THEY say you should never meet your idols. This statement refers to expectations and how celebrities can often paint a pale imitation of their on-screen persona when greeted in reality.

However, in this case, the above sentiment could not be any further away from the truth as Bradford superfan Bex Berry was thrilled at how gentle and kind her hero Suranne Jones was upon their meet.

Last month, the Gentleman Jack star was at Halifax's Piece Hall unveiling a statue of Anne Lister, the character she plays in the hit BBC One show.

Fans crowded at the barrier hoping to catch a glimpse of Suranne and an autograph. Unfortunately, for Bex, after waiting for almost two hours, she thought she had missed out.

Keen not to disappoint, once Suranne heard about Bex's struggle she went out of her way to go find her and have a chat.

"Suranne was just so down to earth and humble," Bex said.

"She was as lovely as I thought she would be and more. She didn’t rush me, she took her time with me to make sure I was okay. She was so apologetic for missing me. We were both emotional. I thought if I met her I would have asked her this and that but when I did it all went out of my head. She was just saying how delighted she was to meet fans like me.

"I saw her the next day at Shibden Hall on the last day of filming and she remembered my name."

As superfans go for TV shows, Bex must be up there with the biggest.

She knows each of the eight episodes word for word and followed filming at Salts Mill and Shibden Hall.

Better yet, the woman from BD7 even has a piece of the show in her own living room, Argus the dog's kennel.

Bex added: "I am quite sneaky really. After all if you don’t ask you don’t get. The men were like take what you want, and my husband Darren asked if we could have that. We had to hire a minibus to get it home.

"Although most of it is made from wood, it does look like real stone. It looks amazing in our front room."

So, what is it about the show - which is expected to be back for season two in the spring of next year - that makes it so special?

Bex added: "Suranne's acting is brilliant. It is just so fascinating that this woman from 200 years ago, made all these diary entries, I think it is something like five million words. She wasn't supposed to run estates and businesses as a woman, but she did. It is a fascinating story.

"Shibden Hall is also beautiful. I visit there every week; I could live at Shibden Hall."

Bex was born with Proximal femoral focal deficiency, a rare, non-hereditary birth defect that affects the pelvis, particularly the hip bone, and the proximal femur.

She had to get her left leg amputated because it was deformed. In what has been a tough last few years for her, this meeting really gave her a lift.

"My hip doesn’t work on the left side, there's no movement in it. I had my leg amputated because it was deformed and now I have prosthetic leg. I still have to use my crouches as it is hard to learn to walk again. It is hard work chasing film people around!

"It made a big difference to my mental health because I was very depressed. It gave me something to focus on. With Suranne being so kind, it just meant everything to me."