Phillip Schofield has hinted Paul Burrelll was paid over £20,000 to discuss his sexuality during an exclusive interview on ‘This Morning’.
The former Royal butler appeared on the ITV daytime show on Monday (13 March), after coming out last week, when he revealed he has been in a relationship with a man for the past 10 years.
However, things took an awkward turn when Phillip brought up the fee Paul was paid to do the chat, as Paul insisted he was sticking to his previous pledge that we would not write anymore books about Princess Diana.
After Phllip questioned whether a magazine deal could be in the pipeline, Paul replied: “I must answer you. One thing that’s worrying me about getting married in a couple of weeks time is the security of it.
“Now everybody knows when it is going to be and where it is going to be, what do I about that.
He continued: “I need to control it. I will need security. If that comes at a cost then that will have to come at a cost.”
As Phillip asked how much that would cost, Paul offered: “I don’t know, nearly £20,000 or £30,000.”
“So nearly as much as we paid you for this interview,” Phil quipped.
“You don’t need a magazine deal, we’ve bought your security.”
During the interview, Paul also spoke about the way the story broke, admitting he felt like he had been “run over by bus a bus”.
“I never expected this story to come out quite so quickly, so soon,” he said.
“My partner was doorstepped by a red top and said ‘we’ve got this story, we’re going to print it, what do you think about it?’ and he shut the door and didn’t know what to think.
“We thought we’d get into the driving seat. This is about us, it’s about our story, we’ve got to stand proud. It was going to come out anyway… so let’s stand together, strong.
“We were lucky we got away with it for so long. We wanted it to be on our terms, we wanted to get married, with the people we love around us, with my boys stood beside me, I wanted it to be a really proud day and then told the story…. But of course we weren’t afforded that luxury and had to act quick.”
Talking about new reports that his former employer Diana knew, Paul explained: “I never had that conversation with her. I was her best friend. I was a great advisor on what to wear and when to wear it. I did great flower arrangements… it didn’t have to be said.
“I think Diana was a very good judge of character too, the Queen wouldn’t have chosen me to stand beside her for eleven years, and Diana wouldn’t have chosen me for ten years if I wasn’t the right person.”
‘This Morning’ airs weekdays at 10.30am on ITV.