Famous people you thought would be nice, but were tw*ts?

[Moodershewrote]

Have you met someone famous and they turned out to be a bit of a twat?

I once met Steve Coogan (who I thought was hilarious as Alan Partridge) who was a sexist, lecherous buffoon IRL.

Share your tales!

I drunkenly and without meaning to annoyed Cillian Murphy once at a VIP after party for a festival, I feel mortified when I think about it!

Mark Rylance came into the small coffee shop I managed once when I was heavily pregnant. We had run out of coffee cup lids and I was working alone, had a lovely chat with him and his wife! He was quite quiet and so warm and friendly.

I didn’t even clock who he was until they left and the whole cafe was staring at me in silence!

I also read that book. I liked him very much as an actor but his attitude was quite snobbish and sneery throughout the book.

I'm so pleased you said Victoria Wood - everyone thinks she was wonderful.
And she was - bloody brilliant, Dinnerladies was , and still is an absolute classic.
But I met her and Una Stubbs on the same day.
VW was nothing short of bloody rude.
I was there to assist her for the day, so not asking for selfish or anything, and this was all day, not an hour long snapshot.
Unable Stubbs, on the other hand was lovely, as was Alan Ayckbourn.

Or a stairway to heaven

I've had to google far too many of these names to put a face to them, I didn't realise how bad at names I actually was!

Les Dennis was in the same pub once across from a theatre he was doing something at. We didn't approach him but were sitting nearby and he seemed to be welcoming to those who did.

Agreed: I always read these kind of threads with one eye closed just in case anybody says anything bad about Michael Palin, because I think that would break my heart.

I've met Steve Coogan and he was lovely and charming to me! He's one of my favourite celebrities because of it.

I don’t think it is the price you pay for being an actor, no. They have as much right to privacy as anyone else.

I think they virtually all sign up to be famous and adored and recognised; it’s just the ones who don’t realise it won’t be all on their terms who end up having conflict with the great unwashed. They all start off fucking loving the attention, but if they then start to feel superior and irritated and intruded upon every time an ordinary person tries to interact with them, they gain a deserved reputation as an arsehole.

Everyone has bad days, problems, unhappy times and that’s fair enough - and most people would understand if you said as much - but if you’re consistently a dickhead, sooner or later that reputation will catch up with you, and rightly so.

It’s not impossible to move around unnoticed and unbothered (I’ve watched John Malkovich walk through Soho completely incognito), and it’s not impossible to stay grounded and just be a nice person (Kylie is a good example of an internationally famous, instantly recognisable star who turns up without an entourage or an attitude and seems beloved by everyone she meets).

But if you trade on fame in any capacity and put your face out there, you have to accept that a degree of intrusion comes with the territory. You should implicitly understand that the people who want to interact with you are the same ones who support your livelihood, so you probably need to muster a bit of grace about it.

Terry Venables was really lovely with my then 8 yr old football mad DS. He was walking in to a launch of a major tournament and was surrounded by FA big wigs and football elite. DS held his camera up to take a quick shot, Terry V saw him, stopped, said "do you want a picture? I'll just stand here" and he did. Posed, didn't rush him, really nice.

Rowan Atkinson otoh told my friend's partner to fuck off when he walked past his table in a restaurant.

Joe Cocker, very drunk (always).

Nick Knowles, calm but not very interested in his gf ( nor she in him).

Sally ( from Corrie), very lovely and chatty over a hotel breakfast.

King Charles ( a few years ago), surprisingly, quite the action man. Full military combats, very fit looking.

The Newcastle United team ( Shearer time). All of them oozed good health. Kind of shiny and so fit!

Yvette Cooper, caring, strong, intelligent, determined and very committed.

She has a very compassionate side too.

He was a regular sunday shopper in waitrose in Kensington High Street, my mum had a few chats with him. Knew all the staff and the regulars by name. She also once spotted Jimmy Page in the sauces section, re-organising some misplaced items back into line on a shelf 🤣

Many years ago I served Daniella Westbrook. This was in the run up to her stint in the jungle. It hadn't been announced and she was bragging very loudly about it to me. I think she expected me to be excited about and asked if I watched it. I can't stand reality TV and told her as much, but was nice about it. She blanked me after. Ignored me when I asked if she needed a bag and snatched the receipt out of my hand 🤣

Jade goody on the other hand, knocked me flying in a shopping centre. She was so lovely and apologetic. Couldn't do enough for me.

Kris Akabusi - just as he is on tv - funny, chatty, self-deprecating, just really nice.
Tom Allen - beautifully dressed, smelt divine, lovely manners, talked to everyone. Linked arms with me to walk and talk!
Adrian Chiles - awful rude man.
John Craven - just lovely, chatted away to any one who approached him, brilliant with kids. His daughter could & should learn from him… thoroughly unpleasant sneering woman.
Lady Tanni Grey-Thompson - lovely lady, charming, plenty of stories to tell, wished she was my bestie, I loved her!

Wayne Sleep - just started demanding service from the woman who was in the middle of serving me as if I wasn't there. Just started barking at her what he wanted in a way that would have been very rude even if she hadn't been engaged with another customer.

Well if he was an arsehole to her perhaps thats precisely why she released it, maybe she was sick of the adoration he received after he died and wanted people to know what he was really like.

Yeah, I dealt with VW in a hospitality setting, over the course of several days. She was constantly surly and rude. I was very surprised.

Suzy Menkes is grumpy and rude, although I can't say I had any particular preconception of what she would be like. I guess she looks a bit fierce. Most of the famous people I've briefly met were charming.

My husband, a veteran, met Sir Ian Botham in a supermarket of all places. He said that Sir Ian was lovely and chatted to him about some of the work he has done to support veterans.

Why does it make a difference if he’s dead?

Yep, I was always baffled by people who were surprised Neil gaiman was a creep - he was always really obviously a creep! He might as well have had a neon sign saying “creep” over his head.

No amount of him insisting he was a feminist made him seem any less of a creep (indeed him banging on about it so much made him seem like even more of a creep).

Hmm, bet they'd soon be complaining if no one knew who they were.

Paul McCartney - lovely (slightly bonkers). His daughters: Stella is vile: Mary is smart and kind.
Gordon Ramsay: complete basket case of nerves. Actually a very nice person but deep-seated anxiety.
Denise Van Outen was (20 odd years ago) a stuck up madam, Graham Norton (same time frame) was wonderful.
Chris Packham is an absolute sex pest - as was Gary Rhodes.
Mark Williams is a nice guy.
Helen McCrory was one of the nicest people I've ever met. I have told this story on MN before: I went to see her in Medea which was a very hard play. Needed a drink afterwards and then the cast came in. She took one look at me and asked: "have you just seen the play?". She bought me a drink and we had a very lovely chat.

Really? I met him almost 30 years ago (think ''Mysterious Girl' days) and he was so sweet. Gave me an autograph and kissed my head while photo being taken. I was about 12. Really lovely. He must have changed.

In fairness he apologised for the racism long ago. Though he is an antivaxxer