A Night with Katie Hopkins!
Whether you love her or hate her, everyone knows her...the infamous Katie Hopkins. Controversial to most people's opinions, I adore Katie- I genuinely think she's fabulous. It's not that I necessarily agree with all that she says (although I do agree with most) but it's the fact that she is not afraid to speak her mind, regardless of what may come back to her because of it. She is, and I quote "40 and fearless". As a writer myself, I find this attitude very admirable, and it inspires me on a daily basis. When the tickets went on sale to participate in a Q and A with Katie as well as a meet and greet, I decided this was an opportunity that I could not afford to miss!
The event was held on the 17th floor of The News Building in London, which is the Sun's headquarters. The room was made up entirely of glass windows, so the view was absolutely incredible- especially at night, although unfortunately I couldn't get a picture!
Luckily, me and my boyfriend, Alex, were the among the first few people to arrive at the venue. Katie actually walked past us in the hallway whilst we were waiting with her little entourage of people and I nearly died with the excitement of it all!! We were fortunate enough to get front seats, so I had a brilliant view for the whole night.
Upon our arrival, we were also given two tokens for free drinks during the event...it all felt very upper class and sophisticated!
The event itself was wonderful. Katie was being "grilled" by The Sun celebrity interviewer, Dan Wootton. He asked her questions in categories, with the chance to ask a few questions regarding each category once he was finished interviewing. I found this a little disappointing as none of the questions I wanted to ask her were relevant to the categories he interviewed her about, and whilst there was a general Q and A at the end of the event, it was a battle to be picked, and unfortunately I was not. However, I did hear some really interesting things about Katie that I had not been aware of before- such as, her husband works in a donkey sanctuary, she desperately wanted to be in the army but couldn't because of her epilepsy (that was two in one there!) and she only listens to two men in her life- her editor at The Sun and her husband!
The categories Dan covered throughout the Q and A/interview included her appearances on The Apprentice, I'm A Celebrity and Celebrity Big Brother, her incredible weight gain and weight loss journey, her controversial television appearances including the infamous geographical name debate and her argument with the late Peaches Geldof and her views on race, depression and politics. It was so insightful getting to hear full explanations regarding her views and opinions outside of the limited 140 characters on Twitter. A lot of people fully admitted they went in hating Katie, but once they had heard her full story about everything, actually really agreed with her and appreciated what she was saying.
After the Q and A, we got the opportunity to have a meet and greet with her. The crowd of people that surged forwards in about 3.7 seconds was insane, and she must have felt so overwhelmed by it all- I definitely did! However, somehow I managed to be the fourth person she met, and it was the best experience I have ever had. I mentioned that I tweeted her a lot and she often replied, even calling me beautiful once. Then I explained that I was a writer who aspired to be as confident in myself as she was, and that I found her attitude in life so inspiring. She gave me two big cuddles and told me never to give up, and to keep going even when I got those knock backs from "haters". I thanked her and gave her another cuddle...before running over to Alex and crying! It was enough to meet my inspiration, but having her be so lovely to me was just too much!
After the session, I was pulled aside to do a quick interview about the event and my thoughts on Katie...I don't know where that will be going but as soon as I do I will provide a link in this post!
In my opinion, I think people are too quick to judge Katie. If you don't read her columns, or hear the full backstory to her tweets, you can never fully understand or appreciate what she's trying to say. Some of her tweets look very out of context if you haven't read her columns. Hearing the full story behind her views has only made me admire her more, and I am so grateful that I got the opportunity to attend this event and have a chat with the woman herself!
Katie, if you ever read this- thank you for such a fabulous event and for inspiring me every day. I hope we get to meet again...maybe even with me interviewing you!
Love from,
Florence Grace
The event was held on the 17th floor of The News Building in London, which is the Sun's headquarters. The room was made up entirely of glass windows, so the view was absolutely incredible- especially at night, although unfortunately I couldn't get a picture!
Luckily, me and my boyfriend, Alex, were the among the first few people to arrive at the venue. Katie actually walked past us in the hallway whilst we were waiting with her little entourage of people and I nearly died with the excitement of it all!! We were fortunate enough to get front seats, so I had a brilliant view for the whole night.
Upon our arrival, we were also given two tokens for free drinks during the event...it all felt very upper class and sophisticated!
The event itself was wonderful. Katie was being "grilled" by The Sun celebrity interviewer, Dan Wootton. He asked her questions in categories, with the chance to ask a few questions regarding each category once he was finished interviewing. I found this a little disappointing as none of the questions I wanted to ask her were relevant to the categories he interviewed her about, and whilst there was a general Q and A at the end of the event, it was a battle to be picked, and unfortunately I was not. However, I did hear some really interesting things about Katie that I had not been aware of before- such as, her husband works in a donkey sanctuary, she desperately wanted to be in the army but couldn't because of her epilepsy (that was two in one there!) and she only listens to two men in her life- her editor at The Sun and her husband!
The categories Dan covered throughout the Q and A/interview included her appearances on The Apprentice, I'm A Celebrity and Celebrity Big Brother, her incredible weight gain and weight loss journey, her controversial television appearances including the infamous geographical name debate and her argument with the late Peaches Geldof and her views on race, depression and politics. It was so insightful getting to hear full explanations regarding her views and opinions outside of the limited 140 characters on Twitter. A lot of people fully admitted they went in hating Katie, but once they had heard her full story about everything, actually really agreed with her and appreciated what she was saying.
After the Q and A, we got the opportunity to have a meet and greet with her. The crowd of people that surged forwards in about 3.7 seconds was insane, and she must have felt so overwhelmed by it all- I definitely did! However, somehow I managed to be the fourth person she met, and it was the best experience I have ever had. I mentioned that I tweeted her a lot and she often replied, even calling me beautiful once. Then I explained that I was a writer who aspired to be as confident in myself as she was, and that I found her attitude in life so inspiring. She gave me two big cuddles and told me never to give up, and to keep going even when I got those knock backs from "haters". I thanked her and gave her another cuddle...before running over to Alex and crying! It was enough to meet my inspiration, but having her be so lovely to me was just too much!
After the session, I was pulled aside to do a quick interview about the event and my thoughts on Katie...I don't know where that will be going but as soon as I do I will provide a link in this post!
In my opinion, I think people are too quick to judge Katie. If you don't read her columns, or hear the full backstory to her tweets, you can never fully understand or appreciate what she's trying to say. Some of her tweets look very out of context if you haven't read her columns. Hearing the full story behind her views has only made me admire her more, and I am so grateful that I got the opportunity to attend this event and have a chat with the woman herself!
Katie, if you ever read this- thank you for such a fabulous event and for inspiring me every day. I hope we get to meet again...maybe even with me interviewing you!
Love from,
Florence Grace
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThank you!! It really was! Yes, I don't agree with everything either but some of what she says is just so accurate it's hard to disagree! xx
DeleteI just want to say thank you for sharing this post, because it's really amazing!
ReplyDeleteAnd I already can't wait for the new one!
Diana Cloudlet
http://www.dianacloudlet.com/
Thank you, thats very sweet of you to say!
Delete