This starts in June 2002.
Michael was in London on a public trip.
This was the time period when he was BFF's with Uri Geller.
Uri Geller has links to the Devon area of South England. For context, the sticky out pointy bit at the end of the map of UK.
Uri Geller at that time, I have no idea now, was Chairman of Exeter Football Club. Exeter Football Club are a low level professional football club. If any of you have seen Welcome To Wrexham on Disney+ , Exeter Football Club would be one of the teams Wrexham would play when they were a failing club before Ryan Reynolds came in.
Uri Geller persuaded Michael to do a public appearance to raise funds for Exeter Football Club. I was at this event, took the train from Paddington Station. Thats a whole other story.
Anyways, it was a BIG deal in the local area, and everyone wanted in. Matt Fiddes was 22 at the time and was well known locally as the owner of a big martial arts gym. In todays terms he was a sports and fitness influencer before that was a thing. Uri Geller had heard about him and it was Uri Geller who contacted Matt and thats how they got to know each other.
Through Uri Geller he got himself into Michaels entourage.
At the personal appearance at Exeter Football Club Matt Fiddes was umbrella holder.
To continue we need to back track a bit and introduce Mike Laperruque.
Mike Laperruque was Michaels Head of Security from August 2001 to June 2003.
So all the public appearances from Nasdaq to the CD signing, to Bambi Awards etc, Mike was there. If you know what he looks like, you can spot him in the background in some photos.
If you Google him, you can find out lots about his time with Michael, as he was on the official witness list but didnt testify. He died in September 2015.
As a favour to Uri Geller Matt Fiddes was allowed to be in Michaels entourage. While he was / is a martial arts expert, at the time he was building up his gym business and I very much doubt he had the official training and certs to be a professional bodyguard. Its very likely that Mike Laperruque would have hired extra professional security from an agency. Thats how things work.
So in June 2002, its very unlikely he was on payroll as official security like Mike Laperruque was or there in any official capacity like the hired for the day agency security.
Also if you ever look at photos of Michael with real professional security around him, they dont focus on the principle, ie Michael, they are focusing on the crowd, the unknowns. They need to be on the ball and seeing and averting anything which may affect the principle, ie Michael. Holding an umbrella is not usually the job of security.
Matt Fiddes was in London too on the other days, again as part of Michaels entourage.
Fast forward to June 2008
In the 6 years between June 2002 and summer 2008, Matt Fiddes used the "I was Michaels bodyguard" story to increase his social clout and he basically built his business off Michaels name.
Theres a whole story about how he contacted Tito, using Michaels name and Uri Geller and got Tito, Katherine and the boys to come to England and take part in a tv show. Tito spilled THAT tea, after finding out Matt Fiddes used him as a pawn to gain social and financial benefit.
So the fan event. I think this was 8 June 2008, I would need to check my journals.
I was living in London and part of an extended fan community. We find out that there will be a fan event in Devon. All of the fans who performed at the fan events had been invited to perform at this event hosted by Tito and the boys. We all know they were living in Devon, they were in a village called Appledore, so it wasnt unexpected that there would be a fan event. Back then, there were these types of events about once a year, but mainly in London.
When we looked into it, most of my friends were not interested, we didnt have cars and its about a 5 hour train journey. It ended up just me and a friend I'll call B and then about 40 other fans we knew, the performers and their friends.
We all get the train from London, down south to this tiny rural area. The hotel where the event was is called Durrant House Hotel, and we were all staying there. It was madness, to us, it was just a weekend away, a bit of fun, a social event with other fans.
The event started in the afternoon. The hotel function room was set out with tables and chairs and a stage area marked out on the ground. Looking back, compared to other events we went to, it was a really amateur setup. We didnt care though, we were there to party to Michaels music and have fun. And oh Tito, Taj and Taryll are here too, great stuff.
Me and B sat at a table, some other friends joined us and then random people started arriving. Ok, who are they??? A random couple sat at our table, ok, hi there, the music starts and the first performer is in the stage area. Most of the performers are not really known names, the "headliner" was Danny Oliver, so it was just a really fun relaxed party.
It wasnt all performers, there was an auction of various 3T and Poppa T merch. Some of the fans there were big 3T fans, so they were really excited to get some rare merch and I think they auctioned off a meet and greet as well. Cant really remember, I didnt buy any merch. There was also Matt Fiddes Gym merch and giveaways too, which we found odd.
Then after the auction, The Jacksons left the room. No one was really bothered, the party was in full swing. Thats when I got talking to the random couple at our table. It turns out they and the other randoms were there because of Matt Fiddes. He was selling tickets and promoting the event locally as his event, basically the whole event was a money maker for him, again using the Jackson name. They did not like that we were not impressed by their connection to Matt Fiddes and that we didnt like him.
Everyone kinda started noticing the Jacksons were gone a long time, they hadnt left , as there were still personal items on their table.
Then suddenly we hear Michaels voice saying hello. We look around, not understanding what we were hearing or where it was coming from. Maybe someone said hello, maybe someone said its Michael, I cant remember, all I remember is someone screaming OMG its him and this peal of laughter through the speakers, then everyone started screaming and talking all at once, and then everyone went ssh shhhs let him talk or something like that. Its on YouTube if you search Michael Jackson phones fan party Devon 2008.
Its very short, only a few minutes but it was sooo cool. The atmosphere afterwards was crazy, now it was really time to party. I remember when the Jacksons came back in, everyone just called out Thank You , Thank You.
So thats the story about Matt Fiddes, Michael, Tito.
Im not sure when, but some time later Tito found out about all the shadiness and cut ties with Matt Fiddes.
Then a year later, Michael was gone and Matt Fiddes re surfaced, trying to get another piece of the pie.
