"Hello,
I wasn’t sure what to expect when it came to my meet&greet with Nicole Scherzinger.
The night finally arrived and the day slipped away surprisingly fast. Before I knew it, Wade and I were waiting in the VIP Queue outside. Once finally inside after freezing half to death, we had to go through the boring ‘signing in’ process which basically involved us handing over documents, us being handed documents, us signing documents… all the really tedious stuff.
At last, we had made it inside the building and once we’d been handed our tickets and VIP laminate. It felt like a life time passed but eventually, the lady in charge of the whole thing explained the process to us. We had to form two separate lines, one for people who wanted an individual photo with Nicole and one for people who wanted group photos. We were told the individuals had to go first. Wade and I went for an individual, simply because we didn’t pay for a group photo, we paid for 2 separate photos so we were determined to get just that.
We were lead up the stairs to the top room of HMV Hammersmith Apollo. I was a tiny bit disappointed that the meet&greet would be open for everyone to see, but I was glad to see she wasn’t going to be sat down or anything. The format was quite peculiar though. We actually queued in a circle that went round the whole room and we had to move clock wise in order to get to the meet&greet.
Nicole herself took HOURS to arrive. It was just a case of sitting, waiting, and thumb twiddling until she finally turned up. When we were informed she’d be there any minute, her security guard decided it was time to go over some ‘ground rules.’
“First of all, Nicole will NOT be signing anything at all today.” - That throws my plan of getting Killer Love signed away.
“Secondly, you are not to hand Nicole ANYTHING be it a present, card or letter so I’ve sent someone to come and collect those for you and Nicole will look at them AFTER the show.”- There goes giving her my carefully planned letter.
“Thirdly, you are not to make ANY physical contact with Nicole. This means absolutely NO hugging and NO kissing. If you feel you must touch her, simply shake her hand.”- That was the final straw for me.
All day, I’d said to Wade I wanted two things. 1. A nice photo and 2. a hug. My reason for this is, I don’t have high expectations. I’m aware of how ridiculously fast meet&greets are. I know you get seconds, maybe a minute at most. But a hug was truly all I wanted and that had been taken away from me. My eyes literally filled with tears as I heard those words and I sat in a melancholy silence trying not to seem ungrateful. The truth was though, I WAS ungrateful. I hadn’t just paid $150 to not even be allowed a nice hug with my hero. I felt a perfect combination of furious and distraught.
Nicole finally made her appearance and the whole room burst into a tangible excitement. We were more or less at the very back of the individual queue so we had to make our way round the whole room. It suddenly dawned on me at that very moment that I’d not actually planned what I’d like to say in my few seconds with Nicole.
I finally approached her in what felt like those slow motion perfect moments in movies. Time suddenly slowed down. I walked over, hands and fingers shaking with fear. Nicole stood there, one arm out ready that she comfortably fit round my waist as I got into position.
In all the nervousness, I blurted out the first things that came into my head. “I-I’m honoured to be here, it’s so great to meet you, thank you so much for doing this!”, I stuttered and stumbled in what sounded like one long sentence.
After taking a millisecond or two to let her appearance seep in, I uttered “wow… you’re really beautiful.” I was actually quite stunned for a moment. Then, Nicole said the first words she’d managed to get say all night. It was actually her scanning my body and doing exactly as I’d just done to her this time. “You’re GORGEOUS,” she enthused. She had a very quiet, gentle and demure demeanour. She was actually borderline shy. Her voice was so soft and almost Michael Jackson esque. She barely spoke above a whisper. However, her words were said with passion behind them.
I was so taken a back that Nicole Scherzinger just called ME- Mary Nesbitt-Larking- gorgeous, that I couldn’t even find it within me to thank her for her kind words, something that admittedly I regret a little.
“I know it’s completely against the rules, and I know you probably can’t but please may I have a hug?” I’m not sure where those words came from. I hadn’t intended on asking. I knew of the sheer disappointment I’d have been left with had I not have gotten a hug, but never before had I found enough courage for anything like that.
Nicole gasped, absolutely horrified that I’d been told I wasn’t allowed a hug. “WHAT?! Of COURSE you can”, she said quietly but again with animation in her voice.
At that moment, she crouched down to my level and put both her arms out pulling me into a tight bear hug. It was completely surreal. My hands were resting delicately on her back, her silky hair weaving over and under my fingers, and my face resting lightly on her shoulder. The thing that struck me above anything else when we hugged was actually her smell. I’ve been very fortunate and hugged a variety of celebrities from reality stars to super models to other singers… but never, ever in my life have I encountered a human being with such a heavenly scent. I can’t actually describe it sadly but it was a smell sent from the gods. I’m not sure if it was lotion or perfume or what, but it made the whole experience even more pleasant.
As our embrace came to an end, her hand slid down my arm and before I knew it, we were holding hands, our fingers literally interlocked. It’s funny because that’s happened to me with almost every celebrity I’ve had the pleasure of encountering. I’m wondering if there’s some kind of pattern. Maybe it’s because I’m short, but I definitely wasn’t complaining that Nicole Scherzinger wanted to hold hands with me.
If it wasn’t for her completely stupid bodyguard and photographer, I think we’d have stayed like that for a while longer. “Smile for the picture”, the woman asked us. The funny thing was, Nicole wanted to carry on talking so out of the side of her mouth, she said to me “LOVE your head scarf!”
She was just about to ask me where I got it from, when the woman taking the picture got so agitated she shouted “THREE, TWO, ONE!” Snap.
The night finally arrived and the day slipped away surprisingly fast. Before I knew it, Wade and I were waiting in the VIP Queue outside. Once finally inside after freezing half to death, we had to go through the boring ‘signing in’ process which basically involved us handing over documents, us being handed documents, us signing documents… all the really tedious stuff.
