The Day Freebird Met Martin Lewis.........

........AND got a kiss! Oh Ok - that was congratulations from him because I've just got engaged and not because he was overwhelmed by my beauty (cough, cough, splutter.....no smart remarks, thank you!).

Anyways.....for those of you who watched Trevor MacDonald's Tonight programme on ITV this evening....here's the tale of how it came about.

I had a phone call asking me if I'd ever had bank charges and if I'd be willing, at short notice, to go and take part in some filming about the subject. I wasn't keen as I'm very busy but the carrot of £30 towards the Olympic Challenge swayed me and I said yes. (See the thread and Wings of Ambition's fantastic newsletter here hxxp://www.philltowns.co.uk/mse/ or first page of the thread here http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=338896). Imagine my surprise when I was told that the filming would be with "that guy who'se always going on about the banks and stuff".....I practically screamed "Martin Lewis!!!".

The day came and I was SOOOOOO excited and nervous. What would he be like? Would I make a total fool of myself? We were lead down in the room, with bright arc lights all around which were incredibly hot and were briefed about what would happen. Then Martin bowled in, all enthusiasm and bright pink stripey shirt! He chatted to us about what they wanted to achieve, put everyone at ease and told us to just ask if we had questions. I couldn't resist a quick mention of his status as DFW Nerd No 000 and his mouth dropped open in surprise "OMG I've got a forumite!" he said....and tried to explain to the rest of the group what a DFW was.

We ran through the filming, with Martin excitedly getting into his spiel and the producer constantly telling him "Can we run through that again please, but MUCH tighter" (i.e. shorter). Martin wanted as much info as possible in the programme, but the producer only had a certain amount of time to do it in. The idea was to get across to people how to claim back bank charges and what the process is, but without mentioning the website which he wasn't allowed to do. You don't realise when you're watching a programme how much work it is - things constantly have to be re-shot and it's a real battle between the things you're allowed to mention and want to get in and the amount of time you have. It's certainly not as glamourous as it looks on TV. Those lights are extremely hot - just ask Martin and his make-up!

The few hours flew by and before we knew it, it was all over. I went over to Martin and asked if he'd be willing to do a photo for the Olympics thread. He'd actually knew about it and was very enthusiastic about our efforts. You'd be surprised how much he knows about the forums - he obviously reads much more than we think, although I've no idea how he finds the time. He came across as genuinely friendly and not remotely diva-ish.....and obviously very passionate about his cause as he couldn't stop talking.

Final comment about the day? To anyone who has ever incurred bank charges, get out there TODAY and reclaim them. Others have, and so can you. Do it before the banks find a way to wriggle out of it. And spread the word about MSE!

It's amazing how much of the programme ended up on the cutting room floor - all of my speaking bits did - but it was very interesting and at least I got to meet the man himself!!! And for those of you wondering who I was.....I was in the reclaim school and I was the blonde woman in black to the right (looking at the screen)......who needs to get back to the FFW thread asap!!!

Now for a LARGE drinkie! :beer: