Sticky Vicky dies aged 80: X-rated Benidorm legend famous for her ping pong ball ‘sexy magic’ show passes away ‘surrounded by her family’ after lengthy health battle

Benidorm legend Sticky Vicky has died aged 80 ‘surrounded by her family’ after a long health battle, it has been announced.

The exotic dancer, whose real name was Victoria María Aragüés Gadea, died early on Wednesday. According to reports, she had been ill for some time.

“I regret these words, my mother Sticky Vicky passed away today at 6am, I can’t believe it,” her daughter wrote on the official Sticky Vicky Facebook page.

‘She passed away surrounded by her family, with all our love. I thank God that I can always be by her side. I’m left with a broken heart.’

The trained ballet dancer, also known as Vicky Leyton, was born in Tenerife in 1943 and became an icon in Benidorm, Spain thanks to her exotic, x-rated performances of her vaginal magic show.

The mother-of-two moved to the city in south-east Spain in 1980, where she became a legend of the holiday hotspot visited by millions of British tourists.

Her show – which lasted more than three decades – involved pulling a variety of objects from her genitals, including ping-pong balls, razor blades, eggs, handkerchiefs and machetes.

It would end with the lights dimming and producing a lit light bulb.

An estimated six million people have seen the show – which she would invariably perform six times in an evening, six days a week – since she started it in the mid-1970s.

And she once marked the third series of ITV’s comedy show Benidorm starring Johnny Vegas by officially opening Mel’s Mobility Shop before it caught fire.

She was once described by a Benidorm guide as a ‘must-see’ that leaving without experiencing her show would be like buying fish without chips or turning on the TV to see Ant without Dec.

Vicky finally retired in 2016 at the age of 72 after being diagnosed with uterine cancer, and her daughter Maria Gadea Aragues has since taken over.

Vicky said she did not characterize herself or her show as pornographic.

‘To do what I do, you have to have a lot of sensitivity. It is necessary to give it a touch of elegance,” she said at the time.

She also once thanked the ‘English public’ for her success and said she never imagined she would have become a performer. “I never thought I could be on stage at my age and it’s all thanks to the English audience,” she said.

Vicky created her X-rated show after a magician friend taught her tricks during difficult times following the death of former dictator Francisco Franco, which simultaneously triggered the relaxation of sexual censorship in Spain.

She boasted that she stayed in shape thanks to regular workouts at the gym and a healthy lifestyle.

Vicky continued performing her raunchy magic tricks well past normal retirement age, after postponing plans to hang up her props so she could fight rival performers she branded as cheats.

She once sued another adult entertainer, traditionally known as Sticky Barbara, after learning that she had registered the name Sticky Vicky as her own.

Judges sided with the real Sticky Vicky in 2009.

They said Spaniard Maria Rosa Pereira had acted ‘in bad faith’ and told Vicky Leyton that she was the legal owner of the trademark.

In July, she was hospitalized after hurting her knees getting into a car.

She was discharged after a few days in the hospital, but was quickly returned when she developed pain and a possible infection.

Her cause of death has not yet been officially announced.

Vicky’s daughter spoke at length two years ago about her mother’s battle with cancer and other health issues.

Barcelona-born Maria, who then combined her job as a full-time caregiver to the Benidorm legend with private lessons focusing on gymnastics, strength and stretching for children and athletes, including dancers, said at the time: ‘My mother won her battle against cancer with radiotherapy and chemotherapy, but in just under a fortnight she will undergo her second hip replacement operation.

‘Everything has been postponed due to the corona pandemic. She currently uses a walker and requires assistance. She can’t be alone when she falls.

‘She also has early dementia. It’s something that happened fairly recently and her memory is still good, but it’s clearly something that will get worse. ‘I live with my mother and take care of her full time.

‘She’s 78 and obviously not as mobile as she used to be, but she still looks very beautiful. I don’t think she has ever had Covid and she has had her two vaccines.

‘She leads a quiet life and spends a lot of time at home, but hopefully she can get out a bit more once she has had her second hip operation.’

The grandmother-of-two had planned to return to the stage after her first hip operation, but shelved plans after discovering she had uterine cancer.

The veteran entertainer confirmed on her Facebook page in February 2016: “Just to let everyone know that legend Sticky Vicky Leyton and her real-life daughter Demaria Leyton have both retired from sexy magic shows.

‘Vicky has retired at almost 73 to spend more time with her family and her daughter has other projects that have nothing to do with sexy magic shows.’

With the news of her death, tributes poured in from Vicky’s fans, many of whom responded to her daughter’s post on Facebook.

“God bless you and your family, your mother put Benidorm on the map,” one person wrote. ‘When you said ‘Benidorm’ everyone said Sticky Vicky.

‘What a beautiful woman, a real entertainer RIP.’

Another person wrote: ‘I was 14 years old when I first heard of your beautiful mother… I finally got to see her several times in my forties, and also your show…. In Benidorm will the night being dark now… after the loss of its greatest star… absolute legend… Blessings.’