Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of substance abuse and suicide. Reader discretion is advised.
In 2000, Paula Yates’ cause of death was revealed to be a drug overdose. Yates’ death, which happened nearly three years after Michael Hutchence’s suicide, was the culmination of years of mental health struggles, substance abuse, and the tragic loss of her partner Hutchence.
A Channel 4 documentary, Paula, looks into Yates’ successful life, her marriage to Bob Geldof, the controversy surrounding her affair with Michael Hutchence, and substance abuse. Yates was a renowned British TV presenter who hosted shows like The Tube and The Big Breakfast. She married Irish singer Bob Geldof and had three children with him. However, their unhappy marriage resulted in Yates engaging in multiple affairs.
Paula Yates first met INXS singer Michael Hutchence during a 1985 interview with The Tube. In the following years, the two started a drug-fueled affair and had their daughter, Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily Hutchence Geldof, in 1996. A year later, Hutchence died by suicide, and Yates’ life changed dramatically, resulting in her untimely death.
What was Paula Yates’ cause of death?
According to ABC News, Paula Yates’ cause of death was a heroin overdose. She reportedly “died of non-dependent use of drugs.” Yates died in her home in London after abstaining from illegal drugs for nearly two years, claimed her close friend Belinda Brewin. The mother-of-four had only started taking drugs a day before her death. A spokeswoman for Westminster Coroner’s Court stated that they found “traces of morphine, which is a derivative of heroin,” in her blood.
Moreover, Paul Knapman, the coroner examining the case, ruled that Paula Yates’ cause of death was not suicide. Knapman stated that Yates, “an unsophisticated taker of heroin,” died using drugs. The TV personality reportedly had 0.3 milligrams of morphine per liter of blood in her system at the time of death. The said amount could not have killed a heroin addict.
A friend of Paula Yates discovered her dead in her London home near Notting Hill on September 17, 2000. The Evening Standard reported that on the same day, Yates’ daughter Pixie was celebrating her 10th birthday.
