I Used To Carry A Hamster In My Pocket!

- Sue Crawford

Straight-talking and honest, Paul O’Grady doesn’t stand for any nonsense. He recently had a run-in on a British Airways flight after he and his partner suffered homophobic abuse – and woe betides anyone who takes up a train seat with their bag!

“I’ll say, ‘Has your bag got a ticket? No? Well, can you take it off the seat, please?’” He smiles. “I was going to London once and the train was full of kids. I said to one of them jokingly, ‘When I was your age I was made to stand for somebody my age.’ And he said, ‘You’re not old enough.’ So I warmed to this child!

“The kid in front of him said, ‘We’ve bought a ticket, why should we stand? We’re going to see The Lion King.’ So I said, ‘I hope it eats you!’”

While everything is said tongue-in-cheek, it was a different matter when the presenter and his husband André were on a BA flight back from Bangkok after a holiday in Thailand last month. Sitting in business class, they suddenly found themselves being abused by a homophobic thug.