Paul Daniels: Death Cause, Net Worth, Wife and Family

Born: 6 April 1938 ·
Died: 17 March 2016, aged 77 ·
Birth name: Newton Edward Daniels ·
Known for: The Paul Daniels Magic Show ·
Spouse: Debbie McGee (m. 1988) ·
Catchphrase: “You’ll like this… not a lot, but you’ll like it!”

Seven entries, one pattern: every confirmed detail below traces to BBC reporting, while the loosest figures online are exactly the ones that coverage never prints.

Who are some famous British magicians?

When search engines serve this question, they are usually trying to place Paul Daniels in a list he largely defined. The BBC’s later assessment is blunt: the programme “made Daniels one of Britain’s most prominent television magicians” (BBC News later profile).

What was Paul Daniels’ catchphrase?

• “You’ll like this… not a lot, but you’ll like it!” — his signature sign-off (BBC News obituary).

The line worked because it undercut the trick: mock modesty before the reveal, delivered every week. It stayed with him through the show’s 1979–1994 run (BBC News profile).

How did Paul Daniels get his start in magic?

• Born in South Bank, Middlesbrough, on 6 April 1938 (BBC News profile).
• Developed his magic skills performing in working men’s clubs (BBC News report).
• Made his television debut on Opportunity Knocks in 1970, finishing second (BBC News report).

Those three steps — a Teesside childhood, club-circuit reps, and a near-miss on a primetime talent show — set up the Sunday-night ITV show he was given in 1978 (BBC News profile). The move to the BBC a year later produced the format that made his name (BBC News report).

The pattern: Daniels did not arrive as a polished television personality. He was a working magician who used television as his stage, and the 15-year show was the result (BBC News later profile).

What was Paul Daniels’ net worth?

The honest answer is that no verified net-worth figure appears in the BBC’s coverage of his life and death (BBC News obituary). What circulates online are estimates from entertainment-wealth databases — guesses, not audited records.

How did Paul Daniels make his money?

• Television: 15 years headlining The Paul Daniels Magic Show, plus presenting Wipeout, Every Second Counts and Odd One Out (BBC News obituary).
• Stage: summer seasons and live touring, including the 1979 Great Yarmouth season where he first worked with McGee (BBC News profile).
• Magic-related products followed the television fame, with no verified total in the BBC’s coverage (BBC News profile).
• Later appearances: The Farm in 2004 and X Factor: Battle of the Stars in 2006 (BBC News profile).

The implication: Daniels clearly earned well — the scale of the career confirms that — but “earned well” is not a figure, and repeating database estimates as biography is how the record distorts.

How much did Paul Daniels leave Debbie McGee?

The most reliable answer is the least satisfying: no figure appears in the BBC’s coverage of his death, and later profiles focus on his legacy rather than a probate total (BBC News later profile). Estate reports claimed the bulk of the estate went to McGee, but a claim repeated in headlines is not a verified number.

Who was Paul Daniels’ wife?

• Debbie McGee, whom he married in 1988 (BBC News interview coverage).
• His on-stage assistant, who appeared with him in television and stage work (BBC News profile).
• Formerly a ballerina; a soloist with the Iranian National Ballet before joining his act (BBC News report).

They first worked together during a 1979 summer season in Great Yarmouth (BBC News profile), and the marriage lasted from 1988 until his death — she was with him when he died (BBC News obituary).

What happened to Paul Daniels’ first wife?

• His first wife was Jacqueline; the couple divorced in 1975 (BBC News obituary).
• The marriage had produced three sons: Martin, Paul and Gary (BBC News obituary).

The BBC’s coverage does not follow Jacqueline’s later life — a useful reminder that not every family detail is public record (BBC News obituary).

Who were Paul Daniels’ siblings?

• No siblings are named in the BBC’s obituary or profile coverage (BBC News obituary).

If a search result offers a list of brothers and sisters, check whether it comes from a genealogy forum rather than a verified family source. The BBC reporting reviewed here documents his birth and career, not a sibling set (BBC News profile).

Who is Paul Daniels’ nephew?

• No nephew is named in the BBC’s coverage of his life and death (BBC News obituary).

The question shows up in search data, but no verified source in the BBC’s reporting names a nephew. Without a named person in a documented source, the responsible answer is: not confirmed.

Why this matters: a family tree built from search suggestions looks complete until one branch fails. The verified branches — McGee, Jacqueline, three sons — come from the obituary record; the estate number does not.

The record settles names, dates and medical facts; it does not settle money.

What happened to Paul at the end of his life?

The final chapter was short and made public within weeks. Daniels was taken to hospital after a fall, and the initial fear was a stroke; medical investigation instead found a brain tumour (BBC News obituary). He returned home and died there, with McGee at his side (BBC News obituary).

