Meeting Your Idols and Being Disappointed

[strawberrisc]

Today I almost met somebody who has been a big figure in my life. It took ages to pluck up the courage to speak to them and I was totally dismissed. I wasn’t being a “gushing fan” and it was a setting that was laid back. Everyone else was lovely. Have tou ever met someone you admire and wish you hadn’t?

Round about 2010 I was at a small comedy gig in London (David Cross, he was awesome) and Charlie Brooker was there. I really wanted to talk to him as I think he’s awesome but he clearly didn’t want to be bothered.

Then Sharon Horgan pushed in front of me in the toilet queue. Years later I mentioned this on twitter and she vehemently denied it - she did though 😂

Met lots of famous people in my old job - Tony Bennett was so lovely, and Ben Stiller was a massive twat.

Skin from Skunk Anansie - really lovely. My camera wasn't working and she was very patient with me

Peter Dinklage is lovely. Probably helped that I hadn't a clue where I knew him from and we were just making chit chat in the park!!

Terry Pratchett was fabulous, such a lovely chap. Gave lots of time to people who wanted to ask questions of him when he came into my university for an event. Spent far longer than intended with us!

Nigel Kennedy. Talented man, but also took the time to talk to me about string music techniques. I was a star struck waitress in a pub restaurant late at night after he had played a folk festival gig that I couldn't get the night off to go to. He drew me a picture, signed it and left a massive tip.

Blue - tossers. Arrogant, demanding, prima donnas. Especially Duncan and Lee.

The Proclaimers - absolute hoots. Very chilled, normal chaps.

Had a chat with John Humphrys while standing in a passport queue at am airport. He was nice actually.

Oh and a few years ago we went to Stockholm for Eurovision and ended up sat in a bar at a table near Mel Giedroyc in a random part of Stockholm. She looked like she was already very fed up with Eurovision fans so we kept out distance but I did get a good covert shot 😂

I once babysat for Sir Richard Hadlee when he was visiting friends over here. I was their regular babysitter. He was lovely and paid really really well - £80 - for 6 hours in 1993! They all came into the pub restaurant where I worked the next day and he gave me a big hug for 'putting up with his kids!

I met Keith chegwin when I was a kid, he was lovely - all the time in the world for us and chatted for ages. Not exactly my hero but really nice chap

Met a friend in Oxford, walking down a lane in the city centre, said ‘hello’ but couldn’t place their name. You know how it is. Had a lovely chat—such a nice guy. Only as I walked away did I realise it was Kevin Whately, and it was Sergeant Lewis from Inspector Morse I thought I knew so well!

Certainly not an idol, Dickie Davis from World of Sport was signing photos in a store local to me in the 1970s. I queued up for a photo and when he asked my name (which is unusual in RL) I offered to spell it for him. Growled something long the lines of ‘I can write you know’. As a shy teenager I slunk off feeling very squashed. Now I would tell him where to stick his signed photos.

My DSis met Baking Bible celeb, said she was lovely and mega polite.

I used to go out with a 1970s cult Children’s TV star. Met him at a convention a few years back and he didn’t remember me!

Went to a Gilbert O’Sullivan concert recently, met him after, got a photo with him (taken by one of his daughters - also lovely) and a kiss. He was so sweet and patient with the queue of panting middle aged women all desperate to meet him.

I love these and that so many of my favourites are nice in real life! (David Tennant, Michael Palin.)
I met Rich Fulcher after one of his stand up shows a few years ago. He was lovely but seemed uncomfortable with the attention (nobody else in the bar batted an eyelid at him really!) and also came across as really shy! Which didn’t match up with his crazy-Booshiness. He’s the only famous person I’ve ever asked for a picture or even approached and I still feel a bit mortified about it!

My ultimate “wish I’d met” is Rik Mayall. Everything I’ve ever heard/read is that he was wonderful and kind to fans.

@cunningartificer I LOVE that story! Reasons probably clear from Nn!

