Paula Yates
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Paula Yates (April 24, 1960 – September 17,2000) was a British television presenter born in Colwyn Bay, north Wales. When she first came to prominence in the 1980s, as co-presenter (with Jools Holland) of Channel 4 pop music programme, The Tube, she was better known as the daughter of former TV presenter, Jess Yates, who had been sacked from his job presenting religious programmes because of scandalous newspaper stories about his private life.
Yates became even more famous as the partner of Bob Geldof, with whom she lived for some years before their marriage in 1986. They already had one daughter, Fifi Trixibelle, born in 1984, and a further two girls followed. She was also one of the presenters on The Big Breakfast, which was produced by Geldof. However, in 1995, Paula left Geldof for singer Michael Hutchence, with whom she had another daughter. At the same time, her public conduct and personal life began to be questioned and criticised in the media: for example, her much-publicised cosmetic surgery was mocked. When she appeared on the BBC series, Have I Got News For You, she was openly ridiculed by other participants. However, she remained amiable and laughed most of the comments off, despite calling Ian Hislop, who made most of the offending comments, "sperm of the Devil" (commonly supposed to have been a slip of the tongue for "spawn of the Devil").
In 1997, Hutchence committed suicide and Paula became distraught, eventually seeking psychiatric treatment. Meanwhile, there was a question over the custody of her youngest daughter, Tiger Lily.
Moreover, further media allegations were made suggesting that Jess Yates had not been Paula's natural father. A paternity test proved that the late quiz show host Hughie Green had in fact been her father. Shortly after this announcement, Paula Yates was found dead, apparently of a drug overdose.
Hughie Green's son, Christopher, has gone on record as saying that Kell Hutchence (Michael Huthcence's father) never fought for custody of Tiger Lily. In his book Hughie and Paula, he says of the late Kell Hutchence that "he was one of the very few decent people out there who tried to be the peace maker in a sad story". According to Christopher Green, Kell's ex-wife and step-daughter only made motions to gain custody of Tiger after Paula's death. Tiger Lily now lives with Bob Geldof and her half-sisters, the children of him and Yates.
External links
- The IMDb entry on Yates (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0946809/)
- Findadeath.com account of Paula Yates's death (http://www.findadeath.com/Deceased/y/yates/paula_yates.htm)