Paul O’Grady voiced his funeral plans back in 2017 – six years before the star’s death.
The TV favourite and animal lover sadly passed away earlier this month at the age of 67, leaving his friends, fans and family heartbroken.
In the wake of his passing, an old interview from 2017 has resurfaced where the Lily Savage star shared his plans for his funeral – which included a glass coffin.
His funeral may have been on his mind for some time after suffering heart attacks in 2002, 2006, and 2014.
Chatting to Rob McGibbon for his Daily Mail column, Paul quipped in a resurfaced audio clip: “They are all going to be weeping at my funeral. I want to make sure of it," adding: "None of this jolly nonsense.”
He went on to say that he wanted funeral-goers to wear “jet black” and for the sad affair to be held in an ancient church on the Romney Marshes in Kent where he’d be buried in a glass coffin guarded by Snow White’s seven dwarves.
Paul also voiced his hopes of Tom Jones and Jools Holland performing at his funeral – to which Jools has apparently agreed to as the pair were already good friends and often exchanged texts about old black and white movies.
While he joked that he wanted people to be sad, the comic went on to say that the affair would be “lively” and that a New Orleans jazz band would play him out of his funeral service.
Meanwhile, one of Paul’s close pals has since spoken out since the star’s untimely passing and slightly contradicted his 2017 comments saying that he’d want his friends to “have a good time” at his funeral.
"He’d hate it if everyone was morose," Amanda Mealing, who starred in Holby City as Connie Beauchamp, told The Mirror.
“Whatever happens, Paul’s funeral will be a celebration of his life and it will be full of laughter.
“He just told us to have a good time – he’d hate it if everyone was mawkish and morose. He would just say, ‘I don’t care, I won’t be here! Do whatever you want.’”
Tributes have been rolling in for Paul since his death, with BBC airing an old episode of Lily Savage’s Blankety Blank over the weekend.
The episode, which aired on Saturday, 1 April, dated back to September 1998 and featured guest appearances from Davina McCall, Sir Ian McKellen, Gray O’Brien, Rebecca Callard, Sophie Lawrence and Dale Winton.
Paul’s fans were quick to gush over the throwback episode, saying that the showbiz world “isn’t the same” without him and his drag alter ego, Lily.
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