Gaby Roslin has claimed Paul O’Grady’s ghost visits her from beyond the grave, saying: ‘I know that he’s haunting me.’
Paul died from cardiac arrhythmia in March 2023 at the age of 67. He is survived by widower André Portasio and his daughter Sharon.
The late comic had a drag persona named Lily Savage, created in 1978, which launched him to stardom in the Nineties after already being a hit in the LGBTQ community.
Now his friend, BBC radio DJ Gaby, 59, has revealed they are still in contact, as according to The Daily Star, she shared: ‘I got a new show recently. I’d always ring Savage to discuss new shows – I always called him Savage – so I went to call him.
Gaby continued: ‘But then I had that split second where you think “Oh no, I can’t.” But I know that he’s haunting me.’
Gaby Roslin has claimed Paul O’Grady ‘s ghost visits her from beyond the grave, saying: ‘I know that he’s haunting me’ (pictured together in May 2022)
Gaby shared: ‘He always said he was going to haunt everyone – that he was going to come back and keep an eye on us all’ (pictured at Paul’s funeral in April 2023)
She continued: ‘He always said he was going to haunt everyone – that he was going to come back and keep an eye on us all.
‘He knew how much we loved him because at the end of every phone call I’d go, “Oh my God, you know how much I love you,” and he’d go, “You know I love you, too. Now f*** off.”‘
When Paul passed, Gaby took to Instagram to share a photo of him and wrote: ‘Unbelievably sad news to wake up to. Paul you really were a one off. There will never be anyone quite like Paul. Goodness me we laughed together so much.
‘Our chats lasted for hours and I know he’ll be up there now nattering away and keeping everyone laughing.
‘This lovely photo of him and Buster makes me smile and I know he’ll want us all to smile when we think of him and celebrate his life.
‘My love and deepest sympathies to Andre and to Sharon and the family. He was brave and clever and naughty and a dear sweet friend.
‘So many happy crazy memories of times we spent together. Sleep tight Savage darling I adored you #rippaulogrady.’
Paul was known for his love of dogs, with five living with him and André at the time of his death. He also hosted documentary Paul O’Grady: For The Love Of Dogs.
When Paul passed, Gaby took to Instagram to share a photo of him and write: ‘Unbelievably sad news to wake up to…’
André recently spoke out about the heartbreaking moment the comedian died in their home last year.
He has travelled to New Zealand in recent days as he couldn’t bare being at home for the one-year anniversary of Paul’s death.
Speaking to The Mirror, he told how nothing was out of the ordinary that day and the comedian had been in good spirits in the morning.
At one point, Paul went into the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea and Andre heard a loud bang.
As the couple lived in an old, noisy house, Andre thought nothing of it at first and thought Paul had probably stepped out to the cottage nearby they were renovating.
Andre said: ‘I walked to the kitchen to start putting some food on, and I started taking things out of the fridge. And all of a sudden, I could see him lying on the floor.
‘I just didn’t know what to think at first. He had a cut on his forehead, and I thought he was probably just unconscious. I called the ambulance and they said the best chance to keep him alive was to do CPR.’
Andre tried desperately to save his husband’s life, saying he was ‘exhausted’ by the time the ambulance arrived.
The ambulance crew spent an hour trying to resuscitate Paul and at one point told Andre he was breathing. It was short-lived however and they pronounced him dead soon after.
Recalling the heartbreaking moment, Andre said: ‘Somehow Paul’s dog Arfur, who is one of his favourites, escaped and he nuzzled his face as he always did on Paul’s shoulder, as if to say ‘wake up’. It was just heartbreaking.’
Paul’s widower Andre Portasio recently spoke out about the heartbreaking moment the comedian died in their home last year
Andre travelled to New Zealand in recent days as he couldn’t bare being at home for the one-year anniversary of Paul’s passing (pictured together in 2018)
Andre found Paul’s birthday in June very difficult and also struggled at Christmas, cancelling a planned meal with Paul’s family and spending the day alone.
One thing that helped him cope was the ‘outpouring of love’ for Paul as people kept coming to the house with flowers and cards.
Andre also received many messages from people across the UK including Queen Camilla who worked with Paul at the Battersea Dogs and Cats home.
Andre also received many messages from people across the UK including Queen Camilla who worked with Paul at the Battersea Dogs and Cats home.
