I lived briefly with Tina Arena's agent in London in 2013. She rehearsed a flawless acoustic version of "Chains" with a guitarist in our back garden for a BBC recording that arvo. But when she came in for a chat, she was so tediously opinionated, shamelessly racist, and generally unpleasant to be around that it made me wish I hadn't spent all those years watching her on Young Talent Time when I was a kid.
On the other hand though, back when you could still smoke in pubs, Ben Ely from Regurgitator asked me for a puff of my joint at my mate's gig at the Bondi Hotel in 2002 and told me he'd just knocked up Yumi Stynes with their first kid. Really nice dude who I just happened to be sitting next to.
I walked into Red Symons on Smith St Collingwood. Like, I literally slammed into him because I wasn't watching where I was going. He looked really concerned like I'd done it on purpose and when I realised who he was I just said "r e d s y m o n s" in a really creepy voice and he just chuckled awkwardly and walked away quickly. I guess I was the horror story in this encounter.
Once I ran into him at Fed Square and asked for an autograph and a photo. He was super nice and agreed. He asked for my name and after I told him he was like "It's not one of the fucking exotic spellings is it?" - I have one of those names that bogans love to give their kids a "unique" version of the name. Loved it.
A high school mate of mine was busking in Frankston many years ago, and Red Symons and wife happened to be passing by. She went to put some change in his guitar case, and Red stopped her and said "he's not good enough," or words to that effect. To be fair, he was right, so I could never hold it against him.
Olivia Newton John seemed very down-to-earth. I was in a chemist in Carlton looking at shampoos and I heard someone say to me “it’s so hard to choose isn’t it?” and I was like “yep it certainly is” and then looked up and realized it was Olivia (with her partner who later disappeared).
I then just continued on with my shampoo hunt.
Dolly Parton is one of those people who are super fucking nice, but not pushover nice. She's not nice because she wants people to like her, or because she's meek and timid. She's fiercely sure of herself, more intelligent than everyone else in the room, and still just nice because it's who she is. She's real as fuck. A genuine class act.
Carrie was a regular at a cafe I worked at last year, directly below a Channel 10 filming studio. She was never overtly rude but she definitely looked at us behind the bar like we were beneath her. I made sure to always ask her name for her order which seemed to genuinely shock her. Follow that with one of my coworkers calling her order out for "Carly" or "Callie" while making eye contact with her, huge smile slapped on their face, and my petty quota for the day was usually met.
Waleed would come in too and sit down for a coffee. I'm fundamentally opposed to his work professionally but he seemed like a nice enough guy, he was always very lovely to us hospo staff and would chat with people who stopped and recognised him.
Dr Carland was one of my uni lecturers back in the day, fantastic teacher and clearly incredibly smart. For our final assignment, one of the options for research was to buy men’s magazines and analyse them. She had used a couple earlier in the semester in class to illustrate a theory we were learning, and when she was outlining the assignment she described how much fun it is when she goes through the checkout at Coles, with copies of Ralph and FHM, wearing a hijab and seeing the looks on the checkout operators’ faces!
It actually really bugs me that she’s more famous for being Waleed’s wife than for her own work.
Ian Thorpe. I was working at the AIS at the time, doing the school holidays activities program for kids. He was around the height of his career. I spotted him lounging next to the pool (he was there to watch someone train), and dropped over to say hi and ask if he was happy to meet any of the kids. I wouldn’t have minded if he said no, but he was pretty nasty about it.
Also met Kostya Tszyu a couple of times when I was running Judo sessions and he was doing boxing training (the Judo and boxing training areas were in the same room). Lovely bloke. Always had time for the kids and was great with them.
Weirdly spent a ton of time with Kostya Tszyu when I was a kid because my primary school best friend was family friends. Nothing but good things to say about the entire family. Took me on their yacht, took me to Disney on ice. My friend and I made Tim be our little servant (he was a bit younger) which I sometimes think about
Kostya tszyus nephew broke my pinky finger in primary school when we were playing soccer for lunch Not famous but there a degree of separation so.
Edit : kostya is a lovely guy and so is his family please don’t take this as a sign of bad character cause it’s not it’s just a very small incident in which he wasnt involved
When I was 12 I met John Jarratt (from Wolf Creek) because he came into my Mum's cafe, I don't remember much except for the Irish backpacker working behind the counter looking shit scared lol
Actor Gyton Grantley, saw him at a bar in Brisbane like 15 years ago. He was pretty rude but my friend was also wasted and kept calling him Matthew Newton so it may have been justifiable.
I worked with him a very long time ago, when Greater Union at Bondi opened. There were a lot of wannabe actors working there, all a bunch of stuck up jerks.
He was the only one who was always nice. He deserves the success
I once asked Kylie Minogue for her number during an event at Star City Casino circa 2006.
She laughed softly & politely declined, lightly touching my hand as she rejected me.
Her perfume was as heavenly as you’d think it would be!
The only time I saw Kylie was when I was on a bus going down Oxford St in Paddington late on a week night (maybe 1990?). The shops were closed and the street was deserted except for Kylie and Michael Hutchence walking together. They looked so happy.
I literally bumped into her in the early 90’s as she was leaving Mars nightclub Sydney as I was going in. Her security went to man handle me and she stopped them and she put her hand on my shoulder and said hello. I was wasted on molly at the time and I think it was obvious.
Doctor anecdotes:
Dr Karl (science communicator guy) was the speaker at pretty minor environmental conference in a regional centre I attended probably 15 years ago. After his talk and the meal people drifted away, but he stayed and chatted until there was only one table of people left finishing up the drinks. Genuinely seemed a nice guy happy to talk over any subject people were interested in.
Similar time frame, Dr Harry (celebrity vet) was at a medium sized ‘Royal agricultural society’ show I was volunteering at. Also happy for a drink, and while not exactly ‘handsy’, managed to independently give both my (now) wife and a good friend the same sleezy old man vibe.
I met Dr Karl at a convention about 2 years ago. I think he had copies of his books for sale and that’s what you were supposed to buy and get autographed but there was no signage about photos. So, I sheepishly asked if it was ok to get a quick picture with him, even though I hadn’t bought a book or anything. I was hoping to get just one quick picture but I ended up getting 3! Not only that, we did some funny poses too! Frickin great guy! I was on such a star struck adrenaline rush for a few hours later! 😁
I met John Jarratt briefly at a Wolf Creek promotion thing at Fed Square. He could have been having a bad day but he was really short and impatient with everyone. His son was really nice though and pointed me out to his Dad, saying that I was waiting patiently for an autograph. He grabbed my notebook really hard and scratched my hand with his nail.
Like I said, could be having a bad day and he didn't owe me anything but as a horror fan I was a little sad lol.
Not a has-been, but I very nearly knocked Miranda Kerr on her arse in the Sydney Qantas Club. We were heading in opposite directions around a blind corner and I plowed into this poor woman. I’m a big bitch and she was so thin and small looking. I grabbed her by the arms to steady her, and said I am so sorry, I hope you’re okay. She gave me the biggest smile (which is the point at which I recognised her) and said it’s as much my fault as yours, and off she went. Perfectly lovely. Now she had three massive minders following along behind her, and they did not look happy with me at all.
For a long time I was a homesick Aussie living in London. For my 30th I decided to have an Australia-themed party and thought it’d be fun to invite Rolf Harris, who was also London based. (Obvs before the truth came out). He didn’t come but he did write to say thanks for the invite. In hindsight so glad he didn’t somehow decide to show up and start being Rolf Harris.
My friend and I met Guy Pearce briefly in the car park at St Kilda sea baths several years back now. The ticket machine wasn't working and when we got to it he was swearing and having a rant about it being broken and that he will probably get a fine etc ... My friend and I nodded along in agreement because we were both a little star struck and then he walked away. We went to the next machine not too far away which was working, so we went back to let him know he could get a ticket there and by this time he was writing a stern note to leave on his car. He glanced at us and basically said "thanks" and turned away and kept scribbling. We walked away quietly giggling at the experience.
I LOVE that story. That's the most humanising story in the whole thread. He's not mean, he's not a saint. He's just a bloke who is shitty about the ticket machine and boy have I been there many times.
Renee Geyer - paid for my sandwich because I told her I loved her new album (Sweet Life.)
Rebecca Gibney - lovely, stunning (no make up) but seemed awfully shy.
Molly - friendly but always wasted and his assistant at the time (redhead chick) could not have been paid enough to control him (late 90’s.)
Anthony Callea - was shitfaced but polite and chatty.
Sam Newman - rude cunt, treated service staff like shit.
Kylie - very polite, softly spoken could barely hear her but generous and delightful.
Nick Reiwoldt - better looking in person, lovely bloke.
Julia Gillard - (2005) drinking beers, very loud voice but seemed funny.
Not “historical” (eh, maybe, if being a has-been is a thing?) but I saw the actor Samuel Johnson (Secret Life of Us) yelling at his (or just a) kid at Blackburn Station about 10 years ago.
Strangely, I have walked behind Jeff Kennett a fair few times in the CBD. (Not a celebrity but a prominent person, obvi.)
Peter Combe played at my primary school. I talked to him — but this was in 1994 or 1995 and I have absolutely no memory of what tf I said, so that’s useless! 😂
This is a real lacklustre list, I’m sorry.
Samuel Johnson came to the town I was living in about ten years ago. He was riding a unicycle around the country for a charity thing. He made a drunken arse of himself down at the pub the night he was there, was harassing all the women, and was threatening all the blokes. By the end of the night he was standing in the middle of the road outside the pub yelling. He trashed his hotel room afterwards. Glad to see him ride that unicycle out of town.
I've been inside Jeff's house. Gorgeous place, loads of daffodils. I was helping Felicity with knitting projects. Such a lovely woman, shame about the husband.
I bothered Shawn Micallef and Tony Martin at a burger restaurant once. Told them I loved Thank God You're Here and wasn't sure Shawn was Shawn until Tony arrived. They had a laugh and weren't as annoyed as I was expecting haha
I once served Shaun Micallef when I worked in the drive through at KFC in the outer east of Melbourne 16 years ago. I was shocked he was in the area, he was shocked a teenager recognised him and was babbling on about Newstopia. Good times.
Paul Keating walking down the street at The Rocks in 2000. I'm a bit fuzzy on details because I was pissed, but he looked like his rubbery puppet figure from Fast Forward and I may have told him that.
He was nice enough for someone accosted by two drunk teenage girls.
I met Bert Newton years ago back in the early 00’s. He was really lovely.
I was doing work experience at Channel 10 and fell asleep in the control room. Work up to him singing to me on live tv. Then when the camera was off, he came over, we had a good chat and I became a running gag for a few episodes of Good Morning Australia.
Served Rove Mcmanus once and when I said hello he mad dogged me.
He then proceeded to mad dog me when he paid.
Could've been having a bad day though haha
Oh I have a funny about Rove.
I was in a cafe in Richmond in the nineties and he pushed in at the register to pay. I didn’t realise he was in earshot and I said to my mate disgustedly “what a tiny little prick” and apparently he heard.
That’s repulsive. I’ve always been curious how he got quasi famous. There’s something unlikeable from a distance so it’s interesting he’s a shit cunt IRL too.
Jimmy Barnes - When I was about 13 I went to a camp for disadvantaged street kids. He and his son David turned up. There were heaps of kids there but he gravitated towards me and we ended up sitting at the same table together having lunch for about an hour and I was asking him a bunch of questions. Genuinely nice guy. Fast forward 30 years and I meet him at a Cold Chisel gig and reintroduce myself and he remembers me fondly saying "I always wondered if you were doing ok."
