From their infamous interview on a bed to the custody drama that tormented him in his final hours, Michael Hutchence and Paula Yates’ love affair was the most dramatic of his life
The official verdict after the death of Michael Hutchence is that he committed suicide, however Paula Yates never accepted the love of her life would voluntarily leave her and their baby girl Tiger Lily. She insists they had plans to marry and have another child, and had discussed new baby names. Why would he deliberately leave them? She told Australian Woman’s Weekly, “I truly don’t believe that, and I’m not just saying it to make me feel better or try to make Tiger feel better in the future. I just know him.”
Hutchence was found hung with his own belt from the door of his Ritz-Carlton hotel room in Sydney’s Double Bay in 1997. He was 37. Up until her own death in 2000 from a heroin overdose, Yates insisted it was a auto-erotic act during which he died accidentally. Police on the scene report a hysterical Yates leaving baby Tiger Lily in the VIP area of the hotel, consuming a huge amount of vodka, clearly distraught. Witnesses say she was loudly explaining that Hutchence was into auto-erotic acts and that’s why he died.
Despite her insistence that he didn’t commit suicide, what is known is that Hutchence was already spiraling out of control before that fateful night. At first his relationship with Yates seemed to be exactly what he needed. Both were free spirits, unafraid to express themselves and both alleged drug users. Depending on who you believe the two were embroiled in a hot affair either before or after Yates interviewed Hutchence on the UK TV show The Big Breakfast.
Yates was married to Sir Bob Geldof at the time, a musician who was worshiped in the UK for putting together the 1984 Band Aid project that saw some of the world's biggest music stars donated their time and talent in an effort to raise money for starving children in Africa. He and Yates had three girls when she left him for Hutchence meaning she was tied to the UK and couldn't join Hutchence during his final INXS tour in Australia. Coming to Australia with just Tiger Lily wasn't an option. Her girls needed her. Hutchence understood she couldn't leave her three older daughters but was distraught at the thought of not seeing them for Christmas. He blamed Geldof for the separation, branding him 'evil'.