Jodie Marsh has paid tribute to former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, calling him the ‘perfect gentleman’ following his death aged 86.
The former Labour MP and peer passed away on Wednesday to the sound of his favourite jazz music and surrounded with loved-ones at his care home after a long battle with illness.
Lord Prescott was Tony Blair‘s pugnacious political bruiser and famed for being unafraid to speak his mind.
One person who saw a different side to the rambunctious politician, however, was glamour model Jodie Marsh who went for dinner with him while he was filming his 2008 BBC documentary, Prescott: The Class System And Me.
Speaking to MailOnline about her night out with Lord Prescott, Jodie – who was one of Page 3 It girls at the time – revealed she was pleasantly surprised by how down to earth he was and the way he treated her.
Jodie explained: ‘I didn’t know much about him and I try not to have any preconceived ideas, but I probably did think he would maybe be a bit boring.
‘But he was so down to earth and normal and nice and funny. I felt like he was really listening to me, unlike when some other older men can be a bit pompous and look down their nose at you, especially a glamour model… He made me feel seen and heard.’
Jodie Marsh has paid tribute to former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, calling him the ‘perfect gentleman’ following his death aged 86 (pictured at the Wellington Club in 2008)
One person who saw a different side to the rambunctious politician was glamour model Jodie Marsh who went for dinner with him while he was filming a BBC documentary (pictured 2016)
Jodie had been asked to dinner to discuss the modern notions of class with the MP for his BBC2 show.
Having been given control over where they’d meet, Jodie picked The Wellington in Knightsbridge, West London which had a restaurant upstairs and nightclub downstairs.
‘He was amazing and such a lovely man,’ Jodie recalled. ‘He was very attentive and a good listener. He was also very interesting and had lots to say – it was clear he was very, very in love with his wife [Pauline].’
While the pair had filmed all their content for the show by the time they’d finished their starters, Lord Prescott and Jodie were getting along so well that they decided to stay and finish their meals.
During the dinner Lord Prescott even called his wife and got her to speak to Jodie because she had told him to get her makeup tips.
‘I was on the phone to her for ages talking makeup and high heels and shoes and all sorts,’ Jodie shared. ‘She was saying how much she loved how I did my makeup and we were talking about how to do the perfect smokey eye!
‘She was very glam and wonderful, just such a nice lady. I thought it was so lovely because I was at the height of my glamour modelling and had my boobs out and the rest of it.
‘Other wives could have been really s***y about their husbands going to dinner with me, but she was so kind. They seemed like such a cute couple and he raved about her over dinner, how beautiful she was and how glam she was. She was clearly very proud of her.’
Jodie recalled: ‘The paparazzi went nuts when we walked out together! But he wouldn’t let it faze him. He was the perfect gentleman and walked me to my car and gave me a kiss goodbye’
During the dinner Lord Prescott even called his beloved wife Pauline (pictured together) and got her to speak to Jodie because she had told him to get her makeup tips
After dinner Jodie and Lord Prescott decided to keep the party going and made it onto the dancefloor.
‘He had a great time!’ Jodie recalled. ‘It was such a fun night but we left fairly early because obviously he didn’t want to stay out until three in the morning.
‘The paparazzi went absolutely nuts when we walked out there together! It was utter carnage. You could tell he was thinking “oh God” because he was obviously used to being photographed but that was another level.
‘But he wouldn’t let it faze him, he just carried on. He was the perfect gentleman and walked me to my car and gave me a kiss goodbye.
‘I remember going home and telling my mum and dad how lovely he was.’
Jodie previously said that she and Lord Prescott ‘clicked’ when they met and enjoyed a lively debate on whether class is determined by your money or upbringing.
Writing for The Daily Mail in 2008, she revealed: ‘I found myself spilling my heart out to him. I told him all about how vicious bullying over my looks had made my schooldays a misery and driven me to the brink of suicide.
