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Council to vote on awarding Paul O’Grady Freedom of Wirral as a tribute to his legacy

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 31st May 2023

Wirral Council has revealed that Councillors are to discuss awarding Freedom of the Borough to Paul O’Grady in a tribute to his legacy.

The influential Merseyside-born TV personality passed away “unexpectedly but peacefully” at aged 67 at the end of March, and has been remembered for his illustrious entertainment career spanning over four decades – with countless tributes from fans and famous faces pouring in after his passing was announced.

O’Grady was known and loved by British audiences as a comedian, presenter, broadcaster, actor, writer, and the former drag queen Lily Savage.

He was also one of the nation’s most-famous dog lovers and animal rights advocates.

Since O’Grady has passed, more than £300,000 has been raised for Battersea Dogs & Cats Home – which he had been a “devoted” ambassador for and long-time supporter of throughout his life – in his honour, and over 200,000 people signed an online petition for a statue of O’Grady to be permanently erected in his hometown.

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Council to vote on awarding Paul O’Grady Freedom of Wirral as a tribute to his legacy / Credit: ITV

But now, coming up to two months following his passing, the Council responsible for O’Grady’s native Birkenhead has revealed the ways in which it is plans to permanently and sufficiently honour his legacy.

Wirral Council is debating whether to posthumously award O’Grady the Freedom of the Borough.

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Revealing its plans in a statement today, Wirral Council explained: “Since the sad passing of Birkenhead’s legendary entertainer Paul O’Grady in March, we’ve heard the many asks for us to celebrate his legacy and we agree.

“The first step in doing so will see Councillors consider a recommendation to bestow the star… with the honour of Freedom of the Borough [as] this would recognise his years entertaining the nation, along with his dedicated activism and charity work.

“We are also looking at other ways to pay tribute to the legacy of both Paul and Lily [and] more details will be shared as soon as we have them.”

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The Freedom of the Borough is known as the highest award a Council can bestow, and O’Grady’s consideration for this is to be officially discussed at Wirral Council’s Regulatory and General Purposes Committee next week on Wednesday 7 June from 6pm.

Read more:

Members of the public keen to see the outcome of the debate can watch on the livestream here.

Featured Image – BBC

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Noel Gallagher says there ‘won’t be any fighting’ as he speaks on Oasis reunion for the first time

Danny Jones Danny Jones Noel Gallagher says there'll be no fallouts as he speaks on Oasis reunion for the first time

Noel Gallagher has spoken about the Oasis reunion for the first time and has promised there’ll be ‘no fighting’ when they set off on tour next summer.

In contrast to the younger Gallagher brother, who has been arguably more active and vocal about himself and Oasis since the reunion was confirmed, Noel has been pretty quiet on the comeback up until now.

However, speaking at the recent ‘Legends’ exhibition by Zoë Law held at the National Portrait Gallery, the guitarist and solo artist was quoted as saying that things won’t be anywhere near as rock and roll as it was back in Britpop’s heyday, as well as assuring he and Liam won’t be at each other’s throats.

The main reason being: age, in a word.

The Oasis songwriter said of the upcoming tour dates: “No, it won’t be as raucous as back in the day, because we’re on the wrong side of 50 now, so we’re too old.

“We’re too old to give a s**t now, so there won’t be any fallouts, there won’t be any fighting.” When asked if he’s glad to have buried the feud after a decade and a half of bad-mouthing and back and forth, the 57-year-old could only reply, ‘Of course.’

In Noel’s eyes at least, while many have been speculating that this reunion tour isn’t just a one-off (fingers crossed), he described wanting the now enormous world tour – with dates in the UK, Ireland, US, Australia, Japan, South America and more – to be a sort of “lap of honour” for the band.

Make of that what you will.

There have been reports that the duo have new music ‘ready to go’ or at least written, but let’s just say we got our Christmas wish with the reunion itself, so we’re not going to push our luck and risk jinxing anything by asking for too much. For now, we’ll settle for them remembering they love each other.

As for relations between him and Liam, we don’t know too much beyond the pictures we eventually saw of them smiling and joking together during that photo shoot for the official announcement in the summer.

That being said, iconic frontman and part-time troll has enjoyed playing a very comical version of kiss and make up on social media – as well as using the word ‘celestial’ a lot for some reason. He did, however, respond to what he called a “ridiculous question” rather recently.

Although he refused to name who it came from, he replied in truly irreverent LG fashion: “Oasis gonna be as good as you once were because when some bands get back together there not as good I said listen here you c*** even on our bad day we’ll still wipe the floor with [the] majority of bands out there.”

Meanwhile, it really does like the two have overcome their difference as Noel had the following to say in his interview for the Law’s photography series. We only hope this means there’s nothing holding them back from putting on the shows of a lifetime…

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Featured Images — National Portrait Gallery (screenshot via Facebook)/Press Image (supplied)

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Gregg Wallace apologises after Downing Streets labels ‘middle-class women’ comments ‘misogynistic’

Danny Jones Danny Jones Gregg Wallace apologises for middle class women comments

Gregg Wallace has issued an official apology as he looks to be in increasing trouble not only over recent reports of his misconduct on set but his subsequent reaction to the allegations and now viral “middle-class women” comments.

The 60-year-old MasterChef presenter and well-known foodie face stepped down from the BBC cooking show last week after a total of 13 people came forward to complain about his ‘sexual’ behaviour over the course of a 17-year period.

Despite having denied an initial accusation from a former female colleague regarding an incident back in 2018, in which insists no comments or actions of a sexual nature were made, a dozen more individuals have now submitted historical complaints to the corporation and a full investigation is underway.

However, in an Instagram story shared on Sunday, Wallace was quick to dismiss the claims made by what he called “a handful of middle-class women of a certain age” – a response which was quickly met with a severe backlash online.

Equally problematic was his suggestion that because he had worked with an estimated 2,000 people during his time on the show the words of “only 13” women were somehow less valid and/or believable.

Having also shared a video thanking all of those supporting him, as well as numerous other stories featuring personal messages from people both on and off the show defending him, he has continued to rebuke those who have put his conduct over the past two decades under a microscope.

That being said, it looks as though the now former TV personality and household name is doubling back after even Downing Street came out to condemn his comments, with a spokesperson for Prime Minister Keir Starmer labelling the response video “completely inappropriate and misogynistic.”

Having since deleted a number of his IG stories and now shared a follow-up video to his initial reply, telling his followers: “I want to apologise for any offence that I caused with my post yesterday and any upset I may have caused to a lot of people.”

He said that he was not in a “good head space” when he posted the response and has been dealing with a lot of stress since the story broke, adding, “I felt very alone.” You can see the clip down below.

As you see, the ex-green grocer and restaurant owner said he intends to step away from the story for now and let the in-house investigation move forward without interruption.

Both the BBC and production company, Banijay UK – who make MasterChef and the various spin-off series on which Gregg Wallace has served as a co-host – are currently conducting an internal review of those complaints made by former contestants and staff, including a BBC news anchor.

While none of the allegations are yet to be proved, one former male contestant reportedly told Sky News that the current allegations are just the “tip of the iceberg“, claiming he witnessed a “toxic environment” and was so “horrified” he considered quitting the show on his first day.

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Featured Images — BBC/Gregg Wallace (screenshots via Instagram/YouTube)

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