What do you pack first?
“When I was at university, I had terrible eczema. One day, I went to this doctor who took out this blacklisted steroid cream and told me never to tell anyone. Lo and behold, a lifetime of eczema was cured. I still have this tube of the strongest steroid cream on Earth. It’s about seven years out of date but I always take it with me because the fear of not having it makes me break out in eczema. So it’s a sort of psychological comfort blanket.”
Which is the smartest hotel you’ve ever stayed in?
“The Byblos Art Hotel in Verona, Italy. It was as if they’d gone to the furthest corners of the earth and collected the most unique and distinct pieces of art and put them in various places within the hotel, which is in a 16th-century villa. There was a man falling from the ceiling, and a weird stop-motion clay adult film playing on a screen as you went down to dinner.”
Sightseeing or sun lounger?
“If I go on holiday with someone who says they just want to lie down all day, I think there’s actually a problem because you’re there to go on adventures. I always try and jam-pack the most adventurous things into my holiday. On my first day in Mexico in 2022, we were jet lagged but I wanted to see Chichen Itza, the Mayan city, and the amazing Temple of Kukulcan. And it’s crazy because it’s just a parallel universe: on that same day I had a TV show called Prince Andrew: The Musical, where I was playing King Charles, and there was some uproar about a black man playing the king. They didn’t know I was busy eating churros, looking at the Chichen Itza. So I have very happy memories of that.”
Who is the most interesting person you’ve met on your travels?
“In Malta there was a man who would dive from cliffs every single day. He was 70-odd, wrinkled, tattooed and wore two hoop earrings. Every day, without fail, he would just rock up, perform a double back somersault into the sea, get out, towel off, and disappear. He never missed a day. It’s mindblowing to think there’s all these unlockable characters that you won’t meet unless you travel.”
Dotonbori, Osaka, JapanGetty Images
