“Still Disappointed”: 30 People That Won A Celebrity Meet & Greet Spill The Tea On What It Was Like
Even if our beloved actress, singer, or athlete shares moments of their daily life on social media, it's still hard to imagine what they're like in person. After all, we're seeing them through a screen. Even if we go see them live, we're usually standing far away, separated by fences and security guards.
However, the so-called meet-and-greet allows a few lucky fans to go beyond this and actually interact with those they admire. It's a planned activity at which a well-known person is introduced to attendees to socialize with them or answer their questions.
There are two Reddit threads (started by users JuteMallowConsumer and Mojojojostan) that asked everyone on the platform who had been to one to share their experiences, and since so many of us might not ever get the chance to, let's take a look at what they had to say about meeting Britney Spears, Jamie Oliver, and other celebrities!
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Went to school with the president of the Dolly Parton Fan Club and bought a raffle ticket from her for “Dinner with Dolly” at Pigeon Forge Tenn. I won and got to meet her and she is honestly the most kind, easy going, fun person to be around ever. Like having dinner with a really close aunt. Really frank about her boobs and plastic surgery and anything else that popped into her head. She is also really, REALLY tiny in person. Like 5’ even. She loves to talk about her home and upbringing. (She bought the theme park that is now Dollywood to save the town of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee to preserve it and keep it from getting absorbed by Gatlinburg.) Dinner lasted for like 4 hours but it felt like minutes. I think Mrs Parton easily belongs up on a pedestal with Bob Ross, Fred Rogers, et al.
In a surprise to no one, Dolly is one of the nicest people to walk the planet. She’s a never ending supply of positive news and ‘get it done’ attitude. Dolly needs to live for a long, long time, she deserves every day to be a happy one.
Not to brag, but I got to meet Santa Claus at the mall when I was a kid. Nice fellow, smelled a bit like grandma's special 'medicine'.
I won a lunch with George Takei through a charity auction. We met for lunch on the Paramount lot in Los Angeles. The auction was through a Japanese organization, so he ended up spending a lot of time talking about his experience with WW2 internment camps. It was really interesting to hear his perspective first-hand. Star Trek never came up, which is fine because I'm more of a Janeway fan than a Kirk fan. After lunch, he took us (there were 3 of us total, me and two friends) for a tour of the studio lot. There wasn't any Star Trek stuff to see, except for one really neat little tidbit. He showed us where they filmed the part of Star Trek IV where, at the end of the movie, the crew is splashing around San Francisco Bay with a bunch of out of time whales. Turns out, it's just part of the parking lot at the studio. It's inset, so they flood it. There is a big wall behind the lot that they paint to look like the sky. Finally, before we left, George insisted that we have something autographed by him. We all went into the studio store together. He looked around, trying to find anything Star Trek related, but he couldn't (this was several years ago, before the new movies came out). He walks up to the lady working the register, and he says, using that very distinctive voice/tone of his, "Hello, ma'am... do you have anything Star Trek related?" She looks at him oddly, probably a little star struck. She doesn't respond. George is looking a little hurried and annoyed, "You see", he says, "I was on the show!" Cue everyone breaking into hysterical laughter, except him. Yeah, yeah... maybe you had to be there to appreciate it, but there was something remarkable about the way he almost apologetically asserted himself. He was humble and lovable, a true character. Having lived in LA for several years at the time, I'd met a lot of celebrities, but none of them ever were as gracious as Mr. Takei. TL;DR: Would totally have lunch with George Takei again. He's awesome.
I met him in High School. It was my last day of my senior year and we were just walking around campus and I walked into the auditorium and I guess he was there for some kind of engagement with some staff and was done just sitting in one of the chairs, so we were able to go up and say hi. I found out later he went to my high school which was one reason he was there. He was super nice.
