Advertisement

The super-charged interview that started Michael Hutchence and Paula Yates' love affair

The Sydney hotel room that Michael Hutchence's body was found in was littered with photos of Paula Yates; his girlfriend and the mother of his 16-month-old child.

The pair had officially begun their whirlwind love story just three years earlier, when they sparked a flurry of rumours after filming an outrageously suggestive TV interview.

It was 1994, and British TV presenter Yates was two-decades deep into her relationship with then-husband Sir Bob Geldof, and a mother to three daughters.

Hutchence on the other hand, was an international sex symbol in a high-profile relationship with supermodel Helena Christensen.

The chemistry between Hutchence and Yates was undeniable. Photo: Channel 4
The chemistry between Hutchence and Yates was undeniable. Photo: Channel 4

The pair came together on Yates’ TV show The Big Breakfast, where they were close to a point that must’ve been uncomfortable for the film crew.

While Yates was known for her flirtatious manner and did all her interviews on a cow-print bed, this one was different.

Right from the start, she had one of her legs wrapped provocatively over Hutchence’s and they sat giggling like giddy teenagers throughout the six-minute segment.

Making things more overt, they both made small digs at each other’s partner, with Hucthence suggesting he’s had more hit songs that Geldof, and Yates joking that “later on we can go to the hotel and hit her [Christensen]”.

They spent the interview giggling and making small digs at each other's partners. Photo: Channel 4
They spent the interview giggling and making small digs at each other's partners. Photo: Channel 4

While many credit this super-charged interview as the moment the pair fell in love, they’d actually had a very similar encounter back in 1985 - the same year Yates married Geldof.

She interviewed Hutchence, then little known in the UK, on Channel 4 show The Tube, and later said of the encounter, “he was so heartbreakingly beautiful it made me feel quite feeble.

"I mainly interviewed Michael's crotch and at the end he asked me back to his hotel room. I said, 'Crikey, no, I've got a baby'.”

The pair first met in 1985 when they did this similarly flirtatious interview on The Tube. Photo: Channel 4
The pair first met in 1985 when they did this similarly flirtatious interview on The Tube. Photo: Channel 4

Tragically, Yates died of an accidental drug overdose just three years after Hutchence.

Want more celebrity, entertainment and lifestyle news? Follow Be on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram