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Paul O’Grady not scared of death but says ‘the way you die worries me’

Paul has always been open about his health struggles and mortality

Paul O’Grady has previously revealed that he isn’t scared of death, but has said that he is worried about the way he will die.

The 66-year-old has suffered from Covid and has previously survived three heart attacks too.

Paul O’Grady’s health battles

paul ogrady
The comedian has had his fair share of health issues over the years (Credit: ITV)

Back in 2017, Paul opened up about his mortality and detailed some of the health issues he’s had over the years.

During the recording of The Secret Life of Dogs in Delhi, India, the Birkenhead-born comedian had a terrifying health scare. He spoke to The Mirror about what had happened at the time.

The 66-year-old was rushed to the hospital after he believed he had caught a bug from infected dogs.

Read more: Let’s get Paul O’Grady knighted in 2023! Sign and share ED!’s petition

He explained that the dogs had been bitten by rats and maggots. He reckoned that he must have touched his mouth after being with the dogs as he was throwing up at five in the morning afterward.

Of course, this isn’t the first bout with illness that the comedian has had. He has in fact survived three heart attacks over the course of his life. He had them in 2002, 2006, and 2014.

“I used to think I was invincible but now I’m running out of lives,” he told The Mirror.

The comedian on Covid

Paul O'Grady shares sad news about For The Love Of Dogs
Paul believed he had Covid in 2020 (Credit: ITV)

Back in 2020, the star of For the Love of Dogs opened up about another health battle he had – this time with Covid-19.

Due to his fragile health following his heart attacks and kidney failure, Paul was placed in the ‘at-risk’ category.

He spoke to the Evening Standard at the time about suffering from the virus.

“I had flu-like symptoms. I didn’t have the cough bad, I certainly didn’t have the temperature or anything like that so I just got on with it,” he said.

“The coronavirus – you’d know if you caught that. I lay on the couch with the fire on and the dogs on top of me moaning,” he continued.

“It was sheer exhaustion.”

Paul O’Grady speaks about dying

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Paul stated he isn’t afraid of dying (Credit: ITV)

However, despite all his numerous health issues, Paul revealed that he isn’t afraid of dying, as he told The Mirror in 2017.

“I’m not scared of death at all. It’s the way you die that worries me – that’s the fear,” he said.

The star went on to say that he could sit on his death bed and be happy with what he has achieved in his life.

He then went on to say at the time that health can also be a “state of mind”. Paul said that he had had three heart attacks and he’s “fine”.

Read more: Paul O’Grady fans sharing pics of their pets watching For The Love Of Dogs and it’s too much!

He then said that the heart is a muscle and needs to be exercised. He said that there’s no point sitting around and moaning.

Paul then said that he had become more aware of his mortality at the time as he’d lost some friends to cancer. He said that AIDS had caused him to lose a lot of friends too.

“You have to accept things and realise you haven’t got 50 years any more like you had as a teenager,” he said.

The next episode of Paul O’Grady: For The Love Of Dogs airs Wednesday (February 2) at 8pm on ITV and ITV Hub.

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Robert Emlyn Slater
Senior Writer