Did Benedict Cumberbatch get engaged to further his Oscar campaign?

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Considering the interest in all things Benedict Cumberbatch this week, I thought I would attempt a high-class “analysis” of our Otter King and his whirlwind engagement. I tend to believe The Daily Mail’s source, who claimed that Benedict and Sophie Hunter have only been together for about five months. That’s about my calculation too – this thing started in late spring/early summer at the earliest. Is that enough time to “know” that this is the woman you were meant to marry? Eh. I tend to think couples should give it a year and I tend to think couples should really live together and comingle finances as a “test” for marriage, but I’m surprisingly conservative about that kind of thing. So, while I’m happy for Benedict and Sophie, I also think this is too soon. But they’re old enough to know what they’re doing, so who am I to judge?

There were some theories that Benedict and Sophie announced their engagement this week because it’s strategically ahead of Benedict’s presumptive Oscar campaign for The Imitation Game. TIG comes out (in America) on November 28. It’s too late for this engagement to be front and center of Benedict’s magazine cover profiles (he’s already covered Out, Elle UK and Time Out London), plus he’s already done the film festival circuit (TIFF, BFI London) without Sophie. But… he still has the big premieres. I’m assuming TIG will have a big, Harvey Weinstein-approved premiere launch in London and probably New York as well. Will Sophie be on Bendy’s arm for the premieres? What about the screenings? Will she help him glad-hand the Oscar voters?

I also have a small theory that I’ve been working on for a few months now – I think Benedict is really feeling the competition from Eddie Redmayne. They are friends in real life, but five months ago, most people believed that Benedict would be the posh English boy with an Oscar nomination this year. Then Eddie came out with The Theory of Everything and now most Oscar prognosticators think Eddie has an even better shot at a nomination than Benedict. There’s always the possibility that the Academy will nominate TWO posh English boys for Best Actor, but Oscar voters might feel like they have to choose between Eddie and Bendy just for the nominations. And if they do have to choose, what would be the deciding factors? Eddie Redmayne is adorably engaged already, and he’s been discussing his future wife and their wedding plans in interviews. Eddie comes across as sweet, humble and already “settled down.” Which plays well with the Oscar voters. Maybe Benedict wanted to even the playing field. And sh-t, we’ve barely said two words about Redmayne this week, right?

Time Magazine ran an “analysis” piece on why some Cumberbitches are depressed about Benedict’s engagement. They brought up the whole fairy-tale prince aspect of it, like Benedict is Prince Otter and plucked a “normal girl” out of the crowd to make her his wife. The same thing Prince William did when he married Kate Middleton. The same thing that George Clooney did when he married a “normal girl” Amal Alamuddin, except Clooney Propaganda worked overtime to ensure that we never thought of Amal as “normal” – instead, it’s like Amal has been painted as that perfect unicorn, the brilliant, sexy, classy, stylish, funny, loving, amazing, ambitious and fabulous woman who can do it all AND have great hair. Something tells me that Sophie Hunter won’t be following The Amal Clooney Method. Or The Waity Method. But that won’t stop the Cumberbitches from ripping out their hair and thinking about how they could have been the “normal girl” with Mr. Violin Fingers.

To continue with the fairy-tale, “Bendy plucked a girl from obscurity” aspect of this engagement, the UK papers got in touch with Sophie’s mother and brother. This exact same thing happened with William and Kate announced their engagement – Carole and Michael Middleton were trotted out to give a statement. Sophie’s mom told media outlets: “We are very happy for them. It’s a really fabulous day. It’s only just been announced so we don’t know any more but it’s lovely news.” Sophie’s brother Patrick said: “We’re all very happy for Soph – it’s really exciting.” Patrick is totally going to be a Pippa Middleton about this, I can already tell. PUT AWAY YOUR ASS OF LIES, PATRICK.

PS… CB told me that the engagement story was our most-commented-on post EVER! Thanks for that! And thank you to all of the people who tweeted me and asked how I was doing! That was sweet and hilarious.

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Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.

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835 Responses to “Did Benedict Cumberbatch get engaged to further his Oscar campaign?”

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  1. Wilma says:

    Now you’re just click/comment baiting 😀

  2. Duri says:

    Now this is too much. You’re just putting any crap you see about this engagement to get more traffic

  3. Abbott says:

    Glad Kaiser and CB HQ survived that day. I kept coming back and saw the comment numbers rising. Y’all should get the Congressional Medal of Impossible for powering thru 600+ comments.

    I hope this is a very long and very public engagement, for all our sake.

  4. Really says:

    I don’t get the obsession with this guy. Please more Charlie Hunnam!

    • Lilacflowers says:

      More shirtless Charlie Hunnam!

    • MrsB says:

      +1. I love him as Sherlock but I’m just not the least bit attracted to him. As for Charlie Hunnam, yes yes yes, please more of him.

    • Lindy79 says:

      Are any of you watching last season of SoA?
      I’m a torrent of emotions and have no clue how it will end, all I know is there isn’t enough of his bum.

      • MrsB says:

        I just started watching the first season a few weeks ago! I’m always late to the party it seems, when it comes to good tv shows 😉 I’m already hooked though.

      • Lilacflowers says:

        Do we know if his bum will be featured in Crimson Peak? Or is GDT keeping that one a surprise?

      • Lindy79 says:

        Maybe he and Tom have a “who has got the best bum contest”? Bums at dawn type thing?

      • Lilacflowers says:

        @Lindy, the bum contest to end all bum contests!

      • Lindy79 says:

        Maybe with several rounds…such as
        Who can pick up a roll of coins without their hands.

    • Mom2two says:

      Benedict is a good actor, but I so agree on Charlie Hunnam. That is one gorgeous man.
      As for Benedict, I predict that either he or Eddie Redmanye will get an Oscar nod but they both will not get one. Oscars will be like, we can only nominate one guy who plays a genius not two of them.

    • Someonestolemyname says:

      I don’t get it either.

      …and since when does a guy or actor need a fiancee to get an Oscar?

      Jared Leto., Oscar and….single
      George Clooney got Oscars while single
      Jamie Fox …Oscar for Ray ….single

      The Cumber couple seem well matched imo.

      More hot Charlie Hunnam.
      🙂

    • Isadora says:

      And where’s Michael Fassbender? He was once a favourite of Kaiser and now…

    • Dany says:

      yes, more Charlie!
      and Jason Mamoa!
      and Ewan McGregor!
      and Alex Skarsgard!

    • Lilacflowers says:

      It was bound to happen: Charlie is now hijacking threads.

  5. Lilacflowers says:

    Does anyone need any pain relievers this morning? Or do you want to continue with the binge drinking or just more tea? I’ll be sending Colin and Mark around with whatever you require, be in pain meds, breakfast, Cillian Murphy, Viggo Mortensen, James McAvoy. The Bloke can only go to one address and Tommy has gone back to work today so they’re off the menu. And if you choose Idris, do not, I repeat, do NOT, remove the ball gag.

    • Kay says:

      Viggo Mortensen, stat! With the Aragorn armor, if possible. 😉

    • Abbott says:

      I’d like some Jamie Dornan or a horse tranquilizer straight to my jugular, if you have it Lilac.

      • Lilacflowers says:

        Both are on the way. You can choose either or both. Perhaps Jamie can administer the tranquilizer?

      • mimif says:

        Abbott, I will categorically disown you if I see you associating with Dornan. Horse tranqs are a go, however.

      • Lilacflowers says:

        mimif, I doubt she intends to be seen with him in public.

      • Abbott says:

        What, mimEf? How can you not love a man whose nickname is the Golden Torso? Or at least imagine your inner goddess rubbing coconut oil over his taught stomach whilst you lay on a private beach on the French Riviera…. Oh my…

      • mimif says:

        I can’t believe you read the book. I feel so alone…

      • Stacey Dresden says:

        HAHAHAHA!

    • Sixer says:

      I’m taking The Bloke AND Cillian the Alien. No arguments. Last episode of Peaky Blinders last night had a two-hander bluff scene between the two of them. Completely fabulous. Oh, and I screamed at the end, what with being a mature matron of Devon, an’ all.

      • Lilacflowers says:

        Well, The Bloke was on reserve for you and you alone. As you have claimed Cillian the Alien first, he is yours as well until you decide he should go “poof” in a cloud of citrus scented glitter.

      • frisbeejada says:

        If it’s any consolation I screamed too, and in the right accent as well!

      • Sixer says:

        You’re my new best friend, Lilac!

        frisbeejada – Did you also get told off by the other viewers in your household? Oh man, it was fab, wasn’t it?

      • frisbeejada says:

        @ sixer – well they try! Yes it was brill, but I can’t talk about it anymore because I’m distressed that it’s the last one again – I swear those series fly past faster than a flat cap hurled by Cillian (who has a damn good Brummie twang by the way and it’s not often you hear one of those on the telly…)

      • Marty says:

        @Sixer- Peaky Blinders has been REALLY good this season! I think I like it even better than last year’s.

        Did I tell you there’s an actor I’m in to that looks like a cross between Cillian Murphy and Michael Shannon? Sounds weird, but he’s actually pretty hot.

      • Sixer says:

        @ Marty – ooh! Who?! Show!

        I really think it’s been great. I mean I know, in terms of narrative, it’s just your standard gangster story. But everything else – from acting, script, direction, shot selection, even soundtrack – is just utterly top drawer. Murphy is mesmerising. It has to be McCrory’s best work ever. This season, it was both The Bloke and Neill hitting that sweet spot of performance that is only perfect because it’s a fag paper from scenery chewing. Really, I’ve loved everything about it.

        Plus, it gave my all time fave Benjamin Zephaniah a couple of cameos. TV Sixer heaven.

      • Lilacflowers says:

        @Marty, does this alien offspring actor have a name?

      • icerose says:

        @Sixer Peaky has been picked up for a third season and I did put dibs on him but the comment was slow too post

      • Sixer says:

        @ Marty. Ooh! I see the likeness.

        @ icerose. Sorry missy. You snooze, you lose.

      • Lilacflowers says:

        @Marty, you’re right. He needs to be in motion. Eyes open, he does look like Michael Shannon but when he closes his eyes, his eyelids look like Cillian’s. I’m mesmerized now.

    • Jaderu says:

      Left field request. You got any Eric Bana by any chance? I’d just like to converse on the meaning of life with him.

    • mimif says:

      Are we allowed to pick deceased hotties and old skool opiates? Like can I order up a bottle of laudanum and a James Garner in here? Cuz none of these people are doing it for me (except Viggo but he’s obviously been spoken for).

      • Lilacflowers says:

        *looks up from glass of Absinthe* why certainly! Will that be Matlock era Garner or Rockford Files era Garner? Or “steak, it’s what’s for dinner” Garner?

      • mimif says:

        Lol I forgot about Matlock. How bout you just pass the absinthe and we’ll call it good. 😉

      • Lilacflowers says:

        Oops, I meant the original Maverick series. The absinthe was taking a toll.

      • Isadora says:

        Oh…. then I want Alain Delon from “Plein soleil” times. With a good old bottle of Gruaud Larose please.

    • mia girl says:

      I’ll admit, I’m not affected a bit by this Cumbergagement, but if I sympathise enough with you all, can I have McAvoy?

      • mimif says:

        I think mia girl should get an honorary McAvoy for her outstanding courage and bravery in the face of one towering (and tweaked) Cindy Crawford.

      • Lilacflowers says:

        Neither am I, I’m just here to help those in distress. You claimed the Mac first so you get him first.

      • mia girl says:

        Thanks Lilac for your generosity.

        Mimif – forget having children, trolling Cindy Crawford in the name of Murrayism is one of my proudest moments.

      • Lilacflowers says:

        @Icerose, the delectable Harry Lloyd, AKA Mortimer from The Hollow Crown, is yours for the weekend.

    • Lindy79 says:

      No one has claimed Fassy and since he’s half Irish I think it’s only fair I get him

    • sigh((s)) says:

      Damn! Sixer stole my Cillian and now McAvoy is gone too? You leave for one hour….
      Well then, I will take one Aidan Turner with a huge English breakfast. And a side of Martin Freeman for funsies.

    • PunkyMomma says:

      I can’t brlieve I’m going to make this request, but please take into consideration the distress of the past two days — please pass Potato, along with a pair of very dark sunglasses and a bottle of Zambuca.

      • sigh((s)) says:

        Wow. Poor punky……do you need some hugs, too?

      • mimif says:

        I can’t believe it took this long for someone to pick up the Potato. Proud of you, Punky, you showed some real courage today.
        *pours Punky a quart of Ouzo*

      • PunkyMomma says:

        The Potato move reeks of desperation, I admit it. But what to do? Potato does come with a delicious backside of salty ham and at this dehydrated point, sodium retention may be a good thing. Thank you, @sighs, @mimif – I’ll take the hugs and the Ouzo as the Zambuca bottle is already in the recycle bin.

      • Lilacflowers says:

        All yours, dear Punky. No bivalves today.

    • TTMuch says:

      Idris!! I’ll take Idris! Unless you have any..Andy Garcia??

    • Lucrezia says:

      Reading the Times piece, all I could think was: Do they ask permission to quote tweets like that? Because I would die if I said something silly in an attempt at daft humour and was then quoted out of context in Time.

      I’m going to need something really impressive to take away the shudders … can I order up a James Spader – circa 2000 or so?

    • TTMuch says:

      Done and DONE! Woo hoo! Thanks, Lilac!

      Anyone have any duct tape? Asking for a friend

      • Lilacflowers says:

        Mark will send the duct tape. Do you want plain gray or duct tape with Hello Kitty on it?

    • icerose says:

      Cillian Murphy and Stephen Rea please. They have recently appeared in a play together so they can give me a short performance while I recover,
      Glad that Tommy made it back to work. Here he is in a very very very very brief interview. You can tell how upset he has been because he was only able to get two sentences out ,he actually repeats a word and no mention of Shakespeare .
      https://www.youtube.com/embed/xIAMiCXRVWo

      • Lilacflowers says:

        Icerose, Cillian was claimed earlier but Stephen Rea is yours. Nice to hear Thomas’s voice again. It would have been nicer to see more of him instead of two shots of the guy with the equipment belt climbing into the truck. While the lack of Shakespeare references is worrisome, at least he isn’t shouting all of MacBeth at the top of his lungs anymore.

      • Dara says:

        Now we know how that reporter on Facebook managed to get a photo with the Tomster on set in full Hank costume. I kinda figured there was an interview (if you can call it that) forthcoming.

      • jammypants says:

        I’m digging the brown eyes look.

      • Isadora says:

        It’s so strange to see him with brown eyes. O_o

      • icerose says:

        @Lilacflowers damn these floating posts. I will stick with Rea and add Bafta nominated Harry Lloyd of Game of Thrones and The Theory of Everything.

        Expect to see less Shakespeare and a lot more Fedora.I have added a witchy charm to the hat and the production team are in agreement.

        “I have to make two more Fedora hats for Tom both will be used in the film, Tom left today with one of the Fedora hats and was told to wear that hat every day until they start shooting toward the 3rd week of Oct, and they wanted him to wear it each day on the movie set, and will change hats as needed for some scenes, so we are making a second hat just like the one he took today and will use in the movie for most of the movie. BTW He loved the hat and told me several times, he now feels like Hank with the hat on”

    • Dara says:

      Wait – I can’t tell… has anyone staked a claim for Ewan MacGregor yet? If not, then DIBS!

      There’s an interview on the Globe tv site http://globeplayer.tv/ – I think it’s the uncut footage from the Muse of Fire film. He talks about acting and theatre and movies and Shakespeare for a solid hour at least! Oh, and there’s a nice (but super brief) mention of the Othello cast sharing a dressing room and what was on the playlist before curtain. Tom was DJ – of course. Sorry, I was so enthralled by the sound of Obi Wan’s voice, I forget to notice what the time stamp was – nearish the end I think.

      • Lilacflowers says:

        drat! I was hoping nobody would notice Ewan was unclaimed. The time machine is fixed so he is on his way.

        I recommend Muse of Fire. Dame Judi is hilarious. Three different snippets of Tom. Ewan is adorable and Jude Law looks fantastic. Damn! I think I got pregnant just typing that.

        Liking brown eyed Tom. But blue-green eyed Tom is best.

      • Dara says:

        hooray!! Ewan has made me swoony (is that a word?) for ages- he seems like a great road trip buddy or a good bloke to have a pint with after a hard day. And the way he talks about his kids makes me want to volunteer should he ever desire more.

        Muse of Fire does look good. And I’m hoping that Tom’s full interview for the movie will eventually be posted too. Not sure 3 snippets is going to satisfy my craving. My local channel just broadcast the Ian McKellan version of Richard III – I’ve DVR’ed it (since they showed it at 2am on a Wednesday) but have yet to find the time to watch. Didn’t realize RDJ was also in the movie. Doesn’t having Ironman and Magneto in the same film violate some law of physics?

      • Lilacflowers says:

        Dara, did you see those road trip series Ewan did, during which he road his motorcycle around the world? One was Long Way Round and the other Long Way Down.

      • Dara says:

        Saw Long Way Round, didn’t know there was another. I’ll have to scout around the interwebs to see if they are online anywhere to relive the glory that is Roadtrip Ewan. There was another one in a similar vein that got my attention, I want to say it was even before Long Way Round. A doc about venturing out to take a gander at polar bears. The guide let him drive the herking big, whateveritwas truck-thing out onto the tundra and he was like an 8 year old that was told he could drive a real-life Tonka truck. Glorious. And no airs and graces whatsoever, even though Star Wars was in full swing by that point and he was a big time movie star.

  6. Kay says:

    Meh I tend to believe the “he’s approaching 40 and is having some kind of crisis about not being settled with a family” theories on this over the Oscar/ Oscar competitors theories.

    • am says:

      couldn’t agree more. he seems a little obsessed w timelines and goals. i think they are friends, prob love each other, even if its not famous love (and it could be for all we know) and he freaked over being almost for and not famalied up

    • delorb says:

      I’m trying to figure out why an Academy voter would even care?

  7. Madly says:

    Ok, my last comment on this weirdness and I’ll be done. Just a few observations.

    1. His camp is usually water tight about his love life, but every aspect of this relationship has found its way into the press? Someone on her end is leaking info.

    2. His friends are chatty on Twitter, about especially in funny ways. With the announcement, this is no longer a secret, but no congrats from his friends but one person? I don’t care that he is not on Twitter, that is weird.

    3. The announcement came just before he was due to come to the states to do a stream of promotional duties. I do think he want that nom so badly, so this could be a little suspect.

    4. No idea if keeping their relationship private was her idea or not, would that explain how he is miserable one moment but seemed really happy the next? Did his behavior change at TFF where I think he came across a little bratty at times.

    • Lilacflowers says:

      I think his mother is the one leaking information.

      • Lindy79 says:

        I smell Wanda on parts of this definitely, mostly the announcement.

        *it’s faint hints of owls, disapproval and gladioli with a dainty waft of Anais Anais*

    • MissMary says:

      Like I said on the other thread, it’s awful strange (maybe telling?) that his friends, who are not above making sex jokes about him on twitter and publicly taking the piss out of him as well as congratulating him for successes, have said zilch. I don’t know if Wanda is leaking info but she’s been an actress almost her entire life, and a jobbing one for most of it. BC’s talked in the past about how his parents never quite achieved the level of success they’d hoped for… maybe she’s not leaking it but isn’t doing anything to stop it? IDK… I hate to think of her gabbing but maybe.

      • gg says:

        Hell no, it is *her* mother – who just happened to be in Hello Magazine complete with photo the day after the announcement – who has been leaking the info all along. Remember the original gf story and “watch this space”? That woman is thirsty as hell.

      • MissMary says:

        Hmmmm…yeah, feeding my conspiracy theories, ngl, lol. Well, however it’s going down, her family is thirsty as hell and not above going to tabs. That’s also how we know she’s not preggers–they’d have leaked that info in a heartbeat.

      • Felice says:

        It just seems that PR is really trying to make her look good but at least like smile for the paps for once. Twitter is weird too. This marriage is none of my business but her family is making me side-eye this.

      • sigh((s)) says:

        Oh. Hope mommy dearest is the leak. Then we can have epic posts a la the Middletons.

      • MissMary says:

        @Felice: I wouldn’t be surprised if she has new PR herself or if BC’s PR takes her on –there’s been enough articles popping up singing her praises this week that makes me side eye the whole enterprise. Esp because other actors who marry less famous performers don’t usually get this going on. She’s had more positive pr in this week than in her entire career to date.

      • Tara says:

        “It just seems that PR is really trying to make her look good but at least like smile for the paps for once. ”

        No kidding- I don’t even know if Sophie has teeth! haha.

      • Dakota M. says:

        I find it odd that there hasn’t been a statement from HIS parents.

      • Josa says:

        How do we explain those secret gf sightings in the past few months, where pics taken of BC and woman friend, where she is always too blurred or turned away from camera, to id. And then they showed up together or separately at various occasions, the pap hot spot included, again not in the same frame, generating mystery and therefore interest. Those has nothing to do with the moms. I don’t buy it for a second that these 2 aren’t cooking those PR up themselves, with or without the mothers help.

      • MissMary says:

        @Josa: and PR works for the client, not the other way around. If he/they are cooking it up, a good PR team will spin with it to make it work for their client. (in other words, I don’t think the moms are pushing it, either)

      • Josa says:

        @MissMary??? I don’t think I said or meant that they are working for their PR firm. I meant they are showing up everywhere and making it so mysterious in order to jet up the interest. If we had known that they went out for months and seen them showed up everywhere together openly since day 1, and behaved affectionally toward one another, this sudden announcement won’t have that much effect like it is now. It is the cloying that created the shock for this announcement. Now we can assume everything was just some unfortunate events that lead to people questioning their motives big time, or we can assume it is planned to create certain effect they intended for.

      • MissMary says:

        @Josa: I think I phrased my comment poorly–I didn’t mean to imply you said that. I was agreeing with you, lol. and it came out wonky. Basically, I was saying what you said makes sense to me and that if his PR is worth their salt, no matter what they think of the situation themselves, they’ll make sure this looks as good for him as possible and supports whatever he’s trying to do career-wise.

      • Me says:

        Sophie’s family actually is old money. Not the richest in the UK, but extremely comfortable. I don’t know, if they’re actually press hungry. Definitely new to dealing with the press, but hungry? We shall see.

  8. Lindy79 says:

    Honestly don’t think it is. Timing of the announcement is suspect sure but come on, an engagement and public announcement in the Times is a step too far surely? Its beyond even a Kardashian.

    Two cents: They would have gotten around to it, he’s assessed his life, he’s nearing 40, is crazy busy for next two years (more if he signs on for Strange), found the one he wants to marry among his friends, and try to start a family with, they may have moved things along a bit to bring us into Oscar season or maybe not…who knows. The whole handling is weird from the get go.

    I’m not sobbing into my wine, nor am I crying tears of joy for him and arranging a collection. This all needs to stop now.

    And PLEASE someone get him some reading glasses that FIT HIS HEAD!!!

    • Lilacflowers says:

      Reading glasses that fit or hat that fits?

    • Lindy79 says:

      God I’d take anything on his face/head that fits at this stage.

    • Green Eyes says:

      @Lindy, Has it been verified that Wanda and Tim put the announcement into the Times? Because this really wreaks of the Chipmunk’s mother’s doing. And I thought that it was the bride’s/bride’s family who handled engagement announcements. Some traditional poppycock to do with the virtue of said bride…

      Oh and, Otters and chipmunks…who woulda thunk! More inter-species breeding! Discovery Channel needs to get on this one stat!

      • gg says:

        I like that theory, Green Eyes!

      • Lindy79 says:

        I thought Sky News confirmed it was his folks but I haven’t a rashers if that’s 100% accurate to be honest.
        I did read in the DM that his family have a tradition of Times wedding announcements, they named 2…don’t know if that classes as a tradition or not lol.

      • icerose says:

        it is normally and they pay for the wedding although a lot od couples pay for heir own these days

    • Me says:

      Poor BB. I wonder if he was a caesarean.

      Big-head is still hot tho.

  9. Lilacflowers says:

    Oscars! Timothy Spall for the win!

    • frisbeejada says:

      Yes totally agree, fantastic actor, completely underrated and overdue..

    • icerose says:

      Yes to Spalding
      and Andrew Scott and Imelda Staunton for best supporting roles in Pride at the BIFA awards.

      Kaiser so you know TIG had it’s UK premiere when it opened the London Film Festival. It is now on general release being billed as the best British film of the year however this is not a consensus as yet, It is one of the five films nominated for best films and has 4 nominations but trails behind 71 with 9 nominations, Pride with 7 and Calvary and Turner with 5.
      TIG may stand a better chance a the Baftas because they are more populist.

  10. Adrien says:

    He’s talented, he doesn’t need to do that.

  11. Rhiley says:

    Can’t decide if The Theory of Everything looks amazing or exhausting or both, but I think I will have to check out in the theater, and Eddie Redmayne is pretty adorable. I think your analysis of a probable competition between the two is spot on. Of course, competition can be healthy, but it does seem, at least on the surface, that perhaps Benedict is sweating it just a bit.

  12. Ag says:

    or… the guy just fell in love and wants to get married to the woman he’s in love with. i know that his engagement gives people a major case of the sads, but ascribing other/nefarious motives to it (pregnancy! oscar campaign! evil woman trapped him with her vagina dentata!) just because people wanted him to always stay single/seemingly available is just silly.

    • Lindy79 says:

      I find the trapped him with a pregnancy ones the most annoying. Its so misogynistic and offensive to both men and women.

      • CM says:

        Amen to both of you

      • MissMary says:

        This. The assumption that they “have” to marry, that SH (as much as I dislike her public persona and ‘acting’) is trapping him… And also the bashing of people (celebs or not) who have kids out of marriage (“At least it’s not like Jude Law!” Why is that bad? If they’re consenting adults and on the same page, why is it bad they’re not married?)

      • Lindy79 says:

        I saw someone on IMDB saying it’s great BC is getting married and not like his colleagues living together for years having kids but not being married (I’m assuming they meant Freeman).. Well I’d take Freeman and Abbingdon over this hot mess any day of the week.

      • sigh((s)) says:

        I love freeman/Abbington. Also Andy Serkis and his wife. Those people always seem so genuinely in love and happy for their SO’s.

      • Nic says:

        Oh god I knew imdb was messed up,but I didn’t realise they were crazy conservatives. Disapproving of children without marriage? Woah.

    • CL says:

      First of all, I almost spit out my coffee at the “vagina dentata” comment – well done!

      Secondly, they’re in the heady, hormone-doused first flush of love. It makes perfect sense that they’d be certain of each other.

      Thirdly, I really doubt he would get engaged to further his career. That’s a deep level of cold and calculating.

      Fourthly, I still love Fassy.

      • Moodgirl says:

        @CL:
        If they are in the heady hormone-doused first flush of love I would hate to see them when they cool off. They would be the answer to global warming.

      • Etheldreda says:

        @Moodgirl

        LOL! I’ve seen more chemistry between a pair of shop mannequins.

        Or even between Klooney and one of his escorts!

      • icerose says:

        @Moodgirl comment of the thread

      • CL says:

        Moodgirl, I totally agree with you, but I’m hoping they were erring too far on the side of “we must downplay this, for our privacy”. I’d really hate it for him if that’s how they act when they’re alone. Because those are some cold, indifferent, “dear God, if you keep breathing like that I am going to murder you” vibes they put out.

      • Felice says:

        deleted

    • PunkyMomma says:

      “Vagina dentata”! I haven’t heard that since Latin class! Well done, Ag, well done!

      • kri says:

        “Vagina Dentata, what a wonderful phrase, vagina dentata, ain’t no passing craze”…oh, wait, that’s not from “The Lion King”. Nevermind. Anyhow, maybe he asked her to marry him because he loves her. Damn her and her Made for Benedict self. Sigh. Thank god I have Tom Hardy and Idris. I can’t get into Charlie Hunnam even tho he is gorgeous, same for the Potato Ambassador.

      • PunkyMomma says:

        Leave the Potato alone today – he’s mine to do with what I will (she says with a monstrous ouzo hangover, brandishing a potato peeler.)

    • MissMary says:

      @Lindy: Martin and Amanda, for all I find them hella problematic as individuals, seem like a very strong, devoted couple, piece of paper or no. I’d take that situation any day of the week.

    • jammypants says:

      I completely agree Ag.

    • Nic says:

      I have an issue with the dismissal of people who have an issue with all this as ‘just wanting him to stay single’. I have no idea about the loony bins twitter an tumblr but I’ve not seen any evidence of that nor have I seen any evidence of a man ecstatically happy or in love. I’ve just seen very bizarre organisation, handling and entirely out of character press and attention for who he appeared to be. That’s what’s weird. He wouldn’t be the first person to get married quickly, however ill advised that may be (you’re friends for years and in the space of a few months you decide you must get married? And have et even lived together?) but it’s all that weirdness that goes with it that makes people talk. I’m not saying that he did it for an oscar no. That’s crazy but his actions hardly eschew the spotlight do they?

      • MountainRunner says:

        Y’know NIc, as much as I hope this is the real deal — that he desires companionship, family and found a suitable mate among his friends who desires the same thing — I’m on board with the WTFery as to how it was handled. Personally, I don’t care much what her background is, how talented she is or what she looks like as long as she will be a faithful friend and lover to him. It’s hard to tell at this point what their relationship is like since we don’t see them interacting much and I hate to judge until there’s more data to analyze. But I agree their public actions from not walking the red carpet to announcing an engagement a month later was odd and not what I would have expected.

