Paul O’Grady says he won’t bring back Lily Savage for fear of being cancelled
"I wouldn’t last five minutes".
Words: Jamie Tabberer; pictures: Wiki/ITV
Paul O’Grady has said he wouldn’t bring back his iconic drag alter-ego Lily Savage in 2021 for fear of being cancelled.
The veteran comedian, drag performer and TV presenter shot to fame as viper-tongued Lily in the ’90s while fronting shows like ITV’s Blankety Blank.
However, he retired the character in the mid-noughties – and, judging by his latest interview, she’s gone forever.
“They probably wouldn’t like the inference that she was a lady of the night”
“People say to me, ‘Would you do Lily again?’” Paul recently told The Sun. “And I say, ‘Good God no, I wouldn’t last five minutes’.
“It’s just the things that she comes out with. It’s a different time now.”
The 66-year-old added: “They probably wouldn’t like the inference that she was a lady of the night — she’d have to say she was a sex worker or just, ‘Worked in hospitality’.
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“It’s censorship, basically. It’s bullying. But you’re anonymous. You’re a picture and you’ve got your profile or whatever and you’re anonymous.”
Of so-called ‘PC culture’, the Saturday Night Line Up star added: “I do think it’s gone overboard. You know, the prince can’t kiss Snow White in a Disney film because it’s non-consensual!”
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