QUIT BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!
Those close to Aussie star Paul Hogan hold grave fears for his health
Seen strolling out of a medical building near his LA home and whistling a cheerful tune, Paul Hogan looked like he didn’t have a care in the world.
But as soon as the Crocodile Dundee star was outside, he immediately lit up a cigarette – despite sources telling us his ex-wife Linda Kozlowski has been begging him to stop ahead of his 80th birthday next month.
PUFFING PAUL
Woman’s Day can confirm he still shares a close relationship with his Dundee co-star Linda, who lives a five-minute journey from his modest Venice Beach home and visits him several times a week, as they continue to co-parent their 20-year-old son Chance.
“Linda used to ride Hoges for smoking in front of their child, and rightly so since Chance now smokes, too,” says our source.
Despite their son cleaning up his act somewhat, Linda and Paul still have their fears for him – when he was just 16 he was spotted lighting up what appeared to be a bong on the balcony of his dad’s home.
“But now Linda is becoming all too aware of Paul’s age. He’s no spring chicken and the years of hard living are starting to show. He’s definitely looking his age, and doctors are paying a lot more attention to him and his health needs than they used to.”
Linda has moved on and is reportedly married to her Moroccan business partner Moulay Hafid Babaa, but according to a close friend she still has a lot of love for Paul, who turns 80 on October 8.
“Paul’s had an incredible life and she can’t imagine the world without him in it,” the friend explains. “She’s constantly badgering him to have regular health check-ups, and to give up the cigarettes, because she wants him around for a long while yet.”
HEALTH WARNING
Paul hit headlines in 2018 when images surfaced of him sucking back a smoke in Melbourne, when he was working on the set of the new Crocodile Dundee movie, The Very Excellent Mr Dundee. It was a shock to fans, especially given he had previously said he regretted starring in a series of ads for Winfield in the 1970s.
In 2013, he said, “At the time, 1971 or something, they used to say, ‘Doctors recommend…’ or, ‘Nine out of 10 doctors prefer…’ We were all being conned.
“When they put the medical warning in there I said, ‘I’m going to get out of this. Young ones were taking up smoking and all going for Winfield. It was a staggering success, but I was a drug dealer. Who knew, then?”
Last year, despite apparently still having his own hankering for tobacco, Hoges partnered up with Cure Cancer to help raise awareness and funds for scientific research into the killer disease.