The Isle of Wight is well known as a place for the rich and famous to retreat from public life – in fact, even Queen Victoria used the Island as her Royal getaway – but there are more celebrities than you might think that have spent time here. Let’s have a look at them…
Coming the short distance across the Solent to the peaceful Isle can be an attractive prospect for those who spent their life in the busy limelight. Some of the country’s best-known celebrities have gone even further than just holidaying here, with several living in the Island’s towns and integrating with the local community.
Jeremy Irons
World-famous thespian and movie star Jeremy Irons can trace his routes back to the Isle of Wight. A proud Caulkhead, Irons was born in Cowes and lived in St Helens for many years of his childhood before heading North to live near his father’s new job.
Over the years, Irons has taken on huge roles including his stint in the action-adventure film ‘Die Hard With A Vengeance’ as German villain Simon and lending his voice to the character of Scar in Disney’s The Lion King.
Jeremy has retained some Island connections despite his fame and appeared at the Isle of Wight Literary Festival in 2020.
Benedict Cumberbatch
Sherlock, The Imitation Game, and Doctor Strange are all credits of world-famous Benedict Cumberbatch, who as widely reported several years ago was married on the Island, before making it his family home in 2018.
In the rural setting of Mottistone in the West Wight, Cumberbatch made his vows to now-wife Sophie Hunter at St Peter & St Paul Church before being driven the very short distance across the road for a grand reception at Mottistone Manor, which was privately hired for the celebrity event.
Cumberbatch is known to live in the Military Road area, and in 2019 was accused by a local cyclist of running him off his bike on a country road in the South Wight in his Lamborghini 4×4.
Katie Price
There’s only one Pricey – and we’re not talking about the man behind the Newport-based garage either. Katie Price is well-known for visiting the Island and has been seen many times here, with and without her distinctive pink Range Rover.
The former model and I’m A Celeb contestant is no stranger to the Island, with her mother believed to have been a Cowes resident for a time.
Katie was last seen on the Island very recently after crossing the Solent for lunch in the West Wight and a trip to the Owl and Monkey Haven in July, as previously reported by Island Echo.
Bryan Adams
Canadian rock and pop star Bryan Adams has connections to the Island in the form of his current long-term beau, Alicia Grimaldi’s, parents.
The Everything I Do and Summer of ’69 singer has made several trips to visit the unofficial in-laws and spent time out from his hectic A-list celebrity life in an Airstream caravan at Ashey-based Vintage Vacations in 2014.
He also famously appeared at the first reboot of the Isle of Wight Festival in 2003.
Mark King
Level 42 singer and bassman, Mark King, is most likely one of the Island’s more familiar famous figures having spent a large portion of his life here. With a family history on the Island stretching back over 100 years to the 1850s, King has made the Wight home in his later life too.
He regularly gets involved with charity events including the Isle of Wight Toy Appeal and has also previously spent time promoting flu vaccines to Islanders.
Mark and his family once owned a 7-bedroom home set in 6 acres of land worth £2.25 million near East Cowes.
Bear Grylls
The poster boy for scouting himself. Well-known television adventurer, Bear Grylls, grew up in a cottage on the Eastern side of the Island and sailed regularly when younger from the Royal Yacht Squadron (we bet he didn’t need to drink his own p*ss there, though!).
Back in 2015, he helped to set up a survival academy alongside Kingswood in Bembridge. In the same year, he was criticised for leaving his 11-year-own son on an Island on the North Wales Coast as the tide approached, leading him to be rescued by the RNLI.
Lady Sally Grylls – his mother – is also heavily involved in the Island’s communities.
Celia Imrie
From The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel to the Isle of Wight – Celia Imrie is a very proud Cowes resident and even holds her Level 2 Powerboat certificate. Once, in an interview, Imrie – who bought her first house here in 1991 – explained that one of the benefits of living on an Island is that only the people who really want to visit can be bothered!
Aside from her screen and stage appearances, Imrie is a passionate supporter of the RNLI and launched the £1million RNLI appeal in Cowes in 2011. She’s also a big fan of watching the sunset from a bench near the Royal Yacht Squadron – but we won’t say which one!
Gary Lineker
The face of Walker’s crisps and probably, more importantly, Match of the Day. Gary Lineker made regular trips to the Island over the course of his career both in football and on the box. It’s believed his mother once lived on the Isle of Wight.
In more recent times, his brother Wayne has also been caught visiting The Duck in Ryde.
