Rob Rinder reveals awkward ‘car crash’ gym encounter with Harry Styles
Rob Rinder had an awkward run-in with Harry Styles. (Getty)
Rob Rinder said he had “the worst social car crash ever” when he bumped into Harry Styles at the gym – but didn’t recognise him.
Speaking with The Telegraph, the TV judge was asked about his worst encounter with another celebrity.
“Nobody looks at anyone at my gym, so I just thought there was a homeless girl running next to me. And then I had a moment of epiphany: it was Harry Styles,” he said.
He continued, praising Styles’ evolution into a “real artist”.
“When I subsequently saw him I got strangely starstruck. We ended up involved in a conversation and all I will say was that it was the worst social car crash ever.
“He hugged me because he needed to make it stop. It was like an act of social euthanasia.”
Judge Rinder said he mistook Harry Styles for a homless girl at the gym. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Harry Styles)
Rinder, who is gay, also describes his fashion sense as a relative car crash: “My best girlfriend describes me as ‘the gay that style forgot’. There have been so many fashion disasters I don’t even know where to begin.”
“I don’t suffer from an especially dialled-up version of narcissistic personality disorder, despite being on telly, but the other day somebody sent me pictures of myself when I was 17 and I look like a mash-up of Little Lord Fauntleroy and Kim Jong Un.”
What a combo.
Rinder has also participated on Celebrity Bake Off (Channel 4)
Harry Styles has become known for his own fashion sense – but it’s not always been positive.
His androgynous styling has earned him accusations of queerbaiting – something he’s firmly rejected.
Rinder, who is a real criminal barrister, is best known for hosting reality courtroom drama Judge Rinder, as well as having appeared on shows Strictly Come Dancing and Celebrity Gogglebox.
In 2020, he fronted the documentary My Family, The Holocaust and Me, which helped Jewish families trace what happened to their relatives during the Holocaust.