        My best friend is someone who is not emotionally expressive when she’s happy (unlike me, who is very effervescent) and probably would come across as snotty to someone who didn’t know her. She’s been a kind, caring, dear friend for over 20 years with a great wit and zero rudeness, but looking at pictures or just watching short clips of her, I could see how she’d give the opposite impression to a stranger looking on. I think that’s why I’m reserving judgement on “sour Sophie” because it may not be reflective of her true personality. I totally see why most folks here aren’t warming to her (she hasn’t given them much reason to imo), but I really hope for BC’s sake that she’s better for him than people think.

        At the end of the day, we all want intimacy, companionship and love, and I do hope that this weirdness will end now that the announcement has been made and they start being more normal in their public presentation. I want to see the man look truly happy and love and not like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. Maybe if he’s happy he’ll stop shooting his mouth off about fanfic, fingers & florals…

      • sigh((s)) says:

        MR- I read an interview with her, and the interviewer (who I assume usually tries to put people in the best light) said she seemed above it all with a touch of haughtiness or something.
        When the person interviewing you calls you haughty…..

      • Nic says:

        Yep, it’s hard to get away from the bizarre weirdness of all this. Bizarre for him, I might add. Just v v much out of character and plain odd.

        @sighs
        I saw an interview where she ‘summoned over a make up artist for more lip gloss’ or something along those lines. : /

      • Me says:

        Yeah, sigh((s)). I saw that article when we first started “Ann Veal” ing this chick. I think the author was trying to say Sophie was “too cool for school,” but it was supposed to be a compliment? Like that French exchange student in junior high who wore leather jackets and smoked. Just – trop formidable.

        I believe in “when you know, you know” in circumstances when you’ve been around each other the whole time and just saw the light. Or you’ve been glued to each other non-stop for a short period and there’s magical chemistry.

        But this is weird. Whether they have chemistry behind the scenes or not, BC’s been quite busy with plenty of sightings, even into September. Some unconfirmed that were probably with Sophie, but lots without her. Also just seems that they recently rekindled a very casual platonic friendship in the spring. So, I don’t know.

        To each their own, but this does (on the face) look like a situation that could do with a more trial run period. Oh say, like dating. In public. Seeing how real life is after spending the night in the honeymoon suite. Bonne chance, Batch!

      • Green Eyes says:

        Je t’aime , me.

      • MissMary says:

        @Me: *applauds* Yes. This.

      • Me says:

        Ha! Love you too, Green Eyes. 🙂

      • MountainRunner says:

        *sighs*

        That’s never good, especially since she wasn’t tabloid fodder so no reason to say that just to get more clicks/sales/readers. Do you have a link perchance?

  13. Snazzy says:

    That is sweet and hilarious! And congrats on the comments!

  14. Ruth Dunbar says:

    This whole thing has made me lose any taste I had for this guy. Frankly I’m glad. Nothing shocks me anymore, but if this is some PR move, yuck.

  15. betsy says:

    Benedict was too busy filming to even attend the LA screening of the Imitation Game last night. That’s not someone who is schmoozing with half the world to get a nomination like Eddie Redmayne is. Redmayne must have gone to every party and event he could find to get pr for the film. So I think you should be doing an article about his over the top antics to get a nomination.

    • MissMary says:

      Screenings aren’t the same as premieres, though, and the actors have skipped screenings in the past and had no impact on publicity. Now, if he skips the premiere in NYC next week esp after being announced and promoted as attending, then it’s major side eye time. Screenings are just screenings. Premieres are schmoozing time.

    • Lilacflowers says:

      Being busy filming has not stopped him from doing countless magazine photoshoots and interviews or British talk shows. His Oscar campaign mantra seems to be “Harvey wants me to campaign but I’m too busy working to campaign. That Harvey! Please don’t notice that I somehow managed to take time off to do this interview to say that I’m too busy to do interviews.”

      I have also seen far more interviews, appearances, photoshoots with Cumberbatch in the past month than I have seen of Michael Keaton, who is presumed to be the Oscar front runner a this point. And having seen Birdman, I can say, deservedly so.

      • gg says:

        he did those interviews months ago, and if you’ve read them half of them were conducted when he was on the way to the airport to go to TIFF

      • Tara says:

        Lilacflowers- Oh good, I was hoping Keaton’s Birdman performance was as good as they say. How did you like the movie? I’ve heard mixed reviews, but I’m looking forward to it.

      • Sandi says:

        Redmayne’s running the most aggressive campaign currently.

        Keaton was starting to get around, he was on CBS and such in late September/early October, but that lawsuit going forward at the same time is really unfortunate. He’s being sued for allegedly wrecking his directorial debut by not doing his job and being very difficult:

        http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/michael-keaton-fighting-lawsuit-claiming-739679

      • Lilacflowers says:

        @Tara, it was a good film but it left me a bit cold. Great performance by Keaton, nice understand performances from Amy Ryan and Zach G. Totally insane performance from Edward Norton.

      • Lilacflowers says:

        You know, I really don’t think the way to defend what your favorite actor is doing is to bash another actor. So far, in this year’s Oscar race, (and I see lots of films and usually see everything nominated in EVERY category, yes, even documentary and live action shorts, by the time the ceremony comes around, the person I see doing the most campaigning, far above all others, is BC. Yes, I see others campaigning and promoting too but not to the same extent. And telling me that somebody else really wants it, doesn’t dissuade me from what i see.

      • Sandi says:

        Hoping that’s not directed at me, Lilacflowers. I’m all for Oscar campaigns. Get yourself ahead is my motto, and Eddie’s the most visible to me right now. I didn’t know much about him but his hustle has got my attention in a good way.

        Keaton’s in a right pickle. It’s been going through the courts for over a year, just bad timing for him to have it move forward now. I thought he was great in Birdman but was not thrilled with the movie overall.

      • icerose says:

        He has just been on Film 14 which is pretty recent and he to give him his due he did not go over the top on I am not campaigning but when he it came up he said how difficult he found it being on the red carpet which I found a bit disingenuous considering his behaviour was far from shrinking violet on the night.

      • Intro Outro says:

        @Sandi: personally, I say “Bring it on!” to any actor or actress campaigning for an award. I just sit back and watch how they do it then – and draw my conclusions lol. I think you can be actively campaigning and at the same time being a good sport about it and still keeping your head on.

        The problem with Ben is imo that he started out by trying to sell the “I am not campaigning” campaign (remember all those things he said about a month ago on how he told Weinstein that he wasn’t going to US to take part in some talk-shows but that it didn’t seem to register with Weinstein, and how he was too busy working?) and many of his fans bought that and are still trying to persuade others that he’s not campaigning. OR that others are surely campaigning more than he.

        Personally, I also think that his numerous public appearances earlier this year (all of which were thoroughly covered here on CB) have been a very effective artillery preparation for the more aggressive Oscar season campaigning. Again, fine by me, just own it and do not try to pretend that you are above it!

        Also, slightly OT: I finally read the ELLE bit on Hamlet. Shook my head hard at Cumberbatch. No, Ben, it *is* normal that a reader projects his/her interpretation of a character off the printed word even if it’s a play he/she is reading lol. Hamlet exists *both* in book and in performance. The actor has to read the friggin’ printed words and then come up with an interpretation, doesn’t he? So why is his interpretation via physical performance any more valid than a reader’s interpretation via his/her imagination?

      • icerose says:

        @Intro Outro Totally agree re Hamlet, Have you a link to that part of the interview. Mind you in another interview he admits that it was him who insisted on all the Freudian family angst scenes on Sherlock and actually quotes Moffatt as saying it was unnecessary. So having introduced his own character interpretation on Sherlock’s family and sex life based on what I have no idea I am surprised he has not added a physical interpretation and given him the odd limp or winking compulsion.

      • Intro Outro says:

        @icerose: Here you are, it’s in the middle of the page so you have to scroll down a bit http://www.elleuk.com/commercial/benedict-cumberbatch/

        The part where the interviewer says concerning his 11-minute rant about Hamlet: “But in fact, it was rather nice being the object of Benedict’s derision, because: 1) he was completely right; 2) his rant involved an impromptu rendition of Hamlet’s ‘drown the stage with tears’ speech, and it was spectacular; and 3) he was so unguarded” killed me. She liked being the object of his derision? How lovely lol.

      • Me says:

        “No, Ben, it *is* normal that a reader projects his/her interpretation of a character off the printed word even if it’s a play he/she is reading lol. Hamlet exists *both* in book and in performance. The actor has to read the friggin’ printed words and then come up with an interpretation, doesn’t he? So why is his interpretation via physical performance any more valid than a reader’s interpretation via his/her imagination?” OOOOOHHHHHH! Brava, Intro Outro. I like 🙂

      • sigh((s)) says:

        Interesting. While I agree that plays are meant to be performed, I also agree with you, me, that you can’t chastise someone for having an interpretation based off of their own reading.

      • Sandi says:

        Ah, Intro Outro, I agree with you on the campaign approach but with him on Shakespeare. Not great reads because of how they were written so clearly for the stage but something to see performed.

        I can’t say if I was interviewing someone who has a known passion for something, I’d so bluntly say I thought it was garbage, however.

        You’re a little off there, icerose. He and Moffat discussed this before. Moffat doesn’t believe in backstory at all, but Benedict asked for it for his personal framework as an actor. He didn’t expect it to all be shown and never insisted on it being aired, something he reiterates in the same interview you’re referring to.

      • Intro Outro says:

        @Sandi, I agree that for the full and multi-faceted Hamlet experience one has to see it performed on stage. However, it is wrong imo to suggest that the stage interpretation of Hamlet’s personality is the only legit one. It wouldn’t be a big leap from this kind of perspective to claim then that every fictional character should be seen on stage/in film because otherwise readers can’t fully appreciate those characters.

        In other words, it was wrong of Cumberbatch to ridicule the interviewer’s perception of Hamlet based solely on the fact that she has never seen it on stage. Especially since her perception of Hamlet isn’t imo completely off mark.

        As for his rant – she didn’t say that Hamlet as a play was garbage or that Shakespeare was a horrible playwright. What she said was: “I find Hamlet a navel-gazing, self-obsessed bore and he tears a strip off me”. It’s more like an evaluation of Hamlet as a person, so I don’t think that it justifies Cumberbatch’s overreaction.

      • Sandi says:

        See, I disagree there. I don’t think Shakespeare reads like other works, so for me, half of the play is in the performance. It’s like reading the framework of a story with no dimensions in print.

        But I’m speaking as someone who hated the plays in school and was only changed by seeing a play live. I also doubt it was a big thing but more him speaking passionately, as the interviewer clearly wasn’t bothered at all.

      • Isadora says:

        @Intro Outro: Thank you for the heads up to the Elle interview. I probably wouldn’t have read it but the Hamlet controversy sparked my interest. 😉 While I agree with the perception that Shakespeare wrote for the stage and not to be read (therefore seeing real performances is probably the way it should be), I also agree that the written play is the starting point also for actors. You work with the text and then you work on your performance, so the “Hamlet-experience” has to be in the text already. Personally, when in doubt, I prefer reading the text myself instead of seeing a strange performance in a bad production. So yes, the Elle interviewer should probably give the play a second chance when seeing it performed, but Benedict WAS quite defensive and derisive. An 11 minute rant! *lol* I hope it’s his love for the play speaking and he’s not just defensive because he’s gonna play Hamlet and has a typical case of actor’s sensibilities.

        Also funny was this line: “but he’s struggling to walk a line between being genuine and people-pleasing” O_o So he’s either genuine (and prone to 11 minute rants) or nice and fake? *lol* I get it that she probably meant the secret photo stuff, but it just sounds… well… funny.

    • Cate says:

      @Betsy, He’s already in LA. He’s got a BAFTA event tonight actually. So he just didn’t attend the screening because it apparently wasn’t that important and because he just arrived. He’ll be in the US for the time being, so no, he isn’t filming atm or above promo.

      • Lindy79 says:

        Given the sh-tstorm, I’m shocked he hasnt been spotted in either airport. Then again I haven’t gone looking

      • MissMary says:

        He’s also slated to be back in the UK Monday for filming so this should be a busy week or two for him, going between the two (the NYC premiere is soon too).

      • Cate says:

        Yeah, it’s a small miracle if he wasn’t spotted at Heathrow or LAX. Maybe he flew by private jet or he’s really got that Clark Kent routine down now. *Glasses on* ‘Where’s Benedict?’ *Glasses off* ‘Ah, there he is!’

      • Nic says:

        “he’s really got that Clark Kent routine down now. *Glasses on* ‘Where’s Benedict?’ *Glasses off* ‘Ah, there he is!’”

        Hahahaha

      • Tara says:

        Lol, Cate! That is so funny.

        Sorry, Benedict, you don’t blend in as much as you’d probably like to 🙂

      • MissMary says:

        @gg: He’s cutting it close with the arrival before the event, lol! And *snort* people STILL asking if he was with anyone!

    • Intro Outro says:

      @betsy: “Benedict was too busy filming to even attend the LA screening of the Imitation Game last night. That’s not someone who is schmoozing with half the world to get a nomination like Eddie Redmayne is. Redmayne must have gone to every party and event he could find to get pr for the film. So I think you should be doing an article about his over the top antics to get a nomination.”

      I wonder what then Benny’s 6 or how many planned US events are? The New York premiere and several awards ceremonies and TV shows?

      It’s slightly uncomfortable to watch some fans continue trying to drag Ben back to the high pedestal they constructed for him in their mind.

  16. Talie says:

    Five months is quick, but sometimes people area ready when they’re ready. He was in a very longterm relationship that went nowhere and he seems like the type who wanted marriage and babies.

  17. Courtney says:

    I would never co-mingle funds with someone I wasn’t married to. Recipe for disaster.

    • Green Eyes says:

      Speaking of funds – I’m placing big bets on finances being a REALLY big problem in this household. She’s basically lived off of someone’s charity for this long and now it’s time for Lord Bendy to be the one writing the checks unless she comes with a dowry. LOL.

      Can you imagine his face when he looks at all her charges? Or her face when he tells her that one or two dresses per year will have to do…good times!

      • Cate says:

        Hahaha, oh my. Yikes! The horror! But that’s why she’s now doing her own car commercials though. Ben’s being modern & practical… 😉

    • Lilacflowers says:

      @Courtney, I wouldn’t either and I know lots of married couples who keep separate accounts, not hidden, just separate.

  18. Renee says:

    I think BC had a midlife crisis that coveniently coincided with Oscar PR. True love? So far, he didn’t sell that angle very well.

  19. Jem says:

    He’s a good actor, but I dont see the attraction. And for the record, I think he’s gay and she’s a beard. He’s a sex symbol fir some reason; he needs a beard.

    • Observer says:

      I had a dream some month ago that Benedict is gay…he was gay/bi and was flirting hard with a guy in my dream and it felt so real. I have never watched any of his movies, I’m not a fan, don’t spend any time thinking about him really or reading about him, have no dog in this fight but my dreams and feelings are usually right. But they could be wrong of course…
      Hmm.
      Ah well.

      • gg says:

        Good grief why would be have been in a 12-year relationship with a woman when nobody even knew who he was, then? He is one of the few actors out there whom I have *never* heard gay rumors about.

    • Nic says:

      He’s not gay.

  20. Dany says:

    Does the Oscar jury really prefer married men? I don´t know.
    Ok, i think they prefer clean and likeable award winners. And fans love nice married actors. So maybe that´s the reason why DiCaprio has no Oscar yet? This guy dates the Victoria Secret catalog and that´s not very family friendly.

    • MissMary says:

      Depends–if H’wood is skewing more conservative than usual, they may prefer a “family man” type.

    • FingerBinger says:

      Of course Hollywood doesn’t care if people are married or single. Jack Nicholson, George Clooney,Jared Leto, and Adrien Brody. All single or divorced men who’ve won Oscars.

      • Etheldreda says:

        True, but all of these – except maybe Brody — were long established Hollywood stars. Cumberbatch really isn’t. He has never had a leading role in a major Hollywood hit.

        And I don’t think anyone is saying that you can’t get an Oscar without being married or engaged – of course you can. But it does help if you are a nice straight guy in a settled relationship with a ‘suitable’ woman on your arm. I’m not suggesting that is why BC announced his engagement, but I don’t think it will do his Oscar chances any harm.

  21. chris says:

    I’m suprised, that this is an item in the USA. In Germany it makes a hughe difference if someone has a family or not for his career. I agree his “speed-engagement” could be related with his careerplans. But there’s an other aspect I like to show. What about homosexuality? In Imitation Game he play a gay man and in interviews he had put himselfe out against homophobie. And there was this weird statement, that he had experiences with boys. In former times, Ben stood under suspicion to be gay. There are continual rumours about that in the internet. And we know how difficult it is for a gay man in hollywood. Don’t get me wrong: I don’t want to say, that Ben is gay – no!!!! I want to say, that it is important for his success in hollywood to be married – to be in well-ordered circumstances. Surely it will help him to get more prestige it will not be a disatvantage for him. It is really weird if this aspect has had an influence on his decision to be engaged so soon and surprisingly.
    BUT! Maybe we are all wrong and it is really true love. I hope it for them both.

    But maybe it’s all rubbish

    • Valois says:

      Really, Chris? I’m German, too and I don’t think being married w kids plays a role here. There are a bunch of famous actor who have a family and just as many who don’t.

    • Chammy says:

      Nahh, I am German, too. And if you have or don’t have a partner or children does not matter that much for your career prospects.

  22. HBIC says:

    I don’t think he’s doing this for an Oscar campaign. Yes, the timing of this engagement announcement is circumspect, but I think that he thinks she’s the “right” person (or as close to it as possible) to settle down with at this point in time.

    My prediction… the right one comes along one day… and he TOTALLY dumps Sophie for her. I’m calling it now.

    PS – And all of his crazy behavior lately? I think it’s b/c she not the right person for him (and she’s controlling his behavior in this craptastic relationship to his detriment). He knows it, and it’s driving him bonkers.

    • Madly says:

      Gah, going back on my word, hate being sucked in on what is really, or should be, a non story.

      If she is making him bonkers, then why stay?

      I do think his mom has been over zealous with pressure on him to settle down for years.

      • HBIC says:

        My theory? He’s staying b/c she’s promising him children. And that’s what he really wants… we all know this.

        Perhaps he thinks that she’ll give it to him… but he’s going to wake up sooner or later and realize that she’s not the one to have them with… I don’t get good vibes from her… I just don’t.

      • Madly says:

        It is hard to tell if she will have them or not, she could very well want them too.

      • MissMary says:

        HBIC: My SO has a “theory” (we’re full of ’em in my house) about the kids thing… IF and big if they have one, divorce soon to follow with shared custody. My SO is more cynical than I am by a long shot and that’s really saying something, lol, and they feel that it’ll be divorce amicably because this was all a sham, shared custody so there’s someone to mind the kiddo who is invested in their well being and not gonna sell stories or info to tabs while BC is off filming, and they can do the “we’re peacefully co-parenting” thing for interviews. He has his family, she has a check, everyone is happy… That said–it’s my SO’s theory, lol, and I’m finding that kind of brutal but I can see it happening in some respects).

    • MountainRunner says:

      @HBIC, I could be totally wrong on this, but I’ve gotten the impression that BC’s attracted to strong, assertive women like Wanda. If Sophie is calling the shots in the relationship as some are saying, that would make sense to me.

      If that’s the case, she can’t help her personality type (as can I, being similar), but a woman like that has to be able to reign in that power over her man and use it for his good and not her own agenda. I hope that’s not what’s going on and that we’ll see a happy Cumby now.

      God, these posts make me sad… I just want to be happy for the guy.

      • HBIC says:

        @MountainRunner
        I agree… if she’s calling the shots, it should be to benefit him, not to hurt him or cause harm to his career. That’s why I think she’s wrong for him. She’s pushing her own agenda here… and it’s bad news for him.

        @MissMary
        I don’t think she’s pregnant yet… but she might be promising him children… and who knows if she’s going to make good on her word. Let’s just all cross our fingers and hope that it doesn’t happen.

        And if he knocks her up… I don’t ever see him leaving her. He’ll stay just because (ugh, it’s like Parade’s End all over again). And that’s too bad.

    • Moodgirl says:

      @ HBIC

      I believe that SH has nothing to do with BC decision to get engaged. Sound strange? I know.

      1. I believe he is desperate to marry and start a family. Probably due to personal, family and social pressure. He recently stated that he could not understand why people were so centered on the fact that he was single. It weighed heavily on his mind and made him uncomfortable. The peer pressure got to him.
      2. It has been stated that his calender is full for the next two years. He would have no time to cultivate a personal relationship. Besides, other than OP, he seemed to stink at it.
      3. By his own admission he is very insecure around women and has great difficulty even approaching one. I was shocked when he stated this. There is no way this guy would meet a woman under what we in the states would consider normal circumstances. His chances of meeting someone not after his money would be zero. This is why people were always on the lookout for women to introduce him to. The poor guy had no clue. I feel for him because I have the exact problem.
      4. The Mail Online article about him was right on target. He is a mass of insecurities.
      5. He has been burned publicly chasing the cheerleader. He needed to find a bland, boring, not so famous chick. No more models. He needed someone to fit his station.
      6. He attended the Oscars alone last year. Well, with his IMHO unattractive publicist. Never again.
      7. I believe he has a need for approval from friends and family. Want to bet that his mom put the screws to him and just asked him to “just pick a damn bird” and get on with it? I’ll bet you lunch she twisted his arm while his dad just watched.
      8. I read an article where he again seemed preoccupied with what people thought about him. He felt that he was critized for dating a model and becoming typical. He also talked about people criticizing his looks. Poor guy. Insecurity is smothering.
      9. Thus, Sophie. She was there in the pinch and really wasn’t doing much despite what PR says. She is a half asser. Rich kid half assing through life while waiting for a rich dude to come along. I doubt if he loves her. Probably likes her but he had no
      time to cultivate a real relationship as he admitted he needed to do. I have been there.
      10. I see nothing coming from this.

      • Me says:

        I dunno know if BC has any more insecurities than anyone else. He’s certainly human.

        But I think this is a real engagement. Although he’s shown us some really different sides to his personality recently, I just don’t think he’d fake an engagement. Not sure if he’s trying to beat the clock, but I think he’s convinced himself that she’s the one. Maybe she is. She does not appear to be what he described as his ideal, but she’s not an evil loser.

        Someone said the BBC reported that his parents “fled” London. I saw no such reports. I get that they might want to avoid a non-stop ringing telephone, but… Interesting that no one thought for them to prepare a statement for Karon to issue on their behalf (even though they aren’t her clients).

        Wanda escaped from a loveless marriage that ruffled her so much Tim had to go on a quest to get her to say yes to his proposals (plural). I doubt she’d put the screws on BC just to get (more) grandchildren.

        Maybe they sense he’s rushing and don’t feel comfortable making a comment?

      • MissMary says:

        IIRC, they spend the majority of their time these days at their home outside of London so if they went there, it’s not a big surprise as that seems to be their “central location” and their place in London is mainly for seeing BC or if one of them has work in the city/they need to be central for something. But I agree w/everything you said about Wanda–she waited till she was about ready to pop before marrying Tim and even now, she will snark about her “snooty” MIL a bit when asked in interviews (How her MIL wasn’t thrilled with Tim’s choice, etc). I don’t think she’d strong arm BC into having a kid, and she DOES already have at least one grandchild, Emily (ah, poor Em, always forgotten when people talk about Wanda and grandkids). I think, and this is just MHO and your mileage may vary, if his parent’s aren’t thrilled (IF), they are not going to make a comment. Their son is nearly 40, he’s very much in the public eye in parts of the world, and they know how hard it is to have and maintain success in the field. They wouldn’t want to f*ck it up for him so, no matter their personal feelings, they won’t go public and say anything about it, nor will they gush effusively if it’s not an honest thing.

    • Josa says:

      “the timing of this engagement announcement is circumspect” to put it mildly. He’s almost 40, he wants family, kids, supposedly also the security of a loving family. A lot is on the line for a relationship. Assuming they got together for 5 months. He is at the critical point of his career, that Oscar is dangling in front of him. He’s working a lot, promoting like crazy, trying to build a relationship after years of being single, how many stress factors are there. Potentially, him getting pulled at all angles will create more tension to the relationship too. It’s a very stressful time for him by all accounts. He should know that putting an engagement on top of all these is to put the spotlight on the relationship most certainly, is it best for a relationship that has very short time of a foundation? If he means it to work out for him in the long time, then I think deciding to engage at this most hectic time of his life is very unwise. I think he is smarter than that, that is why I can’t really believe that this engagement is a declaration of love rather than a strategic move.

    • Claire says:

      i hope you’re right and it happens before they walk down the aisle

  23. Rusty machine says:

    If this is all for the Oscar nomination, I have lost so much respect for him.

    Hopefully it’s real.

    • aly says:

      I think he is killing two birds with one stone, personally. The two things are not mutually exclusive: he can be in love and want an Oscar nomination at the same time:)
      I do think the guy is stressed, tired and overworked, maybe that’s why he isn’t glowing. I think that he might feel a lot of pressure because of TIG and Weinstein. TIG could make his career as a leading man. Rave reviews are fine, but the movie needs to do well at the box office and at the Oscars.
      Honestly, since there are virtually no pictures of Ben and Sophie together as a couple, we can’t tell if they really have chemistry or not. I’m calling it now: next week at the premiere of TIG we’ll see them together and they’ll appear blissfully in love 🙂
      To be completely, brutally honest I don’t much care about his personal life (I got over the shock quite quickly), but I’ll be angry if the future Mrs. Cumberbatch appears in Sherlock. A little guest spot à la OP it’s fine, but ….anything more, just …no…please.

      • sigh((s)) says:

        Except Olivia was a talented, working actress. She wasn’t even remotely out of place, and wouldn’t have been in a larger part either.

      • Renee says:

        Of course the happy in love couple will show up next week. Gotta sell the illusion somehow and that’s the perfect time to start.

      • aly says:

        @sigh((s)) which was kind of my point, actually. I don’t know, it would piss me off to have SH as Sherlock’s love interest, an Irene Adler deux; that’s not what the show is about, IMO

        @Renee …eeh…as I said: two birds with one stone. Of course, I wouldn’t have had doubts if this hadn’t been Oscar season. Holy crap, the last couple of days have been exhausting….

      • gg says:

        @aly: I’d be much angrier if the future Mrs. Cumberbatch convinces him that he is now too good for Sherlock, and should now go on to become a big movie/theatre star. I think Moffat and Gatiss are way too smart to give her a role on Sherlock, except maybe as a corpse.

      • aly says:

        @gg: that too. But I also think Sherlock won’t go on besides the fifth season. God, I hope you’re right, I really do. In Gatiss I trust 🙂

      • Lucrezia says:

        I dunno gg. It’s not like it was just Olivia. Martin’s wife, Ben’s parents, Moffat’s son, Gatiss’s husband … they’ve all shown up on screen. And Moffat’s wife, mother-in-law and sister-in-law are all involved behind the scenes. So I wouldn’t put it past them.

        However, while nepotism generally gets a bad rap, I think Sherlock has managed it quite well. They don’t seem to have hired anyone who couldn’t do the job. If she can act, I think she’ll get a job. If not, well … I like what aly said: “In Gatiss I trust”.

      • Nic says:

        Weinstein is the worst thing to happen to this movie. My heart sank when I heard he’d bought it.

      • Nic says:

        Another thought re: Weinstein. I feel like a fat bully has kicked over my can of coke and stamped on my sandwiches. This film is so important and dignified and I’m seeing his greasy prints all over it already.

      • MissMary says:

        I’m legit cringing in advance of the American arm of the promo “tour”… I get the feeling it’ll be more of a dog and pony show than what’s gone on so far.

      • Nic says:

        Yeah, I’ve got a terrible feeling about it. 🙁

      • Moodgirl says:

        If there are no pictures of them together doesn’t that speak volumes? I date casually and there are pictures. And I’m not on television.

  24. Tara says:

    Nah- he didn’t get engaged to get an Oscar. I think it’s like others have said- he took a look at his schedule for the next couple years, saw that it was jammed packed and that he’d have little time to look for or wait for the ‘one.’ He’s nearing 40 and it scared him a bit to be without a wife or kids. He doesn’t want to miss out. So he took a look around his friend group for an acceptable woman, and came up with Sophie. (possibly tried it on with Kinvara first, still not sure about that one :p )

    I do think Eddie’s engagement, and James Rhodes’ wedding, also made him think, ‘Huh, yeah, look how happy they are. I want that’. And that’s the reason for the quick engagement. Not saying he and Sophie don’t love each other, or that this is a mistake, it could be the greatest thing that ever happens to him. But yes, I think he ‘settled’ a little bit in that he wants a companion and wife like his friends have. He doesn’t want to wait anymore.

    That being said- it’s very possible they announced the engagement before his US press tour for publicity reasons, but I don’t think the fact that he got engaged was done for Oscar purposes. I would predict a wedding in the not too distant future.

    • 'P'enny says:

      “I do think Eddie’s engagement, and James Rhodes’ wedding, also made him think, ‘Huh, yeah, look how happy they are. I want that’. And that’s the reason for the quick engagement.”

      I totally agree, he’s gone soppy.

      As ambitious as he is, I don’t think he is that calculating because at the end of the day, he’s not George Clooney he’s not politically ambitious or making mega-bucks out of endorsement deals.

      • blended says:

        he may not be politically ambitious like clooney, but he most definitely wants to be a power player, especially in the british arts scene. marrying someone with theatre connections will give them a ‘power couple’ label in the uk (or at least that is what they want). so yes he is calculating.

      • MissMary says:

        If he wants someone with theatre connections, he can do better than SH…

      • blended says:

        maybe he thinks he can’t do better, hence the settling.

    • Lindy79 says:

      Nothing gets certain people who want marriage and babies moving like seeing all your friends doing it, especially good friends. I can get behind that theory.
      Seeing one of his best mates getting hitched and being stupidly happy may have made him think “fuck it!” especially as he was in the wedding party…doesn’t explain the carry on, which was anything other than a guy who has found the woman he wants to marry (and that’s based on his previous outings with exes, so there is a basis for comparison there).

