Do You Remember: Paula Yates and Michael Hutchence’s Bedtime Flirting on Live TV

For a period in the 1980s, Paula Yates was one of the coolest women in Britain. The one-time music journalist came to prominence co-hosting The Tube, a showcase for contemporary music that blended interviews, live performances, comedy bits, and an overall mood of too-cool-for-school attitude. Paula just seemed like a blast to be around: funny, charismatic, always at the front of the crowd and centre of attention. She was also confident and flirtatious, a good interviewer and interviewee. The press loved her… and hated her.

For a huge chunk of the ‘90s, Yates was one of the most obsessed-over women in the British tabloids. At one point, an authority of the subject no greater than Princess Diana told Paula, "I love it when you are on the front page of the paper. It means I've got the day off!" Here was a woman with a lust for love and rockstars who once told a magazine editor, “I can’t imagine me going out with anyone who couldn’t fill a stadium." She got her wish in 1986 when she married Bob Geldof, lead singer of the Boomtown Rats and the co-organiser of Live Aid. She was 16 when they met. They had three children, all with gloriously over-the-top names: Fifi Trixiebelle, Little Pixie, and Peaches Honeyblossom.

She cheated, including an affair with Terence Trent D'Arby that the press was extremely racist about. “Bob’s Paula Caught with Black Star,” screamed one headline. Geldof was also reportedly unfaithful on numerous occasions. The year before her wedding, she met Michael Hutchence, the Australian rockstar who led the band INXS. She became a big fan and began attending INXS concerts at numerous locations for the next few years. Their affair began some time in 1994. A few months later, Hutchence sat down for an interview with Yates.

The Big Breakfast was a morning show on Channel 4 that was positioned as the wild and youthful alternative to the BBC and ITV's more traditional news-focused programming. It was frantically paced, bleary-eyed, and just shambolic enough to be gripping. Everyone on the show seemed to be having a blast making it, and gave the impression that they’d been on all-night benders before each episode. Paula’s big feature was interviewing celebrities while they lay together on a bed. It was saucy by nature, usually full of double entendres and a total lack of seriousness. Truly, I’m surprised some influencer in need of an easy platform to meet celebrities hasn’t stolen the idea and remade it for YouTube yet (Jake Shane, stay in your lane.) It was a great fit for Paula, who was cheeky and could get away with a lot through sheer charisma. She got in bed with Kylie Minogue, George Michael, Miss Piggy, Bon Jovi, and all five members of Take That. But it’s the Hutchence one everyone remembers for a reason.

The segment opens with the pair on the bed, their legs intertwined. It wasn’t uncommon for Yates to get close to her guests in this segment, but this felt different. Her excitement is full-on fangirl levels. She says that this is the first guest of hers she’s truly wanted to get her leg over. Michael looks bashful but also totally into it. Every question Paula asks is accompanied by a doe-eyed look of abject lust. I’ve seen this interview a few times, and every time I revisit it, I feel both hypnotised by what I’m watching and kind of dirty. Guys, do you want to be alone right now? Audiences often get a bit too attached to celeb interviews with good chemistry. See how Andrew Garfield and Amelia Dimoldenberg’s flirting made people determined to matchmake them. We love it when celebs play the part. But this? Wow, how could you deny that something was going on between them?

Hey, did I mention that Bob Geldof was the owner of the production company behind The Big Breakfast? And was watching this happen?