Gwyneth Paltrow upsets Brits

2002-08-16 13:45

Paul Majendie

London - Gwyneth Paltrow's mocking complaint that British men never asked her out on dates struck a raw nerve on Friday with Britain's stiff-upper-lipped Romeos.

The American Oscar winner whose hunky Hollywood dates have ranged from Brad Pitt to Ben Affleck lamented: "British people don't seem to ask each other out."

The winsome 29-year-old had just two dates when she was in London to appear in the critically acclaimed play Proof. One was with gallant A Knight's Tale star James Purefoy. The name of the other date was not revealed.

British men are constantly taunted for being the epitome of reticence and Paltrow agreed they were distinctly rusty at the dating game.

"If someone asks you out, they are really going out on a limb whereas in America, it happens all the time," she told Now Magazine.

"Someone will come up to you and ask you for dinner and you'll say 'Sure'. It's no big deal and no weight should be attached to it. It's only dinner for God's sake," she added.

For British tabloids mired in the summer "silly season" when any news will do, Paltrow's "Casanova moan" was a gift.

They sprang to the defence of the beleaguered British man whose prowess was also questioned earlier this year by Canadian arts journalist Leah McLaren. After dating 12 Englishmen, she said they were inept at seduction.

"Sorry Gwyn but you nasal, gum-chewing US girls are frighteningly sexless and just plain dull," thundered The Daily Mirror tabloid on Friday.

"Give our British men a break, Gwyneth," pleaded the Sun.

The Daily Mail suggested Paltrow still longed for old flame Affleck, who has found new love. "The real reasons Gwyneth is unhappy: she's lost her man to Jennifer Lopez," it said.

Even The Times, once the venerable mouthpiece of the British establishment, got into the act, offering a list of eligible bachelors who might tickle Paltrow's fancy.

Steeplechase jockey Richard Johnson could be ideal as he has just broken up with Queen Elizabeth's feisty granddaughter Zara Phillips. But the paper did admit: "He is a tad boring and rumoured to be prone to jealousy."

But Englishmen, who would rather die than let their emotions run riot, were most unforgiving about Paltrow's tearful outburst when she won a 1998 Oscar for her role in Shakespeare in Love.

Daily Mirror commentator Kevin O'Sullivan recalled how he "frantically searched for a sick bag. I believe I speak for millions of unromantic Brits when I say I will NEVER forgive you for your Niagara Falls weeping as you thanked everyone you'd ever met."

- Reuters