Freddie Mercury's life in his own words revealed: 17 of the singer's secret diaries used in new book release, writes ALISON BOSHOFF
A bombshell unauthorised Freddie Mercury book is to be published later this year – based on a secret cache of 17 of his diaries.
The handwritten journals, which he filled between 1976 and 1991 – the year of his death – will reveal 'a version of Freddie you never knew existed', according to author Lesley-Ann Jones, who was handed the notebooks by a friend of the Queen star three years ago.
Jones, who has previously written biographies of John Lennon, Christine McVie and Paul McCartney, says it will reveal 'horrors' from Freddie's childhood, his candid thoughts about being diagnosed HIV positive – and his deep and abiding love for Mary. The last diary entry was made just weeks before his death.
The project has been shrouded in secrecy and is being published without the cooperation of the late singer's estate, or his one-time girlfriend Mary Austin, who was a beneficiary of his will.
The book – Love, Freddie – will be published in September, on what would have been his 79th birthday.
Jones, who has previously written biographies of John Lennon, Christine McVie and Paul McCartney, says it will reveal 'horrors' from Freddie's childhood, his candid thoughts about being diagnosed HIV positive – and his deep and abiding love for Mary. The last diary entry was made just weeks before his death.
'Freddie had an extraordinary secret life,' Jones told me. 'People have taken the account in Bohemian Rhapsody as gospel, but the truth is very different.'
She was approached by a close friend of the star after she wrote a book, Love Of My Life, about the singer in 2021. 'The book made this person get in touch with me and say enough was enough, and that it is time Freddie had his own say.
'There are 17 diaries, which he kept between 1976 and 1991. It isn't a chronicle, in the sense of a dated, daily entry. There is a lot of musing; and there is a lot about his music.
A bombshell unauthorised Freddie Mercury book is to be published later this year – based on a secret cache of 17 of his diaries. Pictured: Freddie performs during Live Aid at Wembley Stadium on 13 July 1985
The project has been shrouded in secrecy and is being published without the cooperation of the late singer's estate, or his one-time girlfriend Mary Austin, who was a beneficiary of his will. Mercury is pictured with Austin in 1984
The book – Love, Freddie – will be published in September, on what would have been his 79th birthday
'There is a lot in there about Freddie's childhood, which he never talked about,' she added. 'And having read the diaries I am not surprised. He had the most horrific childhood. Things happened which he was never able to get over. Then there is the period from when he was diagnosed HIV positive. He is very candid about what he went through.'
Mercury dated Mary Austin from 1970 to 1975 but also had numerous relationships with men, including hairdresser Jim Hutton and manager Paul Prenter, who was fired after laying bare Mercury's promiscuous appetite for hook-ups when on tour.
Jones said: 'This book will restore Mary Austin to her rightful place in his history. She was misinterpreted and misbelieved. She was the love of his life, but there was something else as well, which will have to wait for the publication of the book.
'Love, Freddie is the closest thing to an autobiography of Freddie that the world will ever know. The world wasn't ready, in 1991, for the person that he was; but we are ready now.'
Mercury formed Queen in 1970 with Brian May and Roger Taylor, and he wrote many of their biggest hits, including Bohemian Rhapsody and Crazy Little Thing Called Love.
He died from AIDS-related pneumonia after revealing that he had the condition, in 1991.
After White Lotus, Sam chases the girl of his dreams
Lilah Pate, star of The Outer Banks, is the girl of Sam Nivola's dreams... on screen at least.
The pair are currently shooting a teen romance story – sources say it's like a cross between Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Risky Business – in North Carolina.
Nivola, 21 (right), plays a high school student called Jeremy who, with his friends, steals the school's Driver's Ed (learner) car and heads off on a road trip in search of Pate's character, Samantha. The film, called Driver's Ed, is being directed by Bobby Farrelly – of Kingpin and Dumb And Dumber fame – and is Nivola's first starring role in a movie. It is due out in 2026.
Nivola, the son of actress Emily Mortimer and her actor husband Alessandro Nivola, is a hot property after his role as sweet-natured Lochlan Ratliff in series three of The White Lotus, which concluded this week.
He lives in New York with girlfriend Iris Apatow (daughter of director Judd) and has said that after the success of The White Lotus he's starting to get recognised in the street, which he finds unnerving.
He told Variety magazine this week: 'I have been in North Carolina for the past month, shooting a movie, so I was far away from a lot of things.
'But when I went back to New York for one weekend to do a photoshoot, and I went out on St Patrick's Day with my girlfriend, we had to call it a night very quickly because I was getting stopped by people on the street.
'That's the first time that's ever happened to me in my life. And it's so cool that random people that you've never met like what you're doing enough to take time out of their day to say that to you.
'It's so moving, and really lovely.
'But it also feels weird, in terms of privacy. I was on an aeroplane the other day, taking a nap, and some guy woke me up to take a picture with me. That was invasive.'
Lilah Pate, star of The Outer Banks, is the girl of Sam Nivola's dreams... on screen at least
Angels out of the Asylum
It looks as if the troubled film Angels In The Asylum is never going to be completed, as the company behind it has gone into administration.
The movie, about women suspected of being typhoid carriers who were confined at Surrey's Long Grove Asylum in the 1930s, starred Minnie Driver.
It was about halfway through filming when work halted, leaving up to 150 crew out of pocket.
Beatles reunion at Cannes
Cannes will be a particularly starry affair this year, with Robert De Niro and Tom Cruise both on the Croisette.
