4th anniversary

It would appear to be my fourth wedding anniversary, and I’m in Manchester. More specifically, I’m in a Travelodge in Northwich in Cheshire. Life can be terribly glamorous!

I’m here, today and tomorrow, to edit my Em films. I flung the dates into my diary in January without really thinking about the fact that they would clash with my own wedding anniversary. It would be really lovely to be at home today with my husband, but we’ve said we’ll have a terribly fancy takeaway meal tomorrow when I’m back. And we’ve got the weekend...

There have been a couple of congratulatory messages posted on Facebook, which have been lovely to read. There’s a general “time flies” theme to most of them, but actually, it feels like a decade ago! So much has happened since, including Brass, Em, Nene, Beyond the Fence, three trips to America, releasing three albums...

This time, four years ago, Nathan, his sister Sam, and I were probably getting into a taxi and traveling up to Alexandra Palace. It was unseasonably warm, and all the blossoms and flowers were out. Alexandra Palace was flying the rainbow flag, which we found hugely moving. We took photographs of ourselves holding a big bouquet of flowers which had very kindly been sent to us by the performer Katie Melua. We’d also just opened a card from Michael Stipe, lead singer of R.E.M. It was all terribly surreal.

I remember walking into the space and seeing how beautiful they’d made it look. Just for us. It was possibly at that point that we realised what was happening. I think, up until then, it had felt like we were rehearsing for some sort of theatre show. But arriving in the space suddenly made us realise we were actually getting married.

And the rest is history...

What I do feel very angry about is that they’ve chosen this date to exit the EU next year. March 29th was a day of great hope and unity: the day that gay men finally had the chance to get married. How dare that grotesque cow May turn it into a day of separation and anger?

It’s all go at the moment. It’s amazing what a nice, relaxing trip to the countryside will do to you. I’ve basically done nothing but rush about missing meetings since arriving back here. It’s like I suddenly can’t manage my diary any more. You take your foot off the merry-go-round for a single second and you are sent hurtling off into the abyss.


I think I have rather too much to do. I have to start planning 100 Faces, and there’s an abnormal amount of work to do on that. Unfortunately, it’s proving a little tricky to get the story out to the Jewish press who are, necessarily, somewhat focussed on reporting antisemitism within the Labour Party at the moment. It’s not a new story, and I’m surprised leaders within the Jewish community have put up with it for so long. It’s always been my major concern with Jeremy Corbyn. The last general election was dreadful. I had to choose between a homophobe leader of the Lib Dems, and an antisemite leader of Labour.

Anyway, the other thing I’m trying to do is release the Em album. There’s press releases to write and send out. Being forced to release two projects simultaneously is always complicated. Half the time, you want to send information to the same people, but can’t because people can rarely get their heads around someone promoting two projects simultaneously unless they’re actors who happen to have two films being released at the same time, which, for some reason, people seem to understand.

So, I’ve had a shower, and my free cup of Travelodge tea, and two Weetabix which I ate from a mug because I couldn’t find a bowl for sale in the local Co-op. This Travelodge doesn’t have a restaurant, so I bought my own food with me to avoid a dreaded “breakfast box.” On second thoughts, it’s not really the best place to be on a wedding anniversary!