Meeting Celebrities

Ride hard

Mouth wrote:

Years ago i worked in a petrol station and this particular day I was minding my own whilst reading News of he World or something in between customers and then Darren Huckerby (Leeds, Forest and some other crap teams fame)starts filling up the Impreza. Couple of kids come in and start arguing with each other about who it is. When he came in to pay they decided to ask him who he was.

"excuse me mate, but are you Darren Huckerby?" asked the 12 year old.

"Yes mate, do you want my autograph?"

The reply was priceless. "Not really. Do you want mine instead?"
I actually choked on my tea and couldn't actually contain myself whilst taking his payment. He never came in again.

Also, not my story but cool nonetheless - my mate used to be a ticket collector at the local Cineworld and was one day very surprised to look up and see Steven Spielberg and George Lucas clutching two tickets and some popcorn for some crappy film. Nobody else had recognised them.

The Darren Huckerby story has to be one of the funniest things I have ever heard!! Thanks for sharing!

@ Keith1983 - I'm not surprised as Mr Mansell is renowned for being a complete and utter tw*t. He can't be all bad though as he's a big cycling fan.

@GiantMike - Re Susanna Reid. You luck boy. I'm applying for a job at the bbc asap

Like most people on here I don't get star struck - after all they they are just people - but the only time I've gone up to a celeb was a few months back when I met a slightly merry Idris Elba in some random, student-like, non descript bar just of Regents Street. He's a real nice guy and we had a chat for about three minutes before he stumbled off with his friend/girlfriend. Apart from being nice he's one big mutha, and almost crushed my hand with his shovel hand when we shook and parted ways.

markos1963

I used to work in a really upmarket clothes shop in Norwich where we would get all sorts of celebs in. After a while you got used to them and they were much like any other person.
One occasion springs to mind, one day we were asked if we would mind working later as a customer had phoned ahead asking if he could shop whilst the place was closed. It was a secret as to who he was but as it was the chance of overtime we said ok. Come 5.30pm we noticed a few young girls hanging around the shop front and they got very excited when the mystery shopper turned up. None other than Robbie Williams himself!!!!!




































He's a complete c*ck btw

kieranb

Well I don't have much time for celebs, only one I met was Danny Baker, whilst I was in Lewisham hospital, he was in visiting his Dad (I think) every day for hours, seemed really nice. Otherwise I wouldn't recognize most and most names mentioned so far are a mystery to me.

Compost

Jimmy Tarbuck - very formal, serious, not easy to deal with but not nothing negative either

As a kid I caddied for Jimmy Tarbuck at the Belfry.

At one of the later holes there was a fairly narrow gap with water front left and bushes front right. He said '7 iron please'. I said 'You can't come all the way from Liverpool and lay up'.

He took a wood and fired it straight into the pond.

Didn't talk to me for the rest of the round and I didn't get a tip.

lifeform

Only a couple.

I got to spend an awfully long flight sat next to Claire Sweeney, and I have to say she was very pleasant company indeed. To be honest I didn't have a clue who she was until after we'd landed - I don't watch a lot of telly, and I meet a lot of people in my line of work, so everyone seems vaguely familiar to me - it was only as we parted company that she said 'it's been so nice to not talk about bloody Brookside' that the penny dropped.

Des Lynham (a fellow Hove resident) once joined us for lunch in a restaurant. We walked in and he was in there on his own; one of my mates politely offered for him to join us. To our surprise he said yes, and a bloody excellent lunch ensued.

Cleat Eastwood

The robbie williams thing I can believe but....

markos1963 wrote:

a really upmarket clothes shop in Norwich

Come on, someones telling porkies.

verylonglegs

Cleat Eastwood wrote:

The robbie williams thing I can believe but....

markos1963 wrote:

a really upmarket clothes shop in Norwich

Come on, someones telling porkies.

