Paul O’Grady has warned that he plans to become TV’s bad boy once he turns 60.

The dog-loving presenter fronts shows such as The Paul O’Grady Show, For The Love Of Dogs and Animal Orphans, but said his upcoming birthday wouldn’t see him retire into a genteel style.

He told TV Times: “I’m hitting 60 this year and I’ve decided that means I can do what I like.

Paul O'Grady
Paul O’Grady (Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA)

“Everyone is so anodyne on television, nobody says anything and it’s all so twee, it drives me mad. But I don’t mean I’ll turn into Katie Hopkins … She’s awful. Anyone over two stone is accused of being a glutton.”

Paul added that he’d had a rather awkward encounter with the royal family during a visit to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, where he films For The Love Of Dogs.

He said: “There’s never been a corgi in – and, lo and behold, two days before she arrived we got this huge 12-year-old corgi, so we had him there to meet her.

The Queen and Paul O'Grady at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home
The Queen met Paul O’Grady and a corgi at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home (Ben Stansall/PA)

“Amanda Holden was there and asked her if she wanted to re-home it. The Queen said no and the Duke of Edinburgh gave Amanda a look that would melt concrete.

“She said to me afterwards, ‘I think I’ve upset the Queen,’ and I said, ‘I know you have! She’s in her 80s, why does she want a corgi who’ll attack her other dogs while she breaks her neck over them? She doesn’t want that’.”