‘I told him how I’d decided not to try for university as my family were the only good thing in my life and I didn’t want to leave them, and how modelling was a sort of self-validation: to prove to myself I wasn’t really ugly.
‘John listened sympathetically and said how horrific it must have been. I know any politician can hit the schmooze button but I’ve been with enough chancers now to know when someone is being genuine. And he was.’
On Thursday, Jodie paid tribute to the late politician as she shared pictures from their night out and penned that she was ‘devastated to hear of the passing’
In recent years Jodie has turned her back on fame to run Fripps Farm Animal Sanctuary but reflected on her wild night with the MP. You can donate at www.frippsfarm.co.uk
She explained that they had covered a wide range of topics, including Lord Prescott’s bulimia that he confessed he didn’t thing would be ‘that big of a deal’ when he discussed it in his autobiography.
The pair also brought up the famous punch Lord Prescott thrown at a protester who chucked an egg at him, to which he responded: ‘God, what a furore that caused.’
Yet Jodie put him at ease but reassuring him: ‘John, any real bloke would have reacted in the same way.’
On Thursday, Jodie paid tribute to the late politician as she shared pictures from their night out and penned: ‘Devastated to hear of the passing of John Prescott. I went for dinner with him once and then took him clubbing.
‘He was the perfect gentleman and I spoke at length on the phone to his wife Pauline, who was utterly wonderful too. Such a lovely couple.
‘Thoughts are with Pauline at this horribly sad time. Rest in peace John. You were a true good one.’
Jodie found fame as a glamour model in the Noughties and whether it was her high profile slanging matches with other glamour models, her various reality TV stints, and who could forget those belts, there wasn’t a day that would go by when Jodie’s face wasn’t splashed about in the papers.
In recent years Jodie has turned her back on fame to run an animal sanctuary in Great Dunmow, Essex – opening Fripps Farm Animal Sanctuary in 2020.
You can donate at www.frippsfarm.co.uk
Lord Prescott was Blair’s political bruiser and battering ram – the bridge between New and old Labour who could down a pint in five seconds and was always up for a fight (pictured 2012)
Jodie was among many grieving the loss of Lord Prescott on Thursday.
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair was tearful as he said: ‘I am devastated. There was no-one quite like him in British politics.
‘Underneath what could be a fierce exterior, and a manner some undoubtedly found intimidating, beat a loving, kind and compassionate human heart’.
Lord Prescott was Blair’s political bruiser and battering ram – the bridge between New and old Labour who could down a pint in five seconds and was always up for a fight, including his most recent battles with a stroke and Alzheimer’s.
The son of a railwayman and a servant from north Wales, he was a fine boxer as a boy after moving to Yorkshire – and his most famous moment was when he thumped a farmer who had egged him outside a Labour rally in Rhyl in 2001.
Alongside him throughout was his wife of more than 60 years, Pauline, who said in a statement co-written with sons Johnathan and David, that representing the people of Hull had been ‘his greatest honour’.
The statement read: ‘We are deeply saddened to inform you that our beloved husband, father and grandfather, John Prescott, passed away peacefully yesterday at the age of 86.’
‘He did so surrounded by the love of his family and the jazz music of Marian Montgomery.
‘John spent his life trying to improve the lives of others, fighting for social justice and protecting the environment, doing so from his time as a waiter on the cruise liners to becoming Britain’s longest serving deputy prime minister.’
Jodie was among many grieving the loss of Lord Prescott on Thursday, including Prime Minister Tony Blair who was tearful as paid tribute (pictured in 2000)
The statement continued: ‘John dearly loved his home of Hull and representing its people in Parliament for 40 years was his greatest honour.
‘We would like to thank the amazing NHS doctors and nurses who cared for him after his stroke in 2019 and the dedicated staff at the care home where he passed away after latterly living with Alzheimer’s.
‘In lieu of flowers and if you wish to do so, you can donate to Alzheimer’s Research UK.
‘As you can imagine, our family needs to process our grief so we respectfully request time and space to mourn in private. Thank you.’
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