Paul O'Grady's delight over Coronation Street musical role and why he has no plans to retire

Jan 4 2012 by Tina Miles, Liverpool Echo

TELEVISION star Paul O’Grady may be giving up his chat show but he isn’t ready to retire from showbiz just yet.

The entertainer said he is happy to be moving on as he expressed his delight over his role in Coronation Street’s new musical project.

Paul, 56, told the ECHO he is also pushing ahead with his next TV project – a show with Sheila Hancock planned for Sky.

He said: “I’m doing a little play with Sandi Toksvig for me and Sheila Hancock. Sheila will be playing my mother and it is set in Birkenhead in the 1970s.

“I was at the Hay Festival to promote the book and Sandi was interviewing me and she said why don’t I do this?”

Paul, who created the character of Lily Savage, is also busy writing the third instalment of his autobiography, following his books At My Mother’s Knee and The Devil Rides Out.

Millions of fans were saddened to hear that the latest series of Paul O’Grady Live will be his last, which he first announced in the ECHO in November. But he won’t be at a loose end.

He will present a new ITV1 show about Battersea Dogs Home and is already in talks with the BBC about making a documentary about the working class.