Paul Danan

Danan was born in Chigwell, Essex, to a Moroccan Jewish family, on 2 July 1978.^[1][2] His father was from Fez, Morocco.^[2] Danan attended the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts.^[3]

Between 1997 and 2001, Danan played Sol Patrick in the Channel 4 soap opera, Hollyoaks.^[4] Following his departure from the soap, he played "the Monster" in Desires of Frankenstein by James Martin Charlton at the 2002 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.^[5] In 2002, Danan played Melody's Agent Max Mitford in the CBBC series The Queen's Nose. In 2005, he appeared as a contestant on the first series of ITV's Celebrity Love Island. He returned for the second series in 2006.^[6] Following his appearance on the show, Danan won funniest reality TV personality at the 2007 Loaded Lafta Awards.^[7] The same year, he appeared in an episode of Dick & Dom in da Bungalow and presented a television series entitled Test Drive My Girlfriend on ITV2.^[8] In September 2006, Danan appeared in the ITV2 series Calum, Fran and Dangerous Danan, in which he traveled from Texas to Los Angeles on America's U.S. Route 66 with Calum Best and Fran Cosgrave.^[9] In 2007, Danan was due to play Jack in Jack & the Beanstalk at the Preston Guild Hall, but he was sacked after swearing during the Christmas Lights switch on.^[10]

In 2009, Danan was a guest on the first and second series of the Channel 4 sketch show The Kevin Bishop Show. From 2010 to 2011, he co-hosted Stars and Strikes for 4Music with presenter Rick Edwards playing a ten-frame ten-pin bowling match against a popstar or group. In November 2012, Danan appeared in an episode of ITV drama Crime Stories. In 2015, he played the character Steve in the TV series Good Girls Club for Sky TV.^[11] In August 2017, Danan competed in the twentieth series of Celebrity Big Brother. On Day 18, he became the fifth evictee.^[12] On an episode of The Jeremy Kyle Show broadcast on ITV on 9 February 2019, Danan discussed his substance addiction. He admitted to being a recovering addict.^[13] In January 2022, Danan appeared on the seventh series of E4's Celebrity Coach Trip in Northern Portugal, where he was put with Team GB athlete Ashley McKenzie. Danan and McKenzie joined a line-up which featured fellow celebrity travellers like Matt Richardson, Honey G, Ginny Lemon,^[14] pop duo Honeyz, and Birds of a Feather stars Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph.^[15][16]

Danan previously lived in Hertford, where he ran a drama club for local children.^[17] He had one son.^[18]

Legal issues

In 2010, Danan was given a £350 fine after he was found to be in possession of drugs and swore at a police officer.^[19] He was accused of driving under the influence of drugs in Warrington on 2 October 2024.^[20] Before his death, Danan had been due to appear at court in Warrington on two drug charges on 16 January 2025.^[21]

Health and death

Danan struggled with an addiction to vapes, cigarettes and cocaine.^[22][23][24] He said he experimented with ecstasy from the age of 14 and survived a heroin overdose in 2007.^[25][26] Danan said that he had been to rehab 17 times by 2022,^[23] and that he had spent "about £1 million on rehab and recovery" by then.^[27] In June 2024, Danan was hospitalised for respiratory failure caused by "obsessive" vape usage. He had to be given CPR by his family, before being admitted to ICU with pneumonia. Doctors warned him that if he continued smoking in any form, he risked being linked to an oxygen tank later in life.^[28]

On 15 January 2025, Avon and Somerset Police attended an address in Brislington, Bristol, where Danan was pronounced dead, aged 46.^[29] His death was announced the following day, with a statement from his management giving no cause of death and saying that no further comments would be made.^[4][30] His death was not treated as suspicious.^[31] Following the inquest into his death on the 11 March 2025, it was announced he had died from a cocktail of drugs with heroin, methadone, pregabalin, cocaine and zopiclone found in his system, with a secondary finding of benzodiazepine use.^[32]