Sue Barker asked Cliff Richard to stop ‘harping on’ about her: ‘Not respectful'

express.co.uk:

Cliff Richard.The former professional tennis player met the We Don’t Talk Anymore singer after he got in touch with her. Although the pair had “a lot of fun”, Ms Barker has admitted she was warned against Mr Richard by both her parents and her friend.

In an excerpt of her book, Calling the Shots: My Autobiography, which appeared on Mail Online, Ms Barker said her parents were “wary” of the 16-year age difference.Ms Barker said: “I have to say being in Cliff’s company was a lot of fun.

He got on well with my family and friends.“They were all impressed by his behaviour with fans — he never flinched when he was approached in public, and was always happy to do a personalised autograph."My parents, however, were wary.They didn’t like the age difference of 16 years — I was 25, Cliff was 41 — and Dad warned me it could become a problem as we got older."After a few months they had seen less and less of each other, and then Mrs Barker said Mr Richard suddenly broke it off with her – by getting one of his friends to dump her over the phone.The 66-year-old recalled: “I flew back to the States, upset and angry.“During the past five months, we hadn’t been seeing a lot of each other as I was on a tennis tour and he was doing an album.“So it certainly didn’t feel like we’d reached a point that merited either of us being dumped by the other.“It felt to me like a friendship that had the potential to develop, rather than a significant romantic relationship, because we hadn’t taken it far — and I’m not just talking about sex.“When my previous relationships had ended, we’d talked everything through, about why it wasn’t working or couldn’t work.“This time, I was absolutely floored.