T H E BE S T- SEL L I NG GAY M AGA Z I N E

D e c e m b e r 2 02 0

ES

A
N , B I TCH

U
OW
BOW D

D A
L I
E
P
N
TH OP E W B O S S
TOM ALLEN
THE UPS AND DOWNS OF
COMING OUT IN CURTAIN
TWITCHING BROMLEY

OF P

AGE OF
CONSENT
THE LONG FIGHT
FOR EQUAL LOVE

QUEER
COMICS
THE HISTORY OF
GAY SUPERHEROES
COLIN FIRTH
& STANLEY TUCCI
VIGGO MORTENSEN
AMANDA HOLDEN
attitude.co.uk £5.95
NICOLA ADAMS
SUNIL GUPTA
THE VAMPS
Francesco and Giacomo wear matching Home Suits in Navy Blue.
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December 2020

Agenda
9 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF’S LETTER
10 ATTITUDE LOVES
What we’re thirsty for this month
22 THE RULES
For beating the winter blues
23 THE BIG ISSUE p82
Safe sex during the pandemic
24 COLUMNIST – AMROU AL-KADHI
The healing power of drag Travel
26 BIG IN A WIG
Scarlett BoBo 93 JUST THE TICKET
The latest travel tips and news
Features p30 94 TELLING IT STRAIT
We sampled many Turkish delights
30 DUA LIPA during our luxury stay at Six Senses
Britain’s biggest pop star on being a Kocatas in Istanbul
gay icon — and making songs we just 96 HOT HOTEL
want to Lipa around to! Portrait Firenze, Florence
44 TOM ALLEN
How the comedian and Attitude Active
Awards 2020 host learned to
embrace his eccentricities and 100 HITTING THE RIGHT NOTE
queerness Former Union J star Josh Cuthbert
54 SWEET SIXTEEN strikes a chord about body image
As the 20th anniversary approaches, and mental health
we look back at the long battle to win 104 REAL BODIES
an equal age of consent Performer, fitness instructor and
60 SUPERNOVA life model Kage Douglas on the bare
Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci reflect necessities of life
on playing a gay couple who face an 108 A PROBLEM SHARED
uncertain future Dr Ranj is always here for you
64 THE VAMPS 109 MATT LISTER
The band are back with their new Fitness in focus
p64
album Cherry Blossom — and it’s
blooming marvellous
p44 Social
70 BRANDON TAYLOR
Provides a snapshot of queer black 112 LIFE LESSONS
life in his Booker-nominated tome, Boxing champion and Strictly Come
Real Life Dancing favourite Nicola Adams
72 SUNIL GUPTA 114 REVIEWS
Why the photographer embarked Books by Uli Lenart, films by Guy
on his journey to capture the LGBTQ Lodge, music by James Barr
experience
78 VIGGO MORTENSEN Style
On his directorial debut, about a
gay man caring for his ailing — and 118 CRUSH
homophobic — father Recycled looks
82 QUEER POWER 121 WARDROBE
How the superheroes have been Casual but cool
coming out in the comic books for 128 FASHIONLISTA
years Statement knits
88 BUSINESS PROFILE 130 GOLDEN HOUR
Michael Dankwah, Grin & Bear Escape to the countryside
146 FAVOURITE THINGS 144 GROOMING
Amanda Holden Love the skin you’re in

DECEMBER 2020 7
 Meet
Jamie Tabberer, web reporter
As well as countless depressing
Jeff Buckley lyrics, I’m always BEAM ME UP!

the
moved by the surprising profundity Moon water… soon to
of the Spice Girls’ 2 Become 1... appear atop the rider

team
especially Mel B’s line: “Free your requests of all self-
mind of doubt and danger. Be for respecting divas!
real, don’t be a stranger. We can
achieve it, we can achieve it.” No, POPE FRANCIS
this is not (solely) an excuse to COMES OUT…
WHAT IS YOUR print my picture with her. …in support of same-
FAVOURITE SONG sex civil unions. Make
LYRIC? your mind up, bruv

John Dunning, journalist RUDY BEHAVIOUR

“What else could I say? Everyone is gay” from Donald Trump’s attorney
All Apologies by Nirvana. These lyrics changed Rudy Giuliani’s dirty
the way I thought about myself as a gay teenager laundry exposed in
living in Africa. This song, together with Cobain’s new Borat film
portrait on the cover of The Face magazine
wearing Courtney Love’s floral housedress and THE LIBRARY IS
chipped cherry-red nail polish changed my life. BACK OPEN!
Drag Race UK has
Ru-sumed filming and
suddenly we have hope to
get through another day
James Barr, music columnist
The Saturdays’ “Whatcha doing

UP &
Saturday, girl? I’m doing nothing” from
Higher, the Flo Rida remix, natch. They
predicted lockdown — psychic! DOWN
WHAT WE’RE ROCKING
AND BLOCKING
P R I N T / O NLINE / TA B LET / M OBILE

Editor in chief Cliff Joannou Intern Lucia Joannou-Nair LITERAL PEOPLE

cliff.joannou@attitude.co.uk Subscriptions Enquiries Literally, like ones that
Features editor Tom Stichbury Head of partnerships Mike Buckley
thomas.stichbury@attitude.co.uk mike.buckley@attitude.co.uk attitude@warnersgroup.co.uk literally use ‘literally’ in
Sub editor Verity Willcocks 01778 392005 every sentence they say
vwillcocks@gmail.com Commercial manager Andy Goddard
andy.goddard@attitude.co.uk
Art director Gary Simons 020 3598 6741 Warners Subscription Department
PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE
gary.simons@attitude.co.uk Account manager Joanna Hill Freepost, PE211, Bourne,
Designer Laurène Pineau joanna.hill@attitude.co.uk PEOPLE
Lincolnshire PE10 9BR
laurene.pineau@attitude.co.uk 01342 872041 Say what you’re thinking or
Sales executive Tom Doyle
Fashion and grooming director tom.doyle@attitude.co.uk Attitude is now available through the just fuck off
Joseph Kocharian 01342 872 043 RNIB Newsagent service, which delivers
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joseph.kocharian@attitude.co.uk
Fashion assistant Sacha Dance Managing director Darren Styles OBE
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To subscribe to RNIB Newsagent, call the helpline
sacha.dance@attitude.co.uk Commercial director Craig Lewis on 0303 123 9999, or email them at: HELP OUT
Operations director Nigel Russell helpline@rnib.org.uk. rnib.org.uk Tory scrooges
Web editor Will Stroude Events manager Lesley Harris
will.stroude@attitude.co.uk against free meals for
Social media producer Copyright © Stream Publishing Ltd 2020 all rights reserved. vulnerable children
Joseph Ryan-Hicks No part of this magazine may be reproduced in whole or in part
joseph.ryan-hicks@attitude.co.uk without the written permission of the publishers. Unsolicited
Web reporter Jamie Tabberer contributions must be accompanied by a stamped addressed
envelope if they are to be returned. We cannot accept
END CREDITS?
jamie.tabberer@attitude.co.uk
responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts and photographs or for Cinemas are facing a tough
material lost or damaged in the post. Letters submitted to Attitude
Travel editor/staff photographer Attitude, The Cowshed, Ladycross Farm, or its editors are assumed to be intended for publication in whole time… support the arts,
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matthew.todd@attitude.co.uk Printed by Wyndeham Bicester Only 15 mates at a
wedding? We’re literally
attitude.co.uk @attitude.co.uk @attitudemag @attitudemag better off dead than wed

8 DECEMBER 2020
 Editor
in
Chief ’s
Letter

A
s we approach the 20th anniversary of the equal age of consent, which changed the law
to no longer criminalise men over the age of 16 for having sex with each other, it’s easy
to forget how important the moment was for us.
It took ten years for the Wolfenden Report to go from official enquiry (1957) to legislation
(1967). It was then an arduous battle to have the age of consent for sexual relations between
men reduced from 21 to 18. And it wasn’t until two men pursued a legal battle in the European
Court — the second time gay men had done so — that the frustrating back-and-forth battle
between the House of Commons and the House of Lords eventually [spoiler warning] led to an
equal age of consent of 16 for all, with the Bill coming into effect in January 2001. Hugh Kaye
takes a deep dive into the full story on p. 54. Younger readers would be wise to digest it. On
The message at the story’s core is just how hard it was for the queer community, activists and the
LGBTQ rights groups to convince even some of the most respected intellectuals and institutions, cover
such as universities, that equal rights are human rights. It’s the starkest of warnings for the
future in how important the European Union’s regard for human rights has been in putting the
UK on a path that would eventually lead to civil unions, same-sex marriage and the end of many
discriminatory laws, and the protections that followed. As a young teen
growing up in the ’90s, I remember the climate of fear that shrouded
being gay.
In his new book, No Shame, cover boy Tom Allen reflects on his early
“As a young teen
years growing up in south London and breaks the concept of shame in the ’90s, I
down to a desire to cling to the respect of the people around you. It’s a remember the
remarkably simple way to look at the prejudices and problems of the fear that shrouded
world, from changing our behaviour so we don’t stand out too much to being gay”
the validation people crave from the number of likes they accumulate
on Instagram. Photography Jonas Bresnan
Creative Direction
As Tom reveals in his cover story, p. 44, he was always an outsider Joseph Kocharian
and somewhat… peculiar. Embracing his childhood eccentricities eventually took Tom onto a Styling Lorenzo Posocco
Dua wears body suit and
journey to acknowledge his sexuality. I suppose while some display their queerness alongside trousers, both by David
their politics in a Pride parade, others simply wear it with a cravat. For Tom, it started with the Koma, chain belt, by Laura
Lombardi, pendant necklace
cravat and worked its way to Pride. by MOUNSER, chunky chain
I was never as outwardly bold as Tom. It took years for me to embrace my own queerness. necklace and bracelet by
Laura Lombardi, ear cuff by
But when I did, the world opened up for me and became a vivid place erupting with colour and Tom Wood
humour. Gradually, I started caring less and less about what others thought, and began to place
value on my happiness. Shaking the shackles of shame off is a frightful step to take at first. But
the benefits are limitless.
In the beginning, equality was about sex. Then it was about love. Today, it’s about finding
our place on the outside again. After the equal age of consent and the long fight for marriage
equality, the LGBTQ community is now having to reevaluate itself in the context of a world that
expects it to conform and fit in. Yet, this year of upheaval has highlighted how different we still
are — and that is something to be celebrated and elevated.
To embrace being a little bit queer — LGBTQ or otherwise — is to be comfortably on the
outside, away from the crowd. It means being able to open your mind and heart to other ways of
being and seeing. On the periphery of society’s expectations, there’s more space to breathe and
run free.
Photography Joseph Sinclair
Styling Joseph Kocharian
Tom wears suit, shirt, pocket
square and tie, all by Tommy
Hilfiger, socks, by Falke,
shoes, by Billy Ruffian
@CliffJoannou Thanks to Rufus the dog

DECEMBER 2020 9
 L VES

GANT X LUKE EDWARD

HALL
For their latest collection, GANT
have taken a stroll in a picturesque
English garden, teaming up with
master of vintage design, Luke
Edward Hall. Featuring floral prints
and embroidered animals, the range
embraces nature to its fullest,
with a pretty palette of clays,
warm pinks and spring greens. The
collaboration also incorporates
GANT’s statement sporty touches,
with long-sleeved polo shirts
and sweatshirts sitting alongside
1970s-inspired corduroy suits. It
all adds up to a charming fusion of
modern and vintage.

gant.co.uk

10 DECEMBER 2020
 FOCAL FOR BENTLEY
RADIANCE HEADPHONES
Bentley Motors is changing lanes with the launch of a new
headphones range — and we’re totally revved up for them.
Joining forces with sound experts Focal, the Bentley Radiance
Headphones combine impeccable design and refinement (as
you’d expect from the luxury British car manufacturer) alongside
cutting-edge audio. Finished with Bentley’s trademark copper
accents, a diamond lattice grill and earcups made from
super-soft Pittards gloving leather, this must-have gadget
definitely has va va vroom. Price: £1199.

shop.bentleymotors.com
 L VES

MCLAREN ELVA
Well, this is quite something.
McLaren’s latest expression of its
Ultimate Series of hypercars has
no roof (at all) and no windscreen,
leaving driver and passenger
exposed within that glorious,
swooping bodywork to anything
and everything the elements might
throw at it. Less of an issue in
Long Beach than Leeds, you might
imagine, but nonetheless the new
McLaren Elva looks to be targeted at
a niche within a niche. Still, with just
149 examples on offer at just over
£1.4m each there’s exclusivity as
standard. Striking, classic 1960s Gulf
racing livery is optional, however.

cars.mclaren.com

12 DECEMBER 2020
L VES

THE ITALIAN BOYS

It is time to meet The Italian Boys
(and, trust, it really is a pleasure).
NQV Media presents five short
films dripping with drama, sun-
kissed sensuality and, of course,
lots of boys — including 2017’s
Pipinara (pictured). Directed by
Ludovico Di Martino, the bite-
sized feature follows two young
men who while away the hours
playing football and performing
petty thefts, as they hatch a plan
to escape their small island town
for the mainland. Shining a light
on the gay experience on the Med,
the must-watch compilation is out
now. All that’s left to say is: prego!

nqvmedia.com

DECEMBER 2020 13
 L VES

TOM FORD BITTER

PEACH EAU DE PARFUM
The humble peach has become
iconic: think of the emoji and, of
course, Call Me By Your Name
(rather than the Academy
Award-winning Parasite…). Now
Tom Ford is feeling fruity with his
new fragrance, Bitter Peach. With
pêche de Vigne and Sicilian blood
orange, it is “explicitly sweet and
dangerously voluptuous. Like the
full-flavoured fruit at its most ripe,
the scent is erotic by nature.” Eau
De Parfum, 50ml, £228, available
from Selfridges, Brown Thomas,
Tom Ford Sloane St Boutique and
Tom Ford Beauty, Covent Garden

tomford.co.uk

14 DECEMBER 2020
L VES

CONNOLLY AW20
‘DRIVING’ COLLECTION
Connolly have put us in a spin
with their new ‘Driving’ collection,
which references the golden age of
classic cars and racing. Designer
Adam Cameron has created
practical yet luxurious pieces
ranging from long-sleeve woollen
‘car vests’, sweaters and down
jackets to traditional-style driving
gloves and even leather helmets
and goggles. Scream if you wanna
go faster!

connollyengland.com

DECEMBER 2020 15
 L VES

BARK & ROCK

Calling all out-and-proud stationery
gays — it is time to branch out with
luxury brand Bark & Rock. Combining
nature and clever craftsmanship,
the company’s collection of journals,
notepads and photo albums are
fashioned from wood veneers (and
stone) sourced from around the
world. Each handmade journal takes
four days to make in their Surrey-
based workshop and lasts a lifetime
(unless you leave it near an open
flame, that is). Beautifully besp-oak, it
is a gift to remem-burr. OK, we’ll stop
now… Prices start from £99.

barkandrock.com

16 DECEMBER 2020
L VES

PARAJUMPERS
FALL/WINTER 2020
For Fall/Winter 2020, Parajumpers
have revisited their men’s
Masterpiece line, conceived
in 2006 by Massimo Rossetti.
Collaborating with Italian fashion
designer Leonardo Fasolo, the brand
have redesigned these heritage
pieces, and used the latest fabric
technologies and dyeing techniques
to give them a contemporary
feel. These premium, down-filled,
oversized bomber jackets and parkas
come in an array of colours, including
pencil blue, forest green, black,
asphalt grey, and, of course, orange,
with the signature PJS detailing.

parajumpers.it

DECEMBER 2020 17
 L VES

Gentleman Urbane eau de Check it out! Checkered Men’s energy elevating body Apple Watch Series 6, £27 per
parfum, £19.99, by Yardley condom, £5, by Saint Laurent wash, £25, by James & Jake month (£19 upfront cost), by Apple
yardleylondon.co.uk ysl.com jamesandjake.com vodafone.co.uk

Christmas
Gift Guide
Shopping is no sweat with our
hand-picked selection, with the
perfect present for everyone
Iridescent alcohol-free herbal Soothing almond milk & honey
toner, £35, by Kiehl’s gift bag, £45, by The Body Shop
kiehls.co.uk bodyshop.co.uk

Keep water chilled with this cool The stylish Harris Cèilidh gin bottle, Soothe those lips with the Cosy yellow merino wool beanie,
bottle, £26, by Ted Baker £45, by Isle of Harris Distillery Butterstick, £19.50, by Kiehl’s £24.99, by Topman
tedbaker.com harrisdistillery.com kiehls.co.uk topman.com

18 DECEMBER 2020
 Under
£50

Hand-dipped taper candles, A tasty Espresso Martini Liqueur, Beats Flex earphones, £49.99, by Dare to be bold with this bright
£9.50 for 2, by Fairholme £22, by Hotel Chocolat Apple Tech meets Beats Sound sock box, £27.95, by Billy Ruffian
etsy.com/uk/shop/fairholme hotelchocolat.com apple.com billyruffianshoes.co.uk

Rock around the Xmas tree in Raw Naturals wash bag, £24.99, Laugh at Bunny’s latest antics, Collagen protein supplement for
these socks, £12, by Burlington by Boots £25.40, by Cartoon Called Life men, £26.99, by Absolute Collagen
burlington.de boots.com cartooncalledlife.com absolutecollagen.com

Brighter days with this calendar, Bespoke cakes and more, £12- Use the Cube with apps for games Collection of queer photos, $55,
£22.22, by Cartoon Called Life £60, by Peckish Moments and VR galore, £44.99, by Merge edited by Ghislain Pascal
cartooncalledlife.com peckishmoments.co.uk selfridges.com teneues-books.com

DECEMBER 2020 19
 £51 -
£100

Deluxe fragrance gift set, prices Altar bougie parfumée candle, Expert maintenance set for men Eros eau de toilette for men,
vary, by Hermès £59, by BYREDO — cleanse, exfoliate, moisturize prices vary, by Versace
notino.co.uk byredo.com luminskin.com notino.co.uk

FREE
board game
for the first
50 orders

It’s game on with this unique You can’t go wrong with these Sparkle with a special necklace, 12 bottles of wine, £80, 10% off
Pac-Man watch, £69, by Timex leather gloves, £75, by Ted Baker £90, by Vivienne Westwood code: ATTITUDE10 until 4/12/20
timex.co.uk tedbaker.com selfridges.com mostwantedwines.com

Home sweet home with a scent Solar Fuse Kryzik with air-cooled Great for exploring the world of Count down to Xmas with a beauty
diffuser, £64, by Jo Malone athletic comfort, £67, by Skechers anal play, £79, by Kandid calendar, £53, by L’Occitane
jomalone.co.uk skechers.com kandid.com uk.loccitane.com

20 DECEMBER 2020
 £101
+

Kindle Oasis, waterproof and Classic dive watch with Tritium Dual XL bracelet in sterling silver and Make It Real Together advent
with 32GB, £259.99, by Amazon illumination, £480, by Nite blue Kyanite stones, £120, by Hetariki calendar, £130, by The Body Shop
amazon.co.uk nitewatches.com hetariki.com bodyshop.com

Delicate links bracelet, £139, by Black home suit with long- Separation Anxiety diamond ring, Add a new dimension to your
Thomas Sabo sleeved shirt, £325, by CDLP £585, by Gothmos sexual desires, £139, by Kandid
thomassabo.com cdlp.com erebusstyle.com kandid.com

Black and green Denki half Silver chain link ring, from £129, Get organised with a handmade Stylish HDJ-CUE1 customisable
blazer, £865, by Dhenze by Thomas Sabo Herringbone TechRoll, £199, by Mantidy Pioneer DJ headphones, £89-£116
erebusstyle.com thomassabo.com mantidy.co.uk pioneerdj.com

DECEMBER 2020 21
 AVOID THE NEWS. Miss Rona? I

…for beating the winter blues don’t know her. Stick to funny cat
memes instead — did you see the
one with the wet ass pussy?

KEEP WARM by cosying up to a hot-

blooded man. Yes, Matt Hancock, we’re in an
established relationship, look how far he’s
established his dick inside our ass!

STAY ACTIVE. Exercise is super

important — endorphins and all that.
Start small by occasionally flexing your
index finger as you flick through Netflix.

SEE THE LIGHT. Make the most of the sun

when it is out. Great opportunity, too, to scare
little kids with your new wintry wardrobe!

USE YOUR TIME PRODUCTIVELY. As

the dark nights draw in, organise that
spice rack, sort out your sock drawer,
open the Pandora’s box containing your
repressed childhood memories…

CREATE A PLAYLIST OF POSITIVE VIBE

SONGS: S Club 7, Steps… how did I
Dreamed a Dream sneak in there? And
what is this hell I’m living?!

PRACTISE SELF-CARE. Check in with

your mental health each and every
day. If needs be, scream into your
local abyss every now and then.

HIBERNATE, HUNS. If all else

fails, sleep through it. Only
wake up at the touch of a
mighty prick. Gurl gotta eat!

PLAN SOMETHING TO LOOK

FORWARD TO. 2021 is totally
going to be our year. Oh, wait,
that’s what we said last year…

22 DECEMBER 2020
 BIG I S S U E

Frisky business
Dr Michael Brady, medical director at the Terrence Higgins Trust,
gives some advice for safe sex during the pandemic

S
ex is an important part of life how to reduce them. It’s about being “yes” to any of these questions, for either of
and, even during the challenges able to have discussions about STI and you, then don’t meet for sex.
of the current pandemic, it HIV testing, PrEP and contraception We also recommend that you limit your
should, as much as possible, stay that use, your HIV status and knowing the number of sexual partners and make sure you
way. With COVID-19 unlikely to vanish fact that effective HIV treatment means wash your hands or use hand sanitiser before
from our lives any time soon, we all people living with HIV can’t pass it on. and after sex.
have to find ways that balance our The only difference to our messaging It’s also important to stress that if you’ve
need for intimacy with actions that could now is this approach to informed decision- had COVID-19 before, it doesn’t mean that you
further spread the virus. making is also being used to address the risk of are protected from being infected again.
Our core advice that we’ve issued from the spread of COVID-19. You may be extra vigilant about your
the start of the COVID-19 pandemic is to We are all continuing to learn how to live general health at the moment, but don’t
follow government guidance and that your with COVID-19, the guidance is changing at a forget the sexual aspect. Help and support is
safest sexual partner is yourself or another rapid pace and differs depending on where still available for those who want to access
consenting adult within your household. you live. As infection rates continue to climb, STI and HIV testing and contraception.
Expecting people to abstain from sex it is even more essential that steps to reduce Sexual health clinics are open, although they
indefinitely is not realistic. This approach to are working differently to maintain social
sex and sexual health promotion has never
worked, and the recent confusion about
“Your safest sex partner distancing and reduce the risk of COVID-19,
so check the website of your local clinic or
what counts as an ‘established relationship’ is yourself or an adult give them a call to find out how to use their
and what doesn’t certainly hasn’t helped within your household” services. There is also the option of postal HIV
matters. It’s also left people who are not in and STI testing in most parts of the country.
an ‘established relationship’ without much your exposure to the virus should be factored Throughout the past nine months of
support or advice and feeling overlooked. into decision-making around sex. the pandemic, there has not been enough
As a nation, we still don’t always feel The THT publishes a simple guide that recognition about the impact COVID-19 is
comfortable talking about sex, but now, provides practical advice about having sex having on our relationships and sex lives and,
perhaps more than ever, clear information and during the pandemic. There is currently no arguably, for the sake of our mental health,
advice to support this is needed. That’s why evidence that COVID-19 can be passed on sex and intimacy is even more important now
Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) is unambiguous sexually, but certainly the close physical to help relieve anxiety and stress.
that everyone – regardless of relationship contact of sex will increase the risk of Sex should still be fun, but our approach
status – should be having honest and open contracting or passing on the virus. to it has to change to reflect the times we’re
conversations ahead of having sex. The most important thing is to have a living through. Being aware of how to reduce
This is an important approach to ensuring conversation with your sexual partner – or avoid risks and having open and honest
good sexual health for all and we’ve been regardless of whether they are a new one or conversations is one way we can better
issuing this kind of advice, as a way to reduce not – about whether they, or anyone else support each other and get back to more
the risk of HIV or other STIs, for nearly 40 years. in their household, has had symptoms of normal times as soon as possible.
The starting point is being aware of the risks COVID-19, has tested positive for COVID-19 or
and being able to make informed decisions on has been advised to isolate. If the answer is tht.org.uk

DECEMBER 2020 23
 In my view

# IN STA M A N THIS
ISSUE
ANTHONY GILET AMROU AL-KADHI MAX WALLIS JONNY WOO
@lexcottone

NEW YORK-BASED DANCER

ALEX COTTONE HAS A HABIT OF
Why drag is my lifeline
DANCING IN HIS BIRTHDAY SUIT
– AND WE ARE VERY MUCH HERE Performing live in drag heals me. During shit week — however that manifests, whether
FOR IT a pandemic that has all but annihilated I’ve been dumped by a boy, or I’m subjected to
the live arts sector, I’ve felt the loss of live racism on Grindr — the first thing I do is book
performance more deeply than I could ever a gig to perform in. Because for that hour, in
have anticipated. that room, nothing else exists. Losing that
As someone who suffers with OCD, it’s privilege during this pandemic has allowed a
hard for me to feel truly present in any great number of anxieties to fester inside me,
given situation. A calm walk in a park will be with no available outlet except my brain.
interrupted by outlandish Outside drag, it’s hard for
fears that have no basis “In drag, I am able me to deal with these most
prevalent fears. Decades of
in reality; a long-overdue
conversation with a friend
to access my most familial rejection has meant
will be ruined by the bully in vulnerable side” that it’s difficult for me to
my head, screaming at me open up in relationships,
for whatever I have just said. and I’m a bundle of terror ahead of every
No doubt about it, this pic is an As I write this column, I’ve had to wrestle Tinder date. But somehow, in drag, I am able
absolute, ahem, tree-t. with my mental dictators, who try to pull me to access the most vulnerable side of myself
away from the task at hand to ruminate over in a room of hundreds, with absolutely no
things I have absolutely no control nerves whatsoever.
over. For me, the only place when I The armour of makeup and costume,
feel truly connected to the here of presenting myself in a way that I
and now, when my brain is envision, gives me the confidence to
embodied in the present space, access the truest sides of myself –
is when I’m performing live and to sublimate that trauma into
in drag. glory for an audience. It’s a form
It’s the intense of therapy, of using my base
connection with an experiences to connect with a
audience, who I’m room of strangers, allowing my
inviting to buy into biggest fears to become a source
the rules of the new of entertainment and joy. To,
When downward dogging goes reality I’m presenting hopefully, find resonance with
wrong — are you OK, hun? them with, that brings others who are also seeking
me joy. This contract an hour of escape from
is based on trust, and their lives, albeit on the
in exchange for their other side of the stage
full hour’s attention, from me.
there’s nothing else for And so
me to do but I hope, for
live in that fellow queer
moment. performers
The entire and audience
outside members
world – no alike, who
matter how desperately seek the stage in
terrifying it is – ceases to order to feel whole and find
Cracking views. Now, if only Alex
would lower the crop ever so exist inside the drag show connection with other people’s
slightly… continuum. stories, that live arts find a way
If I’ve had an especially to survive in our new world.

