Michael Barrymore has poked fun at himself and he reflected on his past while celebrating his latest birthday.

The former television entertainer marked his 72nd birthday over the weekend – and treated himself to a solo day of indulgence. And the experience appeared to leave him in a reflective mood as he cast his mind back to the days of his youth in the 1960s.

Michael – whose star power reached huge levels in the 1990s before the death of a man at his home cast an unescapable cloud over his life – has recently found new fame via social media. He has become an unexpected star of TikTok where his insights, thoughts, photos and videos have won him millions of new fans as Gen Z have discovered his once charming persona.

Taking to the social media platform on Bank Holiday Monday, Michael reflected on his past and mocked his own camp appearance. He had married dancer and talent manager Cheryl Cocklin in 1976 but they split soon after he came out as gay in 1995 and they ultimately divorced in 1997. The former Celebrity Big Brother star shared a duo of shots hours after marking his birthday.

One image showed him pouting dramatically, sporting long hair, and wearing a flamboyant shirt and suit. He accompanied the snap along with a caption stating: “Me in 1969”. And a subsequent image showed him sitting in an airport lounge wearing a tatty green jumper and wearing glasses – with his once huge hair reduced to a few stray wisps. His second image was sarcastically caption: “Nah I don’t think anyone knew I was gay growing up”. He added a further caption stating “I think I got away with it” and a hashtag about ‘coming out’.

His update surprised some of his younger fans, with one writing: “Uhh I didn’t know this Lol I fee so dense.” And another wrote: “You’re the realest person ever.” His update followed a string of images and clips that he shared where he marked his latest birthday alone. He shared a snap of himself in a park and then shared a gift sent by some of his team.

Uploading a bag of donuts, he wrote: “I woke up to this box of donuts and coffee from my management team.” And then he shared a snap of a huge birthday cake writing: “And this cake from someone I love very much.” He then shared a snap of himself holding a pack of zero per cent alcohol beer and added: “went for a quick shop for some beer to celebrate! (13 years sober!!)”.

Then followed an image of his dog sniffing a box that had been delivered by a postman, writing: “More presents arrived (I received lots of gifts and cards from fans).” And another image showed his dog sleeping soundly, with a caption: “Dave chilled out all day!” Then he shared a snap of some food from McDonalds, writing: “Treated myself to a Happy Meal for lunch.” And he concluded his recap with a snap of the dusk sky and wrote: “Went for a long walk in the evening, sat and read all my Birthday wishes. I was so overwhelmed. Thank you everyone!”

His breakdown of images split his fanbase, as one observed: “It’s actually sad . He spends it by himself. I never see him with anyone . Hope he’s all good . Happy birthday.” But others noted: “sometimes its best being alone its called peaceful most friends only hurt you anyway happy birthday micheal!”