A bodyguard has revealed what a 'carnage' it was protecting Michael Jackson at the height of his fame.
Simon Newton served for several years in the British Army, fighting in Iraq before working in private security for a major oil firm and then close protection for the British government in Afghanistan.
He now runs a top security firm, Askari Secure, which looks after some of the biggest names of the planet, including Kendall Jenner, Halsey and Dizzee Rascal.
However, it was his first assignment that he says was perhaps his most high profile and most difficult.
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Speaking to LADbible, Simon says it was only when he turned up to the job while on leave in 2006 that he realised he would be spending two weeks with the Prince of Pop.
Recalling the moment he saw Jackson, the 43-year-old says: "I mean, that's probably the first time I'd ever seen a proper celebrity.
"I just remember looking at him thinking, 'Oh, right, so that's what he looks like'."
Adding: "He had come over for the World Music Awards.
"It was a super busy job; he had his family and some of his children. There were a lot of people around him and a lot of fans had flown from all over the world to see him.
"It was one of the first times that he'd been back in London for quite a long period, so there was a lot of interest, and it was my first job in the UK as a bodyguard too."
Simon says it was absolute 'carnage', with fans following them wherever they moved.
"We had 12 police officers there, 24 hours a day, because due to the amount of crowds outside it could have become a problem," he tells us.
"And the hotel we were staying at didn't have a loading bay, so we had to take him out the front.
"All the fans had booked their taxis for the whole day, so wherever we went they just jumped in and followed us.
"We had 10 or 12 taxis following us all the time, plus we had four or five of our own cars as well, so you can imagine the sort of carnage - everyone was running red lights, all the taxi drivers, no one stopped for any lights.
"It was just an absolute mess every time we moved anywhere."
But with so much attention on the 'Thriller' singer at the time, Simon, who has since starred as Dave Bautista's body double in the film Final Score, says he had to be ready to go if anything kicked off.
He recalls: "I remember thinking any time before we moved him that I've got to be ready to do this, my mind's got to be in the game, it's not a sit in the corner job and just hope for the best, I had to make sure that I was up for it.
"And it was like, all of a sudden, he's coming down, and it was just like, whatever happens happens, and you just have to get on with it."
Topics: Michael Jackson, UK News, Music
Dominic Smithers