Paul O’Grady’s friend and producer, Malcolm Prince, has a remarkable new book about him, which brings fresh perspective to his life with gripping new testimony from his friends, family, and famous friends.
TV star Paul O’Grady may have had an eating disorder, his friends believe. His producer Malcolm Prince has opened up about the star in his extraordinary new book Paul O’Grady – Not The Same Without You which is being serialized by the Daily and Sunday Mirror.
It explores his troubled relationship with food for the first time, as well as family and friend testimony about his life. I probably hadn’t noticed it until some of the people I’d spoken to expressed it, Malcolm says. “But it makes sense.
It’s amazing how it may have been caused by his alter-ego Lily Savage’s attempt to remain slim. His bodybuilder, Vanessa White, recalls that “I think it all came from his days with Lily when he was wearing corsets and being slim.” She continues, “I would always bring a box of Weetabix just in case,” noting that he frequently wouldn’t be able to eat anything.
Similar patterns were observed by other friends. According to Amanda Mealing, “Food was a necessity, and he didn’t particularly like] having to eat it.” For him, according to Paul Moira Stewart, there was a difficult aspect to food. He claimed that Chrissie, his aunty, was probably anorexic, a significant influence in his early years. And Paul either ate too much or ate too little.
Paul also recounts how Paul expressed his fear that his days would be over soon after his passing. After a hospital visit, Morera picked him up and told him, “I’m not going to be here for much longer.” I pressed him to explain what the doctors had said to him after speaking with him and asked what he meant. He just responded, “That’s it. That’s it,” as I placed my arm around him while he was contemplating. I believe I won’t stay here for very long.
Several weeks later, during a phone call, Paul said something that he said was similar to Malcolm. Because he calmly ended our conversation, “I won’t make old bones, Malcolm,” we will never forget. Paul remarked about “not knowing what was around the corner” in a conversation about the passing of a close friend of Malcolm even weeks before his passing. According to Malcolm, “Paul joked about his own age and how he wouldn’t be surprised if his own exit would come “early rather than later.” Paul and Paul discussed their will at their final meeting on Paul’s death, saying it “seen just hanging in the air.”
Source: Mirror
Leave a Reply