‘I had a glass of wine with the Queen and Bono’ My Life iN driNks

The musician and TV presenter, 46, tells Miranda Thompson about his penchant for a peaty whisky, an unforgettable Blue Nun hangover and a royal date sipping wine with the stars

told a French man who worked in our local Oddbins about it and he said, ‘Oh, my palate is much more sophisticated.’ I was somewhat insulted and never went back. That particular shop shut down – I wasn’t surprised, with that kind of sales patter.

I am absolutely obsessed with liqueur chocolates.

I used to grab one from my parents at Christmas when I was young. They’ve got some crystallised sugar on the inside to keep the alcohol in. I even asked my wife for them for my Christmas present a few years ago.

My drinking days as a teenager were bottles of cider in an NCP car park.

I lived in Bournemouth at the time. It wasn’t terribly glamorous but it looked out over Bournemouth Gardens. I never liked to drink to excess in those days. If I’d go out to nightclubs and people would buy me a beer, I’d be standing there thinking, ‘I don’t want this’ and pour it into a plant pot when no one was looking.

I can’t function without coffee.

It’s the first thing I drink in the morning. I’ve drunk filtered coffee since I was young – I think my

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