+10
View gallery

Paul Danan’s former Hollyoaks co-stars joined Boyzone’s Shane Lynch in attendance as the actor was laid to rest in Waltham Abbey on Tuesday

+10
View gallery

The actor is believed to have di3d after he slipped and fell at the luxury apartment near Bristol where he was staying on January 15

+10
View gallery

Among those seen arriving for Paul’s funeral was his Hollyoaks co-star Terri Dwyer, who played Ruth Osborne on the soap

Much-loved Paul had been put forward to go on a popular dating show and was feeling optimistic after getting his life back on track.

Neighbours told how an ambulance was called to the flat near Bristol on Wednesday evening – but paramedics could not save the star.

Paul, who appeared on Love Island and Celebrity Big Brother, was due to appear in court the following day charged with possession of Class A drugs.

In a podcast seven months ago Paul told how he was living in a ‘dry house’ in Bristol, believed to be the £392,000 flat where he was found dead.

The Grade II listed property – part of a former Georgian lunatic asylum – boasts a swimming pool, gym and tennis court along with 10 acres of grounds.

Also registered at the one-bedroomed property is Judith Kim Skelton, 46, a personal development coach who specialises in mental health.

Danan’s neighbours said he ‘kept himself to himself’ in his first-floor apartment.

One told MailOnline: ‘I didn’t know he was famous, I don’t think anyone living here knew who he was until he di3d. His family has been here since and asked us not to say anything.’

+10
View gallery

James Redmond, who played Rory Finnigan on Hollyoaks, was also in attendance for the service, five days after Paul’s d3ath was revealed

+10
View gallery

Friends and loved ones of Paul were pictured gathering to honour the actor after his d3ath

+10
View gallery

Avon and Somerset Police said Paul’s d3ath was not being treated as suspicious

+10
View gallery

In a podcast seven months ago Paul told how he was living in a ‘dry house’ in Bristol, believed to be the £392,000 flat where he was found dead

Another neighbour said she saw an ambulance at the communal entrance to the gated mansion house in Bristol.

She added: ‘I then found out that the man living [in the flat] has di3d. I didn’t know him, it’s very sad.’

Avon and Somerset Police said the d3ath was not being treated as suspicious.

Residents said they thought Paul lived on his own at the apartment where he was fighting his addiction demons.

Until recently Judith was the director of a company called Morning After Drama where Paul gave talks to fellow addicts at a meeting house in Bristol on Monday evenings.

On LinkedIn Judith described herself as: ‘A supportive and person centered professional with a passion for empowering and coaching individuals facing multiple and complex barriers.

‘I am also a director of Morning After Drama, which delivers improv sessions to groups of individuals who are finding their way following traumatic experiences, addiction, low confidence, poor mental health etc.’

In a YouTube podcast titled Love Island, Escapades, Addictions last summer Paul talked about how he was introduced to cocaine and later went on to use crystal meth and heroin.

Talking about his addictions and treatment during lockdown he said: ‘I will probably go to Bristol … go and live in a dry house, I need to carry this on and be in a house with addicts who are in recovery.’

Paul, who shot to fame as Sol Patrick in Channel 4’s Hollyoaks, said he wanted to teach drama to adults alongside a career of acting, writing and directing.

The reality TV star was stopped by police near Warrington, Cheshire on October 2 last year while driving his Fiat 500.

He was charged with two counts of possessing cocaine and one of driving a vehicle under the influence of drugs and was due to appear at Warrington Magistrates Court on Thursday, the day after he di3d.

The hearing was adjourned until a date in February when the court will be informed of his tragic d3ath.

Paul’s d3ath has been reported to the Avon Coroner who will decide if an inquest will be held following a post mortem examination.

Paul told MailOnline in his final interview how he moved in with his parents and struggled to get acting jobs so worked in a phone shop repairing screens to get by after leaving Hollyoaks.

The actor became a household name playing bad boy Sol Patrick from 1997 until 2001 on Channel 4’s top soap.

He told MailOnline just before Christmas how he regretted leaving Hollyoaks to try to break into Hollywood because he didn’t want to be typecast as a soap star and become ‘the next Ken Barlow’.

But he could not cope with the rejection that followed in LA and became home sick, getting drawn down the dark path of drugs that blighted his life.

He said he failed in Hollywood so he went on Celebrity Love Island, which hampered his prospects, blaming ‘snobby’ casting directors for a lack of work afterwards.

In 2020 he moved back in with his parents in Essex after he became homeless having previously spent ‘about £1million on rehab and recovery’ over the years.

Most recently he was based in Bristol, where he was teaching students in drama school while trying to break back into acting.

His final Instagram post last week was an online audition for Duke Orsino in Twelfth Night, but while fans on social media hailed his performance some also commented that he appeared dazed at points.

+10
View gallery

Just a week before his d3ath, Paul filmed himself auditioning for a Shakespearean role, likely inside the flat where he fell ill

+10
View gallery

The star previously said he should not have left Hollyoaks and struggled to adapt to life in Hollywood in a previous interview

+10
View gallery

Paul previously played Sol Patrick on Hollyoaks from 1997 to 2001, but left the soap to pursue a career in Hollywood

Reflecting on his decision to leave the soap, Paul told MailOnline last year: ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have left Hollyoaks, but I made that decision because after four years, I didn’t want be typecast and back then, everyone didn’t want to be the next Ken Barlow. You wanted to go off and play different roles, especially when you’re a real actor.

‘I wanted to go to LA and I did. And I got very close to some very big, big films and things like that. But the rejection… the one thing I hate in life is rejection.

‘I chose the one job in the world that that gives you that, go figure! But at the same time, I love it more than anything, just to be there on set and to be part of that world. It is everything that I always trained for.

‘Acting is a tough job and I think you don’t realise how lucky you are when you’re in a soap and you’ve got the closest thing to a nine to five job in acting that you can get. And when you get out there, you’re like s**t, man, it is really tough.’

Paul was due in court yesterday to face charges of possessing cocaine and cannabis and was also accused of  driving under the influence of drugs. And just months ago he was on the ‘brink of d3ath’ and needing an oxygen tank after his ‘obsessive’ vape usage caused respiratory failure. He was so addicted he had his vape in bed before sleep.

Whilst living in Los Angeles, Paul told how he would often see actors working in McDonald’s while waiting for their next big part, with he himself having taken up a ‘normal job’ to get some extra cash in the interim.

‘I worked in a place called I Smashed It, which is where if you if you drop your iPhone or your phone and the screen smashes, then we’ll fix the screen for you.

‘I was working there for a bit, probably about 10 years ago. And that was just to get a bit of money on the side.’

Detailing the various work he’s done over the years, he continued: ‘I’ve worked in recruitment. I used to work in Ted Baker. I worked in the markets when I was younger and I’ve worked in different clothes shops and stuff like that. And of course in between jobs, you have to still do that’.