Dick Swiveller
Well-known member
- Sep 9, 2011
- 9,529
Lesley Joseph asked me if a Dinner Party game she had picked up in Harrods was any good. I had no idea as I hadn't played it and we were just sight seeing.
Got something to say or just want fewer pesky ads? Join us... 😊
[Misc] Mundane celebrity encounters
- Thread starter Happy Exile
- Start date
Dick Swiveller
Well-known member
- Sep 9, 2011
- 9,529
Quite the hotspot of celebs then, is Membury. I saw Jon Tickle from Big Brother coming out as I went in.
SUIYHP
The King's Gull
I sat next to Bradley Walsh in the House of Lords…the Chase had won a National Television Award the night before, but I forgot his name, so I just sat there in silence pretending like I didn’t recognise him.
- Oct 17, 2008
- 14,526
Used to pass Gwyneth Strong (Cassandra from Only Fools and Horses) every morning on the way to school (Stringer). Never said anything but did wave once, and she waved back.
wardy wonder land
Active member
- Dec 10, 2007
- 791
served David Copperfield are really bad cup of coffe in the HAppy Eater - Hickstead (British comedian 3 of a kind)
Tubby Mondays
Well-known member
He nearly mowed me down on his bike on a pedestrian crossing (the man was green) on Theobalds Road in Holborn. He clearly has issues. I did make representations to him.
Ike and Tina Burner
Well-known member
- Mar 22, 2019
- 613
I saw Matthew Macfadyen and Keely Hawes walking their dog in Lewes this summer.
Due to being close mates with Wiiilllll from TFI Friday, I actually have countless celebrity encounters from the all the shows I spent in the upstairs bar bit. However I’m going to discount all those, and instead do any other random ‘mundane’ meetings. That’s more in keeping with the spirit of the thread, I think.
My compulsory BHAFC one is that I twice served ex-Albion winger Neil Smillie in Reading ASDA. He was full of compliments for his time at the club.
On a packed Friday evening flight from LHR to Edinburgh once, I was pleased to see the middle seat next to me was the only empty seat. Right up to the moment we were about to push back from the gate, when on came then-PM Gordon Brown, who without the slightest fuss plonked his considerable frame into that Economy Class middle row middle seat and got on with some paperwork. Serious elbow tennis ensued.
Other random plane buddies include Louise Redknapp and Princess Michael of Kent. Though not on the same flight. Or directly next to me.
Like others, I have a ‘motorway service station’ plus ‘gents urinals’ story combo. Mine was the entire Leicester rugby union squad. Including Martin Johnson, the definition of a man giant. (And no I didn’t check out his ‘Johnson’.)
I went to the same schools as Eddie Izzard, so for the best part of 8 years he was around - though several years above me. He once told me off for trying to jump the lunch queue. I later returned the favour to Sussex & England cricketer Ed Giddins, who was a few years lower than me, and actually a bit of a cheeky shit at the time.
University was at Reading in the late 1980s, and then I hung around there for a few more years. As someone very much into music, I was therefore on nodding terms with local bands of the time such as Chapterhouse and Slowdive. I also did loads of gigs around then, so have the almost-inevitable ‘Miki from Lush’ anecdote too. This was being in the front row of a solo gig by Tanya Donelly in Harlesden, when someone started persistently digging and wriggling into my ribs in a determined effort to create a new space next to me, when there really wasn’t room. I turned round prepared to be pissed off, only to realize it was the aforementioned Miki from Lush. So I let her in. Being squashed up next to her for the next 90 minutes didn’t seem much of a hardship.
My first ever job was at a company run by ex-Nationwide presenter Michael Barratt. It was in Maidenhead, and he was very much ‘in’ with the Bray-dwelling 1970s-BBC-famous crowd. The likes of Ernie Wise and Michael Parkinson often dropped by to use the fax machine or share a Friday afternoon whisky. One of those three - I won’t reveal which - once made the unforgettable remark to me that “one of the biggest regrets of my life is that I’ve never made love to a black woman.”
For several years after I then worked for a company that did loads of work for Virgin. We frequently went to Richard Branson’s Notting Hill house to discuss projects with him, as well as attend his parties. Prince Andrew was at one of those. Dancing. He does sweat. Athlete Denise Lewis at another, stood on her own looking a bit lost. Fueled by the free Red Bull and Vodka promo, I decided to just go over and talk with her - she was really nice.
My current company does loads of work in Saudi Arabia, and I’ve presented stuff to MBS about a dozen times now. You rarely get more than a few minutes, so I’ve yet to make small chat about Newcastle Utd with him. Let alone murdered journalists and human rights etc. Maybe one day.
To finish on as rubbish a contribution as possible, I one wandered around IKEA at the same time as boxer Anthony Joshua. Sorry, can’t remember what he was buying, though appreciate that kind of detail makes these threads.
My compulsory BHAFC one is that I twice served ex-Albion winger Neil Smillie in Reading ASDA. He was full of compliments for his time at the club.
On a packed Friday evening flight from LHR to Edinburgh once, I was pleased to see the middle seat next to me was the only empty seat. Right up to the moment we were about to push back from the gate, when on came then-PM Gordon Brown, who without the slightest fuss plonked his considerable frame into that Economy Class middle row middle seat and got on with some paperwork. Serious elbow tennis ensued.
Other random plane buddies include Louise Redknapp and Princess Michael of Kent. Though not on the same flight. Or directly next to me.
