You’re the other Brian Cox! Stars’ hotel mix-up
THERE was plenty of space for both of them on the BBC Breakfast sofa.
But Brian Cox the physicist and Brian Cox the actor revealed yesterday how they almost ended up too close for comfort when a hotel booking mix-up risked landing them in the same bedroom.
The 76-year-old star of Succession told BBC presenter Charlie Stayt that ‘last night was very confusing’ when his physicist namesake, 54, arrived at the hotel both had booked into in Manchester.
The Scottish actor added: ‘They said there are two Brian Coxes so you’ve got two rooms and he said, “No, no, it’s only one – I think there might be another Brian Cox”.
‘They wouldn’t let him in. He had to use his assistant’s name.’
The physicist explained how he managed rebook his own room, saying: ‘I had to change my name. They couldn’t do it on the computer system. They didn’t believe you – I don’t watch TV”. He was going to cancel one. I had that in my mind you’re going to arrive and I’m in your bed.’ The pair, who have worked together previously, said they often disappoint people who are expecting the other one.
Professor Cox, who presented the BBC’s Wonders Of The Solar System, said: ‘Sometimes I’ll get in a car and the driver will say, “Ah, I love Succession, I don’t like this astronomy stuff”.’
The physicist was on the show yesterday to promote his new book Black Holes: The Key To Understanding The Universe, while the actor was there to discuss his new Channel 5 show How The Other Half Live, exploring money and wealth.
The actor previously revealed that he used to get ‘irked’ by his namesake, telling The Guardian: ‘It annoyed me initially – but has been such a great lesson – to find someone who is extraordinarily successful with the same name as me.
‘It irked me at first, then I thought, it’s not important.’