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Paul Mescal has broken his silence on long-circulated TikTok rumours about his one-night stand habits.
Social media has been rife with suggestions that the 28-year-old Normal People star would sleep with his partners, take them for a walk in the park the next day, and then rapidly run in the opposite direction away from them.
The actor, who is set to star in the forthcoming blockbuster Gladiator II, addressed the accusations, and ensuing memes, in a new interview withGQ magazine.
“Ohhhhhhh. F***king hell!” said the star laughing.
Mescal said he first came across the videos while enjoying Christmas with his family, including his mother and siblings.
“We were looking at the videos and we were p***ing ourselves at it. Categorically untrue,” he said.
“And we were laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing.”
However one member of his family was less than impressed, as he revealed that his mother was left upset at the videos.
“And the one thing that upset me was that I was in the kitchen, I remember my mum looking at the videos and she was getting upset,” Mescal continued.
“Isn’t that devastating? I was like, Oh, it’s funny to us – my brother, me, my sister – because we know that this is the way the internet works. It’s hilarious.”
He added: “If it was true, it’d be f***ing bad, but as a rumour, it’s funny. Then I was like, Oh, if you’re a mother, her impulse is to come out and be like, ‘He wouldn’t do this.’ ”
Mescal, who has previously said he has felt uncomfortable with the media intrusion into his private life, revealed he has now laid down “impenetrable” boundaries.
“I’ve learned that there’s certain lines in the sand now for me that just are going to be impenetrable for the benefit of my own sanity. I mean, the speculation has been kind of mad for the last X amount of years…I’m not comfortable inviting any access into that part of my life.
“How I am in my private life is so precious to me because I get very little of it, and it might be public interest, but it’s not public-obligated information.”
Mescal will star alongside Man on Fire star Denzel Washington, Prospect actor Pedro Pascal, and Stranger Things’ Joseph Quinn in Gladiator II. The film is set to be released on 15 November this year.
