Sir Kenneth Branagh says Brian Blessed has helped him meditate

He's quoted by the Daily Star newspaper as saying: "I have walked or meditated with Brian Blessed at least once a week for nearly 40 years.

"We couldn't be more opposite, but he introduced me to a meditation from which I've benefited from enormously. He's had a big impact on what you might call my spiritual growth.

"He is this loud-voiced, larger-than-life figure - but I also know him as a very deep, very quiet, intelligent and cultured man."

Last summer, Brian raised over £5,000 for Phase Worldwide - a charity in Nepal - after agreeing stop speaking for 24 hours.

Admitting he found it "rather nice", he tweeted: "GORDON'S ALIVE!!! AND SO AM I! Ahhh, that felt good! Yesterday's 24 hour silence was rather nice actually, but now I'm back AND I CAN TALK AS MUCH AS I LIKE! Thank you to all who supported me to help the people of Nepal.(sic)"

Despite his noisy reputation, the 'Flash Gordon' star meditates twice a day and insisted he really "loves to be silent".

Brian spent his day in silence at home with wife Hildegard Neil tending to his hens and playing with his dogs, writing, and sitting in the garden.

While the 'Blackadder' star may claim to enjoy silence, he had heralded the charity task as the "toughest challenge" of his life so far.

He'd written on his JustGiving page ahead of the event: "I have decided to take on the toughest challenge of my life so far.

"On Sunday 13th June 2021, I will be embarking on a 24 hour sponsored silence. You may happen to know that I am rather partial to using this little voice of mine and so I am not expecting it to be a very easy day for me!"