24 DECEMBER 2020
 Scarlett
BoBo sandalwood, tobacco, tequila
Turning up the heat on
and sweat.
Canada’s Drag Race,
You’ve started a cult. What is it
Scarlett BoBo came this
about?
close to snatching the
It would be an army of
crown — and the fire-
#BoBoSexuals, who want
swallowing circus queen
to take over the world and
can’t wait to smoke out
spread the word of punk
the competition on a
kindness – and force everyone
future All Stars
to play Fortnite!
Let’s play Cluedo. You’ve been
slayed: who did it, where and
with what?
What were your rejected drag It was Jimbo. In the dressing
names? room. With my Louboutin!
This rude AF drag queen used What does it say on your
to call me Scarlett Herpes and it gravestone?
drove me absolutely insane! “She partied hard, lived hard,
Describe yourself in three and died hard. Here lies Scarlett
emojis. BoBo. Dance on her grave with
love and passion.”
Describe your drag style in five Which Drag Race sister would
words. you haunt?
Powerful. Defiant. Loud. Boa. Her verse, “Scarlett BoBo,
Unapologetic. Supportive. your looks are a no-no”, will for
Best pick-up line someone has ever haunt me!
said to you? You can spend 24 hours in
“You’re hot. Wanna smash?” Not another person’s shoes. Who
gonna lie, I was like, “OK, that’s would it be?
forward… I just might!” My mother, because I would
What’s the worst thing someone love to experience the strength
could say to you in bed? she feels every single day. I
“Do you smell that?” think one day with her strength
How would (or does) your could get me through a lifetime
Grindr profile read? of crap.
Don’t be an asshole, don’t be You’ve been abducted by aliens.
mean, don’t be one of those What is your parting message
toxic ‘masc’ dudes. Be kind ’cos to Earth?
it’s the best! I would say, “Don’t fuck it up!”
Biggest turn-on? “The best pick-up line someone but we’re already past that.
A great smile, nice arms and a So… “See ya, SUCKERS! Oh, btw, I
huge… personality. has said to me is, ‘You’re hot. forgot to flush the toilet!”
Biggest turn-off? Wanna smash?’” The library has re-opened. Give
Mean gays. us one last read.
What is your safe word? Ugh, I hate reading! Whatever,
“More, please!” I’m better than all you losers
What keeps you awake at night? object in the world, what would A tequila. It’s cheap, hard and and I’ll prove it (hopefully) on
Crippling anxiety. And my you be? you always end up causing All Stars!
fiancé rolling over on me. A pillow. You’re comforting, always trouble after.
What’s your life motto? there when somebody needs you, What would your fragrance be All episodes of Canada’s Drag
Be you. Break the rules. Fuck and you get to cuddle everyone. called, and what ingredients Race are available to watch on
shit up. Which cocktail best suits your would it contain? BBC iPlayer
If you could be any inanimate personality? Regret. [It would contain] @itsscarlettbobo

26 DECEMBER 2020
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 A Lipa
Faith
Reigning supreme in the charts,
Britain’s pop princess holds court
about misogyny in the music industry,
trolling, and fighting for the rights of
her LGBTQ fans
Words Thomas Stichbury
Photography Jonas Bresnan
Creative Direction Joseph Kocharian
Styling Lorenzo Posocco

Dua wears top and

trousers, both by
JW Anderson, shoes,
by Amina Muaddi
Dua Lipa

>
 he forecast is foggy on the day of my face-to-face chat
with Dua Lipa. No matter how much I fiddle with the
positioning of my spectacles over my mask, the lenses
are engulfed by a thick mist – curse my extra-strength,
plastic-penetrating nostril breath!
At various points, the interview is legitimately a blur
– but Britain’s biggest pop star is sympathetic. “That is
a thing, right, when I put sunglasses on with my mask,
they fog up,” she sighs, reassuringly adding: “Well, you
look really cute.” Turns out one of the few things the
coronavirus hasn’t entirely diminished is my specs appeal.
Of course, a flickering light in this year’s COVID
19-cloaked darkness was Dua’s superlative second
album, Future Nostalgia, a pop orgasm of a record that
expertly tickled the all-important G-spot: the eardrums
of gay men across the land, keeping us coming back for
more. And more. And, yes, yes, yes, more. (Physical is pure
genius, just saying.)
The singer brought forward the release to the
beginning of lockdown following a leak, and admits
she was hesitant to do so. “It could have gone one of two
ways; there are lots of people suffering and it could be
something they don’t want to hear, or it could be really
helpful at a time like this. I created it to get away from
outside pressures, to make something fun and exciting
and that just felt good, [and] I was, like, maybe it is the
perfect time to put it out.”
Rocketing to number one in the UK music charts in
April, Dua’s sophomore offering confirmed the ascension
of a global superstar. “I knew when I was making it that
I had something that I was really proud of, and in that >

32 DECEMBER 2020
 Dua Lipa

Dua wears top, by No.21,

necklace, by MOUNSER,
cuff earring, by Tom Wood
 Dua wears top, by Miu Miu,
trousers, by Philosophy,
shoes, by Amina Muaddi,
rings, by Hot lips by Solange,
cuff earring, by Tom Wood

34 DECEMBER 2020
 Dua Lipa

sense, it felt special to me because I had unlocked this potential into a glorious blaze. “I was always building
newfound confidence within myself. I felt so much more momentum in some way, even if it was just a little bit,
confident in being in the studio and claiming my space,” whether that was the shows I was performing in getting
she recalls. “It is my baby.” bigger, going back to the same city and seeing the same
Dua adds: “I had pressure to begin with, of people – faces, but then also new people – all those things are mini
especially after the Grammys – being like, ‘Right, well, now victories that I was going in the right direction, whatever
you’ve really got to pull your socks up and show us what way that was,” Dua notes.
you’ve got.’ In my head, I was like, ‘OK, fuck… I really have to “The music video for [New Rules] was something
prove that I deserve to be here.” that completely took off. Did I know that was going to
Last year, Dua received two Grammy Awards for best new happen? Absolutely not. I’m so grateful for that song
artist and best dance recording. In 2018, she became the because it opened so many doors for me, especially
first female artist to pick up five nominations at the Brit Stateside. If it wasn’t for New Rules, I’d probably still be
Awards, going on to win the British breakthrough act and trying. I feel like everything happened in the right way…
British female solo artist gongs. Her 2017 self-titled debut it’s meant to be.”
album is also the most-streamed That sentiment of “meant
by a female artist in Spotify to be” speaks to a steely
history. Impressive stuff. determination that Dua seems to

“On my first
Despite these accolades, for a have in droves. Born in London
long time the chart-topper felt to Kosovar Albanian parents,
she had to repeatedly make her
case for her seat at the table. record, I felt who fled war-torn Kosovo in
1992, the family returned to
“That’s just being a woman in I needed to Kosovo’s capital Pristina when

prove that I
the industry. A lot of people see Dua was 11 years old. She moved
it, particularly in pop music, that back to the UK four years later to
you’re manufactured or whatever,
so you have this underlying
am an artist” pursue music.
“It’s that thing of being the
pressure or anxiety to constantly ‘new girl’, you constantly have
prove [yourself] to people, to try to make friends, when
especially when you write your everybody’s already created their
own lyrics,” she explains. groups. That was a bit hard in Kosovo… I thought that
“While I was creating my first record, when I would go when I went there, people would find my name ‘normal’
into studio sessions, I felt like I needed to prove to the [but] it wasn’t common there, either, so I was the Albanian
people I was going in the room with that I could write and girl with the English accent… but it was incredible to learn
that I do this myself and that I am an artist, [that] I’m not about my culture, my roots and my history,” she says.
just going to sit there in the room and wait for somebody “While I was in Kosovo, I realised how much I wanted to
to write a song for me. You have to work a little bit harder do music. I always loved to sing and perform, but I knew
to be taken seriously.” the only way I could get what I wanted was to be in a place
Sat on a sofa in a studio in north London, wearing a where everything was happening and that, for me, was
hoodie and corduroy trousers – proving that, yes, corduroy London. I was fortunate that my parents had moved to
is fucking cool – Dua revisits the turbo-charged turning London during the war and that I had the opportunity to
point of her career: her smash-hit New Rules and that video, come back and make my dream come true.”
which has clocked up over 2.2 billion views on YouTube. Many parents wouldn’t be so trusting of their teenage
The dynamite song was the sixth single from her first offspring. “Them allowing me to do that brought us even
album, and almost overnight it ignited her crackling pop closer… It made our bond stronger. When I was away, >

DECEMBER 2020 35
 whatever was happening, the first people I’d call were my music festival in Kosovo, which is named after her folks’
best friends: my parents.” hometown. “We started becoming really close because we
That said, Dua didn’t jump at a recent opportunity were constantly texting and talking, and it just happened…
to shack up with her mother and father, namely Anesa it’s the perfect mix of both of us; it’s got a lot of attitude,
and Dukagjin. “I thought I was going to have to be in and it’s playful, sexy and cute. We had a blast doing it and
lockdown with my parents because I had a flood in my shooting the video.”
apartment. They were, like, ‘You should stay here,’ and I Expect a whole lotta mullet, too, because Miley is giving
was, like, ‘Yeah… I don’t know how long this is going to us glam rock-meets-Tiger King. “I’m obsessed with it,” Dua
last, I’m going to get an Airbnb for now.’ They’re the best, laughs. “I had the bleached hair for a bit and my ends
but I don’t think being under one roof, non-stop, is the started breaking off and I was, like, ‘This is a traumatic
vibe – I haven’t lived with them since I was 15!” experience.’ We [Miley and I] had a full heart-to-heart about
Earlier this summer, the hitmaker received the royal how my bleached ends are just not doing it. She said,
seal of approval from the queen of pop herself, Madonna. ‘Babes, you’re going to end up with a mullet like this.’ I was
The pair collaborated on a star-studded version of Dua’s like, ‘But you make it look really cute, if I had a mullet, it
track Levitating (alongside Missy just wouldn’t work.’”
Elliott and DJ Blessed Madonna) Like Madge and Miley, the
that appeared on the remix album, 25-year-old has earned her

“It’s entirely
Club Future Nostalgia. Further rainbow stripes as a gay icon. “It’s
proof that Dua’s currency right really hard to refer to myself as
now really is Hotter Than Hell…
“I said to my manager, ‘I know a right to be that,” she begins, modestly. “But
I’m trying to channel that energy.”
this is super-crazy… do you think able to love To help Dua channel that very

who you
we could reach out and see if energy, I casually mention that I
Madonna’s into it?’ He was, like, ‘The have a travel-sized douche in my
worst they can say is, no.’ All right,
fuck it, let’s see. Madonna got back
want” bag (yes, before you ask, I am in
an established relationship).
to us and she was into the idea, she “You what?!” she squeals,
loved it — and then she called me clapping her hands. “I’m obsessed
on the phone,” she exclaims. with you.”
“I was nervous, but she was really nice. We had a Dua continues: “I’m grateful to have such an incredible
20-minute conversation and we spoke about the song, community filled with so much love, so much enthusiasm,
we spoke about men, we spoke about everything that was so much creativity… you know [how] you go, ‘sugar
happening in the world; the Black Lives Matter protests and spice makes everything nice’? That’s what the gay
were happening in London, I’d just gone to one, and she community has, everything nice: the sass, the attitude, the
was going the next day. You know, there was a lot to talk fun, the vocabulary… it’s so tasty!”
about, but she was fun and bubbly, everything you could From speaking out after fans waving rainbow flags
imagine her [to be].” were forcibly removed from her show in Shanghai in
What did Madonna have to say about men? “We were 2018, to headlining Mardi Gras in Sydney in February
talking about time zones and being away from – or rather, – her final gig before Ms Rona pulled the plug on live
her being away from her other half. I didn’t have that performances, no less – Dua has always felt an affinity
problem, I was kind of in lockdown with my boyfriend, so with her LGBTQ fans.
I was being sympathetic.” “I have a massive group of friends and [members of]
Dua has also set up a collab with another notable ‘M’ – my team who are part of the LGBTQ community, who
Miley Cyrus, who previously performed at Dua’s Sunny Hill have inspired me so much and taught me so much >

36 DECEMBER 2020
 Dua Lipa

Dua wears top and skirt,

both by No.21, necklace,
by MOUNSER, rings, by
Hot Lips by Solange, cuff
earring, by Tom Wood

DECEMBER 2020 37
 “I know how
to be good at
what I do and
how much
work it takes”

38 DECEMBER 2020
 Dua Lipa

>

DECEMBER 2020 39
 Dua wears top and
trousers, both by JW
Anderson, shoes, by
Amina Muaddi

40 DECEMBER 2020
 Dua Lipa

– they’re all my role models in life,” she stresses. “It’s Currently dating American model Anwar Hadid, 21 –
entirely a right to be able to love who you want, not brother of Gigi and Bella – Dua dispenses her ‘rules’ for
just because I have friends in the LGBTQ community, having a relationship in the glare of the public eye. “For
but because we’re all human and we deserve it. It’s me and Anwar, we’re actually really, really private, but we’ll
something that I feel very connected to and will post the occasional picture that we like,” she says. “It’s fun
continue to fight for.” to share little moments when you want to, but I think
Our conversation turns to the power of pop – trust, anything that’s an overshare, too much of a relationship
Britney’s Stronger has scooped me from the gutter, or whatever, is never good or healthy.”
literally and figuratively, on numerous occasions – “You’ll only know how much I want to tell you,” she
and how Dua’s music may have helped LGBTQ people maintains.
during lockdown, unable to seek out their usual safe It is a tale as old as time (no, not Beauty & the Beast)
spaces, trapped, perhaps, in dangerous environments. that as soon as you become famous, a proverbial target
The numbers seeking suicide-prevention support rose is slapped on your back, and you become fair game for
significantly in this period. certain publications. Naturally, Dua has a few thoughts on
“That is something that I can’t the matter. “A lot of the time I try
quite…” she pauses. “It really and not engage with it [stories in
breaks my heart. It’s hard to put the press], true or untrue. I just

“Cancel
into words how that makes me think it causes me so much – if
feel, somebody not being able to it’s something that’s detrimental
continue with their life because
of what’s going on around them. culture to me and I know for a fact it’s
untrue, I will stand my ground
That makes it difficult to digest. I is so and speak up about it. But it’s

dangerous
can only imagine what that must also just one of those things
feel like. that you just have to learn to live
“To be able to use my platform
to spread awareness, show support,
and toxic” with,” she shrugs.
“The more you focus on it, the
talk about it, to make people more it becomes a stress in your
feel seen, heard and safe, [to] life. So, I’m, like, it is what it is,
communicate with charities and move on, keep going, let’s do the
try to do my part as much as I can… I see that as my duty.” things that make me happy and keep that away… unless
Staying on the subject of mental health, and how she it’s something that I need to get up and fight for.”
looks after her own, Dua points to the strength of the In line with that, I wonder if Dua has noticed
friendships she forged as a teen. “When I moved back any meaningful change in the wake of the #BeKind
to London and went to school in Parliament Hill, in movement – which was sparked after the tragic death
Gospel Oak, the first two girls that came up to me when I of Caroline Flack. “I definitely do want to say that some
was new, Ella and Sarah, they’re my best friends. I never people are thinking about it a little bit more before
let them go. They’re my sisters. When my parents were they say things. I think people are trying to be more
in Kosovo, I would spend Christmas at theirs – they’ve accepting and understanding, but at the same time, the
become my family,” she smiles. internet is a [weird] place, because when you can hide
“If I wasn’t doing what I was doing, those people would behind a screen and you can say whatever you want, you
still be around. That does make a massive difference know, what’s happening now, being funny is the greatest
because, I guess, your friendships and the people around currency, even if it’s at the expense of somebody else,”
you aren’t solely based on what you do as a job. That’s she reflects.
quite grounding.” “That tends to happen a lot with social media. Being >

DECEMBER 2020 41
 funny and getting ‘likes’ and retweets seems to be more Delving into my favourite track from Future Nostalgia,
important than actually caring about who is going to be the powerful closer Boys Will Be Boys, I ask Dua if she’s come
on the other side of it and how they feel… There should be up against much misogyny in the industry. “Absolutely,”
a communal understanding that people make mistakes, she answers, affirmatively. “You’re on a music video and
and we should learn from each other’s mistakes and we the director goes, ‘I definitely think you need to wear a
should try to teach each other. I think there is so much skirt’ – because someone wants to see, you know, UK’s
judgement and meanness… cancel culture is so dangerous pop star in a cute outfit. I’m like, ‘Well, I’m going to wear
and toxic.” trousers because it’s fucking freezing.’ I know how to stand
Dua opens up about the trolling she has faced, and the my ground and hold it down.
anxiety it triggered. “I experienced a shit tonne at the end “There are all these little things, but I think that’s maybe
of my first record, and it was definitely something that where we’re going wrong. For so long we’re so used to
gave me anxiety and made me upset and made me feel like pushing it away and saying something to just turn it off
I wasn’t good enough and made me feel like, maybe I’m and be, like, this isn’t a big deal. I’ve always been someone
not meant to be here and on the stage,” she reveals. to check [a person] straight away. If someone’s saying
“Even after the Grammys, some something [that I don’t agree with],
people were like, ‘Well, she doesn’t ‘Well, I’m not going to do that, I’m
deserve it,’ blah blah… There were going to do this.’ It creates maybe

“I know how
so many things, especially when a weird energy, but it’s something
you start out, like a video of me that has to be said and addressed.
dancing and they’re, like, ‘Ah well,
she has no stage presence’ – but to stand I’m quite good at that.”
After being forced to postpone
they’d never been to one of my my ground her tour in January and February,

and hold it
shows, they’d never seen me Dua is looking forward to
perform live. They would take one calling the shots in an online
small snippet and run with it and
it would become a whole thing.
down” extravaganza ingeniously
titled, Studio 2054, which will be
“For a short period of time, it beamed onto our screens later
messed with my mental health. this month (November).
You know, I’d go out on stage and “This gives me an opportunity
if somebody was filming me, in my head, I wasn’t, like, to put on a live show, but to do something that I’d never be
‘Oh, they’re filming me because they want to keep it.’ I able to do on tour,” she teases. “It’s like creating a movie, a
was, like, ‘They’re going to film it so they can laugh at me live music video that you guys can follow through – sets
or something.’” and dancers and storylines and guest performers.”
She adds: “Yeah, it was a tough time, but I’m also so At the time of writing, Dua cannot confirm the guest
grateful for that experience because I became so much stars, so I suggest she give me a couple of clues in the vein
stronger. I became so much more confident after that. of the popular children’s game, Guess Who?. Like, this
Now I know what I’m good at; I know how to be good at person just dyed their hair pink, for instance.
what I do; [and] I know how much work it takes to be good Alas, Dua isn’t biting. “Guess you can’t play Guess Who?,”
at what I do.” she quips.
I am politely informed by her publicist that I have time for The details may be foggy – like my glasses – but it’s
one more question – when I still have a couple left on my list. hardly a Lipa faith to say that it’ll be one hell of a show.
So, I start speaking at the same breakneck speed as those radio
advert dudes who read out the pesky terms and conditions. Tickets for Dua Lipa’s online performance, Studio 2054, on
“You’re fine – and breathe,” Dua grins. 27 November are available now at dualipa.com

42 DECEMBER 2020
 Dua Lipa

Hair Anna Cofone, using Hair by

Dua wears body suit and Sam McKnight
trousers, both by David Koma, Makeup Nikki Wolff at the Wall
chain belt, by Laura Lombardi, Group, using Dior
pendant necklace by MOUNSER, Nails Michelle Humphrey at LMC
chunky chain necklace and Worldwide, using Bio Sculpture
bracelet by Laura Lombardi, ear Hair assistant Marc Ramos
cuff by Tom Wood Styling Assistant Raeann Hayden

DECEMBER 2020 43
Tom wears suit,
shirt and bow tie, all
by Richard James,
watch, by Cartier
 TOM ALLEN

THIS CHARMING MAN

Tom Allen’s fast-talking, caustic wit has made him a regular fixture on our TV
screens. Here the comic talks about writing his new autobiography, embracing his
eccentricity and his queerness, and poking fun at his native Bromley
Words Cliff Joannou Photography Joseph Sinclair Styling Joseph Kocharian
 ith his dapper looks and posh voice, Tom Allen is as charming in
real life as he is on the telly. What you see is what you get. There’s no
performance (well, maybe just a little, but isn’t all of life a stage?) and
certainly no pretence. In private, the stand-up comedian is every bit as
polite yet sharply comic as he is on TV.
We’ve met on many occasions. He and his pal, fellow stand-up Suzi
Ruffell, joined us on a very queer Eurostar trip to Amsterdam. If that
wasn’t manic enough, he and Suzi got pissed at the Attitude Awards
one year and promptly booked two tickets to join Team Attitude
aboard the Virgin Atlantic Pride Flight VS69 to New York for World
Pride. (The full shenanigans of which we couldn’t possibly commit
to print!)
Like most of us, Tom has spent a sizeable chunk of this year indoors,
either over-sharing on Instagram or earning a living via video call.
He also put ink to papyrus to write a fantastically funny and often
rather emotive memoir, No Shame, released this month. We found a
small window in his hectic diary between guesting on panel shows and
hosting The Great British Bake Off: The Extra Slice to shoot him for his
Attitude cover on the wild streets of Woolwich — a nod to his working-
class London roots.

