Daniel O'Donnell has said his close friend Cliff Richard is "very relieved" he has been exonerated of all sexual abuse allegations made against him and says Richard was "shaken by the experience".
Speaking on The Late Late Show, the 54-year-old country crooner said Richard "couldn't understand" why he was treated the way he was by the media.
"He's good. I mean, we've spoken to him and he's very relieved that it's all over obviously. I think all the way through he was confident but maybe you always have that feeling of 'what if this goes wrong?' or, you know, sometimes things don't always work out the way that they should."
O'Donnell said it appeared the media had been tipped off before any evidence was conclusive, and admits Richard was annoyed at "how the whole thing was conducted".
"I think that Cliff, as well as all of us who knew him and are friends with him, was annoyed about how the whole thing was conducted," O'Donnell told Ryan Tubridy.
"I think that it's not the actual investigation, and I think that if there's any kind of allegation it needs to be investigated, but I think the way in his case, his name was out there before there was any kind of concrete evidence at all."
“He was shaken by the experience, It was an incredible intrusion to his life," he added.
"Even though we look at Cliff and he looks amazing and he looks so young and acts so young, but the reality is he's 75. Somewhere in all those years, I think what was in his mind was 'I've given my life entertaining people, giving enjoyment' and he just couldn't understand, I think, why he was treated in that way."
O'Donnell said his friend is just glad the situation is over and done with and Richard is "just trying to move on."
"I think now, I suppose what he's trying to do, and I think it's proven to be right for him, he's just trying to move on."
"I went to one of his shows last year at Albert Hall and the amount of support that he was getting from the audience.
"I mean there was nothing said about anything because obviously he couldn't talk about it publicly at all, but you could feel the warmth and the support."
"I think he's just relieved now that it's over."
