Yahoo News Paul O'Grady's husband took their five dogs to final goodbye to star
Andre Portasio told Loose Women the emotional story of how he had taken the TV star's beloved dogs for a final farewell with him before he was buried.
Paul O'Grady's husband took their five dogs to final goodbye to star
What did you miss?
Paul O'Grady's widower Andre Portasio has told how he took their five beloved dogs for an emotional goodbye visit before the TV star was buried.
Portasio told Loose Women that he had been advised to take the For The Love Of Dogs star's pets for a final farewell by a concerned fan.
He also spoke about getting a condolence letter from Queen Camilla and how he had remembered his husband a year on from his death.
What, how, and why?
Paul O'Grady's husband Andre Portasio has shared the touching story of taking the late star's five dogs for a goodbye visit before his burial.
The late TV star was known for presenting For The Love Of Dogs and passed away in March 2023, leaving behind the pets that he shared with Portasio.
Appearing on Tuesday's Loose Women, Portasio told how a letter from a concerned fan had convinced him to help the dogs to say goodbye by visiting O'Grady's casket.
He shared: "She (the fan) was very worried about the dogs and that they had to say goodbye. It stayed at the back of my mind and I thought I must attend to what she's asking me to do. So just before he was buried I took the dogs to say goodbye.
"It was really interesting to see that some of them engaged with Paul, but others just swept out as if he wasn't there anymore."
Talking about how the dogs are now, he added: "They're doing fabulous."
Portasio also said that Queen Camilla had sent him a letter of condolence after O'Grady's death: "I was shocked to receive a letter from her and I must confess it took me so long to reply. It's not every day you receive a letter from the Queen.
"I would wake up and think, I must reply to her letter. I would sit down and I would be like, Dear Camilla...no. Dear Queen Camilla...no. In the end it was like, you're not writing a book, you're writing a thank you letter and you just have to go with what is in your heart, so I finally wrote to her."
What else happened on Loose Women?
O'Grady's death last year came as a huge shock to Portasio and he explained how he had chosen to mark a year since his husband's passing.
He travelled to New Zealand in March, saying: "I didn't want to be in the house remembering the shock I had gone through. It was really, really, really hard. I don't wish for my worst enemy to find the person that you love unconscious on the floor.
"I didn't want to remember him in that way, I wanted to celebrate his life, the time that we had together. I was very fortunate to spend 18 years with him.
"When we got married for me it was forever. I didn't realise that it was short-lived. We were together for 18 years, married for six. We travelled all over the world but we'd never been to New Zealand."
Portasio said he had felt overwhelmed by the admin associated with O'Grady's death and said: "All that cloudy that has nothing to do with how I felt about him.
"I took his passport with me (to New Zealand), I took his pyjamas with me, and I also took his imaginary friend called Kitty. Kitty would appear in the most bizarre moments, often when he wanted to deflect something."
Portasio added that he had spoken to Kitty throughout the trip, in the same way that O'Grady used to throughout their relationship.
Loose Women airs on ITV1 at 12.30pm on weekdays.
Read more: Paul O'Grady
Paul O’Grady’s husband shares heartbreaking details of how TV star died (The Independent, 3 min read)
Paul O’Grady left heartwarming sum in will for Battersea Dogs Home (The Independent, 2 min read)
Paul O’Grady, Comedian And Lily Savage Star, Dies At The Age Of 67 (HuffPost, 4 min read)
