A New York restaurantear who famously banned James Corden has revealed that British playwright Alan Bennett wanted him to keep their five-year love affair secret.
`Keith McNally, 73, said in his upcoming memoir that he has had two gay relationships – one with the celebrated writer, 90.
But when given a preview of the book, I Regret Everything, Bennett wasn’t pleased.
McNally said: ‘He didn’t want me to write about him at all, but I had to be honest.
‘He would write a character based on me in many plays and every one I liked a lot. But it’s the first time I’ve written about him and he didn’t like it,’ he told the Telegraph.
When Bennett turned 90 last year, McNally posted on social media: ‘We’ve been best friends since 1968 when I was in Alan’s first play, Forty Years On.’
The relationship is understood to have started at that time of that production, which starred Sir John Gielgud.
Bennett had made his name as a satirist on the hugely influential comedy stage revue Beyond the Fringe, which also starred Dudley Moore, Jonathan Miller and Peter Cook.
A New York restaurantear, Keith McNally, 73, (pictured) who famously banned James Corden, has revealed that British playwright Alan Bennett wanted him to keep their five-year love affair secret
When given a preview of the book, I Regret Everything, Bennett wasn’t pleased
When Bennett turned 90 last year, McNally posted on social media: ‘We’ve been best friends since 1968 when I was in Alan’s first play, Forty Years On’
McNally was an aspiring actor at the time and his relationship with Bennett is said to have continued until he moved to America in 1975 to become a restaurateur.
He went on to open celebrity hotspot Balthazar among other successful establishments and later married fellow restaurant boss Lynn Wagenknecht, with whom he has children with including the actress Isabelle McNally.
While the Talking Heads creator has lived in London for decades with his long-time partner Rupert Thomas, the former editor of The World of Interiors magazine.
In 2022 the Balthazar owner made headlines when he took to Instagram to ban Corden from his Balthazar brasserie, describing the Gavin & Stacey star as a ‘hugely gifted comedian but a tiny cretin of a man’ for being rude to his waiting staff.
The former talk show host allegedly berated them over a hair in his food, demanded free drinks during the summer and furiously reprimanded the waiters over an omelet he was unhappy with.
According to staff, who were ‘very apologetic,’ the star allegedly declared: ‘Get us another round of drinks this second. And also take care of all of our drinks so far. This way I [won’t] write any nasty reviews in yelp or anything like that.’
McNally previously said there was more trouble when he came in for brunch with his wife Julia Carey but complained about ‘a little bit of egg white’ in her egg yolk omelet.
He then allegedly began ‘yelling like crazy’ when they made a new one but served it with fries instead of a salad.
McNally was an aspiring actor at the time and his relationship with Bennett is said to have continued until he moved to America in 1975 to become a restaurateur
In 2022 the Balthazar owner made headlines when he took to Instagram to ban Corden from his Balthazar brasserie, describing the Gavin & Stacey star as a ‘hugely gifted comedian but a tiny cretin of a man’ for being rude to his waiting staff
Balthazar in New York’s Soho is a much loved celebrity haunt
The post claimed James told the server: ‘You can’t do your job! You can’t do your job! Maybe I should go into the kitchen and cook the omelet myself.’
The couple received a free glass of Champagne and apologies, but the server ‘was very shaken.’
Four hours after announcing the ban to his 87,000 Instagram followers, McNally promptly reversed it, saying he had received a call from Cordon apologizing.
In a later post, the fiery restaurateur admitted that he felt ‘really sorry’ for the comedian.
