Tag Archives: london

London Beat

October 3, 2015 Neil

Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a good couple of weeks. Mine have been great with lots of fun things going on. We are in the middle of the Rugby Union World Cup in England currently. I cannot claim to be a massive fan of playing the sport and hated it in games lessons at school. I had to go in the scrum as a second row forward. When I would have much rather stood out of the way on the sidelines as a winger. As I could have just avoided the ball more and stayed away from the action. I am always happy to watch and support England in any competition. I made sure I caught the Opening Ceremony on television.

I thought it was really good. A twenty minute production with more than a couple of nods to the Olympic opening in 2012. Including another Royal on screen cameo. This time from Prince Harry. Who also delivered a speech from the centre of the pitch. Which I thought was very nicely done.

Also well done to the comedian, TV Warm Up Man and Buckinghamshire resident Andy Collins. Who was charged with getting the capacity crowd fired up and ready for when the eyes of the world were on them. I look forward to hopefully bumping in to him at a television studio, once again in the near future.

I had a brilliant morning at the ITV Studios on the South Bank the other week. I was there to help a production company called Chalkboard with a live run through of a brand new game show. That they are trying to get commissioned. And hopefully on our televisions soon. They are a fantastic group of people very friendly, enthusiastic and professional. We all met up in reception before heading in to the lift and up to the Thames Room. We got set up, had a cup of tea and a quick practice of the game. Before the TV executives that we were trying to impress arrived.

We were also joined by two French TV Producers. Who have already made a pilot version of the quiz, that we were show casing. I have seen a clip of it and it looks great in their studio. The executives arrived in the room. And me and my co-contestant Rob played a couple of rounds of it. So they could see the format. How it plays and all works.

It went really well and everybody left the room happy. Fingers crossed they take the show and then make it. It would be nice to see something that I have played a very small part in the development of, being successful and getting a good run on the television. If and when I get any news that I am able to tell you, rest assured I will.

I am a massive fan of live theatre and musicals but I very rarely watch any films. About a year ago I saw the Jersey Boys movie and absolutely loved it. Since seeing it at the cinema I decided that I really wanted to see the stage version. Which was about long before the film. Finally last week I managed to find some spare time and catch the matinee at the Piccadilly Theatre in the West End. It tells the story of the group the Four Seasons, from the very early days through to the end of their careers. While giving a good feel of what the area of America they came from, was really like back then.

It is pretty real and gritty for a musical. And it is fair to say they all have issues and problems both individually and collectively along the way. But the thing that really holds it together and makes it great, is the songs. They had some very big hits and they are all sung live by the very talented cast.

It is a real life story of how money and success can alter friendships and situations. But also how certain bonds are built up with people that just cannot be broken. The music and the harmony’s are so good. It will leave you feeling happy and hyped up, like any good musical really should in my opinion. I am really glad I finally went to see it. But I already knew beforehand that I would not be disappointed by it.

I enjoyed a fun night out recently with a few of the people I work with at Wembley Stadium. A fairly low key night. We just met in pub that is part of a well known chain of Irish Bar’s in Kings Cross. Whose full name is pretty similar to my first name. We then went on to a bar around the corner. Where the fantastic Rockaoke band were playing.

Just in case you are not familiar with these guys. They are a group, who provide a slightly different take on karaoke. They play the songs totally live and supply all the words. You just hop on stage with them and sing. I met them in January at a birthday party in Oxfordshire. They were brilliant then and my mate Jeff Nolan got up and did a few numbers with them. Which was ace.

They have also played on most of the Chris Moyle’s Show Tours, at Carfest events and backstage at some pretty cool places including the V-Festival. They were once again excellent. And they do seem to attract a better class of singer than normal karaoke’s. Although I guess to get up there and sing with a full band. You at least have to have a little bit of confidence. That you know what you are doing.

That said the group are ace and would help you out were it required vocally, I believe. To save the ears of the audience if nothing else. They were very popular in the pub that night. When we arrived there all the slots to sing for the rest of the evening had already been booked up. I look forward to seeing them live again soon.

I have been lucky enough to go to the actual Munich Beer Festival, the original Oktoberfest on two previous occasions. Both times I went with friends and we stayed at a camp site about thirty minutes from Munich. It is an amazing event. They have around fifteen big Bierkellers, all of which represent the different beers and hold around four thousand people. You end up drinking, talking, then as the evening wears on singing and dancing with people from all over the world. The atmosphere is electric. Everyone is there to just have a good time. Plus the Oompah band’s play their own versions of lots of very well known party hits. All of which sound great after a few steins and may be a large pretzel.

Anyway so last Saturday I went to an Oktoberfest Night at a Bavarian Bar in the Tower Hill area of London. It was organised by Lee Bryant, who runs the Laughing Badger Comedy Club in Hemel Hempstead. He spoke to me ages ago about it and told me that he was dressing up for the occasion. So I said that I would do the same.

After much debate about how we were going to get there and where we were going to meet. He suggested I stay at his so we could travel up and back to the Capital together. As I did not really fancy moving through London on my own in an unfamiliar outfit. I took him up on his very kind offer. Specially after he guaranteed that he would cook me a big fry up the morning after.

He lives near Harpenden, so we caught the train in to London from there. Both dressed up in our Lederhosen’s. I am not going to lie to you we did get some pretty strange looks. People were either trying to completely avoid us, not get eye contact with us or engage us in a short conversion. I think the latter just wanted to make sure we were heading somewhere appropriate dressed in these strange clothes.

The tube across London was not any less of an embarrassment. With everywhere full of people and everyone accept us in more normal weekend attire. We arrived at the venue, met the other six people in our party. Only to find out that with the exception of the staff and one other group of four people we were the only ones who were dressed up in the whole place.

