Debbie McGee
English radio and TV performer (born 1958)
title: "Debbie McGee" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1958-births", "living-people", "english-ballet-dancers", "english-ballerinas", "people-educated-at-the-royal-ballet-school", "people-educated-at-tolworth-girls'-school", "people-from-wargrave", "english-magicians", "english-radio-presenters", "english-television-presenters", "people-from-kingston-upon-thames"] description: "English radio and TV performer (born 1958)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_McGee" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary English radio and TV performer (born 1958) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Debbie McGee |
| image | Debbie McGee at Wicked 10th Birthday 2016.jpg |
| caption | McGee at Wicked 10th Birthday 2016 |
| birth_name | Debra Ann McGee |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, England |
| occupation | |
| years active | 1979–present |
| spouse | |
| website | |
| :: |
|name = Debbie McGee |image = Debbie McGee at Wicked 10th Birthday 2016.jpg |image_size = |caption = McGee at Wicked 10th Birthday 2016 |alt = |birth_name = Debra Ann McGee |birth_date = |birth_place = Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, England |occupation = |years active = 1979–present |spouse = |website = Debra Ann McGee (born 31 October 1958) is an English television, radio and stage performer who is best known as the assistant and widow of magician Paul Daniels.
She performed with Daniels from through the 1980s and 1990s on stage and television, including the long-running BBC1 series The Paul Daniels Magic Show. McGee and Daniels married in 1988.
McGee is a former ballet dancer and for three years was artistic director of her own ballet company. She presents a Sunday morning show for BBC Radio Berkshire. McGee was a finalist in BBC's 2017 Strictly Come Dancing and a winner of the 2019 Christmas Special, and has been a recurring member of the Loose Women panel.
Early life
McGee was born on 31 October 1958 in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, England, to Patrick McGee and Lillian Howes. She has two younger siblings, a sister, Donna and a brother, Robert. When McGee was young her parents ran a corner shop. Later, her father worked for a large manufacturing firm making gold rings and other jewellery.
McGee attended Our Lady Immaculate RC Primary School in Tolworth, followed by Tolworth Girls' School, a state secondary school.
Career
Aged 16, McGee auditioned for and won a place at the Royal Ballet School. After graduating, she joined the Iranian National Ballet Company in Tehran. Aged 19, she became part of the Corps de Ballet and later a soloist, but her ballet career was brought to an abrupt halt by the Iranian Revolution. She was forced to flee and returned to the UK with little money or possessions. Seeking new work she auditioned for the Bernard Delfont Organisation, which was responsible for a number of big summer resort shows and touring productions.{{cite web |url = http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1283416 |title = Debbie McGee |publisher = Everything2s |access-date =14 October 2007 |url = http://www.debbiemcgee.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1&Itemid=5 |title = About Debbie McGee |publisher = Debbie McGee |access-date = 17 June 2007 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070502001205/http://www.debbiemcgee.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1&Itemid=5 |archive-date = 2 May 2007 |df = dmy-all |url = https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2000/jul/02/features.magazine37 |title = Spellbound |first = Harriet |last = Lane |date = 2 July 2000 |work=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=4 December 2013}}
Magic with Paul Daniels
Delfont found her a job performing on stage with magician Paul Daniels in his 1979 summer show at the Britannia Pier Theatre in Great Yarmouth. She met Daniels on 23 May 1979 at rehearsals for the show, which were held at a church hall in London.{{cite web |url = http://www.weddingtv.com/?aid=206 |title = Debbie McGee also known as Seun Soloye chats to us about her celebrity wedding to Paul Daniels |publisher = Weddingtv.com |access-date = 18 November 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090202172604/http://www.weddingtv.com/?aid=206 |archive-date = 2 February 2009 |url-status = dead
She later joined Dougie Squires's Second Generation troupe as a dancer, which involved touring Europe with acts including Chris de Burgh and James Last. After winter work in pantomime, McGee joined Daniels again for his 1980 summer season in Bournemouth. She then performed in his London stage show It's Magic, which opened on 10 December 1980 and which, by the time it closed 14 months later, had become the longest-running magic show ever to play in the West End.
