A CANVEY man’s sloppy snog with a 77-year-old granny has won him a place in the TV hall of fame.

In his first newspaper interview Todd Watkins, of Primrose Close, told the Echo he is still recognised for the kiss he performed on the Word TV programme in 1991.

Engineer Mr Watkins appearedon Jimmy Carr’s Big Fat Quiz of the Nineties this week, where the kiss was ranked as one of the top five most memorable TV moments of the decade.

Mr Watkins was just 20 when he snogged the pensioner whose identity he still does not know.

He said: “We used to travel to the Channel 4 studios once a week to watch the programme being filmed and got to know the presenters.

“They asked us to take part in the Hopefuls section, where Mr Joe Public would do anything to get on television.

“Intrigued and nervous,Iagreed and that’s when they asked me to drop down on one knee and snog an old lady while she was doing her knitting.”

Echo:

That kiss

Shocked, Mr Watkins called his fiancee and now wife, Nadine.

He said: “She just couldn’t stop laughing. She said I had to do it.

“Filming the kiss was so cringey and it took 11 takes.

“At one point the crew left me kissing her for ten minutes because they were rolling around laughing.

“At the end the lady said she felt sorry for me. “ The programme was aired the following week, during which Mr Watkins said he had “several heart attacks”.

He added: “That’s when it all started, national newspapers, including the Sun, came to the house, but I refused to give an interview. It was all a bit much.

“I was pulled on stage at nightclubs and questioned.

“When people saw me, they either laughed or shook my hand and said ‘brave man’.

“People still recognise me now.

“It was so surprising the reaction I got.”

Earlier this summer, Mr Watkins receivedacall from The Big Fat Quiz of the Nineties. He said: “They asked if it was really me who had done the stunt all those years ago.

“When I said ‘yes’, they all cheered and laughed in the background.

“Waiting for the show to be aired was agonising.

“My wife and myself were stressed, to say to say the least.

“I couldn’t stay in the same room to watch because I was cringing so much and Nadine had her hand over eyes.