Telly legend Paul O’Grady gave pals one order for his funeral: Have a laugh!
His best pal, actress Amanda Mealing, said: “He just told us to have a good time. He’d hate it if everyone was morose.”
Amanda said pals were devastated by the death of Paul, 67. But there were tears of laughter too over his “ridiculous” antics.
READ MORE: Paul O'Grady's daughter breaks silence over sudden death of TV icon
Paul spent a lifetime making people smile – and told friends he wanted his send-off to be full of laughter too.
The telly star, who died suddenly last Tuesday, revealed his wishes to his best friend Amanda Mealing.
Former Casualty star Amanda, 55, said in an exclusive interview with the Mirror: “Whatever happens, Paul’s funeral will be a celebration of his life and it will be full of laughter.
“He just told us to have a good time – he’d hate it if everyone was mawkish and morose. He would just say: ‘I don’t care, I won’t be here! Do whatever you want’.”
In a moving chat, Amanda also:
- Revealed plans for TWO funerals and a possible tribute back home on Merseyside.
- Told how she learned of his death in a 1am text. It came days after her last chat with Paul – about how to remove a curse!
- Said her great pal lived “67 lives full of adventures” in his 67 years.
- Told how days of tears had turned to laughter as loved ones recalled happy times with Paul.
Amanda was pals with Paul for 35 years and lovingly called him Savage – after his drag queen alter-ego Lily Savage.
Of his send-off, she said: “There may be two funerals.
“A small private one and a big one in a very grand place for those outside the family. I would think it’ll be in London.
“Then everyone can come to that and it gives people a chance to fly in. There are ongoing conversations.
“We’ve also been asking: ‘Can we do something in Liverpool?’ because obviously they very much feel he’s their baby. It’s so difficult.”
Amanda learned of Paul’s death in a text from his husband Andre Portasio in the early hours of Wednesday. She raced to the couple’s farmhouse in Aldington, Kent to comfort 41-year-old Andre.
Fighting back tears, she said: “Andre sent me a text at 1am. I woke up to it. I was just numb. I just couldn’t comprehend what the text had said.
“I just couldn’t understand it. As soon as I got myself together I went down to the house.
“Over the last few days, we’ve started conversations crying and end up laughing with tears just remembering ridiculous stories!
“On the first day we were all just wandering around numb and then yesterday I spent the entire day doing flower arrangements.
READ MORE: Paul O'Grady: A life in pictures
“There were so many flowers and gifts from people. Someone sent a video of a really beautiful send-off at the Vauxhall Tavern [the iconic London venue]. The thing that got us all was that instead of a moment’s silence, they had a moment’s cheer and that just set us all off. It was such a lovely thing. It just captures you.
“You think you’re okay and then something like that just gets you.
“It was such a lovely gesture to hear all this noise for him. It’s been an enormous comfort to know he was so loved. And for a kid from Birkenhead to have the Queen Consort send a message of condolence... speaks volumes. They had a great bond, but the thing about Savage was that he treated everyone the same, whether you were related to the Queen or a builder. It didn’t matter to him.”
Amanda spoke to Paul – godfather to her sons Milo and Otis – on the phone days before he died.
She said: “He was feeling great. He’d just come back from Thailand where he’d sent endless texts and photos of himself with elephants and things like that. He had a great time out there. I had called him up and said: ‘Savage, I need to know how to remove a curse.’ He said: ‘Right, what you need to do is light a candle, make an offering, you need to do this, you need to do that!’
“That was the ridiculousness of our relationship.
“I’m heartbroken for me because I’ve lost my best friend, but I’m not heartbroken for Paul because he absolutely rinsed his life.
“He got absolutely everything he could out of it and that is wonderful. He lived 67 lives with the adventures he created in his life and the things he did and the places he would go. He did everything he could and he never had regrets. He said: ‘What’s the point? It’s done now. There’s no point regretting anything’. I said to Andre yesterday: ‘This could have happened with him alone in a hotel room on tour somewhere obscure.
“Instead, he was at home in the place he loved with the person he loved.
“I’m sure he would have said: ‘That’s the way to do it’.”
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