Tragic Paul Danan's confession about fateful night in Preston that "really messed me up"

The video, which is believed to have been filmed in 2020, was uploaded to TikTok by channel UK Daily Insight, just hours after news broke of Paul’s death. They called it the ‘Last Confession of Paul Danan’.

In it, he can be seen talking to the camera about an incident that hit the headlines when he appeared in panto in Preston in 2007, and was asked to help switch on the city’s Christmas lights. The night was marred with controversy as Paul swore twice at the 3,000-strong family crowd, leading to him being issued with an on-the-spot police fine and being sacked from Jack and the Beanstalk at the Charter Theatre.

What happened?

The then 29-year-old was part of a celebrity line-up at the Flag Market which included players from Preston North End, former Coronation Street actor Richard Fleeshman and dance act Booty Luv. He first swore when asked by one of his fellow cast members why he was not wearing his costume. At this point his microphone was immediately snatched away and he was given a comedy smack on the bottom by fellow cast member, broadcaster Paul Crone. But, minutes later, he upset the crowd again when he swore at them in an attempt to generate some noise.

At the time, the then council leader Ken Hudson said his outburst was “a disgrace” and Mayor of Preston, Coun Christine Abram said Paul had “immediately insulted us by saying he was up North so maybe it was ok.”

‘Confession’

In the TikTok clip, Paul said he was was sick of the incident being used against him after he apologised and paid the price with his job.

He starts by saying he wasn’t well at the time and “didn’t even want to turn the lights on”, but agreed as part of publicity for the pantomime. He goes onto say: “I had a few glasses of wine and whatever else I was doing at the time...I hadn’t been on the stage infront of a crowd for a long time and swore..”

He questions whether children were at the event at 8.30pm, and then said: “To be honest, I didn’t think the kids that were in the crowd knew the swear word...So I swore by accident. I’d been watching this rap video quite a lot, Up In Smoke Tour, and it just came out like a Freudian slip. I was excited to get the crowd going and I felt terrible because I didn’t want to swear, I certainly didn’t want to make any kids cry. I was the one who was crying because I was so ashamed and embarrassed about what I had done.”

Danan, who appeared in Hollyoaks and ITV’s Celebrity Love Island, was fined £80 by police and sacked from Jack and the Beanstalk at the Charter Theatre a day later.

The star, who suffered with ADHD, anxiety and addiction issues, added: “My mental health went so down, it was so dangerous, it was so bad that I never came back from that for a few years...it really, messed me up.”

Lasting issues

He said that 13 years later, the Daily Express and Daily Mirror brought the story back up with what he claimed was a misleading article. He said: “They want to make me ill again...All I’ve done in the last 10 years is try and give back and to try and help others, while still struggling....My first purpose is to be a good person and to try and show love and respect and compassion to others and to try and understand what they’re going through because I’ve been through that.”

He said he was dedicated to helping other people with similar issues to his own through free drama classes.

Paul Danan died on January 15 at a property in Bristol. The star's cause of death has not yet been revealed - but he previously opened up on a near-death experience due to his addiction to vapes. He collapsed in May last year and had to be given CPR before he was rushed to hospital. He then spent a week in intensive care where he contracted pneumonia.