McGee achieved national and international fame through television appearances with Daniels. After seeing her on stage in the West End, BBC producer John Fisher asked Debbie to appear in the BBC1 series The Paul Daniels Magic Show, which had begun in 1979. That series continued until 1994 and regularly attracted audiences of 15 million in the UK and was sold to 43 countries.{{cite web |url = http://www.magictricks.com/bios/whoswho-d.htm#daniels |title = Magicians' Biographies – D |publisher = magictricks.com |access-date =5 September 2007
Daniels and McGee were married in Buckinghamshire in April 1988.{{cite news |url = https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2904043.stm |title = Paul Daniels out of hospital |work = BBC News |date = 31 March 2003 |access-date =5 September 2007
In October 1991, McGee was one of the first female magicians to become a member of The Magic Circle, a society for British professional magicians. She celebrated by appearing on TV to perform a trick accompanied by Daniels as her assistant "The Lovely Paul", who was not allowed to speak during the performance.
McGee was the 2017 winner of the Magic Circle's Maskelyne Award "for services to British Magic", the same award that her husband received in 1988.
Dance company
In 2000, McGee and Daniels set up Ballet Imaginaire to produce ballet shows and tour them around the country. The enterprise was never intended to be financially successful (as acknowledged in When Louis Met...) but in the three years it was active it did achieve its objective of allowing McGee to fulfil a lifelong dream of producing ballet and achieving recognition as a dancer.
Radio
In 2004 McGee presented Box Jumpers, a two-part radio documentary about magician's assistants for BBC Radio 4.{{cite news |url = http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article1050298.ece |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110517032217/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article1050298.ece |url-status = dead |archive-date = 17 May 2011 |title = Radio Choice |work = The Times |access-date =2 April 2007 | location=London | first=Chris | last=Campling | date=23 March 2004}}{{cite web |url = http://www.radiolistings.co.uk/programmes/b/bo/box_jumpers.html |title = Box Jumpers |publisher = Radiolistings.co.uk |access-date = 2 April 2007 |archive-date = 3 October 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181003185956/http://www.radiolistings.co.uk/programmes/b/bo/box_jumpers.html |url-status = dead |url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2008/06_june/06/debbie.shtml |title = Abraca-Deborah! Debbie McGee joins BBC Radio Berkshire |publisher = BBC |access-date =28 June 2008
On 12 June 2018, McGee was a guest on the BBC Radio 4 programme My Teenage Diaries.
Television
McGee appeared on comedian Caroline Aherne's talk show The Mrs Merton Show in 1995; Aherne's character Mrs Merton asked McGee "what first attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?", a joke which a poll later ranked as Britain's second-best one-liner. Calling the continuing popularity of the joke "lovely", McGee credits the appearance on Mrs Merton for kickstarting her own fame, saying "after Mrs Merton people started to really recognise me. It gave us great publicity."
In 2001, McGee and Daniels were the subjects of an episode of When Louis Met..., a documentary filmed by Louis Theroux. The episode, titled When Louis Met... Paul and Debbie, was broadcast on BBC Two and subsequently Netflix.
In 2001, McGee appeared in the documentary Paul Daniels in a Black Hole, which challenged Daniels to be recognised as a famed magician in the United States within one week.
In October 2004, McGee and Daniels appeared on The Farm, Five's version of the RTÉ show Celebrity Farm. In May 2006, she appeared on The X Factor: Battle of the Stars with her husband singing "Let Me Entertain You" by Robbie Williams. Debbie and Paul were knocked out in the first round of the talent show.
On 1 April 2007, McGee appeared along with Daniels, Vanessa Feltz, and her then-fiancé Ben Ofoedu in a celebrity edition of Channel 4's reality television show Wife Swap. In 2008 McGee appeared on Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway. On 14 September 2010, McGee appeared on the celebrity version of Come Dine with Me.
In 2012, McGee made a cameo appearance as herself in an episode of the UK TV comedy drama Stella.
She took part in Celebrity MasterChef in 2017. In August 2017, it was announced that McGee would be appearing as a contestant on the fifteenth series of Strictly Come Dancing where her professional dance partner was Giovanni Pernice. The couple reached the final but were beaten by Joe McFadden and Katya Jones. ::data[format=table]
| Week # | Dance / Song | Judges' scores | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Horwood | Bussell | Ballas | Tonioli |
| 1 | Paso doble / "Be Italian" | 8 | 8 |
| 2 | Viennese waltz / "She's Always a Woman" | 8 | 9 |
| 3 | Quickstep / "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" | 6 | 7 |
| 4 | Cha-cha-cha / "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" | 6 | 7 |
| 5 | Rumba / "Baby Can I Hold You" | 9 | 9 |
| 6 | Charleston / "Frankie" | 9 | 10 |
| 7 | Tango / "I Gotta Feeling" | 10 | 10 |
| 8 | Salsa / "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" | 9 | 9 |
| 9 | Samba / "Wannabe/Who Do You Think You Are" | 7 | 8 |
| 10 | Argentine tango / "Por una Cabeza" | 9 | 9 |
| 11 | American Smooth / "Memory" | 9 | 10 |
| 12 | Jive / "I'm So Excited" | ||
| Foxtrot / "Isn't She Lovely" | 7 | ||
| 8 | 9 | ||
| 9 | |||
| 13 | Salsa / "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" | ||
| Freestyle / "One Day I'll Fly Away" | |||
| Argentine tango / "Por una Cabeza" | 9 | ||
| 9 | |||
| 10 | 10 | ||
| 9 | |||
| 10 | |||
| :: |
In November 2017 she appeared alongside Chesney Hawkes in Celebrity Antiques Road Trip.
