The Paddy Burt Collection
Celebrity Interviews
Paddy (second from the right) in her interviewing heyday, with Edwina Currie (far left), and others
Before I started the Room Service column – which I went on to do for 18 years – I had another life. It was the 1980s and I was features editor of glossy magazine – but, this being the ambitious eighties, I was moonlighting like mad and writing for three other magazines on the side, too. I had carved out somewhat of a niche for myself as an interviewer – as regular readers of the column will know, I just love people (not all of them, mind!). But whether I like them or not, I find them endlessly fascinating. This was a big part of the concept for the hotel column – yes, I wanted to out some of the shocking small hotels charging far too much money for terrible service, but I also wanted to nose around the places people ran and find out how they did it. Which, of course, meant talking to them.
The interviews you will read on this website (at the bottom of the page) were all done over roughly a 15-year period when Room Service wasn’t even a twinkle in my eye. It was an interesting period – the country was still in love with the Tories (just) – several of whom I interviewed; Richard Branson – who I remember throwing a lavish party only to hide shyly from the mainly female guests he’d invited in the other room - was still a newcomer; and Nicola Horlick was intimidating the rest of womankind into being a ‘supermum’.
I interviewed many household names: John Mortimer (flirty); Joanna Lumley (who got in a terrible tizz); Gyles Brandreth (running a teddy bear museum at the time); Jini Fiennes (also, at the time, a neighbour – along with her yet-to-be-famous brood of actors, writers and directors); Robin Day and Ludovic Kennedy between whom unexpected rivalry existed, Adam Faith and many more.
Not only were these interesting times, these were interesting characters – some of whom are still around, some have gone on to bigger things, some have vanished without trace. Others have died. All of them were interesting. Collectively, they provide a snapshot of an era.
I hope you enjoy reading this series of interviews as much as I enjoyed writing them.
Paddy
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