Top Gear’s Paddy McGuinness, Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff and Chris Harris stunned an independent opticians in Wales and Paddy even bought a pair of shades during a surprise visit.
The crew for the long-running BBC show was on its way to the Brecon Beacons to film when they decided to stop off in Abergavenny to surprise the locals.
One woman told WalesOnline that the crew first pulled into Abergavenny bus station on Thursday morning to the surprise of everyone. She said the boys were great sports, sticking around, chatting to locals and posing for pictures.
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But no-one was as surprised as Francesca Fulgoni when they bought specs from her family’s popular opticians on Cross Street.
“A crew member came in to ask if we had any aviator sunspecs for some filming down the road,” Francesca told WalesOnline. “We asked who and they said Top Gear and Paddy etc.
“We then asked if we could go and take them down to him personally and they said ‘yes’. So we went down. Paddy had two pairs off us and thanked us for the help.
“I then asked if he would mind coming over to my car for a photo as it has our [company] details on it, and he said ‘yes of course I will’. He came with me and made sure we had a good photo.”
The trio were soon back behind the wheel of three articulated lorries, and they drove through the town via Cross Street and Monk Street.
“When they drove up past the practice in the lorries he gave us the thumbs up and waved to us while wearing the sunnies,” said Francesca. “He was exceptionally polite.”
Gemma Hopkins also caught some footage of the trio. She said: “We first saw them in Abergavenny bus station. We work in Lucy Hockey Hair Salon next door to the station.
“Paddy was busy taking photos with fans. Then they left in a convoy with TV cameras at the front. We stood on the salon steps and Paddy tooted his horn as he drove off.
“Apparently they were filming with cars up the mountain. They were in the bus station for about an hour then moved on and were next seen parked up at Storey Arms in Brecon.”
It is not the first time the Top Gear team have been in town, with former presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May having visited for filming in 2012, driving customised scooters through the town’s high street.
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