Paula Yates

Paula Yates (1959-2000) was a British television presenter. When she first came to prominence in the 1980s, as co-presenter (with Jools Holland[?]) of Channel 4 pop music programme, The Tube, she was better known as the daughter of former TV presenter, Jess Yates[?], who had been sacked from his job presenting religious programmes because of scandalous newspaper stories about his private life.

Yates became even more famous as the partner of Bob Geldof, with whom she lived for some years before their marriage in 1986. They already had one daughter, Fifi Trixibelle, born in 1984, and a further two girls followed. However, in 1995, Paula left Bob for singer Michael Hutchence, with whom she had another daughter. At the same time, her public conduct and personal life began to be questioned and criticised in the media: for example, her much-publicised cosmetic surgery was mocked. When she appeared on the BBC series, Have I Got News For You, she was openly ridiculed by other participants.

In 1997, Hutchence committed suicide and Paula became distraught, eventually seeking psychiatric treatment. Meanwhile, Hutchence's parents fought her for custody of her youngest daughter, and further media allegations were made, suggesting that Jess Yates had not been her natural father. A paternity test proved that the late quiz show host Hughie Greene had in fact been her father. Shortly after this announcement, Paula Yates was found dead, apparently of a drug overdose.