by: Sue Evison
Shattered Paula Yates is still so in love with tragic Michael Hutchence that she takes his ashes with her everywhere--even to bed. Her ex-lover Kingsley Okeke said the troubled mum-of-four had sewn rocker Hutchence's remains into a small sequinned pillowcase.
She told reformed heroin addict Kingsley: "I need Michael with me always." And she cuddled the cushion while she slept. Kingsley, 27--who had a lust-filled five-week fling with Paula before she ended it a fortnight ago--discovered her strange secret the first time they had sex at her house. He said yesterday: "I rolled into the bed and felt this hard lump in my back. I moved over and found the small sequinned pillow with what felt like a lump inside. I went to put it on the floor but Paula told me to leave it on the bed.
She said, very casually, "That's Michael"--as if it was the most normal thing in the world to have a dead person's ashes in bed with you. She also told me the bed we were in was the same one she had shared with
Michael. I admit I found that a bit strange but Paula is still so in love with Michael that she didn't see anything odd about any of it. She told me, "Michael wouldn't mind--he would just want me to be happy." Paula would curl up around the little pillow after we'd had sex, to sleep with Michael. And she never left the ashes at home when she travelled."
Ex-jailbird Kingsley added: "I know it sounds bizarre. But I came to realise Paula has suffered terribly. And that is what she needed to do to help her cope."
Kingsley met Paula--left devastated when INXS singer Hutchence hanged himself in a Sydney hotel room last November--at a Wiltshire health clinic two months ago. He was undergoing treatment for chronic heroin addiction. She was having grief counseling after an apparent suicide bid. And both were kicked out when they began a forbidden affair. Kingsley said: "It was lust at first sight--we couldn't contain ourselves."
Paula, 38, immediately took him into her West London home--which he described as a shrine to Hutchence. He said: "There are photographs of him covering nearly every inch of space, each lit by a big red church
candle. 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.
BLAMED
"Paula talked about Michael endlessly, telling me some of the funny things they'd done together and how happy he had made her. She said she blamed herself for his death. She believed he'd still be alive today if she had joined him in Australia instead of allowing him to go alone. We'd often sit up all night talking about Michael. I listened and she cried--a lot. But she said it helped her come to terms with her grief."
Kingsley, who served time for drug and theft offences and is currently on probation, now lives on benefits in a West London bail hostel. He checked in voluntarily "because its routines help keep me on the straight and narrow." He was always puzzled about what former TV host Paula saw in him--but will never forget the experience because of the sensational sex they shared. He added: "Paula opened my eyes to what sex can really be about. She is an unbelievable experience for any man. I can understand why Michael called her his addiction. She is the sexiest, most adventurous woman I've ever had sex with." Kingsley said Paula's king-size bed is festooned with twelve sets of fairy lights. He said: "Some are in the shape of chillis, some are heart-shaped, some are ordinary Christmas tree lights and some are hand-made Chinese paper lanterns. "Michael bought the lanterns for Paula not long before he died. They cost about 500 pounds each--and there were scores of them. There are life-size statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary standing [by] each side of the bed. They used to put me off a bit--I felt we were always being watched. The bed is draped with a skull and crossbones flag. And in the corner of the room there's a big Australian flag beside a vast picture of Michael. The whole bedroom is dotted with hundreds of nightlight candles. It's a fantasy land--and Paula certainly enjoys her fantasies."
Kingsley told how Paula--who had three daughters with ex-husband Bob Geldof--is "totally devoted" to Tiger, her two-year-old girl fathered by Hutchence. He said: "I've never seen Paula so excited as when Tiger learned to say, 'shoe.' Tiger is a little darling and Paula is fiercely protective of her. Tiger would often clamber into bed with us if she had a bad dream or was unwell. She 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."
Sad Kingsley told how he and Paula both wept as she told him their fling was over. Paula is facing a tough custody battle over daughter Tiger with Hutchence's dad Kell--and feared her relationship with the ex-junkie could jeopardise her case. Kingsley, who quit Paula's home two weeks ago, said: "I was devastated when she told me to leave but I understand her reasons. She always made it clear her children came first and that our relationship was a one-day-at-a-time scenario. I think she fell in lust with me but I fell in love with her. She's a fantastic woman."
Paula helped Kingsley to pack his bags before hooking him into a hotel. She paid for him to stay there for a week while he looked for another home.
REELING
Kingsley said: "We were both crying but there were no big scenes. The split was something we both knew had to happen. Paula said she needed time for her kids, time to be alone--and she didn't have enough time for me." He added: "I'm still reeling from the shock of being without her. Our relationship was very intense-we were together nearly 24 hours a day. I miss her and hope we will one day be friends." Kingsley, who grew up on a London council estate, also misses Paula's home. He said: "It's beautiful. There are fresh lilies all around, scenting the air, and the walls are draped with her sari collection."
But he denied he saw Paula as a meal ticket and said he only accepted one gift from her--a gold plated cross she already owned. He said: "I think she just needed somebody to hold, somebody to be there for her, somebody to help her escape from her sadness. I realised I would probably end up being a fling. But though that hurts I'm glad of the time I spent with her."
© The Sun 1998