Actress Patsy Kensit has made a profound personal revelation, stating that her deep-seated trauma originates from her troubled childhood rather than her much-publicised failed marriages. The 58-year-old star, known for her roles in television and film, participated in the BBC documentary series Pilgrimage, which prompted this significant self-discovery.
A Journey Of Self-Reflection
In a candid interview with Country Living UK, Kensit explained how the pilgrimage experience forced her to confront long-held emotions. "I came into the pilgrimage with a lot of anger, which I had always attributed to failing in my marriages," she confessed. The outdoor journey across North Yorkshire, County Durham, and Northumberland provided the space for introspection she desperately needed.
Quieting A Noisy Mind
"I have a noisy mind, which is man's worst enemy," Kensit revealed. "All that time outdoors taught me how to quieten it, which allowed me to come to terms with the fact that the trauma I've been carrying was actually from childhood." This realisation marked a turning point for the actress, who has been married four times and has two sons from relationships with musicians Jim Kerr and Liam Gallagher.
She emphasised: "My trauma isn't about having sons from two failed relationships; this is about my whole life. I can be quite hard on myself, but being able to recognise that helped me to not feel like a failure."
A Childhood Shadowed By Illness And Absence
Kensit's early life was marked by significant hardship. Thrust into the spotlight at age four in a Birds Eye peas commercial, she began working to support her family amidst her mother's battle with breast cancer. "I had that constant fear of her dying from the age of five until she passed on when I was 22," she recalled. "From the age of seven or eight, I was on a quest to work and make money so I'd be able to pay to make her healthy."
Father's Criminal Past Revealed
Her father, Jimmy Kensit, died from leukaemia when she was 17. Only later, during an episode of BBC's Who Do You Think You Are?, did she discover his criminal associations with the Kray twins and his imprisonment for long firm fraud. "He was a flawed man but he was my father and I loved him," she said, acknowledging how his absence shaped her relationship patterns.
"I didn't recognise it until about 15 years ago but I'd always want to be in a relationship with someone who goes away all the time," Kensit admitted. "I've figured that out now and compartmentalised it in my head."
The Pilgrimage Experience
The BBC documentary series, which also features Ashley Banjo, Tasha Ghouri, Hermione Norris, and Jayne Middlemiss, follows celebrities on a five-day spiritual journey. Kensit described the experience as transformative, particularly the unpredictable weather conditions that mirrored her emotional state.
"We would be walking under black skies, rain shooting down, and suddenly the clouds would shift, and there would be this brilliant sunshine with psychedelic colours," she recounted. "If I was ever asked the one thing I'd like to do again, it would be this."
Finding Peace In Nature
She praised the journey as "a package full of love, of pleasure, of pain, of freezing and beautiful sunshine. It was everything. A mixed bag, wonderful and extreme. I've learned so much from it. Money couldn't buy the sense of peace that journey brought me."
Marriage History And Personal Life
Kensit's relationship history includes marriages to Dan Donovan (1988-1991), Jim Kerr (1992-1995, with whom she shares son James, 32), Liam Gallagher (1997-2000, mother to Lennon, 26), and Jeremy Healy (2009-2010). She also had a secret relationship with actor Terence Stamp in the early 1990s and a brief engagement to property tycoon Patric Cassidy in 2022.
Despite these relationships, she maintains: "Having said that, I've had great loves and out of that came my two boys." The May issue of Country Living UK featuring her interview is on sale from April 1, while Pilgrimage: The Road To Holy Island airs on BBC Two on April 5 at 9pm.
