The women behind Paul O'Grady: Comedian was married to Portuguese lesbian barmaid who 'looked like David Cassidy' for 28 years, had a daughter with a の近くに friend and looked up to his stoic Irish mother and sister

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From his marriage of convenience to a?Portuguese lesbian barmaid to the stoic Irish mother whose maiden 指名する helped to 奮起させる his 行う／開催する／段階 行為／法令／行動する,?Paul O'Grady?lived a life 形態／調整d by strong women.?

The TV presenter, who died at the age of 67 last night, is 生き残るd by his?husband of six years?Andre Portasio, but for?nearly three １０年間s, the beloved Birkenhead-born presenter was married to a friend called Teresa Fernandes.

Fernandes, who was also gay, was a Portuguese model and bartender whom O'Grady met while they were working in a club together. 情愛深く 解任するing the marriage, he said his first wife looked 'like David Cassidy'.

The couple married in 1977 and 離婚d in 2005, with the TV presenter and drag queen 以前 述べるing the union as a 'marriage of convenience'.

Fernandes was just one of the 重要な women in O'Grady's life, 含むing his proud Irish mother Molly, sister Sheila and の近くに friend Diane Jansen, the mother of his daughter Sharon.?

Paul O'Grady has died suddenly at the age of 67, his husband Andre Portasio has 確認するd. The comedian from Birkenhead, Merseyside, was very の近くに to several members of his family 含むing his sister Sheila Rudd and daughter Sharon Mousley. Here, O'Grady celebrates receiving his MBE with Mr Portasio, Mrs Rudd and Ms Mousley at Buckingham Palace in 2008

In an interview about his Ms Fernandes, O'Grady spoke 情愛深く of the woman he was married to for 28 years - although he 認める he 簡潔に forgot about it altogether.?

He once said of his wife: 'Teresa, I call her the lesbian Portuguese barmaid, was lovely. She looked like David Cassidy.'

The creator of the Lily Savage character explained the pair had met in Westbourne Grove, London, when they were working together, and that Teresa was from a 'very strict カトリック教徒 family' who were pestering her to get married.

After she explained the 圧力 she was under to O'Grady, he 示唆するd they tie the knot to solve her 問題／発行する - and the pair remained married until 2005.

The 1970s singer and actor David Cassidy, whom O'Grady compared to his first wife Teresa Fernandes - the 'lesbian Portuguese barmaid', as he liked to call her

O'Grady in 1995 with his daughter Sharon. Her mother was his friend Diane Jansen, with whom he remained on good 条件

The 星／主役にする 地位，任命するd nostalgic images on his Instagram account from time to time of family members. Here, his mother Molly is pictured with his Aunty Lil

O'Grady was incredibly の近くに to his sister Sheila, who was 13 years his 上級の, and 地位，任命するd a photo of her as a 十代の少年少女 持つ／拘留するing him as a baby on Instagram to 示す her 80th birthday

As the nuptials were 純粋に a convenient 協定, the comedian also 明らかにする／漏らすd he ended up forgetting he was married to Fernandes.

He said: 'I had no idea we were still married until my 経営者／支配人 Brendan said, "If anything happened to you, everything would go to your wife". It's like a real-life Corrie storyline.'?

Fernandes was just one of several women who were 重要な in O'Grady's life, 含むing Sharon's mother Diane.

Speaking to The Scotsman in 2021, he 明らかにする／漏らすd he hadn't realised he was gay until later in life because he'd had Sharon when he was still a 十代の少年少女.

He told the newspaper: 'I didn’t know I was gay, even up to やめる a late 行う／開催する／段階, because I had a daughter when I was 17.'

In his 調書をとる／予約する Still Standing: The Savage Years, he 明らかにする／漏らすd how the parents had 'buried their differences' に引き続いて their 分裂（する） to raise Sharon together. They 最初 社債d while working together on her Aunt Flo's market 立ち往生させる in Birkenhead, before Diane 結局 became one of the biggest 支持者s of his drag 行為／法令／行動する.

O'Gra dy 解任するd rehearsing his 行為／法令／行動する in 前線 of now grown-up Sharon, while Diane 行為／法令／行動するd as the dresser behind the scenes.?

He wrote: 'We 成し遂げるd in the 前線 room for Sharon, who sat cross-legged and open-mouthed on the 床に打ち倒す, very merry on the drinks that punters kept buying for us.'

Another important woman in his life was his sister Sheila Rudd, who was 13 years older than him.

In 2008, when the comedian was awarded his MBE by King Charles, who was then the Prince of むちの跡s, he took Sheila to Buckingham Palace with him for the investiture 儀式.

He was pictured standing proudly next to his her, 同様に as daughter Sharon and Mr Portasio.?

O'Grady often spoke 情愛深く of Sheila, who had played a part in taking care of him when he was a baby. On her 80th birthday, he 地位，任命するd an old photo of them from childhood on Instagram in which she is carrying him.

He wrote: 'This young 十代の少年少女 持つ／拘留するing the baby is 80 today. She's my sister and the baby is me.'

どこかよそで the comedian has written about her in columns and has always been 十分な of 賞賛する for his big sister.

令状ing for The Mirror?in 2016, he called on the then health 長官 Jeremy 追跡（する） to give junior doctors a 支払う／賃金 rise after Sheila had a heart attack and he was shocked by the 強調する／ストレス hospital staff were under.

He said his sister, who used to be a midwife, was 'very uncomplaining' and took it all on the chin, but 追加するd he was very worried about her.??

A year later, in an interview with The 後見人, O'Grady 明らかにする／漏らすd that Sheila was in hospital again with fluid on her 肺s.?

He 明らかにする／漏らすd: 'We don’t go to doctors in my family, because we don’t want to make a fuss.'?

O'Grady's stoic 態度 may 井戸／弁護士席 have been a result of his working-class しつけ in Birkenhead, Merseyside, by Irish parents Paul Grady (who later changed the family surname to O'Grady に引き続いて a paperwork error) and Molly Savage - a surname O'Grady later 可決する・採択するd for his beloved drag character.

In his memoir, the comedian spoke of his 苦痛 when his mother died in 1988 and how it 影響する／感情d him.

He said: 'I went to see her at the undertaker’s and told her about Lily Savage, the character I’d created on the London cabaret 回路・連盟, and what I’d been up to in the past few years, as I should have done when I’d had the 適切な時期.'

Just 33 years old at the time, the presenter said it changed his life for ever, 追加するing: 'It was as if the pause button on the ビデオ of my life had been 押し進めるd.'

He 明らかにする／漏らすd that his mother's death had been sudden after she had felt unwell in the morning and had been advised by the doctor to go to hospital but 辞退するd, 選ぶing to have 'a little 嘘（をつく）-負かす／撃墜する' instead.

Speaking to The Scotsman, he joked about coming out to his mother when he was in his twenties.

'My poor mother was demented! She’d grown up with house 十分な of animals and now this. Her little boy had reached puberty and turned into Attila the Hun,' he said.