Ten Things You Never Knew About Paul O'Grady

He's Cilla's favourite bar buddy, the creator of Britain's most beloved drag act and – whatever Noel Edmonds might like to think - the undisputed king of afternoon telly. With The Paul O'Grady Show returning to Channel 4 on Monday, it's time to find out more about the man who puts the "tee hee hee" into teatime. Fetch yourself a nice cup of char, make yourself fully comfortable and read on for ten fascinating facts about the irrepressible Paul O' Grady. Mr. Antony Cotton, we hope you're paying close attention.

1. Paul worked hard for the money before he became a TV star, earning his crust in a children's care home, at an abattoir and as a cleaner for jazz singer Dame Cleo Laine.

2. Although Paul is gay, he fathered a daughter with a work colleague at the age of 19. Sharyn, now 31, gave birth to Paul's first grandchild last year.

3. In 1977 formed a marriage of convenience with a Portuguese lesbian waitress. It takes all sorts, eh?

4. Paul devised his Lily Savage persona while working at Gussy's Bar, a Manila drinking den/knocking shop, in the late seventies.

5. Does Paul get a cheeky thrill out of Lily's foxy frocks? "People get confused with drag and transvestism," he insists. "There's no sexual kick for me, believe you f**king me! No money, no dressy uppy!" Well, that's told us.

6. Paul lives on a small farm in a secluded Kent village, which he shares with more than 30 animals.

7. To what does Paul attribute his teatime popularity? "The success of my show is due to people on the dole who have nothing else to do at 5 o'clock," he jokes. Hmm. What about the millions of others who leave work at half four feigning a "headache"?

8. The Paul O'Grady Show isn't as cosy as it seems. "I say shocking things in the ad break, terrible things," Paul admits. "I pretend to kick off, and then just as we're coming back in I smile sweetly at the camera and say: `Welcome back.'" What a scamp!

9. Paul played a prostitute called Roxanne in several episodes of The Bill in the late eighties.

10. Paul admits that his recent health troubles forced him to reevaluate his lifestyle. "I've mellowed a lot," he reveals. "Where I used to say: 'I must do that one day', now I say: 'I'll do it next week.'"