Amanda Holden under fire for ‘woke’ comments about Paul O’Grady

Amanda Holden doesn’t think Paul O’Grady was woke and everyone’s very confused (Picture: Neil Mockford/GC Images)

Amanda Holden is under fire after she said what she ‘loved’ about the late Paul O’Grady is that he was ‘not woke in any way’.

During the Britain’s Got Talent judge’s Heart Breakfast radio show, which she presents alongside Jamie Theakston, Amanda paid tribute to the late trailblazer, who died ‘unexpectedly and peacefully’ at the age of 67 on Tuesday night.

Tributes for O’Grady, also known by his drag persona Lily Savage, flooded in yesterday from countless public figures, including the royal family.

But some Heart Breakfast listeners weren’t happy when, on Wednesday morning, Amanda claimed in her tribute to O’Grady that he ‘was not woke’. 

‘You know what I loved about him, he was not woke in any way,’ Amanda began, before Jamie chimed in and agreed: ‘Nope, that’s for sure.’

She continued: ‘He had massive opinions on everything, which I love people like that. Really, really funny. Very witty, bitingly sharp. Everything that came out of his mouth was brilliant, and I absolutely adored him.’

O’Grady died ‘unexpectedly and peacefully’ in his sleep on Tuesday evening (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

Amanda made the comments while presenting her Heart Breakfast radio show on Wednesday morning (Picture: GC Images)

‘He’s one of those people who it feels like he was always around,’ Jamie added.

The Wild At Heart actress then reflected on how O’Grady ‘was always there’ and ‘had so much energy’.

‘You knew he was in the room, you absolutely knew he was in the room and I just, oh my god, we’re just all going to miss him so, so much,’ she finished.

This confused fans of O’Grady, as one accused Amanda of ‘utterly misjudging Paul’s legacy’.

O’Grady’s drag persona Lily Savage was utterly iconic (Picture: JMEnternational/Getty Images)

Many people pointed out that actually, O’Grady was very ‘woke’ – defined by Merriam-Webster dictionary as being ‘aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues’ – as he relentlessly campaigned to make the world a better place throughout his life.

‘That would be the drag artist, AIDS campaigner, LGBTQ+ hero and anti austerity critic Paul O’Grady. Ffs,’ one person Tweeted. 

Another said: ‘I can’t work out whether she doesn’t know what woke means, or simply doesn’t know who Paul O’Grady is.’

Conservative MP Dominic Raab also sparked fury when he mistakenly called the late presenter ‘Paul Grayson’– and smirked before correcting himself – in what was a painful House of Commons moment yesterday.

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Mr Raab then continued to say ‘we need to avoid the wokery and the limitations on comedy’ which he claimed O’Grady and his alter ego Lily Savage would ‘have had no time for’.

Dictionary, anyone?

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Confusion.