Back when the Spice Girls were big in the early 2000s, they were in town for a concert. A local radio station was doing a contest where you call in to win "breakfast with the spice girls". I was a young teenage boy back then, who was at home sick from school that day, so for s***s and giggles I decided to call to try to win. I ended up winning. The radio station asks me my address and says the tour bus will be in front of my house in an hour. I am nervous as s**t, because the spice girls were about to be at my house, and I'm just here all alone. Mind you I am the shyest person you will ever meet, and a tour bus full of the hottest girl band on the scene was about to be at my house. So the bus finally arrives. Only it wasn't really the spice girls. It was 4 old ladies who called themselves the spice girls, who were cooks. They ended up making scrambled eggs, pancakes, and toast for me on the tailgate of there bus. It was the strangest, weirdest, most akward thing ever. And no one but me was there to witness it.
I won a Seventeen Magazine contest to meet Sarah McLachlan on her tour bus at Lilith Fair. I was a huuuuuge fan and it was a thrill. She was really kind to me despite my being a nervous, stammering wreck. I gave her my favorite necklace and she wore it on stage that night. It was seriously a teenage dream.
aw thats cute of her to wear the necklace! Centuries ago, we were hanging around a hotel were Duran Duran was staying. We didnt see anyone but my friend had a present for Simon Le Bon, earrings for his birthday. We got desperate and she gave it to someone who promised he would give it. Hrs went by again, and all of a sudden the band walked out and got into taxis/limo's. Simon looked at the fans (maybe 10 of us) and then pointed at his earrings, smiled, and got in the cab. My friend lost her s**t, and so did i :-D My mom was with us, she cracked up and said "what an absolute class act!" Story still comes up at birthday parties :-D
In college, I won a contest to meet Graham Chapman of Monty Python.
It was one of the great experiences of my life. He was a really sweet, low key guy. He didn't act at all like a comedian -- he was a bit stiff and formal, almost like a doctor. Very kind and polite, but seemed a bit uncomfortable being a room with a handful of awestruck college kids.
I made a silly crack about how sad the hors d'oeuvres were and he laughed out loud. So now, for the rest of my life, I can say I made Graham Chapman laugh.
It was barely a year later that he died. I was devastated, but it will always be a deeply treasured memory. I have his autograph framed on my wall.
This was abt 10 years ago. Won a meet & great with Britney Spears before her concert thru local radio station. We were warned on the night by one of her staff, that she can be rather shy & it was 50/50 as to whether we'd actually get the meet & if we were to meet her, we were told definitely don't touch her. Sounds harsh, but in hindsight I wouldnt want randoms back stage touching me either. We were in luck, got to meet her v briefly, took a couple of snaps where she put her arms around us & then watched the gig front row. She was much smaller than you think & was lovely in that little moment. Show was excellent too. Thanks Britney.
Not myself. My son is autistic so it is very hard to get him to go to concerts or crowded places. About 4 years ago his sister got them tickets to see TSO. He loves music so he decided to go. After the concerts they do these meet and greets with fans. They set up long tables and you can get autographs. Well my daughter tells them how this is his first concert and how much he really enjoyed it. The artists just gushed over him and made him feel like a million bucks. The young woman took pictures with him giving him cheek kisses. The whole nine yards. He was 20 at the time and it made his Christmas. Made him feel so special. It gave him the confidence to start going to concerts and festivals. The next year we went to a music festival and he ran into Nikki Sixx, Dj Ashba, and Michaels after the festival. They were very kind also. I know it must get frustrating to always be in the public eye. So when I hear or see famous people take the time and have patience with fans it really makes me feel like maybe just maybe there is hope for some of mankind ....maybe
Won a meet and greet with Lenny Kravitz backstage, just prior to one of his Australian concerts - was awesome.
Tour Manager came and got us just after The Cranberries had finished their set and took as backstage where we waited beside a whole heap of their road cases and also just outside "the Wolf Den" which was Wolfmother's backstage dressing room.
