The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
‘I saw wildebeest ... and Andre Agassi’
Jenson Button,
of the sky, and I really thought my time was up. I’ve travelled a few times to sing for the troops, and each trip comes with its own hairy moments. But I feel honoured to be invited to sing there.
Charlotte Church,
Singing at George Bush’s presidential inauguration in 2001 was certainly a surreal moment in my travels for work. I ended up sitting next to Kelsey Grammer, the actor from the US television series Frasier. I was also doing my GCSEs at that time, so I did one of my exams in some government building next to the White House and I remember feeling really special because I got to have a cup of tea while I sat my GCSEs.
Agyness Deyn,
I was in Senegal for a shoot and a local driver took me to his village to meet his family. They all followed me around, as they’d never seen anyone so pale with such blonde hair. They just stared at me and touched me as if I was this weird alien. The whole trip was truly surreal.
Vince Cable,
Learning to ski after the age of 60 was quite adventurous. I spent the first couple of weeks mostly on my backside – but since getting the hang of it, I’ve come to enjoy it tremendously. And without claiming to be desperately brave, I’ve tried my hand at a fair number of potentially dangerous holiday activities over the years.
David Haye,
I had high expectations for my first trip to New York, but it turned into the day from hell. As soon as I arrived, I got stuck in a toilet in a branch of the Subway chain restaurant for half an hour. I nearly sprained my ankle trying to kick the door open. I then later dropped barbecued chicken wings directly onto the brand new white trainers I was wearing. As I walked straight out of the restaurant, someone in a taxi passing by spat out the window (not on purpose) and it went directly onto my face. All of this happened just hours after I got off the plane before I even got to my hotel. Once I got there, I refused to leave my room, thinking I was cursed.
Helen McCrory,
Getting away from everything familiar. Tasting new things is such a thrill. Someone once said you can’t understand the people of a country until you dance to their music and taste their food. Nothing makes me happier than pottering around a museum, then eating a local dish and listening to local music.
Hugh Dennis,
My family and I have been to the Serengeti for the wildebeest migration, which was amazing. But I looked over at one of the Jeeps near us and there was Andre Agassi with Steffi Graf. The weirdest thing about this was Andre’s clothes. Normally people wear khakicoloured, safari-type clothing to keep a low profile in the wild. But Andre was sat there in his tennis gear – everything bar his tennis racquet, from the sleeveless top to the shorts – it was fascinating.
Antonio Carluccio,
Always eat when you can. You never know when you will get your next meal, or how good it will be. Whenever I travel, I always eat at a seafood counter at the airport, just to be safe.
Beverley Knight,
Brazil was one of the most remarkable places I’ve ever been to. In a strange way it was like coming home. Music is a part of everything in Brazil, which really appeals to me, so I was out most nights partying in the streets when I was there. It is such a culturally rich place and the one place I’ve come back from on holiday feeling very tearful.
Ben Shephard,
On my first night in Bangkok, I stayed in a grotty hostel with cockroaches crawling up the walls, which were basically as thin as cardboard. The people in the room next to me were screaming and shouting. I lay awake, absolutely terrified, waiting for somebody to burst open the door to my room. That was the most scared I’d ever been while travelling.
Al Murray,
If a hotel doesn’t meet my capricious standards, I can get in a real twist about it. Whenever I complain about a hotel, people tell me to get over myself, saying that I’m being a “diva”. But if you’ve paid a lot of money and you don’t get the expected level of service, why should you not say something?
Warwick Davis,
I never thought India would be so full of life, colour, vibrancy and energy – it was so exciting. I travelled through Mumbai, Delhi and Varanasi and it made me appreciate the world, life and people. There are so many people in India, and they live very close together but they are so respectful of each other.
For more celebrity interviews from this year, see telegraph.co.uk/travel/celebritytravel