Stephen Fry, the 'jolly educated' host of TV panel quiz game QI, has gone missing again, fuelling speculation that, this time, he may be gone for good.
Fry first went missing in 1995, when, appearing in the West End play Cell Mates, he 'got nervous' and, indeed, had a nervous breakdown. He eventually resurfaced in Belgium, where people go to contemplate suicide.
This time, however, friends are mystified as to the star's disappearance, though some have said there may be a political connection, in that Fry and ex-Prime Minister and liar Tony Blair were very close, something that new PM Gordon Brown does not share with his predecessor.
Former associates have voiced unequivocal support for the moody actor. One-time partner Hugh Laurie, who has now given up comedy and works as a doctor, said:
"I'm sure he'll be backway bigger and better than ever."
Rowan Atkinson, with whom Fry starred in the Blackadder series, said:
"An accomplished gentleman who hath gone forth to exorcise his inner demons, and to discover new and majestic horizons replete with horny juvenile homosexuals. Verily, Baldrick."
Fry, who is often confused with Oscar Wilde because he tries to be him, has often spoke of being knighted, and may raise his mug once more in December when the Queen's New Year's Honours List is published.
