LINDSEY WILL BE SEEING STARS IN WORLD RECORD BID
A wacky Paisley mum hopes to set a world record – by meeting scores of celebrities during the summer holidays.
Madcap Lyndsay Irvine has already blown thousands of pounds following some of the showbiz world’s best-known names around the globe. In fact, the 27-year-old has been photographed with so many stars, she reckons her amazing feat should be documented in the Guinness Book of World Records. And she’s trying to meet as many famous faces as possible before her little girl Chloe, six, goes back to school in August.
Lyndsay has even named her special mission ‘Crave-fest 2004’ – in honour of the fact that people who chase the stars are known as ‘cravers’. And now, Guinness World Records staff have urged her to contact them so they can decide whether her celebrity tally is worthy of a place in their famous book.
Yesterday, the young mum – who goes star-spotting with her daughter and her close pal Deborah Vik – admitted: “People think we’re stalkers but we’re not.
“We know when to draw the line.
“It’s all really good fun, and anyway, I can think of worse ways to spend my time than meeting gorgeous boys.”
The bubbly young mum’s fixation with the rich and famous began when she met Westlife during their promotional tour in 2002. Lyndsay – whose bedroom is a shrine to the hunky boy band – explained: “I was waiting outside Radio Clyde in the hope of seeing the boys and Chloe started crying.
“She was just so tired and getting impatient waiting to see her favourite singer, Kian Egan.
“Bryan McFadden came out and saw she was upset, so he took her inside to meet all the other guys and she got a kiss from Kian.
“It all just started from there.” She continued: “My favourite in the band is Mark Feehily. I just love him.
“I have a pair of his boxer shorts, a towel he once threw to me and a teddy bear he gave me with the words ‘I love you’ on it. I even flew to Sweden specially to go to a party he was having for his birthday. I managed to get in too. The band knows us really well. They have their own special nickname for us – the Glasgow Groupies – even though we’re from Paisley. That’s because we’re always in the front row when they perform in Glasgow.”
Lyndsay is so infatuated with Westlife, she has even set up a naughty website dedicated to Mark’s tongue! And cheeky chat show host Graham Norton featured it on his risqué late-night programme. The young mum is willing to go to any lengths to catch a glimpse of her favourite stars. She camped out for 20 hours on the streets of Edinburgh in the middle of winter to see Westlife.
And she spent 14 hours at Glasgow Airport last month on the look-out for celebrities who were jetting in for the massive Live + Loud open-air concert at Hampden Park. She said: “We saw Phixx, Blue, Busted, Girls Aloud, McFly, V, Twen2y4se7en, Jamelia, Peter Andre and Maroon 5.
“We’ve also met Sam and Mark, Darius, Michelle McManus, Jordan, Robbie Williams – and we love Nick Dixon, the newsreader from STV. We even bought him a couple of ties as a present.”
Brazen Lyndsay says her most cringe-worthy moment came when she swaggered up to music mogul Louis Walsh and begged him to sign her up as the sixth member of pop sensation Girls Aloud. She explained: “I was really drunk at the time and I started to sing this Osmonds song and ask him if I could join the band.
“He just laughed, patted my shoulder and said ‘aye, no bother’. The next morning I went up and apologised, but he found the whole thing extremely funny.”
Now Lyndsay is hoping and praying that a cavalcade of stars will descend on Paisley for one of the town’s biggest outdoor street parties. A string of celebrities, including telly presenters Richard and Judy and the stars of GMTV, are being lined up to guest at the St Andrew’s Ambulance centenary celebrations in Barshaw Park on Sunday, August 15. Said Lyndsay: “To see Richard, Judy or maybe even Eamonn Holmes from GMTV would be great, but my dream is to meet Ashley Hamilton.
“I sat on his step dad, Rod Stewart’s, knee at the Wee Barrel in Paisley when I was three.
“Ashley is absolutely gorgeous. If I met him that would certainly keep me happy.”
A spokesperson for Guinness World Records told the Paisley Daily Express: “There is currently no record in the Book for meeting the most number of celebrities.
“However we’d be interested in finding out more about Lyndsay’s attempt and would encourage her to contact us as soon as possible.
“Our team of researchers would then look at the evidence of who Lyndsay had met, which could include witness statements or photographs.
“This is certainly one of our more unusual record attempts, and it would be up to the researchers whether or not it made it into the Guinness World Records Book.”