I nearly made the very same joke...and I've lived near Norwich all my life! The two shops that spring to mind are Hatters and Trumbulls, although I've always thought as Trumbulls as just the place the local wannabe soccer thugs get their Stone Island jumpers.

Pross

Ended up with Freddie Flintoff in our box at the Welsh National a few years back as our friends invited his trainer up and he tagged along. He drank the bar dry, signed everything and posed for photos. I ended up chatting to him for ages about cricket (he was injured and missing out on the winter tour and was taking the mick out of Simon Jones who had just posed naked for some womens mag) and then about all sorts of things including cycling as he was doing some MTB riding to recover.

We see him there most years now and he always says hello to me and thanks our friends for the booze lol

A few of the top jockeys also came up to the box after the racing but I didn't have a clue who they were!

I also see former Wales and Lions great Graham Price every week at the rugby. I was a bit awestruck at first but now he's just another supporter.

Pross

I missed out whrn my little girl was ill though. Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas are supporters of the hospital and visited when possible but I missed out on meeting them as they visited the day before my daughter was in for treatment. Just as well as I would have been a dribbling mess in Catherine's presence. Both are supposed to be really nice though.

Roobsa

I shot an interview with Natalie Imbruglia. I've never been one to care about meeting celebs but I was totally star struck meeting her. She's utterly beautiful and possibly the friendliest person ever. The highlight was getting a kiss on both cheeks from her.

Roobsa 1 - most of the population 0.

Met a few others but that's the most interesting story I've got.

Frank the tank

Met a few ex footballers at "an evening with" nights.

Seen the queen from only a few feet away.

Will be seeing Graeme Obree on Friday.

Crossed the path of a few actors off the tv, but not been a big enough kn0b as to invade their personal space.

pottssteve

I know all the big names, me, but here's the edited highlights...

Saw Mick Hucknall from Simply Red riding his bike through Manchester.

Saw Fatboy Slim riding his bike down Hove seafront.

Met the Tindersticks backstage at a gig and had a couple of warm lagers with them.

Chatted with D. Millar at this year's Amstel Gold race.

Went on a camel ride in Tunisia with the keyboard player from the band These Animal Men, and lent him fifty quid (which he gave back).

Like I say, ALL the big names........

iainf72

Ended up on a treadmill next to Mel C in the gym once. She had very nice skin (an odd thing to notice)

Said "excuse me" to Bjork at a gig and she apologies and moved out of my way (very nice, very small)

Had a drink with some of the guys from Public Enemy. Flav was sitting down looking cool, but the other guys were friendly if a bit scary.

Stood next to Badly Worn Hat (Badly Drawn Boy) at a Godspeed You! Black Emperor gig at the Scala.

Spoke to Glama-model Jordans mum in a lift in Moorfields. She was nice

crumbschief

I've not met that many,the last one i met was Freehub on an episode of Come Dine With Me,it went ok.
I gave him a 6,the Cumberland Mars chowder was surprisingly alright.

andy_f

Roobsa wrote:

I shot an interview with Natalie Imbruglia. I've never been one to care about meeting celebs but I was totally star struck meeting her. She's utterly beautiful and possibly the friendliest person ever. The highlight was getting a kiss on both cheeks from her.

Roobsa 1 - most of the population 0.

Met a few others but that's the most interesting story I've got.

You lucky, lucky, lucky ba$stard. She's one woman I would happily kill for.

MaxwellBygraves

I once met David Guest. Utterly bizarre. I couldn't tell if he was stoned or not.

pottssteve

More top names from my star-studded past...

Asked Jim Bob from Carter USM for an interview at a gig when I was working for Brighton festival radio - he politely refused as they were due onstage in 5 minutes and I was, if I recall, quite drunk.

Met Deacon Manu, prop-forward for Llanelli Scarlets and formerly a NZ Maori player. He struck me as quite small for a prop, but a lovely chap.

