Dear reader, please forgive Diary’s tardiness. Many were bereft at the lack of a column last Friday (this may be an assumption made entirely on Diary's own merit, no one contacted to say so, presumably as they were too busy being distraught).
Diary has returned, but with sad news this week. The much-loved comedian Paul O’Grady has passed away.
Charities showed an outpouring of love and loss for the celebrity, who has worked with Battersea, Peter Tatchell Foundation, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Heart Research UK and many more.
Battersea, who he partnered with to create his show Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs, said it was deeply saddened by the news.
During the decade he worked with the charity as its ambassador, he created a self-imposed clause into his filming contract which decried “under no circumstances” was he able to go home with any more animals.
As expected, O’Grady soon broke the clause by adopting a rescue dog from Battersea. He had previously described the documentary as like “putting an ex-drug addict in a cocaine factory.”
When he adopted Sausage, a wire-haired dachshund last February, he posted a photo of them together on Instagram.
The caption read: “She’s called Sausage which isn’t very original but it doesn’t matter as she can’t understand a word of English except for ‘biscuit’.”
Terrence Higgins Trust commended O’Grady for his work supporting the LGBTQI+ community.
In 1987, when performing at a gay bar as his drag alter-ego Lily Savage, O’Grady recalled watching police officers raid it while he was on stage.
It was at the height of the HIV epidemic, when disinformation was rife, and police entered wearing rubber gloves in fear of contracting it.
O’Grady reportedly had said: “Well well, it looks like we’ve got help with the washing up!”
O’Grady's love for animals led him to be the patron of Wildlife SOS, an elephant charity. He regularly posted photos and videos of said elephants on Instagram, sometimes when they were playing with bouncy balls.
His plethora of pets included alpacas, ducklings, pigs, chickens, rescue dogs and more.
In an interview with the Observer in 2021, O’Grady was asked whether he would rather have more sex, money or fame.
He replied: “I am not bothered about sex, money or fame, I just want a mongoose.”