De Niro is being given an honorary Palme d'Or on May 13. And Cruise's Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning will premiere the following day, out of competition.
Other films in the festival include Eddington, starring Emma Stone, and Wes Anderson's The Phoenician Scheme.
There'll be a Beatles reunion for Paul Mescal — who is playing Paul McCartney in Sam Mendes's Fab Four films — and Harris Dickinson (John Lennon).
Mescal will be in Cannes with romantic First World War drama The History Of Sound, and Dickinson with Urchin, about a rough sleeper, which he wrote and directed.
How sex bomb Tom and Mary stayed friends
Tom Jones's two-year love affair with Supremes singer Mary Wilson is a matter of showbiz legend – particularly the bit about his wife Linda's threat to castrate her husband if it continued.
However, it can be revealed that, following Linda's death from lung cancer in 2016, Jones and Wilson managed to rekindle an emotional connection and friendship which was meaningful for them both.
Wilson's daughter Turkessa said matter-of-factly: 'They loved each other – and they continued loving each other until the day she passed. As friends.'
Jones, who met Wilson in 1968, telephoned the family to offer condolences after Wilson died suddenly at her home in Nevada in 2021.
Turkessa said: 'He reached out to us when she passed and he's a great guy. We spoke and he was very loving.'
Wilson said in interviews that she had been completely in love with Jones, who married Linda when she was 16 and pregnant with their son Mark. She said she was 'devastated' when he broke up with her and felt he was the love of her life.
Jones, however, always maintained that any affairs he had were only casual and that Linda was the great love of his life.
Speaking at the launch of The Hollywood Museum's Black History Month Exhibit called This Joint Is Jumpin – A Celebration Of Black Entertainers From Film, TV, And Song, Turkessa said that her mother had managed to overcome her heartbreak.
'The thing is, she knew it couldn't work. He was married, and she couldn't deal with it. What happened afterwards was she married my dad, divorced him, and she had three children, so she had no regrets. She lived a full life and enjoyed every part of it.'
It was revealed earlier this week that Sir Tom will tell his life story to the BBC to mark his 85th birthday later this year. The interview will be part of BBC One's In My Own Words strand.
Tom Jones's two-year love affair with Supremes singer Mary Wilson is a matter of showbiz legend – particularly the bit about his wife Linda's threat to castrate her husband if it continued
The bromance that's bigger than Barbie
What's the secret to the outsize success of A Minecraft Movie? The critics hated it... but it was bigger than Barbie at the box office on its first weekend, and looks on course to gross $1 billion or more.
Of course, the support of the video game's fans has been huge for the film – with all kinds of high jinks (completely baffling to grown-ups) erupting upon the words 'chicken jockey' being uttered including (at my local cinema) the chucking of an actual egg at the screen.
Director Jared Hess thinks that the bromance between Jack Black (who plays Steve) and Jason Momoa (pictured) is the thing. That, and Black's full-on acting style.
Hess said: 'Jack is playing everything with so much passion. And when we were shooting, it'd be like: 'You know what, Jack? Let's put a little more mustard on that.' And he just takes everything to 11, all the time. That seriousness about such a ridiculous world is part of the vitality of the comedy.'
Director Jared Hess thinks that the bromance between Jack Black (who plays Steve) and Jason Momoa (pictured) is the thing. That, and Black's full-on acting style
Now that's a jammy move by Meghan!
Isn't this cosy? Influencer Amanda Hirsch, who gushed over Meghan's 'As ever' jam, has been signed up by talent agency WME, which also looks after... The Duchess of Sussex.
Back in January, Hirsch, who runs the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast, said she was 'scared' about Meghan's lifestyle show With Love, Meghan, because the Duchess seemed 'inauthentic'.
She was then sent a letter by Meghan telling her not to worry, which she shared swooningly on social media.
Last week, her deal with WME was announced – and the following day she got a package of jam and tea from Meghan, prompting unbounded joy. 'First a letter now her jam!!! Are we gonna be bffs? Should I buy a one-way to Montecito???'
Influencer Amanda Hirsch, who gushed over Meghan's 'As ever' jam, has been signed up by talent agency WME, which also looks after... The Duchess of Sussex
Glen runs straight to Tom for a bit of advice
No let-up in Glen Powell's bromance with Tom Cruise. Powell says his friend and mentor was the first person he turned to when he was offered the lead role in The Running Man, based on the dystopian Stephen King novel about a man hunted by killers for 30 days as part of a deadly gameshow.
Cruise, of course, is famous for his running scenes in action movies (he's pictured here in Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning); and it is rumoured that the more minutes of running there are in any Tom Cruise film, the higher its score on Rotten Tomatoes. Powell said: 'When I was first cast, Tom was my first call. He said: 'Film yourself running as soon as possible. You don't look as cool as you think you do.'
'And we did, and I talked to people. And the fun part is, you talk to these running coaches, they're like, there's only one actor who knows how to run on screen. It's Tom Cruise.'
Powell added: 'I'm not trying to be Tom Cruise. But I learned so much from him on how to properly do an action movie.'
The novel has previously been made into a film in 1987, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
No let-up in Glen Powell's bromance with Tom Cruise. Powell says his friend and mentor was the first person he turned to when he was offered the lead role in The Running Man
Taxi!
Jimmy Carr already has a rescue dog called Marnie. But he chose a more unusual name for his new English Toy Terrier puppy. 'It's called Taxi,' he revealed. 'Taxi, I think, is the best name for a dog... because if you are going to be shouting to your dog in the park, you don't sound mental.'
