1990 was quite a year for me. To say it was full of ‘pinch myself moments’ would be a monumental understatement! One of the most treasured ‘pinch myself moments’ from that year was bumping into Richard O’Brien. Yes, that Richard O’Brien! And yes, we almost quite literally bumped into each other. He was running out of a TV studio & I was racing in and we stopped and looked at each other and he said, “Oh, I loved you on that chat show the other morning, you had me in stitches! How long are you in town?” I couldn’t believe Richard O’Brien had seen me on the telly & was talking to me, but I answered, saying, “Uh, I fly back to Oz day after tomorrow.” “Perfect, I’ll be in touch!” he said. And with that, he spun on his high heel and dashed off.

The following evening, not long after the stroke of midnight, I was onstage being chased by a prop battle-axe-wielding Richard O’Brien in front of a sold-out West End theatre. This was a special midnight matinee performance of Rocky Horror with all proceeds going to a respected AIDS charity. And so, here I am, playing Eddie/Dr Scott in the very show Richard created, a show I grew up playing guitar to, with Richard himself, known the world over for playing Riff Raff in the Rocky Horror Picture Show, playing Frank n’ Furter! It was an extraordinary night topped off by Richard coming to me after the show, taking my face in his hands and saying to me, “You are destined to play Frank. You have that thing… that indefinable… thing. People just love you. Frank’s in you.”

I thought at the time he was just being kind and encouraging.

Almost 2 years to the day, I was taking my first corseted bow as the Sweet Transvestite. Standing before that riotous audience, all of them on their feet, I remember thinking, ‘Holy sh*t… he was right!’

From “I loved you on that chat show…” to an amazing, enduring, loving friendship… Someone pinch me!