Shantalla granny gets up close and personal with Peter Andre

People of all ages queued for hours outside the new Cara Pharmacy in Galway City on Saturday morning to meet pop star, Peter Andre.

 Andre, whose best known hit is Mysterious Girl, joined celebrity royalty when he wed glamour model Jordan, alias Katie Price, after they met and fell in love as participants in the reality show, I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Outta Here set in the Australian jungle.

Andre is on a nationwide tour to promote his new fragrances, Forever and Forever Young, and was a guest of Cara Pharmacies at the weekend as he visited their Galway and Donegal stores.

In Galway their Facebook competition was won by grandmother, Phil Geraghty of Shantalla, whose grand-daughter, Leah had entered her name.

“I didn’t even know she had done that till I got the call. I didn’t believe it. I love him and after meeting him, he’s even nicer than I thought,” she said after her private meeting with Mr Andre upstairs in Cara, where he presented her with an autographed bottle of his new fragrance, all wrapped in a pink box, a design that wouldn’t be too far off what his ex-wife might design.

At least Mrs Geraghty didn’t have to queue outside in the rain and bitter cold but anyone who did, got to meet the affable star as groups of five were brought up at a time. Each and every one got their few minutes with the star who patiently posed for photographs as well.

He said he had loved his stay in the g Hotel, and he raved about the food he had eaten in Artisan in Quay Street the previous night.

He was accompanied on his promotional tour by an entourage (mostly security people and minders) and also his newly pregnant girlfriend, Emily McDonagh, who has discovered that her Irish roots are in Donegal.

She was overwhelmed by the kindness of the Galway fans. One fan presented her with a baby journal which she loved and another young girl of nine or ten presented the couple with chocolates.

Read more in today’s Connacht Sentinel