At sixteen years old I started working in television and have worked in media ever since. In that time I have worked with, interviewed and even socialised with a lot of famous people.
When I was starting out and still learning the ropes, I didn’t dare get snapshots with the celebrities we worked with. It seemed unprofessional and as much as my teenage self wanted to, I refrained from the now widely accepted selfie. Also, because I starting in media before in internet boom, a lot of what I did isn’t available and I only have two listings on IMDB.
As a result, I only have a smattering of snapshots. I really regret not having my picture taken with a lot of people, but none more so than Nigel Hawthorne. He is most famous for the BBC comedy Yes Minister. (For my American friends, he was also the bad guy in Demolition Man.) Nigel was such a friendly and genuine person. We filmed him at his home which he had bought from Chris Lowe of the PetShopBoys. The first thing he did when we entered was make us all a cup of tea. Here was Nigel Hawthorne, well-known English actor and knighted by the Queen, making us cups of tea – it was surreal. He died in 2001 and I was genuinely upset at his passing. For a lot of people he will always be remembered for his acting career, but to me he’ll be forever known as the celebrity who welcomed me into his home and made me a cuppa. There was another celebrity who made me tea and even dinner when I was in her home – but we’ll get to Barbara Windsor later.
In the late 90s, we were making a programme with Gloria Hunniford who through her established career had made a lot of famous friends. We were there to film Gloria chat with these friends and let the audience at home into their lives. It’s strange, but when you’re one of the crew, you don’t swoon over famous faces at all. You are there to do a job and who needs a photograph when you’re actually working with the person? People like Cilla Black, Paul O’Grady and Cliff Richard were just some of the people involved with this project. Of course all these years later, I would love to be able to look back at photos from the shoots.
So I’ve decided to share the few photos I do have.
I worked with Gloria Hunniford again in 2004 on a programme similar to the one we had recorded in the 90s, one of the subjects being Barbara Windsor. Barbara starting in theatre at a young age but her big break came when she starred in the Carry On movies. When I met her, she was still landlady of the Queen Vic in EastEnders. Barbara was just amazing from start to finish. She kept all of us all entertained and the day seemed to fly by. We also needed some shots of memorabilia from her life and so I was invited into her home to get the cutaways. I had already interviewed her husband Scott the week before, so it was a little like popping in to your friend’s house. Except of course these friends lived down the road from Madonna and were known by millions of people. What I’ve found with big celebrities is they are not pretentious at all. They have long since dealt with their fame and notoriety and behind closed doors are just the same as everyone else.
The above shot was taken on the day of the shoot and I actually visited Barbara and Scott’s a few times afterwards – even getting a text on Christmas day from them both. The next year my mobile was stolen and I lost all my contacts, so I haven’t been able to get in touch since. It’s a shame, because now I live in London we could have spent more days laughing over silly things and intently listening to Barbara’s many stories… I even got to flick through her ‘This is Your Life’ book!
In 2005, I worked on Party in the Park; a huge music concert held in Leeds. I was the producer and as such had the job of meeting up with Brian Dowling the night before he presented the live two hour show. I don’t remember much of the night as we ended up visiting (what seemed like) every bar in the city before heading to bed. Four hours later we were on set!
Even with a hangover and very little sleep, we amazingly still looked good and the show was a huge success. I had worked with Brian before and knew how much fun he was. Here are two photos after we had wrapped for the day. The other presenter was former Coronation Street star Nikki Sanderson, who was a real sweetheart.
I bumped into Brian in a club in London years later and he instantly remembered my name – I thought that was really good form from a man who must work with a lot of producers.
When we were broadcasting, it was my job to meet up with the artists as they stepped off the stage and walk them over to the interview tent backstage. As a teenager I was a huge Spice Girls fan but my favourite had always been Mel C. I loved her solo music (still do) and was actually excited to be the one to talk her through what we were doing. I was waiting at the side of the stage while Mel was performing. When she came off the stage I said “That was amazing, you really can sing!” Smiling, her reply was “You don’t have to sound so surprised!” She then put her arm around me as we walked to the interview tent.
Over 100,000 people were in the park that day. A year before I was on the same stage filming Girl’s Aloud. Through the eye of a camera lens nothing fazes you, but when you stop and look out at the crowd with 200,000 eyes all staring in your direction, it can feel pretty daunting.
The picture with Mel was actually taken an hour before the show had started. We got chatting about the Spice Girls and I confessed to be a huge fan. You can see by my beaming smile – I was pretty pleased with the picture.
A band who didn’t quite make it to the the same dizzying heights as the Spice Girls – yet had some amazing songs – were A1. I had interviewed lead singer Christian Ingebrigtsen a few years earlier, but now it was time to meet Ben Adams – one of the only celebrities I’ve ever had a crush on. (The list is very short, it’s basically him and James Franco.)
Ben and I are still FaceBook friends although after almost a decade, he probably doesn’t remember meeting me.
