Close encounters with the famous

Has anyone been up close and personal with a celeb? Or has anyone had a conversation with a famous person? I've got three examples to share with you of my experiences with celebs to get the ball rolling.

I went to a Prince gig at Wembley arena in the '80's and sat next to Jason Donovan ( he was famous and 5hagging Kylie back then )

Whilst standing at the door waiting to get off the plane coming back from New York, Justin Timberlake came out of first class and came and stood next to me. I kept my cool, smiled at him and pretended I didn't know who he was. My wife on the other hand was melting on the spot.

Whilst on holiday in LA a few years ago, me, my wife and kids, were in a shopping mall, when I literally bumped into Mary J Blige. A few moments later, we decided to get some lunch at a near by restaurant, sat on the next table was Jasper Carrot and his daughter ( who appeared in the office ). Jasper Carrot was a nice bloke, I got the impression he was pleased to chat with fellow Brits. Earlier that day, we spotted Julia Roberts doing a bit of shopping. LA is a weird place.

( Seeing it written down, I've realised I meet a lot of celebs beginning with 'J' )

 

I've been in several restaurants where famous people were sitting at the next table - as somebody with me has always pointed out afterwards.

The only sleb I've realised I was in close proximity to was Bob Crow, who sat next to me on the Eurostar and hogged half my seat, him being a fat git.

Mind you, I did once watch a European Cup final in a hotel with Boris's dad, and spent some time trying to help him understand the offside rule. Juventus, who were playing, were staying at the same hotel and I did at least recognise some of them.

 

I've had a telephone conversation with Stephen Fry - Work related, had his mobile number, he never answers, but calls back.

Similar with Jeremy Beadle - Famous 80s prankster, charity fund raiser and man of one small hand. RIP.
Also spoken to Normski - DJ part time rapper and music producer, famous for being hitched to Janet Street Porter.

Sat on a district line train opposite the Actor that player Carl Fletcher (this was post clothes hook in the back of the head) in Sky's "Dream Team" He had just picked up some photos from Snappy Snaps.

Sat in a restaurant next to Peter Davidson (The 5th Doctor Who) the attractive much younger lady he was with was not his wife.

Been on the same bus as Richard E Grant. Strange as I usually saw him driving his bright blue convertible Rolls Royce. Must have broken down that day.

I've almost had a fight with Cliff Richard. Long story, but he definitely needed a punch.

 

On Sunday I was at the Crucible as a guest of the sponsors BetFred. I meet with Dennis Taylor, we had a chat and posed for photos. I have to say he is so nice to speak with, jovial, intelligent and engaging.

 

I've met quite a few famous people. Most of them footballers, though I did bump into Eddie Izzard in London once.

Nothing beats meeting Elton John, though.

He once came into the shop I used to work in. A few people turned up. Andrew Marr from BBC News was another. Actually, funny story: The day after Luis Felipe Scolari got sacked from Chelsea, he came into the shop. We all assumed he was going for retail therapy, but in fact he was only buying two CDs from the '2 for £10' range. Must have been squeezing the pennies. I also spoke to a few people who I didn't know who they were: I'd complete the transaction with the customer, only for one of my colleagues to say "do you know who that was? That was XYZ off of Eastenders/CBBC/Holby City etc", and I would be none the wiser.

 

I went drinking with Mani from the Stone Roses once. A mate had hired him to DJ at a pub in Welwyn Garden City before they did a gig, which basically involved him getting drunk and playing his favourite records. There were various musical bores pestering him who were in the band (which I was nothing to do with), and I was sort of in the background as I have no musical talent, but he made a point of chatting to me instead as he clearly couldn't be bothered with them. He ended up talking with me and the wife most of the night. A very funny bloke, no air of celebrity superiority.

I ran past David Dimbleby in St James Park a few weeks ago, who looked half cut, and I saw Farage on the Circle line a few years ago and he was sitting there quietly for once.

 

I was served a burger at a BBQ by Alastair Cook at one of his farm open days and know his misses.

Enjoyed a night out in a very nice restaurant in Kensington where Edwina Curry and Sharon Stone were eating. Followed Sharon Stone up the stairs and very nice it was to.

Shared a coffee with Shaun Williamson ( ex Barry easternders ) in costa Brighton. He was on the table next to me and stuck up a conversation. A really nice bloke.

And the most bizzare moment of my life, I stood in between Trevor McDonald and Bill Oddy in the toilets at the Oval, during the lunch interval.

 

Some ordinary people have met me.

