Paula Yates | |
|---|---|
| Born | Paula Elizabeth Yates (1959-04-24)24 April 1959 Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire, Wales |
| Died | 17 September 2000(2000-09-17) (aged 41) Notting Hill, London, England |
| Occupation(s) | Television presenter, writer |
| Years active | 1979–2000 |
| Known for | The Tube The Big Breakfast |
| Spouse | |
| Partner | Michael Hutchence (1995–1997; his death) |
| Children | 4, includingPeaches,Pixie Geldof andTiger Hutchence-Geldof |
| Parents |
|
Paula Elizabeth Yates (24 April 1959 – 17 September 2000) was a British television presenter and writer. She was best known for presenting theChannel 4 television programmesThe Tube andThe Big Breakfast. She was subjected to intense media attention and scrutiny, owing to her popularity and her relationships with musiciansBob Geldof andMichael Hutchence.
Born on 24 April 1959[1] inColwyn Bay, Wales, to English parents, Yates was brought up in a show business family. Her mother was Elaine Smith (whose stage name was Heller Toren, and who later wrote under the pseudonym Helene Thornton). Up until 1997, Yates believed her biological father to beJess Yates, who hosted theITV religious programmeStars on Sunday. ADNA test in that year revealed that her biological father was game show hostHughie Green.[2][3]
Yates described her childhood as lonely and isolated, stating that her mother was absent for much of her upbringing.[4] She attended a village primary school,Penrhos College, andYsgol Aberconwy. The Yates family ran the Deganwy Castle Hotel for a time.[5]
In 1979, Yates began her career as a music journalist with a column called "Natural Blonde" in theRecord Mirror, shortly after posing forPenthouse magazine.[citation needed]
Yates first came to prominence in the 1980s, as co-presenter (withJools Holland) of theChannel 4 pop music programmeThe Tube.[citation needed]
In 1982, Yates released a version of theNancy Sinatra hit song "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" from the Music of Quality and Distinction Volume One album by B.E.F. (British Electric Foundation).[6]
She also appeared alongside her friendJennifer Saunders in 1987 for a spoof documentary on pop groupBananarama.[citation needed]
After the births of her daughters, Yates wrote two books on motherhood. She continued with her rock journalism, in addition to being presenter of the music showThe Tube.[citation needed]
Yates became known for her "on the bed" interviews on the showThe Big Breakfast, produced by her husband,Bob Geldof.[7][4]
At the time of her death in 2000, Yates was working on a book titledSex and Death, writing about her life from the moment she visited Hutchence's body in the mortuary.[8][9]
Yates met Geldof in the early days ofthe Boomtown Rats. They began a romantic relationship in 1976 when she flew to Paris to surprise him while the band was playing there. Their first daughter, Fifi, was born in 1983.[10] After ten years together, Yates and Geldof married on 31 August 1986 inLas Vegas, withSimon Le Bon ofDuran Duran acting asbest man. The couple then had two more daughters,Peaches[11] on 13 March 1989, andPixie on 17 September 1990.[citation needed]
Whilst married to Geldof, Yates had a year-long affair with American singerTerence Trent D'Arby.[12][13][14] She also had a six-year long affair with actorRupert Everett.[15][16]
In 1985, Yates metINXS lead singerMichael Hutchence while interviewing him forChannel 4's rock magazine programmeThe Tube. During this appearance onThe Tube, Yates was reportedly asked to leave Hutchence alone by the road manager of INXS when she walked up to him and said, "I'm going to have that boy [Hutchence]". Yates was unmoved by the manager's request and began attending INXS concerts at numerous locations for the next few years, even taking her young daughter Fifi along.[17] Yates maintained irregular contact with Hutchence during the intervening nine years, and their affair had been under way for some months before theirBig Breakfast interview in October 1994.[18]
Geldof and Yates separated in February 1995 and divorced in May 1996.[19] On 22 July 1996, Yates gave birth to a daughter by Hutchence,Tiger Lily.[20]
