Hollyoaks legend Paul Danan was tragically found dead earlier this week aged 46. He was remembered by many as a “sweet, vulnerable, big-hearted guy” despite having his battles with addiction.

The star left a lasting impact on those around him, including fellow entertainer Dapper Laughs – real name Daniel O’Reilly. The friends met while working together on a West End play in 2020 and remained close in Paul’s final years.

Dapper Laughs shared some of Paul’s final moments with the press including voice messages that he had been sent. According to The Sun, in one Paul checked in on his friend, as he said: “My brother, just thought I’d touch base really see how you are, how you’re feeling. All that jazz. Your therapist Pauly is here.”

Dapper replied in another voice note, as he confessed: “I’m fighting a similar to what you’ve been fighting for years, the self-destructive stuff. From the point that we’re rehearsing, I wanna go completely sober, no booze, nothing.”

Paul replied with another message, saying: “So so happy. I know that. I know, I know Dan, I know, I know you are. I know you’re one of us.

“I knew it the minute we left and you were like, ‘Let’s go and have a beer.’ That’s me, that’s f*****g me. Don’t you think I wanted to? I don’t anymore because I know that I don’t need it.”

In a pep talk, the late actor continued: “We don’t need it. Look at us on the couch. We’re the best of ourselves. We’re dynamic, buzzing, brilliant. We don’t need any of that s**t.

“We’re better, we’re the best of ourselves without it. With it, it makes us weaker. It makes us less than what we were meant to be.”

Daniel shared a touching tribute when he heard the devastating news of his friend’s death. Posting to social media he said: “I don’t normally comment on people passing away, but I really wanted to say a few words about Paul.

“It’s upset me today hearing about him passing. He helped me, and he was so nice to me. He was my pal.”

He added how Paul had helped to “change his life”, sharing: “Paul actually helped me change my life. People close to me obviously had said that I had a drink problem back in the day, but he was the first person to really put a label on it and introduced me to what that was.”