“IN MY 30S, I’VE BEEN MUCH MORE

SILLY, MUCH MORE CAREFREE”
For this interview, I’ve managed to persuade Tom to meet me
for a socially distanced chat, rather than talk by video call, in a
location of his choosing. One of his suggestions is a stroll around the
dinosaur statues in Crystal Palace Park, and — as a born-and-bred
south London boy who is a geek at heart — I whelp in delight. I’ve
not been to see the giant stone creatures since I was a boy, and I am
immediately transported back to my younger years growing up as a
queer kid in the ’90s.
We meet on a grey October day as clouds gather threateningly above
us. Both dressed in long overcoats with umbrellas, we find a spot on
a park bench. I pull out my Dictaphone to record the conversation;
in my head we look like Cold War spies undertaking an illicit liaison.
Although we probably look more like the rejected extras from an
Austin Powers movie.
Just a few years separate our birth dates, so the tales that Tom, 37,
recounts in his book of growing up gay in Bromley, one of London’s
most innocuous suburbs, echo those of my own childhood in
neighbouring Croydon. For those unfamiliar with the area, well-to-
do Bromley is the halfway point between London’s cosmopolitan
snootery and the snobbery of surrounding counties, Surrey and Kent.
Notorious Croydon — home to two of the capital’s most questionable
architectural curiosities, shopping mecca the Whitgift Centre, and Ikea
– is somewhat contrary to its curtain-twitching neighbour Bromley,
with its ‘superior’ shopping mall, The Glades. >

46 DECEMBER 2020
 TOM ALLEN

Tom wears suit, by Walker

Slater, shirt, by Eton, tie,
by Liberty London, pocket
square, by Paul Smith

DECEMBER 2020 47
 Tom wears suit, shirt,
pocket square and tie,
all by Tommy Hilfiger,
socks, by Falke, shoes,
by Billy Ruffian

48 DECEMBER 2020
 TOM ALLEN

“Oh, the Whitgift’s where we’d sometimes vulnerability…” Tom starts, but we don’t “Without having to define it, being funny was
get the 119 to,” Tom reminisces. “It was like make it to point b) because a swarm of a way of making the world OK, and actually
going to Las Vegas or something, it was huge. children appear in the distance, their voices making any kind of scenario or person who
Their Marks and Spencer’s was twice as big rising to a cacophony as they approach. felt threatening seem less so.”
as ours, they had more sandwiches to choose “They’re coming…” he says. “It’s like a zombie School had its own challenges, and we
from. The Whitgift Centre was the place we’d movie, but with screaming children.” share our mutual dislike of ‘playtime’. “I’d be
go to buy a shell suit.” We sit in silence, waiting for them to pass, bullied by the girls because they didn’t want
Croydon was the bad boy to Bromley’s flanked by their designated responsible to be my friend because I was a boy,” Tom
good girl. “In Bromley, kids were always like, adults who are presumably there to keep us recounts of that dreaded 40 minutes when
‘Oh, the Bromley Lot’. I don’t know if that safe from an unprovoked attack. children are left to their own devices on the
is actually a gang or something, but it was Elaborating about the book, Tom square tarmac of the playground. “Boys would
always talked about — these kind of gangs continues, “It’s about feeling less alone. A just seem to be playing football immediately.
that would chase you. I never saw them, but friend of mine read it and said, ‘It’s about If there was a stone around, they’d be kicking
they were always mythologized.” coming to terms with your sexuality, it. And I’d be like, ‘Oh no, I can’t do that. I’ve got
Tom continues, “The people at school but also coming to terms with being an to tidy up the coat pegs. And I’ve got to fold
always had these mythical cousins who eccentric.’ I think at some point everybody my PE kit.’”
they would threaten you with: ‘My cousin’s feels like an outsider, in one way or another. In his secondary years, Tom started to feel
going to come down and beat you up.’ Who And I suppose it’s just how we respond to more comfortable in the anonymity of a
these cousins were, we never knew, they much larger school. “You can disappear, you

“I W A S A LW A YS VE R Y
never came.” can walk the site and just look like you’re
The book is a joyous account of Tom’s going somewhere.”
journey towards embracing his queerness, In true Tom fashion, he would make
as he learns to revel in his peculiarities,
while peeling back the layers of middle
SN O O TY , A N D S N O B B Y , friends with the dinner ladies, or his friends’
mums when he went round their houses for
England’s daft oddness. In No Shame, Tom
recalls his upbringing as a rather eccentric W H IC H I S S T R A N G E I N tea. “I didn’t want to go and play. I was, like,
‘No, I’m fine. But tell me about the kitchen
child who fashioned himself stylistically and
intellectually as a 46-year-old man. A FO U R -Y E A R -O L D ” renovations you’re getting done.’”
Tom’s journey to discovering his queerness
“When I actually become 46, I imagine I’ll is front and centre in his memoir. Despite our
regress backwards to suddenly being younger that. Turns out I responded to it in quite an very different life experiences, Tom’s journey
and younger,” Tom smiles, when I ask what odd way.” feels strangely familiar. I suggest that it reads
he thinks will happen when he hits the big His mum was quite proud of the posh like his personal, intimate take on Matthew
4-6. “I’ve found that actually in my 30s, I’ve son she had somehow birthed. “We don’t Todd’s influential book Straight Jacket, and
got a lot more comfortable with myself, and know where we got him from,” she would how that book’s themes of gay shame apply to
so that’s been a time that I’ve felt like I’ve tell friends as they jeered Tom on to speak Tom’s own circumstances.
been much more silly, much more carefree. in his faux Oxbridge accent. “My mum and “I’m aware that we often have quite
I’ve gone out and stayed out all night, and dad always loved this kind of eccentricity,” simplistic narratives,” he says. “My
gone, ‘Oh, this is fun.’ Which is probably what he says. “And laughter was a big way to enjoy experience of being a queer person is that we
I should have been doing when I was 15, it, and to celebrate being different, and any reach out for role models and for guidance.
but when I was 15, I was like, ‘No, I’ve got to feeling of outsider-ness that my mum or I think when I was growing [up], culturally,
concentrate on my GCSE history.’” dad felt. they would be quite simplistic storylines.
Tom scoured his diaries to complete his “I knew from an early age that I spoke And I always felt like I didn’t fit in with that.
memoir. “It’s quite a solitary thing to do. And differently. I was always interested in I’m not living the life of Nathan in Queer
then you send it off and somebody goes, ‘OK, different things. I was always very snooty, As Folk, which was a brilliant thing when it
now we’re going to print it and send it to and snobby, which is strange in a four-year- came out.
places,’ and you go, ‘Oh, but hang on.’ old. To be like, ‘No, I don’t want the table to be “Bizarrely, I think the more specific we are,
“You have to bring together that sort laid like this.’” strangely, the more relatable it is,” he says of
of quite personal sense. And I wanted Humour played a huge part in Tom’s his somewhat mundane yet simultaneously
to be vulnerable, I suppose, because a), early family life and became a way of madcap escapades.
I think a book should always offer that communicating that he was different: We discuss the word ‘queer’ and how the >

DECEMBER 2020 49
title Queer As Folk made some young people “and then following somebody around who
feel quite uneasy at the time. Many people you thought you had made eye contact with
weren’t ready for such unabashed bold but has probably just looked at you, and
gayness in homophobic mid-’90s UK. Which then crying”.
was probably the point, I suppose. Sometimes, just the ordinary and everyday
“It was a word full of negative connotations is what makes a story so special.
when I was growing up. As was the word ‘gay’,” “Oh, that’s a nice way of putting it,” Tom
says Tom. “But what I like about it is that it’s says, polite and proper as ever, saying he’s
about ownership. Re-using the term ‘queer’, I always admired writers who do just that,
think it’s really positive, because it’s given it a celebrate the mundane, the suburban, and
much more positive connotation. And I think, the ordinary. “I suppose I like to cherish the
for me, I like the sense that it sort of means everyday. It’s important that we celebrate
proudly different. It’s reversibly going, ‘Yeah, everybody in our society, and I think actually
I am that.’” the little nuances in our lives, the little
Today, queer transcends sexuality to details, and even the petty snobberies or
incorporate everybody that doesn’t fit in. “I whatever, are the things actually that bring
like the fact that it incorporates anybody us together.”
who’s ever on the outside, and who’s ever felt Fortunately, the denouncing of his native
Bromley has never attracted any negative

“THERE WERE TIMES

reactions. “I’ve always assumed that I will get
punched, or at least have some net curtains

I’D WALK ON STAGE AND

thrown in my face. But in truth, people
seemed to have quite enjoyed me spoofing
them, which I’m honoured by. And I suppose I

PEOPLE WERE, LIKE, do always try and say it with love.

“I think there’s something about suburbia

‘FUCKING POOF!’” which represents something that we

maybe miss a lot of the time, it’s a place
between places, between the countryside
different, or identifies as something that’s not and the town. Increasingly, it seems to Tom wears suit,
perhaps part of the mainstream. I think it’s suit politicians to make us all the more shirt and bow tie, all
by Richard James
quite an inclusive term, but I know that some polarized. I think, actually, humanity exists
people take issue with it. And I know that it’s in the middle and I think that’s where
not without its complications.” people talk, and people exist and go about
While Tom is undeniably prouder in his their normal lives.” “Like a lot of things, I think, it’s paid
identity, it was a longer road than most for The clouds finally relent and give way to forward,” says Tom. “And it cascades through
him to find his way to being in the middle rain, so we pop open our umbrellas. While generations if your family felt the pain of
of an actual Pride parade. He flashes his other sensible people start to leave the park, feeling vulnerable. We sort of go, ‘We live in
trademark Tom Allen smirk, and mentions we stay to continue our chat, which, I imagine, a classless society!’ Well, if you can say that,
the 2014 film Pride. “I said to my friend, ‘Oh, might only make our faux spy impersonation probably you’re just at the upper end of it. I
I wish I’d had the experience of just turning all the more believable. think it’s very easy to just ignore the fact that
up at Pride and then making lots of friends We circle back to the notion of shame, a lot of people are really suffering and are
and finding myself in the middle of this and how it is now a term commonly used living in very hard circumstances.
wonderful political movement.” when analysing the gay experience within a “If you feel you don’t have very much
His friend responded, telling Tom that if hetero-normative world. But actually, we can agency, and you don’t have family know-how,
it had been him as the title character and if begin to apply it to other outsiders, without or you don’t have cash, or finances, I think
it had been true to his life, the film would exclusively focusing on a person’s sexuality. it’s very easy to feel vulnerable and that
have been 15 hours long, and would have In his book, Tom frames the concept of shame you can’t take risks. Part of that manifests
been about Tom walking around on the as being the way people cling to the respect of as shame. We’re much more accepting as
outskirts of Pride, not talking to anybody the people around them. a society, but it doesn’t mean that shame

50 DECEMBER 2020
 TOM ALLEN

doesn’t carry on through generations. It’s a and that sense of, ‘Don’t put your head above also provided much comfort during those
hugely complex thing.” the parapet’, really.” difficult early gigs when he was establishing
He gives the example of his working-class The road to success has not run smoothly, himself. “There were times when I’d walk on
parents and the struggles that they went even for the man who, at the age of 22, won stage and people were, like, ‘Fucking poof!’,
through; in particular, his grandmother, who the UK comedy newcomer competition, So as they did in Birmingham one time. And
migrated to the UK from the west coast of You Think You’re Funny in the same year he it did make me feel really vulnerable, and,
Ireland. “It was a great sense of, ‘Don’t embarrass won the BBC New Comedy Award. Tours with actually, I did really value the support of
us. Don’t do anything that will cause attention,’ Sarah Millican and runs at the Soho Theatre my family. And I do like having my family
because I think Nan was always so desperate to and Edinburgh Fringe followed, but, as with around. Of course, sometimes they drive me
be respected, and to be held in esteem. Society many comedians, his career was a slow burn, mad. And I daresay, maybe, I drive them mad
at that time demanded [that] people fit in.” and money did not flood in. sometimes, constantly criticising their hors
To this end, Tom has at times been made He found himself moving from north d’oeuvres.”
to feel unsafe because he was different and London back home to Bromley at the age of The comedy circuit’s brutal nature
stood out. “At school I did, certainly. I talk 30, a subject that provides him a wealth of was a tough nut to crack. “I found it very
about being attacked in the book. I think that material, with his parents’ lives frequently intimidating, if I’m honest,” Tom says of those
was the manifestation of, again, all those fears finding their way into his comedy. They early days. “And every time I did a gig I’d be >

DECEMBER 2020 51
 Tom wears blazer, by Etro
at MR PORTER, shirt, by Grooming
Eton, tie, by Liberty London, Shamirah Sairally
pocket square, by Paul Fashion Assistant
Smith, watch, by Cartier Sacha Dance

52 DECEMBER 2020
 TOM ALLEN

like, let’s get through this, I’m sure it’ll be OK. to Mariah Carey, who, of course, has a book you want, I know what I want. What do you
Everything was an ordeal.” out at the same time as me. I’m sure we are like? Do you like this? Do you like that?’ And I
He persevered with the faith that both very upset we won’t meet each other at was, like, ‘Please, I’ve just bought a new cravat.
somewhere out there, an audience was Cheltenham Literary Festival. No doubt, I’ll I’m saving up for a Magimix.’”
waiting to appreciate his work. “You know see her at Waterstones at some stage, signing. Looking forward, as well as releasing his
there are other people out there who have I should read her book, actually. I should suss memoir, Tom is hosting the Attitude Awards
had these experiences, but I just needed to out competition.” 2020, which this year will be a digital event
find them. And of course, I turned up at clubs Tom’s success doesn’t mean that the taking place on Tuesday 1 December, World
which would, in the early days, be full of stags modern comedy circuit is now a walk in Aids Day. “I am beyond honoured to be
and hens, and they would want something the park. The industry is still very much hosting the Attitude Awards,” he says. “As a
quite bawdy and quite raucous. And I’d been dominated by white cis-men and the 12-year-old, I’d flick through the magazine
up there talking about hostess trolleys. sometimes bullish attitude that comes with secretively in WHSmith’s before making
“They weren’t in the mood for somebody such privilege. “I’m very aware of how there myself buy a magazine that wouldn’t reveal
being quite so neurotic and insecure. It are times when it still can feel like that. But, my sexuality — like Woman and Home.
took time to find my audience and work I suppose, experience and age have meant Attitude was one of the few places I could
out how to connect with people who don’t that I’m not afraid to challenge it now. And find other gay role models. This year, things
immediately relate. Finding those little actually, there’s as much joy in subverting are different, and I’m very much looking
threads that make them go, ‘Oh, actually, I did it, and going, ‘Look at you bunch of blokes, forward to celebrating the many role models,
feel like I was an outsider when I started that what is this? The chair outside the changing heroes and rich diversity in our wonderful
job, or when I got a divorce.’” community at our online ceremony.”

“W H A T’S W O N D E R F U L
Today, things are different for Tom, who As the rain eases off, we pack our brollies
has established himself as one of television’s away and take a stroll into the park and

A B O U T ST A N D -U P I S
new comedy darlings. From 8 Out of 10 Cats wander over to the famous 19th-century
Does Countdown to The Apprentice: You’re dinosaur sculptures. It’s ironic — and
Fired, he is a regular fixture on the box. probably quite fitting — that the most
He’s also now quite comfortable with the
attention his profile brings. “People have
A U D IE N C E S LO V E famous thing about humdrum Bromley is
the fantastical Crystal Palace Park dinosaurs.
been very nice to me and I’m always very
flattered if people come and say hello,” he D IFFE RE N T ST O R I E S” And, more recently, Tom Allen, of course.
We talk about how life is a muddle for many
says. “What most poor people don’t realise people who find themselves to be a little odd,
when they come and say ‘hello’ is that I love rooms in Marks and Spencer’s? Waiting for unusual, eccentric, or queer. The road towards
to chat. your wife, are you?’” owning an unconventional identity can be
“And so you see that they get this look He adds that while stand-up comedy is bumpy, but the destination is always a happy
come over their faces where their eyes glaze starting to diversify, it’s not quite there yet. place. “I think that often it’s easy to make it all
over and they’re, like, ‘He’s still talking.’ “But it is evolving to mean that people want into a streamlined narrative, and actually, I
And I’m like, ‘Oh, and another thing…’ Then to hear different stories. And that’s what I think it doesn’t have to be like that,” Tom says.
they’re making their excuses, like, ‘I’m sorry, tried to express at the end of the book, really, “It’s complicated, and there’s different
I’ve got to go back to work now. But lovely to of what’s wonderful about stand-up is that parts to it, and it’s all valid. When I came out,
meet you, of course.’ I think I’ve always seen audiences, fundamentally, they love hearing somebody said to me, ‘Well, we’re not here for
myself as Belle from Beauty and the Beast, different stories.” a long time, we’re here for a good time.’ And I
perhaps, walking down the road saying, ‘Good Just as his path on the comedy circuit was thought, that’s kind of true, isn’t it? We should
morning’ to everyone.” littered with obstacles, Tom’s book also describes all try and just have a nice time, and enjoy it
His ebullient attitude extends to selfies, in hilarious detail his journey to finding his as much as we can.”
too, in case you were ever to meet him place in the sometimes complex gay community.
outside Beckenham Junction Station. “I’m The pitfalls of dating online or with apps No Shame by Tom Allen is published on 12
always thrilled to be asked. I just say, ‘Come came with its own challenges. “Everybody November. The Attitude Awards 2020 will be
on,’ and sometimes they’re just looking at else seemed to be on Gaydar as soon as it broadcast on the Attitude magazine YouTube
their phone to get a map for directions. came along. As soon as I went on there, I was channel with news and updates shared on
I’m like, ‘Please take a picture.’ I love terrified. These people would be like, ‘Come Facebook, Instagram and Twitter from 9pm
photographs. Which is, I think, the opposite round now. Don’t waste my time. Know what on Tuesday 1 December

DECEMBER 2020 53
 AS WE
APPROACH
THE 20TH
ANNIVERSARY
OF A MILESTONE
IN THE UK’S
LGBTQ HISTORY,
HUGH KAYE
LOOKS AT THE
LONG BATTLE
TO WIN AN
EQUAL AGE OF
CONSENT
Words Hugh Kaye
Illustrations Gary Simons
 AGE OF CONSENT

Make sure your boyfriend’s at least 21

So only your friends and your brothers get done
Lie to your workmates, lie to your folks
Put down the queens and tell anti-queer jokes
Gay Lib’s ridiculous, join their laughter
“The buggers are legal now, what more are
they after?”
Glad To Be Gay,
Tom Robinson Band, 1979

first broke the law in 1973. I was

13, and had my first fumblings
with another pupil at my all-
boys school. He was some eight
months older than me.
Technically, we both could
have gone to jail because the
age of consent for gay men in
England and Wales was 21, which
had been set by the 1967 Sexual
Offences Act. Scotland and Northern Ireland
only came into line with this law in 1980 and
1982 respectively. >
 “AS RECENTLY AS
1991, 169 MEN
WHO’D HAD SEX WITH
OTHER MEN WERE
CONVICTED OF
UNDERAGE SEX”
 AGE OF CONSENT

By the time my straight friends and I were men challenged the UK government at the forward an amendment to a Bill to equalise
16, they could legally have sex – under the European Court of Human Rights. the age of consent at 16.
1885 Criminal Law Amendment Act – and did. Hugo Greenhalgh, a 19-year-old student, Large numbers of Labour MPs, including
I still could not. Don’t tell anyone, but I might and his 24-year-old boyfriend William Parry, then Shadow Home Secretary, Tony Blair,
have transgressed more than once or twice! argued that the law “created a climate of supported her. But there were those who
An amendment to the 1885 legislation prejudice and fear”. opposed the move. Former chairman of the
had ensured that any man found guilty of The third man, Ralph Wilde, 19, said: “The Scottish Conservatives, Bill Walker, said: “It
“gross indecency” with another man — even law is ridiculous. Why should we be treated is neither natural nor normal to carry out
in private — faced up to two years in jail with differently from all our friends?” homosexual activity.”
hard labour. I suppose it was an improvement There were, of course, opponents. A radio Another Tory, Tony Marlow, said: “You
on the 1533 Buggery Act, which made discussion in which Greenhalgh spoke of his are seeking to get us to vote to legalise the
convictions punishable by death.  relationship with Parry prompted a listener buggery of adolescent males. Do you really
Gay men faced the ultimate sanction right to demand the Director of Public Prosecutions think that’s what our constituents sent us
up until 1861, during the reign of Queen bring criminal charges. The police asked for here to do?”
Victoria. As recently as 1991, 169 men who’d a tape of the programme and subsequently One of Stonewall’s founders, actor Ian
had sex with other men in England and interviewed the two men. McKellen, wrote: “We shall hear, once more,
Wales were convicted of having underage sex. There was, however, a more threatening that boys mature later than girls and need the
Thirteen of them served jail sentences. shadow in the background: HIV/Aids. law to protect them from what may be only ‘a
Securing equality over the age of consent homosexual stage’. Medical opinion is almost
would prove to be a tough battle. ILLICIT AFFAIR: The unanimous that basic sexual orientation is
The first chink of light appeared in 1957 with writer lived and loved fixed by the age of 16.
through the age of
the Wolfenden Report. It recommended that consent inequality “Some fear that an equal age of consent
‘homosexual behaviour between consenting would make 16- to 21-year-old men vulnerable
adults’ be decriminalised, with an age of consent to older men… The issue is whether 16 is too
of 21. But, fearing a public backlash, the Tory young an age for a man to consent.”
government under Harold Macmillan hesitated. He continued: “The law says he is old
Nothing changed until 1966, when Labour enough to have sex with his girlfriend… Yet
MP Leo Abse’s Private Members’ Bill caught the law finds him less capable than, say, his
the changing mood in the country: a poll in twin sister, of resisting unwelcome advances.
the Daily Mail a year before had revealed that We will be told that young men should
63 per cent of readers who responded did continue to be dissuaded from homosexuality
not believe homosexuality should be a crime, Anthony Pinching, a professor of because gay men lead such unhappy and
although a stunning 93 per cent still thought immunology at Barts Hospital, London, told unstable lives. Those of us at ease with our
gay men “needed medical or psychiatric MPs in 1994 that doctors were faced with a sexuality are neither unhappy nor unstable.
treatment” (homosexuality was still classified new epidemic of HIV infection because young Those gay men who have difficulty with
as a mental illness in the UK right up until gay men were not part of a “legal” community. their sexuality suffer greatly because of the
1973). Harold Wilson’s administration passed “The fact that their sexual activity is illegal is a discrimination they face [which] starts with
the 1967 Sexual Offences Act, making gay sex major constraint on the development of… safe the unequal age of consent.”
legal between two consenting men in private. sex,” he said. Elsewhere, the Bishop of Durham, the Rt
I was seven years old at the time, so, not Meanwhile, Dr Michael Forth, a consultant Rev David Jenkins told Cambridge University
surprisingly, this passed me by — I’m afraid I psychiatrist at Royal Liverpool University students that justice demanded an equal age
was more interested in football and jumping Hospital, said clinical work with students of consent and that homosexuals who chose
off high things. showed that many gays in their late teens to live in partnerships should be affirmed.
Then, in 1979, a Home Office group were at risk of depression and learning On the night of Monday 21 February 1994,
recommended lowering the age to 18 because difficulties through trying to conform with during an emotional debate before the vote,
that was the point when “society deems a the law. Tony Blair said, “People are entitled to think
young man to be an adult and responsible”. The go-ahead for the trio’s complaint that homosexuality is wrong,” he said, “but
Again, nothing happened. in Strasbourg was given by the European they are not entitled to use the criminal law to
Now 19, I paid rather more attention to the Commission of Human Rights under force that view upon others. A society that has
legal wrangling this time. The gay scene was articles eight and 14 of the Human Rights learned racial and sexual equality can surely
almost non-existent even in major towns and Convention, which guaranteed privacy and come to terms with equality of sexuality.”
I remained an outlaw – albeit a closeted one. freedom from discrimination. All three had You’d think victory was in sight. You’d be
It was a case of “you can look, but you better suffered homophobic attacks. wrong, of course. The House of Commons
not touch” – even if the object of my desires They were backed by Stonewall and voted by 307 to 280 against reducing the age
had wanted me to. a hearing looked likely to clash with an of consent to 16, then voted 427 to 162 in
But Britain had joined what was then upcoming General Election. Pressure was favour of a compromise, setting the age at 18.
called the European Economic Community in growing on John Major’s government. Prime Minister John Major and most of
1973, and in April 1993 – the 98th anniversary Conservative MP Edwina Currie, calling the his Cabinet voted against the age of 16 but in
of Oscar Wilde’s arrest in London – three law indefensible and out of date, brought favour of the compromise. The PM had not >

