In an interview with Ross King on today’s episode of Lorraine, Sir Cliff spoke of fond memories he has with his late friend.
“She just made me laugh, she was full of fun,” said the singer, speaking from his home in Barbados.
He joked that he used to be “Cilla’s chauffeur” to big parties as she didn’t drive on the island.
He continued: “Everybody loved her here she was part of the Barbados scene.”
With Cilla’s tragic death happening so quickly, Ross asked Sir Cliff if it made him think of his own mortality.
He replied: “Yeah sure it does and she died because she had an accident. [There’s] nothing we can do, you can’t plan what’s going to happen to you in that respect.”
But the 76-year-old remained optimistic about the future, joking: “In my book I said what I want to do is play tennis when I’m 100 – that’s only 24 years away.
“Hello! It can happen,” he added.
The singer also addressed the recent sexual assault allegations that have surrounded him for two years, after he was cleared last June.
Sir Cliff explained that his faith is what carried him through that difficult period of his life, saying: “I was distraught, I had been on the floor in tears.
“In the end where no-one can be with you is when you go to bed. You’re on your own and that’s when I became really dependent on God,” he finished.