Following doctor’s advice received Monday December 3rd, Martin O’Shea from Bold Management has stated: ‘regretfully we have to announce that David Gest will now be unable to appear as Frankenstein’s Monster in the Royal Court Theatre production of ‘A Nightmare On Lime Street’ due to a tumour which has to be removed from his neck. David and I are hugely disappointed that he will be unable to play the role for which he had been preparing for many months. Recent ill-health with severe viral gastroenteritis meant David could not perform in the opening week of the play and the news yesterday from his UK doctor was not good and has forced us to cancel David’s appearance’. According to Gest, ‘I was really looking forward to singing in this wonderful play written by Fred Lawless. I have worked with a fabulous musical director named Howard Gray who has taught me how to sing and phrase and made it a brilliant experience for me. The show is filled with wonderful music and a bravura performance of ‘Up On The Roof’ by Jamie Hampson and Lenny Wood.’

According to Memphis otolaryngologist, Neal S. Beckford, M.D., ‘Mr. Gest is flying to Memphis and will have the operation to remove the tumour on his neck immediately after his arrival next week. We expect Mr. Gest to have made a full recovery by mid-January 2013 and be back at work ready for his Soul Spectacular Tour of the UK in February.’

Kevin Fearon, producer of the show and Chief Executive of Royal Court Liverpool added, ‘We are all very disappointed to lose David from the show but we agreed that his health must come first. He was working hard throughout rehearsals and we were looking forward to having him on stage here. The cast, crew and staff of the theatre would all like to wish him well with his operation.’

The show, which also stars Michael Starke and Mark Moraghan has gathered five star reviews already and the theatre is currently discussing extending the run of the show.

Prior to leaving for Memphis next week to have the operation, David Gest will be honoured for his Humanitarian Services on behalf of the homeless in Liverpool on Sunday 09 December 2012 at 7:00 PM by The Whitechapel Centre who help homeless people aged 16 years and over who need help to pick up their lives.

The star-studded Gala Musical Concert And Dinner honouring Gest will take place at The Palm House in Sefton Park, Liverpool. The evening will be hosted by Coronation Street star Kym Marsh. A Live Celebrity Auction is being conducted by ‘Cash In The Attic’ & ‘Put Your Money Were Your Mouth Is’ Presenter John Cameron. Amoung those set to entertain at the tribute to Gest are: the nation’s top rated Magician & star of his own TV show, Dynamo; Russell Thompkins, Jr., Lead Singer of all The Stylistics Classic Hits including: ‘I Can’t Give You Anything (But My Love)’, ‘You Make Me Feel Brand New’, ‘Rockin’ Roll Baby’, ‘I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You’, ‘Sixteen Bars’, ‘You Are Everything’, ‘Na Na Is The Saddest Word’, ‘Sing Baby Sing’, ‘I’m Stone In Love With You’ and ‘Betcha By Golly Wow’, to name a few (all of which he will be performing); Deniece Williams, who will perform her hits: ‘Let’s Hear It For The Boy’, ‘Too Much, Too Little, Too Late’, ‘Free’, ‘It’s Gonna Take A Miracle’ and former Three Degrees Lead Singer Sheila Ferguson, who will perform her classics: ‘When Will I See You Again’, ‘Dirty Ol’ Man’ & ‘Year Of Decision.’

Amoung the Special Guests attending are: Nicole Barber-Lane (Myra McQueen In Hollyoaks), John Beresford, Jonny Clarke (Bart McQueen in Hollyoaks), Gemma Collins (Towie), Stephanie Davis (Sinead O’Connor in Hollyoaks), Alicya Eyo (Ruby Haswell in Emmerdale), Rebecca Ferguson, Liam Fox (Dan Spencer in Emmerdale), Shobna Gulati (Sunita Alahan in Coronation Street), Jimmi Harkishin (Dev Alahan in Coronation Street), Kelli Hollis (Ali Spencer in Emmerdale), Rob Lee, Jamie Lomas (Warren Fox in Hollyoaks), Rik Makerem (Nikhil Sharma), John Michie (Karl Munro in Coronation Street), John Morris, Bobby Norris (Towie), Laura Norton (Kerry Wyatt on Emmerdale), Sid Owen (Ricky Butcher in EastEnders), Joe Pasquale, Bhasker Patel (Rishi Sharma on Emmerdale), Katie Piper, Jorgie Porter (Teresa McQueen in Hollyoaks), Kieron Richardson (Ste Hay in Hollyoaks), Cleo Rocos, Alan Shearer, Joe Tracini (Dennis Savage in Hollyoaks), Phil Tufnell and many, many more.

