‘It was even more romantic than that,’ I said. ‘His friend was getting off with my housemate, so we thought we might as well.’

‘Move over Romeo and Juliet,’ Juliette replied with a throaty laugh, raising her glass to mine and clinking the two giant drinks together. ‘I wonder how many people out there have ended up with someone they snogged for the sake of it.’

‘I’d like to believe most people are living the most incredible love stories of all time, but I imagine it’s actually quite a lot,’ I said, thinking over my pre-Stew affairs. None of them could exactly be called a fairy tale. Drunken dance floor snogs mostly, with the odd, awkward, friend-of-a-friend set-up thrown in for good measure.

She pushed a small white bowl towards me. It was full of Skittles. I took a couple out of politeness and held them in my hand, not sure they would go especially well with a gin and tonic. ‘You’ve been together a long time then?’

‘A very long time.’ I nodded, popping a green Skittle into my mouth and taking another swig. To my surprise, it was a match made in heaven. ‘Twelve years.’

‘I can’t even imagine it.’ Juliette pushed an errant strand of hair out of her eyes only for the sea breeze to blow it right back again. ‘I’m not very good at long-term relationships. Or relationships in general, if we’re being entirely honest.’

‘Really?’ I hadn’t meant to sound so surprised, but she smiled at my reaction. ‘It’s just, I would have thought people were falling over themselves to go out with you.’

She cocked her head to one side, the expression tightening on her face.

‘It’s difficult,’ she said, looking skyward. ‘Can’t go on the apps, can’t go to a bar. Meeting people at all is difficult enough, let alone people who will put up with all my nonsense. I know I shouldn’t complain, but it’s hard to have a relationship when your other half wants to go to Nando’s but you can’t because it’ll be all over the Daily Mail inside half an hour.’

‘That is a high price to pay for fame,’ I said gravely. No number of platinum records could separate me from half a medium chicken and a spicy rice. ‘No blind dates? No set-ups?’

‘It’s not really a blind date when one of you was on the front page of the Sun because your nip slipped out of your Oscar gown,’ Juliette replied. ‘And set-ups never work for me. It’s not the same without that moment, that chemistry. That split second when your eyes meet and your heart stops and they transform from a stranger into someone, right in front of you. That moment is everything.’