fifty shades of grey

Fifty Shades of Grey Husband Talks About Twilight, Ellipses, and His Own Book

Niall Leonard. (Pal Hansen/Guardian) Photo: PAL HANSEN \ WWW.PALHANSEN.COM / 2012

It was only a matter of time before Mr. 50 Shades of Grey (real name: Niall Leonard) spoke up about his part in wife E.L. James’s launching of the “mommy porn.” In a piece for The GuardianLeonard wrote that James, originally a TV production head, was inspired to write after watching the first Twilight film and that he, a screenwriter, proofread all of it, with special attention to “cutting back on those bloody ellipses.” He also titillates readers with the distinct possibility that he could be a (cheaper) real-life version of BDSM-dabbling, romance-eschewing Christian Grey.

I’m the least romantic fecker that ever lived — ask my wife Erika, aka EL James. Our first Christmas together I bought her a tin opener, and my earliest experience of kinky sex was her trying to shove it up my arse.

He also remembers clearly the moment when he and his wife finally understood that she’d sparked a global phenomenon.

On New Year’s Eve 2011, two separate messages arrived from Hollywood producers asking about the movie rights, and a review appeared on Amazon by a reader who mentioned that every woman in her New York hairdressing salon was either reading the book or talking about it. We looked at each other and thought, “Oh shit…”

And finally, he revealed the one annoying thing about his wife’s sudden fame and fortune: reporters asking dumb questions, like,”Do we have a dungeon? Or a Red Room of Pain? Maybe, and maybe there’s a helicopter pad on the roof in case Christian Grey drops in for a spanking.” What a flirt!

50 Shades of Grey Husband Speaks Out