Bubbles, Michael Jackson's Chimp

right now the world is mourning the loss of the king of pop Michael Jackson.

We know it's nothing to do with comedy as such but the man was such a musical titan that it would be rum of us not to mention Michael Jackson's death and say RIP. A troubled life but a musical genius.

And, in Michael Jackson's honour we cast our Where Are They Now eyes in the direction of arguably the world's most famous chimpanzee (sorry Cheetah), Bubbles.

Bubbles was reportedly rescued by Michael Jackson from a cancer research facility in Texas in 1985 and for the next decade appeared at Michael's side, often in matching outfits. In recent years, Bubbles' profile has decreased prompting rumours that the simian had died.

Living with Michael Jackson meant that Bubbles' existence was unique, unusual and rarely out of the public eye. USA Today once claimed the cheeky monkey had his own bodyguard and, on Jackson's insistence, attended recording sessions for the album, Bad.

Their relationship was immortalised by artist Jeff Koons in this sculpture, which sold at auction in 2001 for $5.6 million (£3.8 million) and is also the latest picture we can find of the elusive chimp.

Outtakes from Martin Bashir's documentary, Living With Michael Jackson, shown to the jury in the current trial revealed that Bubbles would go to the toilet by himself in Michael's private bathroom, knew how to eat with cutlery and was made to wear a diaper around the Neverland Ranch.

Jackson was also seen admitting that he'd considered hosting a celebrity animal party for Bubbles with the likes of Lassie, Benji and Cheeta from the Tarzan films. Not that Bubbles didn't come into contact with celebrities of a human kind. Actor Corey Feldman admitted in an interview, "I met Bubbles and all kinds of chimps."

Feldman could well have been referring to the chimps Jacko admitted 'employing' to clean the Neverland ranch. The revelation that monkeys were made to dust, clean windows and clean toilets was unveiled to the jury in excerpts from Bashir's documentary. Jacko explained, "They are very smart. Their DNA is identical to humans when you look under a microscope."

It's not known whether Bubbles was made to earn his keep in such a manner. What is known though is that Jackson's relationship with Bubbles soared as the chimp grew older. A former maid of Jackson's testifying at his controversial trial admitted that Bubbles had bitten her twice and Chris Ayres reported in The Times that Bubbles' ex-keeper had admitted Bubbles had been made to leave Neverland after becoming violent.

Further testimony at the trial revealed that Bubbles was replaced with a chimp called Max.

The New York Daily News tracked down Bubbles who is, you'll be pleased to hear, alive and well and living on an animal ranch in Slymar, California. He is cared for by animal trainer Bob Dunn who said, "He's in his 20's. He's doing fine."

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