Sticky Vicky’s daughter reveals Benidorm legend’s touching dying wish as she blasts ‘imposters’ who rip-off X-rated show
BENIDORM legend Sticky Vicky’s daughter has pledged to fulfil her mum’s “last wish” by scattering her ashes in the sea off the famous Costa Blanca resort following her cremation today.
The 80-year-old died of heart failure yesterday morning after spending 12 days at Villajoyosa Hospital, near the Costa Blanca resort.
Maria Gadea Aragues, who lost her famous mum on her 42nd birthday, is keeping her mum’s name alive by performing the same raunchy magic she did for generations.
She adopted Sticky Vicky’s trademark name after her mum’s shock cancer diagnosis in 2016 ended a 35-year career entertaining British tourists in Benidorm.
Maria told The Sun: “We don’t want people coming to the funeral parlour and we’ve decided not to do a mass or anything public like that.
“What we’re going to do is cremate her and then get together as a family with her ashes and scatter them in the sea in a cove somewhere in Benidorm which was my mum’s last wish.
“She loved the sea and the beach and nature in general. It relaxed her and she felt passionate about it.”
The famous entertainer’s daughter also blasted “imposters” who have tried to copy her mum’s X-rated shows.
“We know my mum had a lot of British fans and was important and brought a lot of tourism to the town,” Maria said.
“But since her retirement after she fell ill with cancer what I’ve seen is any old performer being allowed to go on stage using the name of my mother and claiming they were related when they were in reality imposters who were lying to the public.
“They haven’t had an ounce of respect for what my mother did and what she’s done for Benidorm.
“I’m talking for instance about business owners and the women themselves.
“No-one has defended her name and that includes the fans who have gone to see these imposters perform and has left me with the impression my mum was just a number. It’s disappointed me.
“That’s why we’ve decided to say our last goodbyes to my mum as a family and do it in private rather than turn it into a public event.
“We’re the people who have respected her and have honoured her, myself, my brother, her two grandchildren, one of whom is a social worker and the other a nursery worker, and her sister who is 79.”
Maria was by her mum’s bedside when she died and revealed she passed away as they were changing her morphine bottle.
She said yesterday: “It’s my 42nd birthday today but it’s not going to be a day of celebration obviously and it will be a day I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”
Speaking of the last days of Sticky Vicky, real name Maria Victoria Aragues Gadea, Maria – who combined her work as an artist with her mum’s full-time care – said: “On Tuesday I wanted to take my mum home and try to get her to eat something, thinking that she’d be more comfortable out of hospital because I knew she didn’t like hospitals.
“But they thought in hospital she looked worse. Her heart proved to be the most complicated thing.
“She had recovered from cancer years ago and been given the all-clear but she had dementia which causes problems for your head as well as your organs.
“She also had an injury in a heart valve and she had had an arrhythmia and in the end everything it all adds up.
“It weakened her and it led to her not eating and the arrhythmia led to her lungs swelling and her going down with an infection and not eating.
“We were in Villajoyosa Hospital. I was at the Benidorm Fancy Dress Party on November 16 in the afternoon and my mum stayed at home.
“Then I went to work and when I returned home in the early hours she was in a very bad way and so I took her to hospital.
“We were in A&E and from that day to the day she died we remained in hospital.
“The cause of death is going to be heart failure due to her heart valve injury and the arrhythmia which also harmed her kidney and will have been linked also to the dementia.
It’s my 42nd birthday today but it’s not going to be a day of celebration obviously and it will be a day I’ll remember for the rest of my life
Maria Gadea Aragues
“She had moments over those 12 days when she was more conscious and awake than others but because she had difficulty breathing they were sedating her so she didn’t suffer too much.
“She wanted to come home because she doesn’t like hospitals and she wanted some peace and quiet.
“But she was happy when we went to see her and we laughed and recalled some of the crazy things in her life.
“The dementia affected her walking but she recognised us and always wanted to be with me. I lived with her and we did everything together.
“I even took her to the gym with me when I went because I couldn’t leave her alone because of things like the risk she might fall.”
Sticky Vicky was born in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain and spent decades performing as an illusionist and dancer.
She added: “My mum’s life has been amazing. She’s done everything she wanted to do and nobody has imposed anything on her because she hasn’t allowed it to happen.
“She didn’t set out to become as famous as she did as Sticky Vicky. It was something fortuitous.
“She came to Benidorm on holiday and tried her luck and it proved an unexpected success.”
Maria said lots of stories that emerged about her mum over the years have been wrong.
“She was never married as people have said,” she explained.
“She had a boyfriend who was a police officer she met when she was 50.
“I don’t know my dad and my brother who is older than me has the same mum but a different father.
“There won’t be any former partners of my mum present when we scatter her ashes, just close family.
I don’t know my dad and my brother who is older than me has the same mum but a different father
Maria Gadea Aragues
“I feel very proud of the mother I’ve had. We are all broken-hearted. I am going to miss her a lot.
“I want her name to live on through my shows. The firm where I work is closed at the moment and we’ll start up again towards the end of December.
“I have her name trademarked because she passed it on to me and I perform as the daughter of Sticky Vicky.
“I do a few minutes of acrobatics before doing the magic show. It’s a show you have to go to see live because I can’t put pictures online. It would be a lack of respect.
“Whoever wants to go and see it is free to do so.”