Fears that haunt the last Bee Gee: Singer Barry reveals he fears death after watching his brothers die - but refuses to talk about how he met his wife through Jimmy Savile

Barry Gibb has refused to discuss how he met his wife Linda, pictured on their wedding day in 1970, on Piers Morgan's Life Stories

Barry Gibb refused to discuss how he met his wife of 46 years because they were introduced by Jimmy Savile before opening up about how the loss of his brothers has made him scared of dying in a new TV interview.

The Bee Gees singer, 70, was left red-faced after he was asked the story behind his relationship with Scottish former beauty queen Linda Gray during filming for Piers Morgan's Life Stories.

Gibb, whose interview with Morgan airs on ITV tomorrow, had an awkward exchange with the TV presenter as he recalled the first time he met Linda, then 17, at a recording of Top of the Pops in 1967.

'She was Miss Edinburgh. But there is a whole slew of stories behind all that. Some of them cannot be told,' he said.

Pushed for details, he added: 'No, no because even the name would send a shudder through you.'

Gibb then told Morgan the teenage beauty queen was 'brought to London' from Scotland by the person who introduced them, but was warned not to name Savile by his wife who shook her head and shouted 'no' from the audience. 

The singer added: 'It does not bear [thinking about] but that's how we met. It is 50 years this year to the day that we did our first Top of the Pops and that was the day I met my wife.

'When we first saw each other I thought it was love at first sight. I thought then, 'That is the woman I am going to spend the rest of my life with.' It did not matter about showbusiness.'

The oldest Bee Gee also opened up about the deaths of his three brothers, including solo star Andy who died at the age of 30 after years of drug abuse. 

'I still always see the four of us together, it was always brothers battling for attention. I never stop thinking about those days and their ­characters. 

He added: 'It feels devastating to be without them. It happened with Andy in his 30s. That was a heartbreaker for the whole family because we really hadn't witnessed losing anyone.'

Now, the oldest and only surviving one of the four brothers says he does anything he can to avoid death - particularly after an accident with boiling water that has left his scared to boil a kettle.

'I don't drive fast, anything that's going to risk ending it for me, I don't know why I am still here but I am very nervous about anything that could be fatal,' he added. 

The Bee Gees singer, 70, was left red-faced after he was asked the story behind his relationship with Scottish former beauty queen Linda Gray - because they were introduced by Jimmy Savile

Maurice Gibb (left), Peter Frampton (centre), Barry Gibb and Robin Gibb, in the film Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, made 11 years after the famous Beatles album

Barry Gibb was the group's main songwriter and the trio - with brothers Robin and Maurice - had their first big hit in 1965 with Wine and Women.

He was introduced to his wife by Savile, who died in 2011 aged 84 before his sex crimes against hundreds of women and children were exposed, hosted Top of the Pops for 20 years from its inception in 1964.

Savile was found to have abused at least 19 young people during recordings of Top of the Pops by an inquiry into his crimes by judge Dame Janet Smith.

In 1991, the disgraced star was filmed smiling and waving among audience members at an episode of This Is Your Life featuring the Bee Gees, when presenter Michael Aspel recalled 'a young Jimmy Savile' had introduced Gibb to his wife.

Gibb was married to first wife Maureen, who he met as a teenager growing up in Australia, when he first met Linda in 1967.

Gibb and girlfriend Linda in 1969 before they were married and pictured last year at a Sony Music UK party at Sexy Fish in Mayfair, London

Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb and Maurice Gibb promoting the Staying Alive soundtrack in 1983

According to Gibb, his relationship with Maureen was already falling apart when he met Linda and the couple divorced in 1970. He then married Linda the same year.

They have five children together, sons Steve, 43, Ashley, 39, Travis, 36, Michael, 32, and daughter Alexandra, 25. 

Unlike most who enjoy a long music career, Gibb, pictured with Linda in 2007, has also enjoyed a long marriage

Gibb, who sold more than 220million records with his brothers in the Bee Gees, also revealed that his 50-year career had left him requiring hearing aids.

He said: 'My hearing is not like it was, I wear a hearing aid all the time now. I blasted my ears out over time.

'Most musicians of my era have suffered hearing problems due to the technology, wearing in-ear monitors.

'Over the years, it will cause you a lot of damage because it's very close to your eardrum. But it's fantastic, it sounds like you're on a record.'

During the interview, shown at 9pm tomorrow on ITV, Gibb spoke movingly about the death of his three brothers.

His youngest brother Andy, who had a successful solo career in the Seventies, died aged 30 in 1988 of a heart condition exacerbated by years of cocaine abuse.

In 2003, fellow Bee Gee Maurice died suddenly at the age of 53 after suffering a twisted intestine, followed by Robin, 62, who died in 2014 after a battle with cancer.

 

'It feels devastating to be without them': Oldest Bee Gee opens up about the loss of his three younger brothers 

Andy Gibb, who had a solo career, died at the age of 30 after years of drug abuse

The oldest Bee Gee also admitted he is terrified of death after losing all three of his brothers, each loss affecting him deeply.

His youngest sibling, Andy, who was not part of the band but had a glittering solo career, died aged 30 after years of drug abuse in 1988.

In 2003 he lost Maurice, 53, who died in hospital after complications from a twisted intestine.

There was more heartbreak in 2012 when Robin died of cancer in 2012 at the age of 62.

'I still always see the four of us together, it was always brothers battling for attention. I never stop thinking about those days and their ­characters. Robin was constantly humorous, Maurice was very open and sociable, and you put us all together and that's what we were, not just writing songs but singing in harmony.

'It feels devastating to be without them. It happened with Andy in his 30s. That was a heartbreaker for the whole family because we really hadn't witnessed losing anyone.

'We dealt with it, it's a void. I don't remember how we did it, we just got on with it but I don't think we were ever the same as three brothers.

'You can't explain it, you just feel different about everything. It broke my mother and father's heart. Your youngest is always the toughest. Dad passed away a few years after but really from a broken heart. Andy was his little light. Maurice was the next one we lost at the age of 53, I think.

'Then the whole family began to settle into the fact that death is a real thing. You lose someone and you don't get over it, it stays with you all your life.

'Maurice may have known he was ill but within two days he was gone.

Maurice (right) and Robin (left) Gibb have also died, leaving their oldest brother 'devastated'

'It was so quick, it was crippling emotionally, it's not something you can understand, very difficult. All I can say is that I haven't cried since I cried at his funeral. I cried when Andy died, I didn't cry on the day of Robin's funeral, it was just not something I could take in, it was just wrong.'

He also talked of how he is a 'safety-conscious' person after being burned by hot water as a child.

'I avoid boiling water, to this day. I avoid fire too.

'My sister caught fire once. That was a terrifying experience so I am really aware of what those things can do.

'If I get near boiling water something happens and I have to back off. It isn't just age, anything can happen.

'So I don't do things like go on rollercoasters, I'm a safety-first type of person.

'I don't drive fast, anything that's going to risk ending it for me, I don't know why I am still here but I am very nervous about anything that could be fatal. That's all down to that accident.'

 

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