The Wolfmother guys kept us entertained as they regularly paced back and forward to "the Wolf Den" in various states of drug-induced dishevelment.
When Lenny appeared from his backstage room, he seemed to have the relaxed demeanor of someone that just had 10 valium - pretty sure he had been meditating or something, though there was a woman who I assume was his make-up artist too.
Guy was shorter than I anticipated and smelt really "exotic". Was super friendly with us, posed for photos, spoke to us and was one of the most humble, laid back people I ever met.
He then walked on stage and killed it.
When I was 10 years old, I was a huuuuge Star Wars fan. My mom happened to be dating a dude who was pretty into the convention circuit at the time, and so he took me to a Star Wars convention. This was '96, Cons weren't a huge thing, but the lineup of cast was actually pretty good. Among them were Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), Kenny Baker(R2-D2), David Prowse (Darth Vader) and Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett). I'll never know if we actually won this contest or if Mom's boyfriend pulled some strings, but he disappears for a minute and comes back saying we won a dinner with the cast! At the Spaghetti Factory (my favorite restaurant at the time!) As we were leaving, we see Jeremy Bulloch walking through the parking lot. We pull over and ask what's up, and he says he missed the bus to the restaurant, so he's going to skip it. HELL NO, we gave Boba Fett a ride to dinner. There I am crammed in a bench seat of a pickup with my goddamn idol, and he is this totally weird old British dude. He keeps whistling softly and then saying "I think I hear a bird!" and then like, looking for the bird? I guess he was trying to entertain me but I was too starstruck to understand what the hell was going on. Dinner was awesome. I sat across from Kenny Baker and I remember being amazed at how tall and beautiful his wife was. Peter Mayhew was the coolest. He was wearing a tie-dye Chewbacca shirt, and went out of his way to come and joke around with me. I haven't seen it in years, but I used to have a picture of him giving me noogies. Just the friendliest dude. Everyone was super cool, but at 10, I spent most of it being quiet and shy and not understanding most of the grown-up talk. It was still one of the greatest experiences of my life. EDIT: Almost forgot the ending! Mom's boyfriend wrote letters back and forth with Jeremy Bulloch for a while after that (he did that kind of thing. He showed me a bunch of letters between him and Jeri Ryan too). One of them said "make sure you say hi to [bloodfist]." I don't know if it was prompted, but I've always really appreciated it. And /u/PeterMayhew , if you see this: I'm sure you don't remember it, but thanks for making young me's day. I'll never forget it, and I'll never stop telling this story.
Not me, but my mom got to meet Robert Downey Jr and he ended up asking to crash at her apartment to avoid crazy fans and traffic before his flight the next morning.
Edit: I realize how sketch this sounds so I should add that they met through my uncle who was a co-star on the movie being made at the time (idk what) and they met when my parents went to the viewing.
He asked to stay with them because my mom worked at the airport and had a shift the next morning and I guess he figured it would be easier to get to the airport lmao.
Quite late, but I met the Red Hot chili Peppers backstage before their live in Paris. They were very sweet and joking around. Anthony is actually really small. Flea is the coolest. I got to talk with him about California as I told him that I dreamt of going there. He started to explain some Californian flora and fauna peculiarities to me, as well as the different sub cultures that you could find there. Josh was just playing guitar as he was walking around the room, standing on the couch and on the table. Chad was more like chill and calm. Amazing human beings!!
So I have been a big fan of Reba since I was 5. As a member of the Fan Club I had a chance for backstage passes, and I got them when I was 8. So my parents take my sister and I to her concert with John Michael Montgomery, and because I'm 8, I fell asleep before the end.
So next thing I know I wake up on the way home, find out they didn't wake me, and my sister and mother got to meet Reba.
They weren't even fans!!! I'm still pissed they didn't wake me!!
That's pretty s**t*y... I'd still be a little salty about it too.
