For as long as I can remember, I have loved all things celebrity – fascinated with the lives of everyone from the dizzying heights of the A-list to the bottom of the Z-list.
So nabbing a job as a showbiz journalist meant I could make my passion a career, with writing stories and attending events going hand-in-hand with meeting stars.
Many celebrities are well-media trained, giving cursory interview answers or well-rehearsed PR scripts – yet some are far more interesting.
Over the past 13 years, I have experienced both brilliant and bizarre experiences, including an interview with Robert de Niro leading to a sassy scolding from the White House and the late Liam Payne defying his team and baring his soul.
Further experiences include meeting my hero Coleen Rooney just one week after her now-legendary Wagatha Christie victory, while my post-dinner chat with Love Islander Megan Barton-Hanson turned into a medical advisory.
Add ‘starring’ opposite Brad Pitt in a Guy Richie film and This Morning star Josie Gibson sleeping on the floor at my parents’ house – my celebrity experiences have truly been quite the wild ride.
As a showiz journalist I have enjoyed many wild encounters with celebrities, however my brushes with fame started on the set of Snatch in 1999 (pictured with Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston)
Interviewing Robert De Niro in 2018 to celebrate the launch of his new Nobu Hotel in Marbella, I managed to ruffle some feathers in Washington.
Despite strict instructions from his team, in 2017 the late Liam Payne proved to be incredibly sweet and candid – bubbling with excitement to speak about his then five-month-old son Bear
After choosing to swerve politics or news reporting to pursue my life-long passion for showbusiness, I naturally never thought my work would fall upon the White House‘s press desk.
However, after interviewing Robert De Niro in 2018 to celebrate the launch of his new Nobu Hotel in Marbella, which he co-owns with sushi chef extraordinaire Nobu Matsuhisa, I managed to ruffle some feathers in Washington.
When asked who his dream dinner guest would be, Robert insisted he would never let Trump into any of his Nobu restaurants.
Making his famously passionate feelings about the president clear, Robert told me: ‘I don’t care what he likes. If he walked into a restaurant I was in – I’d walk out.’
After publishing the article, I was naturally left aghast when a notification pinged on my phone to tell me the White House’s deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley had spoken out against my lighthearted chat with the Oscar winner.
Speaking to Fox Business Network at the time, Hogan responded to my chat: ‘I don’t think the president is planning on attending a dinner at Nobu anytime soon.
‘Look, Hollywood people grandstand all the time. He’s not stopping at Nobu anytime soon’.
It looks like any delusional chances of a fun-filled interview with the most powerful man in the world were well and truly quelled.
After choosing to swerve politics or news reporting to pursue my life-long passion for showbusiness, I naturally never thought my work would fall upon the press desk at the White House of all places (pictured: U.S. President Donald Trump)
I was left aghast when a notification pinged on my phone to tell me the White House’s deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley (pictured) had spoken out against my lighthearted chat
While my showbiz career started 13 years ago, my first brush with the A-list came a whopping 26 years ago when I met Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston.
Aged nine, I was cast as an extra in Guy Ritchie’s 2000 gangster movie Snatch, playing one of the gypsy children on Brad’s character Mickey O’Neil’s caravan site.
After achieving the glowing accolade of half my earnest face appearing for mere seconds in a scene with Hollywood heavyweights Jason Statham and Stephen Graham, I was met with the very top of the A-list on the muddy film set.
An impossibly stunning Jennifer Aniston emerged from a people carrier to visit her then-husband at work and upon seeing my bewildered eyes she offered to take a picture using one of the make-up artist’s Polaroids.
Puffing on a cigarette while in his costume, Brad failed to smile for the picture with an extremely excited schoolgirl, yet Jennifer beamed with her hand around my shoulder.
Understandably not happy to be interrupted in his work day, Brad proffered a few grunts, yet chatty Jennifer was sweetness and light – acting as a definitive factor in my future feelings about Team Jen or Team Brangelina.
Aged nine, I was cast as an extra in Guy Ritchie’s 2000 gangster movie Snatch, playing one of the gypsy children on Brad’s character Mickey O’Neil’s caravan site (pictured alongside Sorcha Cusack, who played Mum O’Neil)
My very modest Hollywood career saw half my earnest face appear for mere seconds in a scene with Jason Statham and Stephen Graham (pictured left and right in the film)
Having copied her Juicy Couture tracksuits aged 14 to devouring her column inches, it’s safe to say I am a long-time Coleen Rooney fan.
So when I saw the star across the bar at Wembley Stadium in 2022, while waiting to see our shared favourite band Westlife, I could not resist an introduction.
The thrill of the meet was due to it coming just one week after her triumph in the Wagatha Christie lawsuit, which saw her in a now-legendary battle with Rebekah Vardy about the latter leaking stories to the press about the former’s life.
After Coleen released an explosive statement in 2019, Rebekah commenced action in the English High Court to sue Coleen for defamation in 2020.
A long-drawn out court case was carried out which saw Coleen reign victorious on 29 July 2022 – one week before Westlife’s concert.
Pledging my allegiance, I headed to the bar to congratulate her on the victory and admit that I was always Team Coleen since Wagatha Christie came to be.
