Barry

As swiftly as Barry Manilow returned to the stage following a health-related hiatus, he has stepped away.

On Friday, Manilow cut his concert short just two songs after it began. The 83-year-old crooner abruptly told the crowd to talk among themselves as he walked off stage, according to concertgoers who detailed the incident on social media. The curtain dropped, and a few moments later the audience was told the show was a wrap. Manilow’s performance slated for Saturday was subsequently nixed.

The day before, on Thursday, the “Copacabana” singer had returned after a six-week break to perform at the International Theater at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino, telling the audience, “I’m back!” Manilow appeared to be spry and energetic throughout the show. “God, I feel like I’m a teenage idol again,” he joked when a couple of audience members tossed underwear onto the stage. He picked up a pair of full-coverage briefs and asked if they needed to go to the laundry, then a pink lacy thong and joked, “I’ll keep this pair.”

“After a triumphant welcome-back concert on Thursday, Barry got hit with bronchitis and had to cancel his Friday and Saturday shows,” reps for Manilow told Paste Magazine.

Last year, Manilow revealed that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer and that surgery would require him to postpone several performances. In May, he told The Times that, since he had surgery, he was getting winded just walking down the hallway. “Ninety minutes of screaming in tune, which is what I do for a living — I’m not up for that yet,” he said at the time. “I will be, but it’s taking a long time to get my voice back. They warned me that I’d have to learn to breathe again. So these days, I get up, I go to my piano and I try to be creative. Before I know it, the afternoon’s over.”

The star returned to the stage in June following a six-month hiatus, in support of his latest album, “What a Time,” his first LP loaded with new material in almost 15 years.

But in August, Manilow canceled shows because of vocal and technical problems before telling fans he needed to pause. “We just finished a fantastic summer tour, 29 shows in 68 days,” the singer said. “The shows were fantastic. The audiences were fantastic. And I sounded fantastic. But it seems that we were pushing a little too hard.

“Now we all need to sit down and shut up,” Manilow said.

Barry Manilow has returned to the stage after taking a break following his summer tour.

Manilow performed at the International Theater at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino on Thursday night, telling the audience, “This is the first time back in a long time. I have some medical problems, but I’m back!”

The audience cheered and a couple of crowd members tossed underwear onto the stage. He picked up a pair of full-coverage briefs and asked if they needed to go to the laundry, and then a pink lacy thong and joked, “I’ll keep this pair.”

“God, I feel like I’m a teenage idol again.”

Last year, Manilow revealed that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer and that surgery would require him to postpone several performances. The star returned to the stage in June following a six-month hiatus, in support of his latest album, “What a Time,” his first LP loaded with new material in almost 15 years.

But in August, he canceled shows because of vocal and technical problems before telling fans he needed to pause. “We just finished a fantastic summer tour, 29 shows in 68 days,” the singer said. “The shows were fantastic. The audiences were fantastic. And I sounded fantastic. But it seems that we were pushing a little too hard.

“Now we all need to sit down and shut up,” Manilow said. “So, we’re going to take a break until we return to the Westgate Las Vegas on Oct. 8. When I’ll be singing like a bird. I hope to see you then.”

The “Copacabana” singer is slated to hit the stage again on Friday evening.

THEY’RE two of the nation’s biggest content creators with over 700,000 YouTube subscribers between them.

But Joe Baggs, 29, and GK Barry, 27, are no longer flying the flag for each other’s media careers and their once close friendship appears to be in tatters.

A source told The Sun: “GK and Joe used to be joined at the hip but they have quietly grown apart. They haven’t been seen together publicly since GK left the jungle, and never like each other’s posts on social media.

“Even when GK released her book, which was a big deal for her, there was radio silence from Joe.

“There’s lots of whispers about what went down, some have speculated that Joe was jealous when Grace got her spot in the jungle as he’s always wanted to do that show, while others have rubbished that suggestion and said they just drifted as she got busier.

“What’s really sad is that she always used to be round his family’s house for dinner, went on holiday together and they always posted it on the ‘gram, and now she’s never seen with the Baggs lot. It’s like they just disappeared from each other’s lives.

“Tellingly, Joe’s boyfriend Kane used to seem pretty pally with Grace too, but even he doesn’t comment on her posts anymore, so something sad has definitely gone down.”

BIG SNOOZE

Big Brother fans slam ‘boring’ new vodcast and beg ‘bring back Late and Live’

POD PEEVE

GK Barry hints at secret showbiz feud with Mark Wright after podcast clue

Another source close to Joe insisted, however, that there is no bad blood.

They said: “Joe couldn’t be prouder of everything Grace has achieved since leaving the jungle. The reality is that both of their careers have taken off in different directions and, with increasingly busy work schedules, they simply don’t get to spend as much time together as they once did.

“There’s absolutely no bad blood, they remain friends and continue to champion one another from the sidelines.”

Just this week, however, Joe appeared to give away the lack of closeness between him and Grace, where he revealed fellow podcaster Chloe Burrows is his best pal at the Fellas Studio, where they both record their podcasts.

Interestingly GK also records her hit podcast, Saving Grace, at Fellas, as they are all part of the same podcast company, so the fact that he named Chloe as his work bestie and not Grace has caused a flurry of gossip in their inner circle.

“Joe and GK have lots of mutual friends, and they are all talking about this,” a pal spilled.

“The fact that Joe said this about Chloe on his pod was basically admitting that he and Grace aren’t close anymore, but few fans will have clocked it because they don’t understand they all work out of the same studio.

“Strangely, both GK and Joe are being very tight-lipped, even with their friends, about what went down, which has only made the rumour mill even more frenzied.

“It’s a shame as they were so close and they are very similar, but sadly, right now it’s looking like they aren’t going to be BFFs again anytime soon.”

The Sun has contacted representatives for Joe and GK for comment.

Both YouTubers have been chasing mainstream fame and have had successful years.

GK – real name Grace Keeling – was one of the standout stars on I’m A Celebrity last year and has gone on to establish herself as a Loose Woman. She’s also landed her own weekly show on Radio 1 as the station underwent a major reshuffle to appeal to a young more online-driven audience.

However, listeners of the BBC station criticised her first show and questioned if it was recorded live like her predecessors Matt Edmonson and Mollie King after she failed to interact with the audience.

Meanwhile, Joe is now a panellist on Love Island: Aftersun and hosted an official Britain’s Got Talent spin-off.