Who is the most famous or infamous person you have ever met?
I’ve been to see many famous people, but Anton is the only one I can say that I’ve met, and I met someone totally unexpected.
He is nothing like the image he used to have on Strictly, more like the Judge he is now. He is kind, respectful, and not just grateful to his fans, he’s extremely protective in the most icily polite manner.
Location of my ‘moment‘
He was at a charity fashion show in our area, co-hosting with one of our news readers. He was obviously hilarious, and there were certainly some clothes that made you wonder what the designer had taken before they came up with that outfit. Even the models were shaking with laughter at one point. I found myself looking up the leg of a pair of shorts which were positioned nicely above me as I was in the front row. Yes I did close my eyes. The long socks and shoes with them were not fetching.
What was odd was that during the show he picked a couple of people to chat with in the audience, and I was one. At the end when he was pulled away from us, he turned round, pointed past three people to me, and said ‘you, don’t go anywhere.’ Everyone wanted to know if we knew each other because of the way he was chatting to me, and asked me to stay put, obviously I told the truth, no, and one lady said ‘I was sure you were friends.’ That made my night, at my age, he’s a tad plus a bit younger than me.
He respects his fans
At the end we queued up to meet Anton, he came straight over, started chatting and asked if we’d like photos. Obviously that was a yes. However, the organisers called him over to have photos taken with the mayor, who was oh so busy he had to leave at once.
Anton said he was talking to us and would be over shortly. They made it very clear he had to go now. He apologised, walked over, and said ‘those people are the reason I am here today, I don’t like to see them treated so discourteously. You have three photographs, go!’
When he came back he apologised again, said how rude it was, and how grateful he was that he had such support. He then spent time chatting and having photos taken.
What struck me about him was how beautiful his energy was. He has such a kind way about him, and a genuine way, there was no sense that I was in a room with ‘someone’, just a nice guy. We learned later that when he turned up at the hotel he went to the bar for something to eat, and spent over an hour chatting to fans, they said he was lovely, and not at all starry.
This is important because…
This world is so full of anger and spite, people having a go at each other, murders on our streets, horrible gun violence, and on and on. We all know the state of the world and how many wars there are going on at the moment. So anyone kind, anyone respectful, is someone this world desperately needs.
To know that he captured my interest the moment I first saw him on Strictly, and I was right that there was a shining light at the back of that group, was a nice thing. It’s always good to know that my radar for kindness is functioning accurately.
So that’s my one and only story, but to meet someone infamous…what fun!
Deb xx
Deb Hawken - Amorah 