Paul Danan has died at 46 years old.
The former Hollyoaks star’s management confirmed the tragic news in a statement. “It is with heavy hearts that we share the tragic news of the passing of @pauldanan at just 46 years old,” they wrote.
“Known for his television presence, exceptional talent, and unwavering kindness, Paul was a beacon of light to so many. His untimely departure will leave irreplaceable voids in the lives of all who knew him.
“During this difficult time, we kindly request respect and privacy for Paul’s family, friends, and colleagues. No further comments will be made at this time.”
He had been due to appear in court just hours before his tragic death over drug and driving offences. He was set to enter a plea at Warrington Magistrates’ Court in Cheshire today after being charged with being in possession of several bags of cocaine as well as a ‘quantity’ of cannabis, as said in court documents.
It comes just months after he was rushed to hospital and given CPR after he suffered respiratory failure brought on by his addiction to vapes. His diagnosis at the time was so bad that his family had been warned that “he might not make it”.
Follow updates on Paul Danan here.
During his week in intensive care last year, he contracted pneumonia. At the time, he blamed his years of smoking for his health battle.
He said: “I’m upstairs puffing away on my vape then suddenly I lost my breath and collapsed. My family called for an ambulance and started giving me CPR, then police arrived and took over before paramedics took me to hospital. I was on a machine in ICU and ended up with pneumonia. My family were warned I might not make it through the night. I’m so lucky.”
The soap star also revealed that doctors told him straight the reasons why he was in such a critical position. He said: “The doctor was so, so harsh with me. She told me, ‘Paul, you don’t know how serious this was and you are going to be in here for a while now, on this oxygen’. She said if I ever smoke in any form again I risk being linked to an oxygen tank later on in life. She said that’s it now.”
Big brother star Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace was among stars paying tribute to Paul, writing: “Paul Danan… a friend of mine… I’m so shocked and heartbroken…. my darling man… I will cherish all our happy memories.” Alongside a broken heart emoji, she concluded: “RIP u beautiful amazing talented human.” While EastEnders star Michael Greco, who played Beppe di Marco in the soap, also shared a message on X. He wrote: So, so sad to read about the passing of Paul Danan. In this day and age of falsities and fake people, he was a genuine and caring man who just wanted to please everyone. A lovely warm man that will be missed by many. R.I.P. Buddy.”
Paul’s last social media post was dated a week ago and was an audition tape to play A Tewlfth Night’s Orsino. Heartbroken fans have since taken to the comments to pay tribute to the star. One wrote: “RIP mate sleep well.” While another commented: “So shocked. I hope it’s not true. RIP Paul. Why are so many young and vibrant people leaving us so soon?”
The former soap actor, who also appeared on the original version of Love Island in 2005, has been open about his struggle with addiction over the years. While speaking with Liam Tuffs on The Dozen podcast, he revealed how he was introduced to cocaine at 19 years old during his first day on Hollyoaks.
He said: “The day I started there, someone and I am not going to say who, handed me an eighth of cocaine and I didn’t really know much about coke and he was like, ‘welcome.’ It was the first day, the first read through, I hadn’t even filmed anything.”
Paul was also very open about his love life, admitting to sleeping with more than a thousand women. He added: “I just enjoyed [it] and I think there’s a bad thing, a flip side to that, because now I really miss it.” Asked if he’s now celibate, he told the podcast host during the discussion: “It just don’t happen like it used to.”
He went on to discuss the idea of dating someone in their twenties or thirties, saying on the podcast: “And you have to be really careful that if you’re looking at like 25, 30 [year olds] and they look f***ing 20, 25 – y’know is that wrong? Is that right? Are you alright to even kind of fancy someone that’s say 25, 30 [years old]? They’re not really on your level because you’re 45. And you’re talking about [different things than they are] and they don’t know what the f*** [you’re talking about].”
Paul was last seen in public at Bristol Magistrates Court for possession of drugs. Back in 2010, he was fined a total of £350 and referred to a drugs agency for support and admitted “medicating myself” for anxiety and depression. That year in September, police were called to Kneesworth Street, Royston, and shortly afterwards arrested Danan over cannabis possession and a public order offence when he swore at officers
The actor, who was dad to nine-year-old son Deniro, left Hollyoaks in 2001 to pursue a Hollywood career. However, he remained a permanent fixture within the reality TV circuit.
Speaking to the Mail Online in November last year, Paul spoke about his regret over leaving Hollyoaks over his fear of being “typecast”. He said: “Back then, everyone didn’t want to be the next Ken Barlow. You wanted to go off and play different roles, especially when you’re a real actor.”
He ventured onto LA and “got very close” to appearing in some big films but struggled with the rejection. Paul said: “Acting is a tough job and I think you don’t realise how lucky you are when you’re in a soap and you’ve got the closest thing to a nine to five job in acting that you can get. And when you get out there, you’re like s**t, man, it is really tough!”
His appearance in 2005’s Love Island, alongside the likes of Rebecca Loos and Jayne Middlemiss, was a “detriment” to his acting career. He continued: “It didn’t help with my acting career because suddenly people were like ‘oh, we don’t want to hire a reality star!’ Casting directors were a bit snobby like that, they don’t people want to see me on a TV show thinking ‘isn’t that the guy from Love Island?'”
A year later, he presented ITV2 show Test Drive My Girlfriend and then appeared in another series for the channel entitled Calum, Fran and Dangerous Danan. In 2007, he was famously sacked from his lead panto role as Prince Charming after yelling “make some f****** noise” as he switched on Christmas lights.
He later struggled for TV or film work in the states and went on to get a ‘normal job’ at a phone company called I Smashed It. He went on to work in a number of other stable jobs while hoping for his big break, from recruitment to Ted Baker.
Paul spoke of his desire to provide for his son, admitting that he found the cost of living “crazy” and that he did struggle because he wasn’t on the TV “all the time”. He said: “You don’t know when the next gig is coming, and hence the reason why the reality shows, some of the time I said yeah, because I needed to pay bills. And I probably didn’t want to do a reality show did I? I should have just stuck to my acting.”
Paul appeared on The Jeremy Kyle Show back in 2019, during which he revealed his parents saved his life after he suffered a drugs overdose. He had left rehab and instead of attending a meeting, he visited a drug dealer who gave him heroin instead of cocaine.
He said: “My mum came into the bedroom and heard me making these noises. She knew it wasn’t quite snoring but it was me choking on my last breaths. I was gagging basically. I was overdosing. They found me in my bed and they didn’t know what was going on. They didn’t think I’d taken anything because I’d just come back from rehab.”
Quizzed by Jeremy on why he still took drugs after what happened to him, he said: “I know that I have to work hard at it every day to keep in recovery. I find it difficult. I relapse a lot. When I was 14, 15, I started experimenting with ecstasy but it wasn’t a regular thing that I felt I had to.
“When cocaine came into the equation, that’s a drug that can become addictive without you realising.” At the time of the interview, he had been in rehab 17 times.
Yet Paul was keen to help those similarly struggling with addiction and those with mental health issues through his passion project, Morning After Drama (MAD). He also visited rehab centres, prisons and schools to help those interested in the arts. He said: “It really has changed people’s lives and helped a lot of people, it’s been overwhelmingly rewarding.”
*Frank offers confidential advice about drugs and addiction (email frank@talktofrank.com, message 82111 or call 0300 123 6600) or the NHS has information about getting help.
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