I remember that interview she gave after Michael's death, where she said Tiger's birth was the greatest moment of both their lives. What an awful thing to say when she had three other children.
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I do think it's very telling that the last person Michael called before he died, when he was clearly very distressed, was his former girlfriend Michèle Bennett, saying he wanted to see her. Not Paula.
Yes, as I recall, a local shopkeeper said after her death that she would visit his shop several times a day to buy miniatures.
Just a random person with a drinking problem here, but one explanation is a person needing their fix but trying to keep it under control by buying the smallest measures available so they don’t overdo it. However, that’s negated by doing so several times in one day which can happen when the urge to drink descends again after you’ve told yourself you will stop at one or two. I will buy a bigger bottle, tip half out, but then buy the same size bottle again…
This is because of her level of obsession with Michael. He was her ultimate prize - even if she made him unhappy with her hysterics and possessiveness, she didn’t even care she still wanted to keep him. She was not concerned about who got hurt in the process of holding on to MH. I used to wonder if it was even about Michael or the status of having Michael that was the attraction.
Whilst I agree his head injury did change him, caused depression, being entangled with Paula who was an obsessive neurotic person was something MH struggled to handle. He would disappear sometimes when it got too much on benders which would freak her out.
MH was naturally a shy, passive, conflict avoidant type of person and Paula was loud, flamboyant, bullish, controlling and insecure. They never would have stayed together but he would have struggled to escape her. MH was a people pleaser who escaped in drugs and I think Paula just wanted him to stay so she joined in with him. I recall Gerry describing when they used to stay in south of France with their famous friends and both of them being too wasted to take care of TL and it being a miserable experience
one Thing I will say in her defence is that MH was known for being flighty and overlapping all of his women so it must have been really hard to be with someone and not know when they were going to leave you for someone else, but that there was a strong chance they might.
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The weird thing with Pixie‘s looks, btw: she doesn’t even look like her sisters. Peaches and Fifi looked quite alike, looked like Bob and Paula. Pixie somehow doesn’t even look like Paula. Genetics are funny.
Spot on! I wasn’t a teenager in the early 80’s (born in 1974) but I do remember her being exactly what you describe
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She used to have a parenting column In something like Prima magazine when she was still with Bob. It was all PTA’s and summer fetes and making cakes, while looking like she was dressed like Minnie Mouse. All an act, she was not a great mother…
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I’ve always wondered too how much she loved Michael, versus feeling like she had bagged a prize. The relationship sounds like it was extremely difficult to live through, and there was all the custody battle drama with Bob. How much did Paula really care for Michael versus feeling pride at getting with him? I wonder if Michael felt nurtured and supported. I suspect not. It sounds like it was chaotic obsession going on more than anything. Equally, I’m sure Michael would have been a difficult character too.
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He was the type you knew would be eyeing the next one up before long a womaniser. Paula was the same but couldn't bear it being done to her.
Interesting how Michael is advocating punching photographers in that TFI Friday interview. He knew how much damage one punch can do to a person, seeing as he lost his sense of taste along with other issues that appeared when he was randomly hit.
He seemed deeply uncomfortable in that interview, not Chris Evans fault, it was like he was very nervous. I got the impression he couldn't much control himself in those situations and was just reacting to feeling threatened/harassed by someone. Maybe as a result of being physically assaulted himself or maybe as a result of the brain damage, who knows
I’d be up for a thread - I’ve listened to all the Comfort Eating podcasts and read her autobiography but still feel quite ambivalent!
Me too but have no idea how to set one up!
Yeah l agree. She was really funny when she had a column and l kinda like her ldgaf attitude...but l'm not sure.
I can see the ‘Post Thread’ button so I’ll give it a go! But is she a Traditional Celeb?
I used to love Grace dent in her bb days, went off her because of the Cm, IH, SH connection also her amount of 'work' Put me off a bit. As someone who is neurodivergent I find all these 'aesthetics' difficult to relate to, feels disingenuous.
Wrt to ian hislop, I'm glad they showed that clip.
I'd completely forgotten about it but always looked up to him.
I thought Paul Merton was an arse for years but liked ian more, possibly because of his babyish looks
Either way, I'm really glad it's been seen and in this modern age has exposed his true character.
I'm mixed heritage, my kids dont look it in the slightest (unless you 'know').
