i was driving to an Improv gig last night when suddenly i caught sight of the woman in the car behind me.

i did a quick double take, before i tried to sneak another look in my mirror, because it was none other than Gwyneth Paltrow [i know]

Wow, i could not believe my eyes. So i obviously had to take another look.

i think she may have caught me looking that time and so i quickly looked away.

And realised to myself, that that must be one of the horrible things about being a celebrity, and in particular, something i’m sure Gwyneth, must completely hate.

Because every time you go out for a drive and someone recognises you, there is the double-take and the let-me-make-sure followed by the OH-MY-WORD-IT-REALLY-IS and finally the ongoing staring.

i imagine it would be the kind of experience that would make someone like Gwyneth Paltrow [cos when you’ve seen someone in a car once, you like totally know them now, right?] make a decision to consciously un-carpool given the chance. And perhaps why so many celebs have drivers or wear disguises or probably have tinted windows [i have not verified this last one as the windows are tinted so you can never tell].

i decided that i needed to stop my celeb-watching and just let her get on with it [also because her car was now right up my bum and i was already a km or two over the speed limit, Slow Down Gwyneth!] and so i pulled into the left lane so i could have one more verification glance as she drove past.

It was very much NOT the woman who played Miss Pepper Pots in the Iron Man movies who drove past me. From the side view, actually not very close at all [same hairdo though!]

But i’m pretty sure still that this is why Gwyneth Paltrow would much rather have you drive when you nip out quickly to the shops [who needs that kind of stress?]

Have you had any encounters with huge celebrities that shaped your thinking of how they might possibly live?