A couple who were given free tickets to Saturday’s Brit Awards by Radio 1 DJ Greg James have described their “whirlwind” experience.
“It was mental,” said Meg and Charlie, who live in Swansea.
James gifted the couple the tickets for the show, which took place at London’s O2 Arena, as an engagement present.
The DJ also spent the night itself at the couple’s home in Swansea, babysitting their daughter, Maisie, seven – where he got his nails painted.
“Maisie absolutely loved it,” said Meg, joking that James had a “similar mindset of age” to their daughter.
James appeared to enjoy himself as well, posting a picture of him playing with Maisie’s doll house, as well as a video of them together at the park.
He also posted a list of chores Maisie had given him, which included washing the dishes with pink gloves, reading time, and salon time.
A photo posted later in the night showed James with a set of pink nails.
The relationship between the couple and the DJ started when Charlie appeared on a segment of James’ show called What’s my Age Again, and “stupidly” got his own age wrong.
It developed from there, with both Charlie and Meg appearing on the show, both individually and together, in the last few months.
They appeared again on Friday and were expecting to take part in a “Mr and Mrs” style quiz, which Meg said she had researched for.
“But it was a complete ploy – they told us the truth, that they wanted us to swap lives,” she said.
James said he had attended the show before, and wanted to give away his and his wife’s tickets.
He offered to babysit the couple’s daughter, and on Saturday Meg and Charlie travelled to London where they were put up in a hotel.
“The only thing we had to worry about what was finding something to wear,” Meg said.
They said they had an “amazing time” at the show, with seats close to the stage, and indulged in a fair amount of celeb-spotting.
They were also full of praise for James, describing him as a “selfless” and “genuine person”.
Meg is a maternity worker for the NHS, and Charlie a field technician for an advertising company, and the couple joked they had a “very romantic story” of meeting online.
Meg is originally from Pontypridd and Charlie from Essex, and James has described the couple as “a real life Gavin and Stacey”.
“To be honest, we’re more like Nessa and Smithy,” said Meg, referring to the characters played by James Corden and Ruth Jones. “We like KFC too much.”
It was a night out the television characters would likely have embraced.
“We were back by 2am. We ended the night with a McDonald’s – that’s our kind of night,” Meg said.