Paul O'Grady - Not The Same Without You

He was a campaigner, a political advocate, and a trailblazer. But most of all, he was a friend. And I’d like to share that person with you.

In this deeply personal and revealing biography, Paul’s longtime collaborator Malcolm Prince draws on two decades of friendship — and hours of private recordings — to tell the story of the man behind the icon: the sharp-witted, fiercely loyal, irrepressibly funny, and deeply private individual, known to his close friends as ‘Savage’ — and to the public, in various guises, as the prime time TV star, the nation’s dog-loving agony uncle, and a Sunday afternoon radio companion. Malcolm revisits the stages Paul made his own, from the Royal Vauxhall Tavern to the London Palladium; the moments that shaped him; and draws on brand-new interviews with the people who knew him best, including his daughter and grandchildren.

This is a portrait not just of a gifted entertainer, but of a complex, fiercely loyal, and endlessly curious man, reflecting on a friendship built on shared laughter, private rants, righteous fury, long phone calls, and a healthy dose of gossip — and on a professional legacy that still feels astonishing in its range and resonance.

Packed with warmth, humour and never-before-heard stories, NOT THE SAME WITHOUT YOU captures the full measure of a man who defied convention, challenged institutions, made mischief — and made us all feel like we were his best pal.

Author Biography

For twenty years, Malcolm Prince was Paul O’Grady’s radio producer at the BBC where they worked together on feature documentaries, seasonal specials, and Paul’s popular Sunday afternoon Radio 2 show, which ran for fourteen years. He was the launch producer of Elaine Paige on Sunday, Alan Carr and Melanie Sykes’ Saturday Escape, and for a decade, he produced Graham Norton’s hugely successful Saturday morning programme (all Radio 2). His landmark series have included a history of British television with Michael Grade, David Puttnam’s Century of Cinema, and an eight-part celebration of musical theatre hosted by Julia McKenzie and Siân Phillips. He left the BBC in 2022. He contributed to ITV’s For The Love of Paul O’Grady in 2023, and Channel 4’s ABBA: 50 Years of Pop in 2024. He lives in Kent and continues to produce occasional programmes for Boom Radio.