It’s a Brand new me..
Marriage to Gallacher girl has tamed womanising wildman...
COMEDIAN Russell Brand is happy to admit fatherhood has helped to tame him.
The 42-year-old has always been a bit of a handful – as an anarchic comedian, political activist and ex-addict of booze, drugs and sex. The madcap style that made his name hasn’ t disappeared but he has found inner peace. Marriage – to Laura Gallacher, sister of TV sports presenter Kirsty and daughter of Scots golf legend Bernard – seems to suit Brand and he is loving being a dad to their 11-month-old daughter, Mabel. “Fatherhood has changed me because I’ve got this whole new person n my i li fe that I’ m completely in love with, two people that I’m completely in love with, in fact, three including me – it’s a good thing I put myself last,” he said. Brand’s personal life used to be anything but settled. There was his short-lived marriage to singer Katy Perry, then a reported on-off relationship with Jemima Goldsmith. All this came around the time he was promoting his 2014 book Revolution – a rant calling for a global change involving radical wealth redistribution and spiritualism featuring ramblings about celebrity, politics and corruption in between. Now, he seems to be in a much more positive frame of mind as he discusses his latest book, Recovery, a self-help guide which follows the 12-step programme he applied to his own drugs and alcohol addiction. The comedian, who has been drug-free for 14 years, said: My “relationships with other people can be problematic and the 12-step tool helps you to deal with people and with yourself. “Everyone’s got to deal with a problem – whether it’ s heroin, food or gambling, or you’re in a job or relationship you don’t like.” He’s self-deprecating and funny in the book, admitting his own numerous flaws and weaknesses, and recounting incidents when he behaved like a
spoiled brat. He also writes poignantly about the birth of his daughter. Brand said: “Little Mabes was born when I was in the middle of writing the book, so it was obviously a vivid experience. “I got into a position psychologically and emotionally because of this programme, so it was possible that the best thing in the world could happen to me – becoming a father. “I feel better than I ever have done. I feel very connected with who I am and I’m very grateful. “I really love my wife, my daughter and my friends. There’s a lot of love in my life. My life is defined mostly by love, whereas a lot of times my life has been defined by anger and self-pity.” He wouldn’t go as far as to say he’s gone soft, though. Brand added: “People change over time but I still have quite a lot of passion. The family is because of the programme, the mellowing is because of the programme, the loving myself is because of the programme. “I’ve long wanted to know for a fact that I’ m not the most important person in the world, and to see that that’s a beautiful thing, not a terrifying thing.” The madcap thoughts are never far from the surface, although he practises transcendental meditation ever y day, as well as praying. But there’s still the wild, can’ t-sit-still side of the outspoken comedian, as he continues his mammoth stand-up tour Re: Birth, taking Laura and Ma bel with him. “We go on the road like travellers,” he said. “The baby comes, Laura comes. We are all jammed in the car with saucepans, like The Beverly Hillbillies. “There’s stuff clattering up on the roof, the dog’s barking, it’s mental. Laura’ s avery compassionate woman, I mean she’d have to be, wouldn’t she? She’s got a hell of a halo around her head.” He’s already completed one leg of the tour in the UK and has recently been in the US with the family. He said: “I still really love comedy. I’ve calmed down now by changing nappies and staring at one person. Nowadays, I come off stage and go home to my wife and baby or back to a hotel with them. “In the old days, I used to go crawling though the night, like a vampire trundling down from his castle looking for villagers.” He admits that he has many flaws. What’s his greatest one? Brand said: “A tendency to return to a selfish perspective.” Steps eight and nine, he points out, deal with identifying when you’ ve done something wrong and making amends by apologising. He advises readers to make a list of people they have harmed. He said: “Mine was like a bible, or the Yellow Pages. “It has to be appropriate. You don’t knock on someone’s front door and say, ‘Is your wife in, because I was having an affair with her and I just want to apologise?’ “I don’t have regrets. You accept that you are the person you are and your experiences made you what you are. Regret is like wanting something that can never happen.” Recovery : Freedom From Our Addictions by Russell Brand is published by Bluebird.