The Bubbles burst: Michael Jackson's pet chimp "effectively abandoned by the family"

The Bubbles burst: Michael Jackson's pet chimp "effectively abandoned by the family"

Going grey, piling on the pounds and with a faraway look in his eyes, Bubbles listens to Michael Jackson on an old CD â€" unaware his master is dead.

The chimp is like any other faded pop star in a retirement home... playing the old hits, watching TV and munching on his favourite snack of sweet potato.

As Jackson’s loyal sidekick, he was once the most pampered and powerful primate in pop â€" an old-school showbiz animal.

No hold-ups at customs for him, unlike Justin Bieber’s capuchin Mally, detained recently after stepping off a private jet in Germany.

Bubbles travelled first class around the globe without a hint of hassle â€" and even joined Jacko on his 1987 Bad tour of Japan.

His off-stage antics were legendary.

When he wasn’t mimicking Michael’s trademark Moonwalk, he enjoyed a glitzy existence â€" living it large at star-studded premieres, gigs and album signings.

In happier times: Bubbles with picture of Jacko

But â€" a decade on, with his owner dead from a drug overdose, Bubbles lives quietly in Florida, forgotten by the Jackson clan, barely recognisable to fans.

Staff at the Center for Great Apes in Wauchula, where Bubbles now stays, revealed the Thriller singer’s children, Prince, 16, Paris, 14, and Blanket, 11, have not been taken to see him since his relocation in 2005.

A spokesman said: “Michael’s sister La Toya paid a visit here about two years ago but that’s the only visit we have had from a member of the Jackson family.”

Bubbles, now 27 years old, was not provided for in Jackson’s will and the sanctuary bosses raise the annual £13,000 bill to care for him.

La Toya’s 2010 appearance there was part of a documentary she was filming with Animal Planet.

La Toya, 56, remembered how the chimp used to “eat at the table with us” and told how he used to walk to the fridge and help himself to Haagen-Dazs ice cream.

Teary La To ya also went on camera, telling Bubbles: “I miss you â€" I haven’t seen you in ages…

"I wanna kiss you and hug you and I know I can’t because you’re so big. I think you remember me, don’t you?”

Old pals: La Toya Jackson visited Bubbles in 2010

Jacko’s estate has raked in more than £300million since the pop star’s death in 2009.

But Bubbles â€" still technically owned by the estate â€" isn’t the only forgotten one in Jacko’s wildlife entourage.

Elephants, giraffes and tigers were moved on to pastures new after his 2,600-acre Californian ranch Neverland ran into financial difficulty.

A source said: “For someone who cared so passionately about animals, most have been forgotten â€" more so now Michael has passed away. It’s a really sad situation.”

The King of Pop originally rescued two-year-old Bubbles from a Texas medical lab and had him raised by an animal trainer before he officially adopted him in 1983.

For a time, he took the chimp everywhere â€" including to afternoon tea with a Japanese mayor.

Bubbles slept in a cot next to his bed, wore identical outfits to Michael, even including the creepy surgeon’s masks.

Now: Bubbles' home in the sanctuary

 

La Toya once revealed: “Bubbles became a human, one of us. He ate at the family table.”

Jacko even looked into operating on Bubbles to make him talk by implanting vocal cords. The chimp was also immortalised in a sculpture by artist Jeff Koons which fetched a staggering £3.8million in 2001.

But, after the birth of Jackson’s son Prince Michael Jnr, Bubbles was deemed too dangerous to be around children and was sent off to live with Hollywood animal trainer Bob Dunn.

As the singer’s financial and drug problems worsened, Jacko’s contact with his pet dried up and Bubbles ended up in the sanctuary.

He’s been waiting for a visit ever since.

Workers at the sanctuary say Bubbles is well-cared for and happily passes his days eating sweet potatoes, watching TV and listening to music.

An insider said: “It is a world away from the life he once knew, but Bubbles seems all the happier for it. It’s just sad that no one visits.

“He is exceptionally well-looked after by the sanctuary but has effectively been abandoned by the Jacksons, despite their vast wealth.”

The spokesman for the sanctuary, which cares for 44 chimps and Orangutans, added: “To this date, the chimps’ care money has come from solely from public donations.”