Do not worry this did not stop us having a great time. Everyone there was very friendly and I lost count of the number of people who wanted to have a go with my drinking hat. The waitress who looked after us Ella from Frankfurt was lovely. The beer flowed rather nicely and the three piece Oompah Band they had wandering around were a right laugh. They were happy to get involved, do requests and have us sing along with them. Plus in between the band they also played in some big party songs. So we could have a good old sing and dance.

Now many, many years ago when I started out. I used to with a group of friends of mine do disco’s for Stoke Mandeville Hospital Radio. We developed a bit within our performance’s. Where we would bring in a few little props and then lead the dances to a few big floor fillers. Our main number was the YMCA complete with all the head gear required to replicate The Village People. When we did it back then it always used to go down a storm.

Well last Saturday night in that bar. Along with Lee and the staff. For one night only I joined in with a special version of that dance. I can confirm that I can still remember all the moves by the way. I am just hoping that no one was videoing it on their mobile phone. That really was not a problem when we were doing that the first time around. Nobody even had phones let alone ones that could film things.

It was an excellent evening out and I would definitely head back there again at some point. And also Lee Bryant’s breakfast promise was fulfilled and it was delicious. While I remember, if you fancy some live comedy in the Hertfordshire area. Then check out the latest Laughing Badger Comedy Night taking place on Saturday 14th November. Click here for more details Laughing Badger Comedy

So for my Mum’s slightly belated Birthday treat I took her for a day out it London. She told me that she had not really been sight seeing there for about thirty years and fancied having a look round. So I obliged. We started off in Piccaddilly Circus then headed through Leicester Square. Just as we were going past the Capital Radio entrance Amanda Holden came out of there and started walking right behind us.

Then suddenly a few photographers arrived on the scene trying to take pictures of her. The photographers were in front of me and my mum. While Amanda was walking behind us still, trying to use us as a bit of a shield I think. She eventually over took us and then jumped straight in to a waiting car. She must get that all the time but it did seem a bit odd with people shouting at her and all these camera flashes going off. Although secretly I may have enjoyed it a little bit. By the way for the record she looked stunning and was very friendly and polite to everyone.

From here our huge walking tour of London took us via Trafalgar Square, St James Park. Buckingham Palace, The Mall, Horse Guards Parade then to Downing Street, Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, South Bank and finally on to St Paul’s Cathedral. Where opposite we found a really nice Italian Restaurant for dinner.

Before continuing on to Fleet Street, Covent Garden then ending up in my favourite pub in London Waxy O’Connor’s to enjoy a well earned pint. A successful and fun day spending time with my mum. And enjoying the many delights of our Capital city. Plus the weather was great. London always looks amazing when it is sunny.

So since we spoke last Chris Moyles has returned to the airwaves. He is now back presenting The Chris Moyles Show on newly launched Global station Radio X. I am a big fan of his work, so I did listen in to his first Breakfast Show.

It is going to be interesting to see how he will manage to compete with the big hitters on what nationally is mainly just a DAB station. But I am sure he is up for the fight and will give it a good go. He has started nicely and the station have spent quite a bit on publicity for it. Which should help a bit.

Neil Quigley TV Radio & Live — Neil Quigley TV, Radio & Live

I have met him twice over the years. Once through the glass of what used to be Chiltern Radio in Dunstable. As an enthusiastic teenager I went for an interview late one evening for a Technical Operator’s Job for the AM Super Gold station that broadcast from the same studio complex. I could see him through the glass doing his show and I have to confess was watching and staring at what he was doing. When he then came on the studio talk back to advise me that he wasn’t a goldfish.

The second time was at a book signing in Yeovil. When I was working at a radio station down there. I nipped out in my lunch hour to get a copy of his book signed and have a brief chat. I thought it would be amusing to give him a pen from Ivel fm. Where I was working at the time. I wonder if he still has it? He in turn asked me to give him a mention on my afternoon show. Now as much as I like him. I was certainly not going to suddenly promote another radio station. So I just gave a shout out to Chris from Leeds down in Yeovil and wished him luck with his new book. He will do a great job at Radio X.

Have fun and we will catch up again in a couple of weeks. Cheers Neil.

Relatively Interesting

September 19, 2015 Neil

Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a really good couple of weeks. Mine have been busy with lots going on. Including quite a few special occasions. The first of which was my cousin’s Wedding Reception in the Dairy at Waddesdon Manor. I have to confess that it was the first time I had been there. It is a beautiful venue. And I had a lovely evening catching up with the family, while just having a few social drinks and a bit of a dance. I can confirm that I can still bust some moves on the floor. There was a band there. The fantastically named “Carte Blanche”, who were truly excellent. Congratulations to Sarah and Stuart. Who are now off enjoying their honeymoon in Italy.

Before they jetted off. The day after the reception we continued the celebrations with an afternoon party at my Uncle and Aunty’s. I do love doing this. As you can talk about what happened at the Wedding and relive all the fun you had the night before. Or check on anything that you are may be slightly unclear about, if you need to. There was lots of delicious food on offer. The happy couple made an appearance of course. As this event was being held in their honour. It was great to be able to have a nice chat with them and wish them well. While also having a look at some of the photos. One thing I learnt from that weekend is that my family still know how to party. It was all good fun.

Then the day after it was Mum’s birthday. So I went and spent the afternoon with her. It was a nice day, so we sat out in the garden for a while. And a couple of her sister’s came round. It was really good to catch up with them. We are all very busy with our own lives but it is good to take a little bit of time out when you can and catch up with your relatives. We finished off the day with a Chinese Takeaway. Which is always a winner in my eyes.

The present she wanted from me was a day out in London. She says that she has not really been to the Capital and seen all the big tourist attractions since she took me there as a child. Which it is fair to say was quite a long time ago now. So I will be repaying the favour at the end of this month. And taking her to see all the sights. Which I must admit I am really looking forward to. I have already started planning my route for the day and organising a few surprises for her along the way.

