He was a campaigner, a political advocate, and a trailblazer. But most of all, he was a friend. And I’d like to share that person with you. It’s more than two years since the much-loved entertainer, broadcaster and national treasure Paul O’Grady died, and yet his voice still echoes — in laughter, in memory, in the unshakeable affection of millions. In this deeply personal and definitive biography, Paul’s longtime collaborator Malcolm Prince draws on two decades of friendship — and hours of private recordings — to tell the story of the man behind the icon: the sharp-witted, fiercely loyal, irrepressibly funny, and deeply private individual, known to his close friends as ‘Savage’ — and to the public, in various guises, as the prime time TV star, the nation’s dog-loving agony uncle, and a Sunday afternoon radio companion. Malcolm revisits the stages Paul made his own, from the Royal Vauxhall Tavern to the London Palladium; the moments that shaped him; and draws on brand-new interviews with the people who knew him best, including his daughter and grandchildren. This is a portrait not just of a gifted entertainer, but of a complex, fiercely loyal, and endlessly curious man, reflecting on a friendship built on shared laughter, private rants, righteous fury, long phone calls, and a healthy dose of gossip — and on a professional legacy that still feels astonishing in its range and resonance. Packed with warmth, humour and never-before-heard stories, NOT THE SAME WITHOUT YOU captures the full measure of a man who defied convention, challenged institutions, made mischief — and made us all feel like we were his best pal.
