In the spring of 2007 the Jamiroquai front man, Jay Kay, was travelling in a black cab down Whitehall in central London when a glance through the windscreen changed his life for ever. He saw a woman whose face he vaguely recalled. The cab pulled over and they got chatting. “I recognised Maria’s face from a little skirmish we’d had abroad years previously,” Kay says with a louche curl of the lip. By skirmish, he means a fling.

The pair exchanged numbers. In 2015 Kay became a father for the first time. “Our meeting again was a real Sliding Doors moment. I’ve always wanted a family, but I’d reached 45 and wondered if it would ever happen. I’m a touch late, but it’s brilliant.” His