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?

Jo Brand - passed her in the supermarket and gave her a I-think-you’re-great-but-I’ll-leave-you-alone shy kind of smile and she gave me the warmest smile back. I fell in love a bit I think.

Met Celia Imrie at a thing and was introduced - she was lovely.

Oh I remembered another one - Michael Parkinson.

Went to see his chat show being recorded.

Before the show he came out to the audience and had a chat for about 30 minutes with us like his own warm up act. Kept asking the band to play the intro and dancing down the steps.

Was warm and funny, and...he was a lot older than me...but I definitely would.

Incidentally one of his guests was David Dickinson - he was so nice and very open about the conviction etc even speaking in tears at points. Didn't want to like him but left thinking he was actually ok.

I've met loads of WWE wrestlers, I'll give a rundown of the most memorable.
Shawn Michaels- was amazing. He was my idol as a teenager and wasn't disappointed. One of my favourite memories.

Big Show- met him twice. First time he said he wasn't standing up for any pictures, saw me and was all over me. Stood up for pictures,.told.me how pretty I was. I was 16 at the time...the next year we were hanging out at the hotel the wrestlers were staying in. He was sat smoking cigars in the VIP area and was staring at me all night. When I saw I was with my (ex) boyfriend, he gave me filthy looks the whole night!

Chris Benoit- was lovely and chatty. Was the year before he murdered his family. I still have the picture and it chills me to look at it if I'm honest.

Shane McMahon- such a lovely, friendly man who had time for everyone.

Ric Flair- he has this aura about him, it's hard to explain, but he gives off a presence. He was absolutely lovely, spoke to us for ages and was so sweet.

I'm also a massive fan of RuPaul's Drag Race, and Jasmine Masters is probably one of the most lovely, sweet human I've ever met. She invited me and DD out for lunch with her and we had an amazing time sitting and chatting for about 3 hours! Then later on she put me on the guest list for her show and I got to hang out backstage with her and watch her show from the side of the stage. She is just an absolute treasure.

A family friend knows Maggie Smith and has been friends with her for decades. She doesn't tolerate fools gladly, apparently, but is loyal to those that count. She scares me to death though, I wouldn't dare ask for an autograph or even offer to make her a cup of tea.

She does look terrifying

I think I’d be a bit disappointed if Maggie Smith wasn’t terrifying.

“What is a week...end?”

I think I’d be a bit disappointed if Maggie Smith wasn’t terrifying.

Me too! Anyone seen Nothing Like a Dame? It's basically her, Eileen Atkins, Judi Dench and Joan Plowright reminiscing about their lives, talking about acting, gossiping, cackling, trading witticisms etc.
She is terrifically funny and caustic. They're all faintly terrifying actually, in the very best way.

Oh i am going to see if that is on iplayer we did mean to record it but forgot.

I think I’d be a bit disappointed if Maggie Smith wasn’t terrifying

My favourite Maggie Smith story was told by Kenneth Williams and concerns Maggie Smith shopping for a bra in a fancy London department store. Upon asking the assistant how much said item was and being informed it was five guineas, she replied in her best haughty voice 'five guineas dear? Be cheaper to have my tits off.'

I've met Brian May and he was absolutely lovely!

I have a couple of friends who work in TV and they have relayed the stuff about Cilla Black to me. Evidently she was often known as "Killer".

@GetYourJush I adore Jasmine, I'm so happy she was so lovely. Rooting for her big time for AS4, it was disgusting to hear how she was treated after her season.

im so jealous about howard keel what a voice-bet he was lovely

I've met James Arthur - lovely bloke!

Was supporting a disabled lady to his book signing, (she's a massive fan!) , she was so emotional he gave her a cuddle and chatted away with us both. Lots of patience for his fans and gave genuine bear hugs 😂

He even remembered her name from previous events, fan stuff etc.

It honestly made her day, not a bad day at work for me either!

@pumpatrotter ahhh me too, I can't wait to see her back on TV! And I totally agree with you, the hate she received was disgusting. Some of those so-called fans should be ashamed!

