David Gest was my best friend…and I think I heard him die on the phone

DAVID Gest’s best friend and former bodyguard believes the star died of a heart attack during their last phone conversation – four days before his body was discovered.

The entertainer was found dead in his London hotel room on Tuesday, April 12 after unexpectedly passing away at the age of 62.

Now Imad Handi, who was friends with David for 16 years and considered him “a brother”, has claimed he was the last person to speak with the star after receiving an alarming silent phone call on the previous Friday that he believes was a desperate attempt to get help.

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He told The Sun Online: “I answered the phone and was like, ‘Hello, hello, hello?’, and I heard something smash on the floor.

“Part of me froze and then the phone went dead. Knowing David and his OCD I thought, ‘He’s dropped something on the floor, he’s going to hang up and clean it up. He’ll call me back’. Unfortunately he didn’t call me back.

“I did try and call that evening and on Saturday and there was no answer…I believe he passed away on the Friday.”

He added: “People were looking for him throughout the whole weekend, but nobody could get hold of him. Everyone was ringing everybody else going, ‘Have you seen David?’”

Imad, 38, visited David’s room at the Four Seasons in Canary Wharf after being told of his death on Tuesday.

Once inside he saw David’s body naked on the floor and a host of clues confirming his suspicions about the sudden nature of his passing.

He said: “When I went to identify his body [in the hotel] there was a lamp that smashed on the floor beside him and I believe that was what I heard. He was crying for help.

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“I reckon he was on the floor trying to make a phone call and couldn’t speak. He was trying to make a noise of some sort.

“I believe he had a heart attack or a stroke.

“His clothes were on the bed ready for him to wear, the way he sets his clothes out every day.

“Everything was pointing at him getting ready to go and enjoy a day out.”

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Imad, who says he and David made plans to live together, confirmed the star was on medication for high blood pressure at the time of his death, which he would regularly forget to take.

He said: “He had about three tablets to keep it down…sometimes he wouldn’t take it. If he was too busy he’d forget. You had to remind him.”

Imad suggested David’s appearance in Celebrity Big Brother in January may have contributed to his death, as his health spiralled downward after being removed from the house with pneumonia.

He said: “I believe whatever he caught while he was in Big Brother he never recovered from and the illness just got worse and worse and worse.

“When he came out of Big Brother his blood pressure was 220 over 130 which is cardiac arrest in most people’s eyes.

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“He was suffering from pneumonia and he must have had a chest infection because he couldn’t stop coughing. He was complaining about the cold in the house. They constantly had the air conditioning running and he just couldn’t stay in there because it was making him sick.”

While David’s death came as a shock to many, Imad believes the reality TV favourite knew he was on borrowed time and set out on a quest to right a few wrongs before it was too late.

He said: “I reckon David had a wake up call four to five weeks before he passed away.

“Towards the end his conscience was playing at him. He did make amends with a lot of people that he had fallen out with. It was like he felt something and unfortunately no one took him seriously.

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“He said to me, ‘I’m ill and I’m not going to be around anymore.’ Those were normally our conversations for the last couple of weeks before he passed away.

“He’d say, ‘Don’t worry, everything’s ok, I’ve had a good life’.”

But Imad is devastated that some of David’s celebrity friends haven’t come forward to declare they had borrowed money from David which is now owed to his estate.

He said: "There were a few people in the UK that he lent money to. It’s come to light and we’re in the process now of approaching the individuals.

"We’ll try and do it amicably, but if it doesn’t work then the lawyers will have to get involved.

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"A lot of these people he’s only known for a short period of time and they have used him as a cash machine.

"They were TV celebrities. A lot of these people live a millionaire lifestyle on a £250 budget.

“I would say there’s about £100,000 outstanding, all stuff that’s been lent in the last 12 months."

Imad, who joined David’s sister and brother-in-law to scatter his ashes at York Castle last weekend, co-produced David's recent tours David Gest is Not Dead But Alive With Soul , the last of which takes place in July.

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He said: "We’re doing this to honour David’s last wishes. He wanted me to continue doing this.

Through the tricks of editing previous interviews it will be as though David is still on stage introducing the acts.

“I’m going to keep the name because he hasn’t died as far as I believe. His soul is still here.”

Full dates for the David Gest is Not Dead But Alive With Soul, with Big Stuff Productions, are:

July 1 - York Barbican Centre

July 2 - Newcastle City Hall

July 4 - Hull City Hall

July 6 -Leicester De Montfort Hall

July 7 - Preston Guild Hall

July 8 - Warrington Parr Hall

July 9 - Liverpool Echo Arena

July 11 - Stockport Plaza

July 13 - Nottingham Albert Hall

Share memories of David at .

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