Debbie McGee, 60, was married to the magician Paul Daniels for 28 years before his death in 2016, following a brain tumour diagnosis. The Strictly Come Dancing finalist recently honoured her late husband in a special tribute at The Wargrave Village Festival, where she hosted Paul Daniels’ Magic Life. The former magician’s assistant shared clips of her late spouse as she spoke about their life together. Debbie has since revealed it was the first moment she had ventured back into the world of magic again following his death, and added she is ready to make a return to the stage.
Speaking to What’s On TV, she divulged: “I recently did a little show in my village showing clips of Paul and talking about our life together and it was really successful and they asked me to do it again.
“A theatre booker came up to me afterwards and said, ‘Can we book it for our theatre in London?’ So I’ve done that too.”
Debbie continued: “It’s the first time I’ve stepped back into the world of magic since Paul died.
“Up until now I just couldn’t go down that route, it would have been too painful but I finally feel ready for it and can actually feel excited about it again.”
Debbie appeared alongside Paul for 15 years as they entertained viewers with their on-screen magic tricks.
Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk about The Margrave Festival event, she mused: ‘It was fantastic, actually putting the show together.
“When Paul was alive I didn’t watch them [The Paul Daniel’s Magic Show].”
She said she found it difficult to even think about Paul performing on stage because it made her “emotional”.
She continued: “Also, I couldn’t bear thinking about Paul performing. I could think about him and remember happy memories, but I couldn’t think about him walking onto stage.
“I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s because I worked with him for so long and he was such a special talent, that’s when I get emotional.”
The former magician’s assistant added: “I told the audience stories about what happened backstage for a particular trick, when we did things for the Royal Family and just talked through his life.
“I mean he had an amazing life. So I loved it. I thought I was going to find it harder than I did but I just had the greatest evening and had fantastic feedback from it.”