Ebury opened its arms to the huggable Justin Lee Collins yesterday. He took time out from learning to ballroom dance, high dive and Mexican wrestle for TV to come and chat about his hilarious coming-of-age memoir Good Times! which we publish this Autumn. Our deeply serious and highly professional brainstorm included such weighty discussion points as hugging and ‘how about a karaoke night!’

Justin then regaled us with stories of how be got to where he is now. By accident. How he went from the M&S years where he was told to ‘walk faster’ by his boss. Bad times. To street jamming in spandex and wrestling in lycra and manhandling Alan Carr on national TV on a weekly basis. Rock on!

Justin then met the whole Ebury team over drinks where there was a bit of singing, a few spontaneous hugs, and chats all round before Justin had to head off to ITV for the press launch of his new chat show The Justin Lee Collins Show.

As he left the building our flustered MD was overheard saying ‘I’d only just come into the room when, before I knew it, I was being given a big beardy kiss!’

Rowan - Editor