Paul O’Grady on quitting booze, being ‘woke’ and why he couldn’t go to Dignitas
FOR a man who famously loves dogs, TV host and funnyman Paul O’Grady is like a cat with nine lives.
But having just turned 65, and with three heart attacks, kidney failure and a coronavirus scare behind him, he is not dashing off to Dignitas — despite toying briefly with the idea.
The host of ITV series Paul O'Grady: For The Love Of Dogs, filmed in London’s Battersea Dogs’ Home, says: “My cardiologist says I have the constitution of an ox.
"Three days after my last heart attack, I was back fire-eating with McFly.
“The heart is a muscle so you have two choices: Sit on the sofa and count your tablets all day, or get on with it and get moving — swimming and walking, gentle exercise.”
But Paul, who has been self-isolating on his farm in Kent during lockdown, also reveals he has quit booze after one hangover too many.
He says: “I’ve just sort of gone off booze. I didn’t even have a drink on my birthday last month. It’s not like the old days when I could neck ten pints of cider — now I’d be ill as a dog. The hangovers aren’t worth it.
“When you’re over 60, forget it. You have ‘Do not resuscitate’ around your neck when you go to bed because you know what you’ll be like the next day.”
Which moves us on nicely to Dignitas — the controversial, non-profit Swiss clinic providing assisted suicide to those with terminal illness.
TV hosts Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan once said they had a “death pact” and would help one another die if one fell seriously ill, while Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne have agreed something similar.
So what does Birkenhead-born Paul — who started his career in London as a care worker — think?
Well, it’s not something he would ever do.
He explains: “I’m a timebomb — a human version of the Titanic, forever dodging icebergs. But I did once joke to a mate of mine, ‘Let’s both sign up — but you go in first!’ But I wouldn’t ever do it.
“People say we put dogs down, so why not humans? I’m not in that position to talk about it (being terminally ill) but to take that step things must be bad. But it’s not a step I would take.”
“You see people suffering — I saw it all the time when in social services — but people ultimately still have this will to live.
“It must be awful to go over there (to Dignitas) on your own, because if anyone goes with you they’re accused of murder or assisted suicide or something — it’s terrible.
“I realise now I’d be too scared, too chicken. I’d be sitting there necking the drink they give you and changing my mind halfway through, saying, ‘I want to go home’. ”
Paul, whose parents both died of heart issues, has previously spoken about his health scares. He suffered heart attacks in 2002, 2006 and 2014.
In 2017, he was hospitalised in India with kidney trouble while filming his animal show. Doctors rescued him with antibiotic and saline treatments.
But now back to full strength — and after dabbling with yoga “which wasn’t very relaxing with four dogs scrabbling over my head” — this week Paul was back hosting his For The Love Of Dogs.
Filming at Battersea, shortly before lockdown closed the centre, the Dr Dolittle of the canine world was once again helping to home pups.
Unsurprisingly, then, he is scathing about celebrities — hello, Paris Hilton — who use dogs as adornments.
He says: “I can’t bear seeing dogs in a handbag. They are not fashion accessories. Go get another hobby.
“They need exercise. I once confronted a girl in a noisy, smoky nightclub whose chihuahua’s head was sticking out of her bag.
"Dogs shouldn’t be out at that hour, it’s disgusting.”
So what does he think about F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton, who announced last week his bulldog Roscoe is “fully vegan”?
“Dogs are carnivores,” he sighs. “But we’ve had dogs at Battersea that eat only carrots, so the jury is out — but I wouldn’t make my dog do anything it didn’t want to do.”
Ask any London cabbie who their favourite celebrity is and invariably the answer is Paul O’Grady.
But he has worked hard. After doing comedy clubs, he sprang to public attention as comical, acid-tongued drag queen Lily Savage.
He went on to host Channel 4’s The Big Breakfast for a year in the mid-Nineties, as alter ego Lily.
He then fronted BBC game show Blankety Blank from 1998 to 2002, as Lily, and in 2004 landed his own teatime chat slot, The Paul O’Grady Show, on Channel 4.
In 2008, he got an MBE and in 2010 the National Television Awards Special Recognition gong.
But with TV companies now on tight budgets and putting out watchable content with skeleton crews, I ask if big-money Saturday night shows are history, along with the golden handcuff deals enjoyed by the likes of Ant & Dec.
He says of Love Of Dogs: “Our show is made with a tiny crew and no fancy lighting. It’s factual so we don’t get the budgets you get for prime time.
"Even though it was hammering The X Factor, our budget wouldn’t cover the Green Room on that show. The balance is a bit unfair.”
But he adds: “I don’t watch Saturday-night TV now.
“I’ve gone to the dark side and watch Netflix, Amazon Prime and endless YouTube — I’m never off it.
“Saturday night telly is in trouble — they have seen people can do stuff from home on the cheap.”
Commenting on Covid-19, he adds: “Everything has changed and it will be permanent. Shows like Strictly Come Dancing . . . how are you going to do that with social distancing?
“We are all re-evaluating what really matters — and the size of Kim Kardashian’s ar*e, or how many followers she has — aren’t important.
“My cousin is a nurse — she’s been working 13 hours a day at Watford General. When it was all mad she couldn’t sleep through worry. She was seeing so many die.
“Then there’s the staff in the Great Ormond Street Hospital for children — they’re remarkable.
“These NHS workers get poor money, do lousy hours, pay to park in the car park if they can afford a car, and work like Trojans.
“They are the heroes, not celebrities. People realise that now.”
Paul has been openly gay for his entire career and laughs at his marvellously “woke” life.
“Christ,” he says. “I’m married to a ballet dancer, I’ve got a daughter, two grandkids and was married to a Portuguese lesbian barmaid. It doesn’t get much more woke.”
Aged 18, he had child Sharon by a teen romance, and in 1977 wed Portuguese friend Teresa Fernandes in a marriage of convenience after her Catholic family pressured her to tie the knot.
They finally ended the union in 2005 — and three years ago Paul married Brazilian dancer Andre Portasio, now 40.
At first, they lived apart. But they now share a house and have enjoyed lockdown — with Andre teaching ballet online while Paul learned ukulele and spent hours baking.
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They still have separate bedrooms and bathrooms, though.
Paul says: “I remember Joan Collins on my show saying the secret to a happy marriage was different bathrooms. She was right — and separate bedrooms also work a treat. I don’t like sharing a bed.
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