DECEMBER 2020 57
issued a Whip, leaving his MPs free to vote as strategies to argue for lesbian and gay rights, Opening the debate in the Upper House,
they wished. by prioritising the notion of human rights; former Conservative minister Baroness
Those who voted against the lower by highlighting that human rights are Young said MPs had been “seriously flawed”
age cited a belief that boys needed to be universal, inalienable, and indivisible; and to attempt to change the law: “It is clearly
protected. Home Secretary (and future by clearly illustrating how issues such as the not wanted by the public, many of whom
Conservative leader) Michael Howard, opting age of consent are human rights issues.” are quite fearful about what is happening
for 18, said: “We should not criminalise But it was to be the European Court that led to society. Homosexual practices carry great
private actions freely entered into by the way again. McKellen was proved right and health risks to young people.”
consenting mature adults. On the other hand, Euan Sutherland was the catalyst. Joining in on the attack, the Bishop of
we need to protect young men from activities In summer 1994, following in the Winchester, the Rt Rev Michael Scott-Joynt said
which their lack of maturity might cause footsteps of Greenhalgh, Parry and Wilde, he, lowering the age of consent would undermine
them to regret.” along with Christopher Morris, complained marriage and encourage people to indulge in
Do me a favour… to the European Commission for Human a “sexual supermarket”.
Although I was now free to have sex, as Rights that the fixing of the minimum Baroness Young later told the BBC that she
long as my partners were also at least 18, age for lawful homosexual activities at was in favour of raising the age of consent for
the compromise — rightly — did little to 18 violated his right to respect for private everyone. Lowering it could send “a sign that
mollify thousands of angry demonstrators life under Article eight of the European this sort of behaviour is perfectly normal”,
who chanted slogans outside Parliament late Convention for the Protection of Human she claimed.
into the night. At one point, several hundred Rights and breached Article 14 of the Straw dropped the amendment, fearing
protesters stormed an entrance, prompting Convention, which prohibits discrimination.  that the government would lose the entire
the police to lock the gates. Three protesters Sutherland said that he had first had Bill, a major part of Labour’s legislative
were arrested. sex with another man at the age of 16 and programme. He wrote to Keen, saying: “I
Fortunately, activists and some MPs although never prosecuted, there was a understand that you will be disappointed,
were not ready to give up. McKellen told justified fear that he might have been. as am I, that we have not been able to
the BBC: “In a couple of years, Europe will secure the measure on equalisation on the
have told Parliament what it should do and
Parliament will be forced to do what it failed
“AS A 16-YEAR-OLD, age of consent in this Bill. I have no doubt
that were I to invite the House to do so, it
to do.” I CANNOT GO TO BED would send the provision back, with a large
One young activist, Euan Sutherland, who
manned the phones at Stonewall, said: “I
WITH A PARTNER OF majority, to the Lords. But that would not
serve any purpose.”
feel insulted and disgusted by the vote. The MY CHOOSING” The government reintroduced the
Government, Parliament, are supporting measure in January 1999, this time winning a
homophobia, supporting prejudice and In 1996, the Commission found that majority of 183 in the Commons. But, despite
supporting victimisation of a minority group. the existence of different age limits was an impassioned appeal by Home Office
In this country, a 10-year-old can be tried for discriminatory and that no valid grounds minister Lord Williams, who urged peers
rape or murder, but, as a 16-year-old, I cannot existed to justify that discrimination. They to put equality above the criminal law, the
go to bed with a partner of my choosing.” therefore found that the age of consent for Lords – spurred on once more by Baroness
Elsewhere, a study at Sheffield Hallam homosexual acts should be lowered. Young rabbiting on about family values —
University in 1997 analysed the arguments In response, in 1997, the UK government, again rejected it.
given for opposing equality, which boiled now led by Tony Blair (with a Labour Stonewall’s Angela Mason said the defeat in
down to saying that the principles of right majority of 179), agreed to introduce a the House of Lords was deeply disappointing.
and wrong take precedent, the principles of Bill to equalise the age of consent. The “It was clear [it] would always be close and in
democracy take precedent and the principles case in Strasbourg was suspended when the week before the vote, sympathetic peers
of care and protection take precedent. To put Home Secretary Jack Straw promised to do were reporting that Baroness Young was not
it mildly: BULL! everything possible to bring about a change confident of success.
Those arguing against equality seemed in the law and thus prevent it proceeding to “We believe the sudden shift was largely
to have conveniently forgotten the first the European Court. due to the public support she received from
article of the Universal Declaration of But opponents, including at least one then Archbishop of Canterbury [George Carey,
Human Rights (1948) which states that “all hypocritical, very senior member of the clergy, a long-time opponent of gay rights] and from
human beings are born … equal in dignity were circling. the right-wing media.”
and rights…” followed by the second article, On 22 June 1998, Labour MP Ann Keen’s A statement from the House of Bishops
which says: “Everyone is entitled to all age of consent amendment to the Crime and had called on leaders to protect people from
the rights and freedoms set forth in this Disorder Bill sailed through a free vote in the “harm and exploitation” and to offer them a
declaration, without distinction of any Commons with a majority of 207. However, “vision of what is good”.
kind… race, colour, sex, language, religion, the following month, the Lords threw it out, (Many years later, Carey would be heavily
political or other opinion, property, birth or voting against by 290 to 122. criticised, in a report by the Independent
other status.” Amid bitter exchanges, the amendment’s Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, for offering
The university study concluded by saying: opponents insisted that they were not anti- “overt support” to paedophile bishop Peter Ball.)
“It is important that we develop effective gay, but seeking to protect children. However, there was a more measured

58 DECEMBER 2020
 AGE OF CONSENT

response from The Bishop of Bath and Wells, there are going to be any fewer homosexual hours later, the Bill received Royal Assent.
the Rt Rev James Thompson. The law, he acts if you are successful,” he told her. It didn’t make much difference to me by
said, endorsed a judgmental and sometimes Jack Straw said: “The issue raised in this Bill that stage, but it did to many young men. It
violent attitude towards homosexuality. is one of equality, of seeking to create a society was a vital piece of legislation, which finally
“It [makes] gays less safe and exposes them which is free from prejudice, where our came into effect in 2001. Although not every
more to health risks,” he added. “It can create relationships with others… are based upon gay man gets married or adopts children,
an atmosphere in which they are either respect and not upon fear. This Bill is long rather a lot of 16-year-olds want to have sex
encouraged to rebel, or more often to turn overdue for the statute book.” and not be branded criminals.
their fears into self-despising. To live a self- Finally, and despite Ann Widdecombe, As we look back now, 20 years on, let’s leave
despising life is just about one of the most then Shadow Home Secretary, regurgitating the last word to Stonewall. Josh Bradlow,
destructive things a human being can do.” the same old nonsense about protecting policy manager, said: “Securing an equal age of
Liberal Democrat Earl Russell warned the young, and wittering on about political consent for gay and bi men was a long process
Baroness Young that the government correctness, on 30 November 2000, after accompanied by ugly debates grounded in
would invoke the rarely used Parliament sailing through the Commons one more time harmful stereotypes. When the age for gay and
Act, allowing them to pass the Bill into law and, predictably being blocked by the Lords, bi men was finally lowered to 16 in 2001, it was a
without the Lords’ consent. “I do not believe the government carried out its threat. A few momentous and historic moment for equality.
The passing of the law brought valuable
recognition that gay and bi men should be
treated as equals, not second-class citizens,
and helped pave the way for many more legal
victories on the road to LGBT equality.”
 THE ONE: Tucci
persuaded his off-screen
friend Firth to play his
lover in Supernova

60 DECEMBER 2020
 Supernova

Going
Supernova
Buddies Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci deliver
career-defining performances in this poetic and
poignant snapshot of a couple facing down the
spectre of terminal illness together
Words John Harris Dunning

S
upernova is not a science-fiction or prospects, with limited success. Supernova occurrence for Firth. “What was unusual was
a superhero movie. It’s a road trip. makes for funny, touching, and sometimes being interested in something that reaches
So that means sex, sleazy motels, heartrending viewing, but it’s never mawkish me that way,” he admits. “It’s not uncommon
maybe even a briefcase of drugs and — a note that’s hard not to strike when someone says, ‘Take a look at this, let’s do this
a shootout, right? Wrong – but you won’t be exploring this territory. Colin Firth and together,’ but it’s very unusual to read a good
disappointed. In fact, there’s a lot about this Stanley Tucci are at the height of their acting script. It felt authentic, and immediately
film that defies expectations. prowess. The film is an emotional journey, resonated with me. It’s a very mysterious
Directed by young British director Harry and one you’ll thank yourself for joining. thing, and it’s difficult to put your finger on
Macqueen (Hinterland), who also wrote the Tucci responded to the story immediately. exactly why.”
script, Supernova follows a road trip in the “My agent sent me the script, and said As with some of the best relationships, role
Lake District taken by couple Tusker (Stanley play came up early. “The script itself was so
Tucci) and Sam (Colin Firth) in a camper van. “ I t ’s u n u s u a l to beautiful, I almost didn’t care who I played,”
Tucci and Firth, both working a chunky-knit
realness look here, are an astonishingly
read a good script. says Tucci, “but once Colin signed on, I started
to wonder if I was right for my role, whether
convincing couple, with a tender physicality It immediately maybe I was better suited to his role…. Then
between them. As most of the film comprises resonated with me” one day Colin said he’d been thinking the
conversations between the two men in their Colin Firth same thing! We talked to [the director]
van, it’s a testament to their performances Harry, and he kind of blanched, but he put
that the film remains hugely engaging the director wants to attach you to it,” together a few scenes and we read them, then
throughout. They’re assisted in no small part he explains. “I read it and loved it. Then I switched. We all agreed it made sense. I don’t
by their director Macqueen’s masterfully watched the first film Harry had directed know why, exactly, but it just seemed to work
spare script and his unerring directorial [Hinterland] — which he made for a tiny better that way.”
eye, which balances the couple’s intimate budget. I thought it was beautiful. When Tusker and Sam are a gay couple, but their
interactions with the breath-taking beauty of we met, I told him I thought the other guy closely observed relationship is something
the British landscape they travel through. should be Colin Firth, which he agreed would anyone watching can identify with, from
The story is deceptively simple: writer be amazing. I slipped the script to Colin, and their little acts of love, to arguing over
Tusker has been diagnosed with early-onset he read it and felt the same way…” whether or not to use the satnav. “That’s the
dementia and his long-term musician Being approached by someone close to beauty of the film,” agrees Tucci. “It reminds
partner, Sam, is trying to discuss their future him with a film idea wasn’t an unusual me of something Colin said to me: ‘The more >

DECEMBER 2020 61
 specific something is, the more universal it playing opposite is somebody that I’d happily “There were so many other factors,” says
becomes.’ It really doesn’t matter if it’s two hold in my arms and look after. There aren’t Firth. “It was about grief, it was about being
women, or a woman and a guy, or two guys.” a lot of people in this profession I feel that a certain age and the kind of inventory
“I fell in love with the script as it was, so way about — and that takes us a long way in you make about the value of being alive,
it’s very difficult to imagine what might telling this particular story.” particularly if the person you most love is
have been,” adds Firth. “I don’t want to Firth and Tucci have both played high- gone. I knew nothing about Tom Ford as
speak on our director’s behalf, but I think profile gay roles before. “The greatest a filmmaker, because he wasn’t one — so
Harry mentioned to me that when he first compliments I got were from the gay it was a very unknown quantity. We’d met
embarked on it, the couple had been a community, and gay friends and relatives,” on a couple of occasions and I was quite
man and a woman. Then he’d questioned recalls Tucci of his iconic role in blockbuster compelled by him — but making a movie?
himself, why should it be? Maybe I should The Devil Wears Prada. “They said, ‘You And not a movie about the fashion scene or
question why that’s automatically where portrayed a gay man in the way we’d whatever world I associated him with; this
my thoughts go?” always hoped someone would portray a was about a lonely professor in the early
The glue that holds the film together is gay man.’ Of course, that’s down to the way 1960s, who’s grieving. I was intrigued.
Firth and Tucci’s undeniable chemistry, an it was written, and how it was directed — I “You can get a little jaded at a certain age,
intimacy that radiates from the screen. “We’ve certainly can’t take all the credit. But it’s and I just thought, ‘I don’t know what I’m
known each other a long time, so we’re very important to me to be truthful, never to doing here, but I’m just going to take a leap.’
comfortable with each other,” explains Tucci. make fun of my character, or make him Tom [Ford] wasn’t particularly engaged in the
“I think that particularly with people our age camp when there’s no need for it. It would be business of gay identity when he was making
who’ve been in relationships for a long time, completely inappropriate to do that. I based
there’s an ease between them.” his behaviour and style on people I knew, “ P e o p l e s a i d , ‘ Yo u
friends. I wanted to do it because it was a
“These two have been together for 30
years,” continues Firth. “Stan and I have had great role, but also because somebody else
portrayed a gay man
plenty of time to get bored of each other as might do it and f*ck it up.” the way we hoped
well. We’ve mocked each other. We’ve wound Colin Firth played a middle-aged gay someone would’”
each other up. And we’ve cared for each other. professor in fashion designer and filmmaker S t a n l e y Tu c c i
We’ve been through some pretty difficult Tom Ford’s directorial debut, the critically
stuff in the 20 years we’ve known each other. acclaimed A Single Man. Although the lead the movie. I remember listening to him at a
“I’ve come to care for Stanley as much character’s sexual orientation was part of press conference saying that if someone asks
as I care for anybody. It’s very hard to find the story, both Ford and Firth saw it as one of him ten things about himself, the fact that
a substitute for that — that the person I’m many important components. he’s gay would be somewhere on the list, but
not somewhere near the top.
“Christopher Isherwood [author of the
novel A Single Man] wrote gay characters
for decades without presenting their
relationships as anything controversial or
different. He was pretty ahead of his time in
that respect.”
Playing a gay couple as straight men wasn’t
something either Firth or Tucci took lightly;
both were aware of those who may argue
their roles should be filled by gay actors.
“I don’t have a final position on this,” says
Firth, “I think the question is still alive. It’s
something I take really seriously, and I gave it
a lot of thought before doing this. Whenever I
take on anything, I think it’s an insufferable
presumption. I don’t really feel I have the
right to play the character. That’s always my
starting point. What do I know about this
person’s life? How can I presume to set foot in
this person’s lived experience, let alone try to
represent it?
“My hope is in that in the process, if one
is thoughtful and empathetic — and that
has to be part of the job description — you’ll
ACTION: Director
Harry Macqueen find something truthful that will resonate
(centre) with Tucci with people. Then it’s up to your audience to
and Firth

62 DECEMBER 2020
 Supernova

VAN LIFE: Sam (Firth)

and Tusker (Tucci)
on their adventure;
(below) Tusker starts
to make a speech at a
family dinner

“You’re losing them in strange stages — the

person’s still in front of you, and you can
recognise them, but they don’t recognise
you. It’s very mysterious, and painful in
its mystery. It’s devastating — and it’s also
ubiquitous. It’s so common. The majority of
people who will read this are touched by it.”
The conversation turns to how we have
been living over the past few months. The
pandemic has wrought many changes, but
surely none more extraordinary than the
birth of Tucci as a social media star when
his video of him making a negroni cocktail
for his wife on Instagram went viral and
decide whether or not you had the right to increasingly prevalent in the UK. All too many shook the world. No one was more surprised
do it. Otherwise it’s being colonial about it people have some kind of experience of the than Tucci.
— I can’t just go around marauding through condition, directly or indirectly, and Firth is “I was shocked and staggered,” he
other people’s experiences.” one of them. Knowing this, it’s a particularly exclaims. “I barely know how to use my
“As a society, we’re still struggling with brave performance — and an act of generosity phone! I couldn’t believe what happened.
the fact that people can’t be openly gay,” says to others who are in his position, offering them Nobody could. But it was awfully fun.
Tucci. “For so many years, gay men and women consolation by knowing they aren’t alone. Suddenly, I had liquor companies calling
have had to hide their homosexuality in “Dementia has affected my family,” me up. I was sent so much booze that even I
showbusiness to get the roles they wanted — reflects Firth. “Profoundly. Over several couldn’t drink it all!”
that’s the real problem here. Anybody should generations. It’s ongoing. I can’t single Firth shamelessly basks in the glory of
be able to play any role that they want to play out who. I can’t get their blessing to do so, the celebrated mixologist. “The only thing I
– that’s the whole point of acting. Everyone because they have advanced dementia. can now tell people that impresses them is
should just be able to be what they want to be, It’s touched me very closely. It was one of that I’d tried one of his negronis before he
without judgement. Maybe someday we’ll get the things I most engaged with about this went viral. I was there first! When it comes to
there — although I don’t think it’s going to be project. Losing a loved one to any illness food and drink, I don’t question Stanley. He’s
in my lifetime. And that’s tragic.” has its own particular form of torture, but absolutely the boss.”
Far more central to the film than the issue of there’s something very specific about losing
gay identity is that of dementia, something that someone to dementia because it goes to the Supernova is released across the UK on
— with an ageing population — is becoming core of identity and personality. 20 November

DECEMBER 2020 63
IN FULL
BLOOM Entering a new era of their music career, The
Vamps reflect on feeling reborn, personal
struggles and the nuances of sexuality
Words Thomas Stichbury
Photography Markus Bidaux

T
hings can get really hairy for pop stars – just ask The and it had ‘YOLO’ [written] on the side of it.” Gross.
Vamps’ Bradley Simpson, Connor Ball, James McVey Ironically, though, that sentiment — you only live once — rings true
and Tristan Evans, as they reminisce about/visibly on the group’s newly released number-one album, Cherry Blossom (out
recoil from some of the bespoke, erm, ‘gifts’ they’ve now), which is all about being present and living in the moment.
received from fans over the years. Ahead of their performance at the Attitude Awards 2020 next
“We did get a bag of pubes in the early days… that month (December), the chart-toppers sat down (well, Zoom-ed in) for
was quite bad,” 25-year-old Brad recalls. But that an in-depth chat about how they feel reborn as a band, the subject
wasn’t the worst of it. of sexuality fluidity and, in the case of James, 27, his struggle with
“We had to stop fan mail because we [also] got a used tampon in the body dysmorphia.
post,” Tristan, 26, grimaces. However, one question remains unanswered: what exactly did
Bandmate Connor, 24, adds: “It was in a nicely wrapped envelope Tristan get up to in South America…?

How did you guys cope during lockdown? Take we’ve done, and in that time we’ve [also] first album, tour it, while you’re touring
up any interesting hobbies? done probably six or seven tours. For the that, writing the second one, and then
T: I got a yoga mat, a thick one, and did first time, well, in forever, we said, “Right, it’s like this snowball effect… Creatively,
some stretches and exercise on there. let’s re-evaluate exactly what we want to we definitely were, like, the tank was very,
I’m partial to a bit of dogging myself — do, both personally and musically, and very low. We needed to have a bit of time
downward dogging, that is. How about the rest take a bit of time away to redefine what we to come up with new ideas; it’s hard to do
of you? believe The Vamps to be.” That was really that when you’re always going.
B: A bit of downward dogging [laughs], important… we needed to get, kind of, I remember interviewing you all when you
then we finished the album. I know that bored and get that energy and excitement were first starting out, around 2014. Is it a bit
sounds so cliché, but we went into corona again before doing this album. mad to think you’re still together? Boy bands
with the album 85 per cent done and then The ‘structure’ of being a pop star, or a don’t tend to last this long.
spent the full three months of lockdown member of a band, is quite rigid: you make T: It’s quite cool to go against [the]
finishing everything off. an album, you release said album, you tour, stereotype of a band breaking up after
It’s been a couple of years since you last then you return to that same template all a certain amount of albums, or when
released an album. How important was it for over again. At any point, have you felt close they’re going through a hard time. With
you to take a breather? to burnout? us, we’re best friends and I feel like that
J: This is technically the fifth album that B: We were on this weird cycle of: write the comes before anything else and it always >

64 DECEMBER 2020
 THE VAMPS

FRIENDS FIRST:
The Vamps put their
longevity down to
their close bond

DECEMBER 2020 65
BRADLEY CONNOR

JAMES TRISTAN
 THE VAMPS

has… When we found each other, it was Oh, stop, it’s too early. So, what are the tell-tale always. I think it’s because I get used to
something special. It’s obviously rare signs that a relationship is going sour? living very selfishly on tour, and then all of
for a band to still be around and I think J: Brad may disagree with [this]… when it a sudden you have to do other things… But
that’s why we feel lucky and fortunate to takes them a long time to get back to you during lockdown, we probably only had
have each other… you have to surround by text. Brad, you’re telling me something. two or three arguments over six months.
yourself with positive people, who [want] B: No, I’m just a very bad texter [laughs]. I B: Moochie takes away any stress.
the best for you as well as themselves. One still love you, don’t worry. J: You say that, God…
hundred per cent, these boys are that. Also, when your belly stops fizzing with B: [Apart from] when she shits on the floor.
Should I be calling you a man band now? excitement and you start retching instead. Presume Moochie is an animal, not a person?
C: We’ll take anything [laughs]. C: Sounds like food poisoning. J: I’ll show you her, she’s just here *turns
Let’s talk about the album, Cherry Blossom. B: I think you’ve got a gluten intolerance. camera to his dog* She’s like the emoji dog,
You’ve previously said that the title ties into In that case, I’ve ended a lot of relationships isn’t she?
the idea of rebirth. when I should have just given up eating She’s very cute. So, you’re performing at the
B: We stayed in Japan [at the end of our bread. I also really enjoyed your song Protocol: Attitude Awards next month. How much
last tour] and immersed ourselves in “Don’t know the protocol for fixing a broken of a connection do you feel to the LGBTQ
Japanese culture… [Cherry blossom] is heart.” When was the last time you had your community?
this very brief, beautiful moment that heart broken? B: We’ve had friends who have come out
is the highlight of everyone’s year, and T: I’d say around about a year and a half over the years, and it’s a community that
I think that notion of the fragility and ago, and I think, well, we went on tour, so we want to continue to support and show
transience of a moment, if you were to it was crazy. That was the South American love [to]… We’ve had amazing moments
take that and stretch it out, put cherry tour, so… [laughs]. with fans over the years, who have spoken
blossom season throughout the year, it J: What could you have gotten up to there, to us in meet-and-greets. I remember one
would lose its brilliance, it’s like [how] Tris? in particular, where they came up and
the best things are fleeting and short. B: Well, there’s a lot of steak and red wine, were like, “Your music really helped us to
That was the whole idea, to create an that’s probably what you’re saying, Tris, gain the confidence to come out.”