Gest will be back in England in February 2013 to begin his ‘DAVID GEST’S LEGENDS OF SOUL SPECTACULAR‘ which tours throughout the country beginning 01 February with 3 consecutive Butlins dates in Bognor Regis, Skegness & Minehead.

The ‘Music & Magic Ball’, included a special show by magician Dynamo and was hosted by Gest, while Palmer turned her hand to DJ’ing. Gest celebrated his 59th birthday that day while Palmer turns 40 years old at the end of May.

The event included a live and silent auction with proceeds in aid of the ‘Me&Dee Charity’ for which Gest is patron of. John Cameron from BBC television shows “Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is” and “Celebrity Cash In The Attic” acted as auctioneer.

‘Me&Dee Charity’ creates special moments for children who are fighting life-threatening conditions. Set up in 2006 by Maria Hanson, the charity has helped over 300 poorly children to enjoy a much-deserved treat. The charity also runs a comfort pack scheme, which it recently piloted at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, giving gifts and toys to patients of the teenage cancer unit and the children’s oncology ward.

OK! Magazine 22 May 2012

The stars are set to come out for television star and producer David Gest and EastEnder Patsy Palmer as they hold a joint birthday party on Friday 11 May 2012 at London’s Grand Connaught Rooms, where a host of celebrity guests will enjoy live performances from 12 of the biggest-selling and most revered Rhythm & Blues artists of all-time and also raise funds for the ‘Me&Dee Charity’. The ‘Mee&Dee Charity’ helps children and adults when time is precious. The ‘Music & Magic Ball’, which includes a special show by magician Dynamo, will be hosted by Gest, while Palmer will grace the turntables during the evening as she turns her hand to DJ’ing. Gest will be celebrating his 59th birthday that day while Palmer will turn 40 years old at the end of May.

Celebrity guests confirmed to attend the bash include: Sam Attwater, Nicole Barber-Lane, John Beresford, Patrick Brennan, John Cameron, Sue Cleaver, Anthony Costa, Lindsay Coulson, Nancy Dell’olio, Dynamo, Vanessa Feltz, Cheryl Fergisun, Jamie Foreman, Liam Fox, Dean Gaffney, Jimmi Harkishin, Linda Henry, Kelly Hoppen, Gloria Hunniford, Tito Jackson, Jo Joyner, Kerry Katona, Rob Lee, Ralf Little, Jamie Lomas, Danny Mac, Kym Marsh, Joe McElderry, Shona McGarty, Carol McGiffin, John Michie, Rob Norbury, Sid Owen, Patsy Palmer, Kieron Richardson, Cleo Rocos, Nicola Stapleton, Carly Stenson, Simon Webb, Adam Woodyatt, Helen Worth and Bill Wyman, just to name a few.

Meanwhile, performing on stage and attending will be: Peabo Bryson (‘A Whole New World (Aladdin’s Theme)’ & ‘Beauty & The Beast’), Candi Staton (‘You Got The Love’ & ‘Young Hearts Run Free’), Billy Paul (‘Me & Mrs Jones’ & ‘Let ‘Em In’), Martha Reeves & The Vandellas (‘Dancing In The Streets’ & ‘Nowhere To Run’), Martha Wash of the Weather Girls (‘Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)’ & ‘It’s Raining Men’), Kim Weston (‘It Takes Two’, ‘Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)’ & Helpless), The Flirtations (‘Nothing But A Heartache’), Dorothy Moore (‘Misty Blue’ & ‘I Believe You’), Brenda Holloway (‘Every Little Bit Hurts’, ‘You’ve Made Me So Very Happy’ & ‘When I’ Gone’), Eddie Holman (‘Hey There Lonely Girl’). Sheila Ferguson (‘When Will I See You Again’, ‘Year Of Decision’ & ‘Dirty Ol’ Man’) and G.C. Cameron, former lead singer of The Spinners (‘It’s A Shame’ & ‘It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday’). There will be a 14-piece band performing live with the soul legends.

