'Within seconds he had me against the wall': Jools Holland blocked by Lady Gaga's security

‘Within seconds he had me against the wall’: Jools Holland blocked by Lady Gaga’s security

Jools Holland was manhandled by Lady Gaga’s bodyguard after he approached her in his local pub.

The former Squeeze keyboardist was enjoying a drink when he noticed the ‘Poker Face’ hitmaker was also in the bar with a friend so tried to make contact with her to invite her onto his ‘Later… with Jools Holland’ TV show, only to be rebuffed by her “mountain” of a security guard.

He told Vulture: “It’s funny, I bumped into Lady Gaga at my local pub in London a while ago. She just happened to be in there with a friend. It’s not a groovy place or anything.

“There was a large bloke standing by her, so I reached past him to tap her on the shoulder to say hello and also say, ‘If you ever wanted to come on the show, it would be great to have you.’

“I didn’t realise that the mountain I just passed was, in fact, her security man.

“Within seconds he had me against the wall. ‘Hang on a minute, I’m trade!’ “

Fortunately, Gaga recognised Jools and they had a “lovely” conversation about swing music.

Referring to his and Sir Rod Stewart’s new collaborative LP ‘Swing Fever’, he said: “She realised who I was and we had a lovely conversation.

“She can sing this type of stuff too. We had a chat about just that: There are only a few people who have this history. Amy Winehouse understood that as well. All of the Beatles did.

“People who have a great talent, even if it’s people you wouldn’t associate with this music, have a knowledge of it, like Lady Gaga. That’s what I’m trying to convey.”

Meanwhile, after receiving his own knighthood in 2016, ‘Maggie May’ hitmaker Rod has pledged to “start the ball rolling” in an attempt to secure the honour for Jools.

He said in the joint interview: “I could start the ball rolling. There’s a committee that you write to. They look at it and make sure he hasn’t been in prison and has paid all of his taxes. We just need a few people. You don’t ask the king. Charles can’t give it to you… We’ll get you that CBE.”