“WE’RE BEST FRIENDS, AND THAT COMES BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE”

TRISTAN

album that was taking that notion but isn’t it? That’s the cure. T: One of the most beautiful moments in
in a positive way. Be present during these That’s how I get over a break-up. Eat a load of meat. my life, one hundred per cent, is when
beautiful moments, rather than being T: Exactly [laughs]. my brother came out. He came out quite
negative, because they’re short. Enjoy B: I hope you keep all of your comments in late — I think he was 27 — and I was one
them while you’re in them. this interview. Please keep them in. of the last people he told. He said, “I was
One of my favourite tracks is Would You and Obligatory dating question… James, I know more worried about what the people close
the lyric: “When you kiss me, you had your you’re due to wed at some point, but who is to me would think,” and I thought that
eyes open.” Personally, I like it when a guy single, and who’s not? was crazy. We live in 2020 and everyone,
kisses me with their eyes open, then again, I’m C: I’m not single. whatever they are, wherever they come
quite into creepy men. B: Neither am I. from, whatever they look like, should be
C: That’s niche, man! T: I’m seeing someone, and James is accepted… He is much more himself today
T: I agree with you because a lot of obviously getting married. because he came out and I’m just so proud
people think like, kissing with your When are you getting married, James? of him.
eyes open is when you’re not connected J: Hopefully, next October now, mate. Sexuality has become a lot more ‘fluid’ in
or in the moment. But I feel like, for Bizarrely, it would have been in three recent times, with artists like Harry Styles not
me – and for you as well – when you’re weeks, originally… we’re getting married putting a label on their own. Has sexuality
kissing someone, I don’t mind making in Dorset, where I grew up. been a clear-cut thing for you guys? Have you
eye contact. Nice. I suppose lockdown at least gives you always known which ‘box’ you fit in, for want
I want really wide, are-they-having-a-stroke more time to think, am I making the right of a better phrase?
open eyes. decision? T: Personally, yeah. I think I’m extremely
B: That was not the vibe of the writing J: Yeah [laughs]. It’s been weird, actually. open — open-minded to try anything and
process, but I love to see how it resonates Normally, [my fiancée] Kirstie and I — I very experimental, sexually, and when it
with people differently, this is the beauty don’t know what it’s like with you boys comes to relationships.
of music [laughs]. — but when I get home from a long tour, Are we talking about South America again?
T: Kiss me! *looks wide-eyed into the normal life with The Vamps, we always T: [Laughs] I’ve always been firm with what
camera* have an argument the night I get back, I am. >

DECEMBER 2020 67
 J: Where I grew up in Dorset is, sort James, you recently spoke about your struggle fine.” The reality is, it’s massively affected
of, five years or maybe even 10 years with body dysmorphia and your decision to me, even today.
behind on elements of racism, sexism have liposuction surgery at 20. Would you One way of me trying my best to see it
and homophobia… Growing up in that mind taking me back to that time? as a chapter that I’m moving on from is
environment, you almost felt pressured J: It was only a few weeks ago that I decided to unearth everything and speak about
to be pigeonholed into something that I wanted to speak about it. I was watching it. That’s one thing that we do well in
was very conventional: “I am a man, I love a Vamps tour diary from Australia, from, The Vamps, we really try our best to
women, I play rugby.” Moving to London, like, 2015, maybe earlier, and I realised communicate how we feel, now more than
touring with the band and doing many that, in that video, I wasn’t really being ever… I am grateful for these boys.
things, I think it’s really opened all of our myself. I was over-compensating, and it Men in particular don’t often speak about
eyes up to how the world is and really should was three weeks after I’d had this surgery… these issues. It still feels taboo.
be, embracing diversity and difference. In that moment, I really felt like I was J: The reason I didn’t speak about it [body
I’ve realised in the past few years that confident, in control of my life and, I dysmorphia] is because… the immediate
I’m attracted to personalities… obviously, guess, my emotions. Looking back now, thing you think is vanity. You think, they
I’m marrying Kirstie and it’s brilliant, but, I realise how detrimental that state of are obsessed with themselves, they want
you know, I do think everyone at some mind was, not only for my relationship to look better than everyone else, their life
point in life — regardless of if they’d with Kirstie, but with The Vamps and the revolves around them[selves], but in many
admit it or not — [is] attracted to different touring crew and stuff. ways it was an opposite thing for me. I kind
genders all the time. There are elements So, I took the decision prior to that to of revelled in destroying my body, which
of things, it might not always be a sexual have this surgery because I felt — I think sounds really weird. I enjoyed putting
thing, for example, but you can really, there’s a few reasons. One, going back to myself through the pain, to have that
really admire someone, cherish someone, growing up in Dorset, there was a general control. I think having conversations like
value someone and find them attractive consensus of looking perhaps a certain this is really important because, like with
in a certain way… way. It was the time when there were a few other elements of mental [health], or the
I do see, you know, men often and I’m of these American lifestyle shops, with other struggles communities feel, when

“I’D WAKE UP, LOOK AT MYSELF IN THE MIRROR AND JUST NOT BE HAPPY”
JAMES

like, he’s really, really attractive and I’m, all their branding and advertising being you talk about these things, you help break
like, drawn to them in a certain way, but it men on beaches with surfboards. Being down those constructs around a subject.
doesn’t necessarily mean I want to marry 15/16, I gravitated towards thinking I had Well, thank you for speaking about it, it’s not
that person or sleep with that person, but to look a certain way. I starved myself an easy thing to talk about. Right, a random
you do have tendencies and desires to for quite a long time, which sounds a question to finish things off… have you had a
do that. I think that’s a really good thing. bit like a hyperbole headline, but I really hero moment? Ever come to someone’s rescue?
For years and years and years, we were did. I didn’t eat bread for a year, I didn’t B: Me and Con were on the way back — I
[persuaded against] feeling those impulses have any condiments for a year… it got can’t remember where we’d been.
through societal pressures, but definitely to a point where I was carrying around C: We’d been to the cinema.
for me, personally, I think I’ve changed in powders of protein and stuff. I’d done B: That was it. We were in Shepherd’s Bush,
that way over the past few years. that and I realised I still wasn’t happy and we were jumping on the Tube. There
T: There shouldn’t be any boundaries. with my body. I’d wake up, look at myself was a guy who was teetering on the edge
B: I do a lot of yoga and mindfulness and in the mirror and just not be happy. If you of the Tube [platform]. There was us two,
I think the whole practice of mindfulness wake up first thing in the morning and another woman, and we were looking,
is being aware of your emotions, but not critique yourself, I think that’s quite a oh my God, is this [happening]? We could
necessarily viewing them as absolute, dark place to be. see he was really thinking about it and
defined things [and] that’s the same with Itookthedecisiontohavethisliposuction we were like, right, and we just pulled
urges and impulses… Everyone, like James because I couldn’t lose any more; I had breast him back from the edge… It was a strange
said, has different urges and has different tissue which you can’t lose through exercise thing, wasn’t it, Con?
impulses, but no one should be feeling or lifting weights, so I did that thinking C: He started laughing when we put him
like, oh my God, I’ve got to dispel that, it would [have] all the answers. I guess for on the bench.
especially among men. It’s about going, a long time it felt like it did — but it really B: It’s a very sobering thing. You just don’t
OK… that’s just a natural part of being a didn’t. It’s only been recently that I realised I know what people are going through.
human being… I think the rigidness is was in a bizarre place and I think it would be
where the danger lies, of being, like, you unfair for me now to say, “Oh, I went through The Vamps’ new album Cherry Blossom is
have to fall in a certain category. a [tough] period and I sorted it out and I was out now

68 DECEMBER 2020
 THE VAMPS

Hairstylist &
groomer
Rom Sartipi

DECEMBER 2020 69
 B
randon Taylor is a master of quiet
intimacies — of their transactions and
their economies, of what lies beneath
the words chosen and the gestures traded. He
understands our barbed words masqueraded
as love, and the love felt, obscured by our
barbed words. His debut novel, Real Life, is
undeniable evidence of such. Released in
February to critical adoration, and most
recently a Booker Prize nomination, Real Life
follows Wallace, a gay, black, grad student
(perhaps the first protagonist of his kind)
in a gorgeous, quotidian, campus-set
exploration of queerness, boundaries, race,
and connection.
Like many of us, Brandon spent his
formative years searching for mirror images
in the written word — the reassuring salve
that only art and literature which sees us
can provide — and coming up short. “When
I think about how I wrote my first stories,”
he explains in a Zoom call from Iowa City,
“it was in response to being told in a book
store by a clerk that they didn’t sell gay books
there, because they were a family store. My
friends took me home, and I sat down at my
desk and wrote my first short story. I had

Keeping
this attitude of, well, if you aren’t going to
consider our lives like a worthy subject of
art, then who needs you? I don’t need you to
write a story for me or to make a movie for
me or to do anything for me, because I have

it real
the skills to tell my own stories, and nobody’s
going to be the boss of me,” he laughs.
The rest is, as they say, history: “That’s how
I began writing my first stories. [It] was very
much in response to that, and writing back to
a culture that was, I felt, hostile at worst and
Author Brandon Taylor reveals ambivalent at the best of times toward me and
people like me.”
how he sought to break free from When telling this story, it was important
black stereotypes in literature in for Brandon that Wallace’s origins and
his new, Booker Prize-nominated identity as a black, gay man from the
south be evident and foundational to his
book, Real Life characterisation. “I didn’t just want to pick,
Words Otamere Guobadia
like, a black New Yorker, or a black person
Photography Bill Adams from, like, Chicago or Detroit. I didn’t want to

70 DECEMBER 2020
 Brandon Taylor

land on what the sort of American popular white, if you have abs, if you’re ‘toned’, if you “That’s a moment that’s as fraught and
culture imagines is the archetype of a black have a swimmer’s [build].” complicated and vulnerable as being
person, which is someone from an urban He goes a step further: “Your sense of naked in front of someone.” he adds.
space, or a suburban state, like, north of the what is possible for yourself, even in the sort “When someone really sees you and offers
Mason-Dixon line,” he elaborates. of homosexual market, hinges heavily not you kindness; I think it’s a really charged
“I’m sick of [American] northern writers [only] on your perception of yourself, but moment for both of those characters.”
only writing about black southerners when your perception of other people’s perception As our conversation rounds up, I ask him
it’s time for them to write their slavery book of you. Inside of every gay boy is a skinny, if in the light of the overwhelmingly glowing
and win their Pulitzer Prize. I wanted to write white, gay man judging them, to borrow from response to his debut, he feels as though he’s
about a black southerner who felt displaced Margaret Atwood. achieved what he set out to with this novel.
[in] the Midwest and felt out of place and “I was interested in what happens when “I come from this large southern family,
for a whole host of reasons, both racial and the person at the centre of the story isn’t grew up on a farm, my grandparents were
cultural. A big part of the impulse was I this larger-than-life heroic figure, but just illiterate, my parents were largely illiterate,”
wanted to write a character, like myself, and a regular person, a regular guy, who’s got all he begins to tell me. “For someone from this
to write about a kind of life that I know really, this baggage and has all these issues, and very intensely working-class background, like
really well, and a life that isn’t just like my life, he’s just got to, like, survive the weekend. me, the fact that I ended up publishing a book
but [like the lives of] all the people who are What happens when the person isn’t this feels, somehow, like a miracle. And so I just
dearest to me in the world, [who] are black, gay, wanted to see the book into the world. And
southern men.”
Taylor’s work was born to satiate an
“I wanted to write so everything else is just a bonus, you know,
the fact that people have read it feels like a
undeniable and unjust black, queer cultural
lack. “That is the experience that I wanted most
about a kind of life I bonus, the fact that it’s been acknowledged
by awards, and with these really wonderful
desperately to reflect,” he states, “because I feel
in a lot of ways that’s one that I don’t get to see
know really well” reviews. I just feel like the world has really
risen to meet the book. [It’s] every writer’s
a lot. And it just felt really important to me to dream,” he beams.
get that down as best I could.” gorgeous glamazon, eight feet tall, doing it, “Most books come out, and they’re met with
Importantly, Wallace is also explicitly and stomping for the gods, but, like, someone silence, and I certainly prepared myself for
canonically chubby — a characterisation who doesn’t have access to all of that, and that. And so the run this book has had is not
that goes against the usual waifish just has to get by with what he’s got, which is something that I even imagined, I didn’t think
conventions of the genre. “Anyone who’s his ability to read the room. That’s really his anything would come of it, I thought I would
read gay fiction on the internet knows that only power in life, his ability to read social be happy just to publish this book and if it
it’s always [centred on] the jock, it’s always cues and context.” finds the five readers I had in mind when I
someone who’s super fit, or it’s, like, a skinny In Real Life, Taylor wields the tender and wrote it, then that would be [enough].”
guy who could be fit if [they] wanted to [be],” the quietly erotic to transcendent effect. I Real Life, unlike many of its predecessors
he starts to explain. “Yes, I get it. Abs. OK, can think in particular of one surprising, and contemporaries, is not set in Holleran’s
wonderful. But the rest of us have bodies, charged, and highly gorgeous scene involving breathless, technicolour discotheque, not
too. The rest of us are [also] gay and we have a bottle of milk — an act of kindness — and swaddled in Waugh’s cable-knit jumpers
the bodies we have. I just wasn’t interested that gentle reappraisal between two people and imposing sandstone Oxford quads, nor
in writing the kind of gay novel in which for whom the universe is conspiring to close does it find itself in company with Aciman’s
characters didn’t have bodies, or in which a gap. soft-focus, cicada-soundtracked and peach-
people can just assume that he’s very fit. I “There’s nothing sexier than watching scented Italian villa. It finds its magic not in
wanted to chronicle the experience of this someone sort of readjust their expectations the pretension that its present moment is
character’s very particular body and his of you. That, to me, is hotter than sex, some unrepeatable supernova at the centre of
particular physicality because his body and because they’re really seeing you in that the universe, but rather in the quiet value and
physicality determine a lot of how the world moment and you’re really seeing them,” he dignity of the ordinary and the everyday. Its
interacts with him. The world looks at you says of the drive behind one of the book’s subtleties and its arresting intimacies shine
differently, if you’re tall, if you’re fit, if you’re standout and infinitely tender moments. all the brighter for it.

DECEMBER 2020 71
The Many
Worlds of
Sunil Gupta
At the tender age of 15, photographer
Sunil Gupta found himself transplanted
from the bustling streets of India to
the bewildering quietness of all-white
Canadian suburbia. His childhood passion
for photography remained his one
constant, setting him on a lifelong journey
of intimately recording the gay experience
Words John Harris Dunning

handsome, young, moustachioed man

A
saunters down Christopher Street, New York, in
1976, his unapologetic ease encapsulating the
gay liberation movement then sweeping the
world from this epicentre. A hijra sex worker,
dressed in traditional Indian costume and
reclining in a velvet-draped studio, meets the
eyes of her viewers with quiet dignity in 2008.
An Indian man sits in a gay sauna in 2010; a group of semi-naked men
surround him, arranged like a classical Greek tableau. In 1999, an HIV-
positive, middle-aged man — the photographer himself — lies under
a white shroud on his bed, this seemingly everyday scene somehow
invested with intimations of the eternal… Welcome to the worlds
of photographer Sunil Gupta. His extraordinary work explores the Untitled #9, 2010
personal and political – while always displaying a profound humanity. From the series Sun City
From Here to Eternity at London’s The Photographers’ Gallery marks >

72 DECEMBER 2020
DECEMBER 2020
73
Sunil Gupta

ALL IMAGES: COURTESY THE ARTIST AND HALES GALLERY, STEPHEN BULGER GALLERY AND VADEHRA ART GALLERY © SUNIL GUPTA ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, DACS 2020
 Untitled #13, 2008
From the series
The New Pre-Raphaelites

the first major retrospective of Gupta’s work — something that seems

long overdue. “It’s very exciting,” says Gupta. “It makes it all feel
worthwhile, like my work has finally been validated. I wasn’t sure
this would ever happen. I’ve had my doubts about what I do, because
I engage in the everyday, in the small, small things that happen
around me rather than the big events. It’s always been a tension in
photography, for me — what people are looking for is drama, and that’s
not really what I shoot.”
Gupta’s love affair with viewing the world from behind a camera
lens started way back in childhood. His parents had a camera, and
from a young age Gupta used it to fill family albums. “My best buddy
in secondary school also had an interest in photography, but it wasn’t
seriously encouraged. We decided to make a rudimentary darkroom.
Everything was against it environmentally — it was either too hot or
too cold — but we pursued it anyway. Then, at 15, I suddenly found
myself in Canada, and it all became more possible.”
Books about photography were easily available, as was equipment.
Gupta got a camera and an enlarger for $150 each and set himself up in
his toilet when it was available to him.
Emigrating from India initially left Gupta feeling rootless. “The
first thing I realised on arriving in Canada was that my Indian
background was completely useless. Kids at my high school had
never even heard of the place, couldn’t point to it on a map. It was
like I had no background.”
Arriving in 1969, two months after Stonewall and not knowing
what had happened on that fateful night of 28 June, he went on to
discover gay liberation the following year. “As soon as I went to college,
everybody came out — including the staff — and it became the subject
of our studies. We wrote term papers about cruising, and started a gay
Untitled #22, 1976 liberation student society, then moved it out to the city.”
From the series
Christopher Street Gupta’s photography started to become activism, and the two
things came together to forge a new identity. “I had no tribal group

74 DECEMBER 2020
 Sunil Gupta

Manpreet from the

series Mr Malhotra’s
Party, 2011

in high school, but in college me and my gay best friend had all the It was while he was at the New School that Gupta shot the
best-looking girls around us, and all the boys followed. We were the Christopher Street (1976) series. It is perhaps his most recognisable work
centre of attention,” he says. “I embraced my gayness, and there was no — his series of portraits of strong, unashamed gay men walking down
discussion about race. When I arrived in Canada, there were only a few Christopher Street perfectly captures the spirit of the times. “People
Indians there, and they were all hidden in the suburbs because they were promenading,” smiles Gupta. “That’s what you did in Manhattan
were professionals, so when I later arrived in New York as a college on the weekend — you put on your good clothes and paraded up and
student I was more gay than Asian. People mistook me for [being] down the street. You wanted to see and be seen. My photography was
Puerto Rican, so they thought I was going to mug them. Little old ladies a kind of cruising. I wasn’t doing an ethnographic study of different
would cross the streets. I didn’t realise what was types — those were just the types I fancied,
going on at first.” and I ignored the rest.
Gupta’s taste for everyday subjects can “My photography was “It was something I replicated in Delhi
at least in part be credited to studying later with my Mr Malhotra’s Party (2011) series.
photography at New York’s New School for
a kind of cruising. It’s one of the supreme advantages of being
Social Research in the late 1970s. He had I wasn’t doing an gay: you can go anywhere and find your tribe,
initially left Canada to study a sensible degree ethnographic study and there’s this instant connection.”
in New York, but his passion for photography After a brief stint back in Canada, Gupta
quickly eclipsed that agenda. “I was in business
of different types – followed a boyfriend to London and
school, so I was very removed from the art those were just the continued to study photography. What he
world. I just partook as a consumer — but types I fancied” found there was a very different scene from
photography was everywhere. Then I dropped the swaggering peacocks of Christopher
out of my MBA and started doing classes at the Street. “London felt really backwards in ’77,”
New School.” says Gupta. “You couldn’t hold hands in the pub, and they all shut
There he was taught by legendary street photographer Lisette Model, at 10.30pm. I was used to going out at 11! It all seemed so difficult.
who also tutored that most iconic chronicler of outsiders, Diane Arbus. Everything was hidden away, and undercover, and at odd hours. Like
“I really took to Arbus’ work, particularly how her subjects look back at opening at lunchtime, then closing at two! There was a place in Earl’s
you. That can be very powerful,” says Gupta. “And [Robert] Mapplethorpe Court that didn’t have an alcohol licence. It was like a school dance.
was great at the time — he was one of the ‘bad gays’ that nobody wanted It was like gay liberation hadn’t really hit. But in ’79, [the nightclub]
to talk about. He was showing hard cocks in a gallery setting — and Heaven opened — and slowly the bars turned into more of a dance
getting away with it. And daring you to look at it. It felt very subjective, club/bar combination. That loosened things up a bit. Maybe it was the
which I really liked. He wasn’t studying them. It was very tribal. He was physicality of it.”
part of the scene. It felt like he was the one having sex with his subjects, Then the Aids epidemic hit, and everything changed, provoking very
and then taking a picture somewhere along the way.” different responses in the gay communities of America and England. >

DECEMBER 2020 75
“In the US, they closed all the bathhouses,” explains Gupta, “but here [in for positive people. This big support network sprang up, and I began to
the UK] where they’d never had sex, all my local clubs turned into sex calm down about it. This idea that everybody protects themselves was
clubs. You turned up for a drink, and you had to drop your pants at the spreading around anyway. There was an active group of people around
door. And the tabloids said nothing. London transformed into the gay me who got more easygoing about it; I discovered that through the
sex capital of the world, and no one seemed to notice. local sex clubs.”
“You went to New York and it was suddenly all hush-hush. You could Gupta’s homeland gradually re-entered his work, now viewed
go to private parties, but nothing above board. But here [in the UK] you through the lens of his adult experience. “I returned to India in the ’80s
could go anywhere and climb on a table and fuck somebody. I have to after a long period of not visiting. I went back for photography work,
think there were some very clever people here who decided that from a and I thought, since I’m here, I’ll check out what’s happening in the gay
public health point of view it was safer to have scene. I discovered it was just as I left it — lots
all these very promiscuous gay men under one of activity, with no discussion. By then I was a
roof. That way you could get at them with safe- professional gay! I discussed it constantly —
sex messaging, rather than shut these places
down and let them scatter to do unsupervised,
“London transformed and yet here was a world where it was never
mentioned. It made me realise I could never
dangerous things elsewhere. I’m giving them into the gay sex live in India — there was no going back.”
the benefit of the doubt — but it did work.” capital of the world, But he was soon to witness a sea-change,
In the ’90s, Gupta tested positive, prompting and no one seemed to brought about by the impact of HIV. “When
a period of intense soul-searching that he HIV first came along, there was a terrible
eventually channelled into some of his rawest, notice” stigma attached to it in India. It was initially
most moving work, including his series From a ‘straight’ disease, not a ‘gay’ disease — but
Here to Eternity (1999), Imaginary Childhood it forced people to discuss sex in a way they
(2005) and Sun City (2010). never had before; suddenly there were state-
“I’d just turned 40, and I was going all guns blazing,” he recalls. “It funded peer groups discussing homosexuality and using condoms
put a stop to everything. I knew all about HIV — and I’d done a book for sex. It inspired a kind of gay activism in the ’90s, which in turn
about it, Ecstatic Antibodies, so I’d researched it. I’m living evidence provoked a call for a change in the law.”
that knowledge doesn’t prevent it. Things went downhill very rapidly. Section 377, a draconian anti-sodomy law that had been instituted
I didn’t make much work. I was freelance, which meant my income by the British during the colonial era, was still in use. “Having
dropped off. I wasn’t unwell to start with, but after a few years of this completely missed gay liberation in the ’70s and ’80s, through
downward spiral, I became ill as well, and that led to a certain kind of academia they got the idea of ‘queer’, so by the mid 2000s, there was
social isolation. I had to stay at home for a while. And then the whole an abrupt U-turn by the media, who had always been vocally anti-gay.
sexual thing became a problem. Suddenly everybody was queer, and it spread through India. ‘Queer’
“My local was the Market Tavern, and they started to have nights just even entered the vernacular languages as a word, spelled phonetically.”
Witnessing this tumultuous period of change inspired a number
of photographic projects including Exiles (1987), The New Pre
Raphaelites (2008) and Mr Malhotra’s Party (2011), wherein Gupta
examined the changing identities of gay Indian men from a wide
variety of backgrounds.
“There are some very interesting subcultures there,” says Gupta. “In
Delhi, I met transvestites who sell sex on the streets. They have clients
who are cops, who roll up in their squad cars and want to be fucked by
a man in a dress. It’s a very specific market. So, some of those hijras are
tops, and they have this butch-looking market for it. All this goes on
under the radar.”
After the momentous changes he’s witnessed in gay culture over
the decades, Gupta admits to feeling nostalgic for some things that
we’ve lost along the way. “We now have ‘queer’ as a more holistic term.
It’s managed to escape from academia and spread across the globe. It’s
very normalising. I teach young kids, and now everyone is queer, or at
least gender queer. It’s the fashionable thing to be. You can be straight
and queer; it now just means a questioning state of mind.
“Everything’s elastic now, not fixed. The difference between straight
and gay has diminished in importance — but with the straight queers,
it’s a position, not a commitment.”
Gupta muses that the term reminds him of the end of the ’60s
when he and his peers were radical students — some people were
manning the barricades in the ’70s, but by the 80s and 90s they were
working in banks.
“For them it’s an ideological, theoretical position — it’s not really
putting your money where your mouth is. ‘Queer’ is positive — it’s
the complete opposite of ‘gay’, which used to have all these negative
connotations,” he adds. “I kind of miss that about being gay. Being an
outsider. I want to go back to being just a dirty old gay man.”
Jama Masjid, 1987
From the series Exiles From Here to Eternity: Sunil Gupta – A Retrospective is at The
Photographers’ Gallery, London, until 24 January 2021

76 DECEMBER 2020
 Sunil Gupta

Untitled #8, 1976

From the series
Christopher Street

DECEMBER 2020 77
MEMORY

In his directorial
debut, Hollywood star
Viggo Mortensen
plays a gay man
looking after his ailing
— not to mention
homophobic — father
Words Thomas Stichbury

