Cliff Richard ‘won’t go vegetarian’ for Morrissey

The veteran star said he is 'honoured' to be joining the former Smiths frontman on tour, but that he wasn’t about to give up chicken curry

Sir Cliff Richard has taken a stand against Morrissey’s militant vegetarianism.

The veteran star said he is “honoured” to be joining the former Smiths frontman on tour, but that he wasn’t about to give up eating meat just to please the musician.

"Certainly not," he told the BBC, when asked if he’d adhere to the singer’s strict meat ban.

"No, of course not.

"I like to think he might eat some meat when I arrive, but I wouldn't expect him to. So I don't think he'd expect me to be vegetarian.

"If I found he was offended by people eating meat then I won't eat it in front of him. But I'll have a chicken curry afterwards."

Of course, Morrissey might not take his reluctance so lightly.

Last month, he likened eating meat to paedophilia during a Q&A on his fansite True-To-You.Net.

He also said this: "If I’m introduced to anyone who eats beings, I walk away. Imagine, for example, if you were in a nightclub and someone said to you, ‘Hello, I enjoy bloodshed, throat-slitting and the destruction of life.’ Well, I doubt if you’d want to exchange phone numbers."

Will he be hot-footing it in the other direction when he clocks Richard backstage? Time will tell.

But on the back of his own research, Sir Cliff appears to be fairly confident that the two would get on.

"I've Googled him a couple of times now and I'm thinking, I could be a fan," he says.

He expressed particular excitement at being given the opportunity to perform in front of 15,000 members of a US audience, admitting that he’s not all that well-known across the pond.

"This is a different world," he continues. "I've had nine Top 30 hit singles [in the US] but I have no identification out there.

"All I can say is, 'Thank you Patrick, or Morrissey' - I'm not quite sure how to refer to him - and I'm so grateful that he's thought of having me on the show."

But he ended by giving Morrissey a bit of a word of warning.

"I like to move and shake and leap around the stage and sing a variety of pop-rock songs like Ocean Deep and Miss You Nights. Of course I'm going to do them.

"I'm just going to make it really difficult for Morrissey to follow me."

Richard supports a stellar – but bizarre – line-up of Morrissey and Sir Tom Jones at New York's Barclays Centre on 21 June.

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