Paula Yates was the quintessential television icon of the 1980s with stints on The Tube and Big Breakfast – before her tragic passing at the age of 41 after an accidental ‘incautious’ heroin overdose.
And now the trailblazing TV presenter’s chaotic life and untimely death is being explored by Channel 4 in a landmark two-part documentary, Paula, with the first episode airing tonight at 9pm.
It will feature previously unbroadcast interviews with Paula about her life, given in 1998 and 1999 – just before her death in 2000.
The talented British presenter left behind four children: Pixie, Peaches and Fifi Trixibelle with Live Aid organiser Bob Geldof and Heavenly Haraani Tiger Lily with INXS singer Michael Hutchence.
Here FEMAIL takes a look at how the daughters’ lives have been blighted by tragedy – from Tiger Lily’s ‘missing’ inheritance to Peaches’ death from a heroin overdose in 2014…
Left: Paula Yates with her husband Bob Geldof, daughter Fifi Trixiebelle and new baby Peaches Geldof in 1989. Right: Sir Bob Geldof with his daughter Peaches Geldof in the front row for Luella show, as part of London Fashion Week a/w 2009
PEACHES GELDOF
Peaches Geldof died of a drugs overdose ten times bigger than the one that killed her mother Paula Yates in the 25-year-old’s country home, in 2014.
Her husband returned from a weekend away to find her dead. Peaches had been looking after their baby son Phaedra, who was left alone for up to 17 hours.
The coroner at the time said the television presenter, model and journalist had been trying to wean herself off drugs and was clean five months before her death.
But her husband Thomas Cohen, a 23-year-old musician, told the hearing she relapsed in February and was hiding heroin in the loft of their £1million home in Wroxham, Kent.
Peaches was the second daughter of Bob Geldof and Paula Yates. She was 11-years-old when Paula passed
Peaches with her singer husband Thomas Cohen (pictured in 2012), who found her body after she took an overdose of heroin
Peaches was the second daughter of Bob Geldof and Paula Yates. She was 11-years-old when Paula passed.
Before marrying Cohen in 2012, she was previously married to American musician Max Drummey between 2008 and 2011.
Mr Cohen had been rehearsing on the weekend of her death. He had dropped off their two sons – Astala, two, and Phaedra, one – with his parents in south-east London, leaving his wife of two years behind.
The following night, Miss Geldof had dinner in London, staying at a friend’s house in Hampstead.
Phaedra was returned to her by Mr Cohen’s father Keith on Saturday afternoon and she stayed in that evening watching TV.
On Sunday night, just a few hours before her death, she posted a picture of herself and her mother on the social networking site Instagram, adding the caption: ‘Me and my mum.’
Detective Chief Inspector Paul Fotheringham, who led the investigation, told the inquest: ‘There is no indication that Peaches intended to take her own life or harm herself in any way as she was reported to be of happy disposition and planning for the future with friends and family.’
North West Kent Coroner Roger Hatch concluded the death was drugs-related.
He said it was not quite true that the death was history repeating itself because Miss Geldof had tried to break her addiction and had returned to the drug for reasons no one would ever know.
TIGER LILY HUTCHENCE
Tiger Lily pictured here as a baby with her mother, Paula Yates (left) and father Michael Hutchence in 1996
Tiger Lily is pictured here with her sisters Pixie and Fifi Geldof at her graduation in 2019 from Goldsmiths University
Tiger Lily, 26, is the daughter of Paula and her partner INXS frontman Michael Hutchence – but at just 16-months-old, Tiger Lily’s Aussie rocker father passed away from a suspected suicide in November 1997.
Tiger Lily was at home with her mother when the TV presenter passed away from a heroin overdose in 2000.
Aged just four years old she raised the alarm when a friend of Paula’s phoned the house, and Tiger Lily told her she was unable to wake her mum.
After the death of both her parents, Tiger Lily was formally adopted by her step father Bob Geldof.
Tiger Lily was due to receive inheritance from her father’s estate and at first said that this never happened. Later it was revealed that she did receive a shockingly low amount of inheritance from her father.
Film-maker Richard Lowenstein revealed to Spectrum that she told him she was given an envelope containing just £500, in 2009.
Despite Hutchence’s estate estimated to be worth millions, Lowenstein claims Tiger Lily told him she was given only £500 from Colin Diamond’s Chardonnay Investments, which controls Michael’s estate.
Now, aged 26, Tiger Lily is a singer who lives in Fremantle, Perth, with her boyfriend, musician Nick Allbrook, whom she’s been dating for more than three years.
