Paul Chuckle believes he saw a vision of his late brother Barry Chuckle during his first-ever solo performance following his death.
The 74-year-old ChuckleVision star’s brother and long-time TV partner and Paul, whose real name is Paul Elliott, spotted Barry’s spirit while waiting in the wings ahead of a panto performance.
Opening up on the poignant moment to Richard Herring on the RHLSTP podcast, he said: ‘I did pantomime somewhere that year on my own for the first time. I’d never been on stage on my own, ever — except for DJ-ing.
‘I remember standing in the wings, waiting for my entrance and the music playing, ChuckleVision playing.
‘Barry would be on the other side, where he would come on and he wasn’t there.’
He went on: ‘But I swear I could see him to the side of the stage, and he’s nodding and winking at me.
‘It gave me the confidence to walk on stage and the audience lifted me beautifully. That was lovely.’
He added: ‘He was my brother, my work partner, my best mate … everything.’
The comedy pair was best known for starring in , which ran for 22 years from 1987 to 2009, and became known for their classic catchphrase ‘to me, to you’.
The beloved Chuckle Brothers were adored across the country for their slapstick comedy and, in 2019, their hit TV series was voted the best CBBC show of all time in a Radio Times poll.
Paul also told how Barry convinced him to continue working on his own shortly before died.
‘When Barry was ill he said, ‘you must carry on the business. Don’t pack it in’,’ he told the podcast.
‘I said, ‘Yeah, but you were half of me, you know? I’ll only be half what I was without you’.
‘And he says, ‘You’ll find something, just keep going. Just keep doing something’.’
