Fun with Thomas, Tom and many more - The Jewish Chronicle

The whirlwind of premieres and award ceremonies has returned with vengeance. The renewed social whirl brings new parties, fun events and simultaneously evokes happy memories of past ones.

A few weeks ago I attended perhaps my best premiere ever, a special screening of the latest Thomas & Friends film with the most special guest — my three-year-old grandson.

During the showing, my mind slipped back to a London premiere of Mission Impossible at which Tom Cruise and I talked about his hobby of fencing. I used to fence when I was younger, inspired by my father who had qualified for the British Olympics team but was prevented by injury from taking part. My family though still enjoy Olympic pride as my wife Katrina’s father, Peter Clayton, competed as a swimmer for the British Olympic Team in 1948.

I also recalled the 82nd Academy Awards in Hollywood. I flew to LA with Myleene Klass, who was then hosting CNN’s movie show The Screening Room and brilliantly anchoring their Oscar coverage from the red carpet.

The Oscars ceremony itself lasts around three and half hours so sitting through it can be tedious — unlike attending the exclusive VIP viewing parties where the real fun happens.

In 2010 I was a guest at The Elton John Aids Foundation Academy Award viewing party, where the invitees included Victoria Beckham, Heidi Klum, Jamie Foxx, Sharon Osbourne and Simon Cowell. What makes Elton and David Furnish’s parties so special is that they are such incredibly welcoming hosts. Stories of their kindness are legendary. Elton’s Aids Foundation is in the top 10 philanthropic funders of HIV grants in the world.

I attended with Heart DJ Kelly Brook whose film Piranha 3D, an award winning comedy horror film, was released a few months later. Kelly’s career has been remarkable since she achieved national stardom 20 years ago when co-hosting The Big Breakfast. Kelly has starred in movies, a US network TV show, on the West End stage and been the face of brands all over the world.

As Thomas cavorted on screen — to the utter delight of my grandson — other memories of my Hollywood trip that year came to mind

As I was driving down Hollywood Boulevard on the way to an important meeting, my life changed irrevocably. Myleene was on the phone to my brilliant co-director Severine Berman. Suddenly I had an epiphany. I hit the dash board so loudly that Severine could hear me back in London, shouting: “I am going to marry Katrina!”.

Such was my schedule that, one evening following the Oscars, I hosted three dinners concurrently at BOA Steakhouse on Sunset, a magnet for film and TV stars.

On one table was Myleene and the late Hollywood super-agent John Ferriter who was my LA business partner.

On another was Kelly Brook with important TV producers for pilot season, which is when Hollywood studios create samples of new shows. This led to Kelly starring in NBC’s sitcom series One Big Happy produced by Ellen DeGeneres.

Dinner number three was British multi-platinum-selling hip music group N-Dubz being filmed dining for their MTV Being N-Dubz series.

Leaving my reverie, there was plenty going on in the present.

I was so excited to be invited to the stage premiere of a favourite film of all time — Back To the Future. And wow! I was not disappointed. The DeLorean car defied the laws of theatre as it seemed to speed at 88mph, with spectacular special effects sparking a shower of light and colour.

People screamed in terror as we watched 2:22 A Ghost Story starring Lily Allen and Jake Wood. As Jake took the curtain call to a standing ovation, Katrina leaned over to me and said “Jake was fantastic and should be a Hollywood superstar. His acting is brilliant.”

A more sobering occasion was a dinner to discuss the curse of modern day slavery. It seems beyond belief that we are talking about slavery in 2021. The intimate dinner was hosted by Princess Eugenie with Caroline Haughey QC, a leading expert in human trafficking, setting out the dreadful scale of today’s problem, leaving us in no doubt that for many people modern day slavery may be as close as a home of in their own street. That is the reality.

In 2016 the remarkable Nicola Mendelsohn CBE was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma, an incurable cancer of the blood. My charity shout out this month is to her Follicular Lymphoma Foundation to fund research to find a cure for this terrible disease. Please go to www.theflf.org and donate.