The toyboy addict

The Trojka restaurant in London's Primrose Hill is the ideal setting for an intimate lunch date. And there was much that was intimate about the scene that unfolded in the fashionable Russian eaterie (house speciality 'Blinis and Borscht') only a few days ago.

The couple in question - he darkly handsome, she blonde and glamorous - gazed longingly into each other's eyes.

Later, she leaned her head against him and he stroked her hair. Afterwards, the two walked towards Regents Park and he allowed his arm to slip down to her waist.

For anyone who recognised the couple in question, all that seemed to be missing from the touching tableaux was someone with a clapperboard in the background shouting "cut".

For the diners were Amanda Redman and Adam Rayner, her co-star in the hugely popular TV series At Home With The Braithwaites.

Fans of the acclaimed drama will be well aware that Miss Redman's character Alison Braithwaite has a passionate affair with her gardener, played by Rayner.

If any of those fans were in the Trojka last week they could certainly have been forgiven for thinking that the rendezvous was, indeed, part of the on-screen plot. There were no cameras, of course, - at least not TV cameras. Which begs an obvious question: has the plot spilled over into real life?

Officially, both stars have denied any romance and insist in the time honoured fashion that they are just "good friends". On the face of it, this is a plausible explanation.

After all, at 44, Miss Redman is 18 years older than her "luncheon date" and has been living with her boyfriend Damian Schnabel for the past four years - "I've found my partner for life," she said only recently.

But then again this is Amanda Redman we're talking about - a woman who has sometimes given the distinct impression she is playing the romantic lead in her own real-life screenplay, one in which "young men" tend to feature prominently.

Five years ago, for example, she famously had an affair with drama student Oliver Boot, 17, and her "current partner" 32-year-old Mr Schnabel is 12 years her junior.

Perhaps the only aspect of the Amanda Redman script that could be described as conventional was her eight-year marriage to actor Robert Glenister - the father of her 15-year-old daughter, Emily - which ended in divorce in the early Nineties. (Before that, however, Miss Redman had already - at the age of 15 - clocked up an affair with her music teacher.)

This week, Mr Schnabel, a marketing designer, denied there were any problems in his relationship with Miss Redman. Answering the door of their West London home, he said: "Things are absolutely fine between us. You have got it completely wrong."

That is not the way Rayner's friends tell it. According to them, Rayner has admitted being romantically involved with Miss Redman (although his language was, by all accounts, a little more graphic).

One source close to the young actor said: "It was supposed to be hush-hush. I can't believe it has got out. They were seeing each other during filming (of At Home With The Braithwaites). They have become very fond of each other." That much was apparent from their lunch at the Trojka.

It was also apparent to students at the acting school Miss Redman runs near her home. Rayner, 26, it emerges, has been invited to give classes there. "It was quite clear they were very close and she really flirted with him," said one youngster.

In a recent interview Rayner spoke flatteringly of his illustrious co-star, one of the best known faces on television today, and star of the 2001 Oscar-nominated film Sexy Beast alongside Ben Kingsley and Ray Winstone.

"I think I got the part (in The Braithwaites) because the chemistry between Amanda and me was electric," Rayner revealed. "At the audition we just clicked."

Much has been said and written about Miss Redman's private life. She has been portrayed perhaps a little unfairly - as something of a "maneater".

Such unflattering labels however, are almost inevitable given her colourful track-record.

Oliver Boot is a case in point. The precise details of that dalliance - in fact, they ended up living together for more than 18-months - have been documented in every salacious detail. TV Star Amanda Teaches Love To Teenage Student, screamed one headline.

Miss Redman was 39 when she began seeing Boot - he was a pupil at her Saturday drama classes (although it should be pointed out that despite his tender years he had a reputation for being "confident" with women).

Indeed, her drama classes have become the source of fevered speculation and local gossip - no more so than now, of course.

Miss Redman established the Artists Theatre School in Ealing, West London, nearly a decade ago. She also offers "one-on-one" private tuition at her home nearby.

"There are often handsome, young lads dropping in," revealed one incredulous neighbour. "It is difficult to keep up. They start arriving soon after lunch and the last one often doesn't leave until well into the evening. It keeps us amused."

Moreover, her teaching style has been described as "tactile and flirtatious...she has a real sexual buzz to her", says a female pupil. "The majority of male students are in their late teens and early 20s and I think they find her attractive.

"She knows how to get their attention and clearly loves using her sexuality to do it. We all know she has got this naughty streak and there is a lot of 'nudge, nudge wink, wink' when people talk about her private sessions at her house."

And the mother of one 19-year-old added: "My son is at a very impressionable age and I know she finds him very handsome. But she is a very good teacher. She has developed a real bond with him, and he speaks very highly of her."

Why Miss Redman seems to have consistently fallen for much younger suitors is a question, of course, that has intrigued the world of showbusiness - and her many fans outside media circles - for many years.

However, in an interview in February-she admitted: "I've always craved protection. And it's funny, but when you're reasonably successful, a lot of men feel threatened. ironic thing is that the only times I have ever felt truly protected were when I was with younger men."

In the past, she has spoken emotionally of two violent former lovers and a father, whom she worshipped, who turned out to be a "conman" - he served three years in prison for embezzlement and fraud - and was a compulsive womaniser.

But for all her early heartache, for the past five years Miss Redman seemed to have found happiness with Damian Schnabel.

The two bought a house together in Hanwell, West London. "I was in the wilderness before I met him," she admitted recently. She has even made no secret of the fact that she would love to have a child with him.

Friends point out that although her boyfriend is devoted to her - and wants to "spend the rest of his life" with her - he doesn't want children. Could that be the real reason for Miss Redman's very public display of affection towards Adam Rayner at the Trojka?

Perhaps it is no coincidence that her marriage to Robert Glenister (the father of her teenage daughter) came under intolerable strain when she suffered an ectopic pregnancy in 1991. The couple split up the following year and later divorced.

Similarly, her relationship with Oliver Boot - she was undoubtedly in love with him despite being ridiculed because of their age difference - ended after she suffered a miscarriage. She said: "It became apparent to me that Ollie, who'd been so supportive throughout it all, was too young to deal with it."

Of course, it is easy to paint Amanda Redman in a certain light. On the one hand, it could be argued that only a "predatory" female would have chosen to get involved with Oliver Boot and her alleged new toyboy Adam Rayner.

Or, perhaps - and one suspects this is the truth of the matter - they are simply the actions of a woman plagued by insecurities, personal tragedies, and self-doubt.

Either way, her "naughty streak", as one of her pupils puts it, has rarely harmed anyone (although Mr Schnabel might disagree with that).

Additional reporting: JON CLARKE