I have once again been spending some time at Wembley Stadium during the last fortnight. One day I took my friend and his son for a look around the home of football. I am not sure who was more excited my mate or his kid. The boy is only four years old but already in his short life he has changed his football allegiance from Chelsea to Manchester City. Either he just likes the colour blue or is choosing to support the team most likely to win the title each season.

From the visit they have got a nice picture of them, sitting up on the stage in the Press Conference room. Looking like they are talking to the media after a game. The stadium is getting ready this weekend to welcome the first of two big Rugby Union World Cup matches. New Zealand play Argentina tomorrow and then next Sunday Ireland take on Romania.

I was also at Wembley on Tuesday 8th September for the Euro Qualifier between England and Switzerland. That date saw a little piece of history being made. I was really glad I was there to see it in person. We have got game day for international’s perfectly sorted. We arrive early, so we can have a nice meal in one of the restaurants near by. Then we go to a bar I know near the ground. Which is never too busy. So you can always get in there and get a drink really quickly. Then we head in to the stadium in time to see the players warm up. I am not going to lie to you the first half of the match was not exactly amazing. And I was querying my decision to go at that point.

But things then did pick up a bit in the second half. When a certain Harry Kane came on. I have never watched him live and not seen him score. And luckily this record continued. As he got the first goal. May be he should hire me to go to every game. England seemed to relax a bit at this point plus Switzerland actually had to try and attack now. To get something from the game. Which gave the home team more space. Then something happened that gave us the moment we had all been waiting for. Wayne Rooney going in to this game had scored 49 goals for his country. He was joint top scorer with the legend that is Bobby Charlton.

So when the Manchester City player Raheem Sterling was tripped in the penalty area and the referee pointed to the spot. We all knew who would be stepping up to take it. The chants of “Rooney Rooney” echoed around the ground. Then after quite a lengthy delay he took it and smashed it into the top corner of the goal. So therefore breaking the all time scoring record for the England National Team with his 50th goal.

I was sitting right behind that goal to witness that historical moment. The shear delight and in many ways relief in his face was really great to see. Big congratulations to Wayne Rooney. That is a truly amazing achievement. There is a great video of him accepting a special shirt from the Manager Roy Hodgson. And then giving a very gracious speech in the dressing room after the game. It was fantastic to be there, to see it all unfold.

Do you remember what seems like ages ago now I said that I did a little bit of filming for the latest series of the Sky One show Duck Quacks Don’t Echo with Lee Mack. I took part in one of the experiments they do, to prove or disprove theories the guests bring on to the programme. Well the other week the episode I was in was shown. I just happened to be in and able to watch it for myself. As it has been on TV. I guess I can say a little bit about what it was.

I was hooked up to an electric shock machine. While sitting in a completely empty and totally white room. Basically when I got a bit bored I could press a button, which would give me a little shock. Now I do have a really low attention span. So yes I did actually give it a try to see what receiving the shock was like. The results of which you can very clearly see on the television. It was a fun morning spent shooting it. And it was equally as much fun to watch the finished product on screen.

I had a great time once again seeing an episode of Celebrity Juice being recorded at the Elstree Studios. That show is just total madness but lots of fun to watch and be involved with. I can’t wait to see how much of the really funny stuff. They will actually be able to show on the television. When it goes out. My initial guess is a lot of the most hilarious bits will be a bit to hot for TV shall we say. For this series the two team captains are Holly Willoughby and Gino D’Acampo both of who were great. I said previously that I had hoped Kelly Brook might be replacing Fearne Cotton, as I quite fancied seeing her. Well imagine my delight when she was one of the guests on the night I was there.

The other panellists were Louis Walsh, Hayley Tamaddon and the brilliant Jimmy Carr. Everyone was top quality. That is the first time I have seen Jimmy Carr in person. And he did not disappoint. He was hilarious. Everybody joined in and took the jokes about them in their stride. I have to say Hayley Tammadon really threw herself in to it all and was thoroughly entertaining.

And finally not forgetting the main man, Keith Lemon. Who was fantastic. The perfect ringmaster, creating the magic and the madness and to be fair also marshalling things brilliantly. You may have seen the show on Thursday night. If so you may have spotted me clapping in the audience. I did tweet the main man to tell him how much I enjoyed it. And he did send me back a nice reply. I have already organised to go and see another one filmed in a few weeks time. It is a great way to spend an evening. If you enjoy laughing a lot at crazy and surreal situations, that is.

Staying with the television theme last Saturday evening I went along to the filming of the latest It’ll Be Alright On The Night. At the ITV Studios on the South Bank. Most television shows have a warm up person. Who comes out first, explains what is going to happen and gets the audience laughing and ready for when the stars walk on. Now last time I watched this particular show Ted Robbins was doing that role.

Since then he quite publicly suffered a heart attack. While on stage performing in the Comic Relief stage version of Phoenix Nights. Happily he has made a full recovery and was once again back at the studio for this recording. And I must say on top form. It was good to see him again. It is presented by the excellent Griff Rhys Jones. Who is so slick, professional and funny. While he is linking all the sections of bloopers together. It featured all new never seen before out takes from all over the world.

Lots of them were proper laugh out loud funny. A few of them featured some of my favourite and the best known presenters in the county. Once again proving that no matter how good you are, things can still go wrong. And it is how you react to them. That shows your true value and class. It is actually a pretty quick show to record.

As there are no real set changes or breaks. Plus it is just Griff talking to camera between the videos. They do get played to the audience in the studio. So the reaction to them can be recorded and of course used on the programme. When it is then shown on the television. Which for this show will be sometime during the Christmas period on ITV 1.

