Strong spirits help Ray see supernatural

NOT sure I had Hollywood hard man Ray Winstone down as a believer in the supernatural.

And yet the 66-year-old Sexy Beast star claims to have had ‘loads’ of encounters with unworldly entities, although there does tend to be a common denominator.

‘I was usually p****d at the time,’ he tells me at the Gala Performance of Ghost Story 2:22 at the Apollo Theatre in London’s West End, which sees his 38-year-old daughter Jaime (pictured left, together) playing a starring role.

And the actress also confirmed to being a believer, telling me at the after party: ‘Of course I believe. Is it science, or is it magic? It’s all of it.’

Before adding: ‘I’ve had a few drinks’. Do I sense a pattern emerging?

■ EDITH BOWMAN is a stalwart broadcaster — however, the 49-year-old admits to still suffering from nerves before any of her big presenting gigs. ‘I use them constructively, it keeps me alert,’ the former Radio 1 DJ tells me. ‘I think when I don’t get them it’s time to move on.

‘I see them as a good thing because it shows you care. If you didn’t feel anything, then it would be worse, wouldn’t it? I still get nervous but it keeps me alive.’

■ HER father Lucian was given the Order of Merit and awards seem to keep coming for the Freuds. Novelist daughter Esther, 60, has been handed a sauna diploma, recognising her as a fully-fledged doyenne of dry heat. ‘I am proud to say I’m now a member of the Diplomatic Sauna Society, courtesy of the Finnish embassy,’ she says. ‘I spent the evening with notable Finns, eating, drinking and testing our Sisu (grit) in the highest temperatures.’ As one does.