How Game of Thrones healed our family rift, by Clive James
VETERAN broadcaster Clive James has revealed that TV boxsets helped pull his family back together after it was torn apart by his affair with a former model.
Thrown out of the marital home by wife Prue, the presenter, now 7 , binge-watched series such as Game of Thrones, The Sopranos, The Wire, Battlestar Galactica, Band of Brothers and The West Wing.
With his family ‘split up into various houses’ within 500 yards of one another in Cambridge, James said the shows and shared conversations about them healed the rift.
Speaking to the Radio Times about the fallout from his eightyear affair with Leanne Edelsten, which came to light in 2012, he said: ‘Inevitably, we all started to visit each other – constantly! And when my younger daughter, Lucinda, is here, watching TV together is one of the ways we communicate.
‘It’s a shared madness. And my elder daughter is next door, and she’s a great watcher, too.’ Asked if he shared similar occasions with his wife, he replied: ‘All the time. She is a terrific judge. I’m always interested in what she finds interesting.’
James lives alone but wife Prue Shaw, who he married in 19 8, has forgiven the affair and visits often. James developed a passion for boxsets after he was diagnosed with leukaemia, kidney failure and lung disease in 2010. He is still undergoing treatment. He said he can get himself to hospital but added: ‘Otherwise I’ve got nothing to do except to sit here – and enjoy the adventure of the mind.’
James said his family has made him lucky in life. ‘The girls,’ he said. ‘My elder daughter, who does everything. And my younger daughter, who delights in so many ways. And my brilliant wife.’