I really enjoy spending time in TV studios and always feel quite at home there. We were all done by about eight O’clock. So I treated myself to a few weekend drinks in London. The city was vibrant and great fun as ever. With lots of people in fancy dress for the opening of the latest production of the Rocky Horror Show. I have only seen that once at the theatre, so far. And in that version Jonathan Wilkes was Frank N Furter. Fair play though I have to admit there were some brilliant and brave costumes on show in the pubs, I was in.

Also last weekend on the Sunday I went to the christening of my friend’s two sons. It took place at the church were my friend and his wife got married. It was the first time I had been back there since. It is a lovely little village church. Which is actually over nine hundred years old. The ceremony itself was fun. As there were quite a few children around the parents seemed busy keeping them all interested and in some cases under control. Which as someone who has no kids I found mildly amusing.

The two stars of the show were great. Well after the older one had two failed attempts to run out of the building that is. Afterwards there was a lovely reception at their house. With a Bouncy Castle for the children and nice food with great company for the adults. It was lovely to meet up with and talk to lots of people that I had not seen for ages, many years in some cases. So another fun time was had by all. And predictably, as with all social occasions I attend. I was again one of the last to leave.

So we now know who is paired with who on Strictly Come Dancing, ready for the start of the new series. Firstly it is great to see Anton Du Beke paired up with Katie Derham. Normally he seems to get difficult ladies to teach. But this year I think he might have a chance of doing very well with this one. And hopefully going a long way in the competition.

My favourite dancer is still Aliona Vilani and she is with Jay McGuinness from The Wanted so I do want them to do well. Both Peter Andre with Janette Manrara and Kirsty Gallacher with Brendan Cole could do well in the competition. But the duo I am supporting are Jamelia and Tristan MacManus. I have always liked her and I thought he was great last year. So they are my tip to win the Glitter Ball trophy this year. I am looking forward to it starting again.

This Tuesday I am going to the ITV London Studios to help out with a game show run through for a brand new format idea in front of some executives from ITV. It will be lots of fun and I hope they pick it up and make it. As I think it is a great concept and genius idea for a quiz. I have to be there quite early in the morning. So I am hoping I might spot some of the Good Morning Britain presenter’s, when I am there. Or may be even Philip or Holly from This Morning. I will let you know how it goes the next time that we speak.

Have fun and we will catch up again in a couple of weeks. Cheers Neil.

Cats and Dogs

November 22, 2014 Neil

Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a good couple of weeks. Mine have as ever been very busy, with lots going on. Let’s start with some good news I have had the third and final part of my Root Canal treatment done. The tooth is now all good. Plus there was not too much pain caused by the last part of this procedure. I have to confess that when I found out I required this dental work. I was not exactly looking forward to it but actually it wasn’t as bad as I feared. So if you discover you need it in the future don’t panic or worry, it is fine. And it is a lot more common than I realised. That said I have no plans to have to go through it again any time soon if I can possibly help it. My dentist was telling me that she is thinking of having a gold crown fitted to her teeth. But as I have no plans to become a rapper in the near future I am planning on sticking with a more conventional material and colour personally.

The other Friday I went for a night at the Dog Racing in Wimbledon. I have enjoyed quite a few evenings out over the year’s watching the Greyhounds at various tracks all over the country but this was the first time I had been to Wimbledon. I got there early so went and had a couple of drinks in the town centre first. With it being the home of English Tennis. I guess I should not have been too surprised that the main shopping centre there is called Centre Court. I mean it would have been a travesty not to call it that surely. The stadium itself is quite a way out of town, so I got a taxi there to meet the rest of my mates.

As there was quite a large group of us. We decided to have the meal in the restaurant option that they offered. It was a fixed price three course meal with your entry and a race card included. All for a very reasonable price to be fair. Plus they came round to the tables to take your bets, so you did not even have to get up to do that. Which was a bit of a bonus. I had a few winners, which always makes things a bit more enjoyable. It ended with a few us of deciding to get a taxi back from Wimbledon to Marylebone Train station. Now this meant that we got a lovely late night drive right through the centre of London. Bearing in mind a lot of the Streets already had their Christmas Lights switched on and a lot of the big stores had their festive window displays up. It was a pretty colourful journey. One of the people in the taxi with us actually used to be a tour guide on an open top bus around the Capital. So he was giving us lots of historical information and facts on the areas we were passing through. Making the journey even more interesting.

I was once again working behind the scenes at the final NFL International Series American Football Match this year at Wembley Stadium between the Dallas Cowboys and the Jacksonville Jaguars, a couple of Sunday’s ago. It was a really good day. I was helping the Jaguars coaching staff and Video team get around the place and escorting them everywhere they needed to go. This did mean that a lot of the time I was stood around the tunnel area in the lead up to the game. I have to say when all the players came out in their groups and did their huddles and various chants right in front of me. That by the time it came to start the game I was feeling pumped up and ready to join in. I could have just grabbed a helmet and gone out there and got involved. Those guys really know how to gee themselves up and get motivated for a match.

There were quite a few familiar faces around the place to. I saw Carla Bruni, Jonathan Trott, Vernon Kay and the London Mayor Boris Johnson walking around. And I was standing right in the tunnel area just as Michelle Williams and Laura Wright walked out to sing the two national anthem’s. Both of which were sang so beautifully.Two really rousing performances from two very attractive ladies. Who both looked stunning for the record, when they went past me. It was a real goose bump moment watching them in action.

