Matt Lucas’s ex-partner commits suicide

The former civil partner of Little Britain comedian Matt Lucas has hanged himself after posting a message on his Facebook page saying: "Kevin McGee thinks that death is much better than life".

Lucas is said to be "utterly destroyed" by the news and has pulled out of the play, Prick up Your Ears, he is currently appearing in at London's Comedy Theatre. In the play, he takes the role of Kenneth Halliwell, the man who bludgeoned his lover Joe Orton to death in 1967 before killing himself.

McGee, a 32-year-old TV producer, lived in Edinburgh. Police found his body after breaking into his apartment early on Monday after being alerted by friends.

Their marriage was one of the most high-profile of the new civil partnerships made legal at the end of 2005. Guests at a panto-themed wedding reception included Elton John, who came as Captain Hook, and Courtney Love as the Queen of Hearts.

But it proved to be a rocky relationship as Lucas found fame in Britain and America and in January this year they became one of the first gay couples to have a civil partnership officially dissolved, having broken up in September 2008. Lucas hired Mishcon de Reya, the London law firm used by Heather Mills and the late Diana, Princess of Wales, to deal with the settlement.

Lucas told the Times this summer that McKee, whom he met in 2002 when he was working as a producer for Comic Relief, had never asked to be in the public eye. Lucas said he remained "very protective" towards him. He also revealed that he had started another relationship but refused to say with whom. ·