      • Moodgirl says:

        Even in the wedding photo he looked like he wanted to hurl. How can you appear to be sickened by someone you are now engaged to. He smiled with and hugged various people but looked repelled by her, like he was attempting to move away.

        If he doesn’t want to be photographed with his girlfriend – something he should have anticipated – then what is the point of it all? Where is the love?

    • Green Eyes says:

      I have to agree with Tara. But along with his friends getting married and having kids, I also think there is something more.

      I happen to work around a lot of ambitious and successful people and to a T it is as if they have a check list:

      1. Go to ivy league college (check)
      2. Get 2 years of good work experience (check)
      3. Go to top tier business school (check)
      4. Get well-paying job (check)
      5. Find trophy wife/super successful husband
      6. Have 2.3 wonderful children

      It’s almost if they have no emotion or heart in the matter. It’s their checklist, and damn it, they will get everything on it!

      I can see Bendy being like this. He’s so driven for everything he has ever wanted, why stop now?

  25. blended says:

    There’s a poll on EB about who is leaving the fandom. I love his work and talent and will always support that. But he’s changed as a person. He’s not authentic anymore, and yes I honestly believe his original persona was genuine. Call me naïve. So if he continues this way, I can’t say I’ll still be a fan.

    • chris says:

      Success changes a person. And it would have been a miracle if it would not be the same with Ben. He isn’t so naiv. He’s got a manager for his career and a PR-Person. Everything is well-thought. Probably this is the reason why there are no lovely fotos from them both. And by the way. I think Ben is more Sherlock as we all think. He is spontaneous, dominant and a bit self-centered not everytime that darling we want him to be. And I want repeat it one more time. I’m not sure if we don’t have to say poore Sophie

    • Renee says:

      Blended, I agree. He seems a bit too disingenuous for my liking recently I want to feel differently but I don’t. Still admire his talent as an actor but I find his latest public persona to be too far from what I thought he was.

      • Me says:

        Yes, Renee. ITA. That’s what reeks. Being disingenuous. I have really gotten the feeling that BC cares more about breeding with the “right pedigree” than finding the right woman. Sophie could be it, but she’s not anything he described. I think used a description of family, love and ideal woman that was popular. But that really wasn’t who he is. Sophie is his speed. That’s fine. But I would not have been disappointed, had he been honest.

        I guess most guys lie about what their “type” is when put on the spot?

        Clearly, we’re all somewhat still fans, if we’re on Celebitchy prattling on about it. He’s a talent and gorgeous, but I don’t feel the same way about him. I liked that he seemed different from other celebrities and that’s not a factor anymore.

        What I do wonder is how much that’s going to affect my opinion of his talent and looks. Like, were we wearing rose colored glasses when looking at those parts of him before?

      • MountainRunner says:

        *Me*

        “I liked that he seemed different from other celebrities and that’s not a factor anymore.” This seems to be a common theme among the Celebitches and I bet that would bother him if he knew fans thought him disingenuous. Not sure I subscribed to the idea that he was different — I tend to be suspect of the public persona, it becomes a twisted half-truth for the sake of approval.

        I liked his old persona nonetheless and still think he’s a hell of a talent and attractive, in an unusual sort of way. If he’s in a movie or TV show I’m interested in, it won’t affect me either way. He just another ordinary human thrust into extraordinary life circumstances, flawed and talented, with ugly and beautiful parts like all of us. Whoever lives with him will have to love and tolerate (and vice-versa) if it’s gonna last.

      • Me says:

        Oh, Mountain Runner. I didn’t mean to insinuate that I’ll stop my consumption of his work. I was just thinking that I hope my very high opinion of his work and looks wasn’t too affected by what I thought of his public persona. Then, I’d be disappointed in myself, if I actually realized that I didn’t think he was all that great.

        I don’t think he would care if we thought him disingenuous and he shouldn’t. Trying to imagine his perspective, he’d probably be more insulted that we “think we know him” or “he owes us something.” I don’t look at it that way. It’s just an integrity thing for me. As Dorothy Parker said, “I don’t care what is written about me so long as it isn’t true.

      • MountainRunner says:

        Oh Me, didn’t think you said that at all. But I do think that he would react defensively if a journo insinuated he was disingenuous. I don’t think our opinions would keep him up at night though and he’d probably tell any of us spouting off here to “Get a effin’ life” if caught in one of his moods as of late.

    • wahine992 says:

      ^This. What Blended said and all five replies, as well. Admire and respect his talent, love his gorgeous looks and his incredible charm (when he’s being charming, that is, and not being a tad too full of himself), but I’ve taken off the rose-colored glasses and I’m seeing him in a new, not always flattering, light. He’s said and done some things in the last few months that have really made me side-eye him. Some things related to this very strange courtship and some to do with other things. Still like him very much, but not like I used to.

      • Lu says:

        wahine992, I agree totally. Starting a couple of weeks before his engagement announcement, I started feeling differently about him based on the things he was saying and the persona he was exhibiting. I’d always been a little put off by what saw as his insecurity-masked-as-self-regard (and mixed with genuine confidence in himself), but suddenly he seemed just a bit fed up, a bit more arrogant, and bordering on contemptuous of his fans. I’m not someone who thinks fans are “owed” anything at all by actors–not happy pictures, or personal disclosures, or anything else–and I don’t expect him to be my Unicorn Prince. I loved his face, his sex appeal, and his enthusiasm, but that all got overtaken by this newly developing persona. No, again, he doesn’t owe us anything, but it’s pretty tough to see someone who just last year was reveling in a huge welcome at the airport in Japan, etc., turn into someone who hides from fans and seems to blame them for being interested in him in the first place.

  26. Ingrid says:

    I can smell Harvey from here. Announcing the engagement literally two days before big promo tour? Yeah, very private and not for PR at all. He could have easily waited until next month if he wanted to keep it more private.

    I think the problem they had was his image was becoming a joke. Not him or his work, but his public perception. The Sherlock sex / yumminess / pengling things going viral and screaming fangirls lining up streets. Every media piece was focusing on his “crazy fans” and Oscar voters won’t give the statue to fangirl heartthrob (think Robert Pattinson whose “serious actor” image suffered a lot). It just won’t happen. So announcing engagement will tone down his fanbase and make him appear more respectable choice for award voters, not just the guy bunch of teenagers are crushing on. It also seems he was getting quite fed up with his fans.

    I’m not saying the engagement isn’t real. They might very well be all loved up (although he doesn’t really seem happy). It’s just that the timing seems very calculated and anyone who says his people and Harvey weren’t consulted beforehand is very naïve.

    This… or she’s pregnant.

    • Tara says:

      “So announcing engagement will tone down his fanbase”

      His engagement news=a massive bucket of ice water thrown on his fans. It’s the ultimate ice bucket challenge! Lol

      Seriously though, I agree that he has got to be annoyed at all the journos and everyone always bringing up the fangirls. He’s a serious actor, dagnabbit!

      • MissMary says:

        Keeping with my cynicism… if this is a PR thing, whether in timing or nature or both, I think it is in part to calm down the “omg delicious” b.s. and “omg cumbercurl!” Tigerbeat (wow, I’m old) stuff. I think he really wants some serious, meaty parts thrown his way (he’s been getting them but I think he wants consistency) and I think he or his “people” have been trying to figure out how to “tone down” the crazed part of fandom, which is all media wants to focus on and not the fact the majority of his fandom is pretty chill (if you stay off tumblr and imdb, lol). So an engagement after some snarky, not “crazed fan friendly” interviews. Some of the more invested fans flounce off, some of the media attention on the “omg cumby” fandom sector chills and, if they break up later he’s seen as “mature” man, unlucky in love, but not a “teenagers wet dream” by the media. His narrative becomes serious actor, too busy for LTRs/marriage.

      • Ingrid says:

        Thank you. This was exactly my point.

        There’s very little they could have done to change the “crazy fans” narrative which has been everywhere and it was taking a focus of from his talent. And even more so, if there’s Dr. Strange announcement coming. His image would have become impossible to control and manage by his team long-term.

        A mere girlfriend wouldn’t cut it. She would have just gotten a lot of hate and “she’s just the flavour of the month” commentary. An engagement however sends a much stronger message to “cool it.”

        The engagement shock will wear off in a week or two and after that he and the rest of the world can focus on the movie and most importantly the tragic story of Alan Turing (which should have been the focus all along, not the fandom.)

        This would explain the out of the blue engagement and complete 180 in the “my life is private” thing.

        If I’m right, someone (Karon?) really deserves a raise. Brilliant PR move.

      • sigh((s)) says:

        Karon deserves a raise for being brave enough to wear those dresses! You go, Karon!

      • Me says:

        Yeah, Ingrid. Looking at this thread, it seems like things are already starting to cool down. Half of it is all about other actors!

        Everything in his life has come together: He’s got the massive career, unlimited opportunities for highly coveted work, money, some popularity and an upper-crusty chick to bear children who look ex-act-ly like him. He would not have gotten there without indentured servitude to the Cumberbitches. But he may be set free from that soon. He’s probably on a champagne bender this week. It was all an act.

        Slow claps. Man is good.

    • chris says:

      She’s pregnant – I love this thought. 😀 😀 😀 But to be serious. I think that may be. Perhaps they are “only” best friends with certain advantages. That may be the reason, why we havn’t seen lovely fotos from them, holding hands or something like that. And know she’s pregnant. So what to do? Oh dear! lol!

      • MissMary says:

        Where do you get she’s pregnant? It’s not been announced by anyone other than EB speculation seeping over here.

      • Me says:

        Actually, that’s what romantic love is, Chris: Best friends with certain advantages…

        Who knows because the way they went about his was really weird. I don’t think she’s pregnant – yet.

    • ukbound says:

      LOL@Ingrid.. I agree. If only for the purpose of making all the crazy fans stop craving his deliciousness, it is all worth it. The fandom is detracting from his respect at this point. It has to drive him bonkers at some point. It will be very interesting to see what happens.

    • MissMary says:

      @Ingrid: If she was up the duff, it’d be in the tabs by now. Her family would’ve mentioned it in their comments. “We’re so thrilled about the engagement and the new addition!” or something. But yeah, if someone thinks his PR, the movie PR, and probably even Weinstein himself didn’t know about this/have some say in it, even if it was just the timing of the announcement if not the engagement itself (not saying it’s a sham but if it is…), they’re naive. In an actor’s life, esp one that is trying for global recognition and awards, everything you have in public is PR-worthy and PR-vetted, or PR-spun (spin? spinned? spanned?) after the fact.

    • blended says:

      yes i agree. it’s like he’s telling the crazy part of the fandom, ‘time to move on.’ those interested in his work will stay of course. i think he wants the focus on the work, not his ‘yumminess’. it’s a smart career move, but very clumsily executed.

      • Moodgirl says:

        Maybe Rebecca Eaton attempted to do this earlier in the year but it didn’t work so they produced a fiance to prove the point.

    • Lu says:

      Makes sense to me. I do think he and his people have come to feel that his brand of fame is working against him, and that it’s too much for him to deal with personally, so that “ice water” is what was called for.

      I suspected she was pregnant, only because of the suddenness of the engagement and her having been very little in evidence before that, but your way works, too.

  27. V.L.719 says:

    IMO, I don’t think it’s meant to be for him. Not according to this: (got this from an astrologer FYI)

    http://astro.cafeastrology.com/cgi-bin/astro/natal?member=&recalc=&name=&sex=t&d1day=19&d1month=7&d1year=1976&d1hour=11&d1min=42&citylist=London%2C+United+Kingdom&lang=en

    Clear signs that it’s going to go bust in 3…2…1…

    • HBIC says:

      How did this person figure out what time he was born?

      • V.L.719 says:

        HBIC: She’s a friend of mine who does this for a living. She’s been (so far) accurate with other people’s charts (just friends of ours.) by meditating and getting the most spot on info to help explain people’s charts. She said the best way to get info like this (or anything) is by writing down a question and meditating on it. I was half kidding when I asked her about doing his chart but I guess she took me seriously lol. But yeah, it seems about right. Especially what she said about the 12th house being in Virgo and all that. Not to mention the moon in Aries and what houses that Aries placement is in.

        According to my friend, the parts about that 12th house indicate a person’s “inner demons” and what they need to do to bring balance to their lives. Mine is in Libra so I need to have more balance in my relationships. The cliffnotes for him was the following:

        12th House in Virgo
        “He can be more judgmental of other people than one thinks, and he really needs to think long and hard before speaking and/or acting out any plans or ideas. When he achieves the right balance, he will be more comfortable, practical, reserved, and detail-oriented. If he maintains a cool demeanor, (the one we were accustomed to before he started acting “weird”) then how he used to be in interviews and in public before fame it will be good for him. Both for his public and private life.”

        I took the cool part as the Benedict we all thought we knew. When you look at other comments bringing up “stress”, “looks tired/burned out/frustrated/whatever”, it also gives my friend’s assessment more weight since she also looks at different planets that are in transit. LOTS of oppositions which, coincidentally, started after that film festival.

      • HBIC says:

        Interesting… I read the chart, too.

        I think once he finds the right person, he’ll calm down, since I can totally see where he’s lost without a companion. But she needs to be the right one… Sophie isn’t it, and I think a lot of his crazy behavior is a direct result of that.

        PS – Oh, and that line about him thinking everyone he attempts to get involved with is “the one”? THIS IS WHY I THINK HE PROPOSED (plus… he wants babies)! He’s such a hopeless romantic and he really wants to find the right girl. He thinks she’s the one… but I honestly don’t think she is. I just hope he comes to realize it sooner or later.

      • Felice says:

        Oh man, the part about the “bruised ego.” After him ranting about Hamlet in Elle, this is just wild.

    • V.L.719 says:

      HBIC: I hope so too. Idk, I became a fan of his more recently within the past two years. I saw Tinker Tailor Solider Spy and I thought “that has that IT factor.” Sort of like David Bowie but a different kind of “cool”.

      I want the guy to hold his horses and wait, enjoy his career, ignore any outside (or in this case with his chart, inner) criticisms and/or nagging about sticking to a plan that’s not meant to be right now. Most men aren’t really grounded in their own self and energy until after 40. Plenty of men are the exception and go on to have what they desire (family, good career, good health, etc), but rushing it because you want to stick to some “script” that’s only in your mind is going to make you miserable. (and I don’t think working on Richard III is helping the situation. Not just because of the long shooting schedule, but that’s a dark character to play so I’m keeping in mind Mr. Cumberbatch switching from that “character psyche” to “normal life Benedict psyche” on top of whatever else is going on)

      I’d like to see him casually date, figure himself out a little more, and not get caught up in Hollywood Fame Game nonsense. It would be interesting to see him women outside this little social circle of his. Maybe a nice lady of color who’s accomplished, educated, fun, wants babies as much as he (claims) he does(?) Not that ethnicity really matters, but hey, you never know…

      • HBIC says:

        Woman of color, heh? He did seem to take to Lupita like water…

        As long as he likes her… I say he should go for it!

      • V.L.719 says:

        HBIC: I thought about that after I typed it. At first I was “omg why did I say that?”, but now that you brought Lupita up…I think that would be good for him. I can see him with a nice, chill black woman to calm down his “nervous energy”. I think being in a small dating pool for anyone, famous or not, and to my friend’s point in the chart about his “hesitation” with going after what he REALLY wants could be adding to the grumpy version we’ve been seeing lately.

        I still say let the man be free in the candy store and mix it up. He deserves some good chocolate bars and whatnot. The man, clearly, likes a more rich flavor.

        (Side note: I meant to put “with” in that sentence: It would be interesting to see him with women outside this little social circle of his”) Haven’t had breakfast today so my brain isn’t at 100%.

      • HBIC says:

        Haven’t had breakfast either… don’t feel bad.

        I guess we’ll see what happens… it’ll be interesting to see what comes next. I just hope he ends up happy. He seems like a good guy, and I think he deserves it.

      • Felice says:

        Speaking of candy stores, didn’t Matthew Goode say last year around this time that “This is a man” and he was going for “cream of the crop”?

      • Nic says:

        Ergh. What a revolting comment that was. Don’t like Matthew Goode at all.

      • HBIC says:

        @Felice
        This from the person who starred in Chasing Liberty with Mandy Moore… he needs to STFU already.

      • Me says:

        I find honesty refreshing. I don’t like my snakes in the grass. Good on Matthew Goode 😉

      • Claire says:

        This is morbid, but just to go off your RIII and Ben riff: the first scene of RIII is about a guy proposing to a woman just after her husband has died.

  28. jammypants says:

    I kind of feel for the guy. All he did was get engaged. Geez.

  29. Etheldreda says:

    Genuine question: Why are people so convinced that BC is desperate to have kids? Sure, he’s made vague statements in interviews about ‘wanting children’ but don’t all actors do that when asked? It’s not as big a deal for male celebs as it for female celebs, but still, it’s ‘safer’ to say you want kids even if maybe you don’t.

    Aren’t people reading a bit too much into what may have been throwaway comments?

    • Pinky says:

      yeah…

      also may I just point out a quote he gave in Elle last year:

      “It’s a wonderful thing to get married young and become a father,” he told Elle Japan last year. “I used to think that I’d get married by my mid-thirties and have children. But now I think I can wait. I’m no longer in a hurry to get married. I would like to first get to know the partner and build a trusting relationship before making the commitment.”

      uhm…. no longer in a hurry… for gods sake…

      • MissMary says:

        I’ve been pointing that out for a while, lol, but everyone seems to forget he was pretty flat out about not in a hurry.

      • Encumbered says:

        Ooops….Must be he forgot about that.

      • Etheldreda says:

        Yeah, I just don’t see any evidence for the idea that Benedict is so desperate to settle down and have baybeez that he’ll just marry the first ‘suitable’ woman who crosses his path.

        That said, part of me is kind of happy that the ‘desperate’ narrative – however false it may be – is being applied to a late 3Os man rather than a woman. It’s usually women who are supposedly itching to get married and have kids and are terrified of ‘time running out’ before they have to face the Horror of No Baybeez.

      • gg says:

        “No longer in a hurry to get married.” So either he was lying then, she is pregnant, or they have been together longer than anyone knows! And yes I know it is 2014 and no one “has” to get married but when you are 38 and your baby mama is 36 and you know you want kids eventually?

        And for the record, I have always found his broodiness creepy.

      • MissMary says:

        @gg: I had my child in my mid 30s and my SO and I aren’t married. It’s not uncommon, esp in the UK and parts of the states, to do that and still be long term/committed.

  30. fluffernutter says:

    thanks for the analysis! i get that people think it’s really a quick / whirlwind romance, but i think it’s also important to understand that they’re both older too, not a but of late 20 year olds running into a marriage. relationships tend to just move quicker the older you get. take it from an oldie. good for them tho, and hope them well!

  31. Tangiers Eve says:

    @Chris

    I believe you have it right–with just a couple of additional factors.

    1) He’s about to go on the American talk show circuit, both to have to defend Turing and to champion gay rights, as he promotes TIG and his Oscar hopes. Picture what would happen if he didn’t have a gf–nay, a fiancée–to talk about. This posh-ish British man whom the American public doesn’t really know, whom TBH the Collective itself has often questioned whether straight or at least bi, goes on TV, defends gays, shows a clip where–as Turing–posture and speech all read quite alien (I saw TIG at TIFF); their first/ next impression of BC is likely the snap judgement that he is gay (see Rupert Everett for what effect that has on your career in Hollywood) and odd (doesn’t apply to Eddie R since Hawking is one of their own heroes–and the film most definitely emphasizes his heterosexuality–TIFF again).

    Even in the supposedly new liberal, gay-accepting climate of the US, that perception would have more effect on box office than you might think, rendering TIG a niche film and resulting in the thin trickle of first weekend sales, if they plan to open it widely, not unlike TFE.

    And the effect on his career–esp jobs like superhero Dr Strange–would be crippling. Americans can’t separate role from actor that well. Take Michael Keaton, now he’s been mentioned. While he was still in the Batman franchise, his roles went from Adam-Sandler-type goofy to serious-dramatic (Pacific Heights, for one). Now he’ll be up for Robert-Duvall-type roles–important productions–again.

    2) That’s why it’s engagement before we’ve even seen them out together showing any chemistry. Whether or not they care for each other (at all), she’s an immediately necessary accountrement. It may be, if he is gay or bi, he’s been auditioning possible women for this job all this year: Kinvara, Viki, unidentified blondes. Sophie may have seemed the most game, the most tame. The least controversial. And of course her career gets a bump.

    The formal newspaper announcement would’ve saved BC having to act the part of the doting lover–at least until he’s called upon to do it abroad.

    3) This explains why friends aren’t congratulating, why there are no couple-pics, couple-sightings. It was undoubtedly a combination of his PR team and the Weinstein company: for one, it mitigates possible career limitations; for the other, it perhaps saves box office–and let us note that Academy voters skew old–even in Hollywood that reads ‘conservative’. A nice, straight, engaged boy acting as a gay man who shouldn’t have suffered so reads better than a never-married man of questionable sexuality playing a somewhat closeted gay man who suffered for what society regarded as his ‘sins’. No, they all thought, we don’t want our Benny too closely identified with Turing, lest he endure a similar fate.

    4) It explains why he’s become more cynical, edgier, stressed–not the happy look of a man who’s found his soulmate. As his career has skyrocketed and his fandom has crazed, he’s been forced to compromise himself more and more. This would be some kind peak of same, especially if he is gay or bi. Compare how brave his good friend Zach Quinto got to seem when outing himself versus this fiasco which looks as if we have not progressed at all since Turing’s time.

    • MissMary says:

      @Tangiers: If I’m going the theory route, I’m on board with yours.

      • Renee says:

        MissMary and Tangiers. This theory makes sense to me and I’m not generally a conspiracy theorist. Consider me onboard! 😄

    • aly says:

      Even if I don’t think Ben is gay (my gaydar is like: lol nope, and it’s usually scarily accurate), your theory makes sense…actually part of it, I think, applies even if he’s straight. I agree on the fact that perhaps it’s having to “compromise” that he doesn’t like;, having to school his impulsive, goofy nature. I still see signs of *that* Ben.
      True story: my first, gut reaction when I read about the engagement has been, “he’s been cast as dr. Strange”

      • Tangiers Eve says:

        Yep. I added ‘if’ throughout, just to show how much more (ironically) horrible it is if this compromise was forced on a gay or bi man. But it works just as well if he’s straight and unattached at 38. The American perception will be the same as if he were gay. We know (Caitlin Moran article; Rebecca Eaton’s reference in her book; recent ELLE article statement about being used in ‘trysts’ etc.) that pulling women long term for a genuine relationship has been tough for him. That means, even if straight, his handlers may have decided to force him into one fast, for the same reasons I listed above.

      • aly says:

        @Tangiers. I agree. By the way, thank you for putting on words most of what I’d been thinking. English is not my language, so it can get tricky, sometimes, to properly express what I want to say. 🙂

      • Sandi says:

        At the risk of being a bit too blunt, it would be ‘worse’ if he were gay or bi and it was going to come out now. I don’t believe he is, but:

        Many people would view it as a stunt, as terrible as that sounds. The backlash would be immense. Even the ‘positive’ angles would put his orientation on display like he was in a zoo exhibit because of the film. He would have had to come out before filming started or after it’s out of the theaters.

        What a living hell that would be.

      • MissMary says:

        He’s not gay or bi, but people speculated about him being gay starting soon after TTSS because his character was a closeted gay man, and the speculation has come up before (BC’s even mentioned it) because he hasn’t been in any LTRs since Olivia. But when even the posters on DL are smacking the gay/bi rumor down, and they tend to think every male actor is gay or bi, it’s a pretty sure bet the man isn’t gay or bi. But yes, it’d definitely smack of a stunt or even more disingenuous if he came out right now, while the movie is being promoted. Because the media is horrible like that, and because many people, fans or not, will say “oh, he just wants people to see the movie so he’s stirring the pot” (like many of us are assuming about this engagement). And like others have mentioned, both actors and fans alike, being openly gay or bi in H’wood isn’t as bad as it used to be, career-wise, but there’s still a stigma attached. Even British actors have mentioned how it can be a stopping point in the UK–Charlie Condu did a piece a few years ago where he discussed an ex of his, who he’d been with for a while, and the ex would lie in public, do interviews where he talked about wanting a wife and kids, etc, all the while being in a gay relationship with him, and he finally went to film movies in H’wood and broke it off because he knew it’d be a death sentence for his career to be in a relationship with a man and trying to get film roles in the States. (No, Condu didn’t say who it was and there’s been speculation who he meant since)

      • sigh((s)) says:

        MM-I’ve heard the rumor that he meant it as Richard Armitage?

      • MissMary says:

        @sigh((s))That’s a popular one, I think. IDK–I still am not entirely on board with the RA/LP rumors so I’m kind of eh about it lol.

      • sigh((s)) says:

        Dude, they’re totally together. I have my theories on that one. I wish they’d just come out, they both seem like great guys and I’d hate it if they felt like they couldn’t because of Hollyweird. (Maybe they aren’t, but there’s a lot of evidence to suggest otherwise).

      • MissMary says:

        I’m not gonna hate on ’em if they are, lol. They seem like they’d be an adorable couple. LP’s family live near the area I live and he’s a local favorite, lol. No one has ever said a bad word about him or his family. And RA seems like a really nice (HOT) guy–they’d be sweet together.

      • Me says:

        Yasss, Miss Mary, yass! Richard and Lee look so pretty together! I think Lee is a fantastic actor. Also, saw a clip of him at Con describing his first kiss. He insisted on “not naming her.” And then bashfully said, “It wasn’t that successful.” Haha! So cute. It’s okay, Lee. At least some guys get to be lucky!

    • MountainRunner says:

      @Tangiers, this makes a lot of sense and if your theory is correct, makes me sad.

  32. Madly says:

    Adding to the weirdness are sightings the last several months of him being out dining alone, with possibly Sophie on other occasions, but with no visible signs of affection even though they were never at a public event. And supposedly someone got a photo of their mail that was identical, but one letter difference.

    Am curious what geemoney has to say as I genuinely like her posts.

    • MissMary says:

      Even pics of him taken with SH without his knowledge don’t show them being affectionate (thinking of the sneaky ones taken at HAy where they’re walking down the path together)–she’s not even next to him on a path plenty wide enough for two. Maybe that’s how they roll but it’s just weird esp after how he’s been with past lovers–demonstrative but not grossly so.

    • MissMary says:

      Even pics of him taken with SH without his knowledge don’t show them being affectionate (thinking of the sneaky ones taken at HAy where they’re walking down the path together)–she’s not even next to him on a path plenty wide enough for two. Maybe that’s how they roll but it’s just weird esp after how he’s been with past lovers–demonstrative but not grossly so.

    • GeeMoney says:

      @Madly
      Oh man… I’m beyond disappointed that he’s engaged… I don’t like him with her one bit.

      Not b/c she’s a bad person… just b/c their relationship seems “off”. I agree with the majority of posters and I understand their disappointment. Most people think he misrepresented himself by behaving like a cool, funny, down to earth guy who wanted the same type of girl, and now he’s snooty and irritable and turned around and ended up with Sophie, who fits on paper, but certain things about her and her personality isn’t a match to what he’s always said that he’s wanted in a mate.

      I don’t think he misrepresented himself. I just think that he’s not in a good relationship, and it’s frustrating him. I think she fits some of the criteria that he wants, but something is missing (I think she lacks a similar sense of humor and a general overall happy disposition… she seems so… drab… not who I would have imagined him with). I also think she’s calling a lot of the shots in this relationship, and he’s not happy with them, or something like that. And all of this is leading to cranky, grumpy and irritable behavior.

      Who he was last year in interviews, I think, truly is him. I think he just wants to settle down already, and has grown impatient waiting for “the one”, and it’s negatively impacting him.

      I just wish he’d take a chill pill, think, relax, and reassess this situation. “The one” is out there somewhere. He just needs to be more patient, and not settle.

      • Pinky says:

        I absolutely agree. To all of this.

        But I fear that he might get himself burned rather badly in all of this.
        His private has never been up to as many public discussions as it is now. The complete opposite of everything he ever said he wanted. Her family is making statements like the Middletons for gods sake.

        I fear that he’ll come out of all this even more distrustful than he already is.. and then it will be really hard for him to even consider letting the “right one” in. No matter how right she is.

      • Nic says:

        I just hope he’s really truly happy, whatever’s going on and I’m pretty sure most of us on here do too. What I like about this board is there’s clearly no nastiness or ill will towards him, just sass and snark and the desire to perhaps give him a light slap now and again but we all seem to be talking out of affection for him. I think this is much healthier than the worship and devotion of some other places.

      • GeeMoney says:

        @Pinky
        Let’s just hope that the right woman gets to him in time before Sophie does too much damage. That woman will have a mountain to climb if she effs him up too badly.

        And… I can’t believe her family is already talking to the press. WTF.

      • Madly says:

        Good to hear from you!

        So do you still not see love?

        Also, do you think he will listen to others around him?

        Do you think he will go through with it and stick it out no matter what?

        Sorry to pepper you with so many questions, haha.

      • Pinky says:

        Absolutely.

        I can’t believe it either. I would have bought the whole thing if there was silence from both sides but…

        this? With his side being death silent and hers going to gossip magazines for that matter?? nope. just nope.

      • GeeMoney says:

        @Madly
        I hope he finds love! And to open it up, I hope everyone finds a lifetime partner or their true love/soul mate in their lifetime. Everyone deserves happiness and most of all, everyone deserves chance to be in love.