There have been rumours that the pair are engaged but Tiger Lily does not have an active social media presence.
Tiger Lily has maintained a quiet life outside of the spotlight since the tragic deaths of both her parents.
She took to the stage for the first time in Perth in September 2020, just four months after releasing her first album.
Performing under the stage name Heavenly, the brunette rocker was joined on stage by her rocker boyfriend Nick.
PIXIE GELDOF
Model and singer Pixie Geldof, 32, is the third daughter of Bob Geldof and Paula Yates. She is an active socialite and is often pictured at high profile events
Model and singer Pixie Geldof, 32, is the third daughter of Bob Geldof and Paula Yates.
Pixie is married to musician George Barnett, 29, with whom she shares a baby daughter.
Pixie and These New Puritans drummer George tied the knot in an extravagant ceremony in Majorca in 2017 surrounded by family and famous friends, including Alexa Chung and Harry Styles.
The couple are also good friends with Princess Eugenie and were at the royal’s wedding to industry executive Jack Brooksbank in 2018.
An active socialite, Pixie is often pictured attending high profile events and sharing pictures on Instagram of her celebrity friends.
She is also a passionate activist, especially for marine wildlife and campaigns for marine conservations.
She was one of the ambassadors for the #PassOnPlastic campaign against the pollution of water by single use plastic led by Project Zero and Skin Ocean Rescue.
Pixie also advocates against animal testing in the cosmetic industry, and in October 2018, was part of a delegation that went to the United Nations in New York City to present a petition launched by The Body Shop to end cosmetic animal testing worldwide.
FIFI GELDOF
Uncanny: Fifi Geldof (L) is the spitting image of her late mother Paula Yates (R in 1991) as she shared a rare selfie with cropped pink locks in 2021
Struggle: Fifi (pictured with husband Andrew in 2013) has previously spoken about her spiral into depression following the death of her mother Paula from a heroin overdose
Family: Fifi (left pictured with Bob, Tiger Lily, Pixie and Peaches in 2005) married Andrew Robertson at St Mary Magdalene and St Lawrence church in Kent in 2016, where her sister Peaches and mother Paula are buried
Unlike her famous relatives, Fifi Geldof, 39, the eldest of Bob Geldof and Paula’s children, largely stays out of the limelight.
She has declared herself as the ‘unknown Geldof’, reported The Sun, and instead has a successful career in PR. She also reportedly works as a makeup artist.
In June 2021, she posted a rare selfie via Instagram in which she looked just like her late mother Paula.
She was the spitting image of the presenter with her look which saw her sport cropped pink locks.
Sharing the post with her 23,000 followers, Fifi smiled for the camera while sat in a car, with her hair brushed into a coiffured style.
Gushing about her new look, she thanked those who helped style it and wrote in the caption: ‘Mink pink and 40s pin up curls!’
Fifi put on a stylish display in the snap as she wore a red polka-dot dress that she paired with a black cardigan.
Fifi, who uses the surname Robertson-Geldof on her private social media account, was last pictured in September 2020 during a night out with friends, and before that was seen at her half-sister Tiger Lily’s graduation in July 2019 alongside Pixie.
Fifi is married to sand sculptor Andrew Robertson – and the pair wed in a beautiful ceremony at St Mary Magdalene and St Lawrence church in Kent in 2016.
It’s the same church where her sister Peaches, who died of a drug overdose at the age of 25 in 2014, and mother, Paula are buried.
The church in Davington is next door to father Bob’s country home and has been a place of both joy and sorrow for the Geldof family.
Bob and Paula had a blessing in the church after their Las Vegas wedding in 1986 while Peaches married Thomas Cohen in the religious establishment in 2012.
However, Paula’s funeral in 2000 was held at the same church, following her heroin overdose at her home in Notting Hill.
And tragically, in 2014, just two years after her wedding, Peaches was remembered at a ceremony at the church following her own heroin overdose.
Fifi has previously spoken about her spiral into depression following the death of her mother Paula from a heroin overdose.
Speaking to The Mail On Sunday, she said: ‘It’s the silent killer. People don’t really talk about it. Everyone has the ability to kill themselves. Anything can happen to you, it just takes one instance to flip you into the wrong state of mind.’
She added: ‘I have thought about but never attempted suicide. I wouldn’t. I’m aware, even in the pit of my depression, there are people that would hurt.
‘And quite frankly there’s been enough death in our family. It’s not something I would do to them.’
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk