Paul O’Grady was well-known for his love of animals and he devoted a lot of his life to rescuing and rehoming canines in want earlier than transferring on to different animals, together with pigs and alpacas. The presenter had 5 rescue canines – Nancy, Arfur, Conchita, Eddie and Sausage – when he died in March 2023.
In addition to welcoming his pets onto The Paul O’Grady Present and presenting ITV’s For the Love of Canine, he was an envoy for Battersea Canine and Cats Residence and a patron for Orangutan Enchantment UK and Wildlife SOS. He and his husband Andre Portasio shared their dwelling with the canines, chickens, pigs, sheep, goats and alpacas – although Paul sadly misplaced certainly one of his pricey pet pigs, Tom Tom, simply earlier than his dying. Sharing what number of animals Paul had, his shut good friend Malcolm Prince instructed Categorical.co.uk: “It is bizarre to assume he isn’t nonetheless in that home, surrounded by these animals. Once I used to go, we’d go for a stroll across the duck pond after which we’d go and see the chickens and he had a few owls too. Then in the event you carried on strolling down a bit, there have been the pigs after which one other little home that he had constructed for the alpacas. He began with three of these after which they’d infants.
“I used to like the truth that he named all of them. And, with the canines specifically, he talked to all of them, and typically they talked again! He was an actual life Physician Dolittle.”
He continued: “On the final day with Paul, we have been truly speaking about dying as a result of a few of his pigs had began to die. It sounds horrible, however they needed to be put to sleep as a result of they have been unwell.
“However, by God, he cared about these animals. He would stand up at 5 within the morning to go and feed them and look after them regardless that he actually hated getting up early!”
“The pigs have been relocated to a sanctuary and they’re very completely satisfied. Joan [Paul’s friend] continues to be in touch with the girl who takes care of them.
“The canines are all sorted by Paul’s good friend Moira. Paul was adamant that she ought to look after them, as she typically did when he was away on enterprise. So she has the canines now.
“And as for the remainder of the animals, most of them have been relocated. It is as a result of the home is up on the market and nobody needs to purchase a home with a load of animals residing there.”
Malcolm has shared different memorable moments along with his shut good friend, Paul, in a brand new memoir – Paul O’Grady: Not The Similar With out You.
The e-book is a treasure trove of anecdotes and reminiscences, all drawn from Malcolm’s in depth assortment of personal recordings and interviews with the individuals who knew Paul finest.
It tells never-before-heard tales of the much-missed nationwide treasure, that includes the nice and the great of the leisure world, his unlikely friendship with the Queen, his departure from the BBC, and a ghost story of two thrown in for good measure.
Paul O’Grady – Not The Similar With out You is out there from bookstores from November 6.