The event will include a live and silent auction with proceeds in aid of the ‘Me&Dee Charity’ for which Gest is patron of. John Cameron from BBC television shows “Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is” and “Celebrity Cash In The Attic” will act as auctioneer. ‘Me&Dee Charity’ creates special moments for children who are fighting life-threatening conditions. Set up in 2006 by Maria Hanson, the charity has helped over 300 poorly children to enjoy a much-deserved treat. The charity also runs a comfort pack scheme, which it recently piloted at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, giving gifts and toys to patients of the teenage cancer unit and the children’s oncology ward.

According to Gest: “At this stage in life it’s not so much about celebrating a birthday as getting together with great friends and helping a good cause. Patsy and I have been friends for years and we thought if we could help put a smile on the faces of some people who are less fortunate than us that makes this whole evening worthwhile.”

I flew out to Whitney’s home town of Newark on Friday to pay my respects at her funeral the following day. My very good friend of over 40 years, and Whitney’s cousin Dionne Warwick, was Mistress of Ceremonies, presiding over the whole event.

And I have to say, no one could have done a better job.

Her style, class and dignity made the service something really special.

Somehow, and I’ve no idea how, this amazing woman managed to hold it together throughout nearly four hours of moving tributes, songs and readings.

It was only afterwards that she confided in me that she nearly broke down at one point. But she said: “I knew in my heart I had to hold it together.”

I spoke to her after she had laid to rest this wonderful woman, who Dionne had known since the day Whitney was born 48 years ago.

So it’s no wonder that when the gold coffin was lowered into the ground, next to her dear father John’s grave, that Dionne had to look away.

She told me: “It was so sad to think that this was the final note. I just could not watch that coffin being lowered to the ground.”

Whitney’s daughter Bobbi Kristina, who has taken her mother’s death very hard, was crying and crying.

And Whitney’s mum Cissy was just overcome with emotion.

The grief was so overwhelming for Whitney’s sister-in-law and manager Pat Houston that she started hyperventilating at the graveside and paramedics had to be called to assist her.

Pat was a brilliant manager and I remember Whitney telling me when we met in Copenhagen last March that Pat really kept her organisation running smoothly.

Family was very important to Whitney and they have always been involved in the daily operations of her organisation since she first started.

Pat was not only a manager but a best friend and like another sister to Whitney.

Whitney told me she could always confide in Pat and nothing was ever leaked to the press. To her that was the true test of loyalty.

For me, the most emotional part of the larger service on Saturday, at the New Hope Baptist church, in Newark, was when actor Kevin Costner took the stage.

He talked about how he stood up for Whitney when the film studio were reluctant to take her on for the part in ‘The Bodyguard’, and he personally postponed filming for a year so she would be available to take the lead part of Rachel Marron.

He revealed how they bonded over their involvement in the church. I don’t think many people would have been aware of how close the pair became during that movie.

I remember Whitney telling me after she made ‘The Bodyguard’ how much she loved working with him and what a great guy he was.

I remember joking with her that I would be her bodyguard anytime. Like everyone else in the world I was in love with Whitney Houston.

Dionne Warwick told me that after Kevin Costner’s speech, he turned to her and said: “I hope that’s what you wanted.”

Dionne said to him: “No, it’s what she would have wanted. Whitney would have been proud.”

Unfortunately there was an unpleasant incident involving Whitney’s ex husband Bobby Brown, who kept getting moved by security.

Bobby was furious. I could see him getting mad and frustrated, and he had that “I’m getting ready for a fight look” about him.

After the third time he was moved by security, he had enough.

I think if Bobby would have come with just his three invited guests that he was told to, and not an entourage he would have been made more welcome.

A lot of people felt that he was responsible for Whitney’s downfall. She didn’t do drugs before she was with him.

About 15 minutes into the service, he finally split.

My friendship with Whitney started in 1985 when I was introduced to her by my best friend Michael Jackson.

