Paul O’Grady’s husband Andre Portasio shares the latest photo of the couple together on their latest vacation as he thanks fans for their support.
Paul O’Grady’s grieving husband Andre Portasio thanked fans and loved ones for their outpouring of support this week following the star’s death.
Andre shared a new post on Instagram on Thursday night, two days after the beloved TV star died at the age of 67.
Paul’s husband shared the last photo of the couple together, taken during what would be their last vacation in January.
“In time, I hope to write to all of you individually and thank you for all the posts, messages, phone calls, emails, cards and flowers of support,” Andre told fans.
Last photo: Paul O’Grady’s grieving husband Andre Portasio thanked fans and loved ones for their outpouring of support this week after the star’s death.
‘I really appreciate everyone taking the time to communicate. I’m very touched and I’m sure Paul would be too!
‘Looking for a photo, I found the last photo we took together. Unknowingly, in January, this would be our last vacation together.
Tributes poured in for the legendary radio host and star after his partner shared that he had passed away “unexpectedly but peacefully” on Tuesday night.
Portasio said: ‘It is with great sadness that I inform you that Paul passed away unexpectedly but peacefully last night.
“We ask that, at this difficult time, that as you celebrate his life, you also respect our privacy as we come to terms with this loss.
“He will be greatly missed by his loved ones, friends, family, animals, and all those who enjoyed his humor, wit, and compassion.”
I know he would want me to thank you for all the love you have shown him over the years.
O’Grady and Portasio tied the knot during a low-key wedding ceremony in 2017.
O’Grady was scheduled to return to the airwaves next month to host a one-off radio show on Easter Sunday on Boom Radio.
Tribute: Paul’s death was announced by his partner Andre Portasio, whom he married in 2017 (the couple is shown here at the Royal Opera House in London in 2018)
O’Grady poses after receiving his MBE in 2008 at Buckingham Palace
Paul O’Grady in his character as Lily Savage acting as the Evil Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
And she performed to the very end, taking the stage as Mrs. Hannigan in Annie at the Edinburgh Playhouse.
He became a household name in the early 2000s, known for his wit and love of animals, and hosted a number of television shows, including his eponymous daytime talk show, The Paul O’Grady Show, which began aired in 2004.
He also took the reins from longtime host of Blind Date and close friend Cilla Black, who died in 2015, to present the show’s 2017 reboot on Channel 5 Por El Amor De Los Perros.
The cause of death of the father-of-one was not immediately known, but he had previously spoken of surviving heart attacks in 2002, 2006 and 2014, and also kidney failure. He, too, had a debilitating battle with covid that left him unable to work for two months.
O’Grady married Portuguese lesbian waitress Teresa Fernandes in 1977 to stop her deportation. They divorced in 2005 and he married former dancer Portasio in 2017.
Decades earlier, in 1974, he had his only child, a daughter named Sharyn Mousley, with his dear friend Diane Jansen. O’Grady is also a grandfather to Sharyn’s son Abel, who was born in 2006 and is now 16, and Sharyn’s daughter Halo, born in 2009.