LEGENDARY Soho venue The Windmill has applied for a new sex entertainment licence. A notice on the door, which appeared last month, noted that company Molendinum had applied to Westminster council for a “sex establishment licence”.
In 2018, the former strip club’s application to renew its licence was refused. It was then given a £10 million refit, reopening in 2021 as a 350-seat venue offering food, drink and cabaret.
The Windmill became a strip club in the Thirties. It was later owned by property baron Paul Raymond, “the King of Soho”, and still belongs to the company he left, Soho Estates, which leases it to a tenant.
Last year, nearby venue The Boulevard Theatre was given a sexual entertainment licence.
Could Bridgen be Reclaimed?
TORY MP Andrew Bridgen was stripped of the party whip yesterday for spreading misinformation about the Covid vaccine, comparing it to the Holocaust. Given that he still has a seat in the Commons, will another party try to sign him up? Reform, the successor to the Brexit Party, has opposed vaccine passports in the past. But they tell us: No way. Actor-turned politician Laurence Fox, however, praised Bridgen, left, on Twitter last night. His Reclaim Party could get the scalp.
Cursing the Americans
ACTOR Bella Ramsey has a tip for learning American accents: using swear words. The Game of Thrones star, who is from Leicestershire, had to adopt one for The Last of Us, which is based on a video game. The first word she mastered was “olive oil”. The second, she says, was a word that doesn’t bear repeating, suggested by a dialect coach. “The character I play… curses every two seconds,” she added.
Flickering light troubles Commons
MPs returning to the Commons this week have been greeted by a distracting flickering light above their heads. We’re told it’s due to a faulty LED panel, but can’t be fixed while the chamber is sitting. Some may be pleased: it’s now harder to make notes in the press gallery. The Palace of Westminster is in need of a refit: maintenance is thought to cost £2 million a week, with regular fire hazards.
Cate’s Tár for Golden Globe
CATE BLANCHETT posed with director Todd Field at the premiere of their film Tár at Picturehouse Central last night. Blanchett had just won a Golden Globe for her role as a conductor. Co-stars Noémie Merlant, Sophie Kauer and Sylvia Flote went too, joined by sometime pianist Myleene Klass. Flote, who is normally a model, told us in the bar that she missed her own wedding party after suddenly being cast in the film.
Elsewhere, F1 champ Lewis Hamilton shared snaps of his 38th birthday with some fuzzy photos, joking “the best ones are always a blur”.
