Patsy Kensit admits ‘I lost part of who I was’ while dating Liam Gallagher

For five turbulent years in the late 1990s, Patsy Kensit and Liam Gallagher were the ultimate “it couple” of the Britpop era, notably being pictured under a Union Flag bedsheet for the March 1997 Vanity Fair cover that has become an essential icon of Cool Britannia.

But the downside of their immense fame was an insatiable public interest that led to flocks of paparazzi camping out on the doorstep of their Primrose Hill home. Channel 4’s Big Breakfast even hired models to parade outside the house in different wedding dresses as the presenters speculated about what Patsy might wear on the big day.

But now, Patsy says, when looking back on that era, she realises that she “lost herself” while she was with the Oasis frontman.

In a new interview, on Davina McCall’s Begin Again podcast, Patsy explains: “That relationship became so big, and it was bigger than me and and therefore the pressure was huge.

“Of course the Vanity Fair cover and all of that stuff is very iconic,” she says. “People love it. But I lost part of who I was going into that relationship somehow.”

Patsy had been a huge star – first appearing on screen in 1974’s The Great Gatsby and popping up in everything from a Mia Farrow biopic to Lethal Weapon 2. But she dramatically scaled her career back during her time with Liam. She told Davina: “I remember Noel… taking me to one side and saying, ‘Why aren’t you why aren’t you working?’ – because I was always off doing films and going to the States and stuff.

“And I remember saying because I’m too afraid to leave [Liam] on his own.” But the singer’s older brother advised her not to let go of her career.

While Patsy’s early days with Liam were typified by late nights and endless parties, the relentless public curiosity left Britpop’s golden couple spending their days simply watching television at home to avoid the cameras outside.

She recalls how a chance meeting with Sir Elton John at Donatella Versace’s house was a turning point. 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.”

“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.”

The twin pressures of Lam’s relentless rock and roll lifestyle and incessant public scrutiny triggered a serious issue with alcohol. Patsy describes how she stopped drinking completely because the resulting depression was not worth it, describing alcohol as a “poison” to her.

“I like a drink,” Patsy said, “but I can’t have one because the depression that I get the the next day is just not worth it… I think I’m allergic. It’s poison to me. Some people can enjoy a drink and can put a lot of pressure on you sometimes.”

Not long after splitting from Liam, Patsy entered into talks with the producers of Emmerdale about the role of Sadie King. She quit the show in September 2006, saying that spending time away from her sons while filming in Yorkshire was too stressful.

But next month she’ll be back in the show. Patsy says Sadie King may have grown since she was last in the Dales, but is “still a cow”.

The offer to reprise her role “came out of nowhere,” she says, but she’s been thrilled by the welcome from some of her old co-stars: “One of the cast members, Mark Charnock, he played Marlon Dingle, Mark and I were really great, mates. And he phoned me up and said, ‘PK, you’re coming back!’ And I went, ‘Yes, but Mark, I’m s******g myself, I’m so scared.

“And he said, ‘Do you know what? It would be weird if you weren’t.’ That’s because I genuinely care … I’ve loved that character so much and so I don’t want to do her a disservice but they’ve been great to me. Really, really, great, great cast, crew, across the board.”