Melanie Sykes’ fling with a gondolier has boosted Venice’s tourism – as women are flocking to the Italian city looking for love.
Or so her colleague and mate Alan Carr claims, anyway.
The comic, who co-hosts Radio 2 broadcasts with Mel, says the couple’s romantic meeting sparked a frenzy of excitement.
“I rang her up and said: ‘I hope you’re being paid by the Venetian tourist board’,” he laughs.
“She’s stunning, he’s stunning...The amount of women going: ‘Get me a flight to Venice now.’ Woof!
“All they needed was Andrea Bocelli to come by in a gondola and it’s like: ‘Come to Venice!’”
Alan was chatting to Drag Race star Michelle Visage on the new episode of his Life’s A Beach podcast out today (MUST), who said she wanted to get her husband a gondolier outfit after seeing Mel’s hunk.
Mel, 51, struck up a romance with Riccardo Simionato, 24, after he rowed her around the canals of Venice during a six day stay in October 2020.
The couple were still dating last September, and mum-of-two Mel, who has been married twice, has said she “experienced so much joy” with Riccardo.
He flew to the UK to spend time with her again in September.
