Richard Fairbrass

Career

Before forming his own band, Richard was a bassist who had played with several prominent artists, including Boy George. In 1984 he appeared in Jazzin' for Blue Jean, a David Bowie video, as the bass player. In the late 1980s, Richard joined with his brother Fred to form Right Said Fred. The Fairbrass brothers performed as a duo for a brief period touring in New York. Guitarist Rob Manzoli joined them in 1990.

During the band's heyday, Madonna publicly expressed (in front of sixty million viewers of America’s Arsenio Hall Show) her desire to go to bed with Richard. In 1994, he was joint winner of Rear of the Year with Mandy Smith. Following this, Fairbrass co hosted (with Rhona Cameron) a television series aimed at an LGBT audience called Gaytime TV (1995–1999) on BBC Two. He also co presented a game show The Desert Forges with Gabrielle Richens on Channel 5 in 2001.

In April 2007, Fairbrass was reported to be planning to run for Mayor of London in the 2008 Election. Shortly after, during a gay rights rally in Red Square, Moscow, on 27 May 2007 commemorating the 14th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Russia, Richard and Fred Fairbrass were assaulted by members of a counter demonstration staged by ultra-nationalists. Richard Fairbrass sustained a cut under his eye.

Speaking about the incident upon his return to the United Kingdom, Richard Fairbrass commented, "When it was over I actually felt more sorry for the guy that whacked me than I did for me ... How threatened can he be, how insecure is he to be threatened by a bisexual pop singer who's most famous for singing "I'm Too Sexy"?". In November of that year, he announced that he and his brother would be taking part in the next series of I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!; however, they did not make it onto the show.

In an episode of Celebrity Fantasy Homes, hosted by Gaby Roslin, Richard and his brother Fred were looking to spend £2,000,000 on a property in Sussex, with three separate living accommodations for them and their mother. In June 2013, Right Said Fred re recorded I'm Too Sexy as "I'm Too Smurfy" for World Smurfs Day. Richard appears on the promo, which features fresh clips from the 3D film. Global Smurfs Day benefits the charity MediCinema, which builds cinemas in hospitals.

Personal life

Fairbrass was born on 22 September 1953 in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, England, and was brought up in East Grinstead, West Sussex. He has a younger brother, "Fred" (born Christopher Abbott Bernard Fairbrass on 2 November 1956).

Richard had come out as bisexual in 1991 to The Sun. Richard's long term partner, from the early 1980s until the early 2000s, was Stuart Pantry, a BBC make up artist. In April 2007, Richard said to the Metro: "My last relationship was with a girl, so I am on the cusp. I have never described myself as completely gay". Fairbrass has also said he appreciates "pretty guys who look like girls and girls who look like pretty guys."