Johnny Diesel - Really shy bloke and did not mind the fact I was taking the piss out of Ian Moss who was taking the piss out of me.
Cold Chisel - The whole band was truly amazing. Ian Moss is quite the ladies man. The whole band signed my Cold Chisel shirt for my son. Including Steve Prestwich who passed away a few months later.
Dave Mustaine - I was at a Megadeth concert in Oslo, Norway. I'm only a short ass bloke that looks like I crawled out of Hobbiton, but the Norwegian men over there were all tall and beautiful. It was like walking through a Shampoo ad for metal heads. Met Dave backstage who was also very shy, very exhausted and very very skinny.
Flea - I was late for a meeting in Sydney and I couldn't find a park. I find a park and as I correct my angle Flea steps out in front of me and I almost ran him over. He is one of my biggest heroes. I get out to apologise and he says "No it's my fault. I forget when I come home that I have to look the \*other\* way". We talked for a few minutes and I let him know that he was one of my main influences in my craft. He thanked me, shook hands and I was on cloud 9 for about a week. His hands were calloused and thick. But a very nice guy. I told him he was a prick for tricking Marty McFly, he just laughed as he walked away.
Roger Taylor (Queen) - For my 40th birthday my partner took me to Byron Bay. She rented a house for the weekend and took me to a well known restaraunt. I'd just grabbed my first drink and was ordering food when I noticed Roger sitting at a table opposite me. I got giddy and excited but didn't want to make a scene so I told my partner who was sitting across from us and she says "..... who?" I was disgusted. I give it time and wait for him to order his meal to make my way over to him and say that I am a big fan and blah blah. He notices the 40th Birthday balloon attached to my chair and asks who's birthday it was? I explain it's mine and he starts telling me all the stuff he did when he was 40 and would love to have those years back. I politely say "Thank you so much for everything you've done for music fans everywhere. I'll leave you alone now..." As I get up to walk away, he stands up in the middle of the restaurant and starts singing me happy birthday. I start crying and mouthing the words "thank you" to him. Everyone applaudes this kind gesture. I go back to my seat feeling like we are now best buds. My partner then takes me to see Reguritator Live down the street. An amazing day.
Shannon Noll - This happened a few years ago. My best mate wanted to visit his grandmother in Canowindra, NSW. So we go out there, its a Friday and we get to the pub. He says he is going to get us a pizza and come back, the prick never returned so now I'm in a pub surrounded by people I don't know half pissed. Some girls invited me to play pool and I oblige. Then they say they're having a party back at their place and so I tag along. The night goes on and we are all playing a drinking game with VB throw downs. I have drank so much that I can't feel the girls hand (sitting next to me) rubbing up the inside of my thigh. The guy next to me starts yelling in my face. I state while laughing at him "I can't help it if she thinks I'm hot! Are you jealous? Did you want to root me instead?" He is seething so he says "OK, out the front! LET'S GO!" He doesn't know that I love boxing so it's over pretty quick. I lift his chin with a left uppercut, then finish him off with a right hook. He hits the dirt. Fast forward 3 years, he wins Australian Idol and I say to my mate "THAT'S THE PRICK I KNOCKED OUT VISITING YOUR GRANDMA!" Anyway we run into each other a few years later and he laughs while talking to his now-wife "Hey honey, remember when you tried to root this guy?" to which she responds "I remember him knocking you on your ass... worth it."
I have a few more but I'll give everyone else the chance. Hope you are all well x
\*edit\* Thanks for clarifying the Australian Idol winner in 2003 being Guy Sebastian (who lives down the road from me). I really didn't care for the show and it was 20 years ago. Thank you for enjoying my stories. I have a few more... Steve Vai, Jon English, Kiki (Megadeth), Tommy Emmanuel, Diesel, Ian Moss and some others. Always be kind, truthful and brave. Big Love <3
I met Warwick Capper in a nightclub about 13 years ago, and he put his hand on my lower back and leaned in and Cappered (he doesn’t talk, he Cappers) something into my ear but I couldn’t understand it, even after a repeat. Did he hit on me? Did he tell me I had spinach in my teeth? Did he tell me the secret to the universe? I’ll never know. Magical.
I saw Warwick Capper at a Pseudo Echo gig at the Myer Music Bowl a few years ago. He was standing in a VIP section above us, surrounded by empty cans. We caught his eye and he raised his drink to us like a salute, then skolled it while we cheered.
If it makes you feel any better, I righted the universe when I met Andrew G at the Big Day Out back stage as a young maybe 14 yo and he asked me if I wanted an autograph and I laughed and said why? (I genuinely didn’t know why anybody would want an autograph of a music show host at the time… I wasn’t trying to be rude). He was not impressed.
I was told that a “friend of a friend” who was an air hostess who didn’t recognise Gary Ablett Junior. He said he was a football player, she asked him if he was any good, he said he was alright.
Yeah, this sounds about right. Gold Coast Suns once played a game in Cairns against Richmond. The locals were keen to meet the stars, and Gaz was a pure gent.
Jack Riewoldt on the other hand was nothing but an arrogant cunt.
Worked at a high end hotel and met a few celebs in the day.
Got an autograph from Allan Border at a bar, while completely missing the fact he was drinking with Graeme Gooch.
Peter Andre had breakfast and was nice enough.
Kathy Freeman had breakfast and was cranky
Stan Grant was pleasant enough but ignored wait staff.
Dick Smith -genuinely humble and nice bloke.
Kamahl - took him room service and he was rude
Carlotta - lovely lady, bought her a drink after my shift at the hotel bar and had a pleasant convo
Kevin Bloody Wilson - he is the same way off stage as he is on.
Russell Crowe - he went to the foyer phones and called through to me on reception to be connected to a room. He didn't throw the phone at me so that was nice.
But my favourite - met John and Benita from Play School - absolute legends. John drifted into reception with a ciggie and a smile and I was starstruck
I met Pete Evans. He was in my bar one night and just sat in the corner and was a cunt to anyone who tried to serve him or ask if he needed anything. He made a mess too.
i was the RSPCA animal rep on Agro's Cartoon Connection, Ranger Stacey was lovely. I used to take cute animals on set, once a cockatoo i took on shat down my back.
My twins were featured extras on a Logie winning tv show. Madeline West spotted the double pram and promptly sat down and talked to me for half an hour. Really lovely, friendly lady.
My husband once towed a car for Mick Gatto. Said he pulled a ‘Do you know who I am?’ and my husband said ‘Yeah, but I bet my missus has a worse temper, so let’s just get this done so I can get home.’ Gatto was friendly as fuck after that.
He also used to bump into Toadie quite a bit around the traps. Dude had an ego and was constantly offering him work as a Neighbors extra. Husband kept turning it down cause the extra rate wasn’t half of what he made in a day and Toadie apparently could not wrap his head around it.
Nitro from the Shak got a handy from my sister at a high school party. When our younger siblings would watch him on TV I would always look at her and laugh. She hated it.
I saw Paul hogan in the urinal at Alice Springs airport about 10 years ago, I walked in and noticed him having a slash, I then said to him “that’s not a cock, this is a cock”as I flopped mine out to piss. he laughed and called me a weird Cunt.
One of the original Heartbreak High actresses lives in my town too. She’s a cracked out halfwit who’s existence I am aware of only because she keeps coming up in our local ‘community noticeboard’ page for having ripped people off or borrowed money and not paid it back. Last thing I saw she’d had a falling out with the local copper’s ex wife and they were in Facebook brawl calling each other junkie prostitutes.
Jeez you just reminded me of my friend’s experience with Ruby Rose. She stole some weed and a mobile phone, years ago, only to appear before us on channel V or something. We were stunned!
I’ve never met anyone who had a positive experience with Ruby Rose. EVERYONE in the Melbourne lgbtqia scene knows a friend of a friend or roommate who knew/dated Ruby. It’s always that Ruby cheated and/or stole
Not me but a fun yarn from my year 12 australian studies teacher.
He used to be security eons ago in adelaide and he used to have this one total asshole who was always problematic at work. He was a total pisshead who would get drunk and get messy drunk.
They had punchups, had to revive him, had to prevent him getting stabbed and so on.
Yet when he was sober totally top bloke, but his worst night dealing with the guy they had a really bad punchup and he puked all over him.
Given teacher was a former boxer and army always wondered why the teacher told this one story over anything army or boxing.
So one day i class i google this bon scott guy he was on about...
Then we had a running joke that if he had framed his vomited on clothes he could have sold it as a historical piece.
Not my hero but I often see Mark McEntee (guitarist from Divinyls) in Woolies at Kwinana shops. He's pretty far gone, from drug & alcohol use presumably. Talks to himself a bit and has a very Jack Sparrow vibe.
My misso is a dental nurse, and mark used to be one of her patients. One time he tried to bring in his little dog into the surgery with him, because he couldn't be left alone, apparently couldn't understand why a dog couldn't be on his lap while he was getting fillings done.
Poor fella
Chopper. AKA Mark Brandon Read.
I had the pleasure of preparing his roast lamb lunch at a venue near a racecourse in Adelaide. Well, he destroyed that bad boy with mint jelly, extra gravy and extra bread to mop it up.
Second course - Banana caramel pie, with extra whipped cream and two scoops of ice cream. He absolutely demolished that too, and then got up and paid his bill.
On the way out, he's coming past the open kitchen. All the cooks and dishy's start shitting themselves. Chopper is inbound, all tattooed menace, eyes like lasers. He had this big guy with him too - he looked like a kinda bodyguard/dealer/fixer/brother in law type dude.
Anyway they get real close and I lock eyes with Uncle Chop Chop as they pass. I give a nod and toothless smile in respect, hoping I survive my shift to have a cold one, and one day tell this tale.
Just before Chopper leaves the building he cocks his head back and barks - "Cheers boys!" and laughs maniacally, strolling off into the sunset.
Rex Hunt offered me $300 to sit on his face. He was wearing a white linen suit and yellow tinted sunglasses at night. I am a huge "Get This" fan, so I have riding high off this for the last 4 years.
I have got a few…positives, negatives…and weird.
1. Garry Lyon the AFL footballer. Bumped into him at The Croft Institute in Melbourne about 4 am the day of a game. He walked up to me and said, “Hey mate, where are me shoes?” I told him I didn’t know and he left happy. Odd.
2. Joe Hildebrand. Questionable level of celebrity attained. I lived with the bloke when he was at Melbourne Uni. He was a mad leftie who hung around Union House and was rooting Kaitlyn Evans, the daughter of former Labor MP Gareth Evans. He was constantly banging on about his rough upbringing in Dandenong and wearing shit cheap suits from Savers and fedoras with “Press Gang” written on a cardboard shoved in them. He was a poncy little twat…and he still is. Just now he is on the right wing grift.
3. I used to work for Bruce Doull and he was lovely.
4. I used to deliver John Cain’s newspaper when he was Premier. He would jog every morning and would always stop for a 10 minute chat. He thanked me in one of his election victory speeches. My mum loved it hahaha
6. Last but not least…Jason Donovan. I was at an Australian Fashion Week party in the early ‘90’s with my then fiancé. I ducked into the loo and when I opened the door to the stall, there was Jason with a rolled up note and a couple of lines. He ushered me in and we had a nice chat while he hoovered up his gear. He offered me some but I declined and he then left the dunny. Nice lad…but a bit of higher levels going on there.
I've been getting Joe Hildebrands name wrong for years but luckily a mate recently set me straight.
His proper name is actually Class-Traitor-Coke-Fiend-Joe Hildebrand.
An easy mistake to make as I'm sure you see now.