78 DECEMBER 2020
LANE
 VIGGO MORTENSEN

J
ust as I click onto my video call with Viggo Mortensen, I hear the front door burst
open downstairs and my niece and nephew crash, bang, wallop through the house. I
apologise to Viggo in case he can hear the explosion of noise his end – fortunately, he
is oblivious to the chaos that has erupted. “If you have to step away to care for them,
that’s fine,” he insists. The Danish-American actor also keeps his cool when my rasping
internet connection repeatedly cuts out. FML. with it, they laughed at certain things [and]
Slicing and dicing his way into our fantasies as lusciously locked warrior Aragorn in it provoked conversations. We revisited
Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, Viggo, 61, is now looking to cut it as a filmmaker certain things that really happened in our
with his directorial debut, Falling, which stars Lance Henriksen, Laura Linney and, family that were parallel… my brothers
indeed, himself. and I related to certain dynamics within
The family drama follows Willis – a towering performance by 80-year-old Henriksen, our family, certain moments, certain
of Aliens fame – a cantankerous, conservative, sometimes downright bilious elderly man things we remember about our parents.
exhibiting signs of dementia, who moves from his rural farm to live with his gay son John It was positive, they didn’t see it and go,
(played by Viggo). Needless to say, Willis is hardly a rainbow flag-waving ally. “That’s not true”, or “Why would you do
The film is loosely inspired by Viggo’s upbringing, and the three-time Oscar nominee that? Why would you sully the memory of
reflects on why the project is so personal to him, receiving the seal of approval from his our parents?!”.
brothers, and his decision to write the character of John as gay. Phew. Glad to hear it didn’t spark a family rift.
Viggo also puts his proverbial finger on why cis actors should be able to play LGBTQ roles, I’m glad, too [laughs].
albeit in a roundabout way. I read somewhere that the inspiration for
the film came while you were on a plane back
from your mum’s funeral.
It’s true. After my mother’s funeral, I was
writing in a notebook, because I couldn’t
sleep on the flight. I was thinking about
I have a friend whose parents both have these things I’d heard at the funeral,
Alzheimer’s. Even though the situation stories I was familiar with, but each
is very different from the one depicted in person would tell it in a slightly different
the film, it was very touching to see that way, which reminded me how subjective
portrayed on screen – Lance’s performance memory really is. [I thought], maybe this
is mind-blowing. would be a good short story. I started
So layered and complex and brave. If you writing that and I quickly invented
pay attention to acting as a [craft] rather a family, using some of the feelings I
than just as entertainment, you think of remember. Somehow, inventing a family
what goes into it, the way [Willis] goes in made me feel like I was getting closer to
and out of confusion… it’s one that will be AVERAGE GUYS: the truth of how I felt.
John’s (Viggo)
remembered for a long time. I really loved sexuality added to It’s weird, you’d think that would create
what he [Lance] did. the tension with more distance.
his dad
People tend to relate with what happens I know. It had the opposite effect. I kept
in the story on a personal level, and a very finding that I was more free with my
emotional level, in some cases. That was practical level, is because it’s the first one feelings because there was no limit, I
even happening during filming, I found I got the money together for to shoot
that to be true, the cast and crew, every [laughs]. On a personal level, I wanted
day, people would tell me stories, would
just volunteer something quite intimate,
to tell it, I suppose, because I wanted
to explore my feelings for my parents
“I wanted to explore my
sometimes disturbing stories about
their families, and it encouraged me as a
and my upbringing and my subjective
memories of that. I also wanted to explore
feelings for my parents and
filmmaker that I was on the right track.
As actors, you feel very supported when
what I’d learned from my parents, for
better or worse.
my upbringing”
the crew seems to have an emotional Even though the family is fictional, [the
investment in what’s being done; it’s not story] is a fiction, there are some fragments could go anywhere… I could just make
just another job. Some of the more intense, of conversations, some events early on in something up, but I could take some of the
emotional scenes, I’d look around after a the story that are taken from things that I feelings from those memories.
take and see that some of the crew were would remember and my brothers would You’ve [also] learned from the best, visionary
visibly moved. To keep hearing things like remember, our shared upbringing, which directors such as Peter Jackson and David
what you said is great, it makes me feel is why, out of respect to them, I dedicated Cronenberg, who also makes an appearance
good about we’ve done. the movie to [my brothers] Charles and in the film.
Falling is your directorial debut. What Walter Mortensen. I’ve paid attention and learned from
prompted you to step behind the camera? Has Have your brothers seen the film? If so, what them, this thing of preparing things well
that always been a burning ambition? did they say to you about it? is particularly useful. That was probably
The reason this is my first movie, on a Fortunately, they liked it. They were happy the most important thing, along with >

DECEMBER 2020 79
VIGGO MORTENSEN

being open… and being secure about

yourself as a person and an artist, [so]
that you invite participation. You want
suggestions and questions from your
crew and cast, it might improve what
you planned.
You stepped in to take the lead role in order
to secure the investment for the film. Did you
have anyone else in mind for John?
I hadn’t thought too much about it… Fears
I had about it being distracting playing
that role, not being able to give my full
attention to the crew and cast at all times,
were allayed by the fact that I knew we FAMILY TIES: John’s (Viggo)
father Willis (Lance Henriksen)
had prepared well and the mutual trust is gripped by Alzheimer’s; (below
was there. I felt I could act and not worry and right) Sverrir Gudnason plays
the younger Willis, with teen John
too much… Any misgivings were [also] (William Healy) and (below) young
fired away by Lance’s comfort level, that I John (Grady McKenzie)
wasn’t just directing him; we were in [it]
together as actors, we were a team trying
to make those scenes work, some very
long, difficult, emotional scenes. I was in
it with him, in the ring with him, not just
observing – I think [that] made him feel
safer in taking chances.
One of the overarching themes in the film is
forgiveness, particularly within the context
of a father-son relationship. How reflective
is John and Willis’s relationship of your own
with your dad? In a previous interview, you’ve
described him as an “overwhelming presence”
in your mum’s life.
I say overwhelming presence in good ways, Why did you write the character of John as origin, that should be a problem for Willis,
not just a necessarily negative thing… He gay? What was the thinking behind that? but it turns out not to be. I liked the fact
was a very strong presence, an influence It wasn’t something I’d planned… As I that people are surprising, they’re not
on all of us, I guess. My dad wasn’t quite was writing, there is a scene where John always one thing. For Willis, she can do no
like this person, but there are aspects of is at the airport and his father’s gone wrong; that’s his best friend in the world.
Willis, especially the younger version of missing, run away, basically. He gets a Normally, someone with her background,
Willis [played by Sverrir Gudnason], a kind phone call from his spouse, and [John ethnic type, would not be someone
of dynamic between my parents, where says] “I’ll get there as soon as I can, take he’d necessarily get on with, one would
one person was more of a controlling care of him.” think. Sometimes you’ll see someone as
person or less flexible, you know? I thought, OK, now I have to think of the a parent who was difficult, maybe, yet
In any relationship where one person next scene I’m writing, so what’s the wife as grandparents [it is the opposite]. It’s
like… [wait], it could be a husband, why probably subconscious, I get another
not? There’s some baggage there for Willis, crack at it with my grandchild and it’ll be
“I wanted Eric and John, the gay and it adds another layer of tension to the
relationship with his son.
different. You see grandparents who are
doting with the grandkid, and the parents
couple, to be almost boringly Then I thought, so what kind of
relationship do Eric [played by Terry
are thinking, why wasn’t he like that with
me? That’s common.
average as a family unit” Chen] and John have? What kind of gay
couple are they? I [wanted] them to be
There are a lot of conversations in Hollywood
about cis actors playing LGBTQ roles. Have you
‘normal’, almost boringly average as a had any thoughts about that conversation?
is adapting and evolving with the times as family unit. I thought that would be Where do you think the balance falls?
they change, whether it’s a friendship or a positive representation, if you’re thinking Here’s my answer. I offer my sincerest
marriage, even a professional relationship, of that aspect of it. It shouldn’t really apologies to all proctologists for having
if there is one person who does not change, draw much attention, it is what it is, cast David Cronenberg as a proctologist. If
and in fact feels threatened by change… nothing remarkable about it, whereas to you didn’t know who he was, you’d think
then it’s difficult for that relationship to Willis, it’s not OK, obviously, and hasn’t he was a proctologist, wouldn’t you? So,
prosper. There are aspects of that dynamic been ever… Now we can make certain you can extrapolate from that answer
that I remember, there is a certain amount assumptions about the whole history of to your question and you’ll see what I’m
of intolerance… but, otherwise, it’s a fiction. the relationship. getting at.
[Willis is] an extreme character compared They [also] have an adopted daughter
to my dad. and the fact that she’s of central American Falling is in UK cinemas on 4 December

80 DECEMBER 2020
See. Love. Bid.
Monday 23 November 1 December
Watches Jewellery
Silver & Objects of Vertu
Tuesday 24 November
Old Master Paintings & Drawings 2 & 3 December
British & European Fine Art Interiors, Homes & Antiques
The Designer Gift Edit featuring
Wednesday 25 November Hermès and Chanel
Books & Works on Paper
Visit chiswickauctions.co.uk
Thursday 26 November
Autographs & Memorabilia
Erotica

Monday 30 November
Modern & Post-War British Art
A Middle Eastern Journey
 KISS THE GROOM:
Midnight and Apollo
make it official in The
Authority #29
DC COMICS

82 DECEMBER 2020
 QUEER SUPERHEROES

Q powe r M E - SEX
R ST SA AND
T I
S F LKLING ES,
D I
E BRATE PLE HU G WRIT ES…
T LY CEL ER COU UNNIN DECAD
E R ECEN AY POW ARRIS D LY) FOR
N I VERS WHEN G JOHN H T (SLOW
RV E L U DDING U T, AS ING OU
A E ,B M
THE M RHERO W MARRIED BEEN CO
SUPE AN GOT CS HAVE
WICC IN COMI
UEE RS
Q
uscle-bound men in form- by psychologist William Moulton Marston
hugging outfits struggling (who invented the lie detector) in 1941, his
with their secret identities… character drew heavily on early feminist
this is at the very heart of texts, and was inspired by his polyamorous
what it is to be a superhero, relationship with wife Elizabeth Holloway
so it’s hardly surprising that and their female life partner Olive Byrne.
there’s always been a gay Byrne co-wrote many of the early scripts,
reading of the genre. and the bracelets she wore to honour her
The Marvel film franchise relationship with William and Elizabeth
is expected to up the ante on became an iconic part of Wonder Woman’s
LGBTQ representation next costume. Elizabeth and Olive raised their
year with its film, Eternals, children together, and continued to cohabit
which will feature its first gay after William passed away. The all-female
kiss between the character society of Paradise Island where Wonder
Phastos and his husband. Woman grew up was clearly a lesbian utopia,
Then there’s the rumoured and her bisexuality was later plainly stated
gay romance of female warrior by writers Greg Rucka and Grant Morrison
Valkyrie in the upcoming in 2016; this may have come as a shock to
Thor: Love and Thunder. The some comics fans, but it had been part of the
move to put gay characters character’s DNA right from the start.
in the foreground is relatively Over in Gotham, the close relationship
recent, particularly in the inherently more between Batman and Robin has often come
conservative arena of big-budget franchise under close scrutiny. Millionaire Bruce
cinema, but it has been present throughout Wayne’s invitation to handsome young rough-
the history of superhero movies. trade carnival acrobat Dick (!) Grayson to
One of the more forthright and oldest move into his mansion and take up training
representations is Wonder Woman. Created in his underground gym couldn’t help but >

DECEMBER 2020 83
raise eyebrows. Dick was later pictured later playfully took this line of thinking
waking up next to Bruce, and he displayed to its logical conclusion when he created
jealousy towards women who got too close to the character Midnighter for publisher
his beloved protector. WildStorm in 1998. A brooding, leather-clad
This didn’t go unnoticed by psychologist vigilante, Midnighter was basically a Batman
and scaremongerer Fredric Wertham, analogue. He was also gay, and romantically
whose book Seduction of the Innocent (1954) attached to do-gooder Apollo, who was
essentially blamed the comic genre for invulnerable and faster than a speeding
all the ills of American youth, eventually bullet… remind you of anyone?
leading to public burnings of comics across With beautiful irony, this Batman/
America and the UK. He wrote: “The Batman Superman-as-gay-couple team was later
type of story may stimulate children to bought by DC, so they now all inhabit the
homosexual fantasies the nature of which same universe. They’ve continued to be
they may be unconscious.” popular characters and even had their own
These anxieties were hardly quelled by the series. Bisexual comics writer Steve Orlando –
camp interpretation of Batman and Robin who has written Midnighter, as well as other
DC COMICS

that burst from television screens across iconic characters including Wonder Woman
the world in 1966. British writer Warren Ellis and Batman – admits that the character had
a big impact on him.
“Growing up, Midnighter showed me I
could be myself and not necessarily fit into
a mould when it came to my identity,” says
Orlando, whose graphic novel Kill A Man is

st gay
he fir w as a
“T rhero n”
supep magicia
cam
now available, alongside his ongoing monthly
series, Commanders in Crisis.
“Midnighter was a big deal for me: here’s a
character who’s not only going to love Apollo,
but he’s also not going to take shit about it
from anyone.”
Midnighter was far from the first ‘out’ gay
superhero from a major American publisher.
That accolade belongs to Extraño, a camp
Peruvian magician who swished his way across
the pages of short-lived The New Guardians a
full decade earlier, in 1988. A bit like Doctor
Strange after a season competing on RuPaul’s
Drag Race, Extraño’s stereotypical portrayal
provoked criticism of DC at the time. His death
at the hands of an HIV vampire — the Hemo-
Goblin — was in very poor taste, and was a clear
sign of DC not knowing how to — or wanting
to — deal with a gay character.
Extraño was later resurrected by Steve
Orlando when he was writing Midnighter and
Apollo in 2016. Orlando’s version was less
DRAWN TOGETHER: In femme, more of a daddy type. “The original
Empyre #4, Hulkling and
Wiccan was Marvel’s Extraño was poorly thought out, but I don’t
first union of same-sex attribute any malice to that,” says Orlando.
MARVEL

superheroes
“I mean, there was a later gay character >

84 DECEMBER 2020
 QUEER SUPERHEROES

MY HERO: A
IMAGE COMICS

same-sex clinch
in Steve Orlando’s
Commanders in
Crisis

DECEMBER 2020 85
 MAKING QUEERSTORY:
Northstar’s wedding to
Kyle was the first same-sex
marriage in the world of
superhero comics
MARVEL

QUEER
LOVE: (far
left) Marvel’s
Iceman came
out and
then went
back in the
closet; (left)
Batwoman
featuring gay
heiress Kate
Kane wasn’t
played for
shock value
DC COMICS
MARVEL

86 DECEMBER 2020
 QUEER SUPERHEROES

DC COMICS

[Freedom Ring] at Marvel who got killed Batwoman was a great lead character
with a spike up his ass! Extraño was who just happened to be lesbian.
the first out gay character in a ‘big two’ This was honoured in the Batwoman
[DC and Marvel] book, and I wanted TV series where the character – the
to reposition him in a way that felt first LGBTQ superhero lead in a major
real to me, but I never considered my American network show – was played by
version the last word. I made him less gender-fluid actress Ruby Rose. She was
‘flamboyant’, and there were people later replaced by Javicia Leslie, a woman
who said, ‘Well, some queer guys are of colour who identifies as bisexual.
that flamboyant.’ DC has continued its commitment to
“They’re a hundred per cent right. His queer characters, recently publishing
’80s characterisation isn’t inherently the Young Adult graphic novel You
wrong: the gay community has to Brought Me the Ocean by writer Alex
recognise that it sometimes considers IN DEEP: Lead Sanchez and artist Julie Maroh, a
character Jackson
flamboyance and femininity as falls for swim captain sensitively told coming-out story of
somehow lesser than being straight- Kenny in DC’s YA teenager Jackson Hyde — who just
graphic novel, You
acting or ‘masculine’, which is bullshit. Brought Me the Ocean happens to be Aqualad.
If you want to be a queer male and dress “We need to diversify the types of
like Extraño and call yourself ‘auntie’, right stories we tell,” says Orlando, “but that goes
on! In some ways, it’s braver.
s ity is ’s
for any marginalized community. There’s
“I was more attracted to a character like
ver hat no one queer monolith, there’s no one black
Midnighter – he could be a mean, sarcastic
“Di rtant; t ture monolith, there’s no one Latinx monolith.

impore the fu ”
badass, which is what I was like in high school, But we’re on our way. When you watch the DC
and still be queer. But when we walk out on TV shows they’re so diverse; they’re ahead of

whe ership is
the streets, it’s much harder for someone who the curve. It took a DC TV show, Batwoman, to
lives their life authentically, like Jonathan Van give us a lead Bat-character who’s black. We

read
Ness, than for me. He’s incredibly brave, and couldn’t get there in 80 years of comics, but
incredibly impressive. We’re all men; no one is now it’s happening on TV. Watching these
more or less of a person.” shows, you have multiple queer characters,
Marvel’s first gay character was Northstar. you have gay characters, you have bisexual
Originally appearing in 1979, he only came in the gargantuan Marvel Universe film characters, you have multiple characters of
out in 1992, finally breaking ’80s editor-in- franchise. Members of the Young Avengers, colour in a story.”
chief Jim Shooter’s ‘no gays in the Marvel Hulking and Wiccan are a jock-and-EMO Television has a good record. Take Russell
Universe’ policy. It’s significant that it’s not couple – think muscles and magic – that Tovey and Wentworth Miller’s gay kiss on
that writers weren’t willing to include gay first appeared in 2005, and made history The Flash – not only the first gay kiss by
characters, but that they were expressly when they became the first gay superhero superheroes on a major American TV network,
forbidden to do so. There were some heavy- couple to wed. but they’re also played by gay actors. High-
handed signs about Northstar’s orientation, A turning point in the history of gay profile gay actor Matt Bomer plays gay character
for those who were looking – his mother superheroes came in the weekly comic 52 Larry Trainor aka Negative Man on Doom Patrol.
was an elf, making him ‘half fairy’ for in 2006 with the appearance of the latest The character Nia Nal in the Supergirl show,
instance… He may have missed out on being incarnation of Batwoman as gay heiress Kate played by trans actress and activist Nicole
the first gay superhero, but when Northstar Kane. Kane wasn’t played for shock value or Maines, is TV’s first transgender super heroine.
got married in 2012, it was the first same-sex used as a soapbox; as much as characters “Diversity is important because that’s
marriage in mainstream superhero comics. like Apollo and Midnighter were sensitively where the future readership is going to be,”
Other queer high-profile LGBTQ Marvel handled and avoided gay stereotypes, they says Orlando. “Our books should look like
superheroes followed, including Deadpool were still inspired by the basic shock value of the real world, so there’s always more work
and Mystique, now both popular characters what if Superman and Batman were gay?! This to be done.”

DECEMBER 2020 87
 BUSINESS PROFILE

Michael Dankwah
Founder and creative director at Grin & Bear
Words Markus Bidaux

efore Michael Dankwah started the fabrics over and then everything is made way. The good thing is I’m able to create a

B
making luxury teddy bears he by hand by the team over there. In London it bespoke product range for each company
planned to move into women’s is me and one person, and the workshop has that I work with, so everyone has something
fashion. But he traded in a 12 people who actually make everything. that’s their own.
lifetime of skirts and stilettos after he made What’s the most interesting request that Has being gay ever affected you in the
a teddy bear for a friend. Now, the 33-year- you’ve had for a bespoke bear? workplace?
old’s handmade bears are flying off the There was a grandmother who had an old No, I think people tend to focus more on the
shelves of Liberty. fur coat, but she didn’t believe in fur any product, and so it hasn’t really affected me
more. She had us design eight teddy bears and if it has, I haven’t noticed.
When did you start Grin & Bear? out of fur coats, so she could give them to her Do you think there is a lack of black LGBTQ
The first bear I made was a last-minute grandchildren, which was a really interesting role models?
Christmas present for a friend of mine who I way of reworking something that she might I think in the past there might have been, but
hadn’t seen for a little while — I just wanted have otherwise thrown away and turning it especially now with social media we’re able
to do something special for Christmas. I sent into something useful. to see people who look like us, who represent
her the teddy bear, and she absolutely loved There was another one, the bear we made the same values and ambitions and dreams
it and she ended up posting pictures of it on was quite traditional but the expense that that we have. We have easier access to those
Facebook. Out of the blue, I started getting all went into it… The fine alpaca fabric was people and it’s becoming more accessible
these messages. I thought I’d see where I could about £200 a metre and this [was] for a little and they’re becoming more visible. It’s really
take it and that’s how Grin & Bear was born. girl who was turning four. The dad sent a wonderful to have so many LGBTQ people
Did you have a career plan before going to message saying they have just gone to Paris of colour out there with a voice, doing their
university? for the weekend, can you send the bear as best, representing themselves in a wonderful
Before I went to university, I definitely wanted way so that people can look in and not feel so
to do womenswear — having a fashion brand alone. Interestingly, I got a DM on Instagram
was my ultimate goal. When I finished uni, “It’s wonderful to have recently from someone who lived in Nigeria.
I was working in a fabric shop and trying to so many LGBTQ people He was LGBTQ and he had a whole series of
figure out how to make that goal happen. of colour out there with questions for me. I didn’t appreciate the value
And it wasn’t; I was struggling, to be honest. of the time I gave him. It only took about 10
It wasn’t happening quite how I wanted it to
a voice” minutes, but he was so appreciative of that
happen. And so, the teddy bears came in and I little time I was able to spend giving him
decided to focus on that. soon as possible? He actually paid for a seat a bit of advice and just telling him to keep
Do you have tailors or seamstresses in your on the Eurostar so that we could send the going, [that] things get better and to just keep
family? bear over by train, so that she could get it in working and persevere. So, there’s definitely
My grandmother recently passed away. She’s time when she woke up in the morning. more visibility out there now, but there’s
the person who I remember sewing with. Besides your website, where do you sell your always more that can be done.
When she got older, she was starting to lose teddies? Do you have any new products for this
her eyesight so she would get me to thread My main focus in London is Liberty, but we also Christmas?
the needle of the sewing machine for her. sell in the five boutique Trotters shops and, From early November, there’s going to be an
She made all her own clothes and that was fingers crossed, with Christmas coming, they option for different sizes of bears. And we’re
where my interest in fashion really started. will also be in The Conran Shop and Hamleys. also launching a little bunny rabbit, which
Did you create the pattern for your teddies? How did you build a relationship with is going to be fully jointed — you’ll be able
I initially found a pattern that I really liked, brands like Liberty? to move the head, the arms, the legs — and
but when I made it up, I wasn’t entirely happy With Liberty, I sent them an email and then that’s coming in the next few weeks, just
[with] how it looked. So, I tweaked it about an hour later I got an email from the buyer ahead of Christmas.
seven times until I got to this pattern that I’m herself and now I’ve worked with them for Do you still have your childhood teddy?
currently using. the past three years. Because they’re such a It’s almost falling apart, but I do. I have six
How many bears have you made? destination shop, a lot of the other clients [in total].
Oh my goodness, thousands! and other department stores I’ve had the Oh, that’s normal.
How big is your team? opportunity to work with all come through [laughs] I thought I was a little weird for
I’m very fortunate that I work with a really Liberty — I guess they go and check out the having six.
amazing workshop based just outside of competition. They go to Liberty and see [my
London in Canterbury. I send the sketches and bears] and I get referrals and clients that grinandbearlondon.com

88 DECEMBER 2020
 BUSINESS

CV
2011
Graduated from St Martin’s with a
Bachelor of Arts in womenswear

2011
Interned at Vogue magazine

2012
Worked for London-based designer
Bora Aksu, hand-finishing his garments

2012
Worked in Fabrics Galore fabric shop

2013
Made his first teddy bear for a friend

2014
Created Grin & Bear

2017
Sold his first teddy bear at Liberty
Istanbul
p94

THE WORLD IN FOCUS

93 Just The Ticket 94 Istanbul 96 Hot Hotel: Portrait Firenze

DECEMBER 2020 91
 v

EAST TO WES
Instagram account ‘Accidentally Wes Anderson’ is
a collection of images that reflects the whimsical

Just the
aesthetic of the director’s films. The account,
a colourful assortment of buildings popping

TICKET
with pastels and venues that are pleasingly
symmetrical, has accumulated more than a
million followers. Now Wally Koval, its creator,
has produced a companion book containing
more than 200 locations in every continent, with

PAUL HILLER
the unique story of each. The book, published
Words Markus Bidaux
by Trapeze, has been authorised by Anderson
himself and the hard cover is sewn bound so
it lays flat – perfect for encouraging you to go
out and discover your own Moonrise Kingdom
or Grand Budapest Hotel.

accidentallywesanderson.com

HOME FROM HOME

The pandemic has proved that countless jobs can
be done remotely, with many leaving the UK to live
abroad and become nomadic workers. Tempted to do
the same? SpotaHome is a long-term property rental
website for stays of a month or more. Their team
provides virtual video tours, floor plans and detailed
home and neighbourhood descriptions. When you
find a property you’d like to rent, the SpotaHome
team make it easy by eliminating language barriers
between local landlords and you, the foreign
tenant. Since 2014, more than 84,000
stays in 11 cities across Europe have
been booked through the site.

spotahome.com
A FORCE OF NATURE
Nature has been calling us hither this year as we all seek
to escape overcrowded city life. For those who don’t know
their fauna from their flora, the iNaturalist community, a
joint initiative of the California Academy of Sciences and
the National Geographic Society, is here to help. Simply take
a photo of any plant or animal you’re struggling to name,
upload it to the app and the network of more than a million
scientists and naturalists will help you identify it. You can
also explore what others have found in your area, so you
know what flowers, fungi, or critters to keep your eyes peeled
for. Available free on iOS and Android.

