Separating the fantasy from reality...

Jul 21 2008 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

MY friend Deborah, who owns trendy waterfront bar Oracle at Brewery Wharfe in Leeds, told me about an incident which took place in the bar recently.

Jack P Shepherd, the young actor who plays Coronation Street bad boy David Platt, was there having a social drink, when he was almost set upon by other customers who clearly couldn’t distinguish between fantasy and reality.

Jack was brought up in Pudsey, so has every reason to be out enjoying himself in Leeds. But Deborah had to arrange for security to usher him to safety before he was attacked.

I made a mental note immediately not to accept any roles as villains in panto this Christmas!

The story took me back to the eighties, when I met actress Morgan Brittany, who played scheming Katherine Wentworth in Dallas.

If you were an avid fan of the soap, you’ll remember she killed off heartthrob Bobby Ewing, then a year later viewers were told it was all a dream.

My hobby as a teenager was interviewing celebrities and aged 19, tape recorder in hand, I was introduced to Morgan. It was right at the time she had her starring role in Dallas, so it was a real scoop interview for me.

As well as tipping me the wink that she was hoping to have a baby that year, she also told me how the public hated her for what she was doing to Bobby in the show. Even in the supermarket people would ram their trolleys into her on purpose.

I thought that was hilarious and, as she invited me to stay at her house the next time I visited California, I forgave her for ‘killing’ Bobby.