Jilly Cooper is wrong about men like Stanley Tucci and me – we’re more macho than she thinks

The queen of the bonkbuster derided modern men like the talented Mr Tucci as being unmanly compared to hunks of yore. Stanley lookalike Harry Wallop – who can’t bench press 170kg but can make a mean ragu – begs to differ…

Author Jilly Cooper, centre, has bemoaned the masculinity of modern men such as Stanley Tucci, right. In the case for the defence, Tucci lookalike Harry Wallop begs to differ (Getty/Supplied)

Jilly Cooper is a goddess. When I was a teenager I secretly devoured Riders, hoping that one day women would swoon over me as they swooned over Rupert Campbell-Black, even if I had never ridden a horse and did not have in my trousers a “leaning tower of pleasure” that was of “legendary length”.

But however much I admire Cooper for her bonkbusters and unabashed willingness to talk about sex, she has revealed herself to have a remarkably poor taste in men. In a recent interview to promote her latest book, Tackle!, she bemoans the modern state of masculinity, especially the type one sees on screen.

“They’re not nearly as attractive as they used to be, not nearly as macho. I like strong, powerful men,” she said. The greatest source of her dissatisfaction? Stanley Tucci – the epitome of modern, weak, metrosexual, modern fops. Apparently.