{"id":791416,"date":"2026-10-04T06:10:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T06:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/791416\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T06:10:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T06:10:16","slug":"debbie-mcgee-reveals-precious-final-days-with-tv-star-husband-paul-daniels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/791416\/","title":{"rendered":"Debbie McGee reveals precious final days with TV star husband Paul Daniels"},"content":{"rendered":"

EXCLUSIVE: The star opens up in new book A Magical Life, saying: ‘Even though I was losing him, I just kept telling myself \u2013 I still do \u2013 how lucky I was.’<\/p>\n

23:00, 03 Oct 2026Updated 01:23, 04 Oct 2026<\/p>\n

\"Paul<\/p>\n

Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee in 2015, a year before he died(Image: Ken McKay\/ITV\/REX\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n

Debbie McGee<\/a> had been in bed for barely half an hour when the nurse woke her to say her wonderful, magical husband was nearing the end. After almost four decades together, there was nowhere else Debbie wanted to be than with Paul Daniels<\/a>.<\/p>\n

She says: \u201cI got up and went to him, laying alongside him on the hospital bed, just cuddling him. Paul always used to tell people that I was the best thing that happened to him. I wanted him to know that he was the best thing that ever happened to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ten years after Paul\u2019s death at 77, Debbie, 67, has laid bare the agony and the profound tenderness of his final weeks in her new autobiography, titled A Magical Life.<\/p>\n

She says: \u201cEven though I was losing him, I just kept telling myself \u2013 I still do \u2013 how lucky I was.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Paul<\/p>\n

Magician Paul and his wife Debbie pictured at home in 1991(Image: Mirrorpix)<\/p>\n

To see more of the stories you love from The Mirror and to find them easily in Google then make us your preferred source. Free and easy-to-do, just click on the link here<\/a> to find more from The Mirror at the top of your feed.<\/p>\n

The pair had met during a summer season in Great Yarmouth in 1979, the year The Paul Daniels Magic Show began its 15-year run on BBC1<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They married in 1988 and, although they had no children together, she became stepmother to his three sons, Paul Jr, Martin and Gary.<\/p>\n

Their professional partnership continued long after his television heyday, with the couple still touring together in 2015. By the autumn, however, Debbie had begun to notice Paul seemed unusually tired, not least when he struggled to learn his lines for a pantomime.<\/p>\n

Soon he began missing parties, leaving her to go alone, and when she returned he was often in bed. Even wrapping the Christmas<\/a> presents, something they usually enjoyed together, no longer interested him.<\/p>\n

\"Paul<\/p>\n

The couple on their wedding day in Buckinghamshire in 1988(Image: Mirrorpix)<\/p>\n

Debbie writes: \u201cPaul would usually have six projects on the go at any one time. He would get up in the morning and be straight on his laptop. He couldn\u2019t sit still.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut now he didn\u2019t seem interested in anything. He would just sit in front of the TV until he fell asleep.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he was up and about, his balance seemed to have gone. He kept falling over.\u201d Blood tests led to a suspicion of pernicious anaemia and a course of injections was prescribed.<\/p>\n

But Paul continued to weaken, and Debbie rang the surgery desperate for answers. She told the doctor: \u201cI can\u2019t describe what\u2019s happening but this isn\u2019t my husband.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Paul<\/p>\n

The pair rehearsing for a spectacle on the Paul Daniels Magic Show<\/p>\n

Eventually, Paul was referred to a neurologist. However on the morning of the appointment he was sick after breakfast, and so Debbie called an ambulance. A CT scan later revealed a glioblastoma that had spread across much of the left side of his brain and was extending towards the right.<\/p>\n

The consultant asked Paul: \u201cDo you want me to tell you what\u2019s wrong?\u201d He replied: \u201cNo. Tell Deb.\u201d Paul waited in the hospital corridor while Debbie stayed to hear the results, expecting an explanation of how doctors would treat him.<\/p>\n

But though radiotherapy was discussed, the consultant could not promise it would improve his condition. Paul\u2019s severe claustrophobia also made the prospect of wearing a treatment mask daunting.<\/p>\n

Debbie says: \u201cIn desperation, I asked, \u2018Is there any treatment he could have in America?<\/p>\n

\"Paul<\/p>\n

Paul and Debbie at home in matching magical robes in the early 90s(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018If this was your spouse, what would you be doing?\u2019\u201d The consultant promised to discuss the case with oncologists, but told Debbie quite frankly: \u201cIn all honesty, if this were my spouse, I would be taking them home and making them as comfortable as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the end Debbie was told Paul might have two months, and went home to prepare for his return.<\/p>\n

When she came back to the hospital, she found him in his Crombie coat and favourite trilby, dancing with a nurse. Debbie recalls: \u201cIn that moment it was hard to believe there was anything wrong with him at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe seemed like himself again. The man I loved. My Paul.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Debbie<\/p>\n

Debbie McGee and Kevin Clifton after winning the Strictly Christmas special(Image: PA)<\/p>\n

After they announced his diagnosis publicly, around 800 emails and letters arrived in a single day. His sons and grandchildren visited.<\/p>\n

With Paul prone to falling because of the tumour, Debbie\u2019s sister Donna also moved in to help watch over him, finally allowing Debbie to get some much-needed sleep. Debbie says: \u201cPaul didn\u2019t ever want to know what was wrong with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he knew that he was dying but he couldn\u2019t discuss it. I didn\u2019t try to press him. There was no benefit to distressing him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Days were spent watching Only Fools and Horses<\/a> and taking short walks when the weather allowed. Paul had a Magnum ice cream every afternoon. Debbie remembers: \u201cIt was a very loving, peaceful month. I couldn\u2019t deny what was happening, but I really forced myself to stay in the moment and not look forward and not look back.<\/p>\n

\"Debbie<\/p>\n

Debbie at the National Television Awards in London in 2022(Image: Anthony Harvey\/REX\/Shutterstock for NTA)<\/p>\n

\u201cI would wake up, put my make-up on and smile, although it was sort of fake. Each new day I told myself, he\u2019s still alive today so we\u2019ll make the best of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

One film they watched together during those weeks has become impossible for her to watch again.<\/p>\n

She explains: \u201cI only cried in front of Paul once and I only saw him cry once in front of me. It was when we were watching one of the films in the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel<\/a> series.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of it, there\u2019s a wedding. The young couple at the centre of the film get married. I turned to Paul to see that he had tears streaming down his face.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t watch that movie any more.\u201d As his condition deteriorated, nurses began sitting with Paul overnight. On March 14, Debbie\u2019s mother visited for her birthday and went to say goodbye.<\/p>\n

\u201cPaul couldn\u2019t speak very well by then but he sang \u2018Happy Birthday\u2019 to Mum in a whisper,\u201d Debbie says.<\/p>\n

That was the last day Debbie remembers her husband being conscious. Afterwards, she just sat with him and talked, though she found it difficult to say much without crying.<\/p>\n

Debbie adds: \u201cPaul and I had a fairy tale life. Through the good times and the bad, we had faced every challenge together. We really were a team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope he knew that I was with him, loving him until the very end.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Magical Life by Debbie McGee is out on October 8 (Mirror Books).<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Debbie McGee’s book A Magical Life is out next week<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: The star opens up in new book A Magical Life, saying: ‘Even though I was losing him,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":791417,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[260527,96,59,260526,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-791416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-debbie-mcgee","tag-entertainment","tag-gb","tag-paul-daniels","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=791416"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791416\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/791417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=791416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=791416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=791416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}