[Sussex] Mingling with the Rich and Famous

[Shropshire Seagull]

Can't come close to matching any of the above.

1975 Annie Nightingale gave me a peck on the cheek as the Saltdean youth club disco
1990 Peter Powell was sat with some mates eating in the Hickstead Little Chef when me and Mrs SS stopped off for a bite.

80's shared the race track with Damon Hill and Barry Sheene

 

[Nitram]

Prince Charles showed him around the place I worked, banal chat. Colin Cowdrey and Elton John at a bank I worked in. Friendliest celebrity was Bob Wilson and his wife who took time to have a long chat with my boys when we were on holiday.
Kerry Mayo playing football in a garden and my young son (10 ish) nutmegging him a couple of times.
Saw Depeche Mode in Happy Eater/Little Chef and Nobby Stiles in Wembley Hotel reception.
Alan Simpson of Galt and Simpson very good company met at a party.

 

[joydivisionovengloves]

I once sat between Christopher Biggins and Ronnie Corbett at an opening night party.

I was off my bonce, my friends, all at another table, spent the whole evening laughing at me .

 

[boik]

Prince Charles showed him around the place I worked, banal chat. Colin Cowdrey and Elton John at a bank I worked in. Friendliest celebrity was Bob Wilson and his wife who took time to have a long chat with my boys when we were on holiday.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

You spotted Arctic Monkeys extra live guitarist? AND their manager? Well that's it then. Game over! Thread CLOSED!

I actually spotted the band; these two had to tell me who they were as I wouldn’t know them from Adam. The live guitarist was living in Brighton at the time.

 

[el punal]

Okay, time to do my Billy Big Bollocks bit!

My Dad had a pub in Denham, Bucks when I was a kid. Being close to Denham studios and Pinewood we used to get a fair few luvvies in. First up was Norman Wisdom. The pub was actually used as a French cafe in the film “The Square Peg” in between shoots Norman sat in our lounge with a cup of tea watching the horse racing on our TV.

Other stars included Rupert Davies (Maigret), Conrad Phillips (William Tell), Richard Greene (Robin Hood), Peter Butterworth (Carry On films), Harry Worth and a few more.

When I was all grown up and working I met Peter Grant (Led Zeppelin’s manager) at the wine shop where I worked. I loaded his Rolls with all the booze and he gave me a £2 tip. Seriously, you would not want to cross him - he was absolutely enormous and had a menacing demeanour to go with it. I casually said that I’d just bought the Led Zep IV album and thought it was brilliant.
“Well done son!” he said and gave me friendly punch on the arm. Two hours later I was in casualty - just joking!

 

[lawros left foot]

Steve Cradock at a Paul Walker gig.

Mark Steele ( Palace) at aWaterboys gig.

 

[METALMICKY]

I went to a pool party at Michael Barrymore's house once.

One off?

 

[dazzer6666]

Met loads through work as I spent a lot of time in Private Banking..........all walks of life.

Re Peaches Geldof, Paula Yates was living in a rented house that backed on to our private banking branch in Mayfair so we had adjoining roof gardens (we used ours as a staff rest area when the weather was ok). Peaches - might have been Fifi, can’t really recall - must have been 3 or 4 at the time maybe (mid 90s) and was very often out on the roof space riding her bike around or otherwise out playing.

 

[Mellotron]

Well, since you asked...sorry, about to be the loud clangs of multiple names being dropped...

Dave Grohl - thinner than you’d think, very friendly and chatty.

Iggy Pop - not quite all there...

Sean Dyche - Very complimentary of Brighton - this was back when we were both Championship clubs. Not complimentary of Jose Mourinho.

Josh Homme - incredibly charming, witty and friendly. Always happy to stop and chat (a few times at various festivals). Tall.

The Pixies - again pretty nice, fairly quiet and serious from my experience.

Arcade Fire - the two lead singers’ toddler offered me a half eaten crisp. I abstained politely.

Kieran Gibb - very polite, he seemed a bit bemused as to why he was even at a Royal Blood gig, think his girlfriend was a fan.

Jimmy Page - met him years ago outside HMV, he was buying loads of Zeppelin albums (said he needed them for some charity thing he was doing, and it was much easier and quicker than asking the record label!) He was happy to chat to do my dad and me for a while, when asked to sign a copy of the book Hammer of the Gods (includes some of the more sensationalist stories about them - red snapper, anyone?) he said I’ll sign something but I won’t sign THAT, so obviously not a fan.

Chris Wolstenholme (bass player for Muse) - absolutely lovely bloke. Really friendly and it got to a point where I was genuinely the one thinking come on, you probably want to talk to someone else now don’t you? Chatted about football a load - he’s a big Rotherham fan - and talked about breaking his arm years ago at a festival playing football with The Cooper Temple Clause and The Streets.

Interpol - Paul the singer was charming, Daniel the guitarist was pretty aloof and stick thin, bassist (not Carlos but the live guy) was drunk and overbearing.

Foals - really nice guys, very funny and a good laugh.

 

[Easy 10]

Home to Burnley, Alastair Campbell got on the train from Brighton to Falmer in his Burnley scarf, and sat down opposite me. We engaged in some chat about our respective teams and the upcoming game, for which he was pretty confident of getting a result. I think it was that game when we had 2 sent off in the first 15 minutes or so. Campbell seemed an alright bloke.

