Family statement confirms that Daniels, famed for his television series on BBC from 1979 to 1994, has inoperable brain tumour

The magician and entertainer Paul Daniels, 77, has incurable cancer, his family have said. “We can confirm that one of our greatest magicians and entertainers of all times, Paul Daniels, has sadly been diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour,” a statement from Daniels’ publicist said.



“On behalf of Paul, Debbie and their families, we thank you for your kind concerns and support at this sad time and ask that their privacy continues to be respected. There will be no further comments at this time.”



Daniels is famed for his television series The Paul Daniels Magic Show, which ran on the BBC from 1979 to 1994. He was born in 1938 in South Bank, Middlesbrough, where he began his career as a magician and entertainer.

“A hot, wet childhood holiday got me into magic,” Daniels has described in a previous interview. “We couldn’t go out because of the bad weather and one of the books in the place we were staying in had magic tricks in it that you could do yourself.

“I was very shy but found out I could go to school and do some tricks. The fact that people didn’t know how the hell I was doing it made me continue doing it.”

Daniels launched his career by performing at parties, youth clubs and to fellow servicemen during his national service. He later began performing at evening shows in clubs, where it is said that he first developed his long-running catchphrase, “You’ll like this … not a lot, but you’ll like it,” to deal with a heckler.

In 1969, he was offered a summer season at Newquay and decided to become a full-time performer. The following year, Daniels made his TV debut on talent series Opportunity Knocks, and came second. He was seen by TV producer Johnnie Hamp, who gave him a regular slot on The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club, a variety show on ITV hosted by the late Bernard Manning.

The Paul Daniels Magic Show regularly attracted audiences of 15 million in the UK, and was sold to 43 countries. In addition to performing magic, Daniels also hosted popular quiz shows for the BBC including Every Second Counts, Odd One Out and Wipeout. He also narrated the children’s TV show Wizbit.

BBC broadcaster Tony Blackburn has led the messages of goodwill to the magician. The radio DJ tweeted:

Paul Chuckle, best known as one half of children’s entertainers the Chuckle Brothers, tweeted:





Comedian and broadcaster Iain Lee tweeted:



Presenter Jennie Gow tweeted:

Daniels married his first wife, Jacqueline, in 1960, and the couple had three sons. He met his second wife, Debbie McGee, a former soloist in the Iranian national ballet, after she became an assistant on his BBC1 show.

In later years, Daniels and McGee participated in various TV shows including Channel 5’s The Farm, ITV’s The X Factor: Battle Of The Stars and Channel 4’s Celebrity Wife Swap, in which Daniels tried living with Vanessa Feltz. Daniels also took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2010.



