last weeks of his life, the star said: “How they do it I don’t know. The family are probably more upset than the person who’s passing.
“For them to comfort the family as well as the person, they’re just absolutely fabulous people.”
