When it comes to showbiz, there wasn’t a thing the late Barbara Windsor didn’t know, and she was only too happy to share her wisdom with her famous mates.
One of those was Rylan Clark, who became friends with the EastEnders legend before her death in December 2020.
The presenter has revealed that Babs shared a solid gold piece of advice that got him out of “many awkward scrapes” over the years, and the good news is that it’s useful out of showbiz circles too.
Speaking to The Observer, Rylan revealed that he had bumped into Barbara in Selfridges in London just a few weeks after he had come off X Factor back in 2012, after first meeting a month earlier.
“Then she introduced me to her husband and I was like, ‘Hello, Scott. Lovely to meet you!’,” he recalled.
“She said, ’No, darling. You said hello to him a few weeks back at X Factor’. I was so sorry. Like, all over the place.
“And she said, ‘Let me give you the best piece of advice you’ll ever need. Never say, “Nice to meet you.” It’s always, “Lovely to see you.”’ And for the past 10 years, Barbara Windsor has got me out of so many awkward scrapes.
“If she was still with us today I would give her the biggest kiss.
“Meeting Madonna, Britney, pah, they just pale in comparison.”
Read the full interview with Rylan here.