So what the hell is Celebrity Bingo? Let me take you back to the beginning. I grew up in a tiny village in Nottinghamshire, called Harby. Nothing happened in Harby during the eighties. We had a pub, a village hall, two corner shops, a farm and a church where a former Queen was buried (our claim to fame).
Our family wanted the quiet life but my parents were quite in to the community thing and were determined to put some life in to the village. They came up with an idea to launch a youth club, where youth could gather under one roof and secretly drink Malibu, rather than at the bus stop (oh yes, Harby had a bus stop too). The youth club was a huge success and that was where I did my first ever DJ gig. Who put Blacklace in to the mainstream? Yes, it was me. You’re welcome.
So what about the adults in the village? Sure, they could go to Church, pop in to the pub (usually before going to Church) or pay homage to a dead Queen but what to do in the evenings?
That’s when Harby’s monthly Bingo night was launched. This was THE night where everyone came together and battled each other for a meat tray, predominately made up of spam and corned beef. And that was the start of my love affair of bingo and the inspiration behind Celebrity Bingo, which I launched in 2011 as my annual charity event.
Celebrity Bingo is basically a traditional game of Bingo, much like we did all those years ago in Harby, where a celebrity hosts the game and you win the prizes. June Brown aka Dot Cotton did the first one three years ago, we had Keith from the Office in 2012, we had last year off (mainly because all my celebrity targets were going down like flies in Operation Yewtree) and this year we’re back with those gorgeous Gogglebox boys, Stephen and Chris.
The bingo is the main event of the night but we intersperse it with some of the finest bands in Brighton at the moment, throw in a couple of DJ’s and give you the chance to win Bingo prizes including overnight stays in Brighton’s top hotels, Spa treatments and tickets to the Football. No meat trays. This is where it gets competitive. Be warned.
All the money raised goes to the Brighton MS Society and the Sussex MS Treatment Centre, two charities very close to my heart.
This Saturday, September 13th at Concorde 2 from 7pm. Just a fiver! Come, it’ll be fun.