A-ha! Now Downton Daisy falls for Alan Partridge
Revealed: Bra baroness and comic star have found new love
DOWNTON ABBEY star Daisy Lewis confessed recently that the ‘love of her life’ is a halfchihuahua, half-pug called Reg.
But now Reg has a rival for her affections – because Daisy, who plays feisty teacher Sarah Bunting in the hit ITV drama, has fallen for comedian Steve Coogan.
Daisy, 30, is undaunted by the age gap – Coogan will celebrate his 50th birthday on Wednesday – and has let slip that she and the Philomena star are an item.
Meanwhile, Coogan – who is most famous for playing spoof chat-show host Alan Partridge, whose catchphrase is ‘knowing me, knowing you, a-ha!’ – is also happy to make the relationship official. He took Daisy as his date when he picked up the Gold Medal of Honorary Patronage at a high-profile event at Dublin’s Trinity College three weeks ago.
I’m told that the pair were both at a singles party organised by Jemima Goldsmith. The former wife of cricketerturned politician Imran Khan assembled a stellar cast of singletons for the bash, including Little Britain star David Walliams, singer Natalie Imbruglia and former White House intern Monica Lewinsky, who famously enjoyed a fling with Bill Clinton.
Daisy, who has previously appeared in crime drama Lewis and Doctoroctor Who, is now focusing on finding nding film roles in the United States, leaving little time for romance. It means that Coogan is best advised not to try to spend the Sundays they do have together watching Downton. ‘I can’t bear to watch myself on screen,’ Daisy admits.
The actress doesn’t quite fit in with the Left-wing firebrand’s image. She grew up in Dorset and attended Port Regis,Regis Zara Phillips’s old prep school, and Bryanston before studying English literature at King’s College, London.
Her father John Lewis was chairman of the fashionable Groucho Club in London.
In contrast, Coogan was raised in Manchester suburb of Middleton, the fourth of seven children and the ‘runt of the litter’, according to his sister, Clare. The actor’s father worked as an engineer for computer giant IBM, and the Labour-supporting family attended church each Sunday. Coogan attended Manchester Polytechnic.
Daisy did not respond to calls last week asking her to comment on the relationship.