I have been behind the scenes at many pop concerts. I worked on the Smash Hit’s Poll Winners Party twice, interviewing the acts and general hob-nobbing. In my teens I was also a member of two of my own pop groups. I was signed to Nemesis, the company of former Take That’s manager Nigel Martin Smith. I was put together with (the then unknown) Adam Rickitt and three other girls for a new pop group creation. Nigel later decided to make a six piece girl group called Six Pack instead – so Adam and I were out. As far as I know, they had one tour with Boyzone and were never heard of again.
Adam went into Coronation Street and I was auditioned for Hollyoaks – amongst other things. At the same I had just signed a contract with Warner Music as a member in a four piece boyband called The Firm. I disclosed this information at my call back for Hollyoaks. I try not to regret anything I do in life (you can’t change the past so why dwell on it) but I really wish I hadn’t disclosed that information. It came down to me and one other for the part of Sol and because I was signed to Warner there was no way I could play a long-running character. The other guy was Paul Danan and he made an excellent Sol. If you read this Paul, I was the annoying one in the Green Room who broke the silence to get everyone talking. At the callback I was the one who knew Linda Nolan (who was also auditioning) and this picture is how I looked back then.
While with The Firm we recorded the first three singles, had photo shoots, press interviews and choreography lessons. Unbeknown to us, the manager was spending money he just didn’t have and six months later (and one week before our single release and tour) the company went bust. I had left my job as a television director, moved to London and given up the chance to be one of the main cast in Hollyoaks – for nothing. I have not been able to watch Hollyoaks since but I do still have our first single Faith which I have uploaded to YouTube with pictures of me from the time.
For a lot of people in show business you do get kicked down repeatedly and it was going to take a lot more than this to keep me down… That didn’t happen until 2008.
I can’t remember the exact year, but around 1999 I was working on Mr Gay UK. After the live event, I spent most of the party backstage with one of the judges; Coronation Street’s Denise Welch. I remember us hiding away in her dressing room for ages just chatting, drinking and laughing.
In 2003, my late best friend had contacted the Apollo Theatre in London and requested a meeting with Dawn French. We had already seen in the show My Brilliant Divorce once before and loved the one-woman show so much we decided to go again… I had no idea that we would be meeting one of my heroes in person. All sense and decorum goes out of the window when you actually meet someone you idolise. I grew up watching the French and Saunders show, had memorised many of the sketches and had always wanted to meet Dawn in person. Sitting in the Green Room after the show was nerve racking at first, but she spent almost half an hour with us; chatting about the show, The Vicar of Dibley and of course French and Saunders. I told her that my favourite episode was the Misery parody and how much I loved the Dickens Daughters sketch. Dawn regaled stories of how much fun it was to film that scene and the impromptu pillow fight. I also learned that Dawn’s best friend is one of my favourite recording artists, Alison Moyet. Meeting Dawn was the highlight of my year in 2003 and something I will never forget.
Now I’m older I don’t mind asking people for photographs. I saw Kim Cattrall perform on stage in Sweet Bird of Youth by Tennessee Williams. Kim and play were both fantastic and being an avid Sex and the City fan, I just had to do the tourist thing and get my picture taken with her. We were first in the queue outside the stage door and although it was only for a few minutes, Kim seemed charming and gracious.
My final picture is of a friend of mine. I worked with Victoria at a TV production company in 2004. At the time, Victoria was a production assistant and an extremely talented pianist. After a few months working together, she played a demo tape (yes tape) that she and her friends had recorded. It reminded me of Blondie and although a little rough around the edges was as good if not better than anything in the charts at the time. I told her how good it was and to get an agent. She did and a few years later I saw her perform in Hoxton. She was amazing. The girl really can sing and rocks on a keyboard. It was soon after that when Victoria became Little Boots. I was addicted to her first album and still listen to it today. I’m proud to say that the northern girl I knew over a decade ago is now a signed artist with two albums under her belt. If you don’t know her music, here’s her first single – New In Town. You also need to buy the albums as they are brilliant – and I’m not just saying that because I know her!
The picture was taken in 2010 when Little Boots was performing on the Jules Holland Show. I caught up with her backstage and we reminisced about the old days. Obviously once fame enters your life, your regular life has to take a back-step. We are still in contact on FaceBook but I haven’t seen Victoria in a few years. That’s something I had to remedy this year.
So the truth about celebrities is they are just like the rest of us. Of course for some people fame goes to their heads and they can be difficult to interact with; thankfully those people are few and far between. Throughout my extensive career in the media world, most are just as you’d expect them to be. Performing is still just a job where you get paid and go home to watch TV like the rest of us. I know it’s easy to sensationalise the lives of those in the public eye – even I still do it for a select few – but they are no different from anyone else. And in this technological age where celebrities can grow from many platforms, there’s no reason why anyone can’t be the next big thing!
#TerryGee