East 17 frontman Terry Coldwell has revealed some of the most bizarre fan interactions he had across his 30-year music career.
Loyal fans of the 90s band will remember the group for their infamous Christmas single Stay Another Day which bumped the Queen of Christmas Mariah Carey off the number one list back in 1994. The group went from strength to strength as one of the biggest boybands in the UK and toured all over the globe with their chart-topping hits.
As the group celebrate their 30th anniversary of the Christmas classic, the dad-of-six has exclusively sat down with Daily Star to reflect on some of the biggest pinch-me moments so far. Following the release of their second Christmas single, Merry Quitmas, the 50-year-old revealed how one tour through Germany soon got out of hand.
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When asked if he has any wild fan interactions over the years, the singer chuckled: “Oh loads, we’re known for the craziest fans.” It was at this point that he revealed how one dedicated fan snuck onto the tour bus and made it all the way to the German border before she was escorted off the bus.
He confessed: “One slept on the tour bus once and snuck through the luggage compartment and then crept upstairs and hid in one of the bunks. I remember we drove about 200 kilometres and when we got to the border of the Netherlands, the police got on to have a little check and they found this girl in one of the bunks.
“We thought, ‘Where’s she come from?’ and we had to give her a load of money to get a train back to Düsseldorf or something. That is hard core mate.” Terry went on to reveal that some of the group’s more dedicated fans live in the heart of Italy, with fans following the tour bus all over the country.
The doting dad went on: “In Italy was funny because you used to get them all chasing you on a moped. So, you used to get 50 or 100 mopeds behind the van chasing us.”
Terry went on to explain how his fans have changed over the years, with the pop group now being thrown “belly warmers” on stage instead of thongs like they did back in the day. When asked if the group still receive gifts from fans, he revealed how his fanbase has changed over the years.
He explained: “We do get gifts still, but we get belly warmers thrown at us now on stage. And the funny thing is we get the young fans and they say, it’s not even my mum, it’s my Nan now, ‘my Nan loves you’.
“I thought, ‘Wow, we’re getting old, ain’t we?’ It’s Nan’s now and belly warmers.” It comes after the launch of their new single Merry Quitmas which has already received more than 100,000 views online.
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Current members of East 17, Terry Coldwell, Robbie Craig and Joe Livermore have joined forces with Riot Labs to release their first charity single Merry Quitmas to encourage smokers to kick the habit over the festive period. Speaking about their new single, the group said: “Smoking sucks, we’ve wanted to quit for years and now we’re going to give it a good go ourselves at the same time as campaigning to get Merry Quitmas to No. 1.
“Almost 30 years on from East 17’s first Christmas Number 1, it was time to give it another go, and we reckon this single is some of our best work. We really hope fans old and new get behind it.” Their new track can be downloaded on iTunes and Amazon Music.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk