The Daily Tonic: Nigh Times

For some reason, April saw us dealing in a lot of quaintly charming Bill Nighy stories – a couple of which we’re going to revisit today. Before we get to them though, we’re curious to know about your other surreal celebrity encounters (starring Bill Nighy or otherwise).

If you’ve got a story about bumping into a megastar in unusual circumstances, sling it over to us at hello@popbitch.com and we’ll dish out some goodies to the best of them.

SW writes:
“About 10 years ago I was in the West End waiting to meet some friends after work. Knowing that the evening would involve alcohol, I popped into the Tesco near Soho Square and got myself a pasta salad.

“Having never purchased one before, I was stumped as to how I’d eat it. At the checkout I saw a pile of Tesco Clubcard application forms, complete with plastic Clubcards. Standing outside, I began tucking into the pasta using one of these Clubcards – folded to create a handy scoop.

“Just then I was approached by a smiling and friendly Bill Nighy who said, without any hint of sarcasm, ‘I think you’ll find there’s a fork stuck under the lid.’

“He wished me ‘Bon appetit!’ and walked on.”

baggsy writes:
“Me and my partner were in our car, stuck in traffic at Tooting Broadway crossroads on a hot summer day, talking crap, when a man stepped in front of our car and awaited the lights to change so he could cross the oncoming lanes.

“I turned to my better half and said ‘Is that Bill Nighy with a really big book under his arm?’ because the man was carrying this massive A3-sized tome. He turned and smiled, looking me dead in the eye, and replied ‘It very much is Bill Nighy with a really big book under his arm.’ Then resumed waiting to cross.

“I’d forgotten our windows were open.”

on_air writes:
“One of my favourite entourage anecdotes came from shooting with Gwen Stefani for TV. She came into the studio with three people (which is not so outrageous). We briefed her on what to say etc, and she nodded, all the while chewing gum. We lined up to shoot and, as we asked her if she was ready, she opened her mouth wide. One of the poor girls with her leant in and daintily removed the gum from her mouth.

“She was clearly trained to do so as not a word was spoken. When we called ‘cut’ said girl re-emerged, Gwen’s mouth opened and the gum was summarily replaced. Gwen just then went on chewing until the next take.

“This was repeated all day.”

PC writes:
“I was introduced to Shane MacGowan by a mutual friend at a gig venue in North London and he bought me a pint and a double G&T for himself. I said I didn’t drink spirits when out at gigs because I’d drink them too quickly and get pissed before the middle band came on.

“He told me that he ‘paced himself’ and continued, ‘You know how I do that? I just take lots of drugs before I go out. Heh heh heh heh heh!’

“He then scratched himself on the shoulder and poured his bottle of tonic down his back.”

Each of the ten songs that make up today’s audio round were all UK number one hits in April at some point over the last 40 years or so.

All you need to do is name the artists (a point each) and the titles of the songs (a further point each).

Couldn’t be easier.

[Play it here]

Explore live radio around the globe
[Listen to radio.garden]

A collection of coronavirus signs from around the world
[duetocovid19.com]

Whitney Houston’s isolated vocal for I Wanna Dance With Somebody
[Hear on YouTube]