 

Faith Hill came into where I used to work with her husband. We got a phone call in the morning that a world famous singer was coming in and would be accompanied by security, but they wouldn't tell us who. The two humorless bodyguards didn't say much and nobody recognised her at all, either staff or customers. Someone commented/complained about the two strange men watching everyone.

 

There used to be loads of famous people come through Euston Station in the years I worked there and often you'd get a call up from the platform staff that somebody or other famous was on a train, but most usually I couldn't be bothered to go and look at them.

We did have Jimmy Saville come in the office once for a cup of tea. He was catching the late night Scottish sleeper and although he had a woolly hat on trying to hide his hair, the great British public, always such fine judges of character, wouldn't leave him alone for two seconds. "Jim! Jim! Hello Jim! Can you fix it for me Jim?" etc etc. We let him come in the office until his train was ready to board as an act of mercy really. He just sat quiet and drank his tea and didn't really say anything. We were busy working anyway.

I got to touch the FA Cup one Sunday morning when one of (I think) the Scouse teams had won it the previous day and were going back on the train with the cup. That was good.

About the only other famous people I bothered going to see was when the Miss World contestants arrived in London by train. That was also good.

As for political people, I saw Fidel speak (of course) and did interpreting for Che Guevara's daughter Aleida when she was touring the UK. Seen Dennis Skinner speak several times - an excellent speaker in the old style.

However most of the people considered famous these days (X-Factor stars and reality TV people) could walk past me in the street and I wouldn't know them from Adam, even if you told me their name.

 

I was going to make a quip about her not being recognised at least "One time" then I realised that Faith Hill and Lauren Hill are different people.

 

Recently I've been on the phone with Paul Walsh, who now does work on soccer saturday (work related).

Met Hugh Dennis at Kings Cross Station, stood right next to him in the queue and had a small conversation.

Went to a New York Knicks game a few years back at Madison Square Garden. Was getting a hot dog and Olly Murs happened to be in front of me in the queue. Actually a very nice guy having spoken to him, which was contrary to what I thought of him before.

Bumped into some members of Kasabian and the Leicester Tigers team when I was up there at Uni. Manu Tuilagi can drink... a lot.

 

I haven't.

 

That's because only ordinary people have met moog. He avoids "special people".



:sign13:

 

I'm David Furnish.






Do I win £5?

 

I remember standing in a large crowd outside the Vatican once. Two figures appeared in the balcony to a massive cheer.

The guy in the group next to me, suddenly said...

"Who's the fella up there in the pointy hat - standing next to Godfather?"

 

I'm not Mourinho, honest!

 

I grew up with Paul Merson as my next door neighbour just after he had made the Arsenal first team, a really nice bloke, my dad owned a garage in the village and Merse started using it and got most of the Arsenal team as regulars for MOTs. He got involved in a massive fight in the local over a game of pool once and went to the a 'gentleman' evening at the local football club incognito.

Like WAS I have met Barry from Eastenders, he lived in the same rural Beds village as me, again very nice bloke who would drink in the local and I have also seen Alistair Cook help deliver a lamb at his farm.

My best bit of celeb spotting though was when living in Brighton, I worked in the one of the massive hotels on the front, would get to meet loads of so called names. I had to deliver room service once to the big, big fella from the Green Mile, he was sat on his bed with one of those personal DVD players that used to be popular surrounded by a load of adult DVDs, I am just glad he was covered up and it was most likely the size of my forearm!! Steven Hendry lost his Ferarri keys once whilst staying and put a sign up with his mobile number if found, I thought it was hilarious to start to prank call him for the next week, what a tw*t i was! I also would regularly see most of the Fast Show cast, Jordan, comics like Johnny Vegas (top man who game me a tenner to get him paracetamol). Gaz from Supergrass and Joe Mangel from Neighbours lived round my students digs (not together unfortunately!).

 

I play football on a Monday night with Paul Furlong. Does that count!?

 

:]]

But as you mentioned it ....

Unfair I think but as a (the only straight) barman @ Legends, Old Burlington St in the 1980s celeb meeting was a turkeyshoot. So apart from those (hundreds?) I merely served comes to mind; Sting, who's house in Ireland was continually being set ablaze and a convo on maybe the IOM instead. Liz Taylor, God bless her and her genuine concern for my AIDs ridden brother (and she sent a wreath). Joan Collins xxx. Siobhan F also xxx. Hurricane Higgins, on the wagon in the papers but on the razz with me and Cozy Powell in real life. Miss Jones aka Francis de'Latour is a scream over tea and biscuits (and everything in her fridge ). Bowie a stuck up **** who always sends his bodyguards to get drinks and had to be told off. Kylie sweet but too busy kissing some idiot to talk seriously with me .... I really could go on and on and on and on zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

PS. Also Royalty but I value my life more than your dirty minds .... I'll leave it at that.

