A Cullingworth couple mingled with the stars at last week's BAFTA TV awards in London.

Nick and Hazel Abbott, of Halifax Road, won a competition to spend the evening at the award ceremony and the star-studded dinner that followed. The couple wandered round chatting to actors from Eastenders, Coronation Street, Casualty and The Bill as well as well-known entertainers. Hazel is pictured above with stars from Eastenders.

Nick, 33, who works for Keighley engineering firm Teconnex, shook hands with Jack Dee, said hello to Stephen Fry and was surrounded by Eastenders actors in the toilet.

Hazel, 33, assistant manageress at Culling-worth fish shop, had a laugh with Coronation Street's Alma, bumped into ER's Alex Kingston and chatted to newsreader Moira Stewart.

Hazel, who regularly enters competitions as a hobby with her mother Rita Butterfield, was one of five people who won a Radio Times contest. Her success came three months after she met flamboyant chef Ainsley Harriot while filming of an episode of TV show Can't Cook Won't Cook.

Nick says: "I encouraged Hazel to enter competitions because it gave me some peace and quiet. But the Bafta was brilliant - a once in a lifetime experience. We expected to be at the other end of the theatre and in a corner for the meal but we were in among the stars."

Hazel adds: "We felt wonderful, especially when we went outside and people were snapping away at us and trying to work out who we were.

"I didn't know if we could go round and talk to the stars but I thought 'what the heck, they can only say no'."

Nick and Hazel were delighted that most of the star guests had time for a quick word and were willing to have their photographs taken. They were particularly impressed with the friendliness of the Coronation Street performers including the actors who play Gail, Toyah and Nick.

They joined celebrities for a champagne reception at the Planet Hollywood restaurant before walking on a red carpet across the road to the Prince of Wales Theatre. Following the awards ceremony they took a bus ride with the celebrities to a hotel where they queued with TV journalist Peter Snow for a slap-up meal.

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