A Fun Portrait Session At Malmaison in Leeds
“Fantastic! All my photos I had done were Fantastic!” … Vicky (Pictured)
A FUN PORTRAIT SESSION AT MALMAISON HOTEL
I first came across Malmaison Hotel when I arrived in Leeds from London, 20 years ago.
I was the presenter of the Mid Morning show on Real Radio, Yorkshire and I arrived on this particular Sunday with all my bags to meet ‘Rossy’ who was my ‘competitor’ on Aire FM at the time. He had offered to put me up until I settled into a new place in the City.
At the table was Chris Moyles, who I’d briefly worked with in Milton Keynes (His work ethic was incredible then. It was obvious he was going to go far. Such a talent)
The man sitting next to me was wearing a baseball cap and introduced himself as ‘Dom’. Dom and I chatted for an hour or so. The following weekend, I bumped into him in a bar and he called me over and treated me as an old friend.
It was only after our first meet that I learned he was Dominic Matteo, the Captain of Leeds United and it was at that point that I fell in love with this incredible City. (Indeed, this amazing County)
You see, in London, if you don’t recognise the captain of a Premiership team you will have the Mickey taken out of you forevermore. You will never get to live it down.
In Leeds, no one cares. There are no airs and graces, no big egos … It’s all ‘what you see is what you get’
A few weeks later, I was in The Queens Hotel and around the table was Stan Richards (Seth from Emmerdale) who asked if there was a cash machine nearby. I volunteered to walk him over the road and just by the cash machine, he decided to ‘take a wee’ (What is it about men on a Saturday night? When they’ve got to go, they’ve got to go)
Standing there, having a Jimmy Riddle (As we say down south) – 2 boys who recognised him came up to say hello. One held his hand out and without missing a beat, Seth, still peeing, turned to shake that man’s hand! Hilarious!
I believe the man was such a fan, he probably hasn’t washed his hands since.
My love affair with Leeds strengthened that night. Again, in London, that would have ended up on the front page of the local paper.
So… Here is a fun shoot with Vicky at Malmaison Hotel …