 

Spoke to Lennox Lewis and Emanuel Steward on the phone in a previous job. Also spent about an hour talking to Bruce Grobbelaar in a bar in South Africa, does he count?

 

A whole hour for an hour :jumping1:

... you poor sod, I lasted ten minutes :]]

 

Richard Lee used to live next to my Aunt, a full sized goal of course in his back garden

 

I liked him ... great shot stopper, misaligned by our fans..... was a demigod at Brentford after leaving us.
(more to the thread he is also a nice guy to talk to)

 

Won a competition when I was 11 to be in a six part football coaching program run by Kevin Keegan. It was on London Weekend Television every Friday for six weeks . Kevin was an exceptionally nice bloke. Helping him was Ray Clemence who I scored a free kick against and George Best who was incredible to watch. Did video it at the time but can't find it anymore which I'm gutted about. Met Alan Davies at a 20/20 cricket match a few years ago. Utter bell end. Still think GT was the nicest celeb I've ever met

 

Emma ? - Dream Team Blonde Waitress from original cast: Met her and her boyfriend on holiday in Zante, went out with them on several occasions for meals and drinks.

Kevin Rowland (Dexys Midnight Runners): In my class at school, he came to my 60th birthday party and have met up on several occasions over the years.

Frankie Gray, Gordon McQueen & Joe Jordan (Then all playing for Leeds): Met them in Majorca when I worked over there in the 70's. I sold them Beach Party tickets and spent best part of a fortnight going out drinking with them most nights.

Met up with Joe & Gordon in Majorca again a couple of years later after they had moved to Man U, they came out to Magalluf to see me and my mate Phil Cadell (Irish) at our then local, the original "Red Lion", which was further up the hill than the new one now in Magalluf. They brought quite a few of the team with them, including: - Alex Stepney, Jimmy & Brian Greenoff, Steve Coppell, Sammy McIlroy, Stewart Pearson & Gordon Hill there were 2 or 3 more of them, but it was a long time ago; They were on one of those mid season breaks teams used to take back then.

Staying on a football related theme, I also met other players etc. while in Majorca in various bars etc. including: - Frank McClintock, Graham Souness,. I also had a drink with Colin Todd, Roy McFarland & Dave McKay, on the night they found out they had won the old 1st division title in the 74/75 season.

Other people I met in Majorca and spent time with them socially were; Dave Bedford (the long distance runner), he was a right **** head, and Ingemar Johansson (ex world heavy weight champion boxer).

I also had an encounter with Shane Ritchie in Browns restaurant in London. Noel Edmunds and Brian Clough were on the same flight as me out of Gatwick, also Gloria Hunniford was on the same flight as me coming back from New York once. Most recently, Nancy Delallio was on the same flight as me and my wife coming back from my sons wedding in Italy last July.

I have also met many other footballers over the years at matches, but I am not counting them as I am sure most of you have done the same.

Finally I had the great privilege of having a drink with Graham Taylor in the White House Hotel in Watford many years after he stopped managing the club.

PS. Just remembered I bumped into (not literally) Paddy Ashdown (the politician) on a skiing holiday in France. I'm sure there are others I've forgotten, ah! yes I also saw Gary Linneker walking down the street in New York of all places a few years ago.

PPS I knew there were more: - Anne Robinson (the queen of mean) she came and sat quite close to me and family on a beach in Paleokastritsa Corfu. Boris Johnson (he's a lot shorter than I thought he was) spoke to him when he was on a campaign trail at the top end of Watford high street. I think that's it, but I might be back.

PPPS. I also used to see Henry Cooper quite regularly as he lived quite near my childhood home, and my wife has reminded me we saw Jeremy Irons in a ski bus queue on a skiing holiday in Verbier Switzerland, and that we saw Harry Goodman (the owner of the now defunct "InterSun" holiday company) sitting outside the Baraka (posers bar) in Palma Nova Majorca; he was well known at the time as an early package holiday entrepreneur similar to Freddie Laker.

 

Babysat for Tessa Wyatt and Richard O'Sullivan.

