20 December 2023 , 09:23
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Paul Burrell has revealed the touching reason he was at Brookside legend Dean Sullivan's funeral in Liverpool.
Dean, who played Jimmy Corkhill in the soap, died last month aged 68 after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. While many of his former soap star and TV pals were in attendance, including upcoming Dancing on Ice star Claire Sweeney, one unexpected attendee was former royal butler Paul Burrell.
Paul opened up about how he struck up a friendship with Dean because of Princess Diana's love for Brookside, with them becoming closer after both having lived with prostate cancer.
Paul Burrell attended Dean Sullivan's funeral in Liverpool (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)
Dean Sullivan played Jimmy Corkhill in Brookside (PA)Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, Paul explained: "I don't think people realise how close Dean was to Princess Diana. She was a massive Brookside fan. "I used to prepare her dinner and wheel it on a trolley in front of the telly so she could watch Brookside. We arranged a secret visit for her to come to the set and there she struck up a friendship with Dean.
"Dean was a joker and that friendship lasted for the rest of the Princess' life. When she died, Dean got in touch with me and said how devastated he was and so we mourned together."
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Speaking about their shared experience with prostate cancer, Paul added: "We've both been through this rollercoaster journey."
Paul received the all-clear this year after he was diagnosed with the illness in January, while Dean was diagnosed in 2018. He devoted his time to raising awareness of prostate cancer, stressing the importance of early diagnosis for men to improve their prognosis. Donations at the funeral were asked to be made in Dean's memory to Prostate Cancer UK, with Paul taking the opportunity to urge men over 50 to seek medical attention at the first sign of any of the common symptoms of prostate cancer.
He said: "Men have wives, daughters and sons who love them so do it for them. Go and get your blood test. Dean and I are both similar in that we are concerned with people. That's the parallel with our lives."
Paul added that he was considering moving to Dean's hometown of Liverpool, telling the paper: "I love coming to Liverpool. I walk down the street, everyone says hello. Everyone is so friendly and warm. This is a great city to live in.
"In fact, I will tell you a secret. My husband and I are thinking about leaving the countryside in Cheshire and coming to live in Liverpool. It is an up-and-coming city, it has all the arts, it has the river, it has the estuary, it has the ocean. What more could you want?"