At last, we had made it inside the building and once we’d been handed our tickets and VIP laminate. It felt like a life time passed but eventually, the lady in charge of the whole thing explained the process to us. We had to form two separate lines, one for people who wanted an individual photo with Nicole and one for people who wanted group photos. We were told the individuals had to go first. Wade and I went for an individual, simply because we didn’t pay for a group photo, we paid for 2 separate photos so we were determined to get just that.
We were lead up the stairs to the top room of HMV Hammersmith Apollo. I was a tiny bit disappointed that the meet&greet would be open for everyone to see, but I was glad to see she wasn’t going to be sat down or anything. The format was quite peculiar though. We actually queued in a circle that went round the whole room and we had to move clock wise in order to get to the meet&greet.
Nicole herself took HOURS to arrive. It was just a case of sitting, waiting, and thumb twiddling until she finally turned up. When we were informed she’d be there any minute, her security guard decided it was time to go over some ‘ground rules.’
“First of all, Nicole will NOT be signing anything at all today.” - That throws my plan of getting Killer Love signed away.
“Secondly, you are not to hand Nicole ANYTHING be it a present, card or letter so I’ve sent someone to come and collect those for you and Nicole will look at them AFTER the show.”- There goes giving her my carefully planned letter.
“Thirdly, you are not to make ANY physical contact with Nicole. This means absolutely NO hugging and NO kissing. If you feel you must touch her, simply shake her hand.”- That was the final straw for me.
All day, I’d said to Wade I wanted two things. 1. A nice photo and 2. a hug. My reason for this is, I don’t have high expectations. I’m aware of how ridiculously fast meet&greets are. I know you get seconds, maybe a minute at most. But a hug was truly all I wanted and that had been taken away from me. My eyes literally filled with tears as I heard those words and I sat in a melancholy silence trying not to seem ungrateful. The truth was though, I WAS ungrateful. I hadn’t just paid $150 to not even be allowed a nice hug with my hero. I felt a perfect combination of furious and distraught.
Nicole finally made her appearance and the whole room burst into a tangible excitement. We were more or less at the very back of the individual queue so we had to make our way round the whole room. It suddenly dawned on me at that very moment that I’d not actually planned what I’d like to say in my few seconds with Nicole.
I finally approached her in what felt like those slow motion perfect moments in movies. Time suddenly slowed down. I walked over, hands and fingers shaking with fear. Nicole stood there, one arm out ready that she comfortably fit round my waist as I got into position.
In all the nervousness, I blurted out the first things that came into my head. “I-I’m honoured to be here, it’s so great to meet you, thank you so much for doing this!”, I stuttered and stumbled in what sounded like one long sentence.
After taking a millisecond or two to let her appearance seep in, I uttered “wow… you’re really beautiful.” I was actually quite stunned for a moment. Then, Nicole said the first words she’d managed to get say all night. It was actually her scanning my body and doing exactly as I’d just done to her this time. “You’re GORGEOUS,” she enthused. She had a very quiet, gentle and demure demeanour. She was actually borderline shy. Her voice was so soft and almost Michael Jackson esque. She barely spoke above a whisper. However, her words were said with passion behind them.
I was so taken a back that Nicole Scherzinger just called ME- Mary Nesbitt-Larking- gorgeous, that I couldn’t even find it within me to thank her for her kind words, something that admittedly I regret a little.
“I know it’s completely against the rules, and I know you probably can’t but please may I have a hug?” I’m not sure where those words came from. I hadn’t intended on asking. I knew of the sheer disappointment I’d have been left with had I not have gotten a hug, but never before had I found enough courage for anything like that.
Nicole gasped, absolutely horrified that I’d been told I wasn’t allowed a hug. “WHAT?! Of COURSE you can”, she said quietly but again with animation in her voice.
At that moment, she crouched down to my level and put both her arms out pulling me into a tight bear hug. It was completely surreal. My hands were resting delicately on her back, her silky hair weaving over and under my fingers, and my face resting lightly on her shoulder. The thing that struck me above anything else when we hugged was actually her smell. I’ve been very fortunate and hugged a variety of celebrities from reality stars to super models to other singers… but never, ever in my life have I encountered a human being with such a heavenly scent. I can’t actually describe it sadly but it was a smell sent from the gods. I’m not sure if it was lotion or perfume or what, but it made the whole experience even more pleasant.
As our embrace came to an end, her hand slid down my arm and before I knew it, we were holding hands, our fingers literally interlocked. It’s funny because that’s happened to me with almost every celebrity I’ve had the pleasure of encountering. I’m wondering if there’s some kind of pattern. Maybe it’s because I’m short, but I definitely wasn’t complaining that Nicole Scherzinger wanted to hold hands with me.
If it wasn’t for her completely stupid bodyguard and photographer, I think we’d have stayed like that for a while longer. “Smile for the picture”, the woman asked us. The funny thing was, Nicole wanted to carry on talking so out of the side of her mouth, she said to me “LOVE your head scarf!”
She was just about to ask me where I got it from, when the woman taking the picture got so agitated she shouted “THREE, TWO, ONE!” Snap.
 |
| Nicole Scherzinger and me |
Our picture was done. The security guard then physically pushed me away from Nicole before I could even say goodbye. I turned around to see Nicole waving, looking slightly concerned. Then, she actually leant over the bars that were now separating us. “Have a wonderful evening”, she told me with a beaming smile.
I literally felt like I floated away from that meet&greet"
Thanks a lot for that great story. For more on that encounter your can visit Mary's Tumblr
I literally felt like I floated away from that meet&greet"
Thanks a lot for that great story. For more on that encounter your can visit Mary's Tumblr
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