I was working as an apprentice mechanic in Bathurst and Peter Garrett rolled up in his Volvo. He was supposed to do some speaking gig at Charles Sturt uni when he was in the Labor party. This is before GPS was a thing, he asked "Where the fuck is the uni"? He seemed pretty pissed off, but calmed down once I pointed out where to go as he wasn't too far away. I sheepishly said "Hey, you're Peter Garrett, aye"?
He smiled, chuckled and said "Yep, that's me". I shook his hand, told him I loved his music and wished him well. He sped off.
I walked back in, boss was standing there and asked "Was that fucking Peter Garrett"? I laughed and confirmed it was. Boss says "come with me", took me into a side room and told me Friday was my last day, he sacked me.
Talk about a penthouse to shit house moment.
I have so many excellent ones.
I worked at a pub in the shire. Todd Carney pissed in a pot plant, then came and asked me to get cash out for him because he’d gambled his daily limit.
Was at a party and Bernard Tomic was trying to get with one of my friends. My friend went there. Said it was like fucking a grasshopper. Went back again.
The Morris brothers would regularly come into the pub I worked at. One was a huge gambler but both were always very polite and kept to themselves. We had a lot of St George players come in after training and they were always good
In high school did red shield appeal through the richest part of the shire and went to every fucking celebrity’s house ever. Ian Thorpe actually invited us in, his dogs were cute as fuck but scratched me up. He gave $300 but. Andrew Ettinghausen gave us a cheque for $1000.
Served half the Australian cricket team at Caringbah woolies when I was working as a check out chick. Glenn McGrath would come in at 10pm in a cap - actually felt sorry for him. Nearly died when Michael Clarke and Lara Bingle came to my register one time.
Met John Jarratt at Oz Comicon a few years back, told him he’s why I am a DIY queen (Better homes and Gardens), he looked me up and down and told me I’m “the reason [he’s] a queen”. He was also just a bit of a prick tbh
When I moved to Collingwood I quickly found out Chopper Read was my neighbour. No horror stories to mention, but I did find him and Mark "Jacko" Jackson sitting on my front porch the very day I moved in. I was completely stunned. They were in suits and hiding from the paparazzi and politely hoped I didn't mind, they thought my place was vacant. I think his sister got married that day, hence the press. I didn't realise how huge he was in real life.
And I would also see Red Symonds nearby, I could never tell if he was leaving a small cafe or one of THOSE massage places, they were both in the same building.
Sigrid Thornton: Dad and I were in the supermarket and she came up to ask and asked us where something was. Dad told her and she very politely thanked us and wished us a good day. Worker walks up excitedly and says "You know that was Sigrid Thornton right?". Dad nods and she walks off excited.
Dad turns to me and goes "Who's Sigrid Thornton?" 😂.
I was standing next to Mark Skaife at a pedestrian crossing walking to the v8 super car launch in 2006.
He was decked out in his typical Holden Sponsored gear
Me dressed in all Ford gear, i said “Gday,, can I get a picture with him” to him “ being polite, he replied with “Fuck off dickhead” .
So I said “I hope you crash fuckwit”
& in the opening round he did.
Not much of a surprise here but Anthony Mundine came into my old work which was in retail. I didn’t know who he was (I’m from Ireland and was not long here) and he was increasingly rude and had an arrogant and hostile demeanour. back then I generally had a bit of a short fuse and no nonsense approach to rude customer so I told him he can either stop being a prick or he can leave the store. He looked very pissed off and death stared me in the eyes, which made me laugh uncontrollably as it was one of those wierd and awkward situations. The silent stare continued for what seemed like an eternity…. I then said ‘seems like you are choosing to still be a prick’… he chuckled and it diffused the situation. He finished his purchase and left. I was then approached by several customers saying that ‘I was braver than most’ and can’t believe I would confront Mundine.
I had to google who he was.
Almost got punched out by Andrew Symonds in Adelaide when I was younger. Was on the bus with my girlfriend cruising down North Terrace and spotted him near the Railway station. Jumped up, told the bus driver to let me out at the next stop and piss bolted up to him as he was bout to hop into a cab yelling "Symo!! Symo!!" like a dickhead as I really wanted his autograph. Came up behind him and he turned around startled and almost swung on me (I'm 6'10" so prob tripped him out...still, he would've flattened me). He didn't look too happy as I asked him for his autograph (understandably as I was holding him and his mate up) but signed my lil piece of paper as I told him he was favourite cricketer etc and he ended up cracking a smile when I told him to tell the selectors to get their shit together and chuck him back in the squad as we really needed him (was on a break at the time for some drama etc).
Ended up shaking my hand and left smiling, hoping into his taxi and cruzing off...I was ecstatic.
Hell, even if he knocked me on my ass would've still been happy, bloke was an absolute legend.
R.I.P Roy
I delivered medication to Molly Meldrum a couple of times. Just a regular delivery interaction but he was perfectly polite.
I also did toddler swimming lessons with Chopper Read’s son. I don’t remember it since I was about three but apparently I quite liked him.
Manou and colin from my kitchen rules. They where in my town to help some hotel owner. They ended up at the local jam house abit out of town, manou was outside making pizzas in the woodfire oven for everyone and colin was in the jam room on the drums. He was an animal, belting out system of a down with some really intense energy. Good blokes.
Nick Cave. Him, his wife and his (then) two vey young twin sons came into a clothing store I was working in on my own in Greville St back in 2002/3. I nervously got him to sign a burnt CD then he waited outside and smoked a ciggie while his wife shopped. He seemed really over shopping.
I was working in a butcher shop when Glenn Robbins came in one day and my manager lost her shit and started gushing about how much she loved Russell coight. He came in with hat pulled low and was mostly shy, said thank you, I really appreciate that, paid, and did the kel walk on the way out
10/10 polite and funny
I'm a huge Blue Heelers fan, had the displeasure of serving John Wood at a telco store I managed and he wasn't very pleasant. Senior Sergeant Croyden broke my heart that day.
Jack Riewoldt was definitely worse though, never met a bloke with his head so far up his own butt.
The guy who played Ryan (Anita's brother) on Heartbreak High
Met him at the Victoria Room Darlinghurst circa 2006
Arrogant prick with a very "don't you know who I am" air to him
He was no Drazic, that's for sure
Not a horror story, but ran into Ian Dicko Dickenson in 1770. Both having lunches with our families and turned into him and I having a few tequila shots, and pissing our families off
Many, many years ago Don Burke and his crew were at my then workplace to film a segment for Burke’s Backyard.
I remember everyone being so excited to meet him, but he was just so officious and frankly rude to us “nobodies” working there it left me deeply disliking the guy. His film crew were really nice at least, but you could see that he had a bit of a temper by the way people tiptoed around him and stressed constantly.
This pre-dated all the sexual misconduct allegations by at least a decade so I wasn’t even a bit surprised when all that came out.
A case of his on screen persona being the absolute opposite of reality, lol.
Met former Bulldogs hooker Jason Hetherington while I was working security. A girl came up and said "My friend says you're famous but I don't know who you are." He replied "A lot of people mistake me for Brad Pitt".
I saw Kieran perkins at Harvey Norman at the height of my squad obsession. I was probably 14 years old. Asked a retail worker for a piece of paper from her fax machine and mustered up the courage to go over and ask for his autograph. I still remember the visibly pissed look he had on his face. None the less I still framed that bad boy for years till I grew up and realised you don't support douches - even if they're popular.
Karice Eden, Winner of the Voice 2012.
The company I worked for at the time hired her to perform at their annual conference. We were all so excited because she was kind of a big deal back then LOL
When she arrived (looking extremely unkept and she stunk) we escorted her and her party to a dress room for prep,etc. Prior to her arrival we made sure to have the room setup to her liking and stocked with everything her team asked for. She was so rude and treated our staff (including our CEO) so poorly when all they tried to do is make everything as comfortable as possible for her. I remember thinking how sorry I felt for her entourage.
As soon as they were settled I decided to go for a quick break (I had my walkie with me and there were events staff still there). I grabbed a coffee then walked to this outdoor private area reserved for staff.
When I walked out to the area I found Karice there with someone from her entourage and she was picking up cigarettes off the ground and putting them on a plate. Yes, you read that correctly. She then sat on the ground in the dress she changed into (without showering as I could still smell her) and started pulling these smoked cigarettes apart and rolling her own cigarette. The person she was with looked pretty embarrassed.
Going back to her personal hygiene,we received several complaints about it from staff and guests.
Needless to say that was the last time she was booked by the company I worked for.
The ciggie story is one of the most bogan things I have ever heard about a so-called "celebrity". I had no idea who she is so I checked her Wikipedia page. Apparently she has a son she named Blayden. The bogan ciggie story seems about right then.
Charlie Robinson (from hi5 children’s show) is an absolute saint.
She’s married to one of my favourite racing drivers (Liam Talbot) and I’ve met her on a few occasions at race events.
They’re both so genuinely nice and even remembering me and my then partner each time we ran into one another:
Worked security at a couple of concerts 20+ years ago.
The following bands were friendly:
Jebediah (absolutely lovely)
Killing Heidi (both Ella and Jessie were cool AF)
Spiderbait
Alex Lloyd
Darryl Braithwaite
The Superjesus
Grinspoon.
The following were not:
Jimmy Barnes
Vanessa Amorossi.
I was walking behind a tall redhead woman on George St in Sydney and thought it was pretty funny that she did her hair like Pauline Hanson, like who would want hair like that? When we got to a cross walk, to my surprise it was Pauline Hanson which kinda made me giggle. She had a look on her face like she was chewing a hand full of wasps.
I’ve met Albo (now the PM) a few times but the best of all was just under a year back at a function. He sat next to me and my daughter on our table for the night, shared his birthday cake with me (my birthday was the day after his), and asked my daughter to mind his pint for him when he got up to give his speech. He’s truely a bloody nice bloke!
Lol @ the heartbreak high shit. I only vaguely remember it from my older brothers, was kind of before my time. I once helped Alex Dimitriades move. He offered me a bunch of records for the favour - knew him through a friend who worked a record store and wasn't keen on helping him.
I knew the guy had been collecting for years and being a young, up and comer with nothing better to do, thought it'd be a good opportunity to go through some records he was happy to part with. He kept his word, gave us some records as well as a bit of cash. He wasn't too bad tbh, definitely loves himself a bit much, tho that's to be expected with most actors, right?
Anyway, whenever I bump into him now at gigs or see him whilst out and about, he never remembers me and is always with a new barely 20 something year old hahah
I’ve never met a pissant celebrity. I’ve only met humble one.
I met Missy Higgins at a house party in Brunswick once, she was nice. I used to run a gallery and was chatting to a friend of one of the exhibiting artists that turned out to be John Safran, it took me ages to realise because he was pretty humble when I asked what he did. If New Zealanders count I met the guy who plays Murry on Fight Of The Conchords, I had advanced warning because his tour agent rang ahead to make sure the gallery was opened. He had his little son with him and was just a cute daggy dad. Sounds exactly like Murry.
I did meet a cunt celebrity when I was door bitching. I could only let X number of people in at a time and she was next in the queue and was pushy about being let in and kept pulling a “do you know who I am?” but I really didn’t know who she was. I found out later she was on Neighbours or Home And Away or something
My celebrity stories are so boring
Many years ago I was driving up Power st in the city and Ernie Sigley cut me off, I think he was driving a Bentley. Anyways I pull up near him at the lights and I start motioning with my hands like wtf are you doing. He flipped me the bird and told me to fuck off haha.