Last Wednesday I went and saw my mate Ben Langley perform his excellent current play Ha Ha Hood at my local theatre, The Waterside in Aylesbury. Now I first met Ben around Ten years ago when he was in pantomime in Yeovil. And I was working for the radio station in the town. So I have known him for quite a while. I saw this show near the start of the tour. When it played in High Wycombe. And I enjoyed it so much that I jumped at the chance to see it once again. In its final week of travelling up and down the country. Now since I saw it the first time around sadly one of the stars has had to leave the production due to illness, I wish Bobby Ball a very speedy recovery. But the rest of the cast remained the same with Ben, Tommy Cannon, Su Pollard, Andy Pickering. Then Pete who was standing in for Bobby and who was totally brilliant as were the whole cast yet again. It’s just a good old fashioned proper funny show, with jokes, innuendo, songs and general silliness. It is simply laugh out loud funny with plenty of audience interaction. So you have to be ready to get involved and let yourself go, when seeing it. I did and I had a great night.

Neil Quigley interviewing Ben Langley in Yeovil

I got to catch up with Ben Langley backstage in his dressing room before the show, which was an experience. Great to have a nice catch up and a chat. Then about five minutes later I was then sat in the audience watching him doing his thing on stage. After the performance I went and joined Ben and the rest of the cast for a quick drink in their hotel. You could really tell they were all enjoying the show and having a good laugh doing it. Plus it was nice to very briefly be a part of the camaraderie of a group of touring actors. I did manage to have a chat to the comedy legend that is Tommy Cannon. Which featured the Ronnie Barker statue that is outside the Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury. And that the last time he had been to Wembley Stadium, was when he scored a cracking goal in the celebrity match before the 1988 FA Cup Final between Liverpool and Wimbledon there.

My favourite television show of the year started its three week run last weekend. I have been looking forward to it for about the last month and was very happy to see the return of “I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here” to our TV screens. For me it is just a perfect evenings entertainment. Ant and Dec are the best presenters in the country no question and they are brilliant on it. They just spend to whole series laughing around and making jokes at the camp mates expense and I absolutely love it. Now in the past I have been lucky enough to talk to many people who have been on the show, including a couple of Kings and Queens of the Jungle along the way. They all seem to have very fond memories of their experience of doing it and would not change anything about it. I have met in no particular order Kerry Katona, Christopher Biggins, Katie Price, Joe Pasquale, Brian Harvey, Bobby Ball, Tommy Cannon, Antony Costa, Simon Webbe. Timmy Mallet, Britt Ekland and Pat Sharp. So having spoken to that many former camp mates, I do consider myself quite an expert on it.

I have previously interviewed one of the current contestants. When he was promoting his autobiography and doing a book tour several years ago now. I had a great chat with former World Super Bike Champion Carl Fogarty. He was so laid back and fun to talk to. And despite his amazing achievements he was so modest and down to earth. As soon as I saw him in this year’s line up. I knew he would be good. Nothing phases him and he just laughs at everything. I think he could actually be in with an outside chance of winning it. Already this current series has been great. And so far they are all being so entertaining in their own way. That I do not want anyone of them to leave. The two Geordie’s are at the top of their game and this one is shaping up to be a classic. I am a Twitter fan and user and it makes watching the show very interactive and even more entertaining. When you view it, while using the social networking site at the same time. If you do follow me on Twitter I will apologise now for the amount of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here tweets you will see from me. But hopefully you will find at least some of them amusing. As my main goal is just to have a good laugh along at what is happening. So my top three to win are Carl Fogarty, Jimmy Bullard, or Mel Sykes who is tough, determined and let’s face it pretty easy on the eye, shall we say.

This Sunday sees the England Women’s Team play Germany at Wembley Stadium. Which is the first time that the ladies have played a match at the new place. A bumper crowd of around 55,000 is expected. There was obviously women’s football at the stadium during the 2012 Olympics but that was Team GB who were playing in that not England. So all the best to Mark Sampson and his squad in what is a very difficult game against the current European Champions. I have been lucky enough to meet an England Women’s International. Sadly she is not available for this game because she is recovering from a long term serious injury. That she picked up playing for her club side Notts County.

Her name is Ellen White and she is from Buckinghamshire. She is a centre forward who has scored seventeen goals for the national side in forty-seven appearances. And she represented Team GB at the Olympics in 2012. So has already played at Wembley Stadium. I met up with her just before those games and she was rightly very much looking forward to them. You may well have heard her on Five Live or seen her on BBC 3 giving her expert views during coverage of the women’s games. In fact she will be at Wembley covering the game for the BBC. It will be a great spectacle this weekend. Ellen is currently very busy working hard in rehab, so she is ready for the start of next season. Plus she is also getting married very soon to. So I would like wish her all the best for that. And say that I can’t wait to see her back playing again.

I am actually pretty loyal when it comes to the things I use in my everyday life. For example I have only ever been with one bank all my life. And whenever I have changed cars it has been down to them giving out rather than me trading them in. I am not a fan of change for changes sake. My first proper mobile phone was a Nokia and I stuck with them year after year until their technology kind of slowed down a bit compared with the rest of the market.Then I reluctantly got a Blackberry, which I happily had used for around the last five years. But recently it was starting to play up a little and I was having problems with the battery.

As I was due an upgrade I went into my local phone shop. Just to discuss my options. And then less than an hour later I found myself walking out with a I-Phone 5 having traded my Blackberry in then and there. It seemed that everyone I knew had one and the new Blackberry option did not do it for me. So I have gone to the dark side and invested in my first ever Apple technology item. So far if I am completely honest I am undecided if I like it or not . Or if it is any better than what I had previously. I think it may grow on me but either way I am stuck with it for the next two years. So I will have to learn to love it. Mind you it is much easier to take “selfies” with than my old phone.

Have fun and we will catch up again in a couple of weeks. Cheers Neil.

