I danced topless and kissed Prince Harry on Jagerbomb-fuelled night out, says Paddy McGuinness
PRINCE Harry enjoyed a topless dance-off with Paddy McGuinness before planting a kiss on the TV favourite’s lips. Top Gear host Paddy, 48, revealed the royal got frisky at a boozy post-Soccer Aid party in June 2016 — just weeks before Harry met Meghan Markle. The amusing insight suggests he may have been the last […]
PRINCE Harry enjoyed a topless dance-off with Paddy McGuinness before planting a kiss on the TV favourite’s lips.
Top Gear host Paddy, 48, revealed the royal got frisky at a boozy post-Soccer Aid party in June 2016 — just weeks before Harry met Meghan Markle.
The amusing insight suggests he may have been the last person to kiss Harry before the prince got together with his future wife.
Paddy also revealed Harry was desperate to visit the island of Fernando’s, the fictional holiday destination for winning couples on his ITV dating show Take Me Out.
Speaking in new autobiography, My Lifey, which was published yesterday, Paddy said: “To say we were dancing close was an understatement — our chests were touching. He asked me again if I could send him to Fernando’s.
“He then proceeded to take my shirt off. So now I’m topless, a bottle of beer in each hand, dancing with Prince Harry.”
Paddy told how his footie team-mate Jack Whitehall had arranged to meet Harry at Jak’s nightclub in Chelsea, West London, for the booze-up.
They were joining celebrities and ex-pros who were set to feature in the England versus Rest of the World charity football match at Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium the following day.
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher and Brazil World Cup stars Ronaldinho and Cafu were encouraging the dance-off, having earlier taken part in a Scouse-versus-Samba freestyle.
‘Prince was an absolute legend’
One Direction stars Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan, plus former England manager Sam Allardyce, were also looking on in disbelief at what they were seeing.
Paddy says Harry “disappeared” shortly after their duel, then returned to the party offering up Jagerbombs and promptly kick-started another dance-off with Paddy after the pair downed their shots.
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Paddy recalled: “We finished dancing and while everyone was cheering, we embraced and he gave me a smacker on the lips.”
After the smooch, Harry immediately exited the club, leaving the players open-mouthed but all agreeing the prince was an “absolute legend”.
According to the book Finding Freedom, Harry and Meghan were introduced by a mutual friend in July 2016 at Soho restaurant The Dean Street Townhouse, in which Harry drank beer, not Jagerbombs.
So the Phoenix Nights star is likely to have been the last person Harry puckered up with before meeting the Duchess of Sussex.
The day after Paddy’s encounter with Harry, the royal texted comic Jack to thank everyone for a great night and ask Paddy how his head was.
And on their coach journey to Manchester, Paddy introduced Ronaldinho and Cafu to Greggs’ sausage rolls during a pit-stop at Knutsford Services on the M6.
It’s just one of many hilarious anecdotes in the new book.
But not all Paddy’s A-list encounters were so enjoyable.
He recalls being disappointed by Steve Coogan, who he was in awe of, having seen him live on several occasions and loved his comedy creations.
Paddy starred alongside his pal Peter Kay in a comedy sketch for Comic Relief in Manchester before he was famous, playing a boxer being trained by his Phoenix Nights co-star.
Coogan was in the guise of spoof Norfolk DJ Alan Partridge but within minutes of meeting him, Paddy had been zapped of any joy.
Coogan blanked him, making him feel like a “spare part” in the production.
Paddy said: “The saying ‘never meet your heroes’ isn’t necessarily true because I’ve met a lot of fantastic people, but in this instance the words rang very true.”
Coogan focused on the more famous faces
Years later, Paddy was unimpressed when they met again.
He and Peter Kay attended a stag do for showbiz promoter Phil McIntyre, which involved a meal in a London restaurant with some of the comedy boss’s big-name clients.
But Coogan once again bypassed Paddy, with the Knowing Me, Knowing You star preferring to focus on the more famous faces at the bash.
While admitting heremains in awe of Coogan’s talent, Paddy says: “I still think he’s a deeply unpleasant chap.”
- My Lifey, by Paddy McGuinness, is out now published by Ebury, priced £16.99.
