Los Angeles, Jan 30 (Ians) Oscar-nominated actor Paul Mescal said that he has a phobia of tomatoes and that ketchup is the stuff of nightmares due to a traumatic childhood memory.

Mescal told the Off Menu podcast: “It’s a fear of tomato, like Heinz ketchup. I used to go to a childminder after school, and she was lovely, but one day she decided for a snack that she would put an easy single slice of cheese out, spray Heinz ketchup on it, rolled it up, and was like, ‘Here you go’.”

“I said, ‘No thank you, I’d rather not have that.’ She thought I was getting cheeky and she slapped me. It was pretty traumatic… ketchup, I still can’t do,” reports aceshowbiz.com.

Meanwhile, Mescal has been nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for his role as troubled Scottish father Calum in the movie ‘Aftersun’.

The film has...