29 March 2023 , 15:45
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Christopher Biggins has admitted Paul O'Grady kept smoking despite his doctor's warnings and an intervention from Cilla Black.
The much loved comedian turned TV and radio host died on Tuesday night aged 67.
Paul shot to fame for his Lily Savage character and was later praised for championing the underdogs, with his charity work and campaigning.
The British icon had previously suffered a number of health issues, including s urviving several heart attacks and a near-fatal bout of covid.
Paul also struggled with cigarette addiction, smoking 40 a day for years and joking that he had two great loves in this world, "Benson and Hedges".
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Cilla Black and Christopher Biggins tried to urge Paul to stop smoking (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)His addiction led to his famous friends urging him to quit.
Actor and TV presenter Christopher Biggins, 74, recalled a time when Cilla and her husband invited himself and Paul to her Spanish home.
"He was very naughty because he was smoking cigarettes and we could smell it. Cilla said 'you've got to go outside'," he said.
Christopher Biggins reveals Paul O'Grady carried on smoking despite doctors' warnings"But anyway he shouldn't have smoked so Cilla said to me: 'Right go and talk to him and say he can't smoke'. And I had to go and tell him off. And I started off very serious and by the end of it we were crying with laughter. It was just unbelievable.
"He'd been told that he couldn't smoke anymore, but the fact that I had to tell him and then we just cried with laughter."
Paul admitted he knew smoking had contributed to his heart attacks.
Paul died 'unexpectedly' aged 67 (Dave Benett/Getty Images)
The comedian shot to fame with his Lily Savage character (Nils Jorgensen/REX/Shutterstock)He added: "I've always said I have two great loves, Benson and Hedges, so it's not been easy quitting.
"But while smoking hasn't helped, I think my heart problems are congenital. Mum and dad died from it.
"You've no idea how much I've looked after myself - gym, swimming, long walks, soya milk... to think I've deprived myself of Jersey full-fat milk for all this time."
Heart disease ran in Paul's family, with his mother and father once both suffering heart attacks in the same week. Sadly his father's proved to be fatal. His mum later died of a separate attack.
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