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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Have you met a celebrity villain?

865 replies

pawsies · 13/03/2021 13:29

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?

OP posts:
VienneseWhirligig · 18/03/2021 21:49

@PantherPantherus Funny you say that about Earl Spencer. I met his former wife, Lady Caroline, through work, when we held a garden party at Althorp. She was really down to earth and normal - her little boy was at one of the meetings we had and was wearing a tshirt and shorts set from Asda - my own DS had the same set and we chatted about our kids. She seemed alright, I met the Earl very briefly but he was polite and not condescending or grand during our short interaction. I have heard though that he is a bit of a bully, so who knows.

CthulhuInDisguise · 18/03/2021 22:00

Thanks @smallandimperfectlyformed - I didn't know what to do, as you say it was full of small children and DS was only 7. I told DH at the time and he thought I should have said something to Guest Services, but I had no proof and who would believe it anyway? If you see the photo of us, DH and DS are grinning away and I have a face like a dropped scone! I have actually since found that one of the cast members at Disney who was dressed as Tigger got fired for lewd conduct and I've always wondered if it was the same one.

I've since told DS about it (we went to Disney a couple of years ago, he's an adult now) and he refers to the character as 'the stripey pervert'

JudesBiggestFan · 18/03/2021 22:27

I did a week's work experience as a runner on Watchdog when I was in my early 20s (16 years ago). Both Nicky Campbell and Julia Bradbury who presented it...awful. I accidentally dropped something while they were filming (it was pre-recorded) and they both shouted at me really aggressively. Really cold and rude to everyone though.
Funnily enough my husband also met Nicky Campbell on the set of Central Weekend (Midlands TV show that NC presented). He asked for NC's autograph at the end of filming and he said no really bluntly and walked off. So we figure he must be a genuine wanker, not someone just having a bad day!

DeriArms · 18/03/2021 22:49

I sat next to Pingu on the train from Birmingham to London Euston a few years ago, but I couldn’t understand anything he was saying

Ermintrude74 · 18/03/2021 23:01

I'm really gutted to read that about Nicky Campbell, I've listened to him on the radio for most of my life and really like his presenting style. Shame if he's a prat like that.

RampantIvy · 18/03/2021 23:31

When Julia Bradbury filmed Countryfile in our village she was lovely, and took her turn in making tea for the film crew.

The people at the farm where it was being filmed said that she was down to earth and friendly.

PantherPantherus · 19/03/2021 00:03

@Iamthewombat

Earl Charles Spencer - Princess Diana's brother. Hard working, not at all snobby, recognises he has privilege and responsibility and pays it all back.

And you know all this from the many weeks you have spent in his company?

What’s he paying back, by the way, and to whom? The descendants of the generations of faithful retainers working for a pittance for the Spencer family over 400 years?

How strange Wombat....
tellmetologoffIamaMNaddict · 19/03/2021 00:08

John Torode and Lisa Faulkner (I think her name is) look utterly smitten with each other on their programme. It's really sweet and makes me like him so glad to hear he is polite.

Iamthewombat · 19/03/2021 00:11

No, what is strange is having met Prince Charles three times and asserting that he is bright and has ‘the memory of an elephant’. How could you possibly tell from three brief conversations, one of which took place when you were 11?

What is also weird is your confident assertion that Charles Spencer is ‘not snobby’ (although he’s hanging on to his title, I notice, and probably answers to ‘sir’) and ‘pays it all back’. How could you possibly know that unless you knew him very well and had spent a long time in his company? That is why I asked (1) whether that was in fact the case and (2) exactly what he was paying back to whom.

Otherwise, you see, your anecdotes make you sound a bit Paul Burrell.

Iamthewombat · 19/03/2021 00:15

John Torode and Lisa Faulkner (I think her name is) look utterly smitten with each other on their programme.

Well, that is their USP that they are using to punt for TV work. You can’t move for ‘John and Lisa share sweet snap recalling their romantic wedding’ links on MSN. Who knows whether they really are ‘smitten’? They might be arguing now over who took the bins out last week.

Anyway, now I’ve seen that comparison to Droopy the dog I cannot unsee it.

Ovine · 19/03/2021 00:20

@Iamthewombat

No, what is strange is having met Prince Charles three times and asserting that he is bright and has ‘the memory of an elephant’. How could you possibly tell from three brief conversations, one of which took place when you were 11?

What is also weird is your confident assertion that Charles Spencer is ‘not snobby’ (although he’s hanging on to his title, I notice, and probably answers to ‘sir’) and ‘pays it all back’. How could you possibly know that unless you knew him very well and had spent a long time in his company? That is why I asked (1) whether that was in fact the case and (2) exactly what he was paying back to whom.

Otherwise, you see, your anecdotes make you sound a bit Paul Burrell.

😄 Yes, where IS Paul Burrell? Have we not been treated to his opinion on recent shenanigans?
tellmetologoffIamaMNaddict · 19/03/2021 00:33

@Iamthewombat

John Torode and Lisa Faulkner (I think her name is) look utterly smitten with each other on their programme.

Well, that is their USP that they are using to punt for TV work. You can’t move for ‘John and Lisa share sweet snap recalling their romantic wedding’ links on MSN. Who knows whether they really are ‘smitten’? They might be arguing now over who took the bins out last week.

Anyway, now I’ve seen that comparison to Droopy the dog I cannot unsee it.