Shows and Tells

November 8, 2014 Neil

Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a good couple of weeks. Mine have as ever been very busy with lots going on.I mentioned last time that I went up to see a mate of mine in Liverpool for the weekend and that he had a two year old daughter. Well apparently since I left she has been randomly asking after me quite a bit at various points during the days. Including when she was at Nursery. So much so that one of the staff there actually asked my mate’s mum who Neil was when she collected her one day. She said she didn’t know so unfortunately for my mate and his wife it now looks like everyone at the nursery thinks his wife is having an affair with some bloke called Neil. I have apologised several times to my friend but it is still happening. He actually sent me a text last night saying she was found in a room by herself shouting for me earlier in the day. His daughter not his wife that is. I’m very surprised by the impression I seem to have made and yet at the same time I am thinking about employing her as my agent.

A few Saturday’s ago I went to the Cadogan Hall just off Sloane Square in London to see my mate Mike Sterling performing in Stars of the West End. It was the first time I had been to the venue. Which has recently been refurbished. It is a fantastic building to watch shows in with really nice and helpful staff. For somewhere that is right in the heart of London the place weirdly has a really lovely community feel to it. The show itself was absolutely fantastic. It featured Mike alongside fellow West End Stars Shona Lindsay, Tom Soloman and Jayne O’Mahony performing songs from many great musicals backed superbly by the West End Sinfonia led by the brilliant Toby Cruse. Mike who has played the lead roles in both Les Miserables and the Phantom Of The Opera heroically sang the big anthems from both of these great shows in the breathtaking finale’s to each section of the performance. The whole cast were great and it was a really enjoyable night out being entertained by some truly talented people. I happily did manage to catch up with Mike Sterling for a very quick drink after the show. I am so showbiz! It was really good to see him in action on stage, chat to him and hear what he has been up to. It is always nice to see people you know doing well.

I was once again lucky enough to be working behind the scenes at the last NFL International Series Game between the Detroit Lions and the Atlanta Falcons at Wembley Stadium. The game was yet again played in front of a sell out crowd. Who were treated to an on stage performance by Little Mix as part of the pre game show. It was a fun day. There is always a great buzz about the place when the American’s are in town. My roles included escorting various VIP’s to the Field area to watch the players warm up before the game then showing them back to their seats before the action got under way. After the match I was helping to direct the Detroit Lions back to the team bus. They were all very friendly and really nice. Mind you they had won the game with a last second field goal, which I am sure helped their mood some what. I ended up watching the exciting finale to the game on a television in the players tunnel. That had about a five second delay on it. So we heard the cheer then had to wait to see the pictures on the screen before we could be totally sure exactly what had happened.

There is always quite a good celebrity turn out at these NFL events. Guests at this one included Tim Lovejoy, Joey Barton, Alexandra Burke and of course Mr American Football himself Vernon Kay was there. Vernon plays for the London Warriors American Football team. I did happen to have a conversation with one of his team mates. The training regime and food intake required for players of the sport is pretty impressive. A fact highlighted by the way the NFL players leave the stadium with giant pizza’s all to themselves to eat.

Due to the fact there were a few very slight complications the sequel to my Root Canal treatment at the dentists has now been turned into a trilogy. As all the best movie franchises are. I went back for the second phase and discovered there was actually still a slight issue and outside risk of infection relating to one of the three roots of the troublesome tooth in question. So my dentist had to dig out a little more of the root. Which was about as much fun as it sounds. But once again fair play to her it did not hurt at all and I suffered no after effects. It just means I have to wait another week before the procedure will be finished. As part of the visit I saw my first ever x-ray of a tooth, as she explained to me the situation. Strangely I quite enjoyed looking at it and it gave me a good understanding of what was going on. Plus as I am not a parent that was as close I have ever come to seeing a personal scan relating to me.

Last Monday I went for the first time to the ITV London Studios on the South bank. Some of the television shows that are broadcast from this location include Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Take Away, Good Morning Britain and The Jonathan Ross Show. I was there to see the latest It’ll Be Alright on the Night being filmed. Outside the building there is a wall of hand prints of lots of the stars who have presented shows from there. Including Lorraine Kelly, who according to this display does have ridiculously small hands. Then as you walk in to the studio itself there are lots of great pictures on the walls showing stills from many of the different shows that are produced there. I have always been a big fan of the out takes clip show, for just about as long as I can remember. From back when it was hosted by Denis Norden and his clipboard. The current host is now of course Griff Rhys Jones who has fronted the programme since 2008.

Once everybody was sat down and in position. The first thing that happens when they are ready to get going is that the warm up man comes out to tell the audience any information that they need to know about the recording, check audience levels for the sound department and get the crowd ready for a night of laughing, cheering and clapping. The man charged with this role for the evening was a bit of a legend himself. It was none other than Ted Robbins. Who as well as being a hugely experienced comedian and warm up man, also appeared in both series of Peter Kay’s comedy Phoenix Nights. So as you would expect there were several big screens up so we could see the clips and then react accordingly to them. I quite liked the idea of being one of the first people to see all these brand new bloopers before anybody else.

Before we got started Griff came out and had a bit of a chat to the audience. He was really good from start to finish, he’s very good at what he does. Then it was time to get the recording started. Ironically there was a slight technical fault at the start of the show so they had to re-shoot the opening twice in the end. It was great fun to watch. And there are as ever some very funny moments during it, featuring the great and the good from the world of television. There is no confirmed date for this latest episode to be broadcast as yet but it is expected it will be on our screens either during December this year or January next. Either way keep an eye out for it so you can see some more examples of when television goes wrong. And to see if you can hear my unnaturally loud clap or even catch a brief glimpse of me on the screen.

