Paul O'Grady's widower shares 'difficult decision' he needs to make
Paul O'Grady's widower, André Portasio, is selling their house but admitted he is unsure he is doing the right thing.
Paul O'Grady's widower is selling their house.
The TV presenter passed away on March 28 2023 after suffering sudden cardiac arrhythmia at the age of 67, and his spouse André Portasio admitted he is worried if he is "doing the right thing" in moving away from their marital home in Kent.
He told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "I have been ok. Life just continues. Paul is always in my mind. I’ve had to make so many difficult decisions now. I am selling the house and you just hope he is there to guide me. Am I doing the right thing, am I not?”
Even more simple decisions are harder for Andre without Paul around.
He said: “He was such a big personality in the house….deciding what to cook now is so hard.
“Paul never ate anything he kept as a pet so no chicken, no pork, no lamb. It was always very easy to know what to have for dinner.”
Andre enjoys looking back at old photos and videos of Paul.
He said: “I normally enjoy watching videos of him.
“Sometimes I get upset but mostly I laugh about them. He was so funny. It also helps me to remember how funny and genuine and upbeat he was.”
To mark the anniversary of Paul's death, Andre shared a video from the former 'Blankety Blank' host which was filmed just 20 minutes before he passed away, and he thought it was a "nice" thing to show fans.
He said: “I went to bed and I looked at my phone and it showed a featured picture. I didn’t recognise what it was, and then when it came up I was like ‘oh my god.’ I had totally forgotten about it.’ I thought it was a nice thing to share with his fans.”
The short clip featured Paul speaking about his book 'Eddie Albert and the Amazing Animal Gang' after he had received an award for it.
He said: "Hello everybody, I'm Paul O'Grady and I just want to say a massive thank you for reading my book, and also for voting for it. I'm absolutely delighted with my award so thank you very much."
The former drag queen - who shot to fame as his alter-ego of Lily Savage in the 1980s - was also known for his love of animals, and cuddled up with two of his dogs in the video.
He added: "And by the way, this is Eddie, this is my dog. Aren't you? You're famous. And Butch in the book is based on this little one. You're being very quiet today aren't you? Anyway, once again, thank you so much.
"I really appreciate it.
"Look after yourselves."
