alan45
14-02-2010, 02:08
LAST knockings at the National Television Awards party can be a dangerous place for a TV critic.
At any moment you could have Simon Cowell punching you on the kneecaps demanding to know why you keep calling him a dwarf.
Or, if you're really unlucky, the Loose Women attack hounds breathing Bacardi Breezers in your face and screaming, "Whaddya mean we're over-emotional?!!!". Then there's the big one. Rickaaay from EastEnders deciding he'd like a quiet word.
You see, Sid Owen's got form. His most notorious run-in with a journalist? Tipping a pint over former gossip columnist Matthew Wright for calling him stupid in print a few days earlier.
So imagine my joy when Sid caught my eye at this year's bash and made his way over. "Oi! You're that geezer wot slags us off all the time in the paper arentcha?" It didn't look good.
But just as I was imagining myself waking up in A&E with an ornamental orchid shoved where the sun don't shine, a guardian angel (well, an EastEnders press officer) ushered young Sid away to a waiting car.
Phew. Safe for another year. Or so I thought. Cos barely two weeks later the boss calls to say: "It's EastEnders 25th anniversary this year. You're interviewing Sid Owen today. No arguments."
But as we settled down for Round Two in the May Fair Hotel in that trendy part of London the good folk of Walford like to call "up West" I got an even bigger shock: "I wasn't coming over to have a go, honest," says Sid. "I just wanted to know why you lot never give us a break. I wasn't drunk either. I'd only had a couple of beers." Yeah, right Sid.
But no. It appears he might be telling the truth. And when I mention the infamous beer-chucking incident Sid puts his head firmly in his hands.
"I'm still embarrassed about that to this day. I definitely regret doing that."
But Sid Owen has plenty of naughtier things to regret, surely? The wild partying? The even wilder girls? The drug problem which landed him a three-month suspension from the soap back in 1996?
"Oh, I don't regret any of that," he laughs. "I can barely remember large chunks of it! I was a young bloke doing what young blokes do. I might have taken it a bit too far but I'm not ashamed of it. Obviously I wouldn't recommend what I went through to anyone. But I'm still here aren't I?
"And I'm a total lightweight these days. Last time I went out for a drink was to wet my brother's baby's head. And guess what. I fell asleep at the bar after a couple of drinks. The truth is I can't take my beer any more."
Fair play to him for admitting it. But it's always slightly disappointing to hear an aspiring Ollie Reed has hung up his partying boots.
Of course, anyone who saw Sid chilling out in the I'm A Celebrity jungle might have guessed this change was coming. But he is kind enough to try to soothe the pain by telling me the funniest piece of news I've heard in ages. Namely, he is now considered such a reformed character by the EastEnders bosses they've asked him to act as mentor to the show's younger stars. He grins: "It's hilarious isn't it. I mean, what can I tell them? Don't go to that bar? Don't take that drug? Don't give that girl your number? I just tell them not to bother drinking the beer in the Vic. Back when I started it had some alcohol in it, but it's all Kaliber now."
At any moment you could have Simon Cowell punching you on the kneecaps demanding to know why you keep calling him a dwarf.
Or, if you're really unlucky, the Loose Women attack hounds breathing Bacardi Breezers in your face and screaming, "Whaddya mean we're over-emotional?!!!". Then there's the big one. Rickaaay from EastEnders deciding he'd like a quiet word.
You see, Sid Owen's got form. His most notorious run-in with a journalist? Tipping a pint over former gossip columnist Matthew Wright for calling him stupid in print a few days earlier.
So imagine my joy when Sid caught my eye at this year's bash and made his way over. "Oi! You're that geezer wot slags us off all the time in the paper arentcha?" It didn't look good.
But just as I was imagining myself waking up in A&E with an ornamental orchid shoved where the sun don't shine, a guardian angel (well, an EastEnders press officer) ushered young Sid away to a waiting car.
Phew. Safe for another year. Or so I thought. Cos barely two weeks later the boss calls to say: "It's EastEnders 25th anniversary this year. You're interviewing Sid Owen today. No arguments."
But as we settled down for Round Two in the May Fair Hotel in that trendy part of London the good folk of Walford like to call "up West" I got an even bigger shock: "I wasn't coming over to have a go, honest," says Sid. "I just wanted to know why you lot never give us a break. I wasn't drunk either. I'd only had a couple of beers." Yeah, right Sid.
But no. It appears he might be telling the truth. And when I mention the infamous beer-chucking incident Sid puts his head firmly in his hands.
"I'm still embarrassed about that to this day. I definitely regret doing that."
But Sid Owen has plenty of naughtier things to regret, surely? The wild partying? The even wilder girls? The drug problem which landed him a three-month suspension from the soap back in 1996?
"Oh, I don't regret any of that," he laughs. "I can barely remember large chunks of it! I was a young bloke doing what young blokes do. I might have taken it a bit too far but I'm not ashamed of it. Obviously I wouldn't recommend what I went through to anyone. But I'm still here aren't I?
"And I'm a total lightweight these days. Last time I went out for a drink was to wet my brother's baby's head. And guess what. I fell asleep at the bar after a couple of drinks. The truth is I can't take my beer any more."
Fair play to him for admitting it. But it's always slightly disappointing to hear an aspiring Ollie Reed has hung up his partying boots.
Of course, anyone who saw Sid chilling out in the I'm A Celebrity jungle might have guessed this change was coming. But he is kind enough to try to soothe the pain by telling me the funniest piece of news I've heard in ages. Namely, he is now considered such a reformed character by the EastEnders bosses they've asked him to act as mentor to the show's younger stars. He grins: "It's hilarious isn't it. I mean, what can I tell them? Don't go to that bar? Don't take that drug? Don't give that girl your number? I just tell them not to bother drinking the beer in the Vic. Back when I started it had some alcohol in it, but it's all Kaliber now."