Paul O'Grady's secret wife has joked about their successful showbiz marriage.
Paul O'Grady's secret wife speaks out
The 67-year-old TV star - who died in bed last month from a cardiac arrhythmia - tied the knot with bisexual Teresa Fernandes, 73, in 1977 and "forgot to divorce" for 28 years.
Teresa told MailOnline: "We probably enjoyed one of the longest marriages in showbiz! Paul was a very special, close friend of mine, but we didn't really love each other.
"I was lesbian and he was gay so the marriage would never have worked but we had a great time as friends and even though it was almost 50 years ago I have great memories.
"Of course I was sad when I heard Paul had died, he was always a good friend but I hadn't seen him since the early 1980s.
"We just drifted apart at around the time he started to get famous, but I didn't go to the funeral because it's too far for me to travel."
Speaking about the marriage, which she says was never consummated, Teresa said: "My mother was chasing me to get married, but my papers were always in order, I was never going to be kicked out.
"I even have a British passport now because I lived in the UK for so long but yes, my mother was always asking 'when are you getting married you are almost 28' so in stepped Paul to help me out and keep my mother happy.
"I told Paul what my mother was saying and he just turned to me and said 'Look, if you need to get married, I will help you out' and a few months later we were in the registry office at Harrow Road with friends getting married.
"We then had a little party to celebrate afterwards with some of his friends and mine and then that was it. We both carried on with our jobs but we never lived together or slept together.
"I told my mother I was married and she was delighted, we had intended to go to Portugal and have the ceremony but in the end the plans changed as Paul couldn't get the time off work but a friend of his went so he didn't lose the money for the ticket.
"My mother never met Paul and I think she would have figured out something wasn't right but as far as she knew I was married.
"Paul told me he had never been married but he said he had a daughter from when he was younger and at first, I thought he was joking when he offered to marry me, but he really did help me out."
Paul and Teresa finally divorce in 2005.
She said: "Of course I knew all those years I was married but I just didn't really think about as I went on with my life.
"Paul always made me laugh and I always used to say he would make someone very happy and he was a lovely man, we had such a good friendship and it's shame we drifted apart."
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