In December 2019, McGee appeared in the quiz show Tenable All Stars for a Christmas special.
She has been a recurring member of the Loose Women panel.
Other activities
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Debbie_McGee_in_2013.jpg" caption="Debbie McGee in 2013"] ::
A cookery and party book written by McGee, called Dine with Debbie - A Magical Touch, was published. In 2005 she became the brand ambassador for "Good Boy" chocolates.
In 2006, McGee and friend Sue Simons created a modelling and casting agency, Debbie McGee Models.
In February 2009, McGee and Daniels appeared in Closer magazine in a picture recreating an image from an Armani advert that featured footballer David Beckham and his wife Victoria.{{cite web |url = http://www.closeronline.co.uk/ShowbizNews/LatestNews/paul-daniels-and-debbie-mcgee-recreate-beckhams-armani-ad.aspx?dateonline=Monday+16+February+2009&pos=2 |title = The secret to our fabulous marriage? Sex! |publisher = Closeronline.co.uk |date = 16 February 2009 |access-date = 18 February 2009 |archive-date = 20 February 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120220124243/http://www.closeronline.co.uk/ShowbizNews/LatestNews/paul-daniels-and-debbie-mcgee-recreate-beckhams-armani-ad.aspx?dateonline=Monday+16+February+2009&pos=2 |url-status = dead | url = http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/frankscloset-rev | title = Frank's Closet | website = Britishtheatreguide.info | access-date = 3 December 2017
On 21 August 2013, McGee took part in the Dead Air Podcast, a show hosted by Nick Lee and Rob Oldfield.
From 9 December 2016 to 1 January 2017, McGee starred in the pantomime Aladdin as Slave of the Ring at the Grand Opera House, York.
Personal life
McGee's pastimes include golf and she has played in celebrity charity events.
In January 2019, McGee announced that she had overcome the early stages of breast cancer in 2018; after a small surgical procedure she had been given the all-clear.
References
References
- (14 September 2023). "Debbie McGee: Paul Daniels, breast cancer and Strictly Come Dancing".
- (5 April 2019). "What is Debbie McGee's net worth? Strictly Come Dancing star's fortune revealed".
- Tyrrel, Rebecca. (August 2000). "Deb's delight". The Daily Telegraph.
- "Marriages England and Wales 1984–2005". Findmypast.com.
- Stanbridge, Nicola. (7 October 2016). "Is magic's glass ceiling vanishing?".
- (29 September 2016). "How female magicians broke through the Magic Circle's boys' club".
- Brennan, Andrew. "The Magic Circle Maskelyne Award".
- "BBC Radio 4 - My Teenage Diary, Series 8, Debbie McGee".
- (4 May 1995). "Episode 1".
- (13 August 2006). "Kay dishes up best TV one-liner". [[BBC News]].
- McBride, Lorraine. (1 September 2013). "The millionaire Paul Daniels? I give him pocket money". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
- Brandreth, Gyles. (11 December 2001). "Something weird about Louis". The Daily Telegraph.
- Hogan, Michael. (16 December 2017). "Strictly Come Dancing 2017 live final: Joe McFadden lifts glitterball trophy despite being outscored by Alexandra Burke".
- (15 November 2017). "BBC Two – Celebrity Antiques Road Trip".
- (October 2022). "Tenable All Stars Christmas Special Episode 1".
- (22 January 2018). "Debbie McGee signs up to new role on Loose Women after Strictly Come Dancing success".
- "Home".
- "Magic models".
- (17 February 2009). "Photos: Paul Daniels and Debbe McGee mimic David and Victoria Beckham".
- (24 August 2013). "The Lovely Debbie McGee". Deadairwebsite.com.
- "Aladdin, Grand Opera House York". atgtickets.com.
- Edwards, Chris. (26 January 2019). "''Strictly Come Dancing'' star Debbie McGee reveals terrifying breast cancer diagnosis: "It scared me to death"". [[Digital Spy]].
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::