From redecorating room to refusing to open doors, Top Of The Pops insider lifts lid on megastars’ VERY bizarre demands
For five decades, Top Of The Pops defined the music industry.
Before streaming, YouTube, and TikTok, the hit BBC show was the go-to place for both fledgling singers looking for a big break and superstars alike.
Now the show’s assistant floor manager Gareth Davies, 51, has lifted the lid on what really went on behind the scenes — branding Jennifer Lopez and Shania Twain the biggest divas.
He also recalls how Madonna was left twiddling her thumbs after her clothes went missing.
Gareth, who worked on the show from the mid-to-late Nineties through to the early Noughties, said: “My job was to get artists from backstage and guide them to the stage for their performance.
“Jennifer Lopez had the most demands, for sure.
“The dressing rooms were all along this narrow corridor — so nothing special, really, quite old-fashioned. But for that small stretch of space, she made it completely her own.
“The best way to describe it is that she turned her dressing room entirely white.
“I’m not sure where the fascination with white came from, but she wanted everything transformed.
“The whole room was covered from top to bottom, which was quite unusual.
“She didn’t paint it. She had plastic sheeting put up everywhere instead, so it created this striking, all-white environment.”
It’s a far cry from the image of the Bronx girl done good portrayed in the lyrics of her 2002 hit Jenny From The Block.
But J.Lo’s antics pale into insignificance compared to country legend Shania Twain.
Recalling how the superstar was flanked by her team at all times, Gareth said: “Shania Twain had a really large entourage with her, and my lasting memory was watching her walk from the dressing rooms to the studio.
“There was this long line of people moving ahead of her, like a relay.
“Apparently she didn’t open doors, so someone would always be one step ahead holding it open for her. It was this perfectly choreographed system so she could just keep walking.”
Shania appeared on the show four times during Gareth’s time on the series, making her debut in June 1999 with That Don’t Impress Me Much before returning in December that same year. She also performed in 2000 and 2002.
But for every diva, there was also an unlikely down-to-earth performer.
Perhaps the most surprising was Janet Jackson, sister of the late King of Pop, Michael Jackson.
Gareth said: “I remember everyone on the studio floor waiting quite a long time for Janet to arrive.
“We were all being very casual about it, thinking, well, she’s a major A-lister, of course she’s going to be late. So we just waited around.
“But it turned out Janet and all her dancers had been there the whole time, quietly waiting on stage themselves while we were all waiting for her.
“She was just there in her tracksuit bottoms and hoodie, completely relaxed in that effortlessly cool way.
“What really stayed with me was how kind, gentle, and soft she was. Everyone was genuinely taken aback.
“She felt like one of the dancers, really, just keen to be part of the group rather than setting herself apart as the star.”
Kylie Minogue was also reportedly a total sweetheart.
Speaking about the I Should Be So Lucky singer, Gareth said: “I was quite obsessed with Kylie.
“I remember knocking on her dressing room door with my little script in hand.
“I’d already managed to get Gina G’s autograph — it was around the time she was doing the Eurovision Song Contest (in 1996) — so I thought, right, I’m going to get Kylie Minogue’s on here too.
“I knocked on the door, told her I was a big fan, and she was so lovely.
“She invited me in and chatted with me for a bit, just as a person rather than as a BBC employee. That really stayed with me.”
As well as performing on the show, Kylie went on to make a number of presenting cameos.
Music legend Madonna made her Top Of The Pops debut in January 1984, belting out her single Holiday. She went on to perform a further 13 times, all of which were lapped up by fans. But Gareth recalls how one performance almost didn’t happen after she lost her costume.
He told online gambling platform Zingo Bingo: “I do remember that one time when Madonna came over, everything felt much tighter and more rushed than usual.
“Sometimes an artist would record several songs from an album in one go, so they wouldn’t have to keep coming back again and again.
“From the moment she arrived, it was straight into the studio, rehearsing, back to get ready, then out on stage.
“But she and her team had all rushed in from a hotel in central London, and somehow her stylist had left all the outfits behind.
“We actually had to delay because Madonna had nothing to wear.
“It really felt like she had someone responsible for every tiny detail, so you can imagine whoever was in charge of the wardrobe that day was probably in serious trouble.”
First broadcast on the BBC on New Year’s Day in 1964, Top Of The Pops ran for over four decades.
But despite the huge names and viewing figures, the show was actually as humble as it gets, with greasy-spoon breakfasts being served metres away from where LA-based megastars were doing their pre-show yoga.
Gareth said: “It was filmed at Elstree Studios, where EastEnders was shot, and Grange Hill was filmed there too.
“It was a very traditional, slightly old-fashioned BBC studio that hadn’t really been updated for years. You had this classic canteen staffed by people who’d been there forever, serving no-frills British fry-ups, along with old-school dressing rooms.
“Elstree felt quite remote, almost in the middle of nowhere. So when artists came over, especially from America, they were expecting to appear on the BBC’s biggest music show.
“They probably imagined being right in the heart of London where everything’s happening.
“Instead, they were on the quiet outskirts with very little going on.
“It did make for some surreal moments. You’d spot a big star sitting near a soap star legend, tucking into a breakfast.”
The show was so big that from 2001 to 2005, the BBC hosted the Top Of The Pops Awards at the Manchester Arena.
Explaining how the show felt more like a family at times, Gareth said: “What was so nice was that there really wasn’t much for anyone to do.
“An artist might rehearse at ten in the morning, and then we wouldn’t record until seven in the evening, so they’d just be hanging around.
“It created a real sense of community. You got to see people as much backstage and offstage as you did onstage, which was quite unique.
“Normally, artists come in, rehearse, and then disappear until they’re needed.
“But there, everyone stayed, mingled, and just spent time together, which gave it a very different, much more relaxed atmosphere.
“I remember the first time the Spice Girls got on stage for their rehearsals, they were all jumping around and hugging each other. That was a moment where they felt they had made it.
“The five of them just had this amazing chemistry together. Their personalities worked so well and it wasn’t faked for cameras.
“You’d go into the dressing room and the energy was electric. They were so fun.”
After five decades of being “still number one”, the final Top Of The Pops aired on July 30, 2006.
The BBC said in a statement: “The decision to bring the show to an end after 42 years has not been taken lightly and over the past few years every effort has been made to maintain the quality and distinctiveness of the show.
“However, the BBC’s Creative Future Music Strategy has concluded that in a rapidly changing musical landscape, Top Of The Pops no longer occupies the central role it once did.”
Scottish rock band Snow Patrol were the final ever act to play on the show — belting out their single Chasing Cars.
