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?

I worked as a publicist for many years and met and worked with lots of celebrities. The people who spring to mind but are not known for being nice:

Tony Blair: utterly charming and a consummate professional

Clive James: quite snappy to other production staff but we got chatting about books and he stayed for ages after the show had wrapped to continue talking

Bryan Adams: has a reputation for being loathsome but was interesting and interested (and pretty damn sexy!)

Russell Kane: absolutely foul. Rude, up his own arse, complete bellend.

Tommy Robinson: arrogant. Parked his Range Rover on double yellows in central london but when during his interview you could have heard a pin drop. Frighteningly eloquent.

Alec Salmond. He actually came across as quite intelligent and friendly, I was surprised given his reputation. Was coming up to election time though!

The other "villain" I've met was also in politics, Caroline Lucas. When I lived in Brighton you often found her prowling the streets, not just at election time. She was exactly how she comes across, rather arrogant and rude.

Someone I know was in a small eatery in Edinburgh many years ago when Alex Salmond and his wife walked in. They went to the back of the place and Alex made sure to sit facing the door and his wife was facing just him and the wall. Alex spent the whole time preening and looking around to see if anyone was noticing him.

@DoverSoul
I think that is just 'famous man' syndrome?
But certainly AS has been known to be NSIT (and worse) for many years in Edinburgh legal / political circles.

@evilharpy

All these celebrity threads and nobody ever says they have met Dwayne Johnson. I'm desperate to know whether he's as lovely in real life as he seems!

Met him through work a few of times, quite standoffish. Didn’t say a word to any of us that had been dealing with him until the last day when I said good morning first and he replied the guesture.

[quote 52andblue]@DoverSoul
I think that is just 'famous man' syndrome?
But certainly AS has been known to be NSIT (and worse) for many years in Edinburgh legal / political circles.[/quote]
NSIT?

Not sure if they count as celebrity villains, but I worked for the Bin Laden family. Lovely people. Kind, compassionate, educated and the complete antithesis of what you’d expect.

Sandy Toksvig is vile. I met her when 'Number 74' was the Saturday morning kids TV show, when I was a child myself, and... awful woman
I, too, bear a grudge against ST from 'Number 74' days. She took part in an anti-woman theme, about weight and weight loss, everyone telling her (the only woman) to lose weight and she just went along with it. Never met the woman but always held that in the back of my mind just in case.

how come both women complaining about Sandi Toksvig dont even know the name of the show theyre talking about?

When you say Vile woman, what do you mean? Did she actually do something to you, or do you mean she wasnt as maternal as your fantasy of her was?

NSIT
Not Safe In Taxis.

Alan Davies plays "the cheeky chappie" on TV, the "bloke in the pub" sort - but he's very snooty and rude in real life.

I can well believe this. A former colleague of mine told me that she had been a very big fan of AD, often going to see him in live shows. One night after watching his show, she and a friend went into a pub next to the venue. AD was there. She went over to him and said how much she'd enjoyed the show - not with the expectation of sitting down with him for a chat, just wanting to say thanks. He was very rude and said he was off duty now, couldn't he just get a bit of peace. Lost a fan there!

*Andy Burnham - lovely bloke, really nice to people. He got me a chair and a glass of lemonade as I was heavily pregnant and everyone else was cracking open champagne.

Theresa May - really lovely person and incredibly sharp.*
I am glad about this update from @AnneElliott. They're both politicians with a real sense of public duty. They're standout in that regard even though their politics are different.

Alan Davies plays "the cheeky chappie" on TV, the "bloke in the pub" sort - but he's very snooty and rude in real life.

My DS had encountered him some years ago when he (DS) worked in M&S and told me the same. A real *rse.

Same with the bigger Hairy Biker.

yes sorry NSIT is Not Safe In Taxis
ie don't get in an enclosed space alone with him - you are at risk of assault

@52andblue

yes sorry NSIT is Not Safe In Taxis ie don't get in an enclosed space alone with him - you are at risk of assault

There we are again, having to take action to avoid being assaulted, rather than that odious little shit choosing not to assault

Another vote for Gordon Ramsey. He's very charming in real life and really generous. I had a fantastic night drinking with Vanessa Feltz whose very witty and possibly a little over sharing but lovely with it. The same can't be said for Martine McCutcheon who was a bit of a cow when she'd had a wine

Yes they are @Savoury. I'm lucky to have worked for some really nice politicians. Alan Johnson was also very nice and self deprecating.

Yes @heroku you can tell a lot about politicians by the way they treat their private office staff!

And in the retail point I can also confirm that people do throw the clothes on the floor (or at you). It's not uncommon at all. I always judge people who are unpleasant or rude to retail or serving staff. It says an awful lot about them. I've not met MM though so cannot comment on her - it's a general comment about just how many people do treat retail workers like shit.

I’ve met Boris Johnston, when he was mayor of London. He was opening a memorial playground at my nanny kids school. He was very friendly and took the time to speak to everyone.

I've known Carrie Symonds for years. She's absolutely nothing like she's portrayed in the press.

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

Thanks, Saga!

Decades ago when I was a school governor we had a run in with a school dad who is a big name in musical theatre, particularly famous for playing Javert in Les Mis early in his career. The way he behaved to several of us over a period of months suggested he was using Javert as his role model. Not a nice man at all. Maybe it was a difficult time in his life. He wasn't working. Still no real excuse for some of his behaviour, though. It was a great relief when he and his family returned to their home country.

Oh no, I bloody loved him for years, so disappointing to hear that . I can confirm that Nasty Nick, John Altman (Stewart) is lovely, he’s an old friend of DH and he’s a very gentle and polite sort.

I spent some time with Marilyn Manson at a festival. He was charming.

Took some children to see a Steve Backshall show. I wasn't looking forward to being the chaperone but the show was fascinating, he does the Deadly 60 programmes if you don't know him.

He announced that he would be in the foyer after the show. He was mobbed by all these kids and he took loads of time to talk to them all, did photos and autographs. Very impressed and I can recommend him live shows if anyone is looking for something interesting but a bit different for an outing.