So, dear readers, we left you yesterday at Heathrow about to board out glamour jet to Baku. We had already rubbed shoulders with Mr Humperdinck but our journey was about to get a whole lot better.
At the gate we chatted some more with the BBC team, including Arlene Phillips who is here to put the Hump through his moves and was very jolly, and snapped the first pics of the holiday with him. On board we had to suffer the indignity of being crammed into two tiny little seats by the emergency exits until common sense prevailed and the crew realised who we were.
Quick as a flash we were hot-footing it through that curtain into seats 1A and C (those of you accustomed to travelling in our style will know there’s no 1B in this business class business) just across the aisle from Enge! What an On Europe exclusive!
We had a lovely flight, and can exclusively reveal that Mr Hump enjoys a glass of red wine and a hand of cards to pass the time mid-flight. Whilst he got in a bit of rest we chatted extensively with his son and manager Scott who was talking about their excitement at doing the Contest.
Mr H (I’m beginning to sound a bit like Max from Hart to Hart, aren’t I?) is apparently offered many gigs but due to the honour of representing the country this was one they just couldn’t turn down. The BBC team with Mr H (all in economy, licence fee payers, calm your letter-writing) were also all very lovely and I have to say the whole attitude was very refreshing after what seems like years of sending tu’ppeny-ha’penny nobodies.
They all know the power of this show, and I hope this opens the door to many more big names stepping up to bat.
We had a very lovely moment when, having excitedly had their photos taken in the galley the crew announced the Hump was on board and wished him well, to an enormously appreciative cheer. Having been the only journalists to exclusively escort the great man to Baku we can now sit back and enjoy the week, with killer photo #1 safely in our bags! Frankly I think he’ll miss us harassing him.
Monty x