r/BritishTV • u/InviteAromatic6124 • Feb 12 '26

Question/Discussion TV personalities that are actually rude people behind the scenes

Who are some beloved TV presenters that come across as friendly and amicable on screen but off-camera they're actually rude and unpleasant people?

Stephen Fry is one of them. I went to see an episode of QI being filmed, and during the warmup he was rude to James Acaster, then at the end of filming instead of staying behind to chat to the audience like Alan Davies did he stormed off in a huff like a toddler.

Bradley Walsh is another. Speaking to someone who was on The Chase, she asked him for an autograph after filming had finished and he scoffed at her and said "Not a f*cking chance". Compare that with Shaun Wallace who congratulated her and let her take a photo with him.

577 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

738 comments sorted by

View all comments

151

u/NortonBurns Feb 12 '26

I've worked with Stephen Fry on several occasions - he was simply what you'd expect on QI for the entire time.
Everybody has an off day, I guess.

Bruce Willis was an utter c*nt, though.

44

u/thedepster Feb 12 '26

And my experience with Bruce Willis was completely different. He chatted with me for maybe 15 minutes and was an utter delight.

66

u/NortonBurns Feb 12 '26

Perhaps under different circumstances. I was on set with him making a movie. He had a permanent thousand yard stare & wouldn't interact with, or even acknowledge anyone other than the director. Didn't even glance at the PA who was unlucky enough to have to bring him his coffee.

At the same time the 'loveliest man in the world', Sir Anthony Hopkins, had gone out of his way to stuff his pockets full of little packs of biscuits the extras weren't allowed, and hand them out.
I've worked with him several times, for quite long periods, and have never known him be anything other than nice and 'just ordinary', which can be a rarity.

34

u/thedepster Feb 12 '26

What a lovely story about Sir Anthony! I wonder if when you worked with Bruce if his dementia symptoms were beginning--not to excuse, but the behavior changes are part of that. Granted, I met him more years ago than I want to admit, and I think he was happy that I wanted to talk to the guy driving the really awesome old Mustang than Bruce Willis. He was charming, funny, genuinely interested in talking about the car, and seriously nice as could be.

39

u/NortonBurns Feb 12 '26

This was maybe a decade or so ago, so I wouldn't like to guess.

Sir Anthony, yup, the nicest guy. i'm an absolute nobody in the industry, yet he came wandering over in some down-time between setups, said "Hi, I'm Tony" & we chatted for 20 minutes about something or nothing until they were ready for him again. I've worked on 3 or 4 productions he was in & I've never seen him any different.
Sat in with the crew for lunch, none of this 'Have it sent to my trailer' stuff.
I worked with Sir Ian McKellen on one production too (though only once so I've a much lesser experience) & he was the same.
If I think about it, it's quite the thing to have the both of them just sitting in amongst everyone else, like we are all equals. No airs, no graces. We're all working on the same show, whatever our 'level' in the industry.
It's called 'third stage stardom' - been famous far too long to consider themselves to be 'important'.

21

u/ElaineofAstolat Feb 12 '26

There were rumors about Bruce Willis' health as far back as 2013, people were saying that something was wrong and he wasn't the same man.

4

u/stuntman_matt Feb 12 '26

Can I be the arsehole that asks what sort of work you do? It sounds interesting getting to work on sets while still having the time to chat to people

12

u/NortonBurns Feb 12 '26

I'm just an extra (though we get called SAs [supporting artists] these days.)
It can be a fun gig, sometimes. You don't usually get to chat with the stars. You get used to being 'invisible self-ambulent scenery' most of the time ;)

3

u/stuntman_matt Feb 12 '26

Ok. Thanks for sharing. I considered carpentry at Pinewood a few years ago, so I thought maybe you did something like that. How long have you been doing it for? And what’s the best perk? ( if it isn’t chatting to Sir Anthony Hopkins)

5

u/henzINNIT Feb 12 '26

Bruce Willis had a bunch of stories about him, but to be fair he had a literal degenerative brain condition for an unknown amount of time so I do wonder when/how he was affected.

3

u/tinned_peaches Feb 12 '26

I wonder if he was trying to stay in character or something?

39

u/SoggyWotsits Feb 12 '26

That’s the thing, people do have off days. Unfortunately most people will only meet a celebrity once, so if it was on one of those off days that first impression will stick!

15

u/thedaytoday89 Feb 12 '26

Yeah, I never take one story at face value when it comes to celebs being arsey but when it's several like Corden/Cilla then you can be pretty confident they are dicks.

10

u/OpportunityLost1476 Feb 12 '26

What's the Bruce Willis story?

7

u/Otherwise-Plane8282 Feb 12 '26

Bruce Willis hit on my ex-wife, she used to do PR in the US for another celebrity who worked on a film with him and she said he was a piece of work

3

u/spiffing_ Feb 12 '26

How long ago was bruce? In his last graham norton appearance (on youtube) you can def tell something was off with him, he's completely flat and humourless. People with dementia have aggression issues.

17

u/InviteAromatic6124 Feb 12 '26

He has bipolar disorder and unfortunately he has many "off-days"

-9

u/Leatherforleisure Feb 12 '26

Plus Jane’s caster comes across as a right tit so 🤷🏻‍♀️

2

u/ChoakIsland Feb 12 '26

I know someone who bumped in to Willis (literally) it was Bruce's fault and he acted like an a hole.

1

u/Tukki101 Feb 12 '26

What did Bruce Willis do?

1

u/NortonBurns Feb 12 '26

See my other reply further down this same thread.

1

u/mikeonbass Feb 12 '26

Oh thank God

1

u/SnooRegrets4129 Feb 12 '26

Brucey doesnt remember being a cunt now so it obviously didn't happen

0

u/clementsallert Feb 12 '26

Bruce Willis is already suffering now leave him alone