Paul O’ Grady’s daughter recalls the moment she first saw her father as Lily Savage and admits it was ‘a lot to take in’ – as she speaks about her famous father for the first time
Paul O’Grady’s daughter, Sharyn Mousley, has recalled the moment she first watched her father perform as Lily Savage.
Sharyn, 48, who lives in Liverpool, was born after Paul had a brief relationship in the 1970s with his then-work colleague, Diane Jansen, now 76.
In her first substantial TV interview for the ITV documentary, The Life and Death of Lily Savage, Sharyn discussed the moment she first saw her father donning women’s clothes as Lily Savage, and admitted ‘it was a lot to take in’.
While she wasn’t allowed to see her father’s alter ego in action as a youngster due to the drag character’s racy humour, the moment she finally did has stayed with her.
‘As I got older, I went to see Lily. It was a lot to take in because he was my dad at the end of the day and he had six inch heels on with a massive blonde wig,’ she said.
Paul O’Grady’s daughter, Sharyn Mousley (pictured), has recalled the moment she first saw her father as Lily Savage in a new ITV documentary titled The Life and Death of Lily Savage
Sharyn explained: ‘I wasn’t allowed to see a lot of Lily when I was little, I think because of the language and I didn’t understand a lot of the jokes anyway.’
‘Lily had an evil tongue, didn’t she? I mean, my dad did as well, but I think he’d get away with more dressed as a character.
She added: ‘He’d say things that he couldn’t say as Paul, so Lily got away with murder.’
But despite never knowing the details of her father’s on-stage persona as Lily Savage during her childhood, Sharyn quickly grew fond of the glamorous aspect.
‘He used to leave me in the flat and go and work,’ she recalled. Sharyn added: ‘I used to love looking at his makeup.
‘I remember walking round the flat with his thigh high boots thinking I was all grown up, I was about thirteen.’
But when the time came for Sharyn to see the same six-inch heels on her father, she admitted ‘it was a lot to take in’.
However, it was a performance she grew fond of, and as she grew older, she would help her father secure items for the performances.
Sharyn, who now lives in Liverpool, admitted that seeing her father in the persona ‘was a lot to take in’. The father-daughter duo are pictured at at Buckingham Palace in 2008 where Paul was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire by the Prince of Wales
Paul acted as Lily Savage (pictured in 2000) on the stages of London’s underground gay venues in the 1970s and ’80s
Sharyn recalled: ‘I remember going to the shops and getting tights for him and the guy would say: “Are you coming in for your dad’s tights?”. I’d be like :”Yeah, have you got tan and black?”. That was just normal.’
Elsewhere in the documentary, Sharyn recalled her father’s unique antics at her seventh birthday party.
She explained: ‘I was about seven when I was having a birthday party, and my dad said, “Oh, I’ve got a surprise for you.
‘He swallowed this fluid and then started fire-eating in my mum’s little flat. There were scorch marks on the ceiling.
‘All the girls were screaming… I was mortified. I was seven, I wanted him to be like a clown.’
Sharyn recalled fond memories of her childhood where she would try her father’s makeup and six-inch heels on (seen together in 1995)
As a child, Paul kept details of Lily Savage a secret from Sharyn (pictured as child) due to the racy language he used
The documentary, titled The Life And Death of Lily Savage, will look at how the star made the choice to kill off his drag alter ego to launch a career in television (Lily pictured in 1996)
Many fans of the star were unaware he had fathered a child until news of his death last year.
Sharyn Moseley was born in May 1974 when Paul was 18 years old.
The mother of two teenage children, Abel and Halo, she attended Buckingham Palace with her father when he was awarded an MBE for services to entertainment in 2008.
Paul also gave her away in the traditional father role at her wedding and made a speech at the reception.
He said of the wedding afterwards ‘It was a really great day. Sharyn looked fabulous and Philip is a smashing fella. They fit together like a pan and a lid. She looked like a Disney princess.’
Paul O’Grady holds his then-three-week-old grandson with daughter Sharyn by his side in January 2007
Pauls’ entertainment capabilities spanned further than Lily, and for Sharyn’s seventh birthday party, he started fire-eating (pictured)
Sharyn revealed details of her childhood and relationship with Paul on a new ITV documentary titled The Life and Death of Lily Savage
In his autobiography ‘The Devil Rides Out’, Paul describes both poignantly and humorously how he felt after Sharyn was born.