Oh I don't know. Not seen them anywhere else. Just like the way they are with each other. There are other TV couples where the dynamic is a lot less pleasant. I suppose I don't know but you get a sense for things like that just from experience of being human. But yeah, it might all just be PR.
Imnotdoingthis · 19/03/2021 01:01

John Torode and Lisa Faulkner ooze chemistry! I don’t think that’s made up, there’s definitely a big attraction there, I’m quite envious

tellmetologoffIamaMNaddict · 19/03/2021 01:03

@Imnotdoingthis

John Torode and Lisa Faulkner ooze chemistry! I don’t think that’s made up, there’s definitely a big attraction there, I’m quite envious
Me too!
Angelbaby1985 · 19/03/2021 03:53

@COPPER3

Appreciate this may be for a different thread..but anyone met Michael Barrymore?
Met him a few years back in a pub in edinburgh after all that stuff was. Ment to have happened asked for his autograph and we ended up sitting at his table chatting with his bodyguards standing round bought us a few drinks seamed OK have a picture somewhere
Sparklingbrook · 19/03/2021 05:12

Yes, where IS Paul Burrell? Have we not been treated to his opinion on recent shenanigans?

He’s been on Lorraine/GMB quite a bit. AngryAngry

subbysammiexoxo · 19/03/2021 05:47

saw a post about jimmy saville above so thought I would post my mums story, she was a massive fan as a little girl wrote to him regularly, think she met him through school but swears nothing happened like that weirdly and when pregnant with my sibling dressed up as a school girl with the badge 'jim fixed it for me' (my dads name) just before it all came out about what jimmy saville had done! we laugh now but jesus what a bizarre subconscious joke about an awful guy Shock

Whenthesunshines · 19/03/2021 05:51

Met him a few years back in a pub in edinburgh after all that stuff was. Ment to have happened asked for his autograph and we ended up sitting at his table chatting with his bodyguards standing round bought us a few drinks seamed OK have a picture somewhere

Michael Barrymore has bodyguards?

TaraR2020 · 19/03/2021 06:09

@Iamthewombat

No, what is strange is having met Prince Charles three times and asserting that he is bright and has ‘the memory of an elephant’. How could you possibly tell from three brief conversations, one of which took place when you were 11?

What is also weird is your confident assertion that Charles Spencer is ‘not snobby’ (although he’s hanging on to his title, I notice, and probably answers to ‘sir’) and ‘pays it all back’. How could you possibly know that unless you knew him very well and had spent a long time in his company? That is why I asked (1) whether that was in fact the case and (2) exactly what he was paying back to whom.

Otherwise, you see, your anecdotes make you sound a bit Paul Burrell.

Whereas yours make you sound a bit of a inverterted snob but that's based on 2 posts and I couldn't say if you're like that IRL.

The poster just expressed an opinion formed in a series of encounters the same as everyone else yet you seem to have taken offence that it wasn't negative. Most people, I think, acknowledge the problematic nature of Britain's classist society, the poster wasn't commenting on the existence of the aristocracy as a whole.

There are ways to express your opinions without attacking the individual.

Buffyfan26 · 19/03/2021 07:32

If we are including nice celebs I met Kit Harington from Game of Thrones whilst he was shopping in London. Actually asked him “are you Jon Snow?” which was a bit silly but he was lovely. Very petite but happy to have a photo and very good natured

KickingBishopBrennanUpTheArrse · 19/03/2021 07:49

I met Dave Lee Travis at a Radio 1 roadshow on a beach in Cornwall. I was only 14 but he was very flirtatious. He creeped me out.

draughtycatflap · 19/03/2021 08:29

Why do people write they are ‘gutted’ about what some random has quite possibly made up or misinterpreted about their fave celebrity?

Weird.

Oh and Ann Widdecombe ate my paintbrush.

Iamthewombat · 19/03/2021 08:40

Whereas yours make you sound a bit of a inverterted snob but that's based on 2 posts and I couldn't say if you're like that IRL.

The poster just expressed an opinion formed in a series of encounters the same as everyone else yet you seem to have taken offence that it wasn't negative. Most people, I think, acknowledge the problematic nature of Britain's classist society, the poster wasn't commenting on the existence of the aristocracy as a whole.

There are ways to express your opinions without attacking the individual

Calm down, dear.

This is the second time on the same thread. The first time I asked a question about somebody who had worked for the Bin Laden family and a sanctimonious posted leapt in to tell me I was anti-Islamic.

This time, I ask a question about how a poster could possibly know that Prince Charles is ‘bright with the memory of an elephant’ and that Earl Spencer is ‘not snobby and is paying it all back’ unless she knew them both very well. This, it appears, renders me ‘an inverted snob’.

No, dear. It renders me somebody who likes to see the evidence for statements.

Be reassured: I have taken no offence. I asked to see the poster’s evidence base for making those assertions. I noted that non-snobby people generally do not request that people address them as ‘my Lord’ and ‘sir’.

It may surprise you to learn that some people form a breathless, rose-tinted opinion of royal or aristocratic people based on...er...not very much evidence, eg having shaken hands with one of them at a garden party and having been asked whether they have come far. Fancy that, eh?

JosephineBaker · 19/03/2021 09:04

@DeriArms

I sat next to Pingu on the train from Birmingham to London Euston a few years ago, but I couldn’t understand anything he was saying
😂😂😂😂😂
DoverSoul · 19/03/2021 09:12

@Hoppinggreen He shouted at me

Why? Obviously because he is a shouty twat but what was his justified to him reason?