70s TV star says Gary Glitter was ‘always nice and polite’ so he could access minors-Sabrina Barr-Entertainment – Metro

ITV is airing a new documentary on the convicted sex offender (Picture: Shutterstock)

A TV star has said that in retrospect, it isn’t surprising that paedophile Gary Glitter was ‘nice’ to her, as his behaviour gave him ‘access to more children’.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Glitter – real name Paul Gadd – gained nationwide fame, becoming known for his glam rock persona and energetic performance style.

In 1999, he was convicted of downloading child pornography images, resulting in him being jailed for four months.

A few years later, he was deported from Cambodia over allegations of child abuse, before being convicted of sexually abusing two young girls in 2006 when they were 10 and 11.

After spending two and a half years in prison, in 2015, Glitter was jailed for 16 years for sexually abusing three schoolgirls between the years 1975 and 1980, with his sentence set to expire in 2031.

In February 2023, he was released after serving half of his sentence. Less than six weeks later, he was put back behind bars for breaching the conditions of his licence, and his parole bid was denied in February this year.

The disgraced rocker was jailed for 16 years in 2015 (Picture: Metropolitan Police/PA)

In a new ITV documentary titled Glitter: The Popstar Paedophile, TV presenter Sally James has spoken about what it was like to be on a TV set with the sex offender at the height of his fame.

James was a presenter on Saturday Scene from 1974, as well as the children’s programme Tiswas from 1977 until 1982.

‘They adored him. They really did adore him. His audience loved him,’ she said of Glitter, as archival footage was shown of him on TV.

‘So there would have been a lot of kids. Maybe seven or eight, that young. And then all the teenagers that were allowed to go on their own, probably with a parent anxiously waiting in the car park. So it was a very young audience, hence the squealing and the shouting.’

Footage was shown in the documentary of Glitter and James on the TV show Tiswas (Picture: ITV1)

James recollected how Glitter’s ‘energy levels were so high’, as he could be seen frequently ‘stomping around’ and pumping his fist as part of his glam rock persona.

‘It was glamorous, it was rock, it was Glitter,’ she stated. ‘Everything he was doing was larger than life.’

A clip was then shown on the documentary of Glitter appearing as a mystery guest on Tiswas, which aired on ITV for eight years.

‘I think he was quite childlike,’ James remarked.

‘In Tiswas, we used to have 50 completely over-excitable children every week, so by the time they arrived and they would see buckets of water and custard pies lying around, a level of excitement that was off the scale.

James said it was ‘sickening’ to think back at how Glitter had access to lots of children on the programme (Picture: ITV1)

‘He was just really enjoying the moment. And I don’t think anyone would have thought weird about any of the guests and the children. It just wouldn’t have crossed our mind.’

The TV star continued: ‘If I think back now, no wonder Gary Glitter was always polite and nice to me, because that gives him access to more children, more whatever it is that he was trying to gain access to, which makes it even more sickening when you think back.’

In February this year, it was claimed that Glitter could face losing ‘all’ of his fortune following legal action from his victims.

In light of one victim suing the disgraced rocker hundreds of thousands of pounds, an insider told The Mirror: ‘Glitter is a serial sex offender.

‘There are three victims who all took part in the legal process through his trial. And he has offended people abroad.

‘There are feared to be more as well. His wealth and fortune, which is still vast despite everything, is being looked at. He will be worried he will lose it all.’

Glitter: The Popstar Paedophile airs tonight at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.

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