        I think they are going to break up. She’s all wrong for him. And I think her intentions are not good. Just a hunch…

      • Renee says:

        @geemoney. I do agree with everything you said. I wish he would’ve waited for the right one. I would have loved to see him happy and in love. This thing with SH seems so false and forced and just wrong. Makes me feel sorry for him that he’s settling for this. And her family going to the tabs makes it even worse. I almost wish the Oscar conspiracy theory is true but I’ve got my doubts on that one

      • MissMary says:

        @Renee: I’m sure her family had some tabs on speed dial the second the pic from FO popped up.

        @Nic: SO much this. We may get snarky and snarfy on here but we don’t wish anyone (even SH) ill. Just because we don’t like someone’s public persona or work, we’re not wishing they’d die or something awful.

      • Pinky says:

        Has anybody else seen the cover of the big issue yet? From his interview?

        “When it’s right it’s right.” – God please someone tell me this is not gonna be about her.
        If he starts giving interviews about his private life now, I am gonna start to be very very concerned.

      • Renee says:

        @pinky. Say it ain’t so…I may not make it through if he starts doing that. 🙁

      • MissMary says:

        I doubt it’s about her as that interview was done a while back (before the engagement for sure).

      • Madly says:

        @geemoney, it have a hunch he may try to stick it out for a bit though, just my thoughts. This own family and friends are being quiet is pretty telling though, that is unusual, no matter how much you slice it.

        He needs to learn that turning 40 is hardly a death scentance.

      • Felice says:

        Do I sense a British remake of 40 Year Old Virgin? :p

      • HBIC says:

        @Madly
        I think for PR reasons (just my two cents in on your conversation here) he should stick it out before he gives her the boot (at least until January or February). Benedict doesn’t need the backlash that Kim Kardashian got when she had her crazy divorce moment(s) with Kris Humphries. I can’t believe she hyped up that marriage and then got divorced in 72 days like that… so tacky. And she wonders why the public doesn’t like her…

        And yes… 40 is not a death sentence. Someone calm that dude down already!

      • Pinky says:

        So the writer of the interview said: issue rich with Benedict Cumberbatch; why he wants to be more impulsive, what he’ll give up when he becomes a dad, teenage dreams.

        If this is what happens when you are more impulsive then.. DON’T DO IT

        the dad thing is making me curious though

      • MissWolfe says:

        @GeeMoney I agree with you 100% hands down. Couldn’t have been better said *claps*

        @Nic I’m with you when it comes to this site. I’ve been a fan of Ben, but I couldn’t help but feel queasy when this whole thing came to light. Something just completely seems off, but I wasn’t one that wanted to be the whole “OMG SO HAPPY FOR THEM BLAH BLAHBLAH” Cause while I want all the happiness for Ben, this just doesn’t seem it. But one cannot say their own opinion on other sites without getting bashed by all of the others. I’ve had to unfollow people on Twitter and IG, because it’s all of a sudden ass-kissing 101.

        @Pinky
        You say what I am really worried about for him. Just getting burned and hurt badly :C . Someone just added onto that interview from the big issue, now they are saying “why he wants to be more impulsive, what he’ll give up when he becomes a dad, teenage dreams,” -__-‘ Along with that, The Andrew Marr Show interviewed him, and just put something up not too long ago and it states ” Benedict Cumberbatch discusses his new film with Andrew, No mention of his engagement then… ” Just makes me wonder.
        @Renee
        I agree with you as well. I can’t help but feel bad for him..

      • HBIC says:

        @everyone
        I say we storm Hampstead Heath and all knock some sense into Ben! He needs our help! *heh heh*

      • MissWolfe says:

        @HBIC
        Hear Hear! Let’s go!

      • Pinky says:

        I am all for that!

        It really does make me wonder… god this is all strange.

      • Tara says:

        I bet he says he will give up cigarettes when he becomes a dad. (Don’t wait, do it now!)

      • Tara says:

        **Give up cigarettes now, not become a dad, I mean :p

      • Claire says:

        yes 🙂

  33. shenasty says:

    I will say it about Hathaway and Portman so I have to say it about Redmayne and Cumberbatch this season. They all got right quick with family planning when there was even a whisper of an Oscar nomination. The campaigns go on for months and months so this is not ‘too early’ for a campaign because they’re in the midst of building it as the season goes on. Campaigning for an Oscar really is like running for office and you gotta be in the family way to play.

  34. Madly says:

    Oscars smacars, he is angling for people mags’ sexiest man alive. You read it here first folks.

    • Tara says:

      Haha, I was just thinking yesterday about who might win that. I don’t think it’ll be Ben, but he will be included in the magazine. I’m thinking Chris Pratt, Affleck, or McConaghey will get it.

    • Moodgirl says:

      @ HBIC

      I believe that SH has nothing to do with BC decision to get engaged. Sound strange? I know.

      1. I believe he is desperate to marry and start a family. Probably due to personal, family and social pressure. He recently stated that he could not understand why people were so centered on the fact that he was single. It weighed heavily on his mind and made him uncomfortable. The peer pressure got to him.
      2. It has been stated that his calender is full for the next two years. He would have no time to cultivate a personal relationship. Besides, other than OP, he seemed to stink at it.
      3. By his own admission he is very insecure around women and has great difficulty even approaching one. I was shocked when he stated this. There is no way this guy would meet a woman under what we in the states would consider normal circumstances. His chances of meeting someone not after his money would be zero. This is why people were always on the lookout for women to introduce him to. The poor guy had no clue. I feel for him because I have the exact problem.
      4. The Mail Online article about him was right on target. He is a mass of insecurities.
      5. He has been burned publicly chasing the cheerleader. He needed to find a bland, boring, not so famous chick. No more models. He needed someone to fit his station.
      6. He attended the Oscars alone last year. Well, with his IMHO unattractive publicist. Never again.
      7. I believe he has a need for approval from friends and family. Want to bet that his mom put the screws to him and just asked him to “just pick a damn bird” and get on with it? I’ll bet you lunch she twisted his arm while his dad just watched.
      8. I read an article where he again seemed preoccupied with what people thought about him. He felt that he was critized for dating a model and becoming typical. He also talked about people criticizing his looks. Poor guy. Insecurity is smothering.
      9. Thus, Sophie. She was there in the pinch and really wasn’t doing much despite what PR says. She is a half asser. Rich kid half assing through life while waiting for a rich dude to come along. I doubt if he loves her. Probably likes her but he had no
      time to cultivate a real relationship as he admitted he needed to do. I have been there.
      10. I see nothing coming from this.

      • MissWolfe says:

        Woah, that’s totally a new way to view on it, for me at least. But it makes all the sense. Goodness. *claps*

      • Pinky says:

        As much as I get your point..

        I do have to say that I don’t think he’s as insecure as he is sometimes portrayed. Naive? Yes. Introverted? Oh definitely.

        I know the quote you meant when talking about him not knowing how to approach a woman – but I think it’s still not as bad. I don’t think it bothered him that he was alone at the Oscars – if it did, he could have taken his mum or his dad.

        Regarding meeting a woman under normal circumstances – well I do think that he would have been able to. I don’t know what you consider “normal circumstances” in the States, but here I am sure there would have been a way. But what is normal anyway?

        Same for his mum – my mum talks about wanting grandchildren as well, but that doesn’t mean she’s pushy.

      • Madly says:

        Buuuut, then his parents would have sent out a public comment, wouldn’t they? Who really knows what is going on.

      • MissMary says:

        @Madly there’s no actual verification his parents posted the Times announcement (though that is the traditional route) nor have they made a public comment. Only James Rhodes and BC’s PR have commented from his camp.

      • HBIC says:

        @MoodGirl
        A lot of your points are spot on. I stand by him proposing to her though b/c she promised babies and he said “I’m not getting any younger (and I so want this right now with my impatient ass), so why not?” He’s not mindless. I’m sure he’s on the same train (crazy train, mind you) as her.

        However, everything can change with the right woman in the picture. Love is a powerful thing.

        He needs someone who’s strong, supportive and has a lot of stuff going for her. Someone to help handle his crazy. A bland, boring chick (like Sophie) just simply won’t do. He needs to find someone else, stat!

      • Kimberly says:

        Wow, interesting theories there. I think you may be correct on most if not all points.
        I also enjoyed reading it.

      • MountainRunner says:

        I don’t think he’s insecure around women – wary maybe — now that he’s rich and famous, but by all reports he exudes a magnetism in person that draws in those that weren’t even attracted to him. He obviously has charisma and charm that he uses to his advantage.

        I think he got over his insecurities around girls a long time ago. I see evidence of general insecurities and needing people’s approval, but that’s pretty typical among actors who rely on widespread approval to succeed in such a competitive industry.

      • Claire says:

        What do you mean by 10? That it’ll be called off, or that nothing good will come of their relationship?

  35. Who cares why Ben is getting married? We should be happy. I don’t get why a guy can’t just want to get married because he found the right woman and his life is in a good place. Does there have to be an additional reason just because he’s famous? Not everything is about the Hollywood conspiracy theory machine.

    • A. Key says:

      Because that’s boring, haha. People always see a hidden meaning in everything, it’s a gossip site after all.
      Plus, he’s not allowed to just fall in love and get married, it can’t be THAT simple, can it 😛

  36. Kazlock 1307 says:

    I’ve been accused,here and EB,of being in denial and anti SH.
    Both probably true.
    But I’ve only ever wanted one thing.And that was to see BC once,just once,look like he was genuinely happy. So far I haven’t.And i just don’t buy it.
    The silence from his side worries me.Im not sure what the deal is,but I really don’t believe it’s love.
    I hope I’m wrong,and we get to see them both look deliriously happy.
    I have a feeling this is disingenuous.

    • Felice says:

      I always think about those party photos where he looks like he’s about to punch the photographer

    • gg says:

      and the GQ Awards where he got really drunk then went (alone) to the after party until 3am! That was early September which would have been when they were supposedly getting serious, too

      • MissMary says:

        And all the pics solo while traveling…

        There’s keeping private, then there’s downright invisible.

    • Renee says:

      Kazlock, they would have to really put on one heck of a show to convince me they are for real now. He couldn’t even walk into a restaurant with her! Those FO pics look glacial. He was more interested in his ice cream. Why didn’t she go to the LFF after-party with him?? It’s all just weird. And now, there’s nowhere to hide.

      • MissLouLou says:

        Ditto for me too Renee. I don’t think I’ll trust any pics of the two of them together from here on out.

      • Me says:

        I hope they warm up in person a bit (even though I don’t ship them. But it will look even more awkward when they do. I’m just not sure what they thought their method would accomplish. Some of his fans are cooling. So, that gives him more breathing room. But, imho, the way they did things only magnifies the less savory aspects of his fandom that they were trying to avoid. The C-bishes who “hate” Sophie still “hate” her – maybe even more than if they had just faced up to their public reality earlier. The C-bishes who think they are some sort of strange hybrid between his mother and his friends are still doing weirdo sh!t like making cards and collecting for charity in the Hunterbatch name.

        I don’t know. I’m just still like, who? her?
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H13bdq1V9vE

      • Renee says:

        If they’re ever seen together in person, they’re gonna have to do a really good impersonation of a couple in love to convince me. I’m not sure they can pull it off though.

  37. Deb says:

    I just now noticed a “Cumberbatch” link at the top of this site. I’m wondering if it’s always there due to his popularity/Kaiser’s love, or if it’s just because I immediately click on every article about him. lol

  38. Sam says:

    Hate to admit it but same thought crossed my mind when I heard the news: the buzz on TIG is growing, Oscar nom looming, along with a higher profile and increased media attention. He wouldn’t be the first actor to do this, it seems to be a kind of required strategic game for anyone connected to A list Hollywood these days: media events, interviews sharing tons of personal info, photo ops, pap walking,

    I would like to believe he’s happy and its a real commitment unrelated to anything professional. it’s possible right? 🙂 The amount of posts on these threads is unreal btw. CB is now ‘CumberBitchy’ lol.

    • MissMary says:

      The whole sharing personal info thing pinged for me–made me wonder if this was timed so he’d have more stories of a personal nature in the media, even if he himself doesn’t comment or keeps it at “well, that’s personal and it’s still new so we’re keeping it to ourselves” or spins a “we’ve known one another for years and it just seemed right” thing.

      • Moodgirl says:

        Kerry Washington of “Scandal” simply will not speak about her husband or marriage. When asked about her baby, she said “It’s a baby”.

      • MissMary says:

        I love her so hard. And there’s MANY actors who’ve married and not mentioned it till way after the fact (Jeremy Renner being a recent example) or had a kid without selling pics to tabloids (Martin Freeman and Amanda Abbington, who are notoriously private about their home life and protective of their kids)… No law says a celeb has to answer questions about their personal life but some of these actors think they’re required to share info or something.

      • Coco says:

        I take back everything I said about the engagement not being Oscar related. Time effing magazine has done a write up comparing SH to Amal. It has Weinstein all over it.

        Wow. Fame corrupts the best. I still think the genesis of this is real but timing all about PR

      • MissMary says:

        Oh, ick. That’s…well, ick. Other than having dark hair, SH and Amal are zilch alike. One is *actually* accomplished, for one thing… And that really does nothing to help my opinion this entire thing, soup to nuts, is Oscar/career related.

      • Moodgirl says:

        SH to Amal? I’m not even a fan of Amal and I am insulted for her. This is really getting out of hand. What could they use to compare the two – like miss mary said THEY BOTH DARK HAIR? This has become a joke.

  39. Kazlock 1307 says:

    What I’m wondering is do you think he’ll actually marry her?

    To me it looks like he’s,at best,settling.What happens if he meets someone who he actually loves?
    I’m not delusional in any way,I know and expect him to fall in love.Not necessarily marry.But at least love someone and be able to show how he feels about that person.
    I know he’s become more guarded.But nothing?No pictures together?No indication?Then an engagement announcement in The Times?
    It just seems very odd behaviour from someone like him.Who us usually really affectionate.

    • Felice says:

      Yeah, he will. When and how long? idk.

      You know I totally get that some adults can marry after 5 months. This isn’t an average relationship. This is a Hollywood relationship. It’s different from what I’ve read from people who have witnessed Hollywood relationships behind the scenes.

    • MissMary says:

      IDK… I think it’ll last till next spring, latest, then either a break up or just no more news about her and he’ll eventually be seen with someone else.

      • Kazlock 1307 says:

        Does anyone know where the comment came from that it was his parents who put the announcement in The Times?

        Seems strange to me that they haven’t commented since,nor close friends.Yet her family seem to be all over the media.
        Sort of blows the idea that SH is from a classy background!!

      • MissMary says:

        I think it was in the skynews article that his parents posted the announcement but they have yet to make a public comment.

      • Renee says:

        @missmary I really hope you’re right but I think he’ll go through with it. At least that’s my hunch of the day.

      • MissMary says:

        I don’t know… if he couldn’t nail it down for a gf of 12 years, I don’t think he’s going to do it for this situation.

  40. JaneS says:

    I don’t think it’s real but hey, he is part of the Hollywood machine and is playing the game like the rest of them.

    I know there’s a desire for him to be seen as different from the rest of Hollywood and above all the PR sh*t but – IMO – he’s just as voracious in terms of wanting attention, needing validation etc.

    • Tara says:

      He is definitely playing the game, totally agree with you there. IDK why I thought he wouldn’t, but he wants that A-list career, and will do whatever dog and pony show is necessary to get it. He’s a good schmoozer.

      Can’t really fault him for it, I suppose. Gotta play the game if you want to keep working. (unless you’re established like Bill Murray, then you can tell Harvey to buzz off 🙂 )

      • MissMary says:

        I think Bill Murray could do anything he wanted and get away with it, and he’d still get roles, lol (NGL, kinda looking forward to his Christmas special, and my family doesn’t celebrate Christmas…)

        BC, at the end of the day, is still an actor. He went from jobbing to famous almost overnight and he’s grabbing it with both hands, for ill or good, and may be making some boneheaded choices in his public persona/presentation…

      • Me says:

        I hear Bill Murray’s latest film happened because he doesn’t really take scripts. I’m not even sure that he has an agent anymore. He has this voice mail he only listens to if he’s bored. Apparently, anyone can call and leave him a message about ideas? Some dude who wrote St. Vincent pitched Bill’s voice mail and he loved it. Kind of cool.

  41. Olga P says:

    If only mr Weinstein hadn’t bought this movie! I just have the feeling that this move has put Ben in a difficult situation. Somehow I feel TIG was meant to be a niche film, one of those to stir a small portion of the public at the time of original screening but then would become a cult movie for years to come.
    The way things are going now feels like its all or nothing for Mr Weinstein who can leave Benny in the cold if he is not nominated. I think he is aiming for 2 nominations and Keira’s is very likely too.
    It does seem too early for Ben to receive a nomination, having only SH under his belt as a strong leading role. Mind you, I admire him as an actor on stage, I think theatre is his natural habitat simpky because of the rich text and the interesting plots and fullfilling messages a play can onvey.
    Don’t know why he has gone all the way and accepted that publicity at this moment, especially when he has not worked for the whole year. Remember he pulled out of Krimpson Peak back in January?
    I somehow have the feeling he has been mesmerised by mr Weinstein and all the big talk about making him an overnight Hollywood success so he just booked his whole yearly schedule to fit the campaign for this project. Mind you, he has kept the Internet busy with his events and formal outfits all this year, but no work. Which is strange for a workaholic like him.
    The only thing I wish him now is that he can still find the way to juggle the game during the next months. I do want him to sign Doctor Strange as I think he is just purrrrrfect for the role and hope that mr Weinstein will favor him enough via his contacts. Ben has to cash the fame now, before the year ends. Or his publicist must have a fabulous way-out plan at hand.
    Sophie seems to be a good match for him and seriously, coming from Europe, I have to assert that loving couples are not all over their partners in public that much. Especiallly when one of them is candy to millions.
    I wish him success, love and family and Dr Strange. And also parts with strong scripts with interesting characters and lots of text and dialogue.
    By the way, I was watching BSG again the other day and couldn’t help but thinking that Ben would find an intellectual friend at Ron D Moore. They are both geniuses.

    • Nic says:

      It’s not about ‘being all over’ so robe though. You do to have to be touching someone to see there’s chemistry there, it’s a more intangible thing.
      I also think to say he’s candy to ‘millions’ is pushing it. He’s popular but not that popular. 😉
      And what difference would that make anyway? Why would your partner being popular mean you stood two feet away from them? Nobody else subscribes to that.

      But I do agree it’s a crying shame that Weinstein got his greasy paws on this film.

      • Olga P says:

        Well yes millions judging by the internet’s reaction to the engagement thing over the last couple of days.. not Clooney size but still siginificant. And yes, subtle nuances are in the June open pics, it looked asif they were secretly talking.. I thought of it as their own secret game, like playing in à spy movie. Found it fascinating and couldn’t help but thinking how they wouldn’t keep their hands off of each other in private. Yummie
        But then I have a vivid imagination 🙂
        I do expect them to show subtle in their forecoming public appearances, with just hidden messages showing.

      • Nic says:

        No, not millions.

        Secretly talking? Well yes, let’s hope they actually made conversation seeing as they didn’t make eye contact. But..um… you found it ‘yummie’ to imagine them in private? Errr. Ok.. Whatever …um..floats your boat I guess.. 😐

      • MissMary says:

        Considering pics taken of them when they didn’t know they were being snapped (Hay festival) show them perfectly able to not only keep their hands off one another in private but walking together showing less chemistry than he’s shown with total strangers, I doubt they’re setting the world on fire. I may very well be wrong but I can’t imagine them doing anything racy and openly affectionate.

      • Me says:

        Yes, Olga. They were whispering to each other at the Open. It could have been dirty little nothings… But. One kind of HAS to whisper at a tennis match. You can even hear the players breathing as they’re running across the court. So….

        With that thought, isn’t that a weird date in a way? Like fun. Like the movies. Buuuuutttt – you can’t talk there. It’s not something you would talk about over a pint or a cup of coffee either.

        Plus, he had to already know there would be cameras there and he was clearly uncomfortable. I think, if you go back to Kaiser’s original post, you can see at a certain point that she got up and sat behind the couple that was sitting behind them.

        A lot of this is nonsensical. Why bring a woman with you to something like that, if you don’t want the press to be in your business? Why not go someplace you can talk and get to know each other – or catch up? So weird.

      • Renee says:

        The only thing he was in love with at the FO was his tiny ice cream cup.

    • blended says:

      i’d love a professional body language expert (is there such a thing?) to analyze all the pics of them together, because i would bet they would say there is no indication that these two people are even together.

  42. Kazlock 1307 says:

    EB just had a post claiming that SH as been with him since the New Year.And moved in with him almost straight away.
    Because she lived in NY,he visited NY at New Year. So it must have happened then!!?

    • Nic says:

      Kaz, PLEASE stop taking any notice of that site. It’s full of pure fantasists. She hasn’t been around since New Years.

    • MissMary says:

      LMFAO OMG THAT IS HILARIOUS!

      No. THey were not together at the new year. Not even a little.

      Every pic from NYC was by or with Tertius Bune or media outlets, and he was there working, iirc. As well, he was linked with so many women between Jan and APril (and even after April). People are still so thirsty for this to be an epic romance it’s ridiculous. Every “sighting” of him in NYC was he was solo or with male friends.

      Each time I hear about an EB post, I am tempted to come up with something outlandish and post it several times there to see how fast it gets legs. Like… “I just saw BC and SH having a row about her pet octopus in the middle of Sainsbury’s! OMG ON THE ROCKS!” “My cousin’s friend who lives near BC and sees him ALL the time at the shops just heard BC and SH had a huge fight about her octopus, lol… said it was in a store or something and like ten people were watching in the aisles…” And then follow up with “NO LEGIT I SAW IT ON TWITTER BUT IT WAS DELETED! THEY FOUGHT OVER HER OCTOPUS!” and just wait for it to show up in the DM or Mirror…

    • MissLouLou says:

      Kaz, saw that too. If it was true (really, really doubtful), then he’s a douche if the highest order because as MissMary said, he was spotted with a few women earlier this year, inc Lady K. I mean, come on, he would have been spotted with SH long before May if she had’ve been in the picture. This is not the epic romance EB thirsties want it to be.

      • Kazlock 1307 says:

        Victoria.
        Hi,and welcome. EB is Eggsbenedish. A Tumblr blog

      • Kazlock 1307 says:

        Also posted is that supposedly the ‘A’ apartment is up for rent!
        SH was supposed to have been living there.According to the ‘parcel’!

      • MissMary says:

        Er, what? No. Nope. That’s conflated from a pic posted by one of the Sherlock crew showing a “for rent” sign outside the Gower street location used for 221 B Baker in the series.

      • Kazlock 1307 says:

        MissMary
        So not SH’s suppised flat then?..
        Posted something else down thread too.
        About PR response.

      • MissMary says:

        There was some kerfuffle in Sherlock fandom about a flat posted for let that was part of the Gower street set but it’s not actually to let. It’s an advert or something hung on the outer balcony over Speedy’s and if you go to the site on the sign, it shows a lot of fancy and very nice flats to let. The confusion, as I understand it, came from poorly worded posts about the crew member’s original post joking about space to rent and someone moving out to new digs.If any space in BC’s real life building was to let, it wouldn’t out for general knowledge.

  43. Kazlock 1307 says:

    Tweet earlier today said BC was checking in same time as she was.
    She’s been asked if SH was with him.Don’t think she’s answered.
    So BC should be in the US already.Any sightings of him yet?

    • MissMary says:

      No, and likely won’t be as tonight’s BAFTA event is a member’s only event–they may put the talk up later on their site but as of last I checked, they’re not planning a livestream or anything. Tomorrow night is the Governor’s Awards and Sunday brings the Hollywood Film Awards so there may be red carpet sightings for those. He’s slated to be back in the UK for filming on Monday so… who knows.

      • MissMary says:

        Oops–I stand corrected. HFA is the 14th. Sunday is Breakthrough Awards. They won’t be televised till the week after, though, and he’s presenting.

      • Tara says:

        Dang, so he came to LA just for the weekend? I thought he was going to stay 2 weeks or so while he does all the TIG stuff.

        Is he nominated for Goveners awards or HFA?

      • Kazlock 1307 says:

        MissMary
        I thought he was there for almost 2 weeks?

        EB had a chatroom earlier. I personally couldn’t access it.But I’ve been told a ‘friend’ of someone who works for BC’s PR firm was on.
        This ‘friend’ says PR knew nothing about the announcement or engagement. And since it came out have been going nuts!
        Big portion of fans disbelieve the engagement and the dating.They’re now trying damage control.
        Not sure I believe that Karon wouldn’t know what ESS going on…..

      • MissMary says:

        He’s listed as “expected to attend” for gov’s awards and I believe TIG is up for an award at HFA. There’s still some filming to do on Richard III so he’ll bounce back and forth, no doubt.

      • MissMary says:

        @Kazlock, re the EB chatroom: I’d like to believe that but I’m gonna take it with a huge grain of salt. Esp the two weeks thing since there’s reports he and Judi Dench are expected to film at a cathedral Monday. That itself might be speculation though. I can see a PR person being blindsided–they’re not with their clients 24/7. So we’ll see what happens, and that would explain a lot of what’s going on in terms of his camp being radio silent.

  44. Claire says:

    To answer Kaiser’s question: I sure as hell hope so because it’s a far more attractive option than seriously committing to marrying someone after getting serious only late this summer.

  45. Olga P says:

    Why do I have the impression that the Hamlet performances will look like Julio Inglesias concerts ? 🙂 🙂 🙂

    • Moodgirl says:

      Maybe that is what they were afraid of. The teeny bopper screaming fans detracting from the seriousness of the performance.

      • MissMary says:

        I don’t know… His friend has a pretty rabid segment of his own fanbase and Coriolanus went off just fine.

  46. Encumbered says:

    Pictures of BC’s arrival at LAX today (Nov. 7).

    http://www.justjared.com/2014/11/07/benedict-cumberbatch-spotted-after-his-engagement-news/

    http://www.fashionmagazine247.com/photos/153610/benedict-cumberbatch-touches-down-at-lax_7.php

    Any one else wish they could have greeted him with a “WTF is going on, dude?”

    • blended says:

      not gonna lie, i still want him somethin’ fierce.

      • MissLouLou says:

        Thinking the same thing blended. I still wanna tap his arse bad. I *like* the hats. Not to mention the blue shirt and leather jacket.

        But all I can think now is Poor Ben, wanted to be private now his arse is gonna be papped so much in the hopes to get that first exclusive of him and SH together.

    • Me says:

      Karon FTW! She’s looking good. BC’s looking sessy as usual. But he looks so…. tired of “all this.” Not the work itself, just the accoutrements. That scares me a bit. This is why he needed to take more breaks. Not because of the work, just because of all its trappings.

      He just announced his engagement. I mean, there’s an 8 hour time difference. So, if he got in around 5 pm, it would feel like 1 am (not that late). If I had his news, I’d take a sweet little nap on the plane, wake up (maybe a little groggy) and you would not be able to wipe the sun beam off of my face.

      He looks defensive and terse. Almost a little angry. Like ready to fight. He really needs a freaking break. And to take some time. This is sad.

      • Dara says:

        @Me – I don’t know that I would read too much into his expression. Could be that running the paparazzi gauntlet that is LAX would be enough to vex even the best of us. I think entire herds of them camp out there on a permanent basis just in case someone even mildly famous wanders through.

        The airport and airlines probably do what they can to minimize the scrum (separate VIP entrances, escorts thru security, etc.), but there is only so much they can do. If you’re a Jolie-Pitt or a Kartrashian you might get a few police-type people doing crowd control just to keep anyone from getting trampled, but Cumby probably doesn’t rate that type of escort yet. Which means he’s got at least a few sketchy guys tracking him through the terminal (check the background of some of those photos), invading his personal space and snapping photos from all angles until he gets in the car. I’d have my game face on too.

      • Moodgirl says:

        Karen looks a hot mess. As usual.

      • sigh((s)) says:

        He actually does technically look really good here. Someone else must have dressed him. He does looked pissed off though , doesn’t he? Is he not realizing he brought this on himself? Ben, when you announce your engagement to someone you have rarely been pictured with after months of weird cloak and dagger crap in the middle of promotion for an Oscar bait movie, people are going to be interested.

        Karon, if you’re reading this: girl, I feel bad for you. You have your work cut out for you. I don’t blame you for looking pretty ragged in these pics. I personally would have probably pulled all my hair out by now. GOOD LUCK! ( or Bon chance?)

    • MissMary says:

      NGL I always like how Karon dresses. I hope I’m that bold when I’m a few years older.

      And it’s nice to see a pic of him with SH in her usual place right by his—oh, wait…

      @Me: His “ready to fight” look makes me wonder if the “friend” of the PR flack on EB had some grain of truth to what they said and maybe he spent the entire flight getting griped out by Karon about what’s going on.

      • MissLouLou says:

        lol @MissMary

      • Encumbered says:

        And he deserves it! I’m hoping he comes to his senses. Sorry, I just want to bitch slap some sense into him. I cannot shake the feeling he has his head up his ass about this engagement (or someone’s….). I need to hear him explain it, perhaps.

      • MissMary says:

        @Encumbered: I am almost positive we won’t hear anything about the engagement–either interviewers have been told no personal questions or he will deflect them to the movie after a “thank you” for congratulations and a pointed remark about how Turing couldn’t love openly or similar.

        And if what was said re the friend of the PR person and all of our speculating is true… I gotta wonder if Karon is on overtime wondering how to extricate him from his without it going even more pear shaped. His PR is definitely aware, EB rumor or not, of what fans and others are speculating, and how they feel about SH, the small but vocal “OMG HER NOBLE DELICATE BEAUTY!” folks aside. The backlash is tangible in some fandom quarters and the fact speculation about if this is an Oscar ploy and about his demeanor and the weirdness of the whole thing is showing up all over isn’t being missed by his “people” (esp not after he’s admitted Emily and others on his “team” check out social media and let him know the temperature of fandom, so to speak).

