The entertainment world is in mourning following news of Paul O’Grady’s death aged 67, who died "unexpectedly but peacefully" on Tuesday evening.
While the star will be remembered by many for his turn as Lily Savage, fronting shows like Blankety Blank and being a devoted animal campaigner, it seems the star had a different idea about how he wanted to be remembered after he was gone.
Speaking to The Guardian in 2021, he comedically responded to the question: “I don’t care, because I won’t be here.”
In the same interview the comic-turned-presenter revealed how he suffered a near-fatal heart attack two decades prior.
“I had a bad heart attack 20 years ago: I think I slid off the mortal coil for about 30 seconds,” he recalled.
O’Grady also shared his fear about getting older, admitting he worried about: “Being dependent on somebody”
The unearth interview comes after the British TV icon passed away “unexpectedly but peacefully” on Tuesday, his husband Andre Portasio said in a statement on Wednesday morning.
Born in Birkenhead, on the Wirral, Merseyside, O’Grady’s mother’s maiden name was Savage – which is believed to have inspired his famous drag alter ego.
He began his career performing as Lily Savage in the 1970s whilst working as a peripatetic care officer for Camden Council, going on to tour northern England as part of drag duo the Playgirls.
He later settled into a solo show as Savage that ran for eight years at London’s Royal Vauxhall Tavern, and made a name for himself speaking out about LGBT issues.
O’Grady’s career as Savage took off with TV and radio appearances in character and he was eventually asked to take over from Paula Yates as The Big Breakfast presenter as Savage from 1995 to 1996.
He took on chat show The Lily Savage Show for the BBC for a short run in 1997 and later that year had success as the host of a revived version of gameshow Blankety Blank, which ran until 2002.
His self-titled teatime programme The Paul O’Grady Show aired on ITV from 2004 to 2005, later moving to Channel 4 as The New Paul O’Grady Show.
Throughout his career O’Grady won numerous accolades including a TV Bafta, a British Comedy Award, and a National Television Award for The Paul O’Grady Show.
He was made an MBE in the 2008 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to entertainment.