When did Paul Daniels die?

• On 17 March 2016, aged 77 (BBC News obituary).
• At his home in Berkshire, after returning from hospital (BBC News obituary).
• With Debbie McGee present (BBC News obituary).

What were Paul’s last words before he died?

McGee’s BBC interviews describe the medical reality of his final weeks — the tumour had spread too far for curative treatment — rather than a scripted farewell (BBC News interview coverage). That distinction matters: a moving quote is not the same as a documented one.

What this means: the verifiable ending is precise — a fall, a diagnosis, a date, a place. The “last words” gap was filled with colour, and none of it carries the same weight as the record.

What did Paul suffer from?

The verified answer is a brain tumour. Daniels was diagnosed in February 2016, after his fall had raised the possibility of a stroke (BBC News report). McGee said doctors told the family the tumour had spread too far for curative treatment (BBC News interview coverage).

What was Paul Daniels’ cause of death?

• A brain tumour diagnosed in February 2016 (BBC News report).
• Incurable and inoperable; doctors told the family it had spread too far for curative treatment (BBC News interview coverage).
• A later BBC report identified it as a glioblastoma, described by McGee as fast-growing (BBC News later profile).

The medical record is consistent from the February diagnosis to the later identification of the tumour type (BBC News later profile), which makes the misfire in search results harder to justify.

The implication: on the medical facts, there is no ambiguity in the record. The ambiguity lives in search results that answer a “Paul” question with the wrong Paul.

Does Debbie McGee have a partner now?

McGee has continued her stage and television career since Daniels’s death, and she has spoken openly about grief and life after Paul (BBC News interview coverage).

A current relationship status, however, is not documented in the coverage reviewed here. A definitive answer would have to come from McGee herself in a recent interview — anything else is speculation.

What has Debbie McGee said about life after Paul?

• She described his final weeks publicly — the tumour’s spread, the return home, his death with her at his side (BBC News interview coverage).
• She has remained a visible figure in British entertainment and continues to speak about his legacy (BBC News later profile).

The trade-off: public grief can be well documented while a private life stays private. Fans waiting for a definitive answer are waiting for McGee to say so herself.

Key dates in Paul Daniels’ life

Seven dates, one pattern: the first five rows tick along in decades and years, then the final two arrive weeks apart.

Read as a whole, the takeaway is quiet: a life documented in decades, then in days. The BBC’s reports from February and March 2016 compress the entire final act into six weeks (BBC News report).

Confirmed facts vs what’s unclear

Separating the two is the job of a fact-first obituary. Everything below comes from the same lineage of BBC reporting; the guesses live in what that coverage leaves out.

Confirmed

• Born Newton Edward Daniels on 6 April 1938 (BBC News profile).
• Died 17 March 2016, aged 77, at home in Berkshire (BBC News obituary).
• Married Debbie McGee in 1988; she was with him when he died (BBC News interview coverage).
• Diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour in February 2016 (BBC News report).
• Catchphrase: “You’ll like this… not a lot, but you’ll like it!” (BBC News obituary).

What’s unclear

• Exact net worth and probate figures vary by source; the BBC’s coverage publishes no total (BBC News later profile).
• Reported “last words” carry no named family interview (BBC News obituary).
• Bible-related “Paul” health queries are about the Apostle Paul, not the magician; the verified illness is the brain tumour (BBC News report).
• Debbie McGee’s current relationship status is not documented in the coverage reviewed here (BBC News interview coverage).
• Siblings and a possible nephew are not named in the verified obituary record (BBC News obituary).

The pattern: every item on the left is a date, a name or a medical fact; every item on the right is a number, a quote or a family rumour. The record is strongest exactly where the questions are most personal.

Three voices from the record

“You’ll like this… not a lot, but you’ll like it!”

Paul Daniels, sign-off from The Paul Daniels Magic Show (BBC News obituary)

Doctors told the family that the tumour had spread too far for curative treatment.

Debbie McGee, in BBC News interview coverage

The programme made Daniels one of Britain’s most prominent television magicians.

Assessment in BBC News later profile

Read together, the three voices tell one arc: the performer who wrote his own catchphrase, the wife who described the medical reality, and the broadcaster that placed him in television history.

Remembering Paul Daniels

Paul Daniels made the impossible look easy, and the weeks after his death showed how fast the record blurs. The verified facts — the 1938 birth in Middlesbrough, the 1979 BBC show, the February 2016 diagnosis, the death on 17 March 2016 — trace to one consistent line of BBC reporting (BBC News obituary). For anyone searching “Paul Daniels cause of death” or “Paul Daniels net worth”, the implication is clear: start with the obituary record, or keep getting answers about the wrong Paul.

Frequently asked questions

These answers trace to the same BBC record used throughout this article.