Paul O'Grady's widower Andre Portasio recalls dogs' "goodbye" to late star
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Paul O'Grady's widower André Portasio has recalled their dogs' emotional goodbye to the late star.
The comedy icon sadly passed away last year aged 67, which led to a flood of tributes from celebrities and fans.
Appearing on today's (April 30) Loose Women, André spoke about the aftermath of losing his husband, including an emotional memory of their five dogs.
Related: Paul O'Grady was so much more than just a national treasure
“I opened this letter and it was this old lady, I think she was 85, and she was very worried about the dogs and that the dogs had to say goodbye," he recalled. "That stayed at the back of my mind, and I thought I must attend to what she’s asking me to do.”
André elaborated: “So, just before he was buried, I took the dogs to say goodbye and it was really interesting to see that some of them engaged with Paul but others just ‘sweeped’ out, as if he wasn’t there.”
He went on the reveal that the five dogs are "doing fabulous" at the moment.
Related: ITV announces new documentary in tribute to Paul O'Grady
During the interview, André spoke about the "shock" of losing Paul, recalling of the immediate aftermath: “I stayed in the house to begin with. I was getting the letters and the flowers and it was too overwhelming to begin with.
“In hindsight now, I can see how much it has really helped me, the support, and really I should thank everyone that wrote to me and just the kindness of everybody really. It will stay with me forever.”
He also shared the emotional reason why he marked the first anniversary of his husband's passing last month in New Zealand, revealing he "didn’t want to be in the house" and be reminded of "the shock that [he] 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," he continued. "I didn’t want to remember him in that way, I wanted to celebrate his life, the time we had together.
Related: Paul O’Grady honoured by Battersea Dogs & Cats Home
"I was very fortunate to have spent eighteen years with him. When we got married, you know, for me it was forever and only, I didn’t realise that it was short lived. We were together for eighteen years and we were married for six.
“With Paul, we travelled all over the world but we’d never been to New Zealand. So, for me, it was going to a place where I could celebrate him, without the problems.... When someone dies, no one tells you how hard it is, with the admin of it and the decisions you have to make and all that cloudy that has nothing to do with how I felt about him.”
He added: “I took his passport with me, I took his pyjamas and do you know that I also took one of his friends with me, that’s an imaginary friend, called Kiddy!”
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