      • Felice says:

        BAFTA LA keeps saying “stay until the end”

      • Claire says:

        If his people check out the temp of the fandom, that’ll explain this huge immediate push to have her seen as “accomplished”. Someone’s reading EB lol

      • MissMary says:

        @Felice: Oooooooooh, I wonder if they get to see some TIG footage?

        @Claire: Spin that PR, Karon! Spin, lol!

      • gg says:

        EB will *never* buy her as accomplished!

      • Claire says:

        @gg: well do you? you’d think by the press that anyone who can speak a foreign language and go to a good university is accomplished.

        For the record, I have two university degrees, speak two foreign langauges, and have an arts career about the same profile level as hers, and I wouldn’t consider myself accomplished AT ALL.

      • Moodgirl says:

        There is no way in heck Karon didn’t know about this. No way.

      • Me says:

        Miss Mary, I can totally imagine him not telling his PR that he was going to propose. I can’t think any normal man dreams of doing that when popping the question. But it would be effed up if he didn’t let them know after she said yes and before the announcement came out in the paper.

        Claire, you should think of yourself as accomplished! My theory is that it’s all relative.

        I guess that in Hollywood, Sophie would be considered super accomplished. However, out in the real world, her credentials are more common. In fact, as the “thinking woman’s crumpet,” I imagine a lot of BC’s fans have a couple of degrees and languages under their belts (me too). A show stopper is someone like Amal Clooney. In her field, she is a top performer – a total star. Like, who goes to defend the Elgin Marbles and looks that good? Get it, girl!

        Now, Sophie doesn’t need to be a “show stopper.” But maybe we all assumed that’s what he was looking for? Because the way he talked to you’d think he was saying, “God, either they’re married or they’re lesbians!”

        Ha!

    • gg says:

      I guess he packed SH in his luggage somewhere?

      • Green Eyes says:

        @gg: He keeps her in his pocket or under his hat. She’s so small and frail and all that.

        Oh and Karon needs to update her CV to include her skills as babysitter.

      • MissMary says:

        Her delicate, noble beauty and shy demeanor can’t face the cameras, so she was tucked into his coat pocket.

      • Moodgirl says:

        LOL! You all are a hoot!!

    • Nic says:

      I can’t help but feel bad for him at the moment. I don’t know what’s up but something is definitely up. He’s just decided to be public about an engagement, he should be walking on air.

      • Moodgirl says:

        @nic:

        I don’t feel bad for him at all. He brought this all on himself. At 38 years old he needs to grow up.

    • Nic says:

      I feel bad for him. I don’t know what it is, but something’s up.

      • Nic says:

        Double post above, there. Sorry.

      • Green Eyes says:

        Yeah, well HE brought this all upon himself. The EB PR friend said he never listens to advice. As my mom used to say, he made his bed and now he has to lie in it.

        His work as an actor is now being overshadowed by the Crazy Train that is his life. He is now on the Mt. Everest of wanker-dom. If he just did things like a normal person, i.e., dated this woman out in the open without all of the couvert actions of an MI5 agent, none of this would be happening.

        God forbid any of these shenanigans reach Hollywood/the Academy, because he’ll have a really hard time being taken seriously now and in the future.

      • MissMary says:

        I wonder if that’s part of the cause for the sourpuss we’ve been seeing in pics and such–he let an innocent situation spin out of control and now he has no idea how to fix it. I know a lot of folks say Karon/PR will handle it but really, she can’t fix everything and a lot of PR is going to be damage control, esp if your client doesn’t listen to advice.

      • Nic says:

        I really wouldn’t believe anything on EB. Someone who conveniently works in his office or something happens to visit and blab on a gossip tumblr. No way. Just another nutter.

      • Green Eyes says:

        Top of the morning to you, MissMary!

        ITA with you. I saw those pics last night and he looks positively morose. Not a man in love. When someone is in love, well, they GLOW. They’re walking on air.

        If this is a picture of what true love looks like, well then, I shall stay (happily) single!

      • MissMary says:

        Everyone has bad days but he seems to be setting a record for ’em if we go by how he has been looking for a while now. Even Zoe Saladana, who has epic resting b face, managed to look happy when she got loved up. If I’m going to go all CIA and TMZ on pics, lol, looking at the stills from the event last night, he still looks tired and dour, a bit of a smile talking about his folks and his dad’s tea, but everything else looks flat and rehearsed. Maybe it’ll look like he’s happier to be there when they release video of the full talk.

  47. am says:

    ive never visited EB, so the supposed PR person said that he didn’t tell them he was going to pop the question. so what exactly are they doing damage control on now? the fact that no one believes it? if that were true (and i doubt one of BC PR ppl would be on a tumblr chat spilling tea) then that would make me think the whole thing is legit. that said, why on gods green earth would even the lowest level worker in BC PR enter a mid day chat on a tumblr website? am i naive? if someone in PR around a big/rising celeb wanted to dish, couldn’t they sell info? why a Tumblr chat? I find it almost impossible to believe that his PR would not know. the only reason i might, might believe something like that is if BC said fuck it i don’t want PR involved in every aspect of my life. I do find it interesting that there is a quote about him “wanting to be more spontaneous. Sounds to me like he planned all along to keep it basically invisible, only to drop it at the right time. then people can look back and say “well, he DID say he wanted…”. Gosh who knows. I don’t get celebs man. I could never, ever be in the pub eye.

    • MissMary says:

      It was allegedly a friend of someone who works for the PR firm representing BC. Stranger things have happened on the internet but at the same time, I’d take anything coming from EB with an enormous grain of salt.

    • MissLouLou says:

      Not saying I believe the EB stuff, but the anon actually said she knew someone who was friends with Karon. At least I think that’s the gist of what was said. Those chats are always so confusing to try and follow.

      • MissMary says:

        I can easily believe a friend blabbing, esp because they’re not sworn to secrecy nine times out of ten, and often, in anon chats and situations, it’s very tempting to share spicy gossip or something wtf. I’d still proceed with caution, but the idea of a friend blabbing is believable.

      • am says:

        so that would suggest that this relationship is legit (if we believe it). he did make a comment about “protecting the ones you love” i think a while ago? TBH im not much of a conspiracy nut. i figured he wants his goals met and shopped local. that said, i have%100 no clue how PR works, how oscar noms work. i am green and perhaps niave? ive always assumed that something like this (a pr stunt engagement) is just too weird/too much effort to be true…but maybe i live in a world of kittens and candy floss?

      • MissMary says:

        He’s said that (about protecting loved ones) as long as he’s been giving interviews, so it’s not a new thing from him. Stunt engagements and arranged dating have been around just about since the dawn of film and celebrity, and still go on. Every once in a while, a disgruntled “starlet” will talk to a tab about how the studio set her up in a “relationship” with an established star to lend some cred to her name and some arm candy for him for events, etc, or to stave off rumors or whatever. It’s not every relationship in actor-dom but it’s not unheard of. Is that what this is? Who knows. A lot of folks, not just here but in his fandom in general, think it might be, and we’re not all “OMG BUT I LOVE HIM” fans.

    • MissLouLou says:

      My jury is still out as to whether its real in the sense of ‘true love’. I’m still leaning towards heading-towards-40 panic and settling. But meh, wth do I know anyway! EB stuff for me is always taken with a huge grain of salt.

      • Claire says:

        On EB: I’ve been there a while and I’ve developed a kind of sense for stuff that’s bs (a lot of it) and the bits that are credible (rare, but it’s there).

      • MissMary says:

        @CLaire: OKay, so now I have to ask, lol… the PR “friend”–what’s your take on that on the EB chat?

      • gg says:

        all stuff on the internet should be taken with a grain of salt! A lot of smart posters on EB, imho

      • Claire says:

        It could easily be faked. I have a high standard for believing stuff. If it can be fabricated, and it helps fit a narrative the person wants to be pushing, it’s pretty apparent to me. MOST of the time. The supposed friend of Karon. Dunno: she’d be pretty unprofessional to blab like that. At the end of the day, none of the little micro stories like this matters. What matters are the big things: this man got engaged after seriously dating someone since late summer, when he’s already got a jam packed schedule. It would have been a rash decision for any normal person, but with someone with as hectic and pressured a life as his, I find it hard to believe he made the decision while in his right mind. Not to mention that by all appearances he looks majorly stressed about things. As I have said many times, it makes me very sad. Like I wanna give the guy a hug. All the stuff about whether his PR is blabbing to her friends, means little in the end, unless, say, in future that person said they were breaking off the engagement, and days later we found out it was true. Doubt that would ever happen though.

      • gg says:

        To me, the most interesting thing that “friend of a friend” of Karon’s said (if true) was that Benedict had wanted to keep the relationship low-key, not Sophie. I think a lot of fans had thought it was the other way around because of that old Showbiz Spy article from the spring about the SGF with the high-powered career who wanted to stay anonymous. So if that is true, I wonder how he feels now that his future MIL is already blabbing to Hello?

        Oh and a cousin of his (an actress named Hannah Taylor Gordon) has made a congratulatory tweet, and commented on how happy he is. (???) https://twitter.com/HannahTaylorG/status/529970718558396416

      • Nic says:

        “A true match” ugh, go away. A snooty woman who can’t act, yep great.

        Who is this Hannah Taylor Gordon anyway? Now and again she tweets something random about him when he’s in the news and hashtags it #cousin. I’m guessing she’s quite a distant cousin, but that doesn’t look so good in the hashtag.
        Happy? Yeah, course love. It’s just beaming off him everywhere.

      • MissMary says:

        Hannah Taylor Gordon seems to be trying to exploit a tenuous connection to further her career, esp as her tweets about him only come up when he’s in the news and she can tag it “cousin” or another connection. I really don’t think BC is someone who’d keep a relationship THAT crazy cloak and dagger, esp as he never has in the past, even for super casual things, and even when he was serious with Anna James, he had NO Problem being private but not being “secret” about having a gf who was not only staying with him on shoots (his interview re Parade’s End filming when he references her sleeping in bed with him) but who traveled with him and still managed to do red carpet events without “getting in the way” as some people say SH wanted to avoid, or doing odd red carpet pap walks and trying to do the “don’t look at me but see me!” thing.

    • blended says:

      i don’t buy for a second that his PR didn’t know. this has PR stunt written all over it. there is no rhyme or reason to the timing other than it precedes the media push in the U.S. And most importantly, now would be a bad time to piss harvey off, if he wants any hope of the career longevity he keeps talking about.

      • MissMary says:

        I’m really starting to think this will linger till February or March, till his obligations to Harvey and TIG are done for the most part, then a tasteful, tactful split. This is bad timing on all levels no matter what it is… And nothing can convince me, based on pics and interviews anyway, that this is a man who has been happy for the past several months with his life situation.

        He apparently said he was pleased by how supportive his fans were about his engagement at the BAFTALA thing… *snort* Guess he’s filtering the reactions to just the “omg she’s perf!” ones?

      • Linz says:

        His reaction came off kind of cold. If he is so in love and happy, I would think he’d say more. Pap pics at LAX, he does not look like a man in love.

      • MissMary says:

        @Linz: at the risk of being called…something (not enough caffeine to word, lol), I agree–he doesn’t come off like he’s happy at all and it’s been going on so long that it can’t just be written off as jet lag, or a busy schedule.

        Reading the BAFTALA tweets of the event, it sounds like he’s just rehashing a lot of his old answers…

      • MissLouLou says:

        @MissMary, I’m starting to think that as well. If they don’t get married on the sly before christmas, SH could well be off the scene by Hamlet.

        @Encumbered, the timing of the announcement was extremely suspicious to me, especially for someone who claims to want privacy so much. What are the paps going to be now? Following his arse to try and get the ‘exclusive’ of him and SH.

        @Linz, exactly. Smile, damnit! Are you a newly engaged man or are you not. I know it was pap photos, but would a smile hurt?

      • Claire says:

        MissMary he’s going to say that even if everyone on Twitter was saying they were going to throw her off a plane lol. It’s just a smart, stock PR answer to promote the idea the idea the fans are supportive. I find it odd he felt the need to use the word supportive anyways, it almost implied he may have been expecting something else. Also, didn’t someone orchestrate for one of his superfans on twitter to write some phony article about how happy all his fans are for him? this is all very controlled imho

      • MissMary says:

        Very true, Claire! LOL he can’t go “yeah, I’m glad someone’s happy for me! My own friends aren’t even congratulating me and most of the internet thinks it’s a sham!”

      • MissLouLou says:

        @Claire, yes, I think it was Cumberbuddy, or some such handle. ONE fan doesn’t and should not speak for an entire fandom. Anyway, I believe (if its the person I think it is) she knows BC and Karon. THAT screams PR damage mode all the way.

      • am says:

        i didn’t see the BAFTA thing, folks who saw it, what was your read on it? supportive is an odd choice, but whatever, maybe im just picking apart shit. did he seem happy etc? the fan that wrote the article is the girl who runs cumberbuddy. i think i read somewhere she is tech connected to his PR now, but I can’t remember where I saw that.

      • MissMary says:

        Sorry for the DP but I didn’t catch my last reply in time to edit this in: Yep, Tor (“Cumberbuddy”) wrote a blurb for the Independent after they approached her via email asking about fan reaction to the engagement.

      • Claire says:

        I thought it was Metro? Independent seems above doing such a thing.

      • MissMary says:

        @Claire: You’re right–I went to her tumblr and checked.

        IDK… I don’t dislike her tumblr but it comes off as fan-shamey at times. Or nannying, at the very least. Maybe I’m just reading too much into tone, which is impossible to really glean in written format online.

      • Claire says:

        I know next to nothing about that person, but the handful of superfans who seem to cultivate their own little mini fan bases and build their lives around their fandom weird me out. It’s all very egotistical to me.

      • am says:

        if this is PR (and im still not convinced it is) wouldn’t they have to stay engaged a bit longer? it would be a tad obv if they split RIGHT after the Oscars, no?

      • MissMary says:

        @Claire: Word. No matter the fandom, whether it’s for a person or a thing, it weirds me out big time when these cults of personality come up around other fans.

        @Am: Well, if I’m going to go full on conspiracy mode, lol, and there’s no way I’m saying this will definitely happen or I have info it’ll happen, it’s just me speculating… Break up right after Oscars would be the perfect time because it can spin into the narrative of either a win OR loss. If he is nom’d and wins, it’d be a sad underscore to interviews and give him some “depth”–“He just won his first Academy Award, but lost his lady love to the rigors of his job”. If he loses–“Last year was awesome for Cumberbatch, but it looks like 2015 isn’t starting out so great for the man who just missed out on his fist Oscar AND broke things off with director Sophie Hunter.” Or however those things are phrased. If it’s even phrased. It could just fade out… he’s not seen with her, there’s a tasteful announcement when he’s at a few events solo or seen with a “mystery woman” at some bar or theatre, that he and SH parted amicably and privately a month or more ago and it was just not meant to be, with the pressures of their careers, etc.

        And being extra catty… There’s no guarantee he’ll get a nomination. It’s definitely possible, but there’s no guarantee. If he doesn’t get one, and this IS PR stunt, I bet things would end sooner, but quietly, around new year’s.

        ALl speculation, of course. If it’s “the real deal” then it won’t even come up and this whole folderol will fade out.

      • MissLouLou says:

        If memory serves, CB knows BC and Karon, which is why I smell PR damage control in that piece for Metro. One fan doesn’t speak for the entire fandom, no matter how hard it’s spun.

      • Claire says:

        @am I don’t think it’s entirely PR. I don’t think this is a fake engagement for the sake of his Oscar campaign. But if they wanted to maintain the privacy/low keyness he so clearly desired, they didn’t have to announce it: to hell with family tradition. They could always do it later. I think he made a dumb ass decision, probably done to feel some amount of control in his life amid his busy schedule and massive pressure both career wise and family wise, so the announcement and everything surrounding it is being spun to his advantage both professionally and for his personal goals. Her awareness or role in this? Who knows. I don’t care. She’s a nobody to me.

      • Intro Outro says:

        Isn’t this EB blog a loony offshot of the original (and equally loony) Hiddleston blog which claimed, among other things, that Hiddleston was an inveterate coke snorter and as a proof offered a couple of pics of Hiddleston in a tux on some red carpet events with several white particles on his shoulders? Or that Hiddleston went fangirl-hunting on Skype? 😀

      • Claire says:

        it’s a free for all blog with like 75% teenage girls who speculate wildly on everything involving his personal life and will believe almost anything, and 25% smart cool funny people who call it like they see it. i stay for the 25%

      • Moodgirl says:

        @blended:

        My bff reminded me of something that happened at an award show right before the Emmys. When the sgf rumor first hit the street BC was nominated for an award and during the telecast Sarah Silverman (comedian) read off the nominees. When she got to Benedict she read his name and nodded, apparently to him but he didn’t appear on camera like the others in the category.

        It was almost like he was hiding. He was in the building because she really went out of her way to look and point in his direction hippm bu nothing. He has been ducking this for a while. Just own it anld be happy if it is what you want

      • MissMary says:

        @MissLouLou: CB isn’t friends per se with BC and Karon, but she met BC a few times and organized a video thing for his bday a few years ago. Some people also claim they hung out after the Elbow concert but CB herself has never verified that. Karon knows/knows of/knows on site CB and Naomi the lady who runs another fan site, Cumberbatchweb. There’s so many fan sites that approaching CB does seem a little spin doctory but she’s also one of the “better known” fans/fan site runners.

        @Intro Outro: Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeep that’s the one. The “original” blog is a hot mess of wtf and the EB one is about two steps away from the same quagmire.

      • Nic says:

        Course CB isn’t a friend of his. The talk of her hanging out with him is ludicrous and just another crazy lie in the long list of crap that’s ended up on EB.
        I find it really odd that she’s written a piece for the Metro. I mean …what the actual hell is going on? What a ridiculous fuss.

      • MissMary says:

        @Nic: Apparently, they approached her to write it. IDK if they wanted some fan flail or what but she says she wrote it to show not all fans are “crazy” or whatever. Hmmm. I still am side eyeing this enough to think it’s PR-y. But I’m cynical as all hell.

    • Josa says:

      I understand they have a business relationship, but you think they worked together long enough to develop to at least be friend? Like if he is going to announce his engagement to the whole world, that he isn’t going to tell her first? It’s hard to believe.

  48. Miss Melissa says:

    I don’t know how it works in the UK, but here in the US, engagement announcements in the paper are traditionally placed by the bride’s family, not the groom’s.

    Carry on.

    • MissLouLou says:

      Same here in Oz, as are wedding announcements. And usually its woman’s parents first, then man’s. Could be different for the Brits or for the upper classes?

      I know when I got my invite to a friends wedding recently, it was bride then groom on the invite and paper announcements.

      • Moodgirl says:

        True here in the southern US. Sometimes if the groom is local and the bride is not I believe his name may be placed first. Since SH is not an unknown, her family is supposedly prominent and her mother is alive and obviously well aware of the situation I wonder why she was not asked to submit the announcement ? Even if his parents or BC and SH submitted why not do it the traditional way and put the brides name first?

    • Kazlock 1307 says:

      In the UK it’s usually the bride’s family that place the announcement.
      BC’s was strange.Because generally it would be along the lines of ‘T and W Cumberbatch are pleased to announce the engagement of B to…….’
      Instead of which his name came first,followed by his parent’s. I know someone said his parent’s put the announcement in,but by the wording I wonder if it could actually have been him?

  49. Encumbered says:

    Well, that’s it. I’m out the door! Always leave the teabag in and press it against the mug as I stir. Damn.

  50. Cate says:

    This BAFTA thing was the same old, same old, didn’t read anything new. I’m glad he’s happy that the official spokesperson of the fandom is supportive of his engagement. Erm. Okay Benedict, whatever works for you dear. *Pats his head* If you don’t mind, I’ll just sit back and eat some more popcorn then…

    • MissMary says:

      It was really rehashed and just pretty much like he was reading old soundbites from his interviews. I can’t believe there wasn’t one single original question in the entire group of people…

  51. Wait I'm Typing says:

    Okay, long time lurker, first time poster.

    I was one of the people who had no idea what the hell was going on. On one hand, I genuinely thought that the fact he acted so strangely around her meant that there was something there to hide since he was so relaxed around his friends. On the other hand, I couldn’t even imagine what they would look like holding hands let alone getting married (has anyone tried to picture the sex yet?).

    In truth? I was genuinely shocked when I saw the engagement articles. When a coworker asked me if he was engaged I said no because I thought she was referring to old gossip.

    Right now I’m still really confused BUT I don’t believe that he would propose to someone for an oscar/something to talk about/be more likeable to american audiences/a Weinstein.
    I have no idea if she’s pregnant. If he’s pregnant. If they’re planning to plant baby seeds in a garden and dance around a bonfire naked until roots sprout up like tree ent children or if they’ll just carve some out of wood and have avant garde marionette-lings.

    All I know is he is engaged to an old friend and making a real effort for a life he always wanted and while my bitter ass will probably still enjoy all of the snarky commentary (I work in retail. I need to be bitchy) I actually do hope they are happy in whatever it is they have going on.
    Also, as an aside, I had never heard of Sophie before she was spotted around him and have since taken full advantage of the incredible CIA fans and watched the short films/music videos they’ve found of her and while I don’t really find her an engaging, moving actress (I might be so bold as to even call her a bad one) the fact is, she really doesn’t need to be one to make him happy.

    Ps. I think you gals are hilarious and I relish reading the comments here over the ones in other places that are so overwhelmingly happy it makes me irritated (again, retail).

    Pps. Full disclosure, I’m a little jealous of Sophie. I would hit that so hard we’d fall through the floor. But, you know, congratulations and shit.

  52. Wait I'm Typing says:

    Also wanted to throw this in the mix, what do you think the chances are that, since Sophie’s profile will definitely go up, she might enjoy all of the new found connections and maybe see an upswing in employment?
    And what if said upswing makes her reconsider having babies so soon (if that is the plan)?
    I’ve just been wondering why no one has mentioned the possibility that maybe she’ll suddenly enjoy working on stage/screen again (I actually read an article that referred to her as a “former actress”) and want to hold off on settling down.

    • gg says:

      Don’t be a stranger, Wait. I like the cut of your jib! I am not so sure I am jealous of Sophie though. (Oh I’d hit it hard too!) But I agree with those on here that when it comes to the nitty gritty of day-to-day life, Benedict is probably a needy and neurotic mess. So I’ll stick with my fantasies, thanks very much.

      • Green Eyes says:

        +1. My fantasies of Lord Bendy never included an LTR, just a mad fling while visiting London. You know, wild crazy sex and then return to the US with a silly smile on my face. Never to meet again. The End.

    • MissMary says:

      That’s one of the things I originally thought–she’s getting a career boost from this, No matter how the engagement turns out, I’m not going to be surprised if she suddenly has access to some projects she’d normally not have access to now thanks to her connection to BC. Maybe a new play to direct, or actors willing to work with her, that sort of thing.

    • am says:

      I def think if they don’t have babies really quickly, then it would be better to have her out working to cont the push the idea of her being very successful legit artist. It wouldnt look great imo if she just stayed home (even tho is appears thats what she has been doing. or she could have been w him everywhere this whole time, just shown up a few days later, earlier and..i don’t know, just stayed in the hotel the whole time so no pictures). if she isn’t already pg (i don’t think she looked it at LFF, despite the horrible dress ;-)) i don’t know, would they have a baby when his sched is so jammed? anything is possible, and he has banged on about children for a long time,and he may have his “goals” to have at least one before 40. that would upset the whole “i want to be a hands on dad” image because he will be gond so muhch. but then again there was that interview that had the “what he will give up when he becomes a dad”. so maybe no dr strange? wild speculation w no actual facts is fun! LULZ

      • MissMary says:

        He’s not giving up one iota of his career. I think that’s more important to him than anything, esp given his banging on about “I can wait on kids” for the past year or so and citing his career as a reason why.

  53. Zazie says:

    I don´t think it was for the oscars. I think he really needs someone by his side to cope with all the things he is doing, and he thinks Sophie is the right one. As he said that a relationship has to be like a tennis-double, he chose a director who knows something about the business (maybe she´s not very successful, but she knows how things work). AND he is a complicated, neurotic and nervous person – charming and clever, but neurotic. So his choices are not an adult´s ones but the ones of a immature nearly-40-years-old. I doubt that it will turn out well.

  54. am says:

    for the conspiracy train riders (since ive not bought a ticket just yet), im sure this has been discussed ad nauseam, but can someone explain to me what would be the benefit of the smoke and mirrors around their reltionship up until now? I can understand maybe an engagement right before a big movie opens/ lots of press, but he has been promoting TIG on and off for a little white now. would it not have been beneficial to have him in a “relationship” all along? i know some people say clickbait and it generates gossip, but would a new blossoming love not achieve the same goal? if we’re assuming its for PR? Or even if the romance is real but maybe he was pressured to just pick already, or if its %100 legit but the way it was managed was discussed w and decided w PR? I hope thats clear lol. Also, I don’t see how there is a way Karon didn’t know about the engagement. that doesn’t make sense to me.

    • MissMary says:

      Well, Karon isn’t by his side 24/7 so he’ll make choices and decisions she doesn’t know about, if we go with the “PR didn’t know” narrative. If I was going to be serious about a conspiracy and really beat that horse, I’d say it was to a.) tone down the more frantic parts of his fanbase (he’s been demonstrably tired of that for a while, and also sick of the questions/the ha ha ha ha you have cumberbitches thing in interviews, b.) also give him less of a “serial dater/serial single guy” image and shore up the image of him as a stable, romantic leading man sort. Is that legit? Who knows. But it’s possible he’s gotten criticism from casting directors and such that they’d love to cast him but no one would buy him as the steady romantic lead (who knows?). And c.) sham engagements for PR aren’t new in actor-dom. They’ve been around since celebrity was invented. It changes an image, it gives new taking points, and it shakes up an otherwise staid narrative.

      Is that what’s going on? I really don’t know. I talk about conspiracy and such but who knows, really, at the end of the day.

      • Renee says:

        MissMary: Maybe the whole thing is a bit of both. Maybe he found the love of his life *cough* and then decided, ooh, it’s awards season, let’s get engaged now and ride that wave???

        I’m laughing as I type this. I love all you people, just wanna say that. This is a huge distraction for me and from the rigors of my chosen profession.

    • gg says:

      @am: The previous smoke and mirrors may have been a personal decision on Benedict’s part because he’s been bitten on the ass by this before. His last LTR was with Anna James in 2011. They were together a little less than a year and for most of that time they weren’t really hiding but just going on low-key dates, and she would visit him on the set of Sherlock, stuff like that. Then she walks the red carpet with him at a premiere and shortly after his PR has to announce that they have broken up. So I think he didn’t want to be public with any relationship until he was super sure it was going to stick – as in engaged or even married.

      • Nic says:

        The LFF wasn’t low key though and neither was quaglinos.

      • MissMary says:

        She did Venice with him and went to some high profile parties and events, then he went to film STiD and there came the announcement… makes me wonder ifh e gets super antsy and needy in his down time and when filming starts, he ignores his SOs.

      • blended says:

        didn’t he break up with AJ in 2011? star trek didn’t film until 2012.

      • Sandi says:

        I don’t believe mainstream media picked up on any of that, Nic, just more than casual fans and some tabs. It didn’t hit the mainstream and general public until the engagement.

        Had it not panned out, she would have went ‘poof’ and most would be none the wiser.

      • MissMary says:

        @Blended: He broke up with AJ at the end of 2011 and filming for STiD started earlyish 2012–he was spotted with Lydia Hearst within days of arriving in California for the Oscar season in 2012 and the announcement was released via his PR when someone posted gossip about seeing him with LH and not AJ.

    • Moodgirl says:

      @am:

      I will sell you your ticket now.

  55. anon says:

    If this dissolves in less than a yr ish, or he doesn’t actually marry and its obv PR, I feel like he has screwed the pooch on meeting “the one”. Any smart lady out there would be able to see that this is PR (if that is what it turns out to be). What woman would want to sign on to a relationship w him after that? Would you really want to be the second fiance/wife of someone who obv faked a prev relationship for publicity?

  56. 'P'enny says:

    And, this is where romance came and died 🙁

    :-p

  57. Marcy says:

    Apparently he sang a few bars of ‘Single Ladies”…need video STAT!

    • Nic says:

      Ugh.

      @him not you.

      • Cate says:

        Quite ugh indeed, haha. But the most ‘cringy’ thing to me was him apparently mentioning that Hamlet sold out faster than Beyoncé and One Direction gigs. I hope he doesn’t think he’s got as many fans as those two have. Or maybe he does think that, because he’s been more mysterious about his GF/fiancé than one of the One Direction boys…

    • Renee says:

      Massive Ugh…I actually thought that was a joke, Marcy.

    • Moodgirl says:

      Maybe to rub in the fact that he is no longer single. Smug and snarky.

      • MissMary says:

        It was regarding his infamous dancing at parties–he was dancing to Single Ladies at the LFF after party and it was mentioned in several gossip/media outlets and is apparently one of his favorite songs to dance to at parties. I guess it’s his “Thriller” for 2014, lol.

      • Nic says:

        I kinda want to see that. If he does *the* dance to it..

      • MissMary says:

        Maybe if we say it enough, his PR or Emily will pick it up and tell him fans want to see that…

      • Nic says:

        I’m in two minds, as I say, I don’t like the performing monkey thing. I think I want him to just do it for me. Privately.

  58. Pissedoffadmirer says:

    Hello, First time poster here.
    Totally agree with @claire, @missmary & @kazlock.

    But I see a baby and a wedding within 2 months. Because he is so desperately trying to prove his “fans” wrong. Living his own life does not matter anymore. Its all about pap pictures(or not giving them one)!!

