Sydney - The Daily Telegraph, Tuesday October 6th, 1998
Paula Yates has sewn the ashes of her late lover Michael Hutchence's into a small sequinned pillowcase which she cuddles in bed, according to the recovering heroin addict with whom she had an affair while in a rehabilitation clinic. Kinglsey Okeke claims Yates takes Hutchence's ashes everywhere she travels.
Okeke told The Sun, Yates' home was a virtual shrine to Hutchence, the father of her two year old daughter Tiger Lily. "There are photographs of him covering nearly every inch of space, each lit by a big red church candle," he said.
"I felt intimidated at first. I realised Paula was still in love with one of the world's biggest sex symbols - and there he was staring out at me at all times. The whole bedroom is dotted with hundreds of nightlight candles. It's a fantasy land and Paula certainly enjoys her fantasies."
Okeke said Yates never stopped talking about Hutchence and the best moments of their relationship, even though in her dark times she blamed herself for his death believing he would still be alive had she been in Australia with him.
"We'd often sit up all night talking about Michael," he said. "I listened and she cried a lot. But she said it helped her come to terms with her grief. Tiger would often clamber into bed with us if she had a bad dream or was unwell," he said.
"She's accepted me as Mummy's friend but was well aware Michael was her father. She'd point at his picture and say, 'My Daddy". It was very touching."
Yates ended her relationship with Okeke recently, telling him she needed to devote herself to her four daughters, three of whom she had with ex-husband Sir Bob Geldof.
Okeke, who is now living in a bail hostel, said he always knew the relationship was just a fling and would eventually come to and end.