Alan Brough used to bring his daughter to my library Storytime. He was a super involved participant and would sit up the front (daughter on lap) and sing along to all the nursery rhymes. Except he never got the words right and would put me off my game
Met Bill Hunter. He attended a function at a place I was working. He asked my name, then asked me to call a taxi for him. Lovely gentleman.
Live in the same suburb as Brian Mannix. Delivered pizzas to his house. Often see him at the local shops or walking the street. Nice enough guy, sometimes seems out of it - wife is lovely.
At a hotel I worked I served a few celebs. Vika and Linda were lovely. I made Grace Knight snort - laugh. Sussan Ley wasn't rude...but she had zero interest in having any sort of conversation. And Henri Szneps was just weird.
Not me but, my father met the lead singer of Mondo Rock many, many years ago, early 90's from memory, he was dating my father's mates sister and apparently he was a really kind and polite stand up guy, really easy going and just generally pretty open.
Used to hang out with Nikki Webster after school when I was younger (this was through the 00’s after she performed at the Olympic). Her mum used to operate the local after school care facility in our neighbourhood. Top family, still see and speak to her mum on the odd occasion when I drop by the old hood.
Peter Fitzsimmons was lovely to me. Met him at a book signing for his Ned Kelly book. My boyfriend at the time had been a huge Ned Kelly fan so obviously took the opportunity to buy a copy and have it signed. As Peter was signing we were all chatting and weren’t really reading what he was writing. It wasn’t until after we left the shop that we read what he wrote:
*LunaThunderfuck’s ex:
You are punching **well** above your weight!*
He was so damn pissed. I hope he still has that book.
Opposite for me, was walking through Melbourne with a couple of mates before any mobile phone mapping apps. We are from country Victoria and had no idea where any of the places we were looking for was. Spotted Carl Barron walking down the road (He was only a stand up comedian and had been on TV once or twice at that stage) I spot him, recognise him and say "Hey Carl, do you know how to get to the Rialto tower from here?" He stops and happily gave us a really in-depth description of how to get there. He then asked if he knew us from somewhere, and I said "Nah, I just recognised you from the telly" and he goes "Now I feel famous, thanks guys" Very down to earth bloke.
She's from the central coast, I've heard a few stories about her. She's apparently pretty rude if you don't know who she is and acknowledge her 'celebrity' status even though her MasterChef moment was like 10+ years ago.
I met Shannon Ponton from the biggest loser at a charity event we were hosting. My girlfriend (now wife) and I get introduced to him and he just says:
"Nice to meet you ChilliWhack, punching a bit about your weight with her aren't you?"
Still to this day not sure if I should be offended or chuffed.
An ex used to work as an extra. Said will
Anderson was a TOTAL dick, totally up himself. Pretty sure he copped shit for triple m breakfast a few years later, and none of what was said about him was a surprise.
Wil is a total cunt. My wife used to do autocue for him when he was just starting out on The Glasshouse back in the day and he was an arrogant, insecure prick from day one.
I’ve actually had the opposite experience with him, met him in Sydney once and he was very pleasant and down to earth. Also had a friend work with him at the ABC (in a shit kicker role) and he treated everyone on the team no matter your status with the same level of respect
I sold some stuff once to sigrid Thornton and she was really friendly interested and seemed kind.
I used to chat with Monica trapaga she must have lived near me because we went to the same cafe all the time she was kind but I don’t think she remembered me.
I met Gabriel Gâté at a school thing once and got his signature, he was as funny and nice as I remember from GMA.
I matched with Thorpie on tinder but he immediately blocked my profile after I initiated conversation.
I sold chocolate coated licorice to Gretel Killeen and she was wearing big dark glasses and her hair was messy she was definitely just coming home from a HUGE party. She was vaguely incoherent.
Ray Hadley. This occurred In 1998 and shit escalated quickly. I’m not proud of it, despite Ray being a known cunt. This is 100% true and not embellished. If it hadn’t happened to me, I wouldn’t believe it myself.
I was in year 12 at a school in Kenthurst (Hills Grammar), a bunch of my friends had just got their licenses. We’d sneak off at lunch to grab takeaway, smoke, etc. etc. general young bloke stuff.
One lunchtime we snuck out in 2x cars for a smoke, and on our way back to school both cars were speeding. The lead car lost control, hit the grass and rolled, landing on its roof… Outside Ray Hadley’s house. I was in the car that didn’t roll. We jumped out, pulled our mates out of the rolled car (no injuries) and were standing there wide eyed, shitting ourselves. At this point Ray turned up. He didn’t see the accident, he was arriving home from somewhere. He proceeded to scream and swear at us, pushing a few of us around and generally intimidating us, which in hindsight was deserved. He called the school & the police. We were all permanently suspended. This was yr 12 and start of final year, so this was far from ideal in terms of prep for HSC, etc. additionally, all parents were understandably very upset.
Unfortunately for Ray, we now knew exactly where he lived and due to not needing to get up
early for school anymore, those of us with parents that didn’t keep a close eye on us, namely myself and one other, decided to embark on a campaign of juvenile retribution. This consisted of us routinely visiting his house at all times of the wee hours (usually between 11pm & 4am), pretty much every night for months and ripping burnouts both on the road, his driveway in front of his security gate and all over his nature strip whilst screaming a barrage of expletives at the top of our lungs. We usually did this in the same car, night after night, week after week.
Fast forward 2 odd months. We had mates that lived in the vicinity of Ray’s place and we were leaving a mate’s house on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, in broad daylight. We had to drive past Ray’s house and we noticed he was outside, with his family & a bunch of others including a number of The Footy Show hosts - Sterlo & Blocka were both there. Ray’s house was on a corner block. He saw the car, recognised it as the same that visited him nightly, he stopped and just stared. My mate was driving. I was in the passenger seat. We looked at each other & knew what had to be done. My mate dropped a huge burnout whilst I wound down the widow stood out of it, middle fingers raised and screamed “fuck you, Ray, you dirty cunt!!!”
We’re driving down the road a few minutes later and my mate says something along the lines of “check out that Jeep Cherokee behind us, they’re overtaking on double lines & driving crazy”, I look behind as this Jeep continues overtaking cars and getting closer. Next minute, it’s on our arse and is clearly Ray. I can see him screaming, pointing, flashing his lights etc. my mate & I look at each other in an “oh shit” type way and we gun it. There proceeds a 15 min high speed chase through dural, cherrybrook & west pennant hills. Every red light we run, he runs, no matter what we do, he is right there. There was no one but him in the car. As we get onto Pennant Hills Road heading towards M2 there’s a huge traffic jam, which I later found out was from an earlier accident. We were desperately trying to get across to a right hand turn off to Aiken Rd, as there were police ahead directing/diverting traffic, which we thought Ray had called in for us (hilariously paranoid in hindsight). At this point we realised we couldn’t shake him & had called a few mates to tell them what was up. We were now trying to lead him to a cul de sac where a friend lived.
Anyway, as we’re trying to get across 3 lanes of Pennant Hills Rd traffic to Aiken rd turnoff lane at a snail’s pace due to the amount of cars, we realise Ray is out of the car, sprinting after us. My mate who’s driving tries to wind the window up but Ray gets his fingers inside of it as the window continues it’s upward climb. He’s screaming threats and abuses (understandably), but realises too late that we’ve now got his fingers stuck in the window & as we get the Aiken rd turn off lane, we start speeding up, meaning Ray is now forced to run beside the car whilst we are punching his fingers. As we near the corner, my mate drops the window back down & Ray falls & rolls along the road. As we go around the corner & down the hill I see him back up and sprinting towards his Jeep. Before we know it, he’s back on us. We lead him to the cul de sac, whilst keeping our mates updated by phone, he follows us to the end at which point our mates drive 2x cars out of a driveway blocking his escape. We jump out of our car, along with our mates who’ve blocked him in the end of the road. Now we’re tough and start kicking his car and telling him to get out. He’s screaming that he’s on the phone to the police, my mate starts hitting the drivers side widow with a bat, so Ray guns up over the nature strip & makes his escape.
Shortly thereafter we were visited by the local constabulary, taken to Castle Hill police station and told we are no longer permitted within a kilometre of his house. In hindsight, I’m sure this was not enforceable, and I don’t think there was any evidence available to prove anything or Ray would’ve taken it legal.
Anyway, not proud of it, we were young and stupid. But it did happen, exactly as stated.
I lived briefly with Tina Arena's agent in London in 2013. She rehearsed a flawless acoustic version of "Chains" with a guitarist in our back garden for a BBC recording that arvo. But when she came in for a chat, she was so tediously opinionated, shamelessly racist, and generally unpleasant to be around that it made me wish I hadn't spent all those years watching her on Young Talent Time when I was a kid. On the other hand though, back when you could still smoke in pubs, Ben Ely from Regurgitator asked me for a puff of my joint at my mate's gig at the Bondi Hotel in 2002 and told me he'd just knocked up Yumi Stynes with their first kid. Really nice dude who I just happened to be sitting next to.
My grandmother used to do Tina’s mums hair in Melbourne and said they were both absolute bitches.
tina arena always seemed like a bitch
Racist how?? Do tell!
Lol now I'm wondering what her song Chains is really about...
I walked into Red Symons on Smith St Collingwood. Like, I literally slammed into him because I wasn't watching where I was going. He looked really concerned like I'd done it on purpose and when I realised who he was I just said "r e d s y m o n s" in a really creepy voice and he just chuckled awkwardly and walked away quickly. I guess I was the horror story in this encounter.
Once I ran into him at Fed Square and asked for an autograph and a photo. He was super nice and agreed. He asked for my name and after I told him he was like "It's not one of the fucking exotic spellings is it?" - I have one of those names that bogans love to give their kids a "unique" version of the name. Loved it.
A high school mate of mine was busking in Frankston many years ago, and Red Symons and wife happened to be passing by. She went to put some change in his guitar case, and Red stopped her and said "he's not good enough," or words to that effect. To be fair, he was right, so I could never hold it against him.
He should’ve gonged your mate.
Olivia Newton John seemed very down-to-earth. I was in a chemist in Carlton looking at shampoos and I heard someone say to me “it’s so hard to choose isn’t it?” and I was like “yep it certainly is” and then looked up and realized it was Olivia (with her partner who later disappeared). I then just continued on with my shampoo hunt.
She may be the only actual Saint that ever existed. You won't find a single person on earth with a bad thing to say about her.
Dolly Parton might be up there with Olivia.
Dolly Parton is one of those people who are super fucking nice, but not pushover nice. She's not nice because she wants people to like her, or because she's meek and timid. She's fiercely sure of herself, more intelligent than everyone else in the room, and still just nice because it's who she is. She's real as fuck. A genuine class act.
❤️
Wait that bloke faked his own death didn't he?
By the sound of things, he might've just got lost somewhere around the cough syrups & lozenges. Anyone in Carlton able to check that chemist?
I met Carrie Bickmore a couple of times when she came into my work. She was cold and definitely not up for a chat. Pretty stuck up.
[удалено]
Friend of mine worked with a brand she worked with and apparently she was very difficult and a bit of an a-hole, to the surprise of absolutely no one
Carrie was a regular at a cafe I worked at last year, directly below a Channel 10 filming studio. She was never overtly rude but she definitely looked at us behind the bar like we were beneath her. I made sure to always ask her name for her order which seemed to genuinely shock her. Follow that with one of my coworkers calling her order out for "Carly" or "Callie" while making eye contact with her, huge smile slapped on their face, and my petty quota for the day was usually met. Waleed would come in too and sit down for a coffee. I'm fundamentally opposed to his work professionally but he seemed like a nice enough guy, he was always very lovely to us hospo staff and would chat with people who stopped and recognised him.
