Nov 28 2005
By The Huddersfield Daily Examiner
LAST week was a bit of a celeb overdose! I was in Blackpool for the final of the Mr GAY UK competition, which I organise. It meant I got to work with the lovely icon Phil Olivier. He did an excellent job and the audience loved him - I even managed to get him to take off his top on the stage, even though he was a bit reluctant at first!
You'd never guess he was shy if you have seen his calendar this year - he's half naked in most of it and it has been the best selling calendar this year from our mail order company.
Craig from this year's Big Brother turned into a disaster! He was supposed to be a judge for us but as time ticked on there was no sign of him.
I finally managed to get in touch with him on the phone and it turned out the M1 was closed and his driver had gone in the wrong direction ... and on the wrong road!
He was so far away from Blackpool he had to turn back which was disappointing for him and for me.
Kemal from Big Brother managed to get there safely though and we had a great time partying with him and the contestants at the hotel afterwards.
Lee Ottway who plays Bombhead in Hollyoaks had been with us all evening and was a bit, er, merry. He ended up dropping his mobile phone down the toilet and it vanished without a trace ...
Absent judges aside, it was a great night and I was really pleased with the winner, Richard Carr from Birmingham.
The final had been hard work, and even though it is fun it was nice to get it out of the way. So it was therefore a real treat on Monday to be invited to the Royal Variety Performance.
I've watched the show on the TV since I was young and it's always been a dream of mine to be there in person. I was sat just yards from The Queen (cue jokes about two Queens in the same room) it was a good job I wasn't any closer as I've only ever seen her on a stamp and would probably have licked the side of her face!
I was with Basil who owns Funny Girls in Blackpool. His "girls" were performing for Her Majesty and put on an amazing rendition of "Swine Lake", wearing fat suits and false snouts. You'll appreciate the funny side of it when you see it on TV on December 11.
The acts were amazing, especially the fabulous Shirley Bassey. She looked as glamorous as ever, but was outshone by another of my favourites, Sharon Osbourne, who had a different outfit on every time she appeared on stage.
I even enjoyed Joe Pasquale, and found him hilarious despite the fact that he usually annoys me.
I was shocked when he brought on a half naked man - I would have thought this was rather inappropriate in front of the Queen, but it seemed to bring a smile to her face.
After the show I got to rub shoulders with Bradley Walsh from Coronation Street and also Katherine Jenkins, the opera singer, who is stunningly gorgeous. I thought, she could turn me straight - that would get some tongues wagging!
I wasn't the only person who thought so as Urs from Il Divo seemed to have taken a shine to her. They were chatting to each other and you could tell by their body language that they liked each other.
I went over with my camera to take a photo of them, but Katherine said no to a snap. Being a nosey parker, this aroused my suspicions and I ended up sneaking looks at them throughout the evening.
The way they were acting around each other made me think that there was more going on than just two new friends, and I even managed to see them sneak off in a taxi together later that night. Watch this space there may be a new celebrity romance hitting the front pages soon!
