Paul O’Grady (L) with husband Andre Portasio (R). (Getty)
Precisely one 12 months on from the dying of Paul O’Grady, his husband André Portasio has shared heart-breaking particulars of how he tried to avoid wasting the comic’s life.
The TV host and creator of drag legend Lily Savage died from sudden cardiac arrhythmia at his residence in Kent on 28 March 2023. His dying prompted an outpouring of grief from the UK’s queer neighborhood and LGBTQ+ celebrities.
Chatting with The Mirror 12 months on, his long-time accomplice and husband of six years, André Portasio, stated the day that O’Grady handed began ordinarily. O’Grady had woken up late as a result of he hadn’t been residence lengthy following a tour, then he met producer Malcolm Prince to debate his BBC Radio 2 present.
“He was trying very good in a white shirt, and had a superb aura,” Portasio stated. “I’ll always remember saying to him how good-looking he regarded, and him joking again saying: ‘F**ok off’.”
After the assembly, O’Grady and Portasio walked their 5 canine, earlier than settling in for the night.
“He was on great type and we switched on the telly to make amends for [the] information.”
O’Grady then acquired as much as make a cup of tea, and Portasio was startled by a “loud bang”, however initially brushed it off. “I walked to the kitchen to begin placing some meals on, I began taking issues out of the fridge,” he stated. “And hastily, I might see him mendacity on the ground.
“He had a reduce on his brow and I believed he was in all probability simply unconscious… I referred to as the ambulance and so they stated the most effective likelihood to maintain him alive was to do CPR.”
Portasio tried to resuscitate the For The Love of Canine host earlier than the ambulance arrived. As he labored desperately to avoid wasting his husband, O’Grady’s canine Arfur tried to wake him up too.
“As I used to be attempting to resuscitate him, I used to be attempting to maintain the canine out of the room… however in some way Arfur, who was considered one of his favourites, escaped and he nuzzled his face as he all the time did, as if to say: ‘Get up’. It was heartbreaking.”
Whereas there was a small second the place the paramedics managed to get O’Grady respiration once more, it was “short-lived” and the star was pronounced useless.
Ballet dancer Portasio has no intention of marking O’Grady’s dying within the UK – in actual fact he’s “as far-off as potential” in New Zealand, not desirous to be reminded of what occurred.
“Paul was very protecting of me throughout the 18 years we spent collectively however I’m prepared for the following problem, and my responsibility is to hold Paul’s work on,” he added. “I’m hoping this journey will give me a way of how I’ll transfer on, and the prospect of not being with him.”
O’Grady could be seen in a brand new two-part collection, Paul O’Grady’s Nice Elephant Journey, beginning at 8pm on ITV1 on Easter Sunday (31 March), and that’s adopted by one other likelihood to see The Life and Loss of life of Lily Savage, at 10.15pm.