Won a meet and greet with zztop. When I got to the venue before the show me and about 30 other "winners" waited in the designated area for about 3 hours. When the time finally came zztop walked out of one door into the room and without stopping to say a word walked through the room and into another door. All we got was a wave and a brief enough look to maybe snap one blurry picture.
The tour manager embrassed as hell handed out some merch and told us to enjoy the show. We all thought he was kidding but we were quickly pushed out from backstage and back into the general area.
My mom won a lunch for four with Delilah Renee, who is a radio DJ syndicated all over the U.S. but based in Seattle. Her show is very heartfelt, romantic, and positive with many feel-good stories and tales of love. She is a gorgeous and tall, Junoesque blonde, and we didn't know what to expect--would she make us hold hands and sing Kum-bay-ah? Would we have to tell our marriage stories or about the best day of our lives?
That is not how it went. She cursed like a sailor and had a wicked sense of humor. She was honest about her several failed marriages, and she had her latest boyfriend with her who was just as funny as she was. She has adopted many children from around the world and lives on a farm across the Puget Sound. It was most enjoyable and surprising, plus the lunch was a brunch buffet at Salty's, a popular local restaurant, and the food was amazing!
Our favorite story she told was how over the years, when she has been going through divorces or other heartache, she has been taking calls from listeners who are gushing about their charmed love stories. She has to put them on mute or hold sometimes to sob her eyes out, swear a bracing stream of obscenities, then get back to the caller, all serene and encouraging. Great lady!
Holy c**p I forgot about her. My mom and I would listen to her in the car.
I won a Skype call with Bella Thorne by donating about $1,000 to a charity. I wanted to donate the call to my local school, because I lived in a very poverty-stricken area and knew the kids would love it. Most of the kids had never even seen a stop light or been to McDonalds, so the concept of talking with a celebrity was a dream come true. The school had about 40 high schoolers in the entire school. The school was basically just going to let a few of the kids ask her questions that all of the kids collectively chose. She (or her agent or whatever) refused. So I refused to accept the call. The agent said they MAY be able to work something out. I passed along contact information to the school in case she changed her mind, but the kids I talked to said they never got to Skype her; so I guess the call didn't happen. The money still went to charity. Still disappointed with Bella Thorne.
Parents won a competition to fly with the Black Eyed Peas to their concert. They had a good time, briefly held the world record for highest altitude karaoke.
But here’s the best bit. Not only did they meet up and hang out with the BEP, but Redfoo was also on the flight (before he got famous), and even refilled my Mum’s champagne.
Mark Simmons: My girlfriend bet me that I would get the name of the Black Eyed Peas' front man wrong. I said "Will I now?"
I once won an opportunity to meet Jamie Oliver and have a catered lunch with the other winners (there were other winners too) and some additional special guests who had also been invited. There was a lot of food and the whole thing went for about 3 to 4 hours. I had almost zero expectations, so it was pretty good. They were generous with the food and time, and Jamie made sure he went around and talked to all of us. I got a personally signed book as well, which I wasn't expecting and was done towards the end as it was wrapping up. He's a very nice person, exactly like he is on TV. Very open to having people walk up to him and chat. Not at all pretentious or dismissive, like some other celebrities who I've heard put on a fake-friendly public persona.
Not a date as such, more a phone call. I saw on the singer Hozier's twitter he was doing a 'ring this number' and I'll answer. Saw some people tried literally 100s of times. So I thought why not... got through first time, conversation lasted a minute, spent half the time asking if it was really him then just said so... how's things? Briefly answered me then hung up.
Probably gonna get lost in here somewhere but my uncle used to be pretty close with one of the members of the band Rammstein, which are hugely popular in Germany. He owns a lighting business so he often helped make and create some of the special effects for their shows. I’ve met one of them a few times, a rhythm guitarist named Paul Landers. For their noteworthy heavy music he is actually extremely friendly and said he suffers from anxiety so it’s hard sometimes to have a tough persona when he goes on stage.