Asked Johnny Bellis if he had good legs in an early-season race this year, but he didn't seem confident. He was right to be - DNF unfortunately.

I spent a few evenings chatting to Dave Thomas, accordion player with experimental punk band Pere Ubu, as he used to be a regular in my local pub.

It just doesn't get any bigger than that.....

SmellTheGlove

Met Johnny Vegas while on pushchair duty in the local park about seven years back - yes, both of us doing the same thing, meaningful/less nods exchanged.
Remember wondering, WTF is JV doing pushing a pushchair in a north London park? Serious case of displaced person, surely?

Monty Dog

I once spent a great afternoon at a local friend's barbie with their houseguest, an old American guy who in conversation turns out lived in Hollywood and his daughter was a film producer. Didn't know who he was to start but he introduced himself as Bud Ekins, Steve McQueen's buddy, stunt double and film legend- he was a really straight up guy and great to spend an afternoon with. He used to spend his summers in the UK to ride motorbikes and keep his feet on the ground. Funniest bit was an Army guy who was trying to have a drinking contest and lost dismally!
Another top bloke is Rolf Harris, genuinely nice guy.
I also used to do a lot of international business travel and saw so many 'celebrities' being complete a$$holes. My wife's friend does the VIP check-in for Virgin and says the minor celebs ones are often the most demanding.

gmb

I Had a post-gig chat with Frank Black (Post Pixies but pre-Pixies reforming) - very nice chap too!

brucey72

When I was about 12 I was presented with a prize of an "Entertainment USA" babseball cap, T shirt and mug from none other than Jonathan King. Looking back on it I think I had a lucky escape although I'm still not quite sure why I had to take my pants off to model the T shirt for him??

I also met Brian Blessed a couple of weeks ago whilst waiting for my train. A really nice guy and talked just like he does on TV although but to be honest I only remember him from Flash Gordon.

morstar

When I was about 11, a friend and I bowled up to a number of the Forest players houses to simply request autographs.

Turned up at the house of a certain, rather high profile England goalie and rang the doorbell. Heard voices inside and some general hurried movement. A couple of minutes later the door finally opens. A woman runs out, jumps in a car and heads off quite sharply whilst the goalie looks straight past us all around to see who is about. Eventually settling his eyes on us, he asks, "what's up lads?"

We requested our autographs and offer our thanks. We are requested not to tell our friends that he had done so as he'd prefer not to have more visitors.

On several occasions our kick about on the local rec would be joined by two or three Forest players. This wasn't any high standard of football either, we were just the complete mix of abilities of the local kids so I always thought they were pretty cool guys for joining in.

Most surprising celeb encounter was Jimmy Saville in the Clachaig at Glencoe. Had spent the day doing some reasonably full on winter mountaineering and at every tiny cottage we passed, my mate declared he was sure Jimmy Saville lived in it. Personally I was beginning to think my mate was a bit retarded. We roll into the pub later that evening and there is a guy at the bar with the whitest hair you've ever seen.

F*** me if it's not Jimmy Saville!!!!!

Elston

On a clubrun last year I was chatting to a bloke I hadn't seen out before. At the cafe stop one of the lads told me it was Dave Harmon from Eurosport. He didn't sound anything like his TV self - a fact he acknowledged himself. Had a good chat with him on the ride home too - a thoroughly nice bloke.

tigerben

The only time I have ever felt anything about a celebrity was when I saw kiefer sutherland in London - I was quite deep into 24 at the time and as he looked like jack Bauer it felt very weird and overpowering..... Of course I did not speak to him as i did not want to distract him from saving the world.

shockedsoshocked

Robert Huth, Stewart Downing, David Wheater and Jonathon Woodgate are all regulars in the pub I used to work.

Robert Huth is pretty quiet, Downing you wouldn't even think was a footballer, Wheater is hilarious (when asked how he'd like his steak cooked, he replied "Sirloin") and Woodgate is a massive fucking cunt and has almost been filled in more times than I can remember.