    • anon says:

      huh, i never thought of a small, small part of this being his need to prove his fans wrong. wrong about it being legit? gosh im sucked into this dramz. entertaining

      • Pissedoffadmirer says:

        thats the point. We could not “think” of it. so whatever happens now will be out if our imagination. Lets get ready with webdesigning wedding cards already. <3

    • MissMary says:

      I don’t see a baby mainly because of reasons I Said downthread–he’s repeatedly said he can wait on kids right now because of his career and he wants to be able to devote the time to his family. And heading into 2015 with Sherlock x 2 (the xmas special and S4), a movie or two AND Hamlet (which is his lifelong dream)… Not the best time to have a kid for anyone, really. Especially if you plan on being part of their life for the first year.

      • Froop says:

        He can’t really wait a long time for kids since Sophie is 36, turning 37 in March. I think they’re on the cards.

      • MissMary says:

        Lots of women have kids into their 40s (Halle Berry, for example, and thousands of non-famous women, while I’m at it… And not all of them need fertility help). And men can have kids till they die, basically (look at Charlie Chaplin, fathering kids into his senior years).

  59. Renee says:

    So Benedict arrived at LAX with Karon. Just like before. LOL..not much has changed except prob the amount of paps who waited there thinking SH would get off the plane with him, I suppose. I think BC is going to keep up with the not being seen with her thing until an awards show or something and maybe even then, not be seen with her, since they’re so good at that cloak-and-dagger thing. Who knows with this weirdness? That answer he gave about how he was happy that the fans were supportive (does he really care what the fans think???) sounds like a stock PR response. What else was he going to say? “My friends and family are so happy? I’M So Happy!” (Guess not…) (Or was he actually asked about his fans’ response to the engagement news? I don’t know…)

    I still am on the fence about this being a PR stunt. But to me, it’s still weird and since I don’t think the fans will ever see much of Sophie, I probably won’t change my mind.

    • Kazlock 1307 says:

      That’s it exactly Renee.

      Does anyone believe that his PR didn’t know about the engagement?
      After EB brought it up last night,I thought about it.I can’t see how they wouldn’t know.

      • MissMary says:

        I can see how they may not have known, esp if it was a spur of the moment decision, even if it is a PR move on his/her part. SOmeone mentioned it sounded like a PR move they cooked up on their own, and I can see that esp as he seems pretty impulsive and it’s been mentioned more than once that he’s notorious for not taking advice or listening to others when they are trying to suggest something. So if it was suggested he wait to announce it, or even that he wait to get engaged, if this is legit, he may have said eff it and announced it. No one knowing about it may also be why his camp is so radio silent.

      • Nic says:

        No way they didn’t know and I’m forever stunned that people even believe for a second the nutters that turn up on EB with ridiculous claims and convenient meetings with people he knows.

      • Kazlock 1307 says:

        The whole thing seems strange.
        The wording of the announcement, it seems he did the announcement himself.And his people not commenting but her family in Hello the day after?They certainly knew before

        It still doesn’t come across as being genuine.Or a love match

      • Renee says:

        Kazlock, it doesn’t seem genuine because of their strange behavior, IMO. You know what? Maybe he really did just want to get married and he tried out KB and that didn’t work and Sophie did and now here they are. You know when I knew? When he said he was taken at the TIG Q&A at TIFF. Everyone said I was wrong and he was joking but I knew better. I’ve never been much of a conspiracy theorist and I don’t know the lengths someone would go to for an Oscar and so I think he wants to get married and have kids and she fit. And maybe they got it into their heads that this would be good PR, the timing of their announcement. I don’t know what their deal is, but whatever it is, something is *off* about it. Maybe it’s nothing more than they don’t know how to behave under public scrutiny??? That sounds lame given the fact that they are both performers. I don’t know…*throws in the towel* LOL…

    • Renee says:

      If Karon truly didn’t know about the announcement, I’ll bet he got an earful from her on that plane ride..lol..I don’t know enough about PR to even guess whether Karon knew or this was something BC and SH concocted on their own. There is no doubt, however it turns out for them, that SH will get some benefit from this career-wise. Can’t see how she wouldn’t. Her CV has definitely been shined up. When I read the Time mag thing, I could tell she had gotten some PR herself. Before anyone gets mad, I’m not suggesting she’s a famewhore. I don’t know what their deal is. It’s like watching a slow-moving train wreck, in some ways because I’m too much of a cynic to buy a grand romance here. Something is off, just not sure what it is.

      • anon says:

        I wonder, is it standard to gloss up a SO like SH? When i think of “normal” celeb relationships i think of matt damon. now i know its not entirely the same thing since she is not in the arts at all, but i don’t get (if this is just a normal thing) the sudden push to really, really make sure everyone knows how talented and smart she is, and how “great” her CV is? Maybe to maint. the idea that that is what he wanted all along? Or am i just dumb anout this stuff and it happens all the time when two celebs, even if one is less known, get together. Also, ive not read the hello stuff, the pic of her, was it for that piece? or an older photo?

      • Nic says:

        It’s totally insane and rather fishy that there’s so much dedicated to her being ‘such a wonderful woman’ and ‘so intelligent’ and why the hell are they trying to make her seem like some west end directorial maestro? It’s just embarrassing.

      • MissMary says:

        I haven’t seen the glossing up done to fiancees unless there’s a.) a scandal or b.) something fake going on. Even Elsa PAtaky, whom everyone considered a gold digger and fame hungry type, wasn’t “glossed up” when she married Hemsworth. They were both very “whatever, this is our business” and went on with life. Usually ,if there’s any prettying up of a resume or PR persona going on, it’s because they want to sell the image the person or couple are trying to present. And when it doesn’t sell wholesale, it’s ditched because PR would rather have a divorced/single client than one with a fanbase making fun of them for being with a twit or worse.

      • Moodgirl says:

        @Renee

        When was TIFF? June or July? Since we think they got together in May he was already counting his chickens 2 or 3 months later? He was taken in that short time period. He should set up a dating school. There is an agenda here but I just can’t figure out what it is. Also, how did he move from kb that quickly unless it was first one here takes the cake.

      • Nic says:

        I don’t think there was anything going on with KB at all.

      • MissMary says:

        @Nic: They’d been definitely “together” a year before the Ibiza thing. They’d been openly spotted at a few parties in London together, until one where she either made a scene or he was tired of something going on and left, as reported by a few media outlets, and she followed, came back later without him in tow. No signs of them together for about a year or so, then around Ibiza time, there she is with him. But I do think the Ibiza thing was set up for paps/publicity.

      • Nic says:

        KB, missmary, not KE. But I don’t think anything was going on there either.

      • MissMary says:

        Oh, derp, sorry, lol! Yeah I don’t think a single thing was happening with KB.

      • Dakota M. says:

        @MissMary

        I haven’t seen the glossing up done to fiancees unless there’s a.) a scandal or b.) something fake going on.

        In this case I suspect there are two reasons.
        Some media is glossing her up because they don’t want to peeve Mr. C by dissing his woman. He can refuse to interview with certain outlets and with the potential for an Oscar on the horizon, that would be bad.

        I think reason two is that they are in the same business. They need to spin her as “accomplished” and “intelligent” to get those words into people minds.
        Why? Because if you look at her CV, it has stuff on it but nothing terribly successful. If they don’t spin like they are doing, people will see “failed” rather than “accomplished”. Which of course would lead to failed actress/singer latching on coat tails and gold digger type stuff. Not saying she is. Just saying that is how the media works.

    • gg says:

      BAFTA LA says they will be posting a video of the whole thing in a few days so I guess we will see the exact wording of the question, and how he answered. Maybe his “I am so ecstatically and gloriously in love and happy!” would not fit into 140 characters? LOL

      • MissWolfe says:

        That’s what I was hoping for as well, seeing that he looked incredibly unimpressed by everything, in EVERY photo that they let out!
        That, and I just got notification, a retweet from Cumberbatchweb, from “Scotland on Sunday” they said “In Spectrum this week, find out why Benedict Cumberbatch is so good at keeping secrets”. Though they have the cover photo of TIG, I can only wonder if something about SH is going to pop up. Blach.

      • MissMary says:

        Most of these interviews are PRE-SH-gate, as it were. They’re not going to have sat on a big reveal about a gf or engagement for a month or more.

  60. Froop says:

    I really think a lot of these conspiracy theories are odd. I also wasn’t expecting so much negativity here. I don’t think this is a PR stunt though, he’s never gone down the showmance route before. Even during Katiagate, he could have hooked up with someone ‘appropriate’ (like Sophie) to move away from the model chaser image but he didn’t, he just rode it out and blocked all discussion about his personal life. There’s definitely a lot of pointless cloak and dagger weirdness going on, and the timing is suspect, but a lot of you seem to think they’ll part ways after the Oscars. I don’t think that will be the case, they will probably be married and she’ll be knocked up by the summer. Announcing it in The Times is a big, official deal. He’ll look like a fool if his PR announces they’ve ‘sadly drifted apart’ immediately after awards season. I really, really don’t think he would go as far as getting engaged just for an Oscar campaign.

    • Pissedoffadmirer says:

      after this shock i shall belive anything about him. I m betting on a christmass wedding and “good news” by january

      • blended says:

        he will definitely go through with the wedding, with baby to follow. to break it off would make him look bad, and he is very wrapped up in his image. but this is a pragmatic partnership, not romantic love. they haven’t even been exclusively with each other for the whole 5 months as claimed. he wants to be taken seriously as an actor, and wants to shed the crazy part of the fandom (whether this happens is to be seen). he needs the image of a stable family life for that. oscar campaign time is the perfect time to start the image makeover. sophie fit the bill on paper and that’s all that matters. mark my words, there will be rumours of infidelity. this is celebrity behaviour 101. he turned out to be no different from the rest of them.

      • MissLouLou says:

        Then that would mean a newborn baby smack bang in the middle of Hamlet.

        Not having had one of my own, but aunty to 5 of them, aren’t newborn babies kinda demanding? Can you imagine moody, I-take-on-the-character-I-play Benedict coping with a newborn right in the middle of a project he’s been working towards for years?

        There’s a hands on father right there!

      • MissMary says:

        @blended: I doubt he’ll do it. Mainly because of Hamlet, and Sherlock, and not just the roles but how dedicated he is to “making it”. He’s said a few times he can wait on kids because exactly that reason–and he’s around babies enough via Adam Ackland that he knows they’re not something you can set down and walk away from when you have other things to do.

    • Nic says:

      I hardly think he got a ‘model chaser’ image from whatever went on with katia. And don’t forget the random hand holding with his red head friend. That was ..odd.

    • MissMary says:

      During “Katiagate” he made sure to be seen right after with Charlotte Asprey, holding her hand as they left a club. There are private exits but he went out the main one with her in tow (and emily and friends). So yeah, he was doing some spin there, whether of his own volition or PR urging.

  61. Cane says:

    re: long/short engagements–I think it all depends on the people, where they are in their lives, and what goes on. My sister met her husband in September, they were engaged in December and married in April. This year marks their 23rd year of marriage, and I have never met any couple so sympatico with their lives. You couldn’t be more well matched. They are really adorable. Her oldest daughter has had a bit of a wake-up as she’s started going out, because she expects the men she dates to be partner/we’ll decide together collaborative in decision making, and she’s learning that’s not always the case.

    That having been said, It seems more prudent to move past the first blushes of infatuation to see what’s what.

    • Pissedoffadmirer says:

      atleast there was oozing happiness in my case. alwys. not any sour face.no bashing. I believ this is same with other couples. I don’t see this here

  62. TDM says:

    Did he really answer questions about tea at this thing? i saw a gif set of him answering a question about tea…tea? ACTUAL PHYSICAL DRINK IT TEA? good lord his interviews are a bore now. i was hoping they would get BETTER aft the engagement, something bloody else to talk about!

    • MissMary says:

      It was for a “special video” they teased on twitter and showed after the talk. Yep. About tea. Well, tea and acting.

  63. Carrie says:

    I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I don’t understand the rabid fascination with this guy.

  64. blended says:

    he does not look his usual self at the bafta thing. do you know what his current mood is reminding me of: the waning days of his time with olivia. i remember seeing an awards thing they were together at, and he looked miserable, with his head down, barely acknowledging her. it was written all over his face. and that was during a break-up. why is he looking the same way during an engagement?

    • Renee says:

      He hasn’t looked his usual self since SH surfaced, IMO. He certainly isn’t acting like someone in love and just got engaged. Sad. I remember when those FO pics surfaced and I remember saying that I hope he’s happier with her than how he looked in those pictures. So far, I haven’t seen that.

      • Nic says:

        People have suggested he’s been looking harassed due to ‘having to keep the secret’ (which is weird in itself to make a secret of it) but surely now if that were the case, he’d be happier due to the weight of that lifted. Y’know..like.. To hell it with everyone knows kinda thing?

      • MissLouLou says:

        Everyone keeps saying how happy he is, that he’s the happiest he has ever been…well, if that’s the case, where is it? Seriously. I have seen pics if him with Olivia and Anna and he looks happy. Smiling, touching, looking like a man in love. And true, we have yet to see any pics of him and Sophie actually, you know, together, even in his solo pics he doesn’t look happy. At all. All I’d like to see is a big goofy smile and some affection.

        Because to me its very odd that in all of the sightings if the two together in private, that not one person mentioned ANY PDA between the two. No holding hands, no touching, nothing. Hell, even my 60ish year old boss (who is on his 4th marriage btw) holds his wife’s hand in public. Not famous I know, but in love.

        Surely BC isn’t that paranoid that he wont show some kind if affection to the woman he loves.

      • MissMary says:

        The people saying how happy he looks are the stans on Tumblr and twitter, who are also calling SH “perf” and “soooooooooooooooo talented!”. He showed more affection on a friends outing w/Dakota Johnson ffs than he has in the entire time he’s been spotted w/SH. Even counting pics where they had no idea they were being snapped and were casual and just in one another’s company.

    • Pissedoffadmirer says:

      That!! I got married within 12 months while in college. I was happy as hell despite my final exam pressures and project and added shopping and planning . Everybody said I was glowing. Where’s the glow in this guy? He looks like a grumpy 50yr old with a teenager son problem

  65. CoCo says:

    First time poster long time lurker. Question: not sure if BC or SH was mastermind of her bizarre arrival to TIG premiere at LFF, but if BC/SH isn’t comfortable going public in London, what will awards season in US be like? Can you imagine the gossip fodder and blind items if they keep the shenanigans up? It has been suggested this is a good move for him professionally and personally bc it gives a different angle to write about during awards season. If they keep up the immature antics, not so sure this is a good move. Plus, hard to be happy for him personally when most recent picture together was at FO. If this behavior is what true love looks like, I will cling to being a singleton.

    Also, I need an image of SH to retain that doesn’t involve a floppy octopus to be happy for him.

    Kaiser, you need to get up on this and start digging. Because you are missing quite the show.

    • MountainRunner says:

      I keep wondering that if SH was so unwilling to walk the red carpet at the LFF premier, will she walk it in NY or stay home? If so joins him, will she look like a sourpuss because she’s only doing it because she feels pressured to do what any normal fiancee would do? Or will she suddenly look delighted to be joining the man she loves on his big night? Whatever happens, I’m sure there’ll be lots of commentary here…

      • MissMary says:

        I honestly don’t think SH has a problem on red carpets–she was quite happy to have her own car to arrive in, and to pose for the cameras for a moment, and walk slow up the red carpet and be seen. That didn’t faze her one bit.

      • MountainRunner says:

        MissMary, I meant to say walk *with BC*. I agree, she didn’t seem to have a problem putting herself in front of the photogs at the hotel and walking the red carpet, per se.

    • MissLouLou says:

      On EB awhile back, there was a link to an interview SH did, talking about red carpets and such. I cant find the link (mainly because I’m too lazy to go digging through their archives) but she said something along the lines of she doesn’t really ‘do’ red carpets with people more famous than she is, because that’s what ‘odious’ people do. Not quoting verbatim, mind you, but the odious comment sticks in my mind. She was with that artist bloke at the time.

      • MissMary says:

        She’s extremely pretentious, ngl. I get not wanting to look like a coat tail rider but at the same time, you’re in an LTR with someone, don’t you want to support their project, esp if it’s a big event?

      • CoCo says:

        @MissLouLou I remember that interview or quote. In the context of the time when she was with the artist, I suppose it makes sense. If you are the girlfriend of someone more famous don’t you want to support them? But looking back on LFF, with this engagement, her behavior seems more odd. Why arrive by yourself? Her aloneness with rumors of the relationship made it seem off. Plus the facial expressions; dear heaven. Would say I am over analyzing but too many voice similar opinions.

      • Nic says:

        Ironically, that’s a rather odious thing to say. I understand not wanting to do a red carpet because you don’t want the attention but not doing it due to the fact that your partner is more famous than you and you think it would raise eyebrows. Well… That’s just…. odious.

      • MissLouLou says:

        Exactly @MissMary.

        And yes, CoCo, there are quite a few people voicing the same thoughts. Hell, even my sister,who is in no way a BC fan, didn’t even know who he was until I showed her, has said a few things about this whole thing. Asked how, within a month, they go from not being able to walk a red carpet or into a restaurant together to being engaged.

      • CoCo says:

        MissMary I know what you mean about visiting websites too much to read about BC. But since August or so I have felt like I am watching the beginnings of a train wreck without being able to articulate why I felt this way. It isn’t necessarily that I question SH’s character. I mean, I question wearing a baby bump to formal party and rolling around on the floor, but chalk that up to her being from theatre. Know a lot of people in theatre and just a different breed. Now so many people are voicing frame concerns don’t feel off in my assessment.

      • Cate says:

        I really think they might be going the Chris Martin and GOOP route the more I think about it. Those two never did red carpets together. Chris Martin was always running away or sulking when he was caught in public with her by photogs and so on. And apparently that privacy thing was his idea. Gwyneth didn’t like it much. Ironically they now seem to be more comfortable after their ‘conscious uncoupling’. So erm, is this engagement Benedict’s and Sophie’s ‘conscious coupling’?! But what a sad and fruitless endeavour to avoid all public places, parties and red carpets with a very famous partner, esp. while living in a city like London and frequently visiting NYC and LA for work. I mean, I can see not being a plus one all the time, but why not do a red carpet? You did choose this man and the life that comes with him, there’s always a choice to not go trough with it, let’s be honest. And it’s never a coincidence if you keep on falling in love with very famous men in their fields, she’s drawn to them. So accept they come with the spotlight then or figure out why you keep on falling in love with men who lead the sort of life due to their fame and profession that you can’t handle. Just some late night advice. Free, no charge. I’ll stop now… 😉

  66. Christina says:

    Just saw the fotos from LA airport. There’s no ring on his finger, as far as I could have seen. Absolutely weird the whole thing. No ring, no fotos together, she’s not with him in LA, this fast engagement, no comments from both, he doesn’t look happy … but normaly he should have an implanted smile.

    • Nic says:

      Well guys wouldn’t wear an engagement ring anyway, though..

    • Ingrid says:

      Men in UK/US don’t wear engagement rings.

      But otherwise yeah, for the best actor of his generation, he’s doing truly sh*t job at selling the whole “whirlwind 5-month romance and engagement, we are so in love” thing.

      But God I hope he’s actually happy and knows what he’s doing.

      • Renee says:

        Ingrid: THIS. You’d think he’d do a better acting job. I really do hope he knows what he’s doing and that he actually *is* happy.

      • HBIC says:

        Please… he’s not happy. The look on his face says it ALL.

  67. Kazlock 1307 says:

    Renee.Me either.
    I really hope she gets loads of work offers and makes a swift exit…

    • Pissedoffadmirer says:

      thank you for saying that. Though I totally see a wedding just to prove the “crazy” fanbase wrong

    • MissMary says:

      Well, given her work we can see online, I don’t see her getting a heap of acting offers. Maybe her new connection to BC will swing some theatre work her way.

  68. Surprised Cynic says:

    OK, wow, so I don’t know where to begin, but I’ll give it a try. A long time CB lurker here who has never actually posted, but the recent engagement threads have made me change my mind.
    I have to say all the vitriol/negativity/conspiracy theories have taken me by surprise, and that is really saying something as I’m a natural born pessimist/cynic/doubting Tomas. All in all, yeah, the engagement was a surprise, but then again why not? Even if they have been dating just five months, these things happen, they’ve known each other for years. Whether it’s true love, settling or something else, time will tell how it ends. I don’t care about SH and BC is still a very fun hobby.
    But a few things have been bugging me.

    1) The “he’s changed part” – how so? And no, I’m not one of the fans embarrassing themselves by trying to put him back on the pedestal. If nothing else, for me, he was never even there. One of the reasons I’m his fan is precisely because he’s always been a mish-mash of everything which made him seem human. He was always on the catty side, weary of fame and working towards it at the same time, bending over backwards to please his fans and then being unnecessarily rude to them.

    2) He’s gone Hollywood – well, if wanting to get good roles in big (Hollywood) productions means he’s gone Hollywood, then so be it. But otherwise, really? We are talking about an English theatre luvvy who still lives in the same flat he’s been living for years, whose closest circle is made of long-time or childhood friend who are virtually unknown to the public. His entourage (LOL) consists out of a middle-aged PR woman with a knack for cleavages, tans and chav-style clothes, plus his own niece! Good God, George Clooney/any other major star must be green with envy!

    3) Karon has her hands full with this engagement – sorry, but in which universe is that true? 99% of the general public and probably 90% of his fans don’t even have a clue about the so called “cloak and dagger” relationship with SH that has been talked about ad nauseam on this site. So to them, even if the engagement was a surprise, the story is what it is – two old friends fell in love and decided to get married. The LFF? BC going to Freeman’s play with SH and Andrew and SH not staying for the drinks? Not to be rude, but no one either knows, nor cares about such things which are usually unreliable gossip from sites like EB or titbits dug up by obsessive fans from people who have spotted him.

    4) This is a PR relationship set up by his PR or Weinstein – again, really? Yes, I don’t know him from Adam, but let’s look at it this way. First, if this was a PR relationship, wouldn’t SH be hanging of off his arm right now in LA? Wouldn’t we have at least one set of pap pics with them being all lovey-dovey? And who orchestrates a PR relationship and then tries to deny there is a relationship in the first place? Perhaps this is going to be the first hidden showmance in the history of PR. Second, he’s been in the business for over 15 years, one way or the other, and has never or rarely pulled off such tricks. This level of PR is something even the Kardashians would probably think about twice, yet some of you have no qualms believe it to be true in BC case. Sure, people change, but how about some benefit of the doubt based on previous track record?

    5) BC’s PR has been working overtime to hype up SH’s CV. – Yes, BC is playing the game, he is campaigning at a degree and promoting the hell out of this movie. But his PR is a small London firm. They absolutely do not have the sort of influence/pull to convince everyone – from personal Tumblrs and blogs to rag giants such as Daily Mail to serious publications such as Times – to write gushing articles about SH. If they did, then why can’t the royal family (or any other celebrity) prevent them from writing whatever they want?

    Sorry about the loooong post, it will probably be too long to read for most and it certainly isn’t in the same vein as most of the post here, but I just had to speak my mind 🙂

    • Nic says:

      Don’t underestimate the influence PR has. Even small PR.
      I’m not saying I think it is manufactured for press, but don’t believe that you need to be outlandish with a relationship for it to cause a buzz. As I say, she was hardly hidden at the LFF.

      • Surprised Cynic says:

        Except for a small catch – no one to this day knows/mentions she was even at LFF, much less that he was hiding her. Even now when the engagement news blew up, not a single publication used her photo from the event. If it has created buzz, how do you explain that?

      • MissMary says:

        Two POVs, kinda. The cynical one is that LFF didn’t create *enough* buzz for his purposes/their purposes. So they escalated. Papped at a known pap hotspot for example. Then escalated till they got some headlines and media attention and his name all over. The not cynical one: No one cares about SH and we’d still be going “eh, who?” if this whole thing hadn’t gone down. By this time next year, no one would’ve remembered her being at LFF otherwise.

        And nothing anyone can say will convince me she wasn’t there to *be seen* and not support a “friend” or “loved one”. She posed, she made a small grand entrance, the infamous umbrella thing… she/they knew what was up and were working it.

      • Nic says:

        It would have created buzz because she had her own car which deposited her in prime place in front of fans. Just because there were no press reports, doesn’t mean there was no buzz. In fact, there *was* a buzz. She was photographed making her v public exit from the hotel and she was the only one not in the cast and crew to arrive in the car. It was the biggest display of we’re so clearly together but pretending we’re not together there was. A private arrival could’ve been the same as all the other guests who just made their own quiet way onto the carpet.

      • MissMary says:

        ^^this. It was very ham-handed if this is a couple trying to be on the DL and private. It was a very “don’t look at me but look at me!” situation and I think that’s where some major side eye and wtf started in his fans/admirers. His parents, his friends who attended–every last one of them managed to go in and out without being heavily papped (there are those pics of his dad with fans but it wasn’t a weird pap ambush thing). They were private and low key. If SH (and BC) were truly aiming for privacy, that (and going to a pap hot spot) are not the ways to go about it.

      • MountainRunner says:

        Yep, to Nic and MissMary. The LFF premier is precisely where I said WTF and probably when I started commenting on this site, because her behavior was so strange. Up until that point, they just seemed to be dating quietly and I figured it was getting serious when he took her to JR’s wedding. How she arrived at the LFF premier didn’t make a lick of of sense to me from any angle I looked at it. I had hoped someone might come up with some logical reason why she’d ensure her getting noticed coming out of the hotel and being escorted on the red carpet yet attempt to give the impression she wasn’t his girlfriend when the tabs were calling her such, but no one could come up with anything here, at least.

        Add the engagement a month later and it goes down as the most bizzare way to handle a celeb romance that I’ve ever seen. I keep hoping it’s credible and that they really do love each other (and can act like it privately, at least), but they sure make it hard to see it as some grand romance worth celebrating.

      • Sandi says:

        I could be wrong, but I thought she was only ‘noticed’ at the hotel because they thought she was someone else entirely.

      • MountainRunner says:

        Sandi, I was under the impression that the paps were taking snaps of everyone coming out. They may have initially mis-labeled her picture, but she was discovered soon enough once they were sold/published.

        If I was trying not to get noticed, I’d be avoiding a sea of cameras at the hotel by going out another door and avoiding the red carpet altogether, as she was photographed and videotaped arriving there too.

      • Nic says:

        Exactly. It’s more the fact that she chose to walk out into all those photographers in the first place.

        Everyone would’ve known they’d be there and I’m sure she needn’t have been at the hotel at all. Not if she wanted to be unnoticed.

      • Sandi says:

        Ah, of course you’re correct on that angle of it Miss Mary and Nic, but no one really noticed outside the fandom and a few tabs, right? Or I could be wrong.

    • Moodgirl says:

      Karon is that you?

      • Surprised Cynic says:

        Yes, of course it’s me! Glad someone figured it out! Because after a 12-hour-flight and in between hopping with my main client around Hollywood, I had nothing better to do, but to call myself a chav and my client a bitchy luvvy on a gossip blog.

        But then again, I might just be using reverse psychology. I’m just that cleaver 🙂

      • MissMary says:

        LOL damn it, internet, for making me suspicious of sarcasm in written form!

    • Nic says:

      Also, I really haven’t seen much of the ‘vitriol’ you mentioned?

    • A. Key says:

      @S. Cynic
      I think it’s because he’s famous and he was single for quite a long time. Well “long” for a famous attractive celebrity anyway. If this were some random Joe, no one would think of all these conspiracies as to why he’s suddenly decided to marry a random woman no one’s heard about 5 months before.

      Happens all the time around me. People meet, and they just go “lets do it!” for no other reason than the fact they like each other a lot, enjoy each other’s company and they feel ready to finally build a life together with someone. Sometimes this happens when you’re in your early 20s, sometimes when you’re in your late 30s, sometimes in your early 50s! Hey it’s all normal, different people out there.

      But since he’s famous, it can’t be this simple and random, it has to be a well thought out planned conspiracy. And if he’s not being overly affectionate like in a romantic comedy, then something’s wrong and it’s further proof of said conspiracy, lol.

      I’m not affectionate in public either, I loathe the idea of parading my SO around friends and acquaintances and I do not talk about my love life in general. So what? Does this mean there’s something weird and wrong there? Eh lol, no. I’m naturally private and reserved. And I’m not famous and no one really cares about my love life.
      Can’t imagine what it’s like to be famous and naturally reserved like me when it comes to these things.

      • Nic says:

        Y’know, it really isn’t anything to do with him being famous. These far more too it than that.

        I think people are overplaying the word ‘conspiracy’ here. People are largely just confused. And as for public affection..it’s not really that either. You don’t have to be touching someone to demonstrate a connection.

  69. Christina says:

    To Ingrid: thank’s, I havn’t known that ring-thing.
    I think they are dating since January this year. There was a little remark from himself in an interview I thought uuugh he maybe have a girlfriend. And than a few weeks later an other remark from a friend of him to the press. So they are together maybe since 10 month. But that’s still a short time to get engaged.

    • MissLouLou says:

      If he has been with her since January (which I doubt), then he was also having women on the side. He was spotted with numerous women between Jan-Apr (including Lady K) . So either it would have either been an open relationship or he’s a douche.

    • Nic says:

      Nope. I’d bet my last penny she was nowhere near him in Jan. He was all over the place until mid may. And if the friend comment you’re talking about was Rebecca Eaton. Nobody ever found out what that was and I’d hardly imagine she’s his friend. Why would she know if he’s seeing someone or not?

  70. Ellen says:

    Well I’ve been having a look at the revised addition of who’s the new best bachelor on several celebrity sites and magazines and it appears that Fassy and Hiddles are battling it out for the new top spot.

