Vanessa Feltz: I rejected Al Fayed's sleazy advances - this is what the monstrous man did

I worked with Jimmy Savile at Pinewood Studios on Heineken’s Close To You commercials in 2000. Did I know he was a depraved paedophile? No. Did I think he was creepy and horrible to be around? Definitely. I worked with convicted sex offender Max Clifford for 48 hours on Channel 5’s Vanessa’s Day With... in 1995. He threatened me in front of the crew and behaved so aggressively I wasn’t surprised he ended up behind bars.

Rolf Harris assaulted me sexually live on the Big Breakfast bed. Did I see the ghastly grope coming? Of course not! Chillingly, Rolf maintained his jolly persona throughout.

I was on the lunchtime news presented by Huw Edwards. Did I imagine that this modest gentleman telling me he went to watch me record The Vanessa Show in Norwich so he could “see how it’s done” was capable of possessing child abuse images? Not in my wildest dreams.

You know where I’m going with this. I met Mohamed Al-Fayed at a bar mitzvah at Claridge’s in 2002. I arrived solo. I was 40. Al-Fayed was then 73. As an interviewee I found him a combination of schmooze and moonshine. I hadn’t believed a word he said. In other words, I didn’t take to him and wasn’t pleased to see him at the reception. He tried a full-on charm offensive, banging on about my “beauty” and “voluptuous curves”. I tried to fob him off with platitudes. He said he had an apartment upstairs and would love to whisk me there “to show me the view from the terrace”. This terrace was an obvious substitute for the tired cliché “come and see my etchings” and I had no interest.

Also, a bar mitzvah isn’t a nightclub. It would be offensive to the host if you vanished in the middle to check out another guest’s “terrace”. I said “no thank you” with all the emphatic firmness people might think is my hallmark. What happened next was the epitome of not taking no for an answer.

Al-Fayed’s tone became insistent, angry and intimidating. I stood my ground. I had no intention of following this unappealing specimen anywhere. Eventually – and it took much too long for him to get the message and stomp off – he gave up. I never thought of the incident again until I heard of his alleged campaign of harassment and sexual attacks, including rape, on what is said to be more than 150 women.

This monstrous man wasn’t my boss, held no sway over my destiny and still tried to frighten me into submission. I hope his victims get the compassion and compensation they deserve.