Last week I spent the day in London doing a couple of different tours. That were both taken by friends of mine. The first one was called The City Square Mile Walking Tour. Which as you would expect from the title involved walking around a section of the city. That was historically the original centre of the capital. It was truly fascinating learning about which businesses were originally based there. How lots of the streets got their names. Plus all the information about the old and new buildings on view. And discovering how many Roman remains can be seen right in the heart of London, if you know where you are looking. Towards the end of the tour the guide took us to a new shopping centre. Which seemed a bit odd at first until he took us up in a lift to a viewing area at the top, which gave us a great view over London.

The second tour I did on the same day was at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. Now I have to confess I did not study the great Bard at school, so I do not know much about him. But in my defence it seems that nobody really knows that much about him and a lot of what we believe is calculated guess work. The Globe opened in 1997 and it is an exact replica of what it is believed the theatre looked like that the Chamberlain Players and The King’s Men performed Shakespeare’s play’s in during the 1600s. It is a brilliant place. I really like the way they try to put the performance on there in the manner and style that they would have been performed it in. Back when these plays were new and being shown for the first time. It was a very interesting tour, during which we got to try out several of the different seating areas for size and learned lots about the theatre. Plus the customs and behaviours of the people during that period in history. Having been there I now really do want to go and see a Shakespeare play performed there. I think that would be amazing. It is on my to do list for next summer when their new season of plays start.

My mate Ben Langley’s play Ha Ha Hood makes another appearance in Buckinghamshire this month at the Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury this coming Wednesday 12th November. I saw it in High Wycombe earlier in its UK Tour and I have to say it is brilliant. It is just a good old fashioned variety comedy show with plenty of big belly laughs guaranteed from an amazing cast. It stars Tommy Cannon, Bobby Ball, Su Pollard, Andy Pickering and the man who also wrote it, the man himself Ben Langley. The show tells the story of Robin Hood twenty years after where we all left the original story. And it is fair to say things have not necessarily worked out how we would have expected them to. If you saw the latest episode of the new BBC Four Comedy Detectorists you would have seen Ben make a brilliant cameo appearance as a deliver driver towards the end of it. I am very much looking forward to seeing the show in Aylesbury for the second time. And hopefully I will get the chance to catch up with Mr Langley while he is in town. If you fancy a fun and crazy night out then go and see it. You can find more details about the show here http://www.hahahood.com/

I can finally tell you a little bit more about the new quiz show that I was helping to do a little bit of research and development with earlier in the year. For starters I can now reveal the name of it. It is called Smart Ask and twists the conventional quiz format on its head. As the contestants are the ones who write and compile the questions in the hope of baffling a team of experts in to giving the wrong answers. The more questions they get wrong the more money the players can win. A pilot was shot in London last weekend hosted by Robert Webb. They are hoping to film the first series of it at the start of next year. Which is still something I might be involved in. You will see quite a bit of publicity about it when it is launched, as it will offer a top prize of half a million pounds.

I am again very much looking forward to working at Wembley this weekend behind the scenes at the final NFL International Series Game for this season between Dallas Cowboys and Jacksonville Jaguars. It is as ever bound to be a star studded affair. And being the last one of the year I believe there are some pretty spectacular things being lined up before and after the match to mark the occasion. Normally it is only the home team who bring their cheerleaders over for the game but I have heard some rumours that both team’s troops will be coming to England for this game. Which for the record I am perfectly fine with and have to say this seems like an excellent idea. I will let you know how it all went next time we speak.

Have fun and we will catch up again in a couple of weeks. Cheers Neil.

The Route To Funny

October 25, 2014 Neil

Hello again, I hope all is well with you. And that you have had a very good couple of weeks.I have had yet again another busy fortnight. The last time we spoke I was off to Liverpool for the weekend to catch up with a very good friend of mine. It is a City I love and I do always have a great time there. I took the train up and have to say it is not a bad run up there. My mate happens to live near Aintree Racecourse, which is the train station he met me at. Just being there reminded me of when we all went along to Ladies Day of the Grand National Meeting a few years ago. That is a wonderful day out and I would definitely recommend it to anybody. As we had a bit of catching up to do we headed straight down the pub for an hour. Which ended up being about three hours in the end. Before going back to his for pizza and to spend the rest of the night watching great music and comedy on television.

As he has a two year old daughter, we were up bright and early the next morning watching children’s cartoons including Fireman Sam. Now it has been quite a while since I have seen it but I will say I think Sam may have had some cosmetic work done and has started really hitting the gym. He seems to have had some kind of make over and looks a bit more like a male model than I remember. We started the day the perfect way with a nice fry up before heading out to meet up with some more people we knew. Then visited lots of very familiar haunts that I have enjoyed on previous trips. Which just happened to all be pubs. I do like drinking in Liverpool, the place and people are just great. It is always a right good laugh with a nice soundtrack everywhere you go. They know their music up there. Needless to say I had a totally brilliant time. And we even found some time before I headed home to have a good look around the Albert Docks area. Which is where This Morning came from until it moved to London. Sadly the floating weather map that used to be there has long since gone. I am already looking forward to my next trip to Liverpool, which will probably be next year now.

Neil Quigley and Jeff Nolan in Liverpool

I am very lucky in that my teeth are generally in pretty good shape. I actually have only a couple of fillings. Which I am rightly quite proud of. Obviously or I wouldn’t have mentioned it here. But recently I noticed one of my teeth was becoming really sensitive, specially to the heat. Which is not something I had ever really experienced before. So I thought I probably needed a filling and went to the dentist to get it looked at. Where I discovered that it was actually already a tooth that had been filled years ago with an old metal filling. And there was now more decay around it. Then after some more investigation my dentist discovered I would actually need to have root canal treatment on it. This is something I had not had before but had heard people saying how horrible and painful it was. I had part one of the treatment last week. It lasted no more than forty-five minutes. And although I could not say it was a pleasant experience. It did not hurt that much during or even after. So thanks very much to my dentist for her great work there. It did not really feel any worse than just having a filling. Although I have still got part two of the procedure to go in a couple of weeks. Fingers crossed that also feels the same and does not hurt too much.