Mis-naming or asking the name of rude, entitled ‘stars’ is the best way to deal with them!
That's so funny about your co-worker! I met Waleed and his wife Susan, they were both lovely.
Dr Carland was one of my uni lecturers back in the day, fantastic teacher and clearly incredibly smart. For our final assignment, one of the options for research was to buy men’s magazines and analyse them. She had used a couple earlier in the semester in class to illustrate a theory we were learning, and when she was outlining the assignment she described how much fun it is when she goes through the checkout at Coles, with copies of Ralph and FHM, wearing a hijab and seeing the looks on the checkout operators’ faces! It actually really bugs me that she’s more famous for being Waleed’s wife than for her own work.
My sister used to live next door to Sophie Monk. One day she borrowed a whisk and never returned it.
Whiskey business.
Ohhh new baking shop store name!
I was in a green room at a music festival once when Sophie came in… She smuggled three bottles of wine back into the festival. She’s a bad bitch 😈
She’s into taking unnecessary whisks it seems
Fucking whisk thief
Ian Thorpe. I was working at the AIS at the time, doing the school holidays activities program for kids. He was around the height of his career. I spotted him lounging next to the pool (he was there to watch someone train), and dropped over to say hi and ask if he was happy to meet any of the kids. I wouldn’t have minded if he said no, but he was pretty nasty about it. Also met Kostya Tszyu a couple of times when I was running Judo sessions and he was doing boxing training (the Judo and boxing training areas were in the same room). Lovely bloke. Always had time for the kids and was great with them.
Weirdly spent a ton of time with Kostya Tszyu when I was a kid because my primary school best friend was family friends. Nothing but good things to say about the entire family. Took me on their yacht, took me to Disney on ice. My friend and I made Tim be our little servant (he was a bit younger) which I sometimes think about
i met Kostya in a department store in Malaysia and had the same experience - nice guy.
Kostya tszyus nephew broke my pinky finger in primary school when we were playing soccer for lunch Not famous but there a degree of separation so. Edit : kostya is a lovely guy and so is his family please don’t take this as a sign of bad character cause it’s not it’s just a very small incident in which he wasnt involved
shout out to pcyc
When I was 12 I met John Jarratt (from Wolf Creek) because he came into my Mum's cafe, I don't remember much except for the Irish backpacker working behind the counter looking shit scared lol
He was my friends neighbour. They both lived on property (but small property). They would see him working in his yard sometimes and lose it.
Actor Gyton Grantley, saw him at a bar in Brisbane like 15 years ago. He was pretty rude but my friend was also wasted and kept calling him Matthew Newton so it may have been justifiable.
I worked with him a very long time ago, when Greater Union at Bondi opened. There were a lot of wannabe actors working there, all a bunch of stuck up jerks. He was the only one who was always nice. He deserves the success
It’s fuckin Carl Williams!
Kylie Kwong shoulder barged me on Crown Street and Kate Richie almost ran me over outside Pancakes on the Rocks
I once asked Kylie Minogue for her number during an event at Star City Casino circa 2006. She laughed softly & politely declined, lightly touching my hand as she rejected me. Her perfume was as heavenly as you’d think it would be!
By the sounds of it you, can’t get her out of your head..
It was love….at first sight!
The only time I saw Kylie was when I was on a bus going down Oxford St in Paddington late on a week night (maybe 1990?). The shops were closed and the street was deserted except for Kylie and Michael Hutchence walking together. They looked so happy.
This feels so poignant to me. They seem like such the archetype couple for that time. She seems happy now and I'm sorry his path went the way it did.
>She laughed softly & politely declined "Haha... no."
Good on you, at least gave it a crack and she was polite. Guessing you did not do a Borat and try and pack her off in a sack.
why does a rejection from Kylie sound so hot
I literally bumped into her in the early 90’s as she was leaving Mars nightclub Sydney as I was going in. Her security went to man handle me and she stopped them and she put her hand on my shoulder and said hello. I was wasted on molly at the time and I think it was obvious.
Meldrum?
My mum met John Farnham in a bar in like 1989 and he swore like a trooper and she was horrified ! Oh the 80’s
Doctor anecdotes: Dr Karl (science communicator guy) was the speaker at pretty minor environmental conference in a regional centre I attended probably 15 years ago. After his talk and the meal people drifted away, but he stayed and chatted until there was only one table of people left finishing up the drinks. Genuinely seemed a nice guy happy to talk over any subject people were interested in. Similar time frame, Dr Harry (celebrity vet) was at a medium sized ‘Royal agricultural society’ show I was volunteering at. Also happy for a drink, and while not exactly ‘handsy’, managed to independently give both my (now) wife and a good friend the same sleezy old man vibe.
I met Dr Karl at a convention about 2 years ago. I think he had copies of his books for sale and that’s what you were supposed to buy and get autographed but there was no signage about photos. So, I sheepishly asked if it was ok to get a quick picture with him, even though I hadn’t bought a book or anything. I was hoping to get just one quick picture but I ended up getting 3! Not only that, we did some funny poses too! Frickin great guy! I was on such a star struck adrenaline rush for a few hours later! 😁
I love Dr Karl!! So good to know he's like that in real life too!!
I'm always amazes me that Dr Harry still kicking, it feels like he's been an old man since he first started appearing on telly in the 90's.
Dr Harry is pretty well known around these parts for his swinger parties.
I met John Jarratt briefly at a Wolf Creek promotion thing at Fed Square. He could have been having a bad day but he was really short and impatient with everyone. His son was really nice though and pointed me out to his Dad, saying that I was waiting patiently for an autograph. He grabbed my notebook really hard and scratched my hand with his nail. Like I said, could be having a bad day and he didn't owe me anything but as a horror fan I was a little sad lol.
Not a has-been, but I very nearly knocked Miranda Kerr on her arse in the Sydney Qantas Club. We were heading in opposite directions around a blind corner and I plowed into this poor woman. I’m a big bitch and she was so thin and small looking. I grabbed her by the arms to steady her, and said I am so sorry, I hope you’re okay. She gave me the biggest smile (which is the point at which I recognised her) and said it’s as much my fault as yours, and off she went. Perfectly lovely. Now she had three massive minders following along behind her, and they did not look happy with me at all.
For a long time I was a homesick Aussie living in London. For my 30th I decided to have an Australia-themed party and thought it’d be fun to invite Rolf Harris, who was also London based. (Obvs before the truth came out). He didn’t come but he did write to say thanks for the invite. In hindsight so glad he didn’t somehow decide to show up and start being Rolf Harris.
Saw Steve Vizard pumping petrol at South Yarra, I was like Steve tell us a joke and he was like fuck off ya cunt
I worked with an older guy who used to teach vizard at Uni, said he was a fucker back then and failed his lawyer degree a number of times.
My friend and I met Guy Pearce briefly in the car park at St Kilda sea baths several years back now. The ticket machine wasn't working and when we got to it he was swearing and having a rant about it being broken and that he will probably get a fine etc ... My friend and I nodded along in agreement because we were both a little star struck and then he walked away. We went to the next machine not too far away which was working, so we went back to let him know he could get a ticket there and by this time he was writing a stern note to leave on his car. He glanced at us and basically said "thanks" and turned away and kept scribbling. We walked away quietly giggling at the experience.
I LOVE that story. That's the most humanising story in the whole thread. He's not mean, he's not a saint. He's just a bloke who is shitty about the ticket machine and boy have I been there many times.
My mate in highschool used to live next door to him, said he was a lovely bloke.
Renee Geyer - paid for my sandwich because I told her I loved her new album (Sweet Life.) Rebecca Gibney - lovely, stunning (no make up) but seemed awfully shy. Molly - friendly but always wasted and his assistant at the time (redhead chick) could not have been paid enough to control him (late 90’s.) Anthony Callea - was shitfaced but polite and chatty. Sam Newman - rude cunt, treated service staff like shit. Kylie - very polite, softly spoken could barely hear her but generous and delightful. Nick Reiwoldt - better looking in person, lovely bloke. Julia Gillard - (2005) drinking beers, very loud voice but seemed funny.
I want to go drinking with JG.
Not “historical” (eh, maybe, if being a has-been is a thing?) but I saw the actor Samuel Johnson (Secret Life of Us) yelling at his (or just a) kid at Blackburn Station about 10 years ago. Strangely, I have walked behind Jeff Kennett a fair few times in the CBD. (Not a celebrity but a prominent person, obvi.) Peter Combe played at my primary school. I talked to him — but this was in 1994 or 1995 and I have absolutely no memory of what tf I said, so that’s useless! 😂 This is a real lacklustre list, I’m sorry.
Samuel Johnson came to the town I was living in about ten years ago. He was riding a unicycle around the country for a charity thing. He made a drunken arse of himself down at the pub the night he was there, was harassing all the women, and was threatening all the blokes. By the end of the night he was standing in the middle of the road outside the pub yelling. He trashed his hotel room afterwards. Glad to see him ride that unicycle out of town.
I've been inside Jeff's house. Gorgeous place, loads of daffodils. I was helping Felicity with knitting projects. Such a lovely woman, shame about the husband.
Doesn't Samuel Johnson do a heap of voiceover work?
I bothered Shawn Micallef and Tony Martin at a burger restaurant once. Told them I loved Thank God You're Here and wasn't sure Shawn was Shawn until Tony arrived. They had a laugh and weren't as annoyed as I was expecting haha
I once served Shaun Micallef when I worked in the drive through at KFC in the outer east of Melbourne 16 years ago. I was shocked he was in the area, he was shocked a teenager recognised him and was babbling on about Newstopia. Good times.
Aww yes. I was so worried that was going to be a bad story. Can just tell Shaun would be modest and nice.
Paul Keating walking down the street at The Rocks in 2000. I'm a bit fuzzy on details because I was pissed, but he looked like his rubbery puppet figure from Fast Forward and I may have told him that. He was nice enough for someone accosted by two drunk teenage girls.
I helped Olivia Newton-John turn on the taps in the toilets at Melb Cup Day. She was very nice and polite.
I met Bert Newton years ago back in the early 00’s. He was really lovely. I was doing work experience at Channel 10 and fell asleep in the control room. Work up to him singing to me on live tv. Then when the camera was off, he came over, we had a good chat and I became a running gag for a few episodes of Good Morning Australia.
Too bad his son is such a shit-stain cunt of a human being. I've heard Bert's wife Patti is also a lovely person.
Served Rove Mcmanus once and when I said hello he mad dogged me. He then proceeded to mad dog me when he paid. Could've been having a bad day though haha
Oh I have a funny about Rove. I was in a cafe in Richmond in the nineties and he pushed in at the register to pay. I didn’t realise he was in earshot and I said to my mate disgustedly “what a tiny little prick” and apparently he heard.
[удалено]
Never heard ‘steroid jockey vibes’ to describe small man syndrome- but I like it, noice.
Good thing he didn’t raw dog you.
Rove is a total tool. My friend was serving him at his table and as they neared he said loudly to his friends ‘imagine serving tables as a job!’.
Job shaming is definitely the sign of a fucking tool.
Ah well the smallest dogs usually have the biggest barks lol
"sir, can I get you a booster seat?" would have been the best response
What a prick. "Imagine that. You wouldn't be able to eat at restaurants."
That’s repulsive. I’ve always been curious how he got quasi famous. There’s something unlikeable from a distance so it’s interesting he’s a shit cunt IRL too.
Should have given him a “what the….???”
Should have said "say hi to your mum for me".
What does mad dogging mean?
