I’m a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here star Tom Read Wilson has revealed that fellow contestant Martin Kemp can speak Polari, a secret language historically used by the gay community before homosexuality was decriminalised. The revelation came during an appearance on Paul C Brunson’s We Need To Talk podcast.
Polari is a code-like language that borrows terms from Yiddish, Italian and Cockney Rhyming Slang. It was used within gay culture from the 19th century onwards to speak covertly when homosexuality was illegal. By the 1970s, after partial decriminalisation, Polari fell into disuse, though words like “butch”, “naff” and “zhuzh” have entered mainstream slang.
Read Wilson recounted that Kemp, the Spandau Ballet star, once said to him in the jungle: “Bona lallies, Tom,” which means “great legs” in Polari. When asked how he knew the language, Kemp explained that he grew up listening to BBC Radio’s Round the Horne, a sketch show featuring Kenneth Horne and Kenneth Williams, whose camp characters Julian and Sandy regularly spoke Polari.
Read Wilson also noted that Kemp introduced a character in one of his thriller novels who only spoke Polari. The pair also discussed the New Romantics period of the late 1970s, when Spandau Ballet emerged. Kemp told Read Wilson about the Blitz club, where “there was no gender, there was no orientation” and people were free to express their sexuality without judgment.
Kemp, who has been married to singer Shirlie Kemp since 1988, has two children: singer Harley Moon and TV presenter Roman Kemp. He has previously spoken about how the inclusive atmosphere of the Blitz club shaped his values, saying he passed on the message of acceptance to his children.
