Inspirational: Brian Sewell at home. Photograph: Karen Robinson
Last week Johnny Depp revealed what his next source of vocal inspiration will be (after modelling Jack Sparrow on Keith Richards). During an interview for BBC's Newsnight, he announced: "I like that guy Brian Sewell - he has a very interesting approach."
Sewell has been turning up in the unlikeliest of places recently. After hilariously losing out to DJ Spoony on Celebrity Mastermind, he briefly raised the tone on Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack.
I presume the Brian Sewell MySpace poetry page is a spoof. It's obvious that BrianSewell.co.uk is; although the makers insist their voice generator (aka The Sewell Sampler) and their flash video of him delivering a rendition of Give Peace A Chance are intended to be "in his honour". They aren't the only tribute sites either: this one for instance offers Sewell-inspired erotic fiction.
Sewell's own attempts to interact with the great unwashed are rather endearing. But they also reveal the populist leanings he does his best to deny. His wry remarks about his own sexuality ("I never came out ... I have slowly emerged") seem designed to tease - and, having discussed the merits of modern art with a Big Brother contestant, he was more than happy to bring up something, well, baser.
As for the Depp remark; was he flattered? "Anyone who sounds like Vita Sackville-West, as I do, must put up with a bit of ribbing," he gracefully conceded - before adding, "Actually, I'd rather like to go to bed with him."
See? He just can't help himself.
