Paul didn't want surgery and then face time off... he didn't want to let anyone down

O'Grady producer pal on sacrifice of TV gem

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Even when faced with life-saving heart surgery, Paul O'Grady's first thought was not for himself but for everyone else.

His close friend and producer Malcolm Prince has revealed how, in his final months, Paul refused an implantable defibrillator because he did not want to let anyone down.

"He had signed up to do the musical Annie, he signed up to do the dog show [For the Love of Dogs]," Malcolm tells the Mirror.

"He didn't want to go back into hospital to have another procedure and then spend time recuperating.

"He wanted to get on and live his life but also work. He didn't want to let people down." Ultimately, the device could have saved his life.

Paul, who had a history of heart problems, died from a sudden cardiac arrhythmia on March 28, 2023 at the age of 67.

He had been adamant he did not want the medical intervention.

Months earlier, Paul had spent a week in William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Kent, and the thought of being sidelined again was unbearable for the TV star.

In a text message he wrote to his daughter Sharyn Mousley, Paul said: "The cardiologist just wants me to have a defib. But no way am I having one of them. He is being overcautious and, besides, I'm nowhere near as bad as I was."

Joan Marshrons, his manager and close friend, had explained the procedure to Paul at length. But there was no convincing him.

"In the last few years, he worried about his own body letting him down and that was all very depressing for him," says Joan.