On 22 November 1997, Hutchence was found dead in a hotel room in Sydney. Thecoroner ruled his death assuicide by hanging. Yates had planned to visit Hutchence in Australia with their daughter and Yates's three other children, but Geldof had taken legal action to prevent the visit.[21] Yates indicated that when she informed Hutchence that she would not be able to bring the girls to Australia as previously intended, Hutchence was "terribly upset" and said, "'I don't know how I'll live without seeing Tiger'".[22][23] Following Hutchence's death, Yates became distraught, refusing to accept the coroner's verdict of suicide and insisting that it was a case ofauto-erotic asphyxiation.[24]
In December 1997, a few weeks after Hutchence's death and while Yates was fighting for custody of her daughter with Hutchence, a DNApaternity test confirmed tabloid media speculation that Jess Yates, who had died in April 1993, was not her biological father after all. The test showed that Yates was fathered by show hostHughie Green, who had died six months before Hutchence.[25]
In June 1998, Geldof won full custody of the couple's three daughters after Yates attempted suicide.[19]
Yates met Kingsley O'Keke during her stay in treatment, but the pair broke up after a six-week romance. O'Keke later sold his story to a tabloid newspaper.[26][27]
On 17 September 2000, on Pixie's 10th birthday, Yates died at her home inNotting Hill at the age of 41 of aheroin overdose. The coroner ruled that it was not a suicide, but a result of "foolish and incautious" behaviour.[28][29] Yates was discovered in the presence of her four-year-old daughter, Tiger Lily.[30] A friend disclosed during the inquest that Yates had not taken illegal drugs for nearly two years,[31] and the coroner,Paul Knapman, concluded that although the amount Yates had taken would not have killed an addict, "an unsophisticated taker of heroin" like Yates had no tolerance for the drug.[32]
Soon after Yates's death, Geldof assumed foster custody of Tiger Lily so that she could be brought up with her three elder half-sisters, Fifi, Peaches and Pixie. Her aunt, Tina Hutchence, the sister of Michael Hutchence, was denied permission by the judge to apply for Tiger Lily to live with her in California.[33] In 2007, Geldof adopted Tiger Lily and changed her surname to Geldof;[34] as of 2022, Tiger's legal name was Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily Hutchence-Geldof.[35]
On 7 April 2014, Yates's second-eldest daughter Peaches also died of a heroin overdose, aged 25. One day before her death, she uploaded a picture to herInstagram of herself as a young girl and her mother under the caption "Me and my Mum."[36]
On 14 March 2023, Yates was the subject of a two-partChannel 4 documentary, entitledPaula, which looked at her life and career. The documentary highlighted the intense media surrounding Yates and the often negative coverage in the British press.[37]Paula included interviews with her friends and social commentators including best friendBelinda Brewin,Nicky Clarke,Robbie Williams,Vanessa Feltz andGrace Dent, and used archive footage of Yates and previously unheard recorded interviews, conducted shortly after the death of Hutchence.[38][39] Brewin revealed that she and Yates had been shopping on theFulham Road in London, when they metDiana, Princess of Wales, who told Yates: "I love it when you're on the front page of the papers, because it means I got the day off".[40][41]
In a review forPaula, Lucy Mangan, writing forThe Guardian, hailed the documentary as "a glorious celebration of the most witty, flirty woman to ever grace our TVs" and gave the show 4/5 stars.[42][43] Carol Midgeley, writing forThe Times, also gave the documentary 4/5 stars, opining that Yates was a "fizzling force of nature".[44] Gerard Gilbert, writing for the newspaperI, rated the documentary 3/5 stars, adding that he "was left with a tragic sense that Yates's untimely death robbed us of an intriguing second act".[45]
The first episode of the documentary garnered 970,000 viewers, beating that night's BBC2 and Channel 5 offerings.[46]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982–1987 | The Tube | Presenter | 122 episodes |
| 1982–1992 | Wogan | Herself | 6 episodes |
| 1985 | Fashion Aid | ||
| 1988 | French and Saunders | Episode: Christmas Special | |
| 1992–1995 | The Big Breakfast | Herself/ On the Bed Interviewer | |
| 1995 | Sex with Paula | Presenter | |
| 2000 | Friday Night's All Wright | Herself | Episode dated 18 February 2000 |
| 2019 | Mystify: Michael Hutchence | Herself | Feature documentary; archive footage |
| 2023 | Paula | 2-part Channel 4 documentary |
Yates was the author of several books, including:
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