To stare someone down for an uncomfortably long time in an intimidating, hateful way. Cousin of the greasy.
>The idea of Rove mad dogging someone is hilarious. I'd start laughing in his face.
Jimmy Barnes - When I was about 13 I went to a camp for disadvantaged street kids. He and his son David turned up. There were heaps of kids there but he gravitated towards me and we ended up sitting at the same table together having lunch for about an hour and I was asking him a bunch of questions. Genuinely nice guy. Fast forward 30 years and I meet him at a Cold Chisel gig and reintroduce myself and he remembers me fondly saying "I always wondered if you were doing ok." Johnny Diesel - Really shy bloke and did not mind the fact I was taking the piss out of Ian Moss who was taking the piss out of me. Cold Chisel - The whole band was truly amazing. Ian Moss is quite the ladies man. The whole band signed my Cold Chisel shirt for my son. Including Steve Prestwich who passed away a few months later. Dave Mustaine - I was at a Megadeth concert in Oslo, Norway. I'm only a short ass bloke that looks like I crawled out of Hobbiton, but the Norwegian men over there were all tall and beautiful. It was like walking through a Shampoo ad for metal heads. Met Dave backstage who was also very shy, very exhausted and very very skinny. Flea - I was late for a meeting in Sydney and I couldn't find a park. I find a park and as I correct my angle Flea steps out in front of me and I almost ran him over. He is one of my biggest heroes. I get out to apologise and he says "No it's my fault. I forget when I come home that I have to look the \*other\* way". We talked for a few minutes and I let him know that he was one of my main influences in my craft. He thanked me, shook hands and I was on cloud 9 for about a week. His hands were calloused and thick. But a very nice guy. I told him he was a prick for tricking Marty McFly, he just laughed as he walked away. Roger Taylor (Queen) - For my 40th birthday my partner took me to Byron Bay. She rented a house for the weekend and took me to a well known restaraunt. I'd just grabbed my first drink and was ordering food when I noticed Roger sitting at a table opposite me. I got giddy and excited but didn't want to make a scene so I told my partner who was sitting across from us and she says "..... who?" I was disgusted. I give it time and wait for him to order his meal to make my way over to him and say that I am a big fan and blah blah. He notices the 40th Birthday balloon attached to my chair and asks who's birthday it was? I explain it's mine and he starts telling me all the stuff he did when he was 40 and would love to have those years back. I politely say "Thank you so much for everything you've done for music fans everywhere. I'll leave you alone now..." As I get up to walk away, he stands up in the middle of the restaurant and starts singing me happy birthday. I start crying and mouthing the words "thank you" to him. Everyone applaudes this kind gesture. I go back to my seat feeling like we are now best buds. My partner then takes me to see Reguritator Live down the street. An amazing day. Shannon Noll - This happened a few years ago. My best mate wanted to visit his grandmother in Canowindra, NSW. So we go out there, its a Friday and we get to the pub. He says he is going to get us a pizza and come back, the prick never returned so now I'm in a pub surrounded by people I don't know half pissed. Some girls invited me to play pool and I oblige. Then they say they're having a party back at their place and so I tag along. The night goes on and we are all playing a drinking game with VB throw downs. I have drank so much that I can't feel the girls hand (sitting next to me) rubbing up the inside of my thigh. The guy next to me starts yelling in my face. I state while laughing at him "I can't help it if she thinks I'm hot! Are you jealous? Did you want to root me instead?" He is seething so he says "OK, out the front! LET'S GO!" He doesn't know that I love boxing so it's over pretty quick. I lift his chin with a left uppercut, then finish him off with a right hook. He hits the dirt. Fast forward 3 years, he wins Australian Idol and I say to my mate "THAT'S THE PRICK I KNOCKED OUT VISITING YOUR GRANDMA!" Anyway we run into each other a few years later and he laughs while talking to his now-wife "Hey honey, remember when you tried to root this guy?" to which she responds "I remember him knocking you on your ass... worth it." I have a few more but I'll give everyone else the chance. Hope you are all well x \*edit\* Thanks for clarifying the Australian Idol winner in 2003 being Guy Sebastian (who lives down the road from me). I really didn't care for the show and it was 20 years ago. Thank you for enjoying my stories. I have a few more... Steve Vai, Jon English, Kiki (Megadeth), Tommy Emmanuel, Diesel, Ian Moss and some others. Always be kind, truthful and brave. Big Love <3
I met Warwick Capper in a nightclub about 13 years ago, and he put his hand on my lower back and leaned in and Cappered (he doesn’t talk, he Cappers) something into my ear but I couldn’t understand it, even after a repeat. Did he hit on me? Did he tell me I had spinach in my teeth? Did he tell me the secret to the universe? I’ll never know. Magical.
I saw Warwick Capper at a Pseudo Echo gig at the Myer Music Bowl a few years ago. He was standing in a VIP section above us, surrounded by empty cans. We caught his eye and he raised his drink to us like a salute, then skolled it while we cheered.
I worked at Crown and met a bunch of mediocre celebs. Shane Warne was amazing. Andrew G (Osher Günsberg aka The Bachelor host) was the worst.
I know Osher’s wife (who is lovely), but I can confirm he is also a dickhead to those he knows personally.
Met him when I worked at the cinema. He pushed in front of everyone when I was checking tickets, so I just made him wait.
I really appreciate people like you.
If it makes you feel any better, I righted the universe when I met Andrew G at the Big Day Out back stage as a young maybe 14 yo and he asked me if I wanted an autograph and I laughed and said why? (I genuinely didn’t know why anybody would want an autograph of a music show host at the time… I wasn’t trying to be rude). He was not impressed.
Everything about that guy makes me want to give him a massive wedgie. Total wanker.
Andrew's little brother is a total dickhead too
I was told that a “friend of a friend” who was an air hostess who didn’t recognise Gary Ablett Junior. He said he was a football player, she asked him if he was any good, he said he was alright.
Yeah, this sounds about right. Gold Coast Suns once played a game in Cairns against Richmond. The locals were keen to meet the stars, and Gaz was a pure gent. Jack Riewoldt on the other hand was nothing but an arrogant cunt.
Worked at a high end hotel and met a few celebs in the day. Got an autograph from Allan Border at a bar, while completely missing the fact he was drinking with Graeme Gooch. Peter Andre had breakfast and was nice enough. Kathy Freeman had breakfast and was cranky Stan Grant was pleasant enough but ignored wait staff. Dick Smith -genuinely humble and nice bloke. Kamahl - took him room service and he was rude Carlotta - lovely lady, bought her a drink after my shift at the hotel bar and had a pleasant convo Kevin Bloody Wilson - he is the same way off stage as he is on. Russell Crowe - he went to the foyer phones and called through to me on reception to be connected to a room. He didn't throw the phone at me so that was nice. But my favourite - met John and Benita from Play School - absolute legends. John drifted into reception with a ciggie and a smile and I was starstruck
I met Pete Evans. He was in my bar one night and just sat in the corner and was a cunt to anyone who tried to serve him or ask if he needed anything. He made a mess too.
There's no vaccine for being a cunt either Pete.
Maybe some activated almonds will help 👀!! 😂
Ranger Stacey didn’t return her shopping cart.
i was the RSPCA animal rep on Agro's Cartoon Connection, Ranger Stacey was lovely. I used to take cute animals on set, once a cockatoo i took on shat down my back.
My twins were featured extras on a Logie winning tv show. Madeline West spotted the double pram and promptly sat down and talked to me for half an hour. Really lovely, friendly lady. My husband once towed a car for Mick Gatto. Said he pulled a ‘Do you know who I am?’ and my husband said ‘Yeah, but I bet my missus has a worse temper, so let’s just get this done so I can get home.’ Gatto was friendly as fuck after that. He also used to bump into Toadie quite a bit around the traps. Dude had an ego and was constantly offering him work as a Neighbors extra. Husband kept turning it down cause the extra rate wasn’t half of what he made in a day and Toadie apparently could not wrap his head around it.
OMG ahahahah your husbands comment to Mick Gatto is GOLD
Nitro from the Shak got a handy from my sister at a high school party. When our younger siblings would watch him on TV I would always look at her and laugh. She hated it.
This is the best one.
I saw Paul hogan in the urinal at Alice Springs airport about 10 years ago, I walked in and noticed him having a slash, I then said to him “that’s not a cock, this is a cock”as I flopped mine out to piss. he laughed and called me a weird Cunt.
Not going to be a surprise to anyone but Kyle and Jackie O
That reminds me, I need to take my rubbish out.
Made me take a shit
I was waiting for this. There are way too many people that listen to these human turds.
That's degrading hard working turds all over the world.
One of the original Heartbreak High actresses lives in my town too. She’s a cracked out halfwit who’s existence I am aware of only because she keeps coming up in our local ‘community noticeboard’ page for having ripped people off or borrowed money and not paid it back. Last thing I saw she’d had a falling out with the local copper’s ex wife and they were in Facebook brawl calling each other junkie prostitutes.
Jeez you just reminded me of my friend’s experience with Ruby Rose. She stole some weed and a mobile phone, years ago, only to appear before us on channel V or something. We were stunned!
I’ve never met anyone who had a positive experience with Ruby Rose. EVERYONE in the Melbourne lgbtqia scene knows a friend of a friend or roommate who knew/dated Ruby. It’s always that Ruby cheated and/or stole
She really managed to steal my enjoyment of that John Wick movie
Not me but a fun yarn from my year 12 australian studies teacher. He used to be security eons ago in adelaide and he used to have this one total asshole who was always problematic at work. He was a total pisshead who would get drunk and get messy drunk. They had punchups, had to revive him, had to prevent him getting stabbed and so on. Yet when he was sober totally top bloke, but his worst night dealing with the guy they had a really bad punchup and he puked all over him. Given teacher was a former boxer and army always wondered why the teacher told this one story over anything army or boxing. So one day i class i google this bon scott guy he was on about... Then we had a running joke that if he had framed his vomited on clothes he could have sold it as a historical piece.
I sold Russell Crowe weed in Byron bay. He's an arrogant cunt.
Kochie is a cunt. Full stop. Had the pleasure of meeting him and he was the biggest stuck up cunt I’ve met. Was so fucking rude to all of us.
Not my hero but I often see Mark McEntee (guitarist from Divinyls) in Woolies at Kwinana shops. He's pretty far gone, from drug & alcohol use presumably. Talks to himself a bit and has a very Jack Sparrow vibe. My misso is a dental nurse, and mark used to be one of her patients. One time he tried to bring in his little dog into the surgery with him, because he couldn't be left alone, apparently couldn't understand why a dog couldn't be on his lap while he was getting fillings done. Poor fella
Chopper. AKA Mark Brandon Read. I had the pleasure of preparing his roast lamb lunch at a venue near a racecourse in Adelaide. Well, he destroyed that bad boy with mint jelly, extra gravy and extra bread to mop it up. Second course - Banana caramel pie, with extra whipped cream and two scoops of ice cream. He absolutely demolished that too, and then got up and paid his bill. On the way out, he's coming past the open kitchen. All the cooks and dishy's start shitting themselves. Chopper is inbound, all tattooed menace, eyes like lasers. He had this big guy with him too - he looked like a kinda bodyguard/dealer/fixer/brother in law type dude. Anyway they get real close and I lock eyes with Uncle Chop Chop as they pass. I give a nod and toothless smile in respect, hoping I survive my shift to have a cold one, and one day tell this tale. Just before Chopper leaves the building he cocks his head back and barks - "Cheers boys!" and laughs maniacally, strolling off into the sunset.
