Debbie McGee lost her husband Paul Daniels back in March 2016, just weeks after he was diagnosed with a brain tumour. The Strictly Come Dancing finalist first met the magician in 1979 and they went on to marry nine years later. Appearing on Channel 4’s Celebrity Call Centre, the 60-year-old revealed what she thought of the entertainer when they initially came face-to-face. The TV star spoke openly about their “immediate chemistry” during the touching instalment of the programme.
Debbie started: “The first time I met Paul we were doing a show together, we were both always early.”
She continued: “I was sitting on the wall outside the rehearsal room, and he was the second person to arrive.
“We had a chemistry, immediately. And people say they don’t believe in love at first sight – well it might not have been love then, but I knew he was the person I wanted to marry.”
Paul was previously wed to Jacqueline Skipworth in 1960, when she was 17 and he was 21.
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They had three sons together: Gary, Paul and Martin, before going their separate ways after 15 years.
After walking down the aisle with Debbie in 1988, they were together until his shock death, something she also addressed in the show.
The ex-magician’s assistant described his death as leaving a “big hole” in her life in a moving conversation.
Debbie was joined by celebrities such as Countdown’s Nick Hewers, former Coronation Street actress Amanda Barrie and comedian James Acaster.
The famous faces took calls from the British public and she was seen pouring her heart out to a female caller.
She admitted there are days when she cannot say Paul’s name: “The one thing I’ll say to you is that the good days now outweigh the bad days.
“There are days when I can’t mention Paul’s name and then there are other days when I can.”
Telling the listener how she deals with grief, she shared: “I sometimes have to kind of tell myself off. That’s our survival mechanism.”
Earlier, Debbie told viewers it was impossible to define grief, as the word has so many different meanings to different people.
“I don’t think it is possible to explain what grief is. One of the reasons is because grief is different to every single person,” she began.
“You are living your life with something missing and you just feel like you’ve got this great big hole in your side and you don’t know what to do to cover it up.”
In the harrowing special, Debbie also said she has to remind herself that she cannot bring back the person she lost.