Robbie Williams refused to sign an autograph for me after a charity game he'd played at Wembley once so my dad told him he was "fucking shit anyway". He had one of the Appleton sisters on his arm at the time.

Chris Hoy has came out on club rides with us when he's been staying with Chris Newton.

amun1000

Daphnie Du Maurier used to live round the corner from us. Used to see her dressed up like a man. She also had a temperature controlled room for her fur coats

Dont need to use allegedly as she has died

Blacktemplar

A few over the years....

Literally walked into John Cleese - wasn't looking where I was going - he just glared at me imperiously and strode on, to gales of laughter from my mates. Tall chap...

Sat next to Paxman on the plane once.

Had coffee on Islay once with Lord George Robertson, NATO secretary general. He was over visiting family. Lovely bloke, very down to earth. Comes from Port Ellen and hasn't lost sight of his "roots" like some "Scottish" politicians.....

Bumped into Phil Collins & Mike Rutherford many moons ago after a Genesis gig in Glasgow - Rutherford nice, Collins a bit of a t*sser.

Through work I've come into contact with loads of rugby internationals - most of the current/recent Scotland Squad (some of whom are now "out to pasture" at our club), and a certain Mr Martin Johnston. Hosted a table at Murrayfield once with Andy Irvine, and on another occasion with half the board of the RFU - "Will Carling's old farts" as one nice old gentleman introduced himself.

Ended up in a pub in Bath after a European game a couple of years ago with half the Bath squad - sat next to a very glazed Matt Stevens who kept heading off to the loo, presumably for some more Colombian marching powder. He was bagged the following week for substance abuse. Had a few pints with Michael Lipman (another casualty), Butch James and Justin Harrison, who was drinking pints of wine. Jonny Fa'amatuainu tried to chat up the wife - how we laughed (from a safe distance)

Met Sean Fitzpatrick at a dinner last year.

I suppose a lot of the foregoing are only "celebs" if you're into rugby mind......

sadlybiggins

I've lurked for a long time but feel that a subject of this importance merits a first post.

I met Bernie Clifton in the Isle of Wight in 1984. He didn't have his comedy ostrich on sadly, just a purple towelling tracksuit. Nice guy.

I met Gordon Jackson (boss in The Professionals amongst other things) shortly before he died. No connection between the two events that I'm aware of.

I knew Will Greenwood and Gabby Logan (nee Yorath) vaguely at university.

I recently met Luke Morley (formerly guitarist with Thunder and now The Union) randomly outside a small pub in London. I had a brief chat and he was a nice guy.

I really do hobnob with the A list.

Anonymous

I met Sean Connery once, about 1990, coming out of the Turf Corner pub in Irvine, said hello.

Met Shaun Ryder in Euston station early 90's, had a small chat and then left him alone.

Old girlfriend is now very high in the Scottish Government.

Mey Gaztop from the telly and had a few overpriced Carlsbergs with him on the London-Glasgow train, nice fella.

Had a nice chat and a drink at a Primal Scream gig at Brixton Academy with Sarah Cracknell from St Etienne. I was so besotted with her anyway, I made complete tool of myself, she didn't seem to mind.

had a nice lunch with Dale Winton once, we were visiting my wifes aunt and she lived in the same gated mews as him, lovely bloke, good sandwiches.

Rock and roll, it ain't.

neilo23

I've taken a few bets from minor celebrities whilst working in Muswell Hill, but my grandfather's experience would be hard to beat.

He was on a business trip in the south of France (in the 50s, I think). In the evening, sitting in at the hotel bar with his gin and it, he heard the chap who'd just sat himself down next to him say to him "excuse me, but you don't half remind me of Stan Laurel". Looking up he saw that the person saying this was none other than Charlie Chaplin with whom he spent an enjoyable (and tipsy) evening.

Beats my "the bloke from Bread" encounter anyday.