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Debbie McGee - A Magical Life

Famously, and cruelly, the comedian Caroline Aherne asked Debbie McGee: “What attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?” But the ultimate magician’s “assistant” has had the last laugh. Her self-described “first and only” memoir depicts a rich and varied life. A dancer by trade, she spent time at the Royal Ballet School before joining Iran’s national ballet – having to flee the country during the revolution. While she is universally recognised as Daniels’ wife, few people know she was the first woman to be admitted to the Magic Circle. One of the great showbiz survivors talks to journalist Teddy Jamieson about her life on and off stage, facing breast cancer, coping with the public loss of her husband, and finding a new fanbase through Strictly.