At the time, I was producing the American Cinema Awards in Los Angeles and as Michael and I were driving to Disneyland in his Rolls Royce (he was dressed as an Arab Sheikh), I said that I would really love to have Whitney receive the Distinguised Achievement in Music Award.

She would join Tom Cruise, James Stewart and Lauren Bacall as honourees.

Straight away, he dialled her number and passed me the phone saying, “Okay, here she is, ask her.” I was like “Holy Focaccia, Michael, you’ve got Whitney Houston on the phone for me!”

I liked Whitney from the moment I spoke to her, and she immediately said yes to the honour.

I produced eight shows with her, a number of them in aid of her Whitney Houston Foundation.

When I met up with her last year, it was to interview her for my film ‘Michael Jackson: The Life Of An Icon’.

She really loved Michael Jackson, and he adored her.

Michael told me that they once shared a very passionate kiss, and she told me she was at one time very much in love with him.

I think she really wanted to marry him, but although he had a crush on her, he was too shy to pursue anything.

Later on in life, he confessed to me he should have made every move.

If they had got together, I believe Whitney would not have done drugs or become a semi-recluse like she did when she married Bobby.

When we met last year, it was at her concert in Copenhagen and it was the saddest performance I had ever seen her give.

Tears came to my eyes as she just couldn’t hold her notes.

I actually walked out after four songs, had a sob and then came back to watch the rest of the show. My heart was bleeding for her.

The woman to me, who was possibly the greatest female vocalist of all time, had given the only performance I’d ever seen that wasn’t up to par.

That night, after the interview for the film, we ended up talking until 4am.

We talked about bad marriages and mistakes we had both made in life. She talked to me about drugs and how she wished she had never done them.

That conversation was deeply personal, a real heart to heart.

But my favourite memories of Whitney were the times when we laughed together.

Like how she sang at one of my dinner parties at my appartment in New York along with the Four Tops and Garth Brooks’ wife Trisha Yearwood. They sang her big hit ‘I Believe In You & Me’.

And my favourite memory of all was when I was driving along with Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston in his car, in the mid 1980s, singing ‘Dionne Warwick’s Greatest Hits’.

Michael would sing one song, then Whitney would sing then next song and when it came to my turn, they both sang together and told me to not sing.

How mortifying to be the world’s worst singer trying to keep up with two of the greatest talents I’ve ever known. I’m still not over it.

I just wish I could hear her singing Dionne’s ‘A House Is Not A Home’ one more time.

To read the full arcticle click here »

Legendary television star David Gest hosted a 4 hour MTV/VH1 TELEVISION SPECIAL entitled ‘MICHAEL JACKSON’S ALL-TIME TOP 40 GREATEST VIDEO HITS – HOSTED BY DAVID GEST’ which was seen by more than 2 million viewers becoming MTV/VH1′s highest rated special in Europe in August and October 2008. The prime-time 4 hour special coincided with MICHAEL JACKSON’S 50TH BIRTHDAY. Gest and Jackson were best friends for more than forty years. The MTV VH1 television special is still being shown monthly on MTV and VH1 even in 2012 and has become a mainstay of the MTV VH1 channel in the UK.

Gest also produced the highest rated musical special in American television history, “Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration” on CBS in 2001 which was seen by more than 44 million people, one out of every four homes in America. The show was also the number one highest rated musical television special in history in seven other countries including Australia.

DAVID GEST’S TOP 40 CHRISTMAS CRACKERS’ TOPS MTV, VH1 AND TMF CHRISTMAS RATINGS FOR DECEMBER 2008 AND IS STILL A MAINSTAY OF THE MTV NETWORK AS IT HAS BEEN SHOWN IN 2009, 2010 AND 2011 DURING THE ENTIRE MONTH OF DECEMBER SINCE IT’S INAUGURATION

‘David Gest’s Top 40 Christmas Crackers’ was the number 1 Christmas Special on MTV, VH1 and TMF for the month of December 2008. The four hour special ran up to four times a day alternating on MTV, VH1, VH1 Classics and TMF. ‘David Gest’s Top 40 Christmas Crackers’ was seen by over twelve million people throughout the month of December 2008. The special also featured the Little People of Davidland and has been shown in 2009, 2010 and 2011 as a mainstay of the MTV UK channel for the entire month of December each year.