Raymond Allen
It’s a matter of truth rather than opinion: Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em. Like the phrase, the 1970s sitcom starring Michael Crawford was incredibly popular – but if it wasn’t for an Islander, it would never have happened!
Raymond Allen, who still lives in Ryde to this day, wrote the extremely popular show and gained notoriety as a comic scriptwriter. Having grown up on the Island and attended a school in Ryde, he still lives with his wife in his beloved town.
Allen is a patron of the Apollo Theatre in Newport and still remains involved in some performing arts organisations.
Melvin Hayes
From behind the camera to in front of it, Melvin Hayes (or should we call him Gunner?) made a home for himself in Ryde following years of stardom in shows such as It Ain’t Half Hot Mum and appeared more recently as Mr Pink in ITV’s Benidorm.
Married with one child, Hayes remains living with his wife on the Island and has often put his support behind charities.
Anneka Rice
Anneka Rice, best known for Treasure Hunt and Challenge Anneka and also for her work in journalism is a proud Island resident having visited here regularly since the age of 4.
Having spent more and more time on the Island over the years, Rice took the plunge and bought a home here several years ago when her children were still small.
Getting involved in the community, Rice hosted the Isle of Wight Chamber of Commerce Awards at Cowes Yacht Haven in 2018.
David Icke
In the words of The Killers: ‘Are we human, or are we liz-ards?’ – sort of. Renowned conspiracy theorist David Icke is perhaps one of the Island’s more controversial residents.
Having started his career as a sports reporter, Icke eventually moved his family to Ryde on the Island in 1982. In 1991, things went slightly askew for the now-broadcaster when he appeared on prime-time TV show Wogan and claimed that the country would soon be devastated by tidal waves and that the earth would soon end.
In later life, Icke has remained on the Island and still peddles his theories, calling climate change a hoax and claiming a link between the coronavirus pandemic and 5G. After his latest declarations, both YouTube and Twitter suspended his accounts on their platforms.
Is Icke really the son of God as he once claimed? Well, we’ll never know…
The Minghella Family
The Minghella’s are quite possibly the Isle of Wight’s most famous family. The family has had great success in several industries including the ice-cream business, the movie business, and local politics.
Anthony Minghella was a much-celebrated Oscar Award winner who directed massively popular films including The English Patient. Dominic Minghella was responsible for the creation of the hit ITV drama Doc Martin, and Max Minghella starred in The Social Network and The Internship.
Elsewhere, Edana Minghella has enjoyed fame as a renowned jazz singer.
But who else?
This list is by no means exhaustive with the Island having many connections with fame and royalty embedded in its history.
Other notable names including the late Geoffery Hughes of Coronation Street and Heartbeat fame and guitar legend, the late Jet Harris of The Shadows. Professional darts player Keegan Brown is also from the Island and sits high in the world rankings.
No stranger to Olympians, Shirlie Robertson, and Ben Ainslie are both connected with the Isle of Wight, as is Ellen Macarthur whose cancer trust is based in Cowes.
So, perhaps next time you’re walking down the High Street and you catch yourself doing a double-take, you might have seen that famous face after all…
Dick Taylor has lived here for some time and was the Rolling Stones bass player before forming the Pretty Things. He still performs to this day.
I remember listening to an interview on a local radio station once that a famous person who lives here on the Island (can’t remember who it was now?) loved it here, because he said the locals acknowledge him in maybe a nod of the head or an “Hello” and then will leave him alone, very rarely is he ever pestered by locals. Which I can imagine when you’re famous; your privacy is actually a very important issue?
Gil Taylor retired to the Isle of Wight and died here at 99
He had a very interesting man who was a very innovative and skilledCinematographer and worked on over 50 famous movies. These included the Beatles Hard Days Night and the original Star Wars !
Also Omen, Omen II and Hitchcock’s Frenzy. The full list is on Wikipedia.
In his military career in WWII he flew 10 missions in the rear gun turret of Lancaster bombers to film the damage inflicted on Germany and Churchill received these pictures. He was in one of the last Lancasters to fly the Dam Busters mission , and later worked on the movie about that mission.
Who really cares. Only the Minghella’s are worthy of this list.
Sheila Hancock was born in Blackgang
Jack Green from T.REX lives in Ryde and Judge Rinder is on the island
My mate Watering Can Pete is well known in Niton and Chale. He reckons one can see France from Saint Boniface Down. One cannot. Except sometimes.