One young girl's Christmas came a day early in 2022, when spotting Hollywood star Tom Hardy in County Durham.
Eliza Cartwright, 13, was with her dad Michael as he bagged some last minute gifts in Stockton on Christmas Eve - when the A-list actor made an appearance, buying some presents of his own.
The daddy and daughter duo couldn't believe their eyes upon visiting Smyths Toy Superstore on Portrack Lane, meeting the Bronson, Peaky Blinders, Batman and Legend actor live and in the flesh.
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TeessideLive reports that Michael initially spotted Tom, before approaching the star and asking if his daughter - a huge fan of his work - could get a photo. To which, Tom kindly obliged.
Eliza was completely star struck, with her dad saying that she thought Christmas had come early through the star-studded interaction. The dad explained: "She was over the moon, it definitely made her Christmas.
"We'd just been to the Middlesbrough stadium to pick up some tickets and they'd given her some free stuff as well, so she was already on cloud nine. Then to go there as our next stop and bump into Tom Hardy she was just overwhelmed. I don't think she'll ever forget this one."
One person who was gutted to miss out on the chance-meeting was Eliza's mam, Emma, who was at home getting ready for the big day. The pair were a little bit worried about telling her they met the star in case she was jealous - but fortunately she took the news well and was just pleased for her little girl.
Michael added: "My wife is a big fan and she wasn't there unfortunately, so she was a bit devastated. But I wished him a merry Christmas because it was Christmas Eve, just a few hours before the shops were closing for Christmas Day - so it was nice to see him on Christmas Eve."
Michael said he didn't want to keep the A-lister for too long as it was 'his Christmas Eve, too' but said he was very pleasant and happy to have his photograph taken. He posted about the encounter on Facebook which quickly caught the attention of heartbroken women all over Teesside who were gutted to have missed out on a meeting.
This isn't the first time the Peaky Blinders star has been spotted in our region as he has family ties on Teesside. Not only does his wife, actress Charlotte Riley, hail from Thorpe Thewles near Stockton where she attended Teesside High School, but his Grandad was also born in the area.
Tom was also spotted locally last Christmas making a visit to Saltburn Mini Golf for a coffee on the lower promenade. It seems that the actor's star quality has everyone a little bit star-struck, as when business owner Andrew Smith met him, he also got a little bit flustered.
Following his visit, Andrew said: "I'm a 50-year-old bloke and I got a bit flustered, I couldn't really concentrate. We have quite a lot of footballers and managers come but we have never had anyone of that kind of calibre down there!"
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