If you keep up with the latest pop culture news, you'll know this week has been rather stressful, as the presale for The Eras Tour kicked off and diehard Swifties like myself battled it out to secure tickets to see Taylor Swift.
And while I expected the fight to get tickets to be drawn out, painful, and full of tears, it was a breeze compared to the absolute chaos of trying to get a wristband for the Barbie premiere in London.
Later today, Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, and more will be descending on Leicester Square for the glitzy event, and members of the public were given a chance to gain access to watch the pink carpet if they managed to get a wristband.
The wristbands were given out on a first come first serve basis from 8am this morning in Leicester Square and fans were warned they wouldn't be allowed to queue up ahead of time, so with that in mind, I headed down to the cinema for 7:30am to find out if I was going to be one of the lucky few to get a wristband.
Reader, I'm embarrassed to admit that I was so naive.
I really thought I was going to rock up and they'd tie the band around my wrist before I went on with the rest of my day, but when I arrived in Leicester Square my jaw quite literally dropped. It seemed many people had missed the memo about queues not being allowed ahead of time, as a line of people snaked all the way around the square and down the back of the National Gallery, continuing far out of sight.
It was endless and there were only 400 wristbands being given out. Before I'd arrived, staff had already counted out the exact number of people who would be getting a prize - there was no point joining the back of the line. My mission had failed before it had even really begun.
But while I wasn't going to get a wristband, I was still curious to find out how other people waiting were going to fare and what it was about Barbie that was inspiring people to come out in their droves.
A group of four women who were towards the front of the queue and had been there since 3am told how they'd been pushed and shoved, had witnessed several arguments and had to get security involved when people tried to skip the line.
But for one member of the group, Sophie Painter, 44, from West London, the "crazy" ordeal was totally worth it. She told The Mirror how her love for Barbie and the nostalgia of it all had kept them going, saying: "It's a childhood thing, everyone has grown up with Barbie. She does every job. She brings everyone together."
"It would be amazing to get a wristband, it's the most anticipated movie of 2023," she continued.
Her 18-year-old daughter Scarlett Thompson agreed, adding: "Barbie makes you feel more confident in yourself, everything you want to be, that's what Barbie is."
As I headed further down the queue, I came across two young women dressed to the nines, wearing bright, bold, Barbie pink from head to toe. Charlotte Silver, 25, and Liberty Will, 20, had travelled down from Margate in the hopes of securing a wristband but had been told they weren't going to make the cut.
Understandably, they were devastated as they claimed they'd been one of the first groups to try and camp out the night before but had been turned away by staff, as they were too early. They came back at the time they were instructed to return at, only to find they were now too late.
Charlotte, a beauty queen who is set to compete in the Mrs Regency International pageant in Vegas next week, told how getting a wristband had meant everything to her as Barbie was an icon and "so pink and extra". As such, she couldn't believe their trip had been for nothing and they weren't going to see the star of the film in the flesh.
While there were certainly lots of glum faces about, two people who couldn't stop beaming were Vicky and Tim, who proudly showed off their shiny new wristbands as they posed for a picture underneath a huge Barbie billboard.
Despite arriving two hours after Sophie and her family, the pair had somehow managed to get themselves in and were "very excited" to be getting to watch the pink carpet arrivals and bask in the "campness" of it all.
Tim described the process of getting the wristband as "carnage" but said he didn't mind having to queue as "there were some lovely people" waiting with them and they'd had nice chats.
And he's not wrong, everyone I spoke to in the line was really kind and I think it's safe to say that some new friendships will have been formed between strangers today as they spent hours huddled together hoping for the same thing and memories will have been made - even if they weren't the ones people expected to leave with.
I didn't get a wristband, and neither did many others, but I spent my morning with a bunch of people who clearly love the colour pink as much as I do and think July 21 (the film's UK release date) can't get here soon enough. I've previously written about how it can be incredibly lonely living in London sometimes, but when things like this happen, it's a bizarre reminder that there are plenty of other people out there just like you and you suddenly feel a little less alone.
I guess Sophie was right, Barbie really does bring people together...
What do you love about Barbie? Let us know in the comments below.
