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Jeremy Joseph on closing London’s G-A-Y venues

G-A-Y owner Jeremy Joseph opens up about the future of his iconic London venues.

 

The man behind some of London’s most infamous LGBTQ+ nightlife spaces, Jeremy Joseph, appeared on Virgin Radio Pride’s My Pride Playlist this week (June 14) and discussed the future of his three queer venues in the capital; G-A-Y Bar, G-A-Y Late and Heaven Nightclub.

 

Speaking with Virgin Radio presenter Steve Denyer, Joseph revealed plans to close the venues for a week to go away and think about the future of his bars, with one of the options being to come back and ‘sell up’.

“So the truth is I don’t know what the future holds at the moment” Joseph said.

“So on the 12th of June, I’m closing all the G-A-Y venues for a week. I’m going away. But the problem is that there are a lot of things that happen.”

“So it’s not that I don’t trust the managers to run it while I’m away”, he continued. “But there are things that happen when the venues are open, problems, social media, whatever, that you can be on holiday that can overtake your holiday.”

 

All three venues are, of course, well known to LGBTQ+ Londoners and far beyond, with the spaces making global headlines recently for an impromptu appearance (and some pole dancing) from pop superstar Adele (in a TROUSER SUIT).

 

When UK lockdown restrictions were lifted last July (dubbed ‘Freedom Day’), Heaven Nightclub became a viral moment online thanks to queues of LGBT+ Brits lining up around the block in anticipation of its reopening.

With the help of Drag Race UK alum and Virgin Radio Pride presenter Tia Kofe, revellers counted down the seconds as of world’s most thriving queer scenes came back with a bang (and, indeed, a clap and a snap).

Tia Kofi on Virgin Radio Pride

Speaking about the future, Joseph continued: ‘The last two and a half years I haven’t had a break and I’m not like, don’t get the violin out. But it’s been a continuous journey. I don’t know what I want anymore, but I truly don’t know.”

“Like you can’t make decisions while you’re open, while you’re doing things. So the idea is to take a complete break to close the venues. Everyone has a break. Hopefully nothing can happen while that happens.”

 
“So there’ll be no emails. Fingers crossed. No situations. And then I can decide what I really want. And there are probably three or four options on the table, including closing and selling up. That is an option.
 
“I’m not saying that’s what I’m going to do. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m not even going to think about what I’m going to do. But I know what the options are. And the idea is, is that. While I’m away. That’s when I think about what the options are.”
 
 
During the hour-long feature, Joseph also opened up about his time in the industry, including British entertainer Michael Barrymore coming out on his radio show, Madonna arranging her promotional tour around an appearance at London’s Astoria, Kylie Minogue’s first appearance after recovering from cancer and the now legendary Adele night. 
 
 
 
Listen to Virgin Radio Pride UK online, via the Virgin Radio app, in the Apple or Google store, or via DAB Digital radio in London and Scotland. You can also catch the Virgin Radio Pridecast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever else you get your podcasts.
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Steve Denyer (@denyersteve)

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