Like others, I have a ‘motorway service station’ plus ‘gents urinals’ story combo. Mine was the entire Leicester rugby union squad. Including Martin Johnson, the definition of a man giant. (And no I didn’t check out his ‘Johnson’.)
I went to the same schools as Eddie Izzard, so for the best part of 8 years he was around - though several years above me. He once told me off for trying to jump the lunch queue. I later returned the favour to Sussex & England cricketer Ed Giddins, who was a few years lower than me, and actually a bit of a cheeky shit at the time.
University was at Reading in the late 1980s, and then I hung around there for a few more years. As someone very much into music, I was therefore on nodding terms with local bands of the time such as Chapterhouse and Slowdive. I also did loads of gigs around then, so have the almost-inevitable ‘Miki from Lush’ anecdote too. This was being in the front row of a solo gig by Tanya Donelly in Harlesden, when someone started persistently digging and wriggling into my ribs in a determined effort to create a new space next to me, when there really wasn’t room. I turned round prepared to be pissed off, only to realize it was the aforementioned Miki from Lush. So I let her in. Being squashed up next to her for the next 90 minutes didn’t seem much of a hardship.
My first ever job was at a company run by ex-Nationwide presenter Michael Barratt. It was in Maidenhead, and he was very much ‘in’ with the Bray-dwelling 1970s-BBC-famous crowd. The likes of Ernie Wise and Michael Parkinson often dropped by to use the fax machine or share a Friday afternoon whisky. One of those three - I won’t reveal which - once made the unforgettable remark to me that “one of the biggest regrets of my life is that I’ve never made love to a black woman.”
For several years after I then worked for a company that did loads of work for Virgin. We frequently went to Richard Branson’s Notting Hill house to discuss projects with him, as well as attend his parties. Prince Andrew was at one of those. Dancing. He does sweat. Athlete Denise Lewis at another, stood on her own looking a bit lost. Fueled by the free Red Bull and Vodka promo, I decided to just go over and talk with her - she was really nice.
My current company does loads of work in Saudi Arabia, and I’ve presented stuff to MBS about a dozen times now. You rarely get more than a few minutes, so I’ve yet to make small chat about Newcastle Utd with him. Let alone murdered journalists and human rights etc. Maybe one day.
To finish on as rubbish a contribution as possible, I one wandered around IKEA at the same time as boxer Anthony Joshua. Sorry, can’t remember what he was buying, though appreciate that kind of detail makes these threads.
Last edited:
In the space of one week, I stood on the feet of Chris Eubank and Mushtaq Ahmed.
We exchanged mutual apologies even though it was my fault.
I beat Les Wallace 2-0 in a Hampshire super league dart match 3 weeks before he won the world title.
I fixed Andy Rollings washing machine.
Called the queen SIR at her silver jubilee.
My dog sniffed Kerry Katona’s arse at Bewl Water reservoir.
We exchanged mutual apologies even though it was my fault.
I beat Les Wallace 2-0 in a Hampshire super league dart match 3 weeks before he won the world title.
I fixed Andy Rollings washing machine.
Called the queen SIR at her silver jubilee.
My dog sniffed Kerry Katona’s arse at Bewl Water reservoir.
Was the Hannah Gordon encounter anywhere near Weybridge? I spoke to her in a hotel near there back in 1974. Lovely lady.
- Jul 8, 2020
- 225
I was at the TFI Friday show that had Phil Tufnell & Blondie on. I was on the balcony lined up to be next into the bar along with future Mrs B but didn’t make it in
Baldseagull
Well-known member
A Morrisons Van driver stood next to me once at a urinal in a service station.
Rock Lobster
Active member
Used to be Henning Wehn's postman and have chatted to him a couple of times at Hastings United games.
Rhino from Gladiators visited my primary school when he was doing the Hastings panto that year, got his signature 4 times before he realised I was taking the piss.
Whilst wandering around Universal Hollywood, I bumped into some girl who had been in Glee (not the main one). I didn't recognise her but my Mrs did.
Met Reggie Yeates and Fearne Cotton when they were filming something for CBBC, never saw it on TV...
Rhino from Gladiators visited my primary school when he was doing the Hastings panto that year, got his signature 4 times before he realised I was taking the piss.
Whilst wandering around Universal Hollywood, I bumped into some girl who had been in Glee (not the main one). I didn't recognise her but my Mrs did.
Met Reggie Yeates and Fearne Cotton when they were filming something for CBBC, never saw it on TV...
Theatre of Trees
Well-known member
I once shook the hand of Great Uncle Bulgaria at a fair in Haywards Heath.
Is it PotG?
Thrifty non-licker
Was given a ride in THE Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by the then Dr Who, Mr Jon Pertwee no less.
Now that is just what this thread is about. Not only a mundane interaction, but not even a real person! Brilliant.
- Oct 17, 2008
- 14,526
I’ve has some non-mundane encounters with the likes of Tom Hardy and Brad Pitt during my former career as an actor and stunt performer. That was a particularly good year, most years were not so exciting.
And in the more mundane category I was also in an episode of Midsomer Murders and was witness to John Nettles getting angry after a seagull shat on him. I didn’t like him much (Nettles not the seagul) and it amused me.
And in the more mundane category I was also in an episode of Midsomer Murders and was witness to John Nettles getting angry after a seagull shat on him. I didn’t like him much (Nettles not the seagul) and it amused me.