inaturalist.org

DECEMBER 2020 93
BEYOND BOUNDARIES: Six Senses
Kocatas sits beside the Bosphorus, also
known as the Strait of Istanbul, which
divides Europe from Asia

Telling
it strait
Joseph Ryan-Hicks gets a taste of
Turkey’s delights at Six Senses Kocatas
Mansions beside the Bosphorus

T his may come as a surprise,

but travelling overseas during
a worldwide health pandemic
was not something I had envisaged
when this year began. However, the
doesn’t love a complimentary bottle
of anti-bac and a face mask? God, I’m
so 2020.
A breezy four hours and several
podcasts later, we land. Istanbul is
built as if on top of each other and
there’s many a winding road until
you reach the sea. As the taxi pulls up
to the resort, I am completely blown
away by the grandeur of the Kocatas’
unpredictability of Ms Rona and the only city in the world situated on two Ottoman-era mansions, which
her wicked ways have put an end two continents: Europe and Asia. I am strike a stark contrast with their
to certainty, so it isn’t unreasonable expecting a clash of cultures and in rustic backdrop.
to think that my plans to fly to this particular case, the proof is in the After being welcomed inside by the
Istanbul might dissolve in an instant. pudding — and the main course — but delightful staff, I am taken aback by
Fortunately for me, all is well (Turkey is more food porn later. how truly special the interiors
added to the quarantine list just a few Just a 40-minute drive “I’ve managed to are. The two mansions, the
weeks after my trip). from Istanbul’s new airport, accumulate more knots Kocatas and the Sait Pasa,
The morning of my departure from
sunny Heathrow begins like any other
Six Senses Kocatas Mansions
is only a stone’s throw from
than a BDSM dungeon” have been delicately restored
to their former glory. Despite
pre-holiday affair, with the addition of the beautiful Bosphorus — a strait being under the umbrella of a Six
a face covering. “Keys, wallet, passport, forming part of the continental Senses resort, both retain their own
mask? Check!” and I am on my way. boundary between Europe and Asia. strong identities. The Sait Pasa, where I
Not knowing what to expect, I am The naturally formed waterway am staying, is contemporary in feel and
pleasantly surprised by the health divides Turkey by separating Anatolia has an urban spin on its interior, while
screening before we board our flight. on the Asian side and Thrace on next door the Kocatas is beautifully
A quick scan of our wrists to check our the European side. The resort is ornate with a much more traditional
temperatures and we are good to go. located in the Sariyer district, a huge finish. The love that has been poured
As someone who is very anal (behave) area containing the villages on the into this restoration project is evident.
about sanitation, I unnecessarily geek European side of the Bosphorus. Day one of my three-day trip is
out on the “corona kits” we are given On the way, you pass through a spent acquainting myself with the
before settling into our seats. Who version of suburbia. Family homes are hotel. After breakfast, I take a walk up

94 DECEMBER 2020
 Travel

PANORAMA: SENSE OF
Soaking up the WONDER: The
views from my stunning Six Senses
junior suite Kocatas mansions

AHOY!: I get
my sea legs
on a trip down
the Bosphorus

SCRUB’S UP: Make

your own toiletries MOSQUE-SEE:
in the “Earth lab” Istanbul’s famed
workshop Hagia Sophia

the hill behind the mansions, which thousand words to describe the food the way, I would hit the city’s gay clubs
allows me to take in the full beauty of served at Six Senses, I’d take them. and bars, but Ms Rona means this is out
the complex. At the top of the hill, a Being something of a newbie to Turkish of the question.
wedding venue is to be built — just one cuisine, I am intrigued by the options On the topic of LGBTQ visitors, I
of the many exciting future projects on offer. The menu is a carefully know that Turkey, which had been
Six Senses is lining up to elevate its constructed list of European and Asian blossoming as a safe space for queer
offering even further. food — the crossover of cultures I had folk, has regressed of late. President
Afterwards, I take part in an “Earth been expecting. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently
lab” workshop, where we are tasked Six Senses Kocatas Mansion has two insinuated that gay men are “perverts”
with making our own body scrubs restaurants to choose from, Defne and and the senior health official also
from the natural ingredients grown Toro. Defne boasts a creative menu had some choice words to say. But I’m
on site. divided into three categories: “detox”, happy to hear that the young queer
Part of the Six Senses experience “sleep” and “fitness”. If you’re a fan of kids of Istanbul are taking a defiant
is its wellness and spa options, and fresh fish and seasonal greens, this is stand against this homophobia, and
soon it is time for my very first the menu for you. the scene is beginning to flourish once
massage. It seems that in my short Toro falls more on the Asian side, more. And when the time is right, I’ll
24 years on this earth, I’ve managed with each meal described as an be back to see this for myself.
to accumulate more knots than a “event” by chef Richard Sandoval.
BDSM dungeon. The kind masseur Crispy prawns in a mango cream, beef Scott Dunn offers a 4-night stay at Six
kneads my back with such intensity hibachi in a wasabi sauce, and brownie Senses Kocatas Mansions from £1,200
that I half expect her to throw me with fresh fruit topped with mousse per person, based on two sharing a
into a bread oven at the end. I leave and strawberry coulis encased in a Deluxe Room. This price includes
the treatment room feeling like a new chocolate shell — they are nothing accommodation on a B&B basis, selected
man… albeit a slightly sore one. short of heavenly. It isn’t quarantine experiences, flights from the UK and
The day’s excitement over, dinner that made me gain 15lb, it is the food private transfers. For more information,
is served just as the sun is beginning at Six Senses. please visit scottdunn.com or call
to set. If I had the luxury of a few extra In ordinary times, with dinner out of 020 8682 5040

DECEMBER 2020 95
 T avel

H O T H O T E L
Portrait Firenze
F LOR EN CE

“
W hat’s in a name,” asks Juliet The Portrait experience starts the day and, as expected following
Words
Tim Heap
in Shakespeare’s tale of before I’ve even packed my case. After the pre-arrival questionnaire, I’m left
star-crossed lovers, “A rose by making a reservation, guests are sent wanting for nothing. Food and drink is
any other name would smell as sweet.” a questionnaire to fill in, detailing served throughout the day, with a lazy
Although this tale takes place not in preferences including pillow type, buffet brunch option on Sundays.
fair Verona, but fair Florence — Firenze breakfast choices and even whether With the Portrait my base for the
to locals — the sentiment rings true: you’d like the curtains drawn or not weekend, it’s easy to explore the
create something special enough and during the turndown service. city’s many attractions, from making
the name doesn’t really matter. Idiosyncrasies out of the way, the cantucci biscuits at a family-run
Italian shoe designer Salvatore Tuscan capital beckons. bakery or taking a tuk-tuk out to
Ferragamo found his calling aged nine After a late flight, a smooth and the suburbs for views of the rolling
when he made a pair of heels for his quick check-in is a blessing, and Tuscan hills, to strolling over the Ponte
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eponymous and enduring brand. riverside suite, complete with separate at the vast Duomo cathedral.
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hospitality into the world of luxury my Florentine fantasy, I ignore the try a calligraphy masterclass with Betty
hotels, Ferragamo, unlike other Italian late hour and pour a glass of Prosecco Soldi, whose fair hand is responsible
fashion houses (Versace, Bulgari, to sip while relaxing on the balcony for captioning the Ferragamo archive
Armani), chose not to rest on the and admiring the view of the famous photos that line the hotel’s walls.
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The Portrait sub-brand, a portfolio brought on by the long day followed by I’m writing my name with a flourish
of elegant hotels that pay homage the alcoholic nightcap, I slip into bed and seeing it in an entirely new light.
to the cities they’re located in, began and sink into a deep slumber. Maybe there is something in a name,
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Florence, home to the Ferragamo October morning, my breakfast in
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MIND, BODY AND WELL-BEING

100 Josh Cuthbert 104 Real Bodies 108 A Problem Shared 109 Matt Lister

DECEMBER 2020 99
 h e
ACTIVE

itting t
H not e
rig ht Former Union J boy band star Josh Cuthbert
has relaunched himself as a fashion model and
advocate for better mental health
Words Markus Bidaux Photography David Reiss

A
fter a whirlwind rise to Which led to The X Factor. What was it
fame on The X Factor in like going from being a typical young
2012, Josh Cuthbert and man to appearing on the show and
his bandmates in Union being splashed over the tabloids?
J went on to have a series of hits, The thing with X Factor is it’s not your
including top ten singles Carry You and normal rise to [fame], it’s so instant.
You Got It All and bestselling album, You go from no one knowing you to all
Union J. But Josh’s music career ended of a sudden 12 million people seeing
on a sour note when the band was you on television over the space of a
suddenly let go by their label. Now 28, few weeks. Nothing can prepare you
Josh took the opportunity to refocus for it. There’s no media training, there’s
on himself and started modelling no help with anything, really — you
for brands such as The Kooples, Hugo are just expected to be able to deal
Boss and Jimmy Choo, and becoming with it.
an ambassador for Givenchy earlier You’ve said that Union J losing its
this year. He has also amassed a loyal record label contract was one of your
following on social media where he lowest moments. How did you feel?
shares his fitness and grooming tips. I think the main thing that was
Beyond that, he has been outspoken
about his struggles with mental health “We had our most
in a bid to stamp out the stigma
attached to it. successful song, and
we were dropped”
Were you active growing up?
PE was always my favourite class at hardest about it all was that it came
school. There wasn’t a sport that I didn’t out of the blue. We had just [had] our
try growing up. most successful song, which went to
Especially football, right? number two in the charts, and a couple
Yeah, I used to play for two teams. It of months later, we were dropped, and
was my passion and I loved it. it didn’t make sense. We didn’t see it
Was quitting football hard for you? coming and that was the hardest thing
It was a tough time. I had a really bad because we hadn’t had any time to
injury, I chopped off half my thumb in prepare for it.
an air rifle accident with my grandad. Since then you have been modelling.
I was a goalkeeper my whole life and How has your fitness routine
obviously when you lose a bit of your changed since you took on your first
thumb, it’s quite difficult to stay in modelling contract?
goal. I lost a lot of confidence because When I was in the band, our diary and
every time I’d take a shot and it hit our life was kind of micromanaged
the thumb, it quite often would result by our team and there was no time
in me being in agony. But I think set aside to get fit or even eat well. So,
everything happens for a reason in this when I’ve gone on to my own venture,
world and it resulted in me focusing my modelling stuff and other solo TV
on singing. bits that I’ve done, I’ve got the time >

DECEMBER 2020 101

now to do that and to really look into about a lot more in the mainstream
what works for my body. Since I’ve media and online. I read an article
been doing all the modelling and the other day that said one in four
[engaged with] the Instagram world, people in the UK is experiencing
it has definitely made me a lot more mental health issues, and I sat there
insecure about the way I look — it’s and thought, that’s why it’s important
resulted in me wanting to be in the that people who are influential, who
best shape possible. But at the same have followings, speak up about it,
time, you’ve got to realise that we go because the more that we normalise it
through periods where we’re not in and the more that we let people know
good shape. It is unrealistic to always that this is very normal and you’re not
be in top shape. alone, the more people will be able to
You have a huge social media deal with it and seek help and improve
following. Do you feel a lot of pressure their mental health. The biggest thing
to curate your digital life to look a that people can do is speak to people;
particular way, to say certain things think that people grow up and they that is the first step and quite often
and to chase likes? think this is what life is, but ultimately the hardest.
Yes, yes, yes to all of those. I think that’s it’s just a snippet. That’s why recently It’s always been quite difficult for men
the world that we now live in. There’s I’ve tried to be open and honest about to discuss mental health. How do you
more pressure on my shoulders than, my struggles with everything, from my think we can break down those barriers?
maybe, my friends that don’t rely on insecurities about my job, about the When guys go to the pub, I think we’ve
social media to help them in their way I look, about my mental health all got a responsibility to [go beyond]
career, but I’ve got young sisters and a and stuff like that. small talk. “How are you doing?, “Seen
brother and it’s a really difficult time You also appeared on ITV’s This the football?” or “Are you watching
at the moment to grow up in. A lot of Morning this year to discuss your RuPaul’s Drag Race?” or whatever.
people only [reveal] their highlights mental health. Can you talk about Let’s try and go into things, ask a
and their best bits of the year, and I what your anxieties are and how couple more extra questions, because,
you’ve been working through them? ultimately, guys struggle to open up.
I’ve dealt with anxiety for quite a
while now and I didn’t really know “Drag Race is a
what it was until the past year or so
when mental health has been spoken
guilty pleasure
of mine”
Ask, “Are you OK?”, “Is everything OK?”
That’s what I think we should do and
if it starts there, then hopefully it
translates to all men.
To pause on mental health for a
moment, are you a fan of RuPaul’s
Drag Race?
I am. I had it on last night before
I went to bed so that was the first
series that was in my head. It’s a guilty
pleasure of mine. My wife watches it
a lot and when it’s on, I think, this is
quite good actually, isn’t it? I remember
being in LA recording our second
album with the band, and RuPaul
followed one of the boys in the band.
I didn’t know who RuPaul was at the
time. He was so excited about being
followed by RuPaul and it’s just funny
how now I know exactly who he is, he’s
an icon, he’s brilliant.
Back onto mental health, how do
you stop yourself from comparing
yourself to others?
This is something that, being honest,
I’m still working on. It is so easy to
compare yourself to others. My advice

102 DECEMBER 2020

 ACTIVE

to people is that we are all different love going out, I love having a couple
and if you want to look a certain way of drinks. I was so stressed about
and you see someone’s body [on social looking a certain way and comparing
media] and you think, I want to look myself to other people on front covers
like that guy, remember, you don’t and stuff like that, that it actually
know how much they’re sacrificing to made me quite unhappy. It’s so easy
look that way. to crave someone’s success or looks
It’s funny, the best shape I was ever or money or whatever it is, but you’ve
in was for a Men’s Fitness front cover got to remember a lot of those people
and I dedicated months of my time you’re looking up to probably aren’t
training for it, but it was probably that happy and I think that’s an
the most unhappy I felt. I struggled important thing to realise.
with diet. I wouldn’t eat foods I really
wanted to eat — and I love eating. I @joshcuthbert

DECEMBER 2020 103

 Naked
ambition
Performer, fitness instructor and life
model, Kage Douglas, 37, on baring all
and being visible as a black gay man
As told to Thomas Stichbury
Photography Francisco Gomez de Villaboa

104 DECEMBER 2020

 Real bodies ACTIVE

G
rowing up in the ’80s and ’90s, I so much for musical theatre. Whenever I had
honestly thought that I was the a shoot coming up, or a dance, I would crash-
only black, gay person in the world. diet, cutting out sugars and carbs, and go to
I had family members and friends making the gym every day. I was miserable, but as long
comments like, “Black people aren’t gay,” or, as I got that shot with my body looking good,
“Homosexuality is the white-man disease.” I didn’t care.
You grow up thinking, who do I identify with? I am content with my body at the moment.
Who can I look up to and aspire to? Do I — and I [used to] go through waves of being obsessed
can I — fit in? Is this world for me, as no one with looking a certain way and getting upset
looks like me? if I didn’t meet my own approval… then I met
I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I my boyfriend Paul and I don’t care as much.
subconsciously brainwashed myself into I have never felt as confident as I do [and it’s]
not liking black men because I thought they because of him.
[weren’t] gay or welcoming to gays. Then I’m older, too, and I realise that there is
I went to bars in my twenties to be told, more to life than looking like these Insta gays.
“I don’t date black guys,” and, “I don’t find In my twenties, I based my being, worth and
black people attractive.” It diminished my way of life on how I looked and how others
self-worth. perceived me, especially as I used to be made
You only saw white men [from] the gay fun of as a kid for being chubby and being
community on TV and in film and porn; told in dance college I was overweight. Now
you don’t need to type ‘white’ to find white I’m doing fitness, I do sometimes desire to
guys. It is only in the past few years that I have a body like these influencers, but life is
have seen other races being celebrated in the short — enjoy it with some cake.
LGBTQI+ world, which is amazing, but we still Paul and I met on Grindr for an NSA
need more diversity. White is, and has been, hook-up and, within six months, we were
the default standard for so long. It’s time to in an official, closed relationship and living
change it up. together. He loves the gym, doing what he
I was teaching an aerobics class in my wants when he wants to do it, whereas I love
usual, colourful attire – short shorts and classes and being told what to do. We have
worked out a few times together, but it never >
“I had family members
making comments like, ALONE: Growing up,
Kage felt like he was
‘Black people aren’t gay’” the only black, gay
person in the world
a very revealing vest top – and afterwards
someone approached me and explained
that they run a LGBTQI+ youth group in east
London. [They told me] one of the young
people, who was black and gay, had said they’d
never seen a happy, black, gay person and
thought you couldn’t be. For that person to
think they are not destined for happiness
broke my heart. I was due to go in and do a
class, but COVID happened.
My biggest passion in life will always
be performing, living my best life singing,
dancing and acting on stage. I kind of turn
my classes into a performance, giving them a
show as well as making them feel the burn.
I began my Instagram classes [during
lockdown] because I felt like shit: I was
worried about money; I had anxiety going
out; my flat is getting its cladding removed
and we had this thick, white plastic sheet
over the building, so you couldn’t [even] see
out. I was so depressed and would just cry. My
Insta classes got me out of bed and seeing the
names of my friends, colleagues and clients
pop up on IG live really cheered me up – even
though they were giving me abuse for making
the class too hard!
Staying in shape was always a big deal for
the commercial world and modelling, but not
ACTIVE Real bodies

worked. I would be annoying and give him

corrections and he’d tell me to “fuck off” (all
with love, of course).
We did a press-ups session at home once
and it was like foreplay. We got halfway
through, then ripped each other’s clothes off
and had sex — not a bad workout!
I have also been life modelling for five
years… I love seeing the artists’ perceptions
of me; they are looking at the same object,
but every piece of artwork is different. I
[like] posing and expressing myself through
making shapes with my body.
I remember, in primary school, my class
went swimming to the local leisure centre
and all the boys were covering up and hiding
themselves from each other while trying to
get changed. I thought, fuck it, and just got
naked. Once all the boys saw me do it, they
followed suit. Even as a chubby kid, I was fine
being naked in public.
At gyms, I find it funny watching men
cupping their cock and balls with one hand
and trying to put their underwear on with the
other, hopping around on one leg to find their
balance. I bet they look at me and think, why
is that dude still naked? Even at home, Paul’s
like, “Put some clothes on!”

“In Germany, they are all

about nakedness — it was
the perfect place for me”
I’ve done Hair twice and Naked Boys Singing,
two shows where there is full-frontal nudity.
I was a naked waiter for eight years, and I was
even naked for my end-of-year college show.
I lived in Germany for a few years and
they are all about nakedness, so it was the
perfect place for me. I loved to go to the
freikörperkultur (free body culture) areas or
going to spas where you had to be nude for
hygiene purposes. When I book a holiday, I
look up [to find out] if there is a nude beach.
I love my legs, especially since I just learnt
how to ride a bike, [and] my arse. I have always
had junk in my trunk and that was something
the kids at school loved to take the piss out of.
Now I adore my arse. It’s a pain to get jeans and
trousers that fit my legs, my bum and waist,
but thank god for stretchy jeans.
[I also love] the scar on my knee. I was
attacked on holiday in 2015 by a bunch of
guys and ruptured my patella tendon and
now have a six-inch scar straight up the
middle of my knee from the surgery. I used to
look at my knee and cry during my six-month
recovery as it would remind me of what
happened. [Now] it reminds me of how far I
have come and how I didn’t let the incident
define me. I was told it could be a career-
ending injury, but I’m still going, baby!

@kagedouglas

106 DECEMBER 2020

ACTIVE

A PROBLEM
SHARED
Got a problem? Dr Ranj Singh
is here to offer his advice

HEALTH
This is a bit embarrassing… I have a really NEWS
itchy crotch, but I can’t get an appointment Don’t forget flu
with my doctor right now. What could it be? As most health news
at the moment seems
Devane, Manchester to be about COVID-19,
you’d be forgiven if flu
I’m sorry to hear you haven’t been prone to infection – the skin must isn’t at the forefront of
able to make an appointment with be kept clean and moisturised so it your mind right now.
your doctor. Unfortunately, the can replace its natural barrier. If it’s However, Public Health
coronavirus has meant that face- really bad, then a short course of a England has issued a
to-face appointments aren’t always steroid cream should help, but if it warning this winter, as
possible, but you should be able to doesn’t improve, see your doctor. evidence shows that
get a phone or video consultation, Meanwhile, psoriasis looks like catching flu and COVID
so be persistent. red, raised, scaly patches and often at the same time could
The good news is that an itchy appears in other areas, too. This be especially bad news,
crotch is unlikely to be serious. requires medication that your particularly for people
First, think about what is in doctor would need to prescribe. with underlying health
contact with that area: have you Very rarely, genital itching is a problems. If you fall
recently changed your type of symptom of another condition into one of the eligible
underwear, shower gel, or started altogether. For example, a yeast groups, make sure
using anything new down there? infection of the penis can be itchy you get your vaccine
If so, perhaps change back, or try and, if recurrent, could be the first without delay.
something else. Contact dermatitis sign of diabetes. Likewise, itching
is a reaction to anything touching can be a sign of some genital PrEP now on the
the skin and the easy way to sort cancers. However, in both these high street
it is to stop using the offending Following the decision
item — otherwise, a steroid cream “Have you changed your for PrEP to finally be
should do the trick. made available for
The next possibility to consider type of underwear or free via sexual health
is infection – the warm, moist shower gel?” clinics across England,
conditions in your pants are an high-street pharmacy
ideal breeding ground for fungal instances, you’re likely to have Superdrug has started to
infections. This is particularly the signs or symptoms elsewhere. provide the medication
case for sporty or heavier people, Finally, the itch could be linked through its online
who may sweat more in the area. If to a sexually transmitted infection, service. Although
the skin looks red and scaly, then such as pubic lice, aka crabs. The accessing PrEP from an
it might be something called ‘jock itching tends to be worse at night online platform is nothing
itch’ (also known as tinea cruris), and you might also notice a black new, this is the first time
which is easy to treat by keeping ‘powder’ in your pants – this is lice it has been available from
the area dry and applying an droppings! You’d need to get an a major retailer, and the
antifungal cream – available from insecticide from your pharmacist hope is it will encourage
your pharmacist. and wash all your clothes, bedding awareness and take-up,
Skin conditions, such as eczema and towels at a high temperature especially among hard-
and psoriasis, can manifest (above 60°C). to-reach groups such as
with intense itching. Eczema is If none of the over-the-counter BAME MSM, women and
usually characterised by dry, itchy, treatments works, then keep trying trans people.
sometimes cracked skin that is your doctor for a proper check.