Won backstage passes and a meet-and-greet with Korn, Disturbed, and Trustcompany back in 2002. There were about a half-dozen of us in total in the group, so it wasn't a total mob, which was nice. All the bands put on great shows individually, and the meet-and-greets were sincere enough - a handshake, a thanks-for-coming-out, and a picture with the band. What was most memorable was a couple of the guys from Trustcompany hanging out with us after their set and meet-and-greet was done and watching Disturbed and Korn's sets - fans just like us, which was pretty cool. Never really followed their music after the first album, but it's a good memory.
My friend won 2 tickets to have lunch with Ludacris back when he was promoting his Word of Mouf album.
The lunch ended up being at the radio station with 20 other winners. We got to eat sandwiches and hang out with him at a big round table. The radio station went live on air with him and we were able to watch/listen and ask questions.
I was probably a freshman or sophomore in high school. I remember he was super cool and had the softest skin (hands) id ever felt
Had dinner with the French rugby World Cup team in 1987
They spent the night flirting with my mother but like their effort in the final against the All Blacks they came second
Wow finally something I can contribute you. I was about 11 and it was one of those send in contests. (really showing my age) Anyway I was a huge wrestling fan, we didn’t have the internet and I was young so I KNEW wrestling was real. There was a contest where you could send in and meet with your favorite wrestler, mine of course was Kane since he was a total bad a*s. I never win anything so I was super surprised when I heard back and I won. I was the happiest little kid ever. The day I got to meet him I was so excited, I wore his mask to the event and I remember asking young kid questions like “how did you survive getting hit with weapons” and stuff like that. He was a great guy, I asked him to chokeslam me through a table but he respectively decline. Thinking back he was very nice to my mom, who was single at the time. Makes me wonder.....
Not gonna lie, but it'd be hilarious if Kane did Make-A-Wish like John Cena, but instead of cheering up sick/terminally ill kids he meets perfectly healthy kids and chokeslams them through tables.
Not sure if this really counts but my Dad used to work for Virgin Trains in the mid-90's. I think Virgin Trains are only a UK thing but the Virgin brand is global thanks to the airline and most people know the company was started by a guy called Richard Branson. He know owns his own private island and is trying to get passengers into space.
Anyway he is a really nice guy and each year used to have "fun days" at his mansion in Oxfordshire for his staff and families. This basically consisted of him putting on loads of stuff like fairs, hot air balloon rides and pop up pubs and restaurants (he had a McDonalds, which 12yr old me thought was cool). I went to two events and each time he greeted everyone personally, shook their hand and welcomed them to his home.
Looking back it must have cost and absolute fortune. I know each part of the Virgin brand had it's own day too, so the train people were there a different day to the plane people.
So yeah, Richard Branson is a thoroughly decent billionaire.
Can testify that also, he was my father neighboor at one point ( he had a pied à terre near Paris) very nice guy and simple as possible, came to share a beer at home
20 years ago I won a contest to meet a famous (at the time) pop-punk band and go to the studio with them to see them record their new album.
It was actually amazing. They flew me and my girlfriend into LA and put us up in the same hotel as the band was staying. The guys in the band were surprisingly down to earth. They were funny, not stuck up at all, and really easy to talk too. The singer was a bit of a sex symbol but didn’t give off that vibe. He was a regular guy.
We hung out at the hotel the night we got in. We went to one of their rooms, listened to music, had some drinks (nothing exessive) a couple of the guys played PlayStation. I had a long talk with the drummer (who always seemed quiet) about a musical artist in another genre we were both obsessed with (Morrissey if you’re curious) and it was great.
The next morning we did a bit of tourist stuff in LA then they drove us to the studio. It was like in this garage in an industrial area, not at all what I expected. This was a really well known studio too.
