Paul O'Grady's husband Andre Portasio has given his first live interview since the 67-year-old's tragic death and revealed a heartbreaking moment involving their dogs. Paul left behind his husband Andre after his death last year following sudden cardiac arrhythmia.
Andre appeared on Loose Women where he opened up about how he's doing during an emotional interview. The former ballet dancer also shared a heartbreaking memory of how their dogs dealt with Paul's tragic death, reports MirrorOnline.
Paul was known for his affection on dogs, hosting For the Love of Dogs on ITV which ran for 11 seasons. Andre said he was inspired to allow their dogs to have one last look at Paul before his husband was buried. The inspiration came from an 85-year-old woman who had sent him a letter.
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Speaking on Loose Women today, Andre revealed how he loved watching Paul and the tragic shock after his death. But he found support in heartfelt letters sent in from members of the public.
He told the show: "I love watching him and to me, now I'm sort of accepting he's gone. It took me quite a long time to get to this position I think.
"To begin with, it was really a shock. I stayed in the house to begin with. I was getting letters and flowers and it was too overwhelming to begin with. In hindsight now, I see how much it has really helped me and the support, and I want to thank everyone that wrote to me. It was just the kindness of everyone that will stay with me forever."
Andre recalled that he took the dogs to say their final goodbye to Paul, after being inspired by one woman who wrote to him. "I received so many letters," he said.
"A lot of people didn't know the address, so you would received the letter and it would be 'Paul O'Grady, home, Kent'. I opened this one letter and it was an old lady, I think she was 85, and she was very worried about the dogs, and that the dogs needed to say goodbye. And that stayed at the back of my mind, I thought I must attend to this," he said.
"Just before he was buried, I took the dogs to say goodbye and it was really interesting to see that some of them engaged with Paul, but others they just swept out as if he wasn't there anymore. They're doing fabulous [now]."
Andre has been open about the sad day that Paul died, sharing their final moments together. In a heartbreaking interview with The Mirror last month, he recalled: "The day he died, we had the most ordinary day,” Andre begins. “I’d got up early and gone down to the fields as I was working in the woodland. Paul had come back from touring, so was a little bit tired and woke up really late.
"Usually, he would stagger down from the bedroom with his hair on end and moaning it was the beginning of the day. He loved a good moan but he had a meeting with his producer, Malcolm Prince, about his radio show and he was looking very smart in a white shirt, and had a good aura. I’ll never forget saying to him how handsome he looked, and him joking back saying f*** off!"
He added: "He was on wonderful form and then we settled down in the living room and switched on the telly to catch up on Kent ITV News. He left to get some tea, and I heard this loud bang. But because the house is big and old, I didn’t think of anything at first. I walked to the kitchen to start putting some food on, and I started taking things out of the fridge. All of a sudden, I could see him lying on the floor. I didn’t know what to think at first. He had a cut on his forehead, and I thought he was probably just unconscious."
