Ask UK

President of my country and if I do not explain further it will sound far more impressive.

In Switzerland they just walk past you sometimes and respond if you talk to them

Do we still remember Michael Hutchence (of INXS)? I had lunch with him once, simply because my lunch break coincided with him waiting to be on the show I was a tech on. Pleasant fellow, shame he died early.

I don't really have any anecdotes of meeting famous people IRL. But I do find it curious how this question seems to be a common one for ice-breakers.

I notice on Come Dine With Me (the TV show) that the contestants ask each other this question in basically every series.

Why is this? Is it like the same excitement I get from finding a shiny Pokemon or spotting a rare bird out on a walk? Is it because people can provide insights as to what these people are actually like everyday? Or something else?

KCIII back in the 70s, when he visited the factory I worked at, Cossor, in Harlow.

Shook my hand and called me by my nickname that was on a sign on the front of my workbench.

At the end of the visit, everyone was outside to building to wave the PoW off, one of the the blokes wives ran out and kissed him on the cheek. It made national news and before long was happening every time he went somewhere.

ISTR he actually flew the helicopter off himself.

The next day someone had added 'By Royal Appointment' to my sign.

Madonna, I was 13 years old and was an extra on A League of Their Own and I ran into her on set. I was nervous but she gave me her time and was gracious enough to talk to me... in fact, everyone on the set was very open and willing to talk with the extras, except for Tom Hanks. He would do his scenes and then exit as quickly as possible, while avoiding talking with people.

Narrowly missed out on spending the day with Patrick Stewart at an event in London. My wife went instead and she doesn’t even like Star Trek. She said he was very nice though.

I used to help run the book signings at a big literary festival so got to meet all sorts who were in the news at the time including various politicians and a handful of the Beirut hostages.

The most famous, especially back then, was Salman Rushdie. His appearance made headlines as he was still in strict seclusion. I tried to throw out his close security guard who explained why that would be a bad idea. He was clearly the meatshield and I reckon if he'd have been around Riahide might not have been so badly injured.

The nicest celeb was Richard E. Grant who worked hard than anyone else to ensure that everyone got as much time as they wanted with him, despite also having one of the longest queues.

The one that really left an impression was Wilfred Thesiger - it felt like he'd stepped out from a different time.

Lemmy or Boris Johnson, not sure who is most famous?

I was Terry Pratchett's gofer at an event once, quite early in his career.

I have met and chatted with Prof Ron Hutton a couple of times.

I ferried Portillo across a river for one of his shows - and was briefly featured as a result. He was an arrogant git.

Others would include Roy Hudd, Tony Benn, Swampy, Chris Packham and probably a couple of others.

I met Horus once. You know, the god.