    I’ve never had a problem with Sophie but I will say this, I’m more inclined to believe he got engaged for his Oscar campaign due to the short amount of time they’ve been together romantically. I know Eddie and Hannah got engaged but they’ve been together for a good few years plus you can see they’re loved up. Unless Sophie is pregnant

    • Christina says:

      To Ellen: I agree this could be. It is also my guess. Maybe she is pregnant. This would explain the fast engagement and his crumpy face. Sure he wants children, but only with the right woman – he said in several interviews. And that he want to test it out if a relationship will last. So when SH is pregnant he has to skip it all and marry a woman he maybe is not in love with. And this fact could be worse for him. That’s in contrast with his old fashioned opinions and his plans for the future.

      • Lucifer says:

        There are always ways for an unwanted child. its 2014. there are lots of single parents happily out thr even if they wanted to keep the child, child ll grow up in minutes.He is the one who ll need to stay with this woman

      • MissMary says:

        @Lucifer: THis goes into my SO’s theory–if he DOES have a kid with SH, it’ll be strictly so he can have someone to share custody with post-divorce and be single again, still have the kid, and also someone to take care of the child who is invested and loves it and won’t sell stories to the tabs or paps.

      • Moodgirl says:

        @missmary

        I hope that baby is born wearing an overcoat and hat because sh doesn’t appeat to radiate much warmth.

      • gg says:

        Also keep in mind: if she is pregnant and they marry or even are living together that means he will have a newborn at home while he is rehearsing and performing in Hamlet! I think that may account for the worried look on his face. This is a very high-stakes play for him and the timing of a baby could not possibly be worse.

      • MissMary says:

        I’ll have another huge serving of crow if she’s pregnant. I think this is all stunningly bad PR timing, one way or another, and not an “OMG she’s pregnant!” thing. It’d be a hugely bad idea to start having a baby right now, esp as he’s going ot be out of pocket virtually all of 2015. Unless he was lying or changed his mind about being involved in his child’s upbringing and is fine not being there for the first several months to year of their existence as he’s filming and doing Hamlet.

  71. Cricket9 says:

    I was on the “congratulations, good for you” wagon until I realized that none of the Sherlock people who are on Twitter, except Arwel Jones, said one word about the engagement – not to mention congratulations. Not Amanda, not Louise, not Mark Gattiss, who actually re-tweeted a rather weird tweet with SH picture. Either they don’t like her at all, or they know something we don’t know…I find it really weird and suspicious; I may buy a ticket for the conspiracy train. I’ve also seen BC old pictures with Olivia; there’s one with both of them standing on the street, nothing’s happening, but there is a very strong sense of intimacy between them. Not one picture with SH shows an ounce of it. Even at the James Rhodes’ wedding she looks gloomy, and he looks uninterested in her. Damn it, something is on…

    • Christina says:

      Do you mean the mom-to-be-and-drinking-tweet? It’s really weird and mysterious. What could that mean?

      • MissMary says:

        @Christina: Someone on EB said there was a tweet suggesting SH didn’t go to the LFF after party to avoid drinking. Never mind there were tons of non alcoholic drinks on hand and, as any person who has been pregnant can tell you, it’s perfectly fine to be in a room with booze. It won’t jump up your cooch and get to the baby. So it was rumormongering and nothing legit or founded.

      • gg says:

        To me it’s not so much “OMG pregnant woman in same room with alcohol!” (especially since they are far less nannyish about that in Europe….at least until recently). It’s that maybe she was feeling ill (all-day morning sickness) or tired. Of course that could be true pregnant or not I suppose. But she also wasn’t at the afterparty when most of the Sherlock cast went to see Martin Freeman in Richard III, although we know she saw the play and was sitting between Benedict and Andrew Scott. I do get the feeling that a lot of his friends, if they don’t outright dislike her, think they whole thing has happened too fast.

      • MissMary says:

        She didn’t hang out after the Elbow concert, either, according to most accounts that put her at the concert (though some say she wasn’t there and that’s one of the ‘iffy’ sightings). He basically hasn’t been with her in any more casual settings, be it the GQ after party where a lot of folks brought their SOs that weren’t at the awards itself, to the LFF after party, or a hang out after a concert or basically any low key event where he may or may not be papped or “spotted.” All the verified sightings are at higher profile events. I get the feeling that not only is this very PR based, no matter if they’re in love or not, but that his friends/associates don’t care much for her (esp given the very loud silence when it comes to congrats from people he has readily identified as friends and who have had zero problem posting about him and his successes and also just being silly about him/at him on twitter and other social media).

        Re the play, adding before I forget… having been pregnant and been one of those people who was sick all through it, sitting in a theatre, closed in between people with no way to get up or out, would be *far* more miserable than going to a party where there’s a possibility of easy departure, a cold drink, or somewhere to sit without people up on you.

    • Lucifer says:

      Maybe he really got better at acting 😛

    • MissMary says:

      He even looked more loved up with Lydia Hearst and they were openly admitting to be casual FWB. Hell, he looked more loved up with KE and that was no LTR. The only other time I’ve seen him in pics distant from a woman he was “on a date” with? Liv Tyler. And nothing came of that.

    • Moodgirl says:

      Get your ticket here!!!!!

  72. MountainRunner says:

    Wow, 544 comments on this post. If there no new Batch post before Monday, this post could surpass the 734 comments on the engagement announcement. If there’s any other big new (marriage, baby), I suspect Cumby may be claiming most (if not all!) of the top 10 spots on the “most commented” list of 2014.

    I really need to get a life one these days… 🙂

  73. MissMary says:

    As an aside… I honestly don’t think he’ll get married and have a kid just to prove “crazy fans” wrong. I think he’d much rather be seen as someone who was dedicated to his work and give a “well, love is grand but it doesn’t always work the way you want it to” speech instead of someone who is married/family man, but is miserable. As much as he’d sacrifice for a stellar career, I don’t think his happiness PLUS the happiness of a potential child AND another adult is something he’d be willing to do.

    That’s my two cents. I may be wrong. I may be hella wrong. They may be Princess Bride Disney Happily Ever After In Love and it’s all blue birds and supercalifragiliciousexpealidocious all day long.

    • Surprised Cynic says:

      And there is no middle ground to this? It’s either the most diabolic and clumsily followed through PR stunt in the history of show business or a super-duper-mega-turbo love story that would put even the most delusional Tumblrites to shame?
      I don’t know, but from my experience, the truth is usually somewhere in the middle.

      • MissMary says:

        Oh, it’s probably nothing like what I’m imagining, for sure. But my money is more heavily on the side of this being somehow a PR move, whether they are legit in love or not, than it being “hey, we’re crazy for one another and just didn’t realize how bad this looks timing-wise”.

      • Surprised Cynic says:

        Fair enough and I could actually somewhat agree with you. Anything is possible and I would certainly never vouch for a stranger. It’s just that some of these conspiracy theories and the certainty with which some approach the life of a person they never even met are a bit much for my taste, even on a gossip blog.

    • Lucifer says:

      Now onwards I shall believe if he shaves his head and does salsa with karon on the LA streets saying Oh m gonna be a daddy.. NOTHING surprises me anymore about this person.

  74. Surprised Cynic says:

    An honest question, not trying to ruffle anyone’s feathers. Words like „LFF debacle“, „SH-gate“, „PR-disaster“ keep popping up. But could someone point me as to where they exists in the real world or at least in the media? Because I haven’t seen even one smidge of this. And yes, I’m excluding this site, EB and a couple of insane Twitter accounts.

    • MissMary says:

      I think it’s just in his fandom lol. Outside of it, most folks aren’t aware of who he is or, if they know him from movies or Sherlock, they aren’t really into fandom like going to gossip sites or tumblr or twitter. It’s just “–gate” or “debacle” for folks here, I think. And even then, not all folks.

    • lunchcoma says:

      I’ve seen his engagement reported elsewhere and also some discussion of fans’ reactions to it, but no one else seems to view this as a disaster. The narratives are “internet crush dude got engaged and his fans are losing it” and “who’s that?”

    • Freebunny says:

      cause outside here no one cares enough about him and his antics….

      • Felice says:

        and there wouldn’t be 800 comment posts if he just acted normal and not like someone put a red sock into his whites.

      • MissMary says:

        If he/they’d gone about dating(*cough*) and this engagement (*COUGH*) like just about every other couple who is even partially in the public eye (in other words, like a normal couple with more money, basically), no one would be batting an eye. There’d be some fan wibble from a small group but overall, it’d be “Well, he picked a basic type, didn’t he?” and life would go on and there’d be a handful of comments, but not like this.

    • From North of Boston says:

      That’s a very reasonable question, @Surprised Cynic.

      The only place that there seems to be drama over any of this is in online forums like this and EB. And much of the drama, offense, perception of PR disaster doesn’t seem to be based on anything aside from the expectations or imaginations of a few dozen people on the internet. Same with all the conspiracy theories, or “insights” into the nature of the BC/SH relationship…some people in this comments section and EB may be tied up in knots about it, but those things don’t seem to have any bearing on how he’s viewed in the big wide world.

      Out in the real world, there doesn’t seem to be any hint of disaster or debacles. His appearance at the TIG screening yesterday was standing room only, and seemed to have a positive response from attendees, fans and autograph hunters still greeted him at the airport looking for photos and signatures. He’s not being shunned or shouted down at public appearances or anything like that. The press that have picked up on fan reactions have focused on the mythical “oh no my life is ruined, Benedict Cumberbatch going to marry someone who is not me” fans; not a peep about any big PR failings or questioning the legitimacy of the relationship or his professional standing because of it.

      The man got engaged to a woman he has been dating, someone who is close to his own age and who works in the same industry, someone who he’s known for years and neither of them is currently married to someone else. Neither of them appear to spend their free time kicking puppies, scoring drugs on street corners, making drunken fools of themselves in public or stealing the retirement funds of senior citizens. There’s no big scandal here, is there? Why are so many people acting here like he’s committed some horrible crime getting engaged to her? Or think that this is somehow going to be the downfall of his career or at least some big PR mess?

      Not that I think people are required to be jumping for joy or anything, or are required to like SH just because Cumberbatch is dating her (i’m sort of meh on her myself…waiting to see her actually interact with him before I step one way or the other) but I do think the some of the outrage/judgement/conspiracy spinning/doom and gloom predictions I’ve seen here have been a bit OTT.

      • Maggie says:

        @ North of Boston

        I wish there were “like” buttons on this site.

        A decent, talented man, with a scandal free past, got engaged to a woman close to his age, again without a scandalous past. Congratulations to the pair of them. I hope they will be very happy.

      • sigh((s)) says:

        Meh. Of course the media isn’t going off on weird conspiracy theories. They tend to tow the party line. It’s what they do. Clooneys = exhibit A. No big conspiracy theories there, just what is she wearing? And yet, you come here and it’s all, she’s a beard! It’s all for PR! She’s a gold-digging famewhore! Picking apart every appearance, every interview, every photo they’re in together. I really see no difference in the threads between these couples, except the Clooneys had way more detractors.
        I honestly think most people here just view this as a very interesting distraction and are having fun with theories. At least I am. Most of us aren’t wishing them ill. Just the opposite, in fact. It’s just been strange, which is making it more notable.

      • From North of Boston says:

        Thanks @maggie.

        @sigh((s)) Oh, I can understand having fun with theories and gossip. This just seems like it turned a corner somewhere in the last couple of threads, with rumblings of PR disasters and career doom, etc. taken as a given with no real world reactions to base it on, and for a couple with nothing really scandalous about them.

        But, wait a second…what are you doing replying…don’t you have a pregnancy time table to be polishing up? lol! 😀

      • lola says:

        Will, he is beaming happiness, isn’t he. That’s why.
        If I loved someone and was thinking of marrying him I probably wouldn’t be able to hide my happiness. I would love to see my future hubby being at least as happy. BC looks like he is literally sick.
        And if I can be honest … Your posts of support are in fact at least as strange as ours (filled with doubt) are.

      • From North of Boston says:

        “And if I can be honest … Your posts of support are in fact at least as strange as ours (filled with doubt) are.”

        @lola , I am curious. What, particularly, was strange about my posts?

      • sigh((s)) says:

        Lol, NOB. (Sorry, I wasn’t calling you a knob, your initials just work out that way!) – that’s the end of the timetable, I’m afraid. Until somebody starts popping out puppies, that’s all I’ve got.
        Seriously, I liken this to gossiping about my old neighbors who had an extremely strange living situation. It took my husband and I 4 years to figure that one out. maybe them moving left an opening to stretch my detective muscle, and BC is bearing the brunt of it.

      • Freebunny says:

        Only IMdB can think all is great about this engagement….

      • gg says:

        @Freebunny: and Facebook, and certain stans on Tumblr

      • A. Key says:

        That’s because nobody cares about BC outside of the internet. Actually outside of the tumblr/twitter fandom, lol.

      • Cricket9 says:

        I like how you think… despite some doubts.

    • Claire says:

      they’re not really disaster or debacles. just weird behavior the fans have noticed and they’re giving a name to it. I’m not sure why they need to exaggerate it, but it IS weird behavior to anyone who’s met and or watched him in interviews for years.

  75. Kazlock 1307 says:

    New EB chatroom theory….
    SH is def pregnant. Around the time of his birthday.That’s why she didn’t get out of the car st Quaglinos. She started to show……

    • MissMary says:

      *eye roll*

      She got out of the car. Just not with him. And they left separately–trust me–if she’d been even a little “showing,” a pap would’ve been on that like white on rice, as hard as they were trying for pics of them together or connected together. And that was a few days after LFF–she was definitely not “showing”. there’s this weird desperation on EB for her to be pregnant now that they’re engaged–they DO know women don’t have to get knocked up the second a proposal is made, right? Or that people don’t “have to” get married anymore in most of the western world if they get pregnant?

      • Nic says:

        Ffs

        Kaz, you really are going to be busy if you are going to carry over every bullshit nutjob theory from that weird place.

      • CoCo says:

        You know, I really think this engagement was a spur of the moment thing with no forethought on BC’s part. He isn’t unintelligent but doesn’t strike me in interviews as most strategic thinker. But who knows. I have wasted too many little grey cells and hours trying to apply logic to a situation where I am not sure logic exists. Perhaps BC and SH will be the Wesley and Princess Buttercup of London’s artsy, privileged, upper crust crowd. The sad thing is, I just don’t want to hear about him for a while so I can miss his acting. Bummed.

      • MissMary says:

        I’m just about there with you. I’ve been a fan of his since before Sherlock made him famous and right now I’m like “ugh, here he is again…” I’d love to actually miss seeing his name on websites for a while, lol, and feel excited about his upcoming work again. It’s partially my own fault for looking at gossip sites.

      • MountainRunner says:

        I’m actually missing Hiddles and his antics right now…

      • Intro Outro says:

        @MountainRunner: IKR? I have often criticised Hiddleston for his PR antics but the stuff that’s gone down with Cumberbatch’s PR actually made me reconsider some of my criticisms 😉 I think I should stop reading BC’s interviews, too. He just keeps rubbing me the wrong way recently.

      • Dakota M. says:

        @CoCo

        Totally that!!

      • Claire says:

        i love you kaz, but nic is right. don’t believe everything you read

  76. Me says:

    With regard to those who think BC’s use of the word “supportive,” when describing the fandom reaction, is “weird:” I don’t think it’s all that weird when you consider that he, his camp and pretty much all of the free world think that his fandom is certifiably insane. I don’t think that’s fair, but that’s how his fans are thought of.

    • Dakota M. says:

      @Me
      But wouldn’t that make it more weird?

      If he, his camp and pretty much all of the free world think the fandom is certifiably insane, why on earth would he say he was pleased that this posse of total nutters were supportive?

      Read on the BaftaLa live tweet thing that he said he was pleased, I realize @Me didn’t say that.

      • Renee says:

        What’s he gonna say? That he thinks his fans are all a bunch of floral-wearing wackos who should get a life and not worry about his?? Nope…he gave the stock PR answer.

      • Cricket9 says:

        The free world THINKS his fandom is certifiably insane because of a small group of certifiable insane people that you can find, pretty much, in every fandom, and because the media focus on them – it sells. I was just waiting for headlines “fangirls jumping off the cliffs world-wide after BC got engaged”. Of course there were expectations of hate mail and I’m not sure what else – death threats? Well, no, and that’s why there was a strong drive to show support along the lines “we are happy for him”. In general, I think he’s super-nice to the fans, but being bugged by wackos (and yes, they are out there – it’s just not the majority of the fans) when you are clearly in a private setting, not a promo event or a con, asking for photos, autographs, handshakes, “would Sherlock fancy me?” and other inane questions would drive anyone up the wall.

      • Claire says:

        ^don’t forget the Viking fleet

      • Me says:

        @Dakota – That’s my point. The “supportive” answer shows surprise that his fans aren’t lighting the torches in preparation to storm the castle.

        Speaking of storming castles. It’s pretty strange that there are so many people who care about strangers’ opinions of the celebrities who they don’t know. Vitriol is different from criticism. Criticism of a celebrity on a gossip site is not abnormal. It’s pretty much 50% of what gossip sites are for. The other 50% would be gushing about said celebrity whom no one knows personally. It’s called gossip.

    • Lucifer says:

      i keep saying this. But i so hear wedding bells!!

  77. Me says:

    I believe people can have that lightning bolt moment. Especially when they’re older. But I still think this is weird.

    I side eye his entire approach to all of this.

    The man deserves some privacy. But it’s unnatural to go to the drastic lengths he did in order to hide such a special connection. I don’t think the man looks sad these days. I think he looks angry. Like at life or something. He looks really bitter about the public. If they were going to get engaged this early, it’s weird to get that whole society announcement out there so soon. You know, if it was supposed to be such a secret relationship. He easily could have just told his friends and loved ones. I sincerely believe they have his back 1 million percent and would not tell the press.

    Sophie does not appear to be what he described as his ideal. I guess a lot of people say they didn’t end up with who they imagined. And I can see where they would click. (She’s a trophy in their culture.) But…

    It honestly kind of feels like BC actively was more concerned with mind freaking the public than nurturing his love and living his life. Privacy is different than out right hiding.

    Not so much “insulted” or “hurt,” I (as one of his fans) just find that to be strange, creepy, unhealthy, dishonest and a bit more unhinged than any Cumberbish is – as well as disrespectful and unfair to Sophie. Even if she was cool with it, to escape pap glare, a real man would say, “Honey, if we’re going to do this, you have to get ready because it’s going to happen.”

    This is ludicrous. And real. And going to happen. I have a weird feeling it will last too. But they do seem to be an “odious” couple.

    PS – After 1824, who the eff actually used the word “odious” in casual conversation? Maybe Sophie can get a gig as a spokesperson for the OED or something.

    PPS – There is actually a photo of her smiling broadly at the Open this summer. I wonder why that one never circulated? Cos BC wasn’t in it? Hmnnn….

    • Lucifer says:

      He WILL MAKE it last to prove the theory of sham engagement for oscar wrong.. And if u ask me the woman he described he wud like to be with is nt as hard to find if not in acting profession. He could have gotten out of his comfort zone and look into other professions and land up a better human being, I even picture him better with lupita. And for the angry part yess. why so angry?

  78. sigh((s)) says:

    So, I’m trying to work out a pregnancy timeline. Most people don’t show stil at least 3 months, especially with a first one. I didn’t have to start leaving my button undone til month 4. So let’s say she got preggers back in late July. Maybe they were having some funsies after the FO, little too drunk on ice cream, and ended up having a long fling.

    Didn’t we not see her for awhile after that? And then she started showing up? I really don’t remember. Does anyone know what the first appearance with her after the FO was? Anyhoo, so then maybe it was like a, ok, maybe we should try to work on this what with a bundle on the way.

    While I think he’s fairly progressive as far as women don’t have to get married just cause they’re preg , he does still seem rather traditional to me. And if she’s a good fit on paper, so why not?

    Maybe that’s why he’s seemed so stressed/depressed lately. (Though I think he’s been that way for much longer). Just a theory to add to the mix. I’m not saying I believe anything that I’m writing. But if I am right and there’s a pregnancy announcement soon, then I want a cookie.

    • MissMary says:

      I’m pretty sure that, if she were preggers, it’d have been out already. Either her family would’ve said something or there’d have been a comment about “the new addition” from Rhodes or someone (esp as he seems keen on sharing all kinds of info about BC and being coy about it). I doubt she’s pregnant–I think she’s just convenient.

      • sigh((s)) says:

        Maybe they haven’t told everyone yet? Even friends keep that kind of thing quiet sometimes. Especially from friends that tweet.

    • Nic says:

      Think you’re gonna have to buy your own cookie, sighs. 😉

    • Lucifer says:

      i want a cookie too

  79. MissWolfe says:

    I dunno if you guys saw this yet or not, but I just saw this on my feed.
    http://youtu.be/EX-XiHEiFEE
    Can’t you just feel the happiness through the computer? Ffttt. 😛

    • MissMary says:

      there’s a pic or two of him with fans last night and he looks so effin’ *thrilled*. COmpare that to pics from the beginning of the year, even up into the spring, where he’s at least smiling and looking reasonably pleasant…

    • MaxinedeCamp says:

      Long time lurker, BC fan (altho not obsessed nutter), but had to comment regarding the video with him looking pissed signing autographs for “fans” at LAX. Not dismissing the comments that he’s been looking a bit more miserable of late (I have my own, far more boring theories about certain aspects of fame being not all he thought it would be), but WRT that specific video, I used the scare quotes on fans, because those were all middle-aged men that to my eyes appeared to be autograph hunters. From accounts I’ve read (about auto hounds in general, not specific to BC), they are rude, aggressive, want multiple pics signed to sell for profit. I, for one, am not side-eying BC for being pissy with them in any situation. I’m more surprised he didn’t just barrel through them.

    • OhHey says:

      He just got off a LONG flight, probably exhausted, who likes to deal with having stuff shoved in your face after that? While I agree he has looked miserable lately, I think the flight might account for that. That said, wouldn’t it be customary to have an engagement picture of the together? No?

  80. sigh((s)) says:

    The strangest thing to me is the lack of congratulatory tweeting by his friends. Not that I even understand twitter or whatever, but the silence is just….strange. And if it was a blanket silence from EVERYONE, I would understand it as a respect for his privacy and not wanting to rile up the twitter girls, except that james Rhodes has tweeted about it and not deleted anything. Why the lone wolf? Weird.
    From what you guys have said, someone tweeted AA the announcement and she went aaaah or something and then deleted it? That seems like she didn’t know anything about it, to me. And wouldn’t you normally tell your friends before you out it in the paper and have your publicist confirm it?

    • MissMary says:

      The fact that his friends, esp Adam Ackland (who retweeted a link to an article about it, then deleted it like five minutes later) are so quiet is odd. And these are people who will openly tweet sex jokes about him, take the piss out of him on social media, and post congratulatory messages. Mark Gatiss retweeted something with a pic of Sophie from the Daily Mail and the joking title of “everything is all women’s fault” (the article was “this woman will be mrs cumberbatch”) but that’s hardly congratulatory, is it? Maybe they all sent him congrats in private but it is just odd that a group of people who so readily cheer him and pick on him (in a friendly way) in public aren’t saying even a simple “congrats” in public. SOmeone else said it was odd his parents haven’t issued a statement but hers went right to the media to express their happiness. That strikes me as a bit odd, too, esp the further out from the announcement we get. But…on one hand, who knows what’s going on in private. On the other… it’s odd.

      • Megan says:

        I wonder what Mark meant by that comment.

      • Madly says:

        I wonder what Mark meant by that comment.

      • gg says:

        Mark did not comment at all – it as a retweet. The original tweet (https://twitter.com/SamiraAhmedUK/status/530126610960494593) commented that that day’s cover of the Daily Mail was especially sexist – I dunno, it always seems sexist to me. The main story was about prosecuting “mums-to-be” who drink. To the right of that was a photo of the future Mrs. Cumberbatch (whom they referred to as a girl, despite the fact that she is 36). I just thought it odd that he would retweet something like that and make NO comment about the obvious connection he has with Cumberbatch.

      • MissMary says:

        @Megan/Madly: I think (MHO here) he retweeted it because he found it funny… but the lack of any other comment makes me raise my brows a bit.

    • Lucifer says:

      I am tired of pointing that out about radio silence from his friends. Put some light please

    • Maggie says:

      Perhaps his friends rang him up and congratulated him or sent him an email or texted him. Benedict doesn’t have a Twitter account so why send a personal congratulations over Twitter when he wouldn’t see it.
      Or they might have gone round and said “great news” in person.

      I see nothing strange or weird in the lack of public Tweets. Also I can imagine they wanted to avoid the flood of comments and retweets that would have ensued.

      • Nic says:

        It’s never bothered any of them before. None of those people would care about a flood of replies or RTs, that’s what they get constantly on twitter and that’s what twitter is about.

      • MissMary says:

        He may not have a twitter account but he is aware of what’s written. He’s made comments to that effect, and as well, his friends who tweet about him/at him (like “congrats to my friend Benny on whatever project yada yada yada”) aren’t doing it so much FOR HIM but to show they are supporting their friend, and also it doesn’t hurt to be seen supporting him/tied to him. Like I’ve said before, these are people who tweet sex jokes about him, take the piss out of him, and laud his successes via social media, no matter how they’re also communicating with him in private. The fact the only three congrats on twitter from people associated with him are from a crew member on Sherlock, his friend who name drops every day that ends in “y” and a distant cousin with a lackluster acting career who tries to use a connection to him for attention, is pretty odd.

      • Maggie says:

        Perhaps most of his friends can make the distinction between his public and his private life and will comment on work related or public moments but not on his private moments.

  81. Kristen83 says:

    Holy cow, these comment numbers….I am with a majority of you guys, if benedict and sophie would have acted normally then we wouldn’t be this bamboozled. I don’t know what this is, but it just doesn’t scream friendship let alone love….the fact that practically everyone in his life except for name dropper james r has been pretty mum. I like jr, he seems like a nice guy and has been through a lot in his life, but the “oh I’m hanging with my buddy benedict or with Stephen fry”, gets a little much. we know what her mom and brother said about it.

    Anyone look at twitter and found a person who is tweeting practically every tabloid journalists sh’s octopus video and that short story with the treasure chest. I don’t think it’s señyorita, this person goes by octopus. Those videos are bizarre, and has a hint of bdsm theme in both. Tabloids might see that and run with “oh, sophie is kinky and that is how she keeps benedict happy.” Now I just put that mental image in my head…..so sorry guys.

    • Claire says:

      the tabs may say that but you and i know will both know what it will do to Ben’s reputation.

    • Nic says:

      That’ll be the senyorita loon. She’s just changed tack. What a nutcase. I’ve tried so hard to work out what on earth she’s getting out of it and I have no idea.

      • MissMary says:

        I thought maybe she was getting a few bucks but now I think she’s just got some weird personal mission to be tied to the narrative somehow.

      • Claire says:

        not so sure. where has she gone by the way? is she silent or has she disappeared. it could be someone imitating her.

      • gg says:

        She still has her Tumblr and Twitter and Instagram, just a little less strident these days

      • baseless theories about strangers says:

        i have to say, i found her as, if not more, interesting than this whole thing. BC being engages, real or fake, we’ll never really know. i am interested in what exactly it is that seynorita gets out of the hysterical promoting of them as a couple? and now that its gone her way…what now?

      • Claire says:

        forced into early retirement.

      • gg says:

        I’d be curious to see if she becomes the leader of the BabyBump Watch brigade

  82. Megan says:

    I think it’s telling that this story has been met with such a strange reaction. The fact that some are openly questioning it (and you know he’s aware that they are) is probably not sitting well with him.

    And his quote about his fans reaction and nothing about the women herself is weird.

    Look, I actually understand his desire for a family and how difficult it is to do so when you start to get older and you have to make tough decisions as to how to spend your time. I would also love for him to find someone who makes him happy. I think if he seemed to be really happy, then no one would have said anything and it wouldn’t get such a ruckus. But the inconsistency is what is making this thing so strange.

    And now I’m finding the weird situation more interesting than the man himself. That’s not a good sign.

    • MountainRunner says:

      “And now I’m finding the weird situation more interesting than the man himself.” If he thought the nutters and sgf chatter were distracting from his work, the sudden engagement isn’t doing him any favors. I’m embarrassed to say I’m more interested in seeing how he acts regarding SH than I am about TIG. His personal story shouldn’t have overshadowed Turing’s, but it certainly has for me.

      • MissMary says:

        This is one of the things that’s bugging me, honestly… he’s made a *huge* deal about how Turing’s story needs to be front and center in all these media ‘dos (which I totally agree with) he’s attended, even getting a bit snarky when questions are asked that are off topic. And now he’s put his personal life front and center in the midst of promotions, and it’s definitely overshadowing TIG and Turing’s story.

      • MountainRunner says:

        You know, MissMary I don’t WANT to be distracted by his personal story. I wish I could just be a simpleton and think “how lovely that he found his bride-to-be and they look so happy together!” yada, yada, yada. Unfortunately, they’ve acted like a couple of weirdos since LFF along with BC looking so mad/miserable, while he was supposedly falling madly in love. Humph.

        I just want to be happy for him (and her), but the more I think about it, I feel like – as someone noted earlier – that I’m watching a slow-moving train wreck. I don’t have issues with her having family money, whether or not she’s a good actress or that she does art that makes me cringe as long as she can be good to Cumby. We know he can be very warm and demonstrative with his affection, is she the one that’s holding back in public? Just wondering…

        God, I hope they prove us all wrong so we can get on to talking about other things. I mean, Hiddles will be coming out of hiding soon, right?

      • Dara says:

        @MR, it’s been quite a drought in the Hiddles corner of the fan-verse. I ventured over here since I was going through withdrawals for lack of something interesting to gossip about – and you all seemed to be having so much fun.

        Cumby is an interesting guy and I kinda liked how he was a little unpredictable in interviews, it seemed like he occasionally let his real personality peek out around the edges which is unusual for a celebrity these days. Lately though, the more I see of his “edginess” the less I enjoy it. It’s less edgy and more just plain odd. I’m thinking now that being on Twitter may have been a wise decision, lord knows what could get tweeted if he was in a sharing mood at the wrong moment.

