BAFTA TV AWARDS 2008 – What Really Went On The Red Carpet
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BAFTA TV Awards 2008 –
What really went on the Red Carpet By Alexandra McLoughlin
After trying hard to get press access for this years TV Bafta Awards and with the disappointment of not even getting a reply from the organisers I had no option but to line up in the street and join the other fans outside the London Palladium in the hope of catching some good pictures of the celebrities invited and perhaps some autographs for my private collection, however it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be.
Despite arriving at the venue quite early at around 12.00 PM, the street was already lined up with people luckily I managed to get, what I was hoping to be a good spot which was next to the main entrance of the Theatre, right by the door. However it turned up to be not as good as I thought as by the time the stars got out of their cars and walked along the red carpet and by the time they reached the area where I was standing, they were already tired of signing autographs and some of them actually pretended not to hear me calling them and run quickly inside the venue to catch pre-show drinks.
Once the recognisable faces started coming out of the cars and arriving at the London Palladium, the first one who caught my eye was the amazing News Presenter from channel 4 Jon Snow. He was really nice and very friendly. I had a picture taken with him and he asked me for my name as he signed my autograph book. Another News Presenter that I met who was vey sweet was Louise Minchin (from the BBC programme called Missing Live).
I had the pleasure of meeting the legendary Patrick Duffy best known for his role as Bobby Ewing, on the US sitcom “Dallas” who apart from the greasy grey hair, still looked amazing for his age and seemed really down to earth.
Having said that, Dame Judi Dench despite looking good for her age and wearing a beautiful dress, everything seemed a bit too much for the mature lady who couldn’t handle the long walk on the red carpet as she only had the time to sign a few autographs before getting inside the venue to find herself a chair to sit on. She was very nice though.
After that things started to go really down for me with my first disappointment being with Alan Dale (who is known for his roles in Neighbours and Ugly Betty). He passed in front of me after I called his name, he actually looked at me as he approached the barrier but, he was immediately grabbed by one of the PRs who directed him to the professional photographers pit, although he said he would come back, unfortunately he didn’t keep his word and never did but I could still see him chatting with some guests by the entrance door of the venue only a few steps away from me.
The next disappointment, which I personally found the most annoying, was when James May (co-presenter of Top Gear) which I was really looking forward to meeting as I always thought highly about him, as an award-winning journalist and an aspiration to me, unfortunately like many others he didn’t even look at the crowd who were shouting his name, instead he stayed there at the front door chatting with his mate Richard Hammond who also decided to ignore everyone. What a disappointment! They must have been desperate to grab their free drink before it ran out.
Luckily for me, things started to improve especially when I had the opportunity to meet the charming Martin Kemp (former member of the 80s band Spandau Ballet and actor who played the role of Steve Owen in EastEnders). What a nice guy! He chatted with me and my mum for a while and even took the time to have a picture taken with me and shake her hand. Then I had my eyes fixed on the gorgeous Nicholas Hoult (from the new TV series Skins). He was very sweet and not only signed my autograph book but he also had a picture taken with me. I was speechless at that point.
After that I met the gorgeous singer Alesha Dixon from the R & B girl band, Mis-Teeq and she was also the 2007 winner o the BBC show Strictly Come Dancing. I also had the pleasure of meeting Matt Di Angelo also from Strictly Come Dancing; he was there with his girlfriend and dance partner Flavia Cacace. They were lovely and looked like a nice couple. I met Claudia Winkleman from the same show that was also very friendly, but I was over the moon to meet the co-presenter of the Strictly Come Dancing itself, the sweet Tess Daly. She looked lovely in this beautiful long hot pink dress by the designer Martin Grant. I was happy to have a picture of me with her although I know for sure she looked a lot better than me in the picture..
Then my luck went down again when Kelly Brook passed very quickly by me and ignored most of the fans that were calling her. She looked amazing as she rushed to the photographers pit and spent a great amount of time having pictures taken. She knows all the papers and magazines were probably going to put her on the front cover but unfortunately she didn’t seem interested in her fans and was too much in a hurry but I can honestly say that who really seemed in a hurry was the TV Comedian Harry Hill. Shame on you Harry!
Other runners who decided to avoid the fans and ignore completely the crowd were Simon Pegg (I heard some fans shouting his name and I thought to myself…Who is he anyway?).
Sid Owen and Patsy Palmer were also on the run together side by side although you would have thought as they have just returned to Eastenders, they would like to promote themselves and be a bit nicer to their fans and perhaps make good publicity for themselves but on the contrary they were rushing straight inside towards the free booze. I was happy when Charlie Clements came in to say hello (he plays Bradley in Eastenders) He was quite shy…bless! Another Actor that I met who plays Max Branning in Eastenders was Jake Wood (what a nice guy!).
Apparently Justin Lee Collins & Alan Carr were also there among the celebrities, they must have been hiding as no one noticed them but what was really noticeable was Amanda Holden being dragged away By Piers Morgan as she tried to reach for a fan’s autograph’s book. It was distressing seeing that happening.
Joanna Lumley was dressed in a bright orange gown and but like many others, she was more interested in showing off her dress to the professional photographers hoping to get her picture on the cover of some newspapers or magazines.
James Cordon was also in a terrible rush but I quite forgave him as he looked at me and as he was giving me the most adorable smile, from a distance I could read his lips saying sorry and running to the Photographers pit.
After that I met the comedian Rob Brydon and the extremely beautiful Melinda Messenger, he was very sweet and as for her…she looked so lovely that it was as though she was a Disney Princess. They both had photos with me and chatted for a bit. I was so happy! Then Michelle Collins and stopped by to speak to the fans. She was very nice.
I was thrilled to meet again the adorable Graham Norton who came to say hello to me as I met him last year also at the BAFTAS. He was lovely and I didn’t want to keep him too long just took a quick photo and let him go as he was the host presenter for the awards so I knew he had to go for rehearse.
Last but not least, Bruce Forsyth and his wife were one of the last ones to arrive, they looked wonderful but it started raining so they had to run quickly inside the venue.
