Eager fans awaiting the arrival of the star himself

Well fans of the Benidorm series were certainly out in force this morning. An orderly queue was already eagerly awaiting the arrival of actor Jake Canuso, aka Mateo at 10.30am outside Morgans Tavern, even though the signing wasn´t due to start for another half an hour. Morgans Tavern is the fictitious Neptunes Bar from the series.

Series writer Derren Litten arrived first much to the fans delight, many of whom insisted on having a photo taken with the genius who created this iconic cult comedy, now in its 6th series. Everyone clutched their cameras dizzy with excitement at the opportunity of meeting probably the most popular member of the cast.

Derren seated ready to take names

It was certainly very well organised - Derren sat at one table where he wrote down the name of the person on a post-it note ready for Jake to personally sign the calendar cover - this avoided any spelling mistakes... very clever!
The calendars are of exceptional quality - with 12 fantastic shots all taken in and around the resort, with a great mix of colour and black & white photographs and priced very reasonably at 15 euros or two for 25 euros.

There was even a police presence outside - I spoke with the officer and he told me whenever there is a crowd assembled, especially if they are foreign, they like to patrol to deter any would be pickpockets.

Two very happy fans clutching their calendars

I spoke to two very excited ladies who had just got their calendars. Louise and Elaine, both from Edinburgh are huge fans of the series and couldn´t believe their luck that the last day of their holiday coincided with the signing - it had totally made their holiday they told me. After Jake signed the calendars he stood and had a picture taken with each person - something which made the event even more special for the fans. They all commented what a truly lovely gent Jake was and all left with a smile.

Jake and the lovely Sherrie

As if the luscious Jake and Derren was not enough excitement to handle,  fellow cast member Sherrie Hewson also popped along to show her support. By this time the camera shutters were seriously clicking away and Sherrie was also more than happy to have her picture taken with fans. She had literally just flown in from the UK and arrived with her holdall - it goes to show how close knit the cast have become...

Jake busy at work....

At present there are two more official dates for the calendar signing: Saturday 14th September from 10.30am until 13.30pm at the Flash Hotel, which is located almost opposite Morgans Tavern - the lovely new modern hotel and the second date is Saturday 28th September again 10.30am until 13.30pm back at Morgans Tavern. However, due to the huge success and demand Jake told me that they may yet squeeze in another date.... and there is - it will be on Saturday 21st September, 10.30am until 13.30pm at Morgans Tavern - so 3 more opportunities to meet him again!

Even I got one...

Tempted ....