Michael Jackson aged nine with a yo-yo

In Los Angeles, the trial of Michael Jackson’s doctor is playing out like a sordid circus. Beyond the courtroom, the rumours continue to swirl about the doomed star’s private life, personal appearance and peculiar preferences. And in London, David Gest is talking to Live about the film that he’s hoping will perform a very different function. Gest is celebrated for his appearance on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here (Jackson, who was living in Ireland at the time, tuned in every night to watch) and his appallingly embarrassing kiss to new (now ex-) bride Liza Minnelli.
But he also made £28 million as a music producer, and knew and stood by Jackson since the pair met at Walton School art department when Jackson was ten and Gest was a 15-year-old music obsessive who wanted to meet this rising local star. Gest, who became close friends with Tito and Michael, also lived with the Jackson family for years as a teenager.
The point of the film, he says, is to show Jackson was not a psychologically damaged, whispery-voiced eccentric who retreated into a fantasy world because he couldn’t face reality; rather, he insists, a fun-loving, fearless and complicated man obsessed with music, movies, junk food and bargain hunting. Those close to Jackson – other artists including Smokey Robinson, Whitney Houston and his siblings Tito and Rebbie Jackson – tell the story of a man who was destroyed by the paedophile investigation and used drugs to get over first the pain of a serious accident and then the horror of being publicly shamed twice.
‘If anything, I blame the legal prosecutors for Michael’s death,’ says Gest. ‘He was accused twice of hurting children.
‘In the first case against Jordy Chandler (in 1993) his lawyers paid off the family, even though Michael’s family and Michael himself didn’t want this to happen.

A cowboy-hatted Michael pulls a face for the camera

‘In the second case (2005) Jackson was acquitted. But the fact he had been declared innocent didn’t even register with him. Part of him had died and that was when we really lost him. We lost this beautiful, funny, talented man.’
The film, which has the first ever full interview with the star’s mother, Katherine, traces Jackson’s path from childhood superstar to drug addiction wrought by the terrible burns sustained when filming a Pepsi commercial in 1984, the paedophile allegations against him and, finally, the realisation that he would never be able to complete the 50 concerts he had been committed to just months before his death.
Gest maintains the new film is not a sentimental whitewash of Jackson’s life.
‘Michael was destroyed by the allegations in his trial in 2005,’ he says. ‘After that point he made bad decisions, surrounded himself with people who kept his friends and family away.
‘There were religious groups, strange people… his mobile phone number was changed every three days and it became impossible to get hold of him. We were shut out.’
Here, Gest recalls the private life – and idiosyncrasies – of the man whom the world knew as ‘Jacko’ – but only he knew as ‘friend’.

Michael’s voice: deep, strong and low

‘There are so many myths about Michael, so many mad stories,’ insists Gest.
‘His voice was deep, low and strong and Michael could be incredibly forthright.’
Bizarrely, the tape of Jackson slurring his words under the influence of drugs heard during the trial against his private doctor, Conrad Murray, is, points out, evidence of the singer’s deep African- American voice.

The joker on the road trip

Gest’s last memory of having fun with Michael was just before Jackson’s 2005 trial.
‘We went on a road trip to San Francisco and we got on a stretch of highway that had road works and it suddenly got really hairy; we were driving so close to the edge of this cliff I kept screaming because I thought we were going over.
‘Michael was totally relaxed; he just kept laughing and laughing because I was going so crazy. He was totally fearless, he always was. That was so Michael. He was such a kid and a joker.’

Jermaine, Tito and Michael

Brought down to Earth at the petrol pump

‘I was the one with the bigger ego. I bought my first car after Michael made Off The Wall. We’d go on trips but I’d make him put the fuel in because I hated it going on my hands.
‘He’d bang on the window and say, “David, I’m the star.” I’d pull a face at him and say, “Not when you’re with me.” He’d laugh. I’d always make him laugh.’