I've met Julie Andrews and Liam Neeson and they were both really really nice.

While it's obvious that some celebs e.g. Cilla and Lulu are consistently rude and unpleasant, I do think it's unfair to just post that you met such and such a celeb and they were vile to your kids or some such, without giving context.

Celebs are human beings and if someone approaches them for a selfie when they're trying to enjoy a meal with their spouse, or feed their baby, or have a conversation on their phone then I think they're entitled to look a bit annoyed and refuse.

So when there's no context given I often wonder if it was the poster who was being rude and intrusive, not the celeb who was being vile.

I used to rep for a theatre company and met several big names. Most turn out to be.....human. Many appreciate their 'fans' and make an effort but most admit it's very very hard to be 'on' 24/7. Some get annoyed when their meal is interrupted three or four times by people asking for a picture or even just wanting to say how well (or how badly) they were in a part or film. There's a story that Kirk Douglas used to walk into bars and restaurants when he was going out for the evening and pretty much address the staring faces by telling them that any one of them could take him in a fight.....he was so used to being challenged by guys wanting to beat the Hollywood hardman. I would just put it down to your idol having a bad day or you just being one person too many that day. If it was an author, well they're crusty as anything anyway - they lock themselves away to work and there's a reason for that! Just admire their work, take from their work what you want and let the person behind the mask just get on with their life.

My sister back in the day was her universities social secretary and Jools Holland was doing the uni rounds but she said he was a giant arse and couldn't seemnto understand that it was a uni and not a big theatre and was making all sorts of outrageous demands like three kinds of bottled water (and we are talking something like 25 years ago when these things were less common )

I remember meeting a comedian after a (far from packed) show in my home town, I was so excited to meet him and thought he was so funny, me and my friend were giggling schoolgirls and gushing over him and he was basically acting like we were some horrible mess he had to get off his shoe as quickly as possible. I was so gutted and wondered why we were beneath contempt.

It was only years later I considered the possibility of how it looks when you're a male celebrity and giggling schoolgirls try to get too close to you and fawning over your every word and how awkward that would be, especially for a married man. That wasn't on my radar back then, but when I look back at how we acted I can see why he acted the way he did.

Jude Law and Dominic West were both lovely and happy to just fit in.
Sam Taylor Johnson wasn't very nice and Aaron Taylor Johnson seemed thick.
Ant or Dec (can't tell them apart) in the park with his dog, he was nice we chatted about labs for a bit.
Not met but but David Beckham drives like a total dick and Stella McCartney walked in front of my car but apologised so I decided to like her.
See a few around but I'm not an approacher.

Patrick Stewart, was lovely.
Ian McKellen, was very sweet and friendly, chatted for ages.
Rafael Nadal, made my sons day and laughed when son told him Djokovic was his favourite player, 😂
he gave him his water bottle and towel and signed his cap and programme.
Brian May was lovely, I was so star struck I could hardly say a word, very embarrassing but he was lovely and we ended up talking for a few minutes about a photographer we both admire.

Elton John was grumpy, I love his music so want to give him the benefit of the doubt and say he looked very tired.
Roger Federer was just rude.

David Copperfield is lovely

He bought me a drink and asked me to FaceTime my little DS (who is four..) so he could say hello - just because he noticed him as my phone screensaver

I then went to his show, ended up on stage and am totes in love

@mama1980 I'm so pleased to know that Sir Patrick Stewart was lovely!

blueangel1 he was I was so thrilled, I've been a fan of his forever it would have been upsetting if he was awful but nope just lovely and decent. I was working when I met him and he was unfailingly polite and treated everyone well. He also was happy to sign programmes etc and pose for photographs.I saw him over a period of a few weeks and never saw him be either rude or impatient.

Angelina is totally bonkers but nice. Brad is gorgeous - inside and out!

Met several royals and all were pleasant enough apart from Andrew. He’s a dick and military people hate him! Very rude and arrogant.

I’ve always heard Dawn French is unpleasant but someone I know worked with her recently and she was funny and charming apparently! But perhaps she’s only nice to people she feels are important...