From tipsy daytime TV to epic political takedowns, these are Paul O’Grady’s best moments

The LGBTQ+ community and entertainment industry was rocked in March 2023 by the sudden death of drag icon Paul O’Grady at the age of 67.

For more than 45 years, O’Grady shone within Britain’s entertainment world, beginning with Lily’s domination of the London drag scene in the late 1970s, all the way to the early 2000s.

He won over the masses as Lily while hosting BBC’s Blankety Blank up until 2002, later presenting a string of his own primetime TV programmes, including The Paul O’Grady Show and Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs.

He was a hit on the airwaves, too, hosting a Sunday afternoon show on Radio 2 for almost 14 years, until just a few months ago.

It’s impossible to sum up all the best moments of O’Grady’s colourful life. But, as the world remembers an LGBTQ+ hero, here are just a few of his most memorable.

Paul O’Grady, who performed as Lily Savage, has died at the age of 67. (Rex) googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('Desktop_Pagicle_Content_1'); }); His brilliant response to a homophobic police raid

Lily Savage truly came to power during her many years performing and hosting at London’s iconic LGBTQ+ venue, the Royal Vauxhall Tavern (RVT).

Savage’s run at the RVT in the 1980s coincided with the growing media hysteria around HIV and Aids and the gay community. One Sunday in 1987, while Savage was on stage, police officers, all wearing ridiculous rubber gloves for “protection”, raided the RVT and ordered everyone out of the bar.

Reflecting on the incident 34 years later, O’Grady said: “I remember saying something like: ‘Well, well, looks like we’ve got help with the washing up!”‘

What a fucking life led. Truly. Back when the Met stormed into the RVT for it being a gay bar, all wearing rubber gloves to “protect” themselves during the HIV crisis, Paul O’Grady was on stage as Lily and immediately quipped “Looks like we have help with the washing up!” Iconic.

— Jacob