My bland date with Cilla Black!

Mar 24 2008 by Katie Campling, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

I WAS reading in the press about Paul O’Grady on holiday in Paris with his best pal, Cilla Black. I’d like to be a fly on the wall when those two hit the town.

Apparently they’re thick as thieves and get on so well because they share the same outrageous sense of humour.

People often ask me, who’s the nastiest celeb you’ve ever met? Well, I wouldn’t call her ‘nasty’ as such but I remember Cilla being downright dismissive when I met her as an eager teenager.

I hope I caught her on an off-day and that she’s not really like that.

She can’t be – Paul O’Grady is a lovely bloke who doesn’t see himself as a big star and he wouldn’t be friends with a vacuous prima donna.

Anyway, when I was a kid I absolutely loved Cilla Black, I couldn’t get enough of her. I loved Surprise Surprise! and when she did a Galaxy chocolate advert I remember putting the TV on all the time, on the off-chance that I would see my favourite commercial!

I just thought she was fabulous. So I was delighted to meet her when she did a singing show at a theatre in Dewsbury, when I was about 15. Regular readers will know I spent my formative years chasing A-listers around with a tiny tape recorder, doing interviews with them for nothing other than my own amusement.

Most were happy to be interviewed – generally about their favourite colour, or latest record – and were entertained by the sight of this cheeky Yorkshire kid charming and blagging his way into their dressing rooms.

But not Cilla. She did the interview, swiftly and coldly, and made it pretty clear she wanted to be alone to get ready for her gig.

Her husband Bob, who of course has since passed away, stayed firmly in the background – you could tell who wore the trousers. I was gutted.

I hope Cilla was just having a bad day, but I’ve never risked a re-run – any time I’ve had an opportunity to introduce myself, I haven’t, which isn’t like me at all. I just don’t want to believe that Cilla is really an ice queen!