Johanna Griggs has opened up about her shocking encounter with two-time Oscar winner Dame Maggie Smith.
Speaking to news.com.au, the popular Better Homes And Gardens host recalled that she met the legendary British actor back in 2011 when they were filming an episode of the hit lifestyle show.
Griggs told the outlet, ‘Downton Abbey had launched overseas but they hadn’t launched in Australia, so they asked us to go over and do a behind-the-scenes look at the cast and the crew.’
The Channel Seven team had spent the day filming at Highclere Castle in Hampshire, England, where the popular period drama is filmed.
Griggs said, ‘Obviously we’d seen a lot of pre-episodes of Downton Abbey, we’d heard all the hype about it coming out and I was personally so excited about meeting Dame Maggie Smith.’
‘We kept saying to them, ‘We’re going to be really, really easy. You won’t even know we’re here, we’re going to be behind the scenes. We’ll grab you each for two minutes if you’ve got a spare two minutes between scenes.’ In my head I was like, ‘I can’t wait to meet Dame Maggie, I can’t wait!’’
Smith, who has won three Emmys for her role as Lady Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, was not impressed with the cameras on set.
Griggs recalled to news.com.au, ‘They were doing a rehearsal for a scene and we had permission to film so we were shooting a wide shot of the room and then Dame Maggie just quietly stops and says, ‘Why is there a f***ing camera in my face?’’
‘The PR company said, ‘Oh, Dame Maggie, this is a crew from Australia called Better Homes And Gardens. It’s the number one lifestyle show and we’re about to launch in Australia and we’ve had lots of discussions about this. They’re here to promote the show.’
‘She goes, ‘Well, I don’t care who they f***ing are, so get the f***ing camera out of my face.’
‘We just very quietly backed out of the room and closed the door. It was one of those things where you’re like, ‘That’s not how I thought that would go in my head.’
This week on fun TV podcast, Binge List, Matt, Clare and Gavin name their top 5 shows of 2018 so far, their biggest disappointments, their favourite Aussie dramas, and the best of reality TV. They also cast a surprising spotlight on some shows you thought were long gone. Subscribe on iTunes: http://po.st/syE3JF or OMNY: http://po.st/IlEcNa
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