Paul O’Grady stood up to homophobe who called his husband a ‘fucking f****t’
The TV presenter was travelling from Thailand to the UK with his husband Andre Portasio
By Steve Brown
Paul O’Grady stood up to a homophobe on a plane who abused his husband Andre Portasio.
The TV presenter was flying from Thailand back to the UK with his husband when his partner was the target of homophobic abuse after a passenger claimed Portasio was “looking at him” and called him a “fucking f****t”.
However, O’Grady – who isn’t afraid to speak out for others – stood up and confronted the homophobe.
He told The Sun he said: “You’re lucky we’re not in the street, mate, because you’d be eating your dinner through a straw.
“He didn’t know I was sitting next to Andre. Then the bonehead was saying something about me thinking I could do whatever I wanted because I was famous.
“He claimed Andre had been looking at him, which was ridiculous. I mean, he was this typical English yob with a beard and a beer belly.”
The man was thrown out of business class but O’Grady decided not to press charges as other passengers would have been required to give statements.
He continued: “It was only afterwards I thought they should have turned that flight around and had him arrested by Thai police.
“It could easily have turned nasty up there.”