Showbiz legend died at home after drugs binge following custody battle

Her final years were marred by a series of devastating blows. TV presenter Paula Yates initially rose to fame as the vivacious host of Channel 4's The Tube, where she caught the attention of Sir Bob Geldof.

They became one of the biggest power couples in showbiz, eventually tying the knot and welcoming three distinctively-named daughters; Fifi Trixibelle, Peaches Honeyblossom and Little Pixie.

But in 1995 the loving family was torn apart with Paula leaving Bob for a heartthrob rocker. Here, we look at the star's heartbreaking final years and the tragedy that destroyed her...

Hotel room horror

Paula and Bob's picture-perfect life began to unravel in 1995 when she left him for INXS frontman Michael Hutchence. The move came after viewers clocked their bubbling sexually chemistry on The Big Breakfast with a lusty Paula opening with a gag about Michael's 'tackle troubling trousers.'

Their attraction was undeniable and bound to have been uncomfortable viewing for Paula's husband Bob, who she decided to leave shortly after. Paula later gave birth to daughter Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily by Michael.

But just 14 months after Tiger Lily's birth, Hutchence was found dead in a Sydney hotel room. While authorities ruled the death a suicide, Paula refused to accept this, insisting her partner would never abandon their child.

"I won't have my child grow up thinking that her father left her. He would not have left our baby, he loved her too much," protested Paula, who insisted the death was an act of auto-eroticism gone wrong.

"I spent so long waiting for Michael and then he died. Now I have to spend so long waiting for him again," she sobbed.

Custody battles

While she was still reeling from Michael's death, Paula faced more family turmoil behind the scenes. It was revealed her biological father was not the TV star Jess Yates as she had grown up believing, but the host of Opportunity Knocks Hughie Green. The news was revealed six months after Green died, denying Paula the chance to speak with him.

A year later, Paula lost joint custody of her three daughters with Bob Geldof, when the Boomtown Rats singer applied for full access. Bob looked after the girls during school term time with Paula allowed to see them during the holidays only.

She then faced another custody battle over her youngest daughter Tiger Lily, from her relationship with Hutchence. The child's paternal grandather Kell Hutchence launched proceedings in Australia to seek sole custody after he raised concerns about Paula's lifestyle.

Amid the ongoing troubles in her personal life, Paula suffered a nervous breakdown and sought treatment at a specialised clinic. During her stay she formed a romantic relationship with a fellow patient who sold his story to a tabloid newspaper after they broke up.

Tragic death

On 17 September 2000 on her daughter Pixie's tenth birthday and three years after the death of her Michael Hutchence, Paula died at her home in Notting Hill after a heroine binge.

She had returned to west London following a short break in Hastings to clear her head. One of the last people to see her alive was a former heroin addict she befriended during a stint at the Priory.

Belinda Brewin later said she knew instantly that Paula had been taking drugs when she saw her. "She was slightly staggering, her eyelids were drooping, she was slightly incoherent," she told the inquest into her friend's death.

"I said, 'What the hell are you doing this for after all this time?' She hadn't taken drugs, illegal drugs, for nearly two years. She said it was the pressure of being back in London."

Belinda then bathed Paula, who had vomited, before leaving her in a 'coherent' state along with then four-year-old daughter Tiger Lily.

Unbeknown to Belinda, Charlotte Korshak, a former heroin addict, was upstairs in Paula's house throughout the visit.

Korshak told the inquest that Paula had taken heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and acid 'from time to time' but she left her house after Belinda with Paula in a 'really good mood'.

Paula's body was later found by her long term-friend Josephine Fairley Sams. Josephine had become concerned when she called the house three times before Tiger Lily answered and told her that her mummy was asleep.

Concerned, Josephine rushed round to Paula's house and had to ask Tiger Lily to let her in. As soon as she saw 41-year-old Paula, she knew instantly that her friend was dead.

At an inquest into her death revealed Paula died from a 'foolish and incautious' binge. Coroner Paul Knapman said the amount she snorted would not have killed an addict but as an 'unsophisticated taker of heroin' Paula had no tolerance to the drug.

Paula's children now

Bob Geldof has said the moment he had to tell his daughters that their mother had died still "haunts" him. The news came by phone from a friend of Paula's while the children were preparing for Pixie's 10th birthday.

Telling it "plainly and honestly", as he had been about his own mother's death, Geldof later reflected that he felt he may not have handled it well, as the girls reacted differently to the devastating news.

He also allowed the children to see Paula's body afterwards in an effort to help them understand that she had really gone.

Peaches, the second daughter of Paula and Bob, died in April 2014 at age 25 from a heroin overdose. Her death was ruled accidental and echoed the circumstances of her mother's passing. She left behind two young sons, Astala and Phaedra, whom her husband has raised.

Fifi, the eldest daughter Paula shared with Bob, has largely kept her life out of the public eye as an adult. She does not appear frequently in the press and maintains a relatively private life, including on social media.

Pixie has remained in the public eye more than her eldest sister. She is a former model, musician and activist known for her work in fashion campaigns and her involvement in environmental and social causes. Pixie is married to George Barnett, a musician, and the couple has a daughter, born in 2021.

After her parents' deaths, Bob Geldof took on Tiger-Lily's upbringing and later legally adopted her. She has forged her own path as a singer‑songwriter and artist, releasing music including the album Tragic Tiger's Sad Meltdown.

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