Where Are They Now - Australian TV
Sunday 5th March, Channel 7 at 6.30pm
David's segment on "Where Are They Now" was recorded in Sydney on February 23rd, 2006. David flew in from the USA just for the show. Three lucky fans got the surprise of their lives. David sung "I Think I Love You" as a ballad, but unfortunately this was not shown when the show went to air.
David made a surprise visit to Australia!
Channel 7 in Australia have a show called "Where Are They Now". I was contacted via our website www.davidcassidyfansite.com and helped with research. I also put up a few messages on the website for Australian fans to contact the station. They wanted fans who had met David in 74 and had been on TV in 1974 - where are they now stories. The researcher was too young to know so I had to explain that here in Australia very few fans met David as he was beseiged wherever he went.
Through various means Ch7 selected Sonia Baker from Sydney who faked a faint at Randwick in 1974 in order to get close to David. Security would pass her to the stage and the waiting St John Ambulance staff on the stage to be taken off at the back for treatment. Sonia grabbed David's microphone cord as she was on stage, the person carrying her didn't realise and David had to follow for a bit. Elizabeth and Georgina Korn, twins, from Melbourne were also selected. In 1974 Georgina had won a David Cassidy lookalike contest, the prize was to meet David on a local television show. David was unable to meet the girl as his laundry had been stolen at the hotel. More of the show later...
Two days before the show I was contacted by staff at Ch7. I was asked to put a message up on the fansite to let fans know that a very special surprise was going to happen during the taping of the David Cassidy fans segment. So... knowing the show format we thought there was a pretty good chance of something rather special......
Denise and Kay left Perth at midnight and arrived at Sydney at 6.30am Thursday. I arrived in Sydney at 7.40am from Victoria after getting up at 2.30am, hardly any sleep and a 2 hour drive! Karen, whom I met and stayed with during David's 2002 tour arrived at the airport about 7.55 and picked us all up. We had some much needed food in Sydney and went to Karen's to change. We bought an Australian Merlot (a little taste of Australia!) to give David and wrote a letter to go with it, just in case we were right.... We were up at the studio at 3pm in the hope of seeing a certain person arrive. Tickets did say 4pm for audience! We couldn't get in but had fun watching other stars arrive and leave.
4pm arrives (what a long hour!) and we go in and park and met some other fans. At 4.15 were were asked to wait outside as Ch7 staff didn't want us to hear something happening on the stage - it would spoil the big surprise of the show. The show had lots of segments. I think they actually taped 2 and a bit shows. During the breaks in shooting there were some pretty big hints that we were right to have gone without sleep and flown all that way. You can all imagine how we were feeling: excited, sick in the stomach and not at all tired. David's segment was the last!!!! We had to wait so long. It was after 8pm before the three lucky ladies took to the stage. The staff at Ch7 wanted David's fans to sit in the middle section in the front for David's segment. Audience swap around seats for the different episodes taped in the one session. So there we were, in the front row. I was on the end next to where the hosts come out to start the show.
The fan's segment started with the 3 ladies sitting on a very 70ish looking bed with a wardrobe,covered in David Cassidy pictures, behind them. When asked by the hosts if the set looked like their bedrooms back in the 70's they rightly said that the ceiling pictures were missing. The hosts were great and asked the girls their stories. The host then asked them if they had kept up with what David was doing now and where they thought David was now. Of course they said that David was doing concerts in the US. Kochie the host said that David wasn't in the States. David, all miked up, said from behind us, something to the effect that he was in the studio. I look around and there he is walking straight towards the stage and Me. I was end seat front row. "Hi David" was rewarded with a wave and a smile and then David went on up to the stage.
The ladies on the show got heaps of hugs and then the interview started. David was whitty and showed no signs of coming off a 23 hour flight! Needless to say, David looked handsome in a white shirt, black trouser, dark green socks and black shoes. During the interview David told of his enjoyment of his trip in 1974 as it was the first tour where he had days off between concerts and he was able to go diving and see some of the country. David also spoke briefly about his horse breeding and Georgina asked David if he could breed with them. The look on David's face was priceless. After the interview David sang "I Think I Love You" as a ballad. Just David and a guitar that he had borrowed. He was fantastic of course.
That was the end of the segment and David left the stage straight into my arms. Well....I was standing up just waiting for him. A long hug and a brief word for the four of us and David disappeared. Staff at the station said that David left straight away. Sonia later confirmed this.
Karen raced me to the airport for my flight, the last of the evening. I made it with 10mins to spare. Thanks Karen! Kay and Denise flew home the next morning.
I still can't believe it! David Cassidy was here in Australia.
Thank you David!
Jane Reaburn
Postscript
The show that went to air was heavily edited and did not contain the segment when David talked about enjoying his rest between concerts here in 1974 and it did not contain David singing "I Think I Love You".
Pictures from Ch7 Where Are They Now. Please do not copy or redistribute. Thank you.
