Dunno-what-do-you-think?

Posted by Pauliec on Tuesday 05 Feb 2008

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So the Spice Girls have finally called it a day – until probably 5 years down the line when they realise that the solo careers they split to spend more time on hasn’t quite worked again and they’re short of a few quid.

I still have them to blame for the time I had one of those deer-trapped-in-headlights moments. It was unfortunately live on Sky News where I used to be (note past tense) called in to give my expert showbiz opinion on stuff. The Spice Girls had done some gig in Italy and I was asked to comment on it. The problem was, a) I’d had a very heavy night; b) I was sat up at the infamous formal newsdesk (usually they’d put me on the relaxed sofa) and c) sitting next to me was Alan Mullery (an ex-captain of Spurs!!!), that’s more than enough to throw me, pathetic I know.

So as the lovely Kay Burley, doyenne of newswomen, asked me what I thought of the Spice Girls' performance, I realised that I had absolutely no opinion about it whatsoever, but I felt a little unwell and hot under the collar. I babbled something before truly clutching at non-existent straws and saying to Kay, “Dunno, what do you think?”. Some expert.

It’s amazing the recognition you can get from being rubbish. The phrase "Dunnowhatdoyouthink", haunted me for quite a while and it’s always nice to hear it from people you never got on with or hadn't seen for years. That’s when they tend to surface. I think the best description was by Chris Evans, who likened me to The Fast Show’s Ron Manager. If only The Spice Girls had never been!!!