So we go in there and we just hang out in couches, chat with the producer for a while (who did a lot of well known albums) and then the singer spends like 4 hours recording background vocals for a single song. It was very educational. The whole album was basically recorded on a computer and they had this computer ninja doing all kinds of edits on the fly.
Then we all went to Thai food and they took us to an awesome record store in Hollywood they liked.
We said goodbye, spent the next day doing more tourist stuff and flew home. It was an incredible experience.
When the album came out nine months or so later it was incredible to hear the song we witnessed recording. I still love hearing it.
The band and genre aren’t so popular these days but I still listen to them because of what nice, regular human beings they were.
Edit: it was MxPx.
Strange that they didn't mention the band name straight off. I kinda glazed over this one but I love MXPX. They're making a comeback too. Awesome band.
This wasn’t like a contest, but I my old manager at Lush told me that once a dude in a suit came into the store 5 min before closing and told them to lock the doors. Once they did and everybody was out, Beyoncé walked in and started shopping. She bought 3 of the most expensive gift boxes ($400 box sets) and was apparently really down to earth and nice.
Friend of mine was 'won' a spend the day / 'asked' to sing with Shania Twain at a concert. She was the lead in a big play in the area, why she won.
She was picked up in a limo, brought to the venue & given instructions, saw Shania for about a minute, and then ended up singing with her onstage where Shania was quite the actress encouraging her to sing.
Then after the show they drove her home. So like a minute with Shania.
Note: this post originally had 58 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Not really a meet & greet, but went to a Tim McGraw & Faith Hill concert a few years ago. Our seats were front row of the lower bowl of a stadium (so first row up off the floor.) Faith ended up walking around this lower bowl, shaking everyone's hands! (pre-COVID obviously.) So I got to shake her hand... she has super tiny and very bony hands! A lady a couple seats away from me got to hug her.
cool! i ended up at the very front row of a Bruce Springsteen stadium gig just by running fast enough :-D im not even really a fan (a friend took me there) but at some point he got off stage and walked along the front giving hi fives and I got one. Main thing i remember is how handsome and tiny he is IRL.
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Not a contest, but Cyndi Lauper played a free concert at the Milennial Music store in Portland, Oregon, and then stayed after to meet fans and sign autographs. Sat right up front while she was on stage and gave her flowers. Afterward, she signed my Vibes VHS tape. She was surprised that I had brought it (one of my favorite movies) and spent an extra couple of minutes talking to me. Such a tiny powerhouse and one of the most beautiful people (inside and out) I have ever met. She was touring with Cher and had her toddler with her yet she took this time to give her fans a free show and meet-and-greet. Absolutely amazing woman!
If that's the movie soundtrack, it might be worth some money because of how few were released.
Load More Replies... Not really a meet & greet, but went to a Tim McGraw & Faith Hill concert a few years ago. Our seats were front row of the lower bowl of a stadium (so first row up off the floor.) Faith ended up walking around this lower bowl, shaking everyone's hands! (pre-COVID obviously.) So I got to shake her hand... she has super tiny and very bony hands! A lady a couple seats away from me got to hug her.
cool! i ended up at the very front row of a Bruce Springsteen stadium gig just by running fast enough :-D im not even really a fan (a friend took me there) but at some point he got off stage and walked along the front giving hi fives and I got one. Main thing i remember is how handsome and tiny he is IRL.
Load More Replies... Not a contest, but Cyndi Lauper played a free concert at the Milennial Music store in Portland, Oregon, and then stayed after to meet fans and sign autographs. Sat right up front while she was on stage and gave her flowers. Afterward, she signed my Vibes VHS tape. She was surprised that I had brought it (one of my favorite movies) and spent an extra couple of minutes talking to me. Such a tiny powerhouse and one of the most beautiful people (inside and out) I have ever met. She was touring with Cher and had her toddler with her yet she took this time to give her fans a free show and meet-and-greet. Absolutely amazing woman!
If that's the movie soundtrack, it might be worth some money because of how few were released.
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