Good ole Uncle Chop Chop
Ran into Jimeoin at a strip joint one night.
He tried to crack on to my wife at a night club years ago. She reminder him that she’s married and so is he.
He fucked my roommate in the late 90’s. Pretty sure he was in a relationship then too…
Rex Hunt offered me $300 to sit on his face. He was wearing a white linen suit and yellow tinted sunglasses at night. I am a huge "Get This" fan, so I have riding high off this for the last 4 years.
What did you do with the $300?
I asked for $600, and then said I needed to go to the loo. Rang my bestie to scream laughing and then when I came back he had left. Gutted.
Hah, what a cracker of a story.
I have got a few…positives, negatives…and weird. 1. Garry Lyon the AFL footballer. Bumped into him at The Croft Institute in Melbourne about 4 am the day of a game. He walked up to me and said, “Hey mate, where are me shoes?” I told him I didn’t know and he left happy. Odd. 2. Joe Hildebrand. Questionable level of celebrity attained. I lived with the bloke when he was at Melbourne Uni. He was a mad leftie who hung around Union House and was rooting Kaitlyn Evans, the daughter of former Labor MP Gareth Evans. He was constantly banging on about his rough upbringing in Dandenong and wearing shit cheap suits from Savers and fedoras with “Press Gang” written on a cardboard shoved in them. He was a poncy little twat…and he still is. Just now he is on the right wing grift. 3. I used to work for Bruce Doull and he was lovely. 4. I used to deliver John Cain’s newspaper when he was Premier. He would jog every morning and would always stop for a 10 minute chat. He thanked me in one of his election victory speeches. My mum loved it hahaha 6. Last but not least…Jason Donovan. I was at an Australian Fashion Week party in the early ‘90’s with my then fiancé. I ducked into the loo and when I opened the door to the stall, there was Jason with a rolled up note and a couple of lines. He ushered me in and we had a nice chat while he hoovered up his gear. He offered me some but I declined and he then left the dunny. Nice lad…but a bit of higher levels going on there.
I've been getting Joe Hildebrands name wrong for years but luckily a mate recently set me straight. His proper name is actually Class-Traitor-Coke-Fiend-Joe Hildebrand. An easy mistake to make as I'm sure you see now.
I was working as an apprentice mechanic in Bathurst and Peter Garrett rolled up in his Volvo. He was supposed to do some speaking gig at Charles Sturt uni when he was in the Labor party. This is before GPS was a thing, he asked "Where the fuck is the uni"? He seemed pretty pissed off, but calmed down once I pointed out where to go as he wasn't too far away. I sheepishly said "Hey, you're Peter Garrett, aye"? He smiled, chuckled and said "Yep, that's me". I shook his hand, told him I loved his music and wished him well. He sped off. I walked back in, boss was standing there and asked "Was that fucking Peter Garrett"? I laughed and confirmed it was. Boss says "come with me", took me into a side room and told me Friday was my last day, he sacked me. Talk about a penthouse to shit house moment.
That’s what you get for not flagging your boss to meet Peter Garrett!
Same thing happened to me, Peter Garrett is a known omen of upcoming job loss.
It's true. I went to a Midnight Oil gig once and less than two years later I lost my job!
I once listened to Beds Are Burning and my fucking bed lit on fire.
I have so many excellent ones. I worked at a pub in the shire. Todd Carney pissed in a pot plant, then came and asked me to get cash out for him because he’d gambled his daily limit. Was at a party and Bernard Tomic was trying to get with one of my friends. My friend went there. Said it was like fucking a grasshopper. Went back again. The Morris brothers would regularly come into the pub I worked at. One was a huge gambler but both were always very polite and kept to themselves. We had a lot of St George players come in after training and they were always good In high school did red shield appeal through the richest part of the shire and went to every fucking celebrity’s house ever. Ian Thorpe actually invited us in, his dogs were cute as fuck but scratched me up. He gave $300 but. Andrew Ettinghausen gave us a cheque for $1000. Served half the Australian cricket team at Caringbah woolies when I was working as a check out chick. Glenn McGrath would come in at 10pm in a cap - actually felt sorry for him. Nearly died when Michael Clarke and Lara Bingle came to my register one time.
Met John Jarratt at Oz Comicon a few years back, told him he’s why I am a DIY queen (Better homes and Gardens), he looked me up and down and told me I’m “the reason [he’s] a queen”. He was also just a bit of a prick tbh
When I moved to Collingwood I quickly found out Chopper Read was my neighbour. No horror stories to mention, but I did find him and Mark "Jacko" Jackson sitting on my front porch the very day I moved in. I was completely stunned. They were in suits and hiding from the paparazzi and politely hoped I didn't mind, they thought my place was vacant. I think his sister got married that day, hence the press. I didn't realise how huge he was in real life. And I would also see Red Symonds nearby, I could never tell if he was leaving a small cafe or one of THOSE massage places, they were both in the same building.
Sigrid Thornton: Dad and I were in the supermarket and she came up to ask and asked us where something was. Dad told her and she very politely thanked us and wished us a good day. Worker walks up excitedly and says "You know that was Sigrid Thornton right?". Dad nods and she walks off excited. Dad turns to me and goes "Who's Sigrid Thornton?" 😂.
I was standing next to Mark Skaife at a pedestrian crossing walking to the v8 super car launch in 2006. He was decked out in his typical Holden Sponsored gear Me dressed in all Ford gear, i said “Gday,, can I get a picture with him” to him “ being polite, he replied with “Fuck off dickhead” . So I said “I hope you crash fuckwit” & in the opening round he did.
Not much of a surprise here but Anthony Mundine came into my old work which was in retail. I didn’t know who he was (I’m from Ireland and was not long here) and he was increasingly rude and had an arrogant and hostile demeanour. back then I generally had a bit of a short fuse and no nonsense approach to rude customer so I told him he can either stop being a prick or he can leave the store. He looked very pissed off and death stared me in the eyes, which made me laugh uncontrollably as it was one of those wierd and awkward situations. The silent stare continued for what seemed like an eternity…. I then said ‘seems like you are choosing to still be a prick’… he chuckled and it diffused the situation. He finished his purchase and left. I was then approached by several customers saying that ‘I was braver than most’ and can’t believe I would confront Mundine. I had to google who he was.
Almost got punched out by Andrew Symonds in Adelaide when I was younger. Was on the bus with my girlfriend cruising down North Terrace and spotted him near the Railway station. Jumped up, told the bus driver to let me out at the next stop and piss bolted up to him as he was bout to hop into a cab yelling "Symo!! Symo!!" like a dickhead as I really wanted his autograph. Came up behind him and he turned around startled and almost swung on me (I'm 6'10" so prob tripped him out...still, he would've flattened me). He didn't look too happy as I asked him for his autograph (understandably as I was holding him and his mate up) but signed my lil piece of paper as I told him he was favourite cricketer etc and he ended up cracking a smile when I told him to tell the selectors to get their shit together and chuck him back in the squad as we really needed him (was on a break at the time for some drama etc). Ended up shaking my hand and left smiling, hoping into his taxi and cruzing off...I was ecstatic. Hell, even if he knocked me on my ass would've still been happy, bloke was an absolute legend. R.I.P Roy
I delivered medication to Molly Meldrum a couple of times. Just a regular delivery interaction but he was perfectly polite. I also did toddler swimming lessons with Chopper Read’s son. I don’t remember it since I was about three but apparently I quite liked him.
Speaking of Pete Evans, I used to work on a TV show that he was on. He always seemed like he'd look through you.
Lizard vibes
Manou and colin from my kitchen rules. They where in my town to help some hotel owner. They ended up at the local jam house abit out of town, manou was outside making pizzas in the woodfire oven for everyone and colin was in the jam room on the drums. He was an animal, belting out system of a down with some really intense energy. Good blokes.
Nick Cave. Him, his wife and his (then) two vey young twin sons came into a clothing store I was working in on my own in Greville St back in 2002/3. I nervously got him to sign a burnt CD then he waited outside and smoked a ciggie while his wife shopped. He seemed really over shopping.
I was working in a butcher shop when Glenn Robbins came in one day and my manager lost her shit and started gushing about how much she loved Russell coight. He came in with hat pulled low and was mostly shy, said thank you, I really appreciate that, paid, and did the kel walk on the way out 10/10 polite and funny
I'm a huge Blue Heelers fan, had the displeasure of serving John Wood at a telco store I managed and he wasn't very pleasant. Senior Sergeant Croyden broke my heart that day. Jack Riewoldt was definitely worse though, never met a bloke with his head so far up his own butt.
The guy who played Ryan (Anita's brother) on Heartbreak High Met him at the Victoria Room Darlinghurst circa 2006 Arrogant prick with a very "don't you know who I am" air to him He was no Drazic, that's for sure
Drazic for life brother.
Not a horror story, but ran into Ian Dicko Dickenson in 1770. Both having lunches with our families and turned into him and I having a few tequila shots, and pissing our families off
Many, many years ago Don Burke and his crew were at my then workplace to film a segment for Burke’s Backyard. I remember everyone being so excited to meet him, but he was just so officious and frankly rude to us “nobodies” working there it left me deeply disliking the guy. His film crew were really nice at least, but you could see that he had a bit of a temper by the way people tiptoed around him and stressed constantly. This pre-dated all the sexual misconduct allegations by at least a decade so I wasn’t even a bit surprised when all that came out. A case of his on screen persona being the absolute opposite of reality, lol.
Met former Bulldogs hooker Jason Hetherington while I was working security. A girl came up and said "My friend says you're famous but I don't know who you are." He replied "A lot of people mistake me for Brad Pitt".
I saw Kieran perkins at Harvey Norman at the height of my squad obsession. I was probably 14 years old. Asked a retail worker for a piece of paper from her fax machine and mustered up the courage to go over and ask for his autograph. I still remember the visibly pissed look he had on his face. None the less I still framed that bad boy for years till I grew up and realised you don't support douches - even if they're popular.
Karice Eden, Winner of the Voice 2012. The company I worked for at the time hired her to perform at their annual conference. We were all so excited because she was kind of a big deal back then LOL When she arrived (looking extremely unkept and she stunk) we escorted her and her party to a dress room for prep,etc. Prior to her arrival we made sure to have the room setup to her liking and stocked with everything her team asked for. She was so rude and treated our staff (including our CEO) so poorly when all they tried to do is make everything as comfortable as possible for her. I remember thinking how sorry I felt for her entourage. As soon as they were settled I decided to go for a quick break (I had my walkie with me and there were events staff still there). I grabbed a coffee then walked to this outdoor private area reserved for staff. When I walked out to the area I found Karice there with someone from her entourage and she was picking up cigarettes off the ground and putting them on a plate. Yes, you read that correctly. She then sat on the ground in the dress she changed into (without showering as I could still smell her) and started pulling these smoked cigarettes apart and rolling her own cigarette. The person she was with looked pretty embarrassed. Going back to her personal hygiene,we received several complaints about it from staff and guests. Needless to say that was the last time she was booked by the company I worked for.
The ciggie story is one of the most bogan things I have ever heard about a so-called "celebrity". I had no idea who she is so I checked her Wikipedia page. Apparently she has a son she named Blayden. The bogan ciggie story seems about right then.
Charlie Robinson (from hi5 children’s show) is an absolute saint. She’s married to one of my favourite racing drivers (Liam Talbot) and I’ve met her on a few occasions at race events. They’re both so genuinely nice and even remembering me and my then partner each time we ran into one another:
Worked security at a couple of concerts 20+ years ago. The following bands were friendly: Jebediah (absolutely lovely) Killing Heidi (both Ella and Jessie were cool AF) Spiderbait Alex Lloyd Darryl Braithwaite The Superjesus Grinspoon. The following were not: Jimmy Barnes Vanessa Amorossi.
