Stress shows as he's asked about his behaviour

Freddie Starr has stormed out of a TV interview about the police investigation into sex abuse claims, after saying the 18-month ordeal had driven him to the brink of suicide.

Starr ordered Good Morning Britain presenter Susanna Reid to leave his home yesterday after she asked whether he had done 'anything that could have been misinterpreted'.

'Are you being serious?' the 71-year-old replied sternly, before removing his microphone and walking out of the room.

The comic was last week told he would not be prosecuted over historic sex allegations through lack of evidence, after spending 18 months on bail.

He later returned with his wife Sophie to continue the interview with ITV's new breakfast show. 'It's hard to have an interview like this with it being so raw,' he said.

During the interview, Starr claims that he did not know the women who made the complaints against him, branding them 'ghosts'. He also called disgraced publicist Max Clifford 'a different animal', saying: 'I didn't go out with him, I didn't do anything with him.'

Clifford had been Starr's publicist – famously placing the story 'Freddie Starr ate my hamster' in The Sun. But they had a falling out, with Clifford saying in a 2001 interview: 'The only person Freddie Starr has ever loved or cared for is Freddie Starr.'

Here is the footage from this morning's show:

Published: 12 May 2014