Months ago, I agreed to take part in a Question Panel tonight. I gave no particular thought to what else might be scheduled for the same night.

I wish I could pretend all snootily that I have no interest in the result of the Champions' League Final, and couldn't care less that I'll be missing it. Man U v Chelsea - ugh!

Truth is, I'd love to have been able to see it. Everyone I know (except Mrs P!) appears to be excited about it and doing something fun to watch it.

The same thing happened in 1999 when I had said I'd go to a dinner in Whitehall without realising what else would be happening that night. I recorded the game and thought I'd find a way of getting home without hearing the result. What an idiot. No sooner had I stepped out of the building than I saw delirious Man U fans in the fountain at Trafalgar Square.

So I won't try to escape the news tonight. I'll just hope that Man U win. (And - aren't football fans horrid?! - just to rub it in, wouldn't it be lovely if Chelsea lose on penalties, the most heart breaking way of losing as exists?)