James Bond director to swap stunts for nappies
THE name’s Mendes . . . Baby Mendes. 007 director sam Mendes is to become a father again with his new wife, the classical musician Alison Balsom.
‘I can confirm they are expecting,’ the film-maker’s spokesman tells me.
the baby will be a half-brother or sister for Oscar-winner Kate Winslet’s 13-year-old son, Joe.
Mendes and Balsom decline to say when their first child is due, but the blonde trumpeter has been forced to cancel a concert she was scheduled to perform this thursday at London’s Wigmore Hall.
‘We are delighted to hear the news that Alison Balsom is pregnant and fully understand that she is unable to proceed with some of her concerts during this time,’ says a spokesman for the venue.
In January, I disclosed that the couple had tied the knot with the utmost discretion in Oxfordshire.
their plans were so secret some friends did not even know that Mendes, 51, was engaged to the glamorous 38-year-old.
‘the couple had a blessing,’ confirmed the Reverend Ginny thomas, who conducted the church service at st Michael and All Angels, in the village of Great tew.
‘the wedding had been held previously at a register office.’
Builder’s daughter Balsomh as a sixyear-old son, Charlie, with here x-boyfriend Edward Gardner ,42, from whom she separated in 2011.
He’s a top conductor and former music director of the English National Opera.
Mendes, who directed the most recent James Bond films Skyfall and Spectre and won an Oscar in 1999 for American Beauty, was married to Winslet, 41, from 2003 to 2010.
Last October I revealed that Mendes was enjoying a romance with Balsom. The couple moved into a 300-year-old former rectory she had bought for £1.9million by the seaside in Dorset.
The director has never had any trouble attracting beauties. He split up with Hollywood actress Rebecca Hall in 2015 and, before his marriage to Winslet, courted fellow Oscar-winner Rachel Weisz and Ally McBeal star Calista Flockhart.