Have you met a celebrity villain?

[pawsies]

Someone that is controversial in the media or comes across unpleasant on TV or whatever?

What were they like in real life?

AIBU to think there might be some surprises and some of them will be a persona on TV or whatever?

Just to back up the John Leslie stories. He has behaved very inappropriately to a few people I know. He's a creep.

Can't believe I joined Mumsnet just to post this.

Nick Cope, Oxfordshire based children's singer.

When I was a teenager he was in a band called the Candyskins who were (very) semi-famous in Oxfordshire. He's now a children's performer and came to the sleepy Bucks town where I now live and I took my DC along.

At the end of the show I said to him, thanks very much, the kids loved it - honestly the look of disdain I received in return was something else.

Wow, mate. Just why?

Sorry I missed a bit out! I said, "wow I loved you when you were in the candyskins, thanks very much for today the kids loved it" and he looked at me like I was actual shit on his shoe.

Oh no I adore Nick Cope!! Gutted. Very entertaining thread, thanks for all the stories!

Meghan Markle used to do my ironing. I used to say to her “Megs, put your feet up and get your lips round a fancy finger. They’re full of ginger”. It’s a funny old world.

The amount of people who have met Jimmy Saville

@Yakkabee

Oh no I adore Nick Cope!! Gutted. Very entertaining thread, thanks for all the stories!

Meh, pound shop Jarvis Cocker IMO.

@annonnymous

My grandmother once shared a lift with Daphne du Maurier and started to say how much she enjoyed her books, but the author snapped at her and was really nasty.

My grandfather used to supply Daphne Du Maurier with her heraldic stationery for many years and they corresponded at times. He had been in France in WW1, same area as her late husband but was a much lower army rank. She was his favourite customer and after he died, eventually, her housekeeper wrote asking for more stationery for D du Maurier. I wrote back to explain I would organise it as my grandfather had died and had a lovely, kind letter (handwritten) from Daph. Sadly, have lost it so can't sell it in my old age for funds. She had signed it du Maurier too, not her married name.

I’ve met Gordon Ramsey when he was filming a Kitchen Nightmares at a pub that I worked at as a student. He was perfectly nice and asked me about Uni etc and signed my book. He was (understandably) pissed off at the owners though as they were total dickheads. Really, really nasty people. It was a return to see how they were getting on type show and they’d just gone back to how they were before he’d been the first time.

I've always had my suspicions about Gordon Ramsey, so many top chefs have reached fame and fortune after working for him and most still talk really warmly about him. He couldn't possibly be a real bad guy with that sort of record!

I don't personally know Piers Morgan but have quite a few mutual friends who I do like a lot and they say he's a nice guy!

It's not surprising that Jimmy Saville features so much - he was active for a long time and across the country.

My JS story is a different one. I was a 6th former in a catholic high school, back in the 70's. we were trying to organise a big charity event - I was on a committee with pupils from other schools, we all thought JS would be a great guest to have at the event. Our school chaplain, a Catholic priest, was very much opposed to the suggestion. He said "trust me, girls, you really do not want him to come". We listened to him and the event went ahead without JS.

It took many years for me to appreciate that he was trying to protect us.

JS was a hugely powerful figure, but there were people trying to raise concerns.

I agree with @stoptextingme the Rooney’s are absolutely lovely, David & Victoria also very polite. David Gest, divine. I’m trying to think of who’s been horrible in our shop but it’s normally complete nobodies with too much money

@Savoury
If its the same actor I'm thinking of , I agree, lovely man.

I’ve worked with Piers Morgan and he was perfectly pleasant. I was quite surprised, I expected him to be vile! 🤷🏻‍♀️

@crystalcherry87

Not a villian but I've met Nicola Roberts who always comes across as very shy and sweet. I just found her very very rude and dismissive to people who served her in a shop.

Ive met Nicola Roberts as well, at a prize giving at a local school. She looked bored shitless the whole time and didn't even try and disguise it.

I met Chris Eubanks while doing surname history’s he didn’t like the history as it was english or so wrong like that came over to shout at me about it and we had a bit of a row his entourage came over smoothed things over . At the time he was at the height of his game I had zero idea who he was :-)

@Hollyhead

The thing that doesn’t add up with MM is that her Suits set colleagues say she was lovely. It’s very hard to hide a narc /bullying/unpleasant personality whilst working 16 hours a day on set for over 100 episodes.

Ive stated on various threads on here before that i have relatives who work for the RF. MM is notorious for being difficult and not a very nice person, and so is PH ( before she even came along). I don't think it's strange that her former colleagues would not say anything bad about her because it most definitely not do their careers any favours if they did.

Chris Eubank came into the bar at my office (drinks company). It wasn't clear why he was there.
He went round and shook everyone's hand, and offered us selfies. Umm, no thanks.?

He was beautifully dressed, so polite and smelt oddly lovely.

Chris Eubank used to drive a noisy motorbike or convertible round the Lanes in Brighton then pose and shake hands with passersby from it

@TheSpottedZebra yes although when I met him he only had a leather waistcoat on top. Maybe I just caught him on a bad day or maybe it was because I didn’t know who he was ? We had quite the argument

I worked with Katie Hopkins about 30 years ago as teenagers. She was a flouncy annoying twat with hair down to her bum that she liked to swish a lot 😂 When I saw her on The Apprentice she hadn't change a bit, just a bit less swishy.

Victoria Beckham wasn’t so lovely when a young teenager asked David for an autograph. She was eye rolling and audibly swearing. He was lovely.
I used to be a florist many moons ago and used to do a lot of work for Conrad Black and Barbara Amiel. They were hugely extravagant ( before he was jailed for embezzlement...). They were great clients!
He was really polite and friendly. Barbara Amiel would not make eye contact and clearly regarded us as ‘ staff’. I don’t think she ever spoke to me directly.

@baroqueandblue

How convenient that after this week's revelations and tantrums we have a thread populated by lots of people saying how vile MM is and how saintly PM is - sometimes in the same post Oh, and how genuinely lovely members of the RF with form for racism are in 'real life'.

You can call me paranoid, I don't care. People can manipulate the internet and convince you of anything. Like, Savile and West and other dangerous, criminal psychopaths can sit neatly next to opportunities to sanctify PM and denigrate MM. I ask you

Well, quite.