Paul O’Grady’s ex-wife breaks silence on his death

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

The nation said goodbye to much-loved TV star Paul O’Grady as he was laid to rest on Thursday (April 20). Now, O’Grady’s wife of nearly 30 years has spoken out following his sudden death.

Teresa Fernandes was married to the Blankety Blank presenter for 28 years and has now spoken about her sadness over his passing. READ MORE: Paul O'Grady's funeral in pictures as TV star's dog leads funeral cortege Paul, 67, who was an openly gay man, has previously spoken about his marriage to his Portuguese ex-wife, whom he married in 1977 to reportedly stop her from being deported from the UK. "We probably enjoyed one of the longest marriages in showbiz!" she told the Daily Mail. "Paul was a very special, close friend of mine, but we didn't really love each other. "I was lesbian and he was gay so the marriage would never have worked but we had a great time as friends and even though it was almost 50 years ago I have great memories,'" the 73-year-old recalled.

Teresa, who divides her time between London and her birthplace Lisbon, although they had drifted "apart and was not present at his funeral", she was deeply saddened to hear of his passing. "Of course I was sad when I heard Paul had died, he was always a good friend but I hadn't seen him since the early 1980s.

We just drifted apart at around the time he started to get famous, but I didn't go to the funeral because it's too far for me to travel." In his autobiography, The Devil Rides Out, published in 1998, Paul talks about how he proposed a "marriage of convenience" to please her mother Maria and also solve the dilemma of her soon to be expired visa. "Teresa, I call her the lesbian Portuguese barmaid, was lovely.