Post by shesabadone on Apr 22, 2007 18:30:15 GMT
Derek Acorah a big Shirl fanMar 31 2007
Gavin Allen, South Wales Echo
HE CAN communicate with the spirits of the other side and not raise an eyebrow but there was a time when Derek Acorah remembers breaking out in a nervous sweat.
Britain's favourite medium has revealed that it was a certain lady who gave him the shakes when he got the chance to meet his idol - Shirley Bassey.
Before he made a career out of chasing ghosts out of town, Liverpudlian Acorah was a professional footballer.
And after coming through the ranks at Liverpool FC, he ended up plying his trade in Australia with USC Lion, which is where he got to meet his idol.
"It was many years ago when I was still living in Adelaide that she performed at Sydney Opera House," confessed Acorah, slightly embarrassed.
"I think Shirley Bassey is the greatest female singer ever put on this planet and I said to my wife 'let's go and see her'.
"But at the time our son was ill and we didn't want to make the trip with him not being well but she said, 'I know how much it means to you so why don't you fly to Sydney and fly back the following day?'.
"It was when she was with her ex-husband Sergio (Novak), who was at the door showing people into her dressing room after the show and I was allowed in.
"I got to talk to her for about five minutes, which for a superstar of that fame, was quite a long time.
"She had no idea who I was. I explained I was a footballer but it meant nothing to her.
"She was very relaxed with me and she signed a big photograph of herself for me. "I was besotted with her and if I had been a single man, I would have married her there and then."
It seems a strange beginning for a medium, a professional footballer at Liverpool FC, and Acorah recounted times he had given readings to former players and their wives.
The former midfield scrapper even recalled an ear-bashing he received from the legendary Bill Shankly after spooking Emlyn Hughes by correctly predicting he would have a car crash.
Acorah retired from the game at 27 due to a knee ligament injury but then took up his "vocation" as a medium and has since become the most famous name in his field in the UK, helping to bring psychics onto TV.
It is that status that makes Acorah bristle when it comes to the inevitable questions about the veracity of what he does for a living.
"A cynical mind is a healthy mind because it shows a person is thinking but I'm not a corner shop psychic," he said tersely.
"It's only ever journalists or radio or TV people who think like that.
"I view it as if it was a religious belief system and that's where I draw my strength from when people try to rip it down or pull it apart.
"I must see 750,000 people over my two-year tour so that small number of people who object are speaking from a disproportionately small base.
"The majority of people are far more understanding about it.
"I would say 95 per cent belief to five per cent non belief."
Source: icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0900entertainment/0050artsnews/tm_headline=derek-acorah-a-big-shirl-fan&method=full&objectid=18838880&siteid=50082-name_page.html
PMSL!
Gavin Allen, South Wales Echo
HE CAN communicate with the spirits of the other side and not raise an eyebrow but there was a time when Derek Acorah remembers breaking out in a nervous sweat.
Britain's favourite medium has revealed that it was a certain lady who gave him the shakes when he got the chance to meet his idol - Shirley Bassey.
Before he made a career out of chasing ghosts out of town, Liverpudlian Acorah was a professional footballer.
And after coming through the ranks at Liverpool FC, he ended up plying his trade in Australia with USC Lion, which is where he got to meet his idol.
"It was many years ago when I was still living in Adelaide that she performed at Sydney Opera House," confessed Acorah, slightly embarrassed.
"I think Shirley Bassey is the greatest female singer ever put on this planet and I said to my wife 'let's go and see her'.
"But at the time our son was ill and we didn't want to make the trip with him not being well but she said, 'I know how much it means to you so why don't you fly to Sydney and fly back the following day?'.
"It was when she was with her ex-husband Sergio (Novak), who was at the door showing people into her dressing room after the show and I was allowed in.
"I got to talk to her for about five minutes, which for a superstar of that fame, was quite a long time.
"She had no idea who I was. I explained I was a footballer but it meant nothing to her.
"She was very relaxed with me and she signed a big photograph of herself for me. "I was besotted with her and if I had been a single man, I would have married her there and then."
It seems a strange beginning for a medium, a professional footballer at Liverpool FC, and Acorah recounted times he had given readings to former players and their wives.
The former midfield scrapper even recalled an ear-bashing he received from the legendary Bill Shankly after spooking Emlyn Hughes by correctly predicting he would have a car crash.
Acorah retired from the game at 27 due to a knee ligament injury but then took up his "vocation" as a medium and has since become the most famous name in his field in the UK, helping to bring psychics onto TV.
It is that status that makes Acorah bristle when it comes to the inevitable questions about the veracity of what he does for a living.
"A cynical mind is a healthy mind because it shows a person is thinking but I'm not a corner shop psychic," he said tersely.
"It's only ever journalists or radio or TV people who think like that.
"I view it as if it was a religious belief system and that's where I draw my strength from when people try to rip it down or pull it apart.
"I must see 750,000 people over my two-year tour so that small number of people who object are speaking from a disproportionately small base.
"The majority of people are far more understanding about it.
"I would say 95 per cent belief to five per cent non belief."
Source: icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0900entertainment/0050artsnews/tm_headline=derek-acorah-a-big-shirl-fan&method=full&objectid=18838880&siteid=50082-name_page.html
PMSL!
