Daily Mail

~ 05/04/1999, by Penny Smith ~

MY PERFECT NIGHT OF ROMANCE

I'm going to nominate one of my best friends, Kevin Ball. He is funny, handsome and clever.

He'd enter into the spirit of things and, OK, we haven't yet been terribly romantic together, but after enough wine, you never know.

PAMPERING: Leonard Drakes in Kensington, London, where they do the most fantastic body scrubs and mud wraps. I'd also have a facial and a pedicure, because I like sticking my feet in hot paraffin wax. Feet are very important romantically.

ACTIVITY: A balloon trip. Kevin could provide the hot air and I'd get the champagne.

MOVIE: Kevin and I have huge rows about films, but I'd want something suitably soppy.

IN OUR occasional series on romance, PENNY SMITH, 39, who co- presents The News Hour on GMTV, describes her ideal evening of intimacy.

WHERE: Somewhere you don't get mosquitoes or insects that bite, so nowhere tropical. You don't want too many people around when you're feeling romantic, and it needs to be somewhere warm and comfortable. And if you're going to be fed grapes, as I intend to be, you'll need a sofa. So, either his place or mine.

WITH WHOM: It's such a shame that there don't seem to be any Byronic-looking poets around, and romantic actors are probably going to be romantic only if they've got a script, so When Harry Met Sally would be my first choice - it's got sharp writing, dodgy hairdos, Billy Crystal and a happy ending.

MUSIC: At my place, all the warm, lyrical pieces from my favourite operas - the death scene from La Boheme, Desdemona's death in Othello, Tosca's aria just before she kills Scarpia, and after all that slaughter, I'd liven things up with Nina Simone singing about unrequited love. I'd be in pieces by then.

If it was Kevin's place, there'd be some modern-beat combo with what I understand are called guitar riffs.

FOOD: I'm a 'vegaholic', so greenery in various guises.Then perhaps oysters. And Kevin makes a very good chicken dish with balsamic vinegar and mashed potatoes.

DRINK: Red wine, we are both huge fans. We'd probably have quite a heavy red, but because I never know the names, I'd leave the wine to Kevin.

OUTFIT: Whatever it is I have to feel comfortable for eating, drinking and lounging around watching films. And it has to be black in case I drop oysters and red wine all over me.PRESENT: I'd give him a GMTV T-shirt signed by all the presenters and he could give me a signed CD from his brother - the singer Michael Ball. What could be more romantic than that?