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'He just couldn't get over what had happened with Matt'
Matt and Kevin
Matt Lucas's former civil partner found dead
Kevin McGee, the former civil partner of Little Britain star Matt Lucas, has been found dead, hours after apparently posting a message on Facebook suggesting he was considering suicide.
According to the Sun, police in Edinburgh broke into his flat yesterday morning to find him hanged. Three hours earlier a message on Facebook read: "Kevin McGee thinks that death is much better than life". Lucas was reported to be "utterly destroyed" by the news.
"Police were called to an address in Bruntsfield Gardens, Edinburgh at around 8am [yesterday], where a 32-year-old man was found dead," Lothian and Borders police said in a statement. "There are no suspicious circumstances, and a report will be sent to the procurator fiscal."
A friend of Lucas told the Sun: "Matt was floored when he heard the news. He always loved Kevin, despite their differences and their difficult marriage." Lucas is currently starring in the West End in Prick Up Your Ears, playing Kenneth Halliwell, who committed suicide after murdering his lover, the playwright Joe Orton.
The couple met in 2002 when McGee worked for Comic Relief and before Lucas became internationally famous due to the success of Little Britain. Their civil partnership ceremony at a register office three years ago was celebrated with a pantomime-themed reception attended by celebrities including Elton John, Will Young and Paul O'Grady, with Lucas costumed as Aladdin and McGee as Prince Charming.
Their relationship ended in September of last year, with Lucas employing Mishcon de Reya, who represented the late Diana, Princess of Wales and Heather Mills in their divorces, for the high court settlement where their partnership was officially dissolved. Lucas had cited McGee's "unreasonable behaviour".
In June, Lucas told the Times that he still felt "very protective" towards McGee, and in the Evening Standard last month said: "Time is a great healer. We have an agreement we both honour that we won't discuss the circumstances surrounding it. But I'm OK."
One of McGee's friends told the Daily Mirror: "All of his friends saw the Facebook messages, we are just devastated we were too late to stop him. Kevin had a problem with coke, he had been in rehab in the south coast and London but nothing seemed to help.
"He went to Edinburgh, and tried to take up sport to focus his mind. But he had a relapse, he just couldn't get over what had happened with Matt."
