Paul O’Grady was ‘laughing, smiling and full of life’ hours before his death aged 67, says friend

Paul O’Grady’s close friend Malcolm Prince has said the performer was “laughing, smiling and full of life” when he saw him hours before his death aged 67.

Mr Prince, who worked as a producer on his Radio 2 show, visited O’Grady on Tuesday and said he was looking forward to his new radio show on Boom Radio and was proud of his performance as Miss Hannigan in a recent production of Annie.

Taking to social media, he penned: “I’m devastated. Yesterday afternoon I popped round to Paul’s for a good old catch-up. Surrounded by his beloved dogs, he was laughing, smiling and full of life.

“He was so proud of Annie, so happy to be back on Boom Radio, and he was looking forward to so many new projects. And now he’s gone. I can’t believe it.

“We have lost a unique talent - and I’ve lost a dear friend. We were all lucky to have Paul in our lives. My heart goes out to Andre, Paul’s family, and friends. Oh how I’ll miss him.”

The producer also shared the last photo that he had taken with Paul, who posed with his arm around Prince’s shoulders, and wrote: “Our last picture together Farewell Paul, I’ll miss you my friend xxx”.

Tributes have poured in for O’Grady following news of his death, including from pal Zoe Ball, Paddy McGuinness and RuPaul’s Drag UK Winner Danny Beard.

Beard, a LGBT+ advocate, described the late entertainer as “an icon” in a heartfelt and thoughtful post.

They wrote: “I don’t think there’s anyone who does the job that I do that doesn’t class Paul as an icon. Paul was a trailblazer, they were on telly just after the Aids crisis.

“They’ve been the most important person, I think, in British culture for drag, for the queer community.

“This is a really sad loss today... there’s a massive hole missing now.”

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.