Paul O’Grady has revealed that a family tragedy five years ago left him worrying less about “petty things”.
The For The Love Of Dogs favourite opened up to the Daily Mail back in September, revealing his new take on life was prompted by the death of his cousin.
What did Paul O’Grady say about the family tragedy?
Paul revealed that his cousin Maureen had died earlier last year.
And he seemed shocked as he revealed that she was only four years older than him.
Paul explained the death was sudden and “as quick as a light switch going off”.
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He said: “My cousin Maureen died earlier this year, she was only four years older than me. She went to bed with indigestion and when her partner brought her a cup of tea she was dead.
“The postmortem said it was as quick as a light switch going off.”
As a result of the tragedy, Paul admitted that he now looks at life in a different way.
He said the things that used to worry him no longer do, and he doesn’t lose sleep over “petty” things now.
“I’ve learnt not to worry about petty things that I used to lose sleep over now. I don’t let myself get stressed out any more about daft things,” he said.
Paul’s health problems
Of course, Paul O’Grady fans will be aware that the presenter has had his fair share of health problems.
He suffered a near-fatal heart attack in the early 2000s – his second in four years.
The condition is congenital as his grandparents, parents and cousin all died of heart disease.
Read more: Paul O’Grady not scared of death but says ‘the way you die worries me’
As a result of his heart attacks, Paul recently revealed that he’d given up drinking and is looking after his health more.
The veteran TV star told The Sun at the time: “My cardiologist says I have the constitution of an ox.
“Three days after my last heart attack, I was back fire-eating with McFly.
“The heart is a muscle so you have two choices: sit on the sofa and count your tablets all day, or get on with it and get moving – swimming and walking, gentle exercise.”
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