Patsy Kensit reveals Elton John’s advice amid ‘weight-shaming’ during Liam Gallagher romance – UK Times

Patsy Kensit has revealed that she turned to pop legend Elton John for advice while experiencing intense press scrutiny during her romance with Oasis’ Liam Gallagher.

The actor, 58, began dating Gallagher in 1995, with the pair tying the knot in April two years later – having cancelled their first wedding due to “intrusive media attention”. They welcomed son Lennon in 1999 before divorcing the following year.

Over 25 years on from their divorce, Kensit opened up about the intense press attention she received during their relationship – which often came with criticism about her weight.

Speaking to The Telegraph, the Absolute Beginners star said: “Elton John told me I needed to stop reading the papers in the early 1990s. So I did.”

She added that she was pictured in the Nineties “looking upset” or “kicking a car door in”, which happened during a turbulent time in her marriage to Gallagher.

“I think the press had established this fragile, needy person – this image of someone who was almost everything I wasn’t,” she said. “All that [weight-shaming] stuff in the papers – I didn’t look at it. I didn’t read it. It’s as though they had this fictional character in their heads, and it was very difficult for them to rewrite the truth.”

Kensit began her career as a child actor aged just four after landing a role in adverts for Birds Eye. She went on to star in 1974’s The Great Gatsby, British thriller Hennessy, 1986’s Absolute Beginners and Lethal Weapon 2 three years later.

In later years, she took on roles in Emmerdale, Holby City and EastEnders – having joined the latter soap in 2023.

Kensit and Gallagher originally planned to wed in February 1997, however were forced to cancel the wedding due to overwhelming press attention. “Liam Gallagher will not be marrying Ms. Patsy Kensit today,” the Oasis singer’s record company said at the time. “Obsessive and intrusive media attention has removed any dignity from what was to be a private and special occasion.”

They married privately the following April in a “totally private” ceremony at Westminster registry office.

Kensit had been married twice before her relationship with Gallagher, having wed musician Daniel Donovan in 1988 before splitting from him in 1991 and marrying Simple Minds’ star Jim Kerr the following year. They welcomed their son James in 1993, three years before divorcing.

She later found romance with DJ Jeremy Healy, with their nuptials taking place in 2007 – however, they announced plans to divorce three years later.

Last year, Kensit said that she doesn’t have a relationship with the fathers of her kids, telling HELLO! that it’s “really quite sad” but that she’s “always supported a relationship between a father and a child”.