Patsy Kensit has said she “lost part of who I was” during her five-year relationship with Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher in the late 1990s, ahead of her return to Emmerdale next month.
Speaking on Davina McCall’s Begin Again podcast, the actress reflected on the couple’s time as the “it couple” of the Britpop era, which included the iconic March 1997 Vanity Fair cover showing them under a Union Flag bedsheet.
Pressure of fame
Kensit said the relationship “became so big, and it was bigger than me and therefore the pressure was huge.” She added: “Of course the Vanity Fair cover and all of that stuff is very iconic. People love it. But I lost part of who I was going into that relationship somehow.”
The intense public interest led to paparazzi camping outside their Primrose Hill home, and Channel 4’s Big Breakfast even hired models to parade outside in wedding dresses while presenters speculated about what she might wear on the big day.
Career advice from Noel Gallagher
Kensit, who first appeared on screen in 1974’s The Great Gatsby and later featured in Lethal Weapon 2, scaled back her career during her time with Liam. She recalled Noel Gallagher taking her aside and asking why she wasn’t working, to which she replied: “Because I'm too afraid to leave [Liam] on his own.”
The couple spent their days watching television at home to avoid the cameras outside, and Kensit said a meeting with Sir Elton John at Donatella Versace’s house was a turning point. She told The Telegraph: “Elton John told me I needed to stop reading the papers in the early 1990s. So I did.”
Alcohol and depression
Kensit said the twin pressures of Liam’s rock and roll lifestyle and public scrutiny triggered a serious issue with alcohol. She described alcohol as a “poison” and said she stopped drinking completely because the resulting depression was not worth it.
“I like a drink,” she said, “but I can't have one because the depression that I get the next day is just not worth it… I think I'm allergic. It's poison to me.”
Emmerdale return
Kensit left Emmerdale in September 2006, saying that time away from her sons while filming in Yorkshire was too stressful. The offer to reprise her role as Sadie King “came out of nowhere,” she said, adding that the character may have grown but is “still a cow”.
She said cast member Mark Charnock, who played Marlon Dingle, phoned her and said: “PK, you're coming back!” She replied: “Yes, but Mark, I'm s******g myself, I'm so scared.” Charnock responded: “Do you know what? It would be weird if you weren’t.”
