Articles
Copyright 2004
MGN Ltd.
Sunday Mirror
November 28, 2004, Sunday
SECTION: Scots Edition; NEWS; Pg. 19
HEADLINE: ANGUS
HIT BY NERVES;
EXCLUSIVE HE COLLAPSES AS HE'S ABOUT TO FILM STEAMY SEX SCENES
Simone Lahbib...she brought Angus out in a sweat; Deayton
says sex claims left him a broken man
DISGRACED TV star Angus Deayton collapsed on the Scottish set of his
new TV film - because of nerves.
The former Have I Got News For You presenter was hit by stage fright moments before he was due to film steamy love scenes.
The 48-year-old star, who has also acted in One Foot In The Grave, was on the Isle of Skye filming the new ITV drama Heartless with stunning Monarch of the Glen star Simone Lahbib.
Insiders say the TV presenter was "quaking and sweating with anxiety" as his co-stars tried to coax him into finishing his scenes.
He has told members of the cast that the last two years in the TV wilderness have left him a broken man.
Insiders say on set Deayton became withdrawn and spent evenings dining alone in his hotel room.
"Angus really is a shadow of his former self," said a film insider.
"His career took a real battering after the sex and drugs revelations came out and his confidence is really low.
"The other actors were trying to cajole him but it took a lot for him to actually complete his scenes.
"It certainly wasn't the Angus Deayton people are used to."
Deayton, who raked in pounds 50,000-a-week as the cocky presenter of cult news quiz Have I Got News For You, was sacked by the BBC following the sleaze claims. He hit the headlines after a string of allegations about his private life, including cocaine abuse and sex romps with a prostitute.
Deayton, who has a four-year-old son Isaac, was publicly humiliated by the allegations and endured relentless mockery from Have I Got News stars Ian Hislop and Paul Merton.
In Heartless, Deayton plays a ruthless Scots-based lawyer whose life changes dramatically after he has a heart transplant.
His character suffers a heart attack and when he comes round after the transplant operation he discovers that his personality has changed dramatically.
He then falls in love with the wife of the dead heart donor played by former Bad Girls boss Lahbib.
The two-hour drama, filmed by the makers of Monarch of the Glen, is to be shown on ITV1 next year.
Last month the Sunday Mirror pictured Deayton filming scenes from the movie in Glasgow's George Square.
Deayton could not be contacted for comment yesterday.