Sarah's Celeb Encounters: Where it all began

You know those crazy fans who practically stalk celebs like Justin Bieber or One Direction, I sort of used to be one of them! Not to the extent these fans currently go to, but yes, I was still like them when I was a teenager! Even then, I never meant to become one of those fans, it just accidentally happened! All thanks to the being in the right place, at the right time! But I will tell that story later!

The first time I truly went out with the intent of meeting a celebrity was in 1997! I was a huge Backstreet Boys fan (and I still am now) and Nick Carter's little brother, Aaron had just released his first single, "Crush on You". Ok, the song is cheesy and looking back, I know only liked it because of the Backstreet Boys link, but to be honest, I think it was the same for most fans. Anyway, Aaron was booked in to appear on "Live an Kicking", (I really do miss that show) at the BBC Television Centre in London and me and a friend decided to go up there to see if we could meet him. It was an early start and a very long wait but it was worth it, not just because we did meet Aaron but because of the other fans we got chatting to while waiting!

I am not sure why but it was another year before I actually went out with the intent of meeting a celeb. But it was the next occasion that led me to being in the right place at the right time and the unexpected meeting of a teacher that led me to become "that" fan!

It was December 1998 and I had managed to get tickets to the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party at the London Arena. We had made the decision to go round to the backstage door after the show to see if anyone would stop to sign autographs. As we are waiting, the last person I expected to see walked out with her daughter, my art teacher! Sadly I cannot remember her name, but I do remember, she was one of those teachers everyone loved! Anyway, I remember coming over to me, whether it was because I called her over or because she spotted me, I cannot be sure and we started chatting. Eventually, we managed to convince her to let us know where the aftershow party was being held. We thanked her and shot off across London to get there before the stars did! It was this party that led to my eventual loathing of Westlife (who walked straight past the fans) and my love of A1 (who were more than happy to stop) and obviously my passion for meeting celebs.

There were probably the odd few encounters with celebs after that but the next major one was a huge deal for me. Sadly it didn't end in an actual meeting but it is the closest I ever got to meeting them and I had a great day nonetheless! It was June 1999, right in the middle of my GCSEs' and the Backstreet Boys were in London. I had been dragged up to the hotel on the Tuesday, which came to nothing but confirmation that we were in the right place. The Wednesday I had an exam and then the concert (4th row!!!) so I decided to return on the Thursday on the hope things would pan out better. There was a handful of fans waiting all day to see them, but by the time they emerged, the schools had got out and the crowd had swelled to hundreds. Luckily, those who had waited all day (myself included) managed to get stood at the front. Sadly only Kevin came to our side to sign but I was intent on getting photos to ask for an autograph! Though I didn't to get to properly meet them, I did get to meet Tatyana Ali (Ashley from Fresh Prince of Bel Air) and get my photo with her! So the day did not end up wasted!

There are probably more stories I could tell, but this would make my blog a lot longer than it needs to be! So I will just leave you with some photos of celebs I have had the pleasure of being able to meet. But I will just say this, one of the best things to come out of standing around waiting to meet celebs, was the people I met, my fellow fans. I was really lucky to become close friends with some of them. Sadly, we lost touch many years ago.