Stephen Fry ’embarrassed’ after ‘eye-watering’ questions about sexual preferences
Stephen Fry on ITV’s The Assembly (Image: Rockerdale Studios/ITV)
Stephen Fry has said he felt “embarrassed and awkward” after being asked an “eye-watering” question about his “sexual preferences” while filming ITV’s The Assembly.
The series features interviewers who are autistic, neurodivergent and/or learning-disabled, and it does not use pre-agreed questions. Speaking about what surprised him most, Fry said as per The Mirror: “I think the rather eye-watering curiosity as to my sexual preferences.”
Fry clarified that the question was not about him being gay. “Not sexuality, you understand – that was understood – but my preferences within that sexuality framework… well, I wasn’t expecting that!” he said ahead of the new series.
He also compared the experience to his recent appearance on Celebrity Traitors, suggesting The Assembly was even tougher. “Oh I think The Assembly just pips it,” Fry said. “The Assembly puts one under a microscope for real.”
Fry described another moment that made him squirm, when he got up to dance during a musical performance. Asked how it felt, he quipped: “As embarrassed, awkward and uncoordinated as I always feel when dancing.”
The Assembly’s no-filter format
Fry said the show’s tone felt unlike the interviews he is used to. “Well, the frankness, the openness, the genuine curiosity. These are not things one is used to in the normal run of journalistic inquisition,” he said.
The first series of the show featured singer Jade Thirlwall, actors Danny Dyer and David Tennant, and sports pundit Gary Lineker.
The new series is scheduled to return on Wednesday 8 April at 10.05pm and Friday 10 April at 10pm on STV and STV Player, as well as ITV1 and ITVX.
Alongside Stephen Fry, former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, comic Sir Lenny Henry, actress Anna Maxwell Martin and rapper Aitch will appear.
Stephen Fry and queer visibility
Fry rose to fame alongside Hugh Laurie in A Bit of Fry & Laurie and Jeeves and Wooster, and later became a long-running host of BBC panel show QI. He has been out as gay for decades and has spoken publicly about mental health, including bipolar disorder, as well as stigma reduction.
Fry is married to Elliot Spencer. They tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in January 2015 after meeting in 2012.
The couple, who have a 30-year age gap, have been growing strong ever since and Fry has applauded Spencer for “teaching him things I just didn’t know”.
He said on Rylan Clark’s How To Be In Love podcast last year: “He introduced me to Kendrick Lamar, which was a great thing to do because Kendrick Lamar I’ve decided is a great poetical spirit, a really remarkable figure.”
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