He wrote how he went to visit mother and baby in hospital and said: ‘A smiling nurse showed me into a shiny ward where Diane lay in the middle bed of a row of three, beside which the tiny newborn babies lay in their cots.
‘Nervously approaching the cot next to Diane’s bed, I felt the blood rush to my cheeks as I became conscious that the eyes of all the new mothers and nurses in the ward were on me.
‘All of them were waiting to get a kick out of seeing a young father’s reaction to the first sight of his newborn child.
‘Diane, sitting on the bed, her face flushing a bright red to equal mine, was just as embarrassed by the situation as I was. She quickly said, ‘Why don’t you have a look at her?’
Paul recalled how initially he had gone to the wrong cot and wrote how another mother had said: ‘You’re looking at the wrong baby, mate.
‘That one’s mine, yours is over there. This went down a treat with the mums and nurses, setting them off screaming with laughter and me scuttling over to take a peep at my own child, feeling more like Carabosse than a loving father.
As a youngster, Sharyn did not watch Lily Savage perform due to the extreme language used (pictured during her childhood)
Paul was known for his comedic wit and alter-ego as Lily Savage, but later in life he hosted family favourite, For The Love Of Dogs, which encapsulated his own passion for animals with raising awareness for the rehoming of rescue dogs
‘Well, what do you think?’ Diane asked, still unable to look at me. I wasn’t sure what to think. Amazed? Confused? Or just nothing? Could this minuscule object with the scrunched-up face and the tight little fists really be my own flesh and blood?
‘I kept waiting, hoping for a rush of fatherly love as I lifted her nervously out of the cot. She was a sweet little thing, yet I felt distant. I was ashamed of myself. What was wrong with me? Didn’t I come from a loving, stable family?’
He also recalled the spat he and Diane had over naming the baby and wrote:’ When the baby was old enough, we took her to be registered.
‘There had been some dispute between us over a suitable name. I wanted to call her Gypsy, Diane had other ideas and understandably put her foot down, adamant that she was to be called Sharyn, which I thought was boring.
‘I can just hear you,’I sneered. ‘Sharrrin, gerrin fer ya tea.’ ‘I don’t talk like that as well you know and I don’t care what you say, I’m not calling her Gypsy, it sounds like a poodle’s name.’
‘So Sharyn it was but as a consolation prize I was allowed to pick her middle name, providing it was sensible.
‘I chose Lee, whether it was after Lee Remick, who I had the hots for at the time, or Gypsy Rose Lee I can’t really remember.’
Paul agreed to pay maintenance of £3-a-week for Sharyn out of his £11-a-week pay packet and how his mother Mary had berated him for getting a woman pregnant – although she clearly blamed Diane.
In his book, he wrote how she had told him: ‘Oh Paul, fancy letting some predatory middle-aged woman get her claws into you.’
She went on: ‘Twenty-bloody-seven, nine years older than you? Nine years! And pray tell me who is this Jezebel preying on daft young lads?’
Speaking in 2021, Paul reflected on how he had been mentally ill-prepared for parenthood when so young saying he ‘just wasn’t equipped’ when Sharyn was born.
Likening himself at the time to a five-year-old boy, despite being 18, Paul admitted Sharyn was secondary school age before they met properly and got to know one another.
They then went on to become close though he would joke that Sharyn held her own – saying she ‘has a mouth on her’.
But despite the initial misgivings Paul remained in close contact with Sharyn and Diane – who both still live in Liverpool – and his daughter was invited to his OBE ceremony at Buckingham Palace in 2008.
He also gave her away at her wedding and Paul recalled: ‘It was a really great day. Sharyn looked fabulous and Philip is a smashing fella. They fit together like a pan and a lid.’
Paul had two grandchildren Abel, 16, and Halo, 14, who he adored and in December he posted a picture of Abel on his Instagram adding: ‘This little monster is 16 today. Happy Birthday Abel. Love GanGanxxx’.
While in another interview Paul said: ‘My grandkids add the greatest reward of fatherhood. I became a dad at the age of 17 and didn’t really get to see a lot of my daughter when she was little.
‘But I did with the grandkids watching them grown up is just wonderful. I think My God, I’ve kept the chain going.’
Sharyn added: ‘Mum’s very upset. We are all just devastated.’
The Life And Death Of Lily Savage airs Good Friday at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.