My cousin runs a cab firm and lives near James Norton's parents and has driven James before. Said he was a joy and a loyal customer. He once came back from a weekend away to a voice mail from JN saying sorry to have missed him and promising to use the business again. I've made my cousin promise not to tell JN I call him Reverend Hot Stuff

Taylor Hanson broke my heart - I was at this very small Hanson gig a few years ago and my daughter fell asleep on my lap. At the end, Taylor came and autographed stuff and took pictures, but when he got to me, I hadn’t been able to take my camera or cd out of my bag and he just left. To be fair to him, he wasn’t rude or anything but I’d have thought that someone with 5 children would understand and give me another 30 seconds.... it just made me sad because I’ll probably never be that close to him again. But apparently Hanson are normally very nice to fans. I still buy the music and go to their concerts.

On the way to the above mentioned concert, Gregg from masterchef stood next to us in the tube. I didn’t spoke to him but he spent a fair deal of the journey playing with my daughter so he goes on my ‘nice’ books.

Jimmy Carr - sarcastic in real life as in TV but nice; Jamie Oliver nice guy; Flea from Red Hot Chilli Peppers - rude; James Caan (Dragons Den one) I used to work for him. Very nice and crazily smart in RL; Theo Pathitis nice; Katie Price was surprisingly nice - stopped for photo; Sophie Ellis Bexter is super sweet

None of these are my idols BTw just 'famous' people in RL

Oh forgot Hugh Grant! Met him a total of three times in the space of 12 years. Very laid back and nice

The closest I have ever got to being run over was by Kevin Costner - it was totally my fault I stepped out without looking straight in front of his car and he was really sweet about it checking I was ok etc

I was walking down the road telling.my friend about it the next day and we were laughing so much I bumped into someone coming out of a shop and nearly ended up on my arse when i turned to apologise it was Victoria Beckham. She was really sweet as well as i was helping her pick up her shopping

A friend (who used to work in a 5* London hotel) had John Travolta stay and he was really rude according to her; same with Victoria Beckham apparently not very nice in RL

John Travolta is famously a dickwad. I once saw Jay Rayner in Fortnum & Mason but he just looked so grumpy, everyone gave him a very wide berth!

Princess Anne told me to naff off when I was a child.
Kevin bacon kissed me as a teenager, I was at his cousins 13th birthday party and I won the fancy dress and he gave me my prize and kissed me on the cheek.
Met Robert Davi at the ice cream counter in Harrods. He was lovely chatted away to us.
James Nesbitt regularly comes in the shop I work in and is lovely and friendly, so does Darren Clarke the golfer, he's lovely too. Graeme McDowell the golfer is a bit of a twat with a fake American accent.

Met Robin Ince at MOSI. He was lovely and incredibly polite to everyone.

Also Stewart Lee. Again he seemed really nice and not at all like his stand up character.

Oh and I bumped into Helen Flanagan at the Trafford Centre and thought I knew her and started chatting . She was really nice about it and said it happens all the time. I actually went to school with the girl who played Rosie in Corrie before Helen got the part and she was a bully and all round stuck up evil bitch so I'm glad she got replaced by someone nicer!

I loved cold feet and James Nesbitt. Met him in real life and he is a small angry man! Someone said good morning to him in a local shop and he lost the plot moaning about people leaving him alone. The chap said ' i am your neighbour'!

I love Katie Ford she is a really lovely and a down to earth girl as is Kate Thornton...

I had a brief chat with James Nesbit at a festival - we were both waiting for friends by some loos - he was very friendly and chatty!

I've also met one of my musical idols Ian Brown, again lovely - in a caustic manc way 😁
Really engaging, genuinely interested and of course very obliging of photos.

Mark Rylance is a total thesp arse but also he's incredibly magnetic and so even though he's a bit of a dick you desperately want him to like you.

Stephen Fry was a bit of a knob when I met him but his partner (now ex) was worse by far.

Ralf Little is one of the worst people I've ever been forced to spend time with. Ugh.

I'm surprised about Colin Firth and Ian Hislop - both lovely in my experience (though Colin is painfully shy!) and given Piers Morgan has been unsuccessfully searching for dirt on Ian for years I'm surprised that story hasn't come out!

Nicest ever celeb was Will Self. He genuinely changed my life. I was so shocked!

Pixie, a 'naff off' from Princess Anne is practically an invitation to lifelong friendship.