Early on Dale was so happy with his life
It is every well-dressed woman’s worst nightmare
“WHO is a happy man? The man who is contented with his lot.” Such a man, in the days when I mixed, mingled and worked with him not to mention partied with him at Feltz Towers was the truly delightful Dale Winton.
He loved being famous. He adored performing on the telly. All he had ever wanted in life was a fabulous shiny jacket, a gigantic microphone and an audience shouting his name. Unlike many household names Dale revelled in the limelight, held court at pavement-side café tables in busy streets in London’s West End, thrilled to be recognised and eager to pose.
He thoroughly enjoyed Supermarket Sweep, Pets Win Prizes, Hole In The Wall and the National Lottery. Far from wishing he could present Newsnight or make serious shows about hospital waiting times he was entirely content to be exactly where he was fronting formats the public loved.
Working with Dale was a hoot. Filming would be progressing apace. Suddenly there would be a shriek from Dale. “Stop! More lip-gloss!” He insisted cameramen mounted step ladders because he thought he looked extra handsome if shot from above.
Sadly when he moved to the US he became harder to contact. I count myself among the throngs of old pals who had not realised Dale was waging a war on depression.
To hear his glittering presence has been extinguished at the age of just 62 is devastating to his family, friends and all those who basked in the effulgent light of his personality. RIP. DEBENHAMS’ profits are down for the last quarter. Say it ain’t so! Let’s not stand idly by and allow dear Debs to go the way of Woolworths and BHS.
I’m a regular at their Oxford Street store – it’s over the road from the BBC – and remain devoted to their designers’ ranges and bowled over by their bedding, homewares, children’s clothing ranges and frivolous yet affordable swimwear. BHS was stuck in a rut. Woolworths lost its mojo. I don’t think Debenhams is floundering in the same way.
My producer told me she was there last week and her mum bought a spring coat, she snapped up a cute summer dress and her teenager found some reasonably priced make-up.
The demise of Debenhams would leave a chasm in our shopping lives. John Lewis is safe but not as much fun. Or am I showing my age? Seymour, left, and Paris Hilton IT IS widely billed as every woman’s nightmare. You swan into a soiree bristling with fashionistas and behold some other woman is wearing an identical gown to yours. Shock! Horror! Nightmare. Especially if she happens to be a good three decades younger.
Only the actress and Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman veteran Jane Seymour, has the power to transform what could have been an excruciating embarrassment into an elegant interlude. Colliding with Paris Hilton at the entrance to an awards ceremony and finding she was attired in exactly the same tulip printed Oscar de La Renta dress, Jane smiled and uttered the stylish phrase: “What can I say, we both know what looks good.”
It must have helped to know that at the age of 67 and fresh from a Playboy magazine shoot, Jane’s figure and style knocked the younger woman’s into the proverbial cocked hat.