I was lucky enough to go along and see some of Channel 4’s recent charity fundraising night “Stand Up To Cancer”. It was broadcast from a big Methodist Church Hall in the shadow of Westminster Abbey. The atmosphere in the audience was excellent. They were all given tablet’s to hold up to flash during certain performances and also to show the running total on. As the presenters revealed it at certain points during the evening. It was good to see the brilliant Andy Collins in his showbiz jacket working his magic warming up the venue and keeping us entertained between all the breaks in the action. Davina McCall looked stunning in a lovely red dress but she did have some killer black heels on which she kept removing between appearances and to walk around the set. Tom Daley came on and did his little piece really nicely bearing in mind it was a subject so close to his heart. With his dad losing his battle with Cancer just a few years ago.

Everyone who appeared on the night I thought was brilliant. I am a fan of the Last Leg, so it was great to see Adam Hills, Josh Widdicombe and Alex Brooker there doing their thing. Although fortunately I had left well before they got naked. Joking aside fair play to them for doing that for the cause. Above and beyond the call of duty. Seeing some of the heartbreaking stories on video was very emotional but knowing that we are working towards finding a cure and once again seeing the generosity of the great British public in raising over fourteen million pounds. Made it such a brilliant and worthwhile night. My highlights were the Andy Murray “the film” casting clips. They were very funny with some great cameos. And the celebrity special episode of Googlebox was pretty amusing. I mean who would not want to sit in a room and watch television with Noel Gallagher, Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss. I know I would. Well done to Channel 4 and everyone involved. It really was a great achievement all round.

Last Monday I took part in a New Comedian of 2014 competition at the Leicester Square Theatre in London’s West End. To give you a rough idea of just how many people had entered it. All the heats contained twelve acts and I was taking part in heat twenty three out of twenty four. We each had five minutes to perform our own material. And then the top three as selected by two comedy industry judges and an audience vote would progress through to the quarter finals. I arrived as ever a little bit early so had a nice walk around Leicester Square before heading to the venue. The event was taking place downstairs in the Lounge. Which was a lovely little room for comedy where a lot of top name comics often come to try out new material.On entering the room, after introducing myself to the organiser and deciding where I would be appearing on the bill. I started talking to the other comedians taking part.

I know I have said this before but everybody thinks comedy is a cut throat business where everybody is just out for themselves, while hoping everybody else fails. This could not be further from the truth. All the comedians I have met are lovely, great to talk to and very supportive of each other. We want the whole line up to go down great and get lots of laughs. As it creates a better atmosphere and we all enjoy ourselves more. This was very much the case for this competition. I was on second, so got up and did my five minute set. It went pretty well, I got a few laughs and nobody threw anything. Which I always count as being a successful gig. It was a strong line up with some good acts on and most importantly, great fun. I really enjoyed it. Well done to the three acts that progressed through to the next stage. Very well deserved and I wish them all the best. This competition was actually won in 2009 by a certain Rob Beckett. Who I believe will once again be involved with one of my favourite television shows I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, which is back next month. It was great to get up and do some stand up again and it has motivated me to get out and do some more of it. So watch this space for more details of appearances.

I am really looking forward to catching up with my mate Mike Sterling tonight. We met when I was working at a radio station in Yeovil. He came in for an interview on my radio show one morning. And from there we ended up doing a few gigs together and also were on a couple of talent show judging panels with each other. Mike first came to prominence in 1987 when he reached the New Faces final that year, finishing just behind Joe Pasquale. He then went on to play the lead roles in both The Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables. He is a sensational performer and a top bloke to. Therefore I am really looking forward to seeing his latest show Stars of the West End at the Cadogan Hall in London. And meeting up with him after. He is joined by other talented West End Stars and they will be performing songs from big smash hit musicals. For more details about the show click here – https://www.facebook.com/events/267373066796664/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming

It is a busy weekend for me as once again tomorrow I am working at Wembley Stadium behind the scenes at the latest NFL American Football International Series match between Detroit Lions and the Atlanta Falcons. I am really looking forward to it, being involved with helping out when and where I am required throughout the day.The atmosphere will be amazing. They always put on a spectacular show when they visit London do the NFL. The pre game show for this game will include a performance from the 2011 X Factor winners Little Mix. One of the girls in the band like me is from Buckinghamshire. And when they got to the final to show support at the radio station I was working at we changed our name to Little Mix 96 for the day. So I will be expecting a thank you from them for that on Sunday afternoon. I will of course tell you how the day went and which celebrities I spotted there the next time we speak.

On the plus side despite the action packed weekend I do still gain an extra hour in bed as the clocks go back and British Winter Time officially begins. Remember to adjust your time pieces correctly. Do not be the person from your group of friends who turns up an hour early for a meeting with them and accuses them of being late. When they are actually on time and the error is all yours. The modern pitfall is this nowadays remember that most mobile phones auto adjust the time themselves. So if you forget this and put the time back on your phone an hour before you go to bed. When you wake up the time will be wrong and you will be out of kilter. Some free advice for you there. I will not give any names out but I do know someone who did that and no it was not me.

Still in life sometimes there is nothing funnier than when things go wrong on television. This is of course best captured in the programme “It’ll Be Alright on The Night” This is a show I have watched since I was a kid and always find it to be very funny. Which is good news as I will be going along to the ITV studios in London on a week Monday to watch the latest instalment of this iconic creation being recorded. I am looking forward to enjoying Griff Rhys Jones witty remarks and seeing our favourite stars getting it wrong in a room full of people, all hopefully laughing. It should be a good night out.

Have fun and we will catch up again in a couple of weeks. Cheers Neil.

Neil Quigley Presenter