Phillip Schofield was terrified his pal Jason Donovan would end up dead at the height of his drug problems, because the singer/actor often lost his memory and had no recollections of their meetings.
The Too Many Broken Hearts hitmaker became pop's wholesome poster-boy in the late 1980s before becoming a star of stage musicals in London's West End.
However, Jason began indulging in drugs and his habit spiralled dangerously out of control for half a decade before he got clean in 2000.
Phillip has now opened up about how he feared for his friend's life when his cocaine habit became so intense, it would wipe out the singer's memory.
During Jason's interview with Piers Morgan for his Life Stories show, the This Morning presenter reveals: "Jason was at the time quite often chemically assisted.
"On a couple of occasions I went out for lunch with him and the next day he wouldn't remember where we'd been or the fact that we'd met up.
"It was a shame to see someone who was always so handsome and adored, essentially coming apart at the seams.
"I can remember saying to my wife, 'You know we should do something, there must be something we can do to help,' because, I thought, eventually this is going to end up in tragedy.
"He wouldn't be the first or last in that line of people who had everything at their feet and had taken the wrong track and ended up killing themselves."
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