No room at the inn...

Recently, as you may have seen if you’re privileged enough to be my Facebook friend, I have been going to watch various TV recordings thanks to Applause Store; some being more problematic than others. Britain’s Got Talent was brilliant as my brother and I got to sit in a box (I don’t know if it was royal but Ant & Dec bowed in our direction when they came on at the beginning) to watch the auditions which this year were held at the Dominion Theatre on Tottenham Court Road. On Friday afternoon, I made the short trip to Elstree Studios to watch Virtually Famous being filmed and that too went without a hitch.

A perfect view of the judging panel and stage...

In contrast, Top Gear (which is surprisingly really difficult to get tickets for) was just awful live in my opinion. I’m not a massive car fan nor do I think all the ‘banter’ on the show is made in good taste but there are parts that make me laugh and that’s why I made the 2 hour journey down to Guildford a couple of weeks back. However, the final cut that makes it to the TV the following Sunday is much more entertaining than sitting in a cold air hanger with a restricted view of the presenters and watching clips of cars while you wait for Jeremy Clarkson to take yet another cigarette break. I recommend it to no one!

What a view: Worth the trek down to Surrey...

Worse than that though was Reality Bites (a new panel show hosted by my favourite TV personality Stephen Mulhern), which I can’t even comment on as we didn’t even get in. It is filmed at the London Studios on the South Bank so we got the train from St. Albans to Blackfriars just before because, as I’ve explained before, getting a wheelchair on and off a packed train can be difficult. Also, the train is slightly cheaper off peak. After eating, we arrived at 17.45 (one hour before doors as is the standard procedure for disabled audience members) and spoke to two girls in Applause Store jackets. One of them told us to wait in the main reception until they were ready.We did but as it was getting closer to 18.45, we thought she'd forgotten us.

My brother spoke to a runner who kindly agreed to escort us through the building to the studio. Two women greeted’ us at the doors with confusion and were actually quite hostile/rude when they realised we weren't production guests. Then, the girl from Applause Store came along and told us that there were already two wheelchairs inside so there was no more room. It had been a wasted journey (although the food at Azzuro was lovely and made the trip worthwhile).

My sister and carer began to argue (obviously I was annoyed but I prefer to express my anger in the written form) because, like they pointed out, we were not told that there were only two wheelchair spaces at the recording and we would possibly not get in. If we had known from the start, it would have been easier to take and we could've perhaps gone to the theatre. Instead of that, we wasted our evening waiting around like fools. Eventually, the girl admitted that she had made mistake and offered to upgrade my membership to priority as a means of an apology. Not the greatest sorry ever but after writing a letter and getting nowhere, I realise it’s better than nothing.

I saw the aforementioned girl on Friday. She patronisingly asked if the emergence of the sun “had put me in a better mood?” as if the whole Reality Bites situation was my fault. I laughed and bit my lip…

Bye for now!