Patsy Kensit has revealed Noel Gallagher confronted her about giving up her career during her marriage to his brother Liam.
The Emmerdale star, 58, became one of the most famous celebrity couples in the 1990s when she started dating Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher, now 53.
But Patsy has now told how the relationship became so all-consuming that she lost ‘a part’ of herself and quit film roles because she was ‘too scared to leave him alone’.
Speaking Davina McCall’s Begin Again podcast On Thursday, Patsy revealed it was Liam’s older brother Noel, 59, who finally took her aside and questioned why she had put her career on hold.
She said: ‘I think what I forgot at the time was how much I had done before. That relationship became so big. It was bigger than me and therefore the pressure was enormous.’
Patsy – who shares model son Lennon, 26, with Liam – added: ‘Obviously the Vanity Fair cover and all that stuff is very… people love it. It was a very iconic time.
Patsy Kensit, 58, has revealed Noel Gallagher confronted her about giving up her career during her wedding to his brother Liam
The Emmerdale star became one of the most famous celebrity couples in the 1990s when she started dating Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher, now 53 (pictured in 1999)
“I lost a part of who I went into that relationship. Somehow I lost her.”
Patsy referenced the couple’s famous 1997 Vanity Fair shoot, which saw them sprawled out together on a bed covered in Union Jack linens for “London Swings!” of the magazine. Again!’ edition in honor of Cool Britannia. The image became one of the defining photographs of the Britpop era.
Patsy has been acting since childhood, starring opposite Mel Gibson in the Hollywood blockbuster Lethal Weapon 2, as well as appearing in Absolute Beginners, before becoming synonymous with the Britpop era.
She recalled: “I remember Noel, who is lovely and divine, and he has always been kind to me over the years.
‘I remember he took me aside and said, “Why aren’t you working? Why aren’t you working…” because I was always off making films and going to the States and stuff.
“And I remember saying, ‘Because I’m too scared to leave him alone.'”
Patsy said Noel encouraged her to do more with her own career, but her turbulent relationship with Liam eventually “ran its course.”
She added: “There were some fantastic times. We were very irresponsible. I always say I had very late nights in the 1990s.’
Patsy met Liam in 1995 and the couple married at Marylebone Town Hall in April 1997, becoming a fixture of the Cool Britannia era.
They divorced in September 2000, the year after they welcomed their son Lennon.
Looking back on their first meeting, Patsy said she bumped into Liam on a flight to Glasgow when one of the first things he did was compliment the small round John Lennon-style sunglasses she was wearing.
But Patsy has now told how the relationship became so all-consuming that she lost ‘a part’ of herself and stopped taking film roles because she was ‘too scared to leave him alone’.
Patsy revealed it was Liam’s older brother Noel, 59, (R), who finally took her aside and questioned why she had put her career on hold
Patsy shares model son Lennon, 26, with Liam (pictured together in 2023)
She said: ‘The first thing he said to me was, “Oh, top bins.” I was really tempted to give them to him. Then I thought no, I got these in New York, and I actually really like them.
“As the years went by, he always came home with a new pair of sunglasses that someone gave him, but I was so glad that girl wasn’t me.”
She said they “just kept running into each other” after that, adding of the beginning of their romance: “It was quite sweet.” It wasn’t a sloppy kind of get-together.”
Patsy was still married to her second husband, Simple Minds singer Jim Kerr, then 67, but said the couple were already “living separate lives.”
She and Jim share a son, James, 32, and divorced in 1996 after four years of marriage.
Patsy said she regrets the way events unfolded, but she would never wish the relationship away because it gave her Lennon.
She thought, ‘Do I regret that? Yes, I look back on it now, but I wouldn’t have had my youngest son, and that’s a blessing. It came out of some very difficult times in that marriage.”
The actress – who is now preparing to return to Emmerdale as the devious Sadie King after a 20-year absence – also reflected on the extraordinary level of scrutiny that surrounded her and Liam at the time, saying the pair represented something much bigger than their relationship.
‘He was bigger than me. The pressure was enormous,” she said.
