The Daily Tonic: A Good Shear For The Roses

This afternoon would have seen Diana Ross take to the stage at Glastonbury for the Legends slot. It’s a shame that coronavirus has robbed us of that set, but an even greater shame that we’re going to be robbed of finding out what she was like backstage.

Over the years, stories of Miss Ross’s diva demands have achieved legendary status in their own right. Some of our favourites include:

* That she insists on being woken up by the sound of her own voice

* That she tried to get the nickname “Princess Di” to stick with her entourage (after it became available…)

* That when staying in Claridge’s she would request a daily bunch of roses to be delivered to her room, then cut the heads off the previous day’s still-fresh flowers so no-one else could enjoy them after her

* That a former housekeeper says, among her many tasks, she was the one who would be required to flush the toilet after Miss Ross had finished

Thanks for your stories of celebrity scents. Quite a few of your experiences came from having shared an enclosed space with a star, so we thought we’d chase that lead a little.

Today’s Question: Have you ever taken a lift with a celebrity?

An elevator, a chair lift, a car journey – whatever lift it is, tell us about your celebrity co-riders and we’ll swap a digital goody bundle for the best ones: hello@popbitch.com

CTB writes:
“Where to begin? I served Kit Harrington at a beer festival and he smelled strongly of real ale. I went to an archaeology seminar at the British Museum and Professor Alice Roberts smelled of baguettes. Lenny Henry sheltered in a video shop where I worked while he waited for a taxi and he already smelled uncannily like the pine tree car air fresheners.

“I was also on a long distance cycle event with James Cracknell and 598 other people. JC smelled of chamois cream and wintergreen, but so did everyone else.”

CWC writes:
“I spent some time working at 6Music and was once in a lift with Noel Clarke. He smelt delightfully minty fresh and to this day is the nicest smelling person I’ve met. I happened to mention this in front of the host, who proceeded to tell Noel live on air and asked him what is secret was.

“Noel replied it was just ‘his natural scent’ while I ran away and hid for the rest of the show.”

SC writes:
“Not long after I moved to London I was standing on a busy tube right next to Danny Dyer. He smelled amazing. Like a fresh meadow. Quite disconcerting.”

WH writes:
“Bumped into Danny Dyer a few years back at Camden Lock. He was smashed but being very nice. My friend hugged him and she said he smelled amazing.”

__________ writes:
“Martin Gore smelled like old lady hairspray in 1990.”

KP writes:
“I had a friend who once worked as a PA to Angelina Jolie back in the late 90s. She said she was ‘covered in bruises and smelled like pee’.”

To top off our weekend of audio rounds dedicated to cancelled Glasto acts, here are your final ten tracks.

You get a point for every song you correctly identify and another point for every artist too. Ten songs, twenty points.

[Play it here]

Footage from the first Pride march in New York, on this day 50 years ago
[Watch here]

The secret economics of VIP parties
[A Sunday long read]

Shots of Iceland in 4K
[See on YouTube]