Seemed.

 

[Marlton and Hove Albion]

On my list - in order

Peter Ward - Who was kind enough to fly up to Philly and share my 40th birthday as an amazing surprise
Robert Reich - Diminutive former Secretary in the Clinton Administration
Tony Blair - At a very fancy lunch in Arizona - He was taken aback and mentioned his welcome was far warmer than he'd ever get in the UK
Sat between Franco Harris & Joe Paterno at SuperBowl 33 in Tampa - Highly distressing for them to answer questions about this play and that play.
Larry Summers - Former Treasury Sec under Clinton and ran Harvard for a while. At a swanky meeting in California
Michael Eisner - Sat next to him at a conference - Future Chairman of Pompey. Had I have known, I would have blanked him
Steve Wozniak - The real inventor of early Apple at a conference in Orlando. What an interesting and eccentric fella.
Lynn Swan - 4 time SB Pittsburgh Steeler and HOF - What a gent - Spent a lovely evening at a bar in Atlanta
Adrian Edmundson - He in seat 1F and me and a mate in seats 2EF on a flight from Boston to London that was delayed by 5 hours due to ice. We played cards and drank Champers. On the way through customs at Gatwick, my friend bent down to tie his shoelace and AE shouted "A bad time to hide the drugs boys"........

 

[BN9 BHA]

I have worked in homes doing plumbing for Dick Knight, and members of punk bands The Damned and Generation X....... oh and The Cravats ( Harry Wilson’s Tackle is probably the only person on here that likes them )

Working in a flat in Sussex Square one day, I opened the communal front door to go to my van and Mark Williams ( fast show ) was standing on the doorstep.
I looked out of the window of a kitchen I was working in at Sayers Common and saw Jimmy Hill standing outside the lawn mower shop that was opposite.

Some random ones just for fun.
Worked in homes next door to Steve Coogan, Michael Schenker ( rock guitarist ), David Roper ( actor Eastenders )
And as my customer described him “ some bloke from The Cure lives next door “ I never did find out who, definitely wasn’t Robert Smith though.

One actor I met was Tony Pitts, he was in Emmerdale, Peaky Blinders and many tv dramas, his son played in the same kids football team as one of my lads. Nice down to earth bloke.

I did see Gaz Coombes from Supergrass in Western Road Woolworth, many years ago.

 

[hart's shirt]

Saw Depeche Mode in Happy Eater/Little Chef

They just can't get enough of roadside restaurants.

 

[origigull]

I was browsing in a shop at Gatwick airport late 80s and bumped shoulders with Georgie Best. I said sorry err . . . George, didn't see you there. Not sure if he was sober or not. Also in the early 80s worked for Richard Branson and spent 3 weeks in his flat in South Kensington (he wasn't there I might add). He asked me how I liked the flat. I said 'its okay but there are no pots and pans where I can cook a meal.' Fook that he said just go into the restaurant and eat what you like, I'll ring the manager later. That day I remember for starters I had caviar on toast. The flat was situated next to The Gardens Restaurant/club. You had to go though the club, through an exit which took you onto a Japanese-style garden with a bridge over a pond, ducks and couple of flamingos were wandering about (wings clipped I think) to get to the flat.

 

[elwheelio]

I like how random many of the celebrity encounters are. Here's a couple of mine, they are no different.

When I worked in Our Price, Rick Wakeman came in. I put some "Yes" on the shop hi-fi and he came over to say thanks and have a chat.

I was once flying in an almost empty first class cabin and former UFC fighter Kimbo Slice was sat next to me. We said "hello" and that was that.

 

[Happy Exile]

Met Stanley Matthews and Danny Blanchflower when I was about 8 and they were at some charity event. Still got the autograph book they signed. Worked for a newspaper for a while and met a few musicians and bands and found most of them pretty unassuming. Never shared a lift with anyone but saw both Hasslehoff and Princess Diana getting into lifts at the paper (not at the same time). The only "famous" person I ever met who I found had an attitude was Prince Michael of Kent. Found him very hard to like.

 

[Worried Man Blues]

Some bloke in a camel hair coat held the door open for me in an NCP car park in London, I said thanks he said 'OK mate' I thought i know you halfway down the stairs I realised it was Brian May.

 

[atfc village]

Tony Blair looking round a building we were working on in Sackville Street with a view to buy .We all had to stop work to be introduced to Tony ,not me i walked out for an early tea break as my soft mate shook hands and said i'm called Tony too

Crossed swords with Allan Lamb in a pokey bog in Sri Lanka . South African behind asking was i going to be long i'm desparate and barging in .Didn't recognise him till i walked out,fair play bought me a couple of beers in the bar as we talked Cricket . It was in the same bar a guy on the next table said your're so and so ,i didn't have a clue who the guy was but he'd been on a stag with my brother a couple of weeks before.

 

[Clive Walker]

Sat next Louis Theroux on a flight to Newark a few years back.

Years ago Cliff Richard’s was a regular at my uncles pub in waybridge. Always accompanied by his boyfriend.