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Cilla Black considered haunting people after her death - but said she’d be careful not to frighten anyone.

In an online interview with journalist Michael Hellicar, the Surprise Surprise star revealed her fascination with all things supernatural and her hope that she’d be reunited with her beloved Bobby, after a spooky experience at her mansion.

The singer, who tragically died at her holiday home in Spain on Saturday, had previously told journalist Michael Hellicar that she’d felt a ghostly presence at their Buckinghamshire home.

Cilla then became hooked on all things supernatural and was convinced that she’d be reunited with her beloved Bobby when she died - and even spoke of the prospect of haunting people after her death.

She said: “I wonder if you realise you’re dead when you’re walking around haunting people.”

“I suppose I’ll never know the answer to that until it’s too late. But I’ll take care not to frighten anyone. I wouldn’t want anyone to say that Cilla’s scary!”

(Image: ©Mirrorpix)

Michael, who used to edit her newspaper column said that she recalled the tale to him at lunch at London’s Capital Hotel.

He wrote: “She seemed tired and distracted, snappy with Bobby, and even our waiter got an irritable tut when he dropped a fork.

“’I’m so sorry,’ she told me. ‘It’s just that I haven’t been sleeping properly for a while.

“I’m lying awake all night, because I’ve literally seen a ghost at my bedside.’”

The journalist had also apparently seen a spooky apparition at Cilla’s house, and said he had spotted the ghost of a ‘young girl wearing a very traditional white dress with a ruffled collar’ - the very same ‘ghost’ that Cilla had apparently seen.

“My first impression was that she looked very unhappy and vulnerable,” Cilla told Michael.

“I wasn’t scared. She gave off an aura of peace and contentment, and we just stared at each other.

“Then I nudged Bobby, but before he could wake up, and turn over to look, she simply melted away.”

Cilla, who left behind sons Robert, 45, Jack, 34 and Ben, 41, was adamant she wouldn’t live beyond 75 and told friends she would be reunited with Bobby, who lost his battle with cancer in 1999.

“I know he is waiting for me,” she reportedly said. “There have been little messages, unmistakable signals, and when the time comes I will be able to thank him for looking out for me.”

Have you got a great story? E-mail josh.parry@trinitymirror.com or tweet @JoshParryECHO