Andy Hughes

[milly143]

Hi Andy,

Having just read your answer about the job you do I was just wondering who the nicest and worst people you have met and if there was anyone who came across really differently in person compared to their media persona?

[andy-hughes]

Hi milly143

I am very lucky to have met loads of really famous people. Most of them I meet in a 'professional' context - I am there to interview them, so we are both professional in our approach to each other. Some i have known socially, and without exception they have been very friendly and interesting company, once we have established that 'off the record' means just that - I can be trusted, but it takes a little time, for good reason, given the way some of the media behave.

I think it's largely down to how you approach people. I am always nice and polite, because that's my nature, and most people reciprocate. i have heard other writers and photographers who advise that 'Star X' is a real pain, and 'Star Y' is rude and nasty, and when I have been with them, they've been fine.

The one person who is utterly unlike his media personna is Gary Numan. OK, he's cool now, but for most of his career, he has been a hate figure for journalists. Truth is, he is really really shy, and uncomfortable with people he doesn't know. I interviewd him in the '80's, we got on fine, I found he had a realy great sense of humour once he relaxed, and we had a great time. When the interview was published, he was so pleased, he go ti touch, and took me flying in his plane for an afternoon as a thank-you. He's a really nicec person, much maligned and misrepresented.

Thanks for tour interest.

A x

[milly143]

Wow, that was pretty decent of him. I guess with the reputation the British media have, it was probably quite novel to meet a nice journolist!

Thanks for answering, Andy.

[Wispy68]

It was really nice to read that, Andy.

Which magazine/radio/TV programme was it published in?

I thought he was the bees knees when I was younger (you couldn't see my wallpaper for posters of him, or my carpets for his records!!) and I used to get really annoyed when I read all the negative press about him.

Although I never met him, he always seemed really shy and down to earth in interviews. I recently saw him on a programme with his wife and he doesn't seem to have changed at all!

[andy-hughes]

Hi again milly143 - you are most welcome.

I quite agree with your response - he was so amazed that I quoted him accurately, and didn't twist his responses into a hidden agenda that he was genuinely pleased, and I had a fantastic afternoon flying with him.

Again the press made a huge deal out of his flying - he must be crap etc., but in fact he is seriously good. he is a member of the Harvaard Display Team - at their invitation, and if you are going to fly a several hundred miles an hour, with another aircraft twenty feet away from you, you;d need to have confidence that the other guy knows what he's doing!

Wispy68 - thanks for your kind comment. The feature was published in Zig Zag magazine in the early '80's.

A.