IF YOU’D LIKE TO SUBMIT A PROBLEM FOR DR RANJ TO ANSWER, TWEET @DRRANJ OR EMAIL THOMAS.STICHBURY@ATTITUDE.CO.UK

108 DECEMBER 2020

 ACTIVE

GET A SWEAT
ON: Bodyweight
workouts are no
easy option

BODY OF WORK
Locked down (again), self-isolating or looking
for a challenging, no-equipment-required home
workout? Bodyweight exercises are effective, free
and you can do them anywhere

I
f this year has shown us anything you’ll enjoy your workout and get more
it’s that access to the gym is no out of it.
longer guaranteed. It’s time for Attend classes that involve lots of
us to take back control over our fitness. bodyweight movements: Pilates, yoga,
You don’t need to wait for an Amazon Legs, Bums and Tums, HIIT, CrossFit WODs,
delivery of dumbbells to stay in shape. and so on. The more sessions you attend,
The one piece of equipment we all have the more exercises you’ll learn, giving you
at our disposal — quarantine or not — is a diverse pool of bodyweight exercises to
our bodies. draw on if you are at home in lockdown,
Bodyweight workouts are fierce. They or on holiday abroad when those days
can be done anywhere, any time. Using return. The more sessions you do, the
just your own mass you can work an more knowledge you’ll acquire, making it
array of muscle groups easier to adapt exercises
in ways you’ve never “Watch a for your ability and
dreamed of. fitness when left to your
If you’re not currently routine all the own devices.
locked down, it’s worth way through” If you’re working
taking this time to build out at home, another
up a portfolio of workouts that you can option is to exercise with ab/yoga apps
do at home, for times when you might or YouTube workouts, but be careful
need to self-isolate, or you can’t squeeze a to choose reputable sources. My tip is
gym visit into your schedule. to watch a routine all the way through
Work with different personal trainers before you begin so you know what’s
and don’t be afraid to ask questions. They coming. I’ve been caught out several times
are there to assist you, to give you tips and by questionable exercises — especially
help you learn about your own body and those that focus too heavily on certain
what you, specifically, should be working muscle groups while disregarding others,
on. (And in some cases, which muscle or workouts that are simply far too
groups you should ease off on.) They will intense. Remember to warm up first and
push you to get the results you desire. If to cool down properly afterwards.
Words you click with one, be sure to book more With or without the gym, the power to
Matt Lister
Photography
sessions with them, because if you take stay fit and healthy is in your hands — all
Markus Bidaux pleasure in their company, chances are you need to find is the motivation…

DECEMBER 2020 109

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Nicola Adams
p112

PEOPLE, PLACES, PERSPECTIVES

112 Life Lessons 114 Books & Music 115 Films

DECEMBER 2020 111

 life lessons
MY MUM COULDN’T GET The toughest thing I’ve
A BABYSITTER ONE faced in my career is the
NIGHT FOR ME AND MY
BROTHER. THEY HAD NICOLA shoulder injury I got
before I competed in the

ADAMS
AN AFTER-SCHOOL Commonwealth Games. I
BOXING CLASS AT THE was pretty much boxing
SAME PLACE WHERE with one arm. When I had
SHE HAD HER AEROBICS my operation after the
CLASS, SO I WENT TO Former Olympic, Games, the surgeon said I’d
THAT AND I ABSOLUTELY Commonwealth and WBO completely torn my rotator
LOVED IT. IT WAS PURELY flyweight champion cuff – it was hanging off – and
BY ACCIDENT I ENDED UP [had] detached my bicep. He was
Words Thomas Stichbury
BEING A BOXER. like, “I don’t even know how you
competed.” The recovery was agony.
If I could relive a moment from my
life, it would have to be winning Having already made sporting MY MOTTO IN LIFE IS: YOU ONLY
my Olympic medal in 2012 in history with two Olympic gold LIVE ONCE, SO MAKE IT COUNT.
London… the crowd, it was the medals and her WBO flyweight
same amount of noise as a jumbo championship belt, retired British The first time I experienced racism
jet taking off when I won. That boxer Nicola Adams continues was in primary school. Having
noise, I’ll never forget. to blaze trails as one half of the a family that’s very mixed and
first same-sex couple on Strictly having white people in my family
My three prized possessions Come Dancing. The announcement as well, I couldn’t understand. I
are my 2012 and 2016 Olympic predictably triggered a wave of was only maybe six at the time and
gold medals and my World Ofcom complaints – but, rolling I remember coming home from
[Championship] title. I did with the punches, Nicola, 37, refuses school and saying, “A kid at school
absolutely the most to win them. to tango with trolls. “I’ve been called me a nigger”… My mum had
through so much in my life, people’s to explain to me that that some
Before I got into the ring, I comments really don’t affect me people are racist, and they won’t
always said to myself, “Be now,” she says. “Keep it coming.” always be as nice as other people.
fast, be first and look good” Nicola, who lives with her girlfriend,
– you’ve got to win and look Ella Baig, and their beloved pooch, When I was 13 or 14, I came out
good, you can’t look bad! Brooklyn, is sure to put in a to my mum… I went through
knockout performance on the show so many different scenarios in
MY COACH ALWAYS USED TO – we’ve put money on it. my head… is she going to get
SAY TO ME, “IT’S ABOUT HITTING angry, is she going to kick me
BBC/RAY BURMISTON

AND NOT GETTING HIT.” IT WAS Strictly Come Dancing continues out, what if she disowns me?
THE BEST ADVICE I EVER GOT Saturdays on BBC One She was, like, “Put the kettle
BECAUSE I HATE GETTING HIT! on, I already knew anyway.”

112 DECEMBER 2020

 social

My happy place is at home with my

dog, because whenever I get up in the
morning or whenever I come in from
a hard day, he’s always pleased to see
me. His name is Brooklyn and he’s an
American bully.

When I first met Ella, she took

me to the [Great] Yorkshire
Show. She really loves animals,
and it was the first time I got
really close to a cow. I didn’t
realise how big a cow’s tongue
was — that memory always
sticks in my mind, completely
bizarre, but it shocked me!

MY FIRST CELEBRITY CRUSH

WAS JENNIFER LOPEZ, WHEN
I SAW THE MUSIC VIDEO FOR
JENNY FROM THE BLOCK…
SHE HAD ATTITUDE, SHE HAD
PASSION, GOOD AT DANCING, I
WAS LIKE, YEAH!

I like to escape to Thailand. The

people, the culture, the food, the
beaches, the sea, the Finding
Nemo fishes, and the cocktails –
that’s the most important thing.

It might surprise people to

know that I can tie a knot in a
piece of string with my tongue.

My biggest pet peeve is when people

cough and don’t put their hands
over their mouths. It grinds on me:
please, just have some manners!

DECEMBER 2020 113

social Books & music

Books
Words Uli Lenart
Music
Words James Barr

TEEN DREAM:
Arlo Parks’
songs speak to
BOOK our souls

OF THE
MONTH

Retracing
Oscar’s
footsteps
The actor’s
mesmerising,
beautifully written
third autobiography

TO THE END OF THE WORLD: TRAVELS WITH OSCAR WILDE

Rupert Everett/Little, Brown
ONE TO
Part-memoir, part-travelogue, part-filmmaking diary, this is the exceptionally well-written third
autobiography from actor Rupert Everett. It tells how he set out to make The Happy Prince — about
WATCH
Oscar Wilde’s last days — a 10-year quest that summoned every last atom of determination he
had. It is impossible to overstate just how brilliant this book is; fearless, soulful and so articulate
Arlo Parks
that every single page mesmerises. Travelling across Europe for the film, Rupert weaves together Swooping in to save 2020 are some
beautifully rendered tales from his past, remembering wild times, freak encounters and major pop comebacks: Ariana, Kylie
lost friends. Yes, there are celebrities, but there are also deliciously real, eccentric characters: and Sam Smith are set to wipe away
glamorous but down-at-heel Aunt Peta, who introduces Rupert to the joys of makeup, aged three; our ‘tiers’. Sam is back to their break-
and Rupert’s great friend Lychee, who burns bright in ‘90s Paris, and is gone. Wilde famously up-bop best on new album, Love Goes,
wrote: “I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read which they’ve described as magical,
on the train” — if Oscar was around today, this is the book he’d be reading. Out now therapeutic and, above all, fun. It is
what we need; the distance COVID-
tina has caused us to have from our
ALSO community and LGBTQ spaces feel all
THIS too real right now.
MONTH That is why I want to introduce you
to 19-year-old singer/songwriter Arlo
HOME STRETCH CONFESS Parks. Like Sam, Arlo makes music
Graham Norton/ Rob Halford/Headline that breaks our hearts, and then fills
Coronet ’Tis the season for a slew them up again with queer love. Parks’
Norton’s third literary of celebrity biographies stunning single, Hurts, finds the
offering is rich in skilful to hit the shelves in the positive in the temporary sadness of an
storytelling. Set in 1987, run-up to Christmas — ending, while Black Dog dives deep into
the book opens with a car but here’s one with a depression and the cruel games our
crash in rural Ireland on difference. Confess is the minds play on us for no reason. Then
the day before a wedding uncompromising story of there’s Eugene, a song about fancying
— six young people are Rob Halford, lead vocalist your straight best friend (a familiar
in the car and only three survive. The story of the Grammy award-winning metal band mood). I also enjoyed the bit where
follows Connor, the young driver, as he deals Judas Priest, who kept his sexuality under wraps Arlo tries to lure her friend out of their
with the consequences of that fateful day. in one of the last bastions of heterosexuality bedroom with fresh fruit — yeah, call me
Moving from ‘80s Ireland to New York in the in the music industry. Co-written with author when you’ve got Cheetos, hun!
noughties, Home Stretch explores how shame Ian Gittins, this rock’n’roll page-turner tells of But seriously, Arlo’s early material has
and secrecy reverberate across generations. Rob’s rise to fame from a Walsall council estate set her up for an enormous future.
There’s major gay content and although the via alcoholism, addiction and personal tragedy
plot could benefit from more dimension, it’s a through to rehab, coming out and finding love. @arlo.parks
gripping yarn. Out now Riotous and revealing. Out now

114 DECEMBER 2020

 Films social

Words: FILM
Guy Lodge OF THE
MONTH

4/5
THE HUMAN VOICE
Tilda Swinton
Shorts are rarely hyped as individual
releases, but most of them aren’t
directed by Pedro Almodóvar — making
a delicious English-language debut with

One more for the road

Tilda Swinton, no less, in the lead. In
this update of Jean Cocteau’s famous
one-woman stage piece, she lights
up the screen as a woman scorned, A heartbreaking tale of love and loss, played with
pleading with her ex for another chance.
That’s the simple premise: the pleasure
tenderness by Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci
is all in Almodóvar’s deliriously stylised 5/5
treatment and the high melodrama his SUPERNOVA
leading lady is serving. 7 November Colin Firth, Stanley Tucci

ALSO Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci as a handsome salt-and-pepper couple taking a leisurely road
THIS trip around the Lake District in autumn: on the face of it, this lovely new film from rising
MONTH British writer-director Harry Macqueen sounds like the realisation of our own dreams for
5/5 middle-aged living. Or at least it would be, if it weren’t so cry-your-eyes-out devastating.
POSSESSOR Tusker (Tucci) is a successful American novelist battling the cruel creep of early-onset
Christopher Abbott, Andrea dementia, and the country vacation he’s on with musician husband Sam (Firth) looks to be
Riseborough, Jennifer Jason Leigh their last together before his condition seriously worsens. What follows is a sometimes wry,
Brandon Cronenberg, son of body- sometimes romantic, achingly intimate study of lovers saying a kind of goodbye to each
horror maestro David, writes and other while they still can, carried by some of the best work of both stars’ careers. Watch with
directs this riveting, violent and a tissue, or perhaps a whole box, at the ready. 20 November
subversively queer sci-fi thriller,
where hired gun Andrea Riseborough
inhabits other people’s bodies and 4/5
gets them to do the bloody work for NO HARD FEELINGS
her. Knotty gender conflicts ensue Benjamin Radjaipour, Banafshe Hourmazdi, Eidin Jalali
when her latest target (Christopher
Abbott) resists her invasion. Wildly If Supernova proves that LGBTQ cinema can be as classical and comforting as a cashmere
original and unnerving. 27 November jumper, this spiky, vibrant debut from German-Iranian director Faraz Shariat is an exhilarating
postcard from the edge — touring the gay scene of Berlin with neon-lit energy, while also getting
3/5 into tough, complicated politics of outsider identity. Benjamin Radjaipour is an incandescent
UNCLE FRANK discovery as Parvis, the German-born, out-and-proud son of Iranian immigrants, whose
Paul Bettany, Sophia Lillis, Judy cheerfully hedonistic life of clubs
Greer, Peter Macdissi and hookups is disrupted when
Alan Ball, of American Beauty and Six he befriends Iranian siblings
Feet Under fame, writes and directs Amon (Eidin Jalali) and Banafshe
this later-life coming-out drama. (Banafshe Hourmazdi) at a refugee
A mixture of melancholy and 1970s shelter, falling head over heels for
nostalgia, it follows a gay literature the former. Defences are shed and
professor (Bettany) in New York perceptions are changed on both
as he travels back to his Southern sides of this unlikely attraction, but
hometown for a reunion with his Shariat’s film, which won the coveted
estranged family. It’s a mellow, Teddy Award in Berlin, never lets
likeable ramble, with Bettany on fine preaching stop the party — it’s sexy
form, but it lacks bite. 25 November and witty to the last. 13 November

DECEMBER 2020 115

Golden Hour
p130

“AND THAT...
IS HOW YOU GET A BIRKIN”

AJ wears coat, by
Marcelo Burlon

118 Crush 121 Wardrobe 122 GANT 128 Fashionlista 130 Golden Hour 144 Grooming

DECEMBER 2020 117

 SAVE THE DUCK!
Fashion that uses sustainable and
eco-friendly materials is the future, and
brands like Save The Duck are leading
the way. Founded in 2012, the 100%
animal-free and cruelty-free outerwear
brand is running a new campaign,
Stand Up and Quack, promoting animal
welfare and environment protection.
They’ve enlisted five changemakers to
wear duck face masks as a symbol of
the company’s commitment to their
activism (they’ve saved 20 million
ducks over the years!). Save The
Duck’s padded outerwear is made with
recycled materials, without using any
goose down or other animal-derived
components, so you can stay stylish
without ruffling any feathers.

savetheduck.it

118 DECEMBER 2020

 STYLE

BLAZE A TRAIL
Forget the bag of the season, the new holy grail
of fashion is wearing the trainer of the
moment. Dior are stepping into the ring
with their B27 sneaker, which launches
this month. Available as low or high
tops, the trainers are embellished with
the Dior Oblique motif, which comes in
various finishes, including a reflective
film. With its masterful balance of
branding and subtle chic, the B27
proves that Dior is stealing a march
when it comes to cool kicks.

dior.com

c.r.u.s.h Words Joseph Kocharian

ON YOUR BIKE!
To stay toasty, dry and eco-friendly this winter, turn
to Dutch brand, Maium. Self-proclaimed ‘bad-weather
experts’, their unisex range is crafted from recycled
PET bottles. What’s more, their new puffer jacket
handily turns into a poncho — perfect for all you
cyclists out there. It’s also fully waterproof, so there’s
no excuse for not getting on your bike…

maium.nl

DECEMBER 2020 119

STYLE

COLD COMFORT
It’s time to refresh your wardrobe with
some sleek outerwear for colder climes.
The connoisseurs of chic, Reiss have
a robust offering to keep you warm,
including their Gable coat, shearling
aviator jackets, and puffer-style parkas
and coats. Colourwise, take your pick from
ecru, oatmeal, icy greys and navy as well as
bespoke neutral colours that Reiss create
exclusively for their clothing, so you can
feel extra special as well as cosy in your
new cover-up.

reiss.com

120 DECEMBER 2020

 STYLE

1
2

w. a . r. d . r. o . b . e
MAKE AN
IMPRESSION
Elevate your outfit from every
casual wear to a major fashi

5
moment with a statement print
perfect antidote to winter blu
Edit & words
Sacha Dance

1 // Waterproof puffer coat, £565,

by Vision of Super x Colmar
2 // Spiked white trainers, £645,
by Louboutin at Selfridges
3 // Burgundy beanie, £8,
by ASOS
4 // Graphic sweatshirt, £275,
by MCQ at MR PORTER
5 // Red patchwork jeans, £125,

3
by Tommy Hilfiger

DECEMBER 2020 121

 B L O O M

Tom wears sweater, £125,

corduroy trousers, £185,
Nicewill sneakers, £120

Modern meets retro in GANT’s latest collection, with London artist

Luke Edward Hall lending some homespun English country style
Photography Mark Cant
Fashion and words Joseph Kocharian

122 DECEMBER 2020

 STYLE

Tom wears embroidered

jacket, £450, striped
jersey top, £115

GANT have ventured into the idyllic wildflower

meadows of the English countryside to create
their latest collaboration, with London artist Luke
Edward Hall. Blending their heritage sportswear
with Hall’s beloved traditional English style, the
collection includes 1970s corduroy suits, rugby
shirts and sweaters adorned with beautiful
embroidered flowers. Sketched by Luke himself, the
prints and patterns were inspired by everything
from Italian Renaissance painter Filipino Lippi,
to the daffodils that grow outside Luke’s cottage.
GANT’s artistic director, Christopher Bastin says,
“We’ve taken ideas from vintage pieces and the
GANT archive, and merged them with modern
silhouettes.” The results, we think you’ll agree, are
blooming marvellous.

GANT x Luke Edward Hall collection, available from

5 November, gant.co.uk

DECEMBER 2020 123

 Tom wears corduroy blazer,
£400, corduroy trousers, £185,
Oxford relaxed shirt, £105,
Flairville low lace shoes, £150

124 DECEMBER 2020

 STYLE

Tom wears sleeveless

knitted vest, £260,
corduroy trousers, £185

Model Tom Gray at Select Models

Grooming Rom Sartipi using Oribe haircare and Murad skincare
Fashion Assistant Sacha Dance

DECEMBER 2020 125

126 DECEMBER 2020
 STYLE

Words Joseph Kocharian

Animal
Magnetism
With their signature crocodile logo, Lacoste have
always had an affinity with the animal kingdom. So it’s
only natural that their latest clothing line ties into the
ambitious National Geographic Ark project, which aims
to photograph every living species in the world’s zoos,
aquariums and wildlife sanctuaries.
The new Lacoste x National Geographic range takes
inspiration from the Grévy’s zebra, the green-and-
black poison dart frog, the Halloween pennant
dragonfly and the jaguar, with vibrant prints
bringing animal magic to everything from
jackets, tees, sweaters and polo shirts to
underwear, trainers and accessories.
Naturally, each piece has been created
with the environment in mind — the bags
are made from recycled polyester, the
polo shirts are organic cotton, and
the footwear features natural rubber
outsoles — all materials have been
certified sustainable and recycled.
It’s time to peacock and strut
your stuff in this collection, like the
majestic beast you are.

The Lacoste x National Geographic collection

is available in stores and on lacoste.com
from 11 November
STYLE

1 Pastel green wool-cashmere sweater,

£390, Acne Studios at Selfridges
2 2 Logo turtleneck, £1,150, Balenciaga
at Matches Fashion
3 Orange pattern jumper, £640,
1 Dries Van Noten
4 Cream turtleneck, £19.99, H&M
5 Grey turtleneck, £155, Tommy
Hilfiger x Lewis Hamilton
6 Fluffy camouflage knit, £34.99,
Topman

Fa s h i o n l i s t a
Cosy yet cool is the vibe this season, so keep out
the chill in one of these stylish statement knits
Edit & words Sacha Dance

128 DECEMBER 2020

 Escape to the country in this
season’s must-have looks –
perfect for a walk on the wild side
Photography Joseph Sinclair
Fashion Joseph Kocharian

130 DECEMBER 2020

 Matthew wears coat,
shirt and trousers, all
by Prada

DECEMBER 2020 131

 Matthew wears polo,
jogging bottoms and
bucket hat, all by Lacoste

132 DECEMBER 2020

 AJ wears coat, shirt and
trousers, all by Boss, trainers
by Marcelo Burlon

DECEMBER 2020 133

 AJ wears coat, jeans and
boots, all by Moschino

134 DECEMBER 2020

 Matthew wears short-
sleeve top, long-sleeve
top and trousers, all by
Versace, trainers, by
Lacoste

DECEMBER 2020 135

 Matthew wears top, by
Alexander McQueen

136 DECEMBER 2020

 AJ wears coat, jeans and
boots, all by Moschino

DECEMBER 2020 137

 AJ wears sweatshirt,
polo shirt, jogging
bottoms, socks and
trainers, all by Lacoste

138 DECEMBER 2020

Matthew wears knitwear,
shirt, trousers, shoes and
bag, all by Givenchy

DECEMBER 2020 139

 Matthew wears short-sleeve
top, long-sleeve top and
trousers, all by Versace,
trainers, by Lacoste

140 DECEMBER 2020

 Matthew wears
polo shirt, jogging
bottoms, bucket hat
and underwear, all by
Lacoste

DECEMBER 2020 141

 AJ wears coat, by Marcelo
Burlon, trousers, by
Pronounce at Browns

142 DECEMBER 2020

Matthew wears coat and trousers, both Models AJ and Matthew, both at
by Acne, top, by Y/Project at Browns Supa Model Management
AJ wears coat, by Dunhill, jeans, by Grooming Rom Sartipi using
Louis Vuitton, hat, by Marcelo Burlon Oribe and Murad
Fashion Assistant Sacha Dance

STOC K I STS
& Other Stories at ASOS asos.com G Gant gant.co.uk N No.21 numeroventuno.com
Givenchy givenchy.com
A Absolute Collagen absolutecollagen.com P Parajumpers parajumpers.it
Acne Studios at Selfridges selfridges.com H Hotlips by Solange hotlipsbysolange.co.uk Paul Smith paulsmith.com
Alan Crocetti alancrocetti.com HUDA Beauty Wishful at Selfridges selfridges.com Philosophy philosophyofficial.com
Alexander McQueen alexandermcqueen.com Prada prada.com
Allies of Skin at Space NK spacenk.com J JW Anderson jwanderson.com Pronounce at Browns brownsfashion.com
Amina Muaddi aminamuaddi.com
ASOS asos.com K Kate Somerville katesomerville.co.uk R Reiss reiss.com
Kiehl’s kiehls.co.uk Richard James richard-james.com
B Balenciaga at Matches Fashion matchesfashion.com
Billy Ruffian billyruffianshoes.co.uk L Lacoste lacoste.com S Save the Duck savetheduck.it
Boss hugoboss.com Lacoste x National Geographic lacoste.com
Laura Lombardi lauralombardi.com T The Ordinary at ASOS asos.com
C Cartier cartier.com Liberty London libertylondon.com Tom Ford Beauty tomford.co.uk
Colmar colmar.it Louboutin at Selfridges selfridges.com Tom Wood tomwoodproject.com
Connolly connollyengland.com Louis Vuitton uk.louisvuitton.com Tommy Hilfiger uk.tommy.com
Lush uk.lush.com Tommy Hilfiger x Lewis Hamilton uk.tommy.com
D David Koma davidkoma.com Topman topman.com
Dior dior.com M Maium maium.nl
Dries Van Noten at Browns brownsfashion.com Marcelo Burlon marceloburlon.eu V Versace versace.com
Dunhill dunhill.com MCQ at MR PORTER mrporter.com
Miu Miu miumiu.com W Walker Slater walkerslater.com
E Estee Lauder esteelauder.com Moschino moschino.com
Eton etonshirts.com MOUNSER mounser.com Y Y/Project at Browns brownsfashion.com

DECEMBER 2020 143

 Absolute
Collagen Protein
Supplement for
Men, from £26.99

& Other Stories

at ASOS Lip
Balm, £6

Estée Lauder at ASOS Triple

Action Cleanser/Toner/
Makeup Remover, £10

Kate Somerville
Dry Skin Saver,
£41

Lush Beauty
Sleep Face and
Body Mask, £24

144 DECEMBER 2020

 STYLE

Allies of Skin
at Space NK
Molecular Saviour
Probiotics Repair
Mist, £57

GROOM I NG
Did someone say skin saviour? These
hydrating, restorative products will be your go-
to rescue remedies as the winter chill sets in
Words Sacha Dance

Wishful at
Selfridges Chin
Lift Sculpting
Sheet Mask, £8

Kiehl’s Super Multi-Corrective Cream, £58

The Ordinary
“Buffet” Multi-
Technology Peptide
Serum, £24

DECEMBER 2020 145

 …noise?
THE POP OF
A CORK…
it’s a life anthem for me

…PLACE TO
ESCAPE TO?
The Maldives. It is
a honeymoon I’ll
never forget. It’s
a honeymoon my
husband [Chris]
will never forget as
well — and it wasn’t
just because of the
weather!
…WORDS?

Darling. …WAY TO UNWIND?

Fabulous.
A massage. I’ve got this
amazing woman who just
sort of kneels on me. She’s
Fuck off. only little and she literally
uses me like a park bench
In that order

Favourite T hings

Amanda Holden …cocktail?

A frozen margarita with
loads of salt round the rim.
Words Thomas Stichbury
I wouldn’t normally say I
Is there a sound more infectious than Amanda Holden’s prefer a salty rim, but in that
glorious cackle? If so, we haven’t heard it. Best known case, I do…
as a judge on Britain’s Got Talent, Amanda might
surprise fans with her golden buzzer-worthy vocals on
debut album, Songs from My Heart. “People think they
know who I am because they see me being loud and
outrageous on the television,” she says. “That is a part
of me, but really, I’m all about my family — this album is
…song? all the songs I’ve loved in my life, sung for the people
who mean the most to me.” Amanda, 49 — who was
It’s in my will, actually named ‘Honorary Gay’ at the 2017 Attitude Awards — was
printed in black and previously nominated for a Laurence Olivier award for
white, that I’ll be her title role in 2004 musical Thoroughly Modern Millie.
Here are a few of her favourite things…
lowered into the ground
to Dancing Queen Songs from My Heart, released by Universal Records, is out now

146 DECEMBER 2020