He loved kids – but he was into women…

‘Michael wasn’t a paedophile. I remember him calling me late one night during the first case and he was just shell-shocked. I never for one second ever believed that Michael had done anything wrong.
‘A lot of his so-called friends melted away from him but myself and Macaulay Culkin were among the few who would regularly go on television to speak up for him. When they raided Neverland they found men’s magazines and there was no child porn anywhere in the house.
‘He loved kids like a father but he was into women. He was 100 per cent straight. He just couldn’t trust most of the women he met – he was genuinely shy and he just put his career first, before women.
‘He very definitely had sex. There was a Hollywood actress who absolutely jumped his bones and taught him a few things.’

Michael with the Jackson clan (father Joe is in the black top)

On stage and off his head

‘In 2001 I persuaded Michael to do a Jackson Family Reunion in Madison Square Garden. It was amazing. Everybody turned out for it, from Britney to Slash, Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Taylor. It was a huge, huge event paying tribute to Michael.

Michael with his brothers in the Sixties

‘He had promised to be in the audience for the first part of the show, which began at 8pm, to watch other artists pay tribute to him, but 8pm came and went and no Michael. It turned 8.15, still no Michael. By 8.20 I was going crazy.
‘I sent an assistant to his hotel room and he was in bed. The assistant called me to say he was unconscious and I said just get him up, get him here. He got him up and Michael told him he’d taken Demerol, a painkiller.
‘I screamed at him to get to the stadium, whatever state he was in. He turned up looking totally off his head. But he performed note perfect, step perfect, word perfect – it was only as I was going through the footage that I could see his eyes were totally gone.
‘After the show, I exploded. We had one more show a few nights later. I told him that if he ever did that again I would dock him $8,000 for every minute he wasn’t there.
‘For the next show he was there well before time.
‘I was aware there were problems, I knew he had trouble sleeping. I went to meet him some time after and he told me he’d taken sleeping pills; he was groggy and he didn’t sound like Michael.’

Off to the cinema, dressed as an Arab…

‘You’d have all these stories about him going out in disguise. He did once put on an Arab’s costume when we went to the cinema, but pulled it off as soon as we got inside. Most of the time when we were together he didn’t bother disguising himself.
‘I taught him to barter for antiques. Despite his wealth he was fierce. He’d ask a price and the guy would say, “$1,000.” He’d say, “$200, take it or leave it,” and go to walk out of the shop. He’d be delighted if he got it for that price and we’d sit in his limo with a whole load of junk food laughing.’

Michael eating a waffle

The accident, the terrible burns and the start of painkillers

‘The general public are totally unaware of the devastating effect of the burns Michael received to his head when a stunt for a Pepsi commercial went wrong (in 1984).
‘A pyrotechnic burst into the air and hit him right on the head. His head was on fire and he continued to dance on stage before people actually realised. You cannot imagine the excruciating pain, the damage that was done to him.

‘He was burnt through several layers of his scalp and needed the most intensive surgery. We have the footage shot from the back of the commercial, so you can see how extreme that accident was, and we show exactly what surgery had to be done.
‘This was the point Michael began to take painkillers; that pain never went away. The surgery was incredibly painful and the recovery was painful; he couldn’t sleep without painkillers. In the documentary I show footage which shows how bad it was; so many people have no idea the damage it did to him.
‘Michael was never fit to do 50 shows. He just wasn’t. He wouldn’t be able to sleep for worry. And yes, he picked a doctor who he could be in charge of – he doctor-shopped because he could.’

Michael with David Gest, Paul Anka and Dee Dee Jackson in 1981

Vintage wine and junk food

Michael in a photobooth with David

Gest remembers Jackson being made ill by drinking vintage wine.
‘Michael was throwing up in my garage and as I was laughing, he looked at me and said, “I’m going to tell Joe (Jackson) and you’re gonna be in big trouble.” Then he was laughing in the midst of being sick.’
At the age of 16, Gest recalls getting a monstering from Katherine after they were both charged with going out to buy eight buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken, which they left locked in her car in their haste to get to the cinema.
‘She went crazy the next day; that car stank and she was screaming at me and Michael. We had to clean out the car.’
To the end, he says, Jackson loved the Three Stooges, Marx Brothers movies, Gene Kelly musicals – and KFC.
‘I remember he’d sit in his car, take off the skin and say, “David, now I’ve made it organic. I can eat it.” I’d laugh in his face and tell him it was still Colonel Sanders. Michael wouldn’t have it. That is the Michael I miss.’