Mixed white and black. As a child/ teen, I'd say my features were v similar to Bob geldof's so it is possible that any similarities to a potential mixed race dad could actually be because of Bob's features.
Who knows.
I think the reason Paula's and peaches and Michael's story is so fascinating and why we've all jumped on Peach'es thread is because of the many unanswered questions.
So much of this happened pre-net or early www so we who remember them or are interested in the stories have so many gaps in our knowledge.
Bob definitely had 'affairs', they had an open relationship, he was just more discreet and people liked him.
I think most long married/ coupled seasoned showbiz types of that era understood the temptations and pressures of being apart, thrown together on projects etc and dealt with it accordingly.
It got messy when one person was kept in the dark and actually cheated on, or if they weren't discreet.
For those who dispute the phone tapping theory: bugging and phone tapping has been happening a lot longer ago than Paula and Michael's affair. It was HUGE during their fame, especially seen during Diana's tumultuous times, along with weekly exposes of many public figures, hence the NOTW being such a sellout paper.
But even before that, tactics used during ww2 etc, is not outside the realms of possibility.
Sure people courted them too for money but I can't beleive that Paula going through such hell ref custody etc would persistently invite press intrusion at that time!
Wrt to ian hislop, I'm glad they showed that clip.
I'd completely forgotten about it but always looked up to him.
I thought Paul Merton was an arse for years but liked ian more, possibly because of his babyish looks
Either way, I'm really glad it's been seen and in this modern age has exposed his true character.
I'm mixed heritage, my kids dont look it in the slightest (unless you 'know').
Mixed white and black. As a child/ teen, I'd say my features were v similar to Bob geldof's so it is possible that any similarities to a potential mixed race dad could actually be because of Bob's features.
Who knows.
I think the reason Paula's and peaches and Michael's story is so fascinating and why we've all jumped on Peach'es thread is because of the many unanswered questions.
So much of this happened pre-net or early www so we who remember them or are interested in the stories have so many gaps in our knowledge.
Bob definitely had 'affairs', they had an open relationship, he was just more discreet and people liked him.
I think most long married/ coupled seasoned showbiz types of that era understood the temptations and pressures of being apart, thrown together on projects etc and dealt with it accordingly.
It got messy when one person was kept in the dark and actually cheated on, or if they weren't discreet.
For those who dispute the phone tapping theory: bugging and phone tapping has been happening a lot longer ago than Paula and Michael's affair. It was HUGE during their fame, especially seen during Diana's tumultuous times, along with weekly exposes of many public figures, hence the NOTW being such a sellout paper.
But even before that, tactics used during ww2 etc, is not outside the realms of possibility.
Sure people courted them too for money but I can't beleive that Paula going through such hell ref custody etc would persistently invite press intrusion at that time!
Grace Dent
Setting up a thread to discuss the journalist and writer, Grace Dent, after she was mentioned so much on the Paula Yates thread. Off we go!
tattle.life
Grace Dent thread for those interested!
She was famously tee-total,in her autobiography she says something along the lines of that she thought drinking alcohol was the beginning of a very slippery slope,but that she had tried hard drugs in her teens and didn’t think they were as bad, acknowledging the irony, Something like that. I think her Dad was a big drinker and it put her off…she got into drinking after Michael died,I might be wrong, but drank champagne on the flight to Australia? I get the impression it didn’t start socially, more to self medicate. And she was right wasn’t she, it was a slippery slope……
From everything I have ever read that she said about him, I am still not sure on this. I think Michael really did have a magnetic charisma but tbh I think she irritated him. They were polar opposites really, he wanted a private life away from performing and to be known for music and she wanted to always be famous for the benefits it brought socially. Do you remember the big fence? MH didn’t want to stay in the U.K. he hated it and felt trapped. Paula was trapped here because of the Kids, so it was never really going to work
tbh I don’t think they thought it through that was evident. They were trying to force something to work
Paula did touch upon this various times in interviews, how it (I assume, paraphrasing) was so unlike Michael to get together with a woman with children and other responsibilities.
Given that he seemingly balked at anything too committed and got cold feet after a while, I'm surprised he hung around, even that he had a baby with Paula. Paula does spin it as "once we'd found each other we knew that was it for us", though I don't think Michael was ever quoted as being so enamoured with her.
I can't judge her for being so crazed and chaotic with grief as I don't know how I'd deal with the short few years their / her life was a complete shitstorm.
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