Paula Yates: Life of late TV presenter to be focus of new documentary

The life of TV presenter and journalist Paula Yates will be the focus of a new two-part documentary.

The Channel 4 programme will centre on four “extraordinarily compelling” previously-unheard interviews with Yates, which were recorded in 1998 and 1999, shortly before she died of an accidental heroin overdose at the age of 41.

Yates was known for her presenting roles on The Tube and The Big Breakfast but she also attracted a lot of press attention as a result of her marriage to singer-songwriter Bob Geldof and her relationship with singer Michael Hutchence.

Head of specialist factual at Channel 4 Shaminder Nahal said: “Paula Yates exploded onto our screens in the very first week that Channel 4 came on air in 1982, a whirlwind of wit, verve and charisma – a totally unique style.

“Looking at what she achieved now, it feels like no one has ever quite matched her as a TV presenter.

“So as Channel 4 reflects on 40 years, it feels right to look at her life and career, and what an impact she made.

“As ever, (documentary producers) Curious Films has made a riveting and sensitive series that will, I hope, introduce Paula to a new generation.”

The documentary will also include testimonies from close friends and former colleagues of Yates’s, as well as footage from a number of other interviews and the programmes she presented.

‘A powerful lesson for today’s world’

Yates made her TV debut on Channel 4 on 5 November 1982 on music programme The Tube.

She went on to become a presenter of the channel’s breakfast show The Big Breakfast in 1992, where she became known for her On The Bed interviews, which included the likes of Kylie Minogue, Take That and Robin Williams.

Charlene Chika Osuagwu, producer at Curious Films, said: “Paula’s battle to ‘have it all’, torn between the duties of family life and her own personal career and happiness in the magnifying glare of a world determined to judge her, provide a powerful lesson for today’s world and women fighting the same issues 40 years later.”

Click to subscribe to Backstage wherever you get your podcasts

It is understood that the documentary will air next month.

Yates married Geldof in 1986, and they had three daughters – Fifi, Peaches and Pixi.

Peaches Geldof also died of a heroin overdose at the age of 25 in 2014.

After their divorce in 1996, Yates went on to have a child, Tiger Lily, with Hutchence, the lead singer of Australian rock band INXS.