He’s been covering The Oscars since 1993 and is life-long pals with everyone from Gerard Butler to Sir Cliff Richard.
So when Showbiz veteran Ross King MBE welcomed The Mirror into his stunning home in the Hollywood Hills, how could we possibly resist?
Not only does the much-loved Scotsman have one of the most glitzy toilet seats we’ve ever seen, and a sofa that once belonged to his pal, the late Jackie Collins - he’s also brimming with Oscar stories.
Prior to the 94th Academy Awards, Ross shared some of his most notable moments with us, exclusively.
Favourite red carpet moments
One year I got chatting to Kelly, John Travolta’s late wife and said, ‘everyone must want to dance with John’. The next thing we were on the red carpet dancing together.
I’ve also enjoyed what I call a Welsh sandwich with Shirley Bassey - who won a standing ovation for singing Goldfinger that same year - and my pal, Catherine Zeta Jones.
Funniest Oscar interview
I got to chat to Eric McCormack, who’s known for playing Will Truman in Will & Grace, right at the end of an Oscars night one year.
It was at Sir Elton John’s Oscars party and he was very happy. I made a crack about Will and said something funny like, ‘oh, you’re doing this Big Willie Stylie’ and he said, ‘I’ll show you Big Willie Stylie’ and was about to drop his pants before I stopped him.
Whenever I’ve seen him since, I’ve reminded him how I saved him from dropping his pants live on British television.
Kindest brush-off
Benedict Cumberbatch was charming. It was the year he was nominated but didn’t win.
He was heading in to the Vanity Fair party, by which point most people have done all their chats and just want to kick back. He came over and said, ‘darling, I’ve done my talking so I’m just going to give you a big kiss. I just want to go dancing.’
Least glamorous moment
Sir Elton’s parties are amazing but one year it was funny because, I can’t remember if the food was delayed, but someone brought in some In & Out Burgers (fast food) and started passing them around.
Best Oscar perk
The goodie bags for some of the gifting suites have been amazing. Many years ago I got a holiday to Mexico. Another that really sticks in my mind was laser eye surgery, which I never went for!
Funnest person you’ve ever been mistaken for
Michael Brandon, from the eighties show Dempsey and Makepeace. I’d never met him and Glynis (who played Makepeace) until a few years ago in the UK when I was introduced via Patricia Heaton (who played Debra) in Everybody Loves Raymond. I said to Michael, who is still a couple with Patricia, ‘It’s amazing. I used to get mistaken for you.’ He just looked at me, and said ‘you did?’.
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