What Did Gyles Brandreth Do Inside Canterbury Cathedral? | Would I Lie To You?

Published 2024-07-07
Gyles Brandreth: "I once did something truly dreadful in Canterbury Cathedral." (dropping a Stradivarius down the stairs)

From Would I Lie to You? Series 15 Episode 4.

Would I Lie to You? is the hit BBC panel show where two teams of celebrity guests try to figure out whether their opponent's ridiculously far-fetched statements about themselves are true or, in fact, a lie.

Featuring inimitable host Rob Brydon with lightning-quick team captains David Mitchell and Lee Mack.

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All Comments (21)
  • @adi-sharma
    With a person like Gyles, whose quantum of stories can only be surpassed by his own eagerness to share them, itā€™s always going to be true.
  • @foresthill8462
    Bob Mortimer and Gyles Brandreth have lived more exciting stories than anyone else I know šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚šŸ˜‚
  • @jacks5kids
    Another lie is that Menuhin's Stradivarius was the oldest in use. Nowhere close: Menuhin's was made in 1733. At the time of the 1970 ceremony in Canterbury, David Oistrakh played a Stradivarius made in 1671, a full 62 years older.
  • @CharlieQuartz
    The only part of the story I find hard to believe is that Strad wouldn't smash to pieces on the impact Gyles described. Many of those violins already have a multitude of cracks and repairs and would surely split or end up with a broken neck. I also don't buy that all the strings had "broken" just from an absent bridge. Every other detail fits with the score of Brandreth's life, but I would bet he overplayed the fall and condition of the instrument.
  • @kuruman1
    Some serious gems from Lee here.
  • @jacks5kids
    Fact check: THIS WAS A LIE. Brandreth has repeated this lie several times over the last few years, but here are the facts: 1) All reports about Menuhin's violin being dropped down stairs and badly damaged come solely from Brandreth and the BBC, and these all relatively recent, considering that this was meant to have happened in 1970 2) There are multiple websites that provide extensive accounts about Menuhin's two Stradivarius violins, and none mention that either was badly damaged in 1970 3) You can read the archived New York Times account of the 1970 ceremony at Canterbury when Menuhin performed and it fails to mention the wrecked violin 4) Dropping a violin and having it fall down a flight of stone stairs is likely to destroy the violin beyond repair, but the strings would not snap as Brandreth claims 5) Menuhin had two Stradivarius violins, one from 1713, one from 1733. David Oistrakh had a Strad from 1671 that he played in 1970, so the claim that this was the oldest Strad in use was another demonstrable lie 6) Menuhin was Jewish on both sides by birth; his first name means Jew in Hebrew. While he had an interest in Indian pacifistic religions, he was not a Buddhist. Brandreth lied about that too. 7) My comments about this being a demonstrable lie are repeatedly deleted from this page. I am trying again without links to the websites that prove this to be a lie.
  • @SaulG88
    ...and that's why he had to cancel his appearance on the Morecombe & Wise show.
  • @GAGL.Evolution
    Lee&Giles Awesome Comedic pairing šŸ˜…šŸ˜‚ā¤
  • Gyles Brandreth is one of those people who you really want to dislike , but canā€™t quite commit to doing so! Heā€™s actually a great storyteller and a fiendishly clever guy , who can talk , entertainingly so, for hours on end. Iā€™m a big fan ! šŸ‘
  • It was obviously true because when its not true they don't make the lie prompt as vague as that
  • @buyout-anagram
    No way. Who on earth would ask if they could hold a pricelessly valuable object just because they want to? And who on earth would say yeah sure here you go? That whole scenario was absurd.
  • Sorry but I don't believe a word of it - the violin case was padlocked to Mr Menuhin's arm? Hah hah! Total fabrication. But then Mr Brandreth has made a career out of anecodotalising his rather privileged life