From Johnny Depp in Somerset Life to Barack Obama in Dogs Today, Bernard Bale’s litany of starry interviews offers a rare insight into the engine room of celebrity journalism, and is every bit as intriguing as the thought of Jack Sparrow tending his Somerset garden

In the spring of 2023, subscribers to the British local lifestyle magazine Somerset Life were eagerly anticipating their April edition – a Gardens Special promising top tips for green-fingered readers and the best places to see seasonal bluebells.

But when the magazine landed on readers’ doormats, a story bigger than blooming gardens of south-west England was on the cover. In what appeared to be a world exclusive interview, the Hollywood A-lister Johnny Depp had confessed his love for the bucolic county. More than that, he had bought a secret hideaway in the area.