Craig: my nights in gay bars kept me out of punch-ups

DANIEL CRAIG has spoken about his preference for gay bars and how they helped him to avoid fights and pick up women.

The James Bond actor, 53, has just released his fifth and final film in the 007 franchise, No Time To Die.

Speaking to Bruce Bozzi on his Siriusxm podcast Lunch With Bruce, Craig said: “I’ve been going to gay bars for as long as I can remember and one of the reasons is because I don’t get into fights in gay bars that often.

“I just got very sick of it, as a kid, because it was like I just don’t want to end up being in a punch-up. And I did, that would happen quite a lot.”

The actor said he felt gay bars “would just be a good place to go”, adding: “Everybody was chilled. You didn’t really have to state your sexuality, it was OK. And it was a safe place to be.”

Craig, who has been married to actress Rachel Weisz since 2011, admitted there were also benefits to being a man interested in women in a gay bar. He said: “I could meet girls there because a lot of girls were there for exactly the same reason I was there.”

He recalled a night out at a gay bar in Venice Beach, California, in 2010 with his friend Bozzi.

‘Everybody was chilled. You didn’t really have to state your sexuality. And it was a safe place to be’

The pair explained they had gone out as Craig had wanted to talk about events in his life but they ended up getting “caught” together while at the bar and unintentionally caused media attention.

Craig said: “We were having a nice night and I kind of was talking to you about my life, when my life was changing, and we got drunk and I was like, ‘Oh, let’s just go to a bar, come on, let’s f----- go out’ ... what happened that night basically, we got busted again for doing nothing wrong.”