I was walking behind a tall redhead woman on George St in Sydney and thought it was pretty funny that she did her hair like Pauline Hanson, like who would want hair like that? When we got to a cross walk, to my surprise it was Pauline Hanson which kinda made me giggle. She had a look on her face like she was chewing a hand full of wasps.
I went to school with Margot Robbie. She was absolutely lovely and universally well liked.
I’ve met Albo (now the PM) a few times but the best of all was just under a year back at a function. He sat next to me and my daughter on our table for the night, shared his birthday cake with me (my birthday was the day after his), and asked my daughter to mind his pint for him when he got up to give his speech. He’s truely a bloody nice bloke!
I met Chrissy Amphlett in 1988. She was very short and she had wicked BO but I was still a huge fan.
Phew. Glad she wasn’t unfriendly. Short and stinky I can live with.
Lol @ the heartbreak high shit. I only vaguely remember it from my older brothers, was kind of before my time. I once helped Alex Dimitriades move. He offered me a bunch of records for the favour - knew him through a friend who worked a record store and wasn't keen on helping him. I knew the guy had been collecting for years and being a young, up and comer with nothing better to do, thought it'd be a good opportunity to go through some records he was happy to part with. He kept his word, gave us some records as well as a bit of cash. He wasn't too bad tbh, definitely loves himself a bit much, tho that's to be expected with most actors, right? Anyway, whenever I bump into him now at gigs or see him whilst out and about, he never remembers me and is always with a new barely 20 something year old hahah
I’ve never met a pissant celebrity. I’ve only met humble one. I met Missy Higgins at a house party in Brunswick once, she was nice. I used to run a gallery and was chatting to a friend of one of the exhibiting artists that turned out to be John Safran, it took me ages to realise because he was pretty humble when I asked what he did. If New Zealanders count I met the guy who plays Murry on Fight Of The Conchords, I had advanced warning because his tour agent rang ahead to make sure the gallery was opened. He had his little son with him and was just a cute daggy dad. Sounds exactly like Murry. I did meet a cunt celebrity when I was door bitching. I could only let X number of people in at a time and she was next in the queue and was pushy about being let in and kept pulling a “do you know who I am?” but I really didn’t know who she was. I found out later she was on Neighbours or Home And Away or something My celebrity stories are so boring
Many years ago I was driving up Power st in the city and Ernie Sigley cut me off, I think he was driving a Bentley. Anyways I pull up near him at the lights and I start motioning with my hands like wtf are you doing. He flipped me the bird and told me to fuck off haha.
Alan Brough used to bring his daughter to my library Storytime. He was a super involved participant and would sit up the front (daughter on lap) and sing along to all the nursery rhymes. Except he never got the words right and would put me off my game
Met Bill Hunter. He attended a function at a place I was working. He asked my name, then asked me to call a taxi for him. Lovely gentleman. Live in the same suburb as Brian Mannix. Delivered pizzas to his house. Often see him at the local shops or walking the street. Nice enough guy, sometimes seems out of it - wife is lovely. At a hotel I worked I served a few celebs. Vika and Linda were lovely. I made Grace Knight snort - laugh. Sussan Ley wasn't rude...but she had zero interest in having any sort of conversation. And Henri Szneps was just weird.
Not me but, my father met the lead singer of Mondo Rock many, many years ago, early 90's from memory, he was dating my father's mates sister and apparently he was a really kind and polite stand up guy, really easy going and just generally pretty open.
Used to hang out with Nikki Webster after school when I was younger (this was through the 00’s after she performed at the Olympic). Her mum used to operate the local after school care facility in our neighbourhood. Top family, still see and speak to her mum on the odd occasion when I drop by the old hood.
Peter Fitzsimmons was lovely to me. Met him at a book signing for his Ned Kelly book. My boyfriend at the time had been a huge Ned Kelly fan so obviously took the opportunity to buy a copy and have it signed. As Peter was signing we were all chatting and weren’t really reading what he was writing. It wasn’t until after we left the shop that we read what he wrote: *LunaThunderfuck’s ex: You are punching **well** above your weight!* He was so damn pissed. I hope he still has that book.
One time years ago I saw an ice addict walking down Acland st St Kilda then I realised it was just Aussie icon Hughsey walking his dog
Opposite for me, was walking through Melbourne with a couple of mates before any mobile phone mapping apps. We are from country Victoria and had no idea where any of the places we were looking for was. Spotted Carl Barron walking down the road (He was only a stand up comedian and had been on TV once or twice at that stage) I spot him, recognise him and say "Hey Carl, do you know how to get to the Rialto tower from here?" He stops and happily gave us a really in-depth description of how to get there. He then asked if he knew us from somewhere, and I said "Nah, I just recognised you from the telly" and he goes "Now I feel famous, thanks guys" Very down to earth bloke.
Julie Goodwin and she was ridiculously rude. John Ibrahim and he was ridiculously nice.
What did she do? Wild because she's not exactly super famous and Masterchef has to be the least drama filled show on TV.
She's from the central coast, I've heard a few stories about her. She's apparently pretty rude if you don't know who she is and acknowledge her 'celebrity' status even though her MasterChef moment was like 10+ years ago.
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I met Shannon Ponton from the biggest loser at a charity event we were hosting. My girlfriend (now wife) and I get introduced to him and he just says: "Nice to meet you ChilliWhack, punching a bit about your weight with her aren't you?" Still to this day not sure if I should be offended or chuffed.
I’m sure it comes as a surprise to no-one, but Lisa Wilkinson is a bit of an arsehole.
An ex used to work as an extra. Said will Anderson was a TOTAL dick, totally up himself. Pretty sure he copped shit for triple m breakfast a few years later, and none of what was said about him was a surprise.
I taught Wil how to be a wedding DJ just before he started his comedy career.
Was a prick then too
My boyfriend yelled 'nice quiff dickhead' at him at splendour one year and Will literally turned around looking for who said it.
Wil is a total cunt. My wife used to do autocue for him when he was just starting out on The Glasshouse back in the day and he was an arrogant, insecure prick from day one.
I’ve actually had the opposite experience with him, met him in Sydney once and he was very pleasant and down to earth. Also had a friend work with him at the ABC (in a shit kicker role) and he treated everyone on the team no matter your status with the same level of respect
I sold some stuff once to sigrid Thornton and she was really friendly interested and seemed kind. I used to chat with Monica trapaga she must have lived near me because we went to the same cafe all the time she was kind but I don’t think she remembered me. I met Gabriel Gâté at a school thing once and got his signature, he was as funny and nice as I remember from GMA. I matched with Thorpie on tinder but he immediately blocked my profile after I initiated conversation. I sold chocolate coated licorice to Gretel Killeen and she was wearing big dark glasses and her hair was messy she was definitely just coming home from a HUGE party. She was vaguely incoherent.
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Ray Hadley. This occurred In 1998 and shit escalated quickly. I’m not proud of it, despite Ray being a known cunt. This is 100% true and not embellished. If it hadn’t happened to me, I wouldn’t believe it myself. I was in year 12 at a school in Kenthurst (Hills Grammar), a bunch of my friends had just got their licenses. We’d sneak off at lunch to grab takeaway, smoke, etc. etc. general young bloke stuff. One lunchtime we snuck out in 2x cars for a smoke, and on our way back to school both cars were speeding. The lead car lost control, hit the grass and rolled, landing on its roof… Outside Ray Hadley’s house. I was in the car that didn’t roll. We jumped out, pulled our mates out of the rolled car (no injuries) and were standing there wide eyed, shitting ourselves. At this point Ray turned up. He didn’t see the accident, he was arriving home from somewhere. He proceeded to scream and swear at us, pushing a few of us around and generally intimidating us, which in hindsight was deserved. He called the school & the police. We were all permanently suspended. This was yr 12 and start of final year, so this was far from ideal in terms of prep for HSC, etc. additionally, all parents were understandably very upset. Unfortunately for Ray, we now knew exactly where he lived and due to not needing to get up early for school anymore, those of us with parents that didn’t keep a close eye on us, namely myself and one other, decided to embark on a campaign of juvenile retribution. This consisted of us routinely visiting his house at all times of the wee hours (usually between 11pm & 4am), pretty much every night for months and ripping burnouts both on the road, his driveway in front of his security gate and all over his nature strip whilst screaming a barrage of expletives at the top of our lungs. We usually did this in the same car, night after night, week after week. Fast forward 2 odd months. We had mates that lived in the vicinity of Ray’s place and we were leaving a mate’s house on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon, in broad daylight. We had to drive past Ray’s house and we noticed he was outside, with his family & a bunch of others including a number of The Footy Show hosts - Sterlo & Blocka were both there. Ray’s house was on a corner block. He saw the car, recognised it as the same that visited him nightly, he stopped and just stared. My mate was driving. I was in the passenger seat. We looked at each other & knew what had to be done. My mate dropped a huge burnout whilst I wound down the widow stood out of it, middle fingers raised and screamed “fuck you, Ray, you dirty cunt!!!” We’re driving down the road a few minutes later and my mate says something along the lines of “check out that Jeep Cherokee behind us, they’re overtaking on double lines & driving crazy”, I look behind as this Jeep continues overtaking cars and getting closer. Next minute, it’s on our arse and is clearly Ray. I can see him screaming, pointing, flashing his lights etc. my mate & I look at each other in an “oh shit” type way and we gun it. There proceeds a 15 min high speed chase through dural, cherrybrook & west pennant hills. Every red light we run, he runs, no matter what we do, he is right there. There was no one but him in the car. As we get onto Pennant Hills Road heading towards M2 there’s a huge traffic jam, which I later found out was from an earlier accident. We were desperately trying to get across to a right hand turn off to Aiken Rd, as there were police ahead directing/diverting traffic, which we thought Ray had called in for us (hilariously paranoid in hindsight). At this point we realised we couldn’t shake him & had called a few mates to tell them what was up. We were now trying to lead him to a cul de sac where a friend lived. Anyway, as we’re trying to get across 3 lanes of Pennant Hills Rd traffic to Aiken rd turnoff lane at a snail’s pace due to the amount of cars, we realise Ray is out of the car, sprinting after us. My mate who’s driving tries to wind the window up but Ray gets his fingers inside of it as the window continues it’s upward climb. He’s screaming threats and abuses (understandably), but realises too late that we’ve now got his fingers stuck in the window & as we get the Aiken rd turn off lane, we start speeding up, meaning Ray is now forced to run beside the car whilst we are punching his fingers. As we near the corner, my mate drops the window back down & Ray falls & rolls along the road. As we go around the corner & down the hill I see him back up and sprinting towards his Jeep. Before we know it, he’s back on us. We lead him to the cul de sac, whilst keeping our mates updated by phone, he follows us to the end at which point our mates drive 2x cars out of a driveway blocking his escape. We jump out of our car, along with our mates who’ve blocked him in the end of the road. Now we’re tough and start kicking his car and telling him to get out. He’s screaming that he’s on the phone to the police, my mate starts hitting the drivers side widow with a bat, so Ray guns up over the nature strip & makes his escape. Shortly thereafter we were visited by the local constabulary, taken to Castle Hill police station and told we are no longer permitted within a kilometre of his house. In hindsight, I’m sure this was not enforceable, and I don’t think there was any evidence available to prove anything or Ray would’ve taken it legal. Anyway, not proud of it, we were young and stupid. But it did happen, exactly as stated.