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You're not big until Mark has your scribble...
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| Sign here - Mark has over 4,000 celebrity autographs, while T4 is following his exploits |
Watch out - there's a celeb-hunter about. Zany Mark Boardman is fast making a career out of tracking the rich and famous.
What started off as a hobby for 26-year-old Mark, of South Avenue, Southend, has now transformed into his own TV slot called Mark Meets... which charts his pursuit of all things famous.
Mark's obsession started at the age of five, when he gained his first autograph from the pen of Olympic swimmer Duncan Goodhew while on holiday.
He has not looked back since and has notched up an impressive 3,235 celebrity "meets" and has a collection of more than 4,000 autographs.
"When I was young, I constantly pestered my mum to take me to London so I could try to meet the people I admired," says Mark. "I was a huge film and music fan."
He now has a website, www.markmeets.com, dedicated to his hobby, which has seen him branch out into photographing celebs as well as scoring their signatures.
These days, Mark says he is only really interested in meeting A-list stars these days and "conquering Hollywood".
He said: "The glamour and success of the person who is living their dream and getting paid to do what they love is what I admire about celebrities.
"Above all, their status is what we all dream of."
Mark Meets... had its first airing last weekend on the new T4 show Homemade, hosted by former MTV star Dave Berry, who modestly claims the celebrity hunter is really the star of the show.
Mark has even taken a three-month career break from his supermarket manager job to film the series.
The show invites the audience to send in video clips under themes such as Lip Sync Chart, where viewers film themselves miming to their favourite chart hit, and Too Much Time on Your Hands, which presents clips of the useless but entertaining skills people have wasted years perfecting.
As Homemade's resident celeb spotter, Mark can be seen in the coming weeks meeting Hollywood actress Cameron Diaz and cheekily asking her on a date. She politely declined - but called him "very sweet".
Mark said: "You could tell she was bored by everyone else there and I had such enthusiasm, as I love her and all her work, that I think that is what came across.
"That is the secret, really - to be as natural with these people as possible - and they appreciate it."
Homemade is shown on Saturdays at 1.30pm on Channel 4.
9:42am Friday 19th January 2007
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