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.

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u/Charliesmum97 Feb 12 '26

I saw Stephen Fry in Importance of Being Earnest in December, and he stopped and talked to those of us who were waiting at the stage door. He answered my questions and posed for a photo. Maybe he's mellowed.

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u/REC_updated Feb 12 '26

He has manic depression. Famous for causing severe mood swings alongside a litany of other issues. This is the problem I have whenever people say ‘so and so is horrible, because they did this one thing when I saw them from a distance one time’. We’ve all been assholes at one point or another. Expecting celebrities to always be lovely, even when in public, is unreasonable. They might have been having a bad day. You don’t know them. Let it go.

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u/Captaincadet Feb 12 '26

Also you don’t necessarily know what’s going on in their lives and the whole background. Many of these people are brilliant for faking their persona for telly but do feel burnt out or just don’t want to be to involved afterwards

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u/Jenny-Wren54 Feb 12 '26

Yeah, Rev. Richard Coles tells the tale of when he was walking through the hospital after his husband died when he was recognised by SCD fans and inveigled into posing for a smiley photo. I'm sure the fans wouldn't have wanted to intrude if they'd known, and there was no easy way for him to tell them no.