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Scoop reveals MP's movie secrets

The Colchester Evening Gazette has landed a national scoop about a top Tory MP that was followed up by the nationals.

Former Tory shadow defence secretary Bernard Jenkin was unmasked as a man of many faces in the film world.

Bernard’s wife, Anne, is a former girlfriend of Love Actually writer and director Richard Curtis, and has remained a firm friend, to the point where Bernard has a special appearance in all of Richard’s work.

The North Essex MP and his wife attended this weekend’s Leicester Square premiere of Richard’s new blockbuster comedy.

Speaking to reporter Tom Weatherill, Anne revealed her husband’s sideline, and the resultant front page story ended up as the page three lead in The Daily Telegraph.

Gazette Editor Irene Kettle said it was “a classic scoop” and “a great bit of fun”.

In Four Weddings And A Funeral, Bernard crops up at the second wedding as the groom marrying Lydia, played by Sophie Thompson.

They end up being interrupted in a passionate wedding day moment by Hugh Grant accidentally locked in their honeymoon suite.

In Blackadder II, Queenie’s nursemaid Nursie reveals her real name as Bernard. He can also be found in the aptly titled Bernard and the Genie.

And in The Vicar of Dibley, a recent article on what happened after the series ends reveals that Alice and Hugo Horton have many children all named Bernard.

Anne said: “Richard Curtis has never written anything without a character called Bernard in it, in Love Actually it is a child – they are all after my Bernard!

“If you look at our wedding video you will see Richard making jokes. In Four Weddings And A Funeral our wedding is reflected in the film, but not based on it!”

She dated Richard Curtis during their university days. Her husband said it became clear what was happening when his name kept cropping up in films!

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