      • Nic says:

        “And now he’s put his personal life front and center in the midst of promotions, and it’s definitely overshadowing TIG and Turing’s story.”

        Exactly. So the BS about the story wanting to be the focus doesn’t wash with me anymore. His timing couldn’t have been worse in that respect. Ditto to any more ‘I’m so private’ claims. You can’t announce your private life in the press then claim you’re a private person. The people saying it’s ‘classy’. No. It’s still a very public action from a very public figure and he knew full well the repercussions of doing it. He could’ve just chosen to tell the people he knows about it face to face and the world would’ve been none the wiser.

      • sigh((s)) says:

        It may have been a classy manner of announcing it, but it certainly wasn’t private. It’s not like she’s a known commodity that gets papped on a regular basis. They could have easily keep it under wraps for as long as they wanted, all the way up to the wedding. Classy does not = private.

      • Nic says:

        But what makes it classy though? I don’t get it.

        But yeah, totally not private or understated in any way at all.

    • Lucifer says:

      Now his nomination is at stake if u ask me. No mainstream stories about the supposedly big movie but only about personal life. Is that good for a publicity of a forthcoming flick!!?? I dnt know educate me.

      • gg says:

        I suppose there could be people who have never seen his work before who will now be curious because of this engagement news. But the same could be said of all the Doctor Strange hoopla, too.

        Believe it or not, this whole thing reminds of a very famous Johnlock fanfic, in which Sherlock Holmes and John Watson are actors who meet on a movie and fall in love. John gets nominated for an Oscar, and rumors start flying that the two are lovers. They make the calculated decision to keep things quiet precisely because they don’t want the story of “OMG two previously straight actors fall in love on set of gay movie” to overshadow the possibly Oscar-winning performance of John. But the two just love each other too much, and Sherlock announces their love in a very public way. John does win his Oscar.

        Too bad real life ain’t fan fic.

      • Moodgirl says:

        @Lucifer

        I agree. Too much a circus and I don’t see anything about the movie on television.

  83. Madly says:

    I think he is aware that there are a lot of people on the net who are questioning it and it is not sitting well with him.

    Interesting that he commented on the fan reaction and not about the woman herself.

  84. Koodles says:

    So, kind of off topic. What is the meaning behind the little red flower on Benedict’s jacket? I’ve seen others male celebs wearing it before as well. Is it an awareness for something?….

    • From North of Boston says:

      @Koodles, the poppies are worn for Remembrance Day in November, a tribute to the people who died in the First World War, and other veterans.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_Day

      • MountainRunner says:

        I wondered what that meant too and saw this:

        http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/remembrance-a-sea-of-poppies-a-river-of-people-an-irresistible-urge-to-remember-9847767.html

        The picture of the Seas of Red got me a bit choked up.

      • Dara says:

        @Mountain, those images get me every time. They’ve been installing each of the flowers – by hand – for months. The numbers of those lost in the conflict are mind-boggling. The U.S. has largely forgotten WWI and its anniversary barely hits the radars of most people (sadly), but we didn’t suffer the staggering loss of life that the European countries did.

      • From North of Boston says:

        @MR, yeah that was such a powerful visual. Such a waste of so many lives.

      • MountainRunner says:

        North, where are you from? I live near the Rockies but used to live in Wakefield and married a boy living on Plum Island. I love New England and miss it something fierce.

        Dara, you’re right. We have forgotten it, for the most part. I just happened to be watching a documentary on Teddy Roosevelt (who had 4 sons that fought in WWI) and realized the connection with the poppy on BC jacket.

      • From North of Boston says:

        MR, small world! I’m from Newburyport and was just out on Plum Island yesterday. 🙂 It’s a beautiful place.

        But the Rockies are something completely different, and probably a better place for a ‘Mountain Runner’ . I was at Mount Wachusett last weekend; that probably wouldn’t even qualify as a mountain near the Rockies. I’ve only been near the Rockies once (in Colorado) but it was absolutely breathtaking there.

      • MountainRunner says:

        North, we married in the barn at Maudslay and lived on Garrison for awhile. Small world indeed! Got engaged on P.I. and have many sweet memories there.

    • From North of Boston says:

      Aw, that’s lovely MountainRunner! 🙂

  85. Koodles says:

    Thanks north of Boston:)

  86. MissMary says:

    As an aside (kind of an aside?), it’s important to remember that his PR, in the unlikely event that they aren’t already aware, will shortly be, of how fans are responding. It may not be a big “deal” in the larger media but PR won’t care about the wider media after an extent, but rather what *his* fandom is doing, what they are saying, how they are responding, because that’s who ends up paying the bills, all told. No fans seeing movies, no paychecks. Yes, that’s grossly simplified but I think everyone on here is smart enough to grok what I’m trying to say. I’m not saying they’d make him break up with her if it was true love, but I *am* saying I think they’d strongly discourage any further rush-jobs on major announcements and, if this is a PR gimmick (I am not saying it for sure is but a lot of us think it’s skewing that way), they may dial it back or start doing some spin in the next few weeks, seeing which way the fandom wind blows. I don’t, for one hot minute, think he’d break things off if he were truly happy, but if he wasn’t, and all signs pointed to fandom thinking he’s being a prick in how he’s acting in interviews and thinking he’s doing this for attention/an Oscar/is being generally sketchy, I can see some “changes” happening one way or another.

    And this message brought to you by a glass of wine and waiting for Doctor Who to come on BBC America.

    • Sandi says:

      Oh, they definitely look but his fandom doesn’t pay all his bills. I mean, look at The Fifth Estate.

      He’s under an insane amount of pressure, so he may have a nervous breakdown first–I’m not being flippant here, just blunt. Filming a bunch of things together in 2013 is nowhere near as bad as what he’s trying to juggle now in my view.

      • Moodgirl says:

        If TIG turns out to be another flop like TFE BC could be in real trouble. It would mean he has a hard time carrying a film?

      • Sandi says:

        Yes, but luckily for him, it doesn’t need a lot of money to not be a flop. It cost ½ of what TFE did to make. He needs the general public, his fans are not nearly enough to carry a film. That is true of a lot of actors though.

      • gg says:

        The piece in the Scotsman on Sunday has come out
        http://www.scotsman.com/what-s-on/film/benedict-cumberbatch-on-portraying-alan-turing-1-3598681

        In it they say: “He’s as happy in a no-budget radio play as when signing up as Dr Strange in an upcoming multi-million-dollar Marvel movie franchise….” Some people take that as a confirmation that he is indeed doing Doctor Strange, and it may even be announced while he is over here in the US. I dunno? As if he needs more pressure right now.

        Oh and there is an obviously tacked on reference to the engagement at the end. That is clearly going to be included in all the press, at least for the next month or so I’ll bet.

      • MissMary says:

        I don’t mean that him losing fans would kill a film per se but it’d make him less marketable. What studio would want to hire someone with a fanbase that was dwindling or an image that was a joke? He may keep getting awesome roles no matter what, but if he alienates his fan base through his public persona (cranky interviews, shady behavior) then he won’t be as marketable. Or maybe just marketable in a direction he’s not aiming for.

      • Freebunny says:

        If TIG is a flop, it’s gonna be real hard for him.
        TFE was a flop but the movie was real bad while TIG seems to be a good one.
        If TIG isn’t a success that means he can’t carry a film at all and he gonna have real troubles with his career.
        Hope it’ll be a success for him and all the people involved….

      • Moodgirl says:

        Since I hear nothing about TIG on American television and frankly does not appear to be something that would interest the average movie fan here I don’t think it is going to do well.

    • Claire says:

      I’d be curious how much of his popularity is buoyed by the fans, which fans, and how much by the general population. I wonder what the chances are they’ll see there are neg reactions but won’t care (really, as opposed to him saying publically he doesn’t care when he really does)

      • MissMary says:

        PR will always care, to an extent, about negative reactions, in as much as it impacts their client’s “brand” and marketability.

    • Lucifer says:

      I can see a wedding announcement. Why is it me? I think he is just so happy to shock us “rabid fans”

    • Ingrid says:

      I think they are less concerned about his fandom’s opinion at this point and more concerned about making him a more known to general public. The Harvey Oscar method requires a lot of campaigning and Benedict is currently too busy with filming to attend parties. They needed a way to keep him current and in the news in a way that would please bunch of old white guys (majority of Oscar voters).

      Hence the engagement announcement just before the film’s release. That news got him literally everywhere and the way he announced it got it into even more major news outlets (CNN and so on.) It raised his awareness levels quite a lot.

      If he wanted to keep it *private and precious*, there was no way he would have announced it on Wednesday and started a promo tour on Friday. He would have announced it in the end of the month or maybe even next year.

      I really think Harvey has his hand in this, it’s not beyond him. He’s known for doing much worse… It would also explain Benedict’s recent bad mood. Heck, this is supposed to be the happiest time of his life; a major film with potential Oscar win (or nomination at least) and a fiancee to boot, but no, he actually looks angry, moody and even slightly depressed.

      Only other explanation I can think to fit this weirdness is pregnancy. But I truly hope that’s not the case as he looks so unhappy. Shouldn’t he be over the moon as one of his biggest dreams is coming true? But a though of having a baby with this woman makes him this miserable? Oh dear god, please don’t let it be true…

      (This post was sponsored by Denial. Denial –why face the facts when alternative reality is much better.)

      • gg says:

        So Ingrid, if your theory is true, is the whole engagement fake or is it just that they rushed the announcement in order to get more publicity?

      • Ingrid says:

        I don’t think their relationship is fake (enough sightings of them over the past months) or even the engagement, but, as you put it, it might be rushed / timed for PR. His bad mood would be explained by this.

        But it’s just a theory…

  87. wahine992 says:

    Question – has it been confirmed, by a legitimate source, that the Times announcement was definitely placed by BC, his parents or someone who’s part of his “team”?

    • wahine992 says:

      Not because I don’t think the engagement is legit. His publicist confirmed it. I’m asking because what if (and this is 100% speculation, I don’t know a damn thing about what’s actually going on, none of us do.) they got engaged, told a few people but otherwise kept it quiet and someone blabbed. Someone, possibly a tabloid?, then placed the ad as a way of forcing their hand and compelling them to finally confirm or deny their relationship? Maybe he/they are pissed that the info got “out there” before they wanted it to. And that’s why no one has commented on it, aside from her family and James Rhodes. Also why he (BC) seems so out of sorts about the whole thing. Is that too far-fetched or a real possibility? Please correct me if this makes no sense.

      • Sandi says:

        Not that I know of. If you’re asking if your scenario could have happened, all I can say is that technically, anyone could have ran that ad. It’s standard wording. That would be really crappy of someone to do.

      • MissMary says:

        It’s *possible* but at the same time, most people, famous or not, would’ve made a statement about that being done and it having been leaked personal information and something they’d wanted to keep private.

      • Miss Melissa says:

        What if Sophie’s bigmouthed mother ran the ad without his permission and he wanted to keep the engagement private as well?

      • gg says:

        I have been thinking about what was said earlier about the etiquette and putting the bride’s name first. Surely Benedict’s parents would know that, as would Sophie’s mother. So I am thinking that Benedict and Sophie called it in the ad themselves. That might explain the silence from Wanda and Timothy – they might have known he was going to propose, just not so soon.

    • wahine992 says:

      Okay, thanks for your input. It was just a big “what if” scenario that crossed my mind. Miss Mary, I see your point. If a tabloid had done that he would have been shouting “FOUL!!!” from the top of his lungs. This whole thing has been so strange. I wish them well, but it’s changed how I think of him personally a bit. Professionally I still admire him and his choices. Personally, he’s not who I thought he was and I’m disappointed. But that’s my problem, not his or anyone else’s, right?

  88. Wait I'm Typing says:

    https://mobile.twitter.com/LittleFavour1
    Just thought I’d mention that the Little Favour twitter retweeted a bunch of posts and articles congratulating them on the engagement.

    Nothing on SunnyMarch, though. I don’t know why they would post anything on their production twitter.

    I was just wondering if a friend is running the Little Favour twitter? Or someone else who isn’t that close?

  89. Koodles says:

    Sandi- I agree, with how is projecting himself right now, I can see him having a breakdown. with the oscar pressure from this movie, filming thc, sherlock, maybe dr strange, add the engagement, and the fans plus paps and he did commercials, readings, comic con, boston mass, jungle book etc. not to mention he probably feels a lot of pressure for Hamlet, he outsold Beyoncé for heaven’s sake. This guy has a lot on his plate. I just hope he doesn’t make himself sick.

    • Sandi says:

      Yes, exactly, Koodles. I would say just dealing with Hamlet–he can’t just waltz into rehearsals in June, he’s been working on this for months and would be involved in various aspects—and juggling another Shakespeare project and Weinstein’s calendar plus Sherlock would be too much. The stress and push-and-pull has to be enormous now; I don’t recall another actor trying to do all this at once.

      And it really is a bit of bad luck, as it would be more manageable if it weren’t for Weinstein buying the rights. He’d probably have had far less public appearances, traveling and even a different release date with another company.

      • baseless theories about strangers says:

        this is why i wonder why the engagement announcement now? im not nec one who thinks its totally fake, but add more to your plate?

      • Madly says:

        Which is why an engagement at this point of time is either way too rash or suspect. He wouldn’t have had the time.

  90. Madly says:

    So he poses as Mr Darcy for his fans, talks about what sex with Sherlock would be like in graphic detail for the fans, and has completed a calendar for the fans. Please tell me that his people didn’t see the weeks of speculation and decide to do this for the fans too. Because I am not buying that this is a grand romance.

  91. Encumbered says:

    Meanwhile, he is looking lovely tonight in his formal wear. And Adam is along for the ride to L.A. I am glad he has Adam who is his rock. Wonder if SH will see him as competition….

    • MissMary says:

      I saw the pics of him with KK–where did you see the ones with Adam? My google fu is failing me.

      • Encumbered says:

        No pics of Adam himself. He posted a picture earlier of palm trees taken somewhere in L.A. on Nov. 8: http://instagram.com/p/vKOQNblUlo/

        Take a look at this: https://twitter.com/jenelleriley/status/531311859341602817

      • gg says:

        Adam posted something on his Instagram today showing palm trees, afaik that is the only way people are getting the idea that he is in L.A.

        Oh and fwiw it looks like there is a cover story coming from a Variety writer, who had this to say on Twitter:
        @jenelleriley
        Understandably private so we didn’t go too into it but you can tell Cumberbatch is thrilled about his engagement. He lights up talking @ it.

      • MissMary says:

        Quite private, for sure *eye roll*

        NGL, still not sold on it being a love match. I had more chemistry with the doc who pulled my impacted tooth than I’ve seen him demonstrate with his fiancee. But like I’ve said before, maybe that’s how they roll…

      • hmm says:

        when was this variety interview done? do we know?

      • baseless theories about strangers says:

        Im such a cynic. As soon as i saw the cousin tweet and this “light up” quote, i thought damage control because everyone is calling BS on this engagement. fwiw, my view on this may be scewed since i decided at 14 that there is no such thing as true love LOL

      • Felice says:

        I’ll give that the benefit of the doubt then. I mean he has been stressed but if he’s thrilled he’s thrilled. Don’t know why he had to go such lengths though. He was private with AJ and OP too…..

      • Claire says:

        Felice to reply to you above, what have people told you about HW relationships behind the scenes?

        Also, he’s talking to the press. Of course he’ll be thrilled. People always put on a face when talking to the press, but for all I know, it can be genuine. I’m sure I’d be thrilled if I proposed. Whether he’s in the right frame of mind to be making such a decision given he looks mega stressed and under pressure is another matterr I just keep going back to the **5 MONTHS** thing. that is just a dumb idea to propose after that long

      • MissMary says:

        multiple post, sorry…

      • MissMary says:

        posting eff up, ignore this…

      • Felice says:

        sorry about the doubles, horrible wifi

      • MissMary says:

        @Claire: Im kinda right there with that idea… Would he say anything different to someone from the press? Would he admit it if he felt stressed, pressured, unhappy? Hell no. About his schedule, sure–he did for the NPR interview–but about personal things? No. No one in their right mind would tell VF or any media outlet “Yeah, I’m just doing it like this for PR. Color me excited.” or “I’m so tired and stressed right now, I could cry. I have xyz problems in my life and it’s making me want to scream.”

      • Felice says:

        @Claire None whatsoever. I know 10 years is 40 in normal marriage years. I just like seeing him do new projects and I guess in a sense I feel bad that this is taking away from TIG a little.

        Do you know about HW? I’m just curious.

      • Felice says:

        sorry about the doubles, horrible wifi

      • MissMary says:

        *sigh* Another eff up,,, my post showed up like four times. Blargh.

      • Claire says:

        Oh okay, I thought maybe you had some more specific stories.

      • Pinky says:

        I now imagine Benedict looking as “happy” as he did recently saying “oh yeah I am thrilled.”

        Somehow that only comes out sarcastic in my head.

        But really? Adam is with him again and SH is at home? I am almost tempted to think that he’s trying to cover up a relationship with Adam 😛 (KIDDING^^)

        Poor soul looks miserable though…

      • Nic says:

        What a bizarre thing for variety to feel the need to say. Why wouldn’t someone be happy to be engaged for a start? Odd that they felt they needed to qualify that.
        Secondly, even if he’s pissed off, what else is he going to say to a reporter?

        Also, the ‘it’s private’ part? Oh really? Yeah ..announcing it in national newspaper type private you mean?

      • gg says:

        To be fair, the cousin’s Tweet was done on Nov 5 – the day of the announcement – so I don’t think it was damage control. And I think the Variety interview was done this weekend, while he was at Variety filming that Actors on Actors thing with Ed Norton

      • MissMary says:

        @Pinky: I’ve seen that theory, but people were serious!

      • Moodgirl says:

        @gg

        That VF tweet is kind of obvious – it is because there is controversy. If there were no controversy no comment need be made. It is just making it more suspect to me. If he is engaged no need to reassure that he is happy, it should be expected.

    • sigh((s)) says:

      Theres a daily fail article with pics of him and Keira Knightley at (I think) the bafta thingy, and the headline is “can’t fake this friendship”.

      Lol. A dig?

  92. Wait I'm Typing says:

    @GG
    SORRY! jumped the gun there, didn’t I? I don’t have (nor will I ever get) Twitter.

    I think some theories are starting to conflict.

    if she really is in the early stages of a pregnancy surely staying in London and not attending the NYC premiere makes more sense than going. I don’t think you can fly in your first trimester.

    Ps. I’m trying to find the two older interviews she gave so at least some people might have an idea of who she is

    • MissMary says:

      Yes you can fly in your first trimester. They recommend you don’t in your LAST trimester but that’s down to airline policy more than anything. I flew all through my pregnancy as did most of my friends and family members who’ve been pregnant (gotta love having loved ones scattered the world over).

    • baseless theories about strangers says:

      hey, you can def fly in your first trimester. Its discouraged in your third, and some airlines (ve heard) won’t board you, but 1st is ok

      • MissMary says:

        Depends on the airline. I flew in my third for a family funeral but had to bring doctor’s notes and all sorts of documentation that this was truly an emergency travel situation and I had no other way to get where I needed to g and even then, you could tell flight attendants were super antsy.

    • Lucifer says:

      telling you a december wedding is on the cards!

    • aly says:

      Actually it’s not advised to fly only in the last month of a pregnancy.

    • Miss Melissa says:

      Morning sickness?

  93. Lucifer says:

    Officially engaged, still avoids being seen with her. Finally found “the One”, looks miserable and upset. Friends and family strangely quiet. WTF is going on? Something about this relationship just feels so wrong. Can’t put my finger on it. But he is so out of character.I know it’s not my business. But poor Ben.

    • MissLouLou says:

      Lucifer, there is a pic from the BAFTALA thing of BC and the host – the host is absolutely beaming but BC looks royally pissed of. No smile, clenched jaw, face like stone. *Where* is this happiest he has ever been? I am just not seeing it. Or am I expecting too much?

  94. Maggie says:

    I thought I would put this link to a Salon article about the engagement announcement Benedict and Sophie put in The Times. This is how I viewed it as well and most news items I have read see it the same way.

    http://www.salon.com/2014/11/05/benedict_cumberbatch_shows_how_to_do_an_engagement_right/

    “All couples are different and so are all engagements. But there’s something so against the current grain in Cumberbatch and Hunter’s sweetly understated announcement, that it bears pointing at and saying to other couples: Please. This. And all of you who are already succinctly and non-boastfully already doing it – I salute you.”

    The article is worth a read.

    • Nic says:

      Ugh. What a load of sycophantic bullcrap.

      ‘Sweetly understated’? Don’t people realise that a very public figure putting a wedding announcement in the national papers is anything but understated? An oxymoron to say ‘an understated newspaper announcement ‘ surely?
      Understated would’ve been just telling the people you actually know and care about and not involving the papers at all.

      • MissLouLou says:

        My thoughts as well Nic. Understated was definitely not the term I would use. It’s a very, very public thing for someone who blabs on about privacy so much. He’s just asking to be tabloid fodder until they get their exclusive ‘together’ pic now.

  95. MissLouLou says:

    I’m getting pretty damn sick of all these baity tweets these journalists make re: BC interviews. The Scotsman interview says nothing new, despite their ‘secrets’ tweet and I’m betting the Big Issue is the same. Stop fan baiting. Its pathetic and I don’t care if it sells copies, its dishonest. If you have nothing new to say, don’t bait the shit out of fans.

    *sigh* Sorry, but its a pet peeve of mine and one of the reasons why I switched majors when I was at uni oh so many years ago.

  96. Kazlock 1307 says:

    Any news on SH?Someone posted a Tweet of a picture they thought was her at event ksst night.But then someone else said she wasn’t there because she was pregnant and couldn’t fly out!!!

  97. Silly goose says:

    did you see the DM article today with Venedict and Keira? It says can’t fake this friendship! The article doesn’t say anything about the queries regarding the engagement, but it seems a bit like an subtle reference to the rumours out there.

  98. Elsa says:

    Well, I truly hope for the couple’s sake that this is the real thing. It is, at least, the right thing…now. All that fame, stress, anxiety and temptations makes it tougher. And relationstips are hard work no matter who you are. And for the so called classy ad in the national paper, it’s kind of weird if you want to have your private lives private. And no friends responding as they normally do. But what do I know. There is a reason for it. But it’s not for us to know.

  99. Renee says:

    Maybe it’s just me, but I find it strange that SH didn’t make the trip with him. Wouldn’t he want the support and companionship? They just got engaged! Why are Karon and Adam there but not Sophie? i think the whole thing is bizarre. And if he wanted privacy, why even bother with the announcement? Why invite everyone into your private life that way? And if this is all a PR stunt, wouldn’t she be with him to try and sell the engagement as the real deal? I’m really just scratching my head at them. Does she not want to seen with him “in public?”

    • Felice says:

      She really doesn’t, does she….Like, she’s not that special and neither is he. Grow up.

      Will this be a Catherine Zeta-Jones wedding where they announce 5 different venues and give invitations 4 hours before?

      (perhaps like Michael Douglas he will also someday have a much younger woman when the age difference is less of a deal)

    • Ingrid says:

      If it’s a PR stunt, a “slow roll out” will generate more headlines. Instead of them making their first public appearance now (and generating only one headline), making it one tiny step at a time will keep them in the press for longer = all the way to the Oscars.

      • Madly says:

        Yeah, I feel that this has an orchestrated feel to it. Be seen but not be seen at larger events. Drum up attention for it by going out of your way to not get attention. Then announce is a non flashy way that you are getting married just before you go to the states for a press event just smells like more of the same. It is the I am not campaigning campaign.

        Only problem (other than the lack of chemistry and time needed to make such a decision) is that one of the lead characters of the story is stomping his feet and trying to passive aggressively rebel from it.

        I kinda thought with his comments about feeling like he had finally made it, he would be due for this life change AfTER Hamlet was over. The timing of this is so suspicious.

      • aly says:

        Sounds reasonable. As I said in another post: being in love and wanting to do some (heavy) pr are not mutually exclusive.:) Happy Sunday, ladies and gents:)

        am I the only one who gets tired just looking at Ben? Guy must be exhausted…

      • Lucifer says:

        @Ingrid excellent point

      • Madly says:

        Just a thought, if this is real, and to me that is still an if, then all this scrutiny can’t be healthy and would cause a massive strain.

    • gg says:

      Honestly if it was only a 48-hr there and back work trip, I don’t find it odd at all that she would not be there. I will definitely find it odd if she is not at the NYC premiere, however.

      • MissMary says:

        I think people are finding it odd b/c she doesn’t exactly have a red hot career with a lot going on right now. Whereas Adam is certifiably busy with Sunny March and other projects and took time off of work and his family life to go.

      • From North of Boston says:

        For a quick trip like that, I don’t find it odd either. It’s not a short flight from London to LA no matter who you are. 10-12 hours each way if you get a non-stop flight. And it looks like the schedule for this trip was arrive, work event, work event, work event, leave, not really a great trip for a SO, 20-24 hours on planes for 36-48 hours in LA while your SO is working the whole time?

        I wouldn’t have done it if it was me. I’d have stayed home this weekend and focused on my own stuff, and save the US trips for a flashy premiere or if it comes to it, the Globes or Oscars, maybe when BC doesn’t have to rush back to London for filming the next day.

        Adam, with Sunny March, could be using this as an opportunity to network at these events, as well as be support for Benedict. And Karon is his PR and goes to events like these with him all the time. So it doesn’t seem odd to me.

        It will be interesting to see if SH attends the NY premiere, though. That’s a much easier flight from London, she has ties to NYC and that will be much more about the red carpet and photo opportunities than this trip was.

      • Pinky says:

        Well but she’s an actress as well – she could have used it for networking just as well..

  100. MissWolfe says:

    I just saw this again on my feed, and wanted to do a face palm as I saw it, people are saying ” Finally a video reaction!” What the heck kind’ve reaction was that? A mumble and a half assed smile? Again, I can just feel the happiness through my screen.

    http://cumberbuddy.tumblr.com/post/102184937684/cumberbum-us-govenors-award-arrivals

    Along with that, this as well.
    http://www.itv.com/news/update/2014-11-09/benedict-cumberbatch-reveals-he-draws-to-escape-fame/

    • gg says:

      He looked a lot less thrilled here; granted it was a pap shot: https://twitter.com/MsSilT/status/531422992849698816/photo/1

      • MissWolfe says:

        Dear god. That made me laugh wayy too hard. His face, speaks volumes.

      • Moodgirl says:

        @gg – LOL!!! What a photo. I swear he had a similar look at the wedding for the group picture. Also, if one is in love and engaged wouldn’t that love negate the mess that he is going through? He has what he wants so what is the problem? He has been angry for months.

        Maybe I am a hopeless romantic but the happiness of the personal situation would help me forget the rest of the crap. I would be walking on air.

    • Madly says:

      You know, if this was real but the timeline was pushed for pr, he would still be happy and his friends would be supportive. Something is not right here.

      Whatever is going on, I hope it ends soon as he is coming off as really unlikeable

    • Me says:

      Nature, drawing, friends, family – that sounds like the person he used to show. Sounds like good ways to decompress. It must not be working anymore 🙁

      I think he must be in love and, of course, still love acting. But I think he HATES fame. It makes me afraid that he’ll either just choose to do London theater after 2016 and a lot of us won’t get to see him much anymore. Or he’ll just be angry all the time, which would suck.

      I could totally see him settling down in the country with Sophie and children. Near his parents and friends like Adam. Just doing a show or two in the West End every year or so. I guess I’ll start saving to cross the pond every once in awhile. I can totally see him painting a big canvas in the sunroom with some babies at his feet. (Just can’t see what Sophie would be doing, but I don’t think the public will ever get a better idea of who she is.)

      • MissWolfe says:

        I very much loved to hear him say that he loved to sketch and all that jazz. I’m a Illustration major, and that made me happy inside for sure.

        If he’s in love, he has a terrible way of showing it. Like, god awful. I show more love to the food I eat than he has to SH. But I just don’t know, something just seems incredibly off to me.

      • gg says:

        @me: You may be right! There is a teaser out of tomorrow’s Big Issue interview and in it he says “I really want to do more, by which I mean less work and more of other things. As I get older, I increasingly feel the need to step back, ask what I’m neglecting, and what do other people need from me.”

        http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1212722/board/flat/236677380

        Dear lord, if that what he needs to keep from looking as miserable as he’s been looking lately then by all means! But I could swear the change has been so recent – he looked like a different person completely at SDCC.

  101. turing says:

    I’ve said this elsewhere but this is by all evidence the most likely scenario:

    His schedule and fame has him freaked and he is a guy who needs to feel in control of things, he’s a perfectionist. The fame and schedule are messing with the control of his life, and this engagement is making him feel he is getting some of that back. It explains his unhappiness and the fact he’s done something so dumb andd out of character as getting engaged after being serious with someone after 3 months.

    I’ve written a post elsewhere on how I’ve used a mathematical formula to determine if they get married it will end in divorce between 5 and 10 years, possibly sooner. Waiting for it to post.

  102. Lola says:

    I found this article hilarious! But, after reading more than once that winning an Oscar implied taking part of the Hollyweird politics, then I embrace the conspiracy theory. Never thought that actors were that much like politicians who want to win an election.
    I wish him the best, but I have to write, in all the pics I’ve seen of them the body language is off. Or who knows, maybe they knew they were being photographed.

  103. UnderTheTuscanSun says:

    Cumberbatch = major Oscar ass-kisser.

    Nothing I have seen of him lately reeks of anything but sucking up and getting press. He must have a super PR rep. But this just isn’t his year – it will be Eddie Redmayne or Steve Carrell.