Proving herself to be the definition of grace, while I did not get the juicy details I would have loved, the WAG gave a sweet thank you and a coy smile.
As a long-time fan of Coleen Rooney, I was delighted to meet her at a Westlife concert in 2022 and tell her my thoughts on her Wagatha Christie trial (Coleen pictured with Westlife on the night)
The meeting came just one week after her triumph in the Wagatha Christie lawsuit, which saw her in a now-legendary battle with Rebekah Vardy about the latter leaking stories to the press about the former’s life (Rebekah pictured outside in 2022)
Pledging my allegience, I headed to the bar to congratulate her on the victory and admit that I was always Team Coleen since Wagatha Christie came to be
Meeting tragic Liam Payne was a standout celebrity experience thanks to his incredible candour and clear love for his son and then-girlfriend Cheryl – which he was desperate to discuss despite strict instructions from his team.
In 2017, while promoting VOXI Mobile, I was invited to interview Liam with fellow journalists. As with many interviews, his team brandished a list of banned topics – mainly regarding his private life.
At the time Liam was dating Cheryl, who had given birth to their son Bear just five months previously and who was known to be tight-lipped about her private life.
Despite this, the late star could not contain his excitement while answering my questions and wound up giving a sweet insight into his private life – all while his stunned team and fellow journalists looked on.
Liam, who passed away last year following a fall from a hotel balcony, disregarded instructions and spoke joyously about life with Cheryl and Bear, now seven.
In the sweet chat, he dubbed the former Girls Aloud singer a ‘superwoman’ – before admitting she jokingly ‘tells him off’ for revealing too much about family life.
Liam admitted that he will go home after an interview and be chastised by Cheryl for opening up too much. ‘I do get a bit overexcited sometimes. I’ll go home and she’ll say “What did you say that for?”‘ he confessed.
‘But I’m just really happy with everything and life’s great, I’m really enjoying myself and everything’s really good so I can’t really complain. I just like to talk about it!’
Meeting tragic Liam Payne was a standout celebrity experience thanks to his incredible candour and clear love for his son and then-girlfriend Cheryl – which he was desperate to discuss despite strict instructions from his team (Cheryl and Liam pictured in 2018)
In 2017, while promoting VOXI Mobile, I was invited to interview Liam with fellow journalists. As with many interviews, his team brandished a list of banned topics – mainly his private life
While many celebrities are evasive about their plastic surgery, I was met with new levels of honesty when interviewing Love Island delight Megan Barton-Hanson.
After attending a dinner with the beauty and her then-boyfriend Wes Nelson just months after their departure from the villa in 2018, I chatted to the OnlyFans icon about her widely-discussed plastic surgery and image overhaul.
Anticipating a cagey response, a dismissal or even a barb, I was stunned to be met with quite the opposite.
I confided in Megan that I was just two months away from having my own nose job and what was intended to be a reality TV chat turned into a medical advisory.
Megan spoke me through the best and worst parts of the procedure – informing me that the aftermath was the hardest, saying: ‘They put these two tampon type things up your nose and the worst bit is when they pull them out’.
The delightfully warm star then joined me in taking a profile ‘Before’ shot to show my pre-surgery nose, while we parted with the promise of taking an ‘After’ image when we crossed paths after my surgery.
While I’m yet to see Megan again to capture our ‘After’ picture, she remains one of my favourite stars to have met – and she was indeed correct about the aforementioned ‘tampons’ during rhinoplasty recovery.
While many celebrities are evasive about their plastic surgery, I was met with new levels of honesty when interviewing Love Island delight Megan Barton-Hanson
The delightfully warm star then joined me in taking a profile ‘Before’ shot to show my pre-surgery nose, while we parted with the promise of taking an ‘After’ image when we crossed paths after my surgery
Having a This Morning star and Big Brother winner sleep on the floor of my bedroom in my mum and dad’s house was not on my career bingo card.
Josie Gibson is undoubtedly the loveliest star I have ever met and following a meet at Celtic Manor in Wales we formed a friendship.
After attending a press event together months later, we decided to keep drinking into the wee hours at various London hot spots.
Given the fact she lives in Bristol, as the night came to a close I offered up a night at my parents’ house, where I then lived.
Thus came the story of my brother walking into my room in the morning to be greeted with the sight of Josie under a pile of duvets on the floor.
Proving further no meet-up with Josie is a quiet affair, I later attended her baby shower in 2018 at Piccolino Heddon Street in London.
After I hit the dance floor with the star and a host of other TV personalities, she later discovered she had induced labour – making for an extremely unprescendented encounter with a star.
In the wake of these strange happenings and with plans for many more years in showbiz, I hope my celebrity encounters will continue in all their bizarre ways.
(However, I am holding off on plans to infuriate any more world leaders.)
Josie Gibson is undoubtedly the loveliest star I have ever met and following a meet at Celtic Manor in Wales we formed a friendship (pictured in 2018)
Proving further no meet-up with Josie is a quiet affair, I later attended her baby shower in 2018 at Piccolino Heddon Street in London where she danced herself into labour
