Michael Barrymore has been in talks with TV production company Talkback about the possibility of a return to presenting.

The company, which produces musical comedy Never Mind The Buzzcocks confirmed it had spoken to the star.

"We had a meeting to ascertain whether he was in the market to present a TV show," said a Talkback spokesperson. "It is part of the normal research we do."

Barrymore's agent Mike Browne said the comic had discussed programme ideas with the company.

The cause of Mr Lubbock's death has not been established

"We are at the negotiating stage. They discussed one format which is completely different from his old shows, which he really fancies doing," he said.

Barrymore was a popular presenter for years on various shows for ITV, including Strike It Lucky and My Kind of People.

But ITV confirmed it would not commission any more shows with the star following an inquest into the death of Stuart Lubbock in the star's swimming pool in Roydon, Essex, on 31 March 2001.

At the September 2002 inquest, the court was told Barrymore had offered guests cocaine at the party the night Mr Lubbock died.

Barrymore also refused to answer a number of questions at the inquest, which gave an open verdict on the cause of Mr Lubbock's death.

"I didn't know how it happened or what happened, to this day I don't know what happened to him," Barrymore told journalist Martin Bashir in an interview in October last year.

Barrymore, who started his career in entertainment as a redcoat at a Butlins holiday camp, became a TV star with the BBC's Get Set Go and ITV's Strike It Lucky.

Recently he hosted the shows My Kind of Music and Kids Do The Funniest Things for LWT, part of the ITV network.

His private life hit the tabloids in 1995 when he admitted he was gay. Barrymore had been married to wife Cheryl, his manager, since 1976.

Despite several reconciliations following his admission, the pair divorced.