Gyles Brandreth: With my beige sex life and no drugs I’ve barely lived

Gyles Brandreth has claimed he has “barely lived at all” and has a “beige” sex life compared to the exploits of others.

The former MP and friend of the Queen has reflected on his own personal life after learning of the sexual escapades of actor Rupert Everett.

By interviewing the British star, Brandreth was forced into the realisation that his own exploits had been “beige” and “boring” by comparison.

Brandreth, 76, has written that he has never touched drugs or smoked and now feels as if he has “barely lived at all”.

The writer and broadcaster interviewed Everett, 64, for his Rosebud podcast and wrote of the encounter: “What a wild, sex-fuelled life the actor has led. And how beige my existence has been.”

He added: “Rupe has lived – and some. During his late teens, and into his twenties and beyond, sex was central to his existence.

“Young men, old men, he had them all – and women, too. Morning, noon and night, Rupe was having it away with gay abandon.

“Inevitably, alcohol and drugs were part of the rich mix, but the driving force was sex.

“I have never met anyone before who has enjoyed so much sex and can talk about it so disarmingly – and hilariously.”

Brandreth added: “Rupert is knocking retirement age now, with a settled boyfriend, is content and has a rich and raunchy past to look back on.

“I have got nothing. I have never smoked. I have not touched even the mildest drug. I don’t drink and if I wrote up the story of my love life, it would be called One and a Half Shades of Beige. Of course, it’s too late now.”

Everett received acclaim for the 1997 film My Best Friend’s Wedding, and for his starring role as Oscar Wilde in the biographical film The Happy Prince, which he secured funding for himself.

The star has had relationships with men and women, including a year-long affair with Paula Yates in the 1990s, while she was married to Bob Geldoff.

He has also been open about his past use of cocaine, and his need in 2014 to give up marijuana in order to concentrate on his acting.

Settled married life

Brandreth has lived a settled married life for decades, meeting his future wife Michèle while studying at Oxford, and enjoying a quiet wedding in 1973. The couple have lived in Barnes, south-west London, since 1986 and have three children together.

In addition to steering clear of cigarettes and drugs, the television presenter gave up alcohol in 1997, initially in an attempt to lose weight while he was serving as Tory MP for the City of Chester.

Brandreth is also a vegetarian, encapsulating his philosophy in his determination not to eat “anything with a face”, and has a personal trainer.

The regular raconteur on This Morning typically writes 1,000 words a day, and has described his morning routine as drinking from a “meticulous” selection of themed mugs and sitting down to a breakfast of “a boiled egg, half an avocado, tomatoes and cheese”.

The presenter has recently taken part in a “wellness clinic” on ITV’s This Morning, performing press-ups live on air.