Entertainment

Paul O’Grady reveals homophobic taunts at husband on flight

The Blind Date host said Andre Portasio was targeted while travelling from Bangkok to London.
The Blind Date host said Andre Portasio was targeted while travelling from Bangkok to London. The Blind Date host said Andre Portasio was targeted while travelling from Bangkok to London.

Paul O’Grady has said he stood up to a “typical English yob” who fired homophobic taunts at his husband on a flight.

The TV presenter, 63, said his husband Andre Portasio was called a “f****** queer” by a man seated next to him on a flight from Bangkok in Thailand to London at the weekend.

The Blind Date host also claimed the unidentified man made a lewd sexual invitation to his husband.

Andre Portasio and Paul O'Grady
Andre Portasio and Paul O'Grady Andre Portasio and Paul O’Grady (PA)

O’Grady told The Sun: “I stood up and 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.”

O’Grady and ballet dancer Portasio married last year after being in a relationship since 2006.