 

In Reading town centre walking past John Lewis I notice a tall athletic looking bloke walking in the other direction. He just had an air of importance about him. Up close I noticed he had a Williams F1 jacket on.
It was the year Ayrton Senna died and the chap I had passed turned out to be David Coulthard who at the time was Williams test driver before he took over Senna's seat.

One of My Uni Lecturers was Professor Kevin Warwick. He's been in an around the news for the best part of 20 years now as one of the leading figures in AI & cybernetics. Done the Royal Institute lectures had chips implanted in him and such like. Back in the day the Uni department he ran was responsible for making the chair Jimmy Saville sat in for Jim'll Fix It. Not sure that's a claim to fame though.

 

I used to see Boris all the time, he lived in the next street to me in Highbury and we often went to the same pub. Islington is full of celebs, so have seen Jimmy Carr, Simon Day (Fast Show, Brian Pern), Paul Whitehouse (had a chat with him), Paul Merton, Gilbert and George the artists, Clive Anderson, Alan Davies, Ricky from Eastenders, Sade etc etc. Funnily enough not that many Arsenal players - only Tony Adams. Here in Bristol have sat at a restaurant table next to Carol Vorderman and bumped into Bill Oddie in the street (literally). Elsewhere was in a bar with Peter Snow, been on a plane with Adam Hills (the Last Leg) and Jimmy Carr (again) and on trains with Jeremy Hardy and Graham Norton. Seb Coe was my local MP when I lived in Cornwall and I said hello to him in a pub there.

My Dad was the best at this though. He once bumped into SEJ at some airport - Dubai, I think. Rather than doing the starstruck thing, his line to him was "What was the score yesterday?" (this was long before the internet etc). SEJ apparently looked a bit taken aback, asked "Are you a supporter?", to which my Dad nodded, and then said, "Aw, we lost 2-1".

 

I've been out on the lash with Iain Dowie a few times recently and going out with him again in a fortnight or so in a work capacity as he is now in the same industry as me. The reaction of people when out with him is quite interesting to watch.

 

Seeing your mention of meeting Seb Coe in a pub in Cornwall, reminded me I saw Edward Woodward (the actor) having a drink in my local pub in Cornwall on two different occasions.

 

I have no idea who 90% of the 'celebrities' in this thread are.

 

As I said Legends was the main source of sleb meeting but there are others.

Then Brighton manager Brian Clough swore at me when I declined his autograph. Played against a star studded Liverpool reserves including Heighway, Lawro, Tommo, Lee and a returning from injury Ian Rush who I virtually marked out of the game (he only scored once). Also many of the Souness era players would eat at Mr Chow's in Parkgate where my mum lived at the time. Went on a massive bender with 'A Flock of Seagulls' who stayed at a Bayswater hotel I was working on. Played cards with all of Echo and the Bunnymen on the London Liverpool train. John Cleese lived close to a site in Holland Park I worked on and he would always do a silly walk as he passed. I rebuilt a collapsed wall for Paul Daniels, tiled a lipstick coloured bathroom for some minor princess who's name I forget, worked for Richard Bright ex actor turned property developer. Regular drinks with Andy Sumner and Stuart Copeland (I built their Ladbroke Grove recording studio). Bananarama's Siobhan Fahey actually lived directly across the street from me and we spent time together although I was never a "boyfriend" as such. However I was a boyfriend of one of Kieron Burke's six lovely daughters and so was acquainted with the remaining members of the Dubliners. We were sat at Ronnie Drew's drinking tea when of all people Bono called round but unfortunately my girl and him had previous and don't get on at all; we soon left. Going back to my childhood Ronnie Barker was a friend of my dad's and once came to tea as did Jeremy Thorpe.

Oh and if we're including boxers Chris Finnigan was a drinking buddy of mine in Munich, I lent gave him money.

Edit: Forgot to mention that on the way back from school me and a couple of mates used to stop at Hemel pavilion and help whoever was playing's roadies unload the wagons which usually got us backstage passes ... Manfred Mann, ELO, Quo, Lindisfarne, Trower and many others. I even tried it on with Suzi Quattro but got short shrift in every sense of the word, if I remember rightly the back stage pass got taken off me.

PPS. Once half way through unloading we found out it was for the Bay City Rollers and of course we had no interest and downed tools so to speak. But as they were running late they gave us two tickets each to give/sell to any of the screaming hoard of girls outside just to stay and finish the job. We did and I sold one ticket for £25 and exchanged the other for my very first BJ .... aaand of course I've been a big Rollers fan ever since

Shang a Lang :jumping1:

 

Was Siobhan as nutty as she appeared to be?

 

totally .... scatterbrained was made for her