'Drunk' TV contestant is man behind axed music festivals

A MUSIC promoter who made history when he became the first contestant to be kicked off the TV series Come Dine With Me is behind two cancelled Scottish music festivals which have left thousands of fans shortchanged.

Rory Nicoll, joint-owner and director of These Events Ltd, the Rosyth firm behind the scrapped Hands Up and Studio 54 events, featured top acts of the 1970s and 80s including Manchester legends Happy Mondays and disco stars Gloria Gaynor and the Village People.

Fans were told it was cancelled due to “licensing and financial problems”.

It has since emerged that, in January, he was the first person to be thrown off the dinnertime competition in its 12-year history for allegedly being drunk before the show.

Fellow contestants claimed he threatened the show’s crew, threw cutlery at the dinner table and was abusive to guests.

Contest co-winner Darren Esposito, 39, claimed Mr Nicoll had been drinking since early on the morning of his night for hosting and behaved very aggressively towards his guests.

During a 45-minute long argument about who was the most talented in the band Take That, Rory is said to have verbally abused Mr Esposito.

Mr Esposito said at the time: “On the first episode, I said that Rory would be a thorn in our side and I wasn’t wrong. He was completely off his trolley. I couldn’t believe the way he was treating the film crew.”

Both events due to play Falkirk Stadium on June 3 were cancelled with less than a month’s notice – even though Falkirk Council told organiser These Events Ltd in April that its application was invalid.

Customers received an email saying they will receive a partial refund. However, some who bought the £40-£45 a day tickets have accused the organiser of profiteering from the cancellation by withholding a £1 handling fee.

One of the fans let down when the concert was cancelled was Maggi Taylor, who was alarmed by Mr Nicoll's past.

And she added: "We should not be paying for these cancellations and it is totally immoral not to receive the administration fee back.”

A statement from the festival organisers said: “It is with much regret that we have to cancel the events. We endeavoured to bring something new and exciting to Falkirk and have failed due to licencing (sic) difficulties and subsiquent (sic) financial problems. All ticket purchasers have been contacted directly via email.”

Mr Nicoll’s brush with the TV producers came during a week of filming last May.

The 41-year-old from Alloa had boasted of his confidence over winning the £1,000 prize despite the uncomfortable atmosphere in his home.

In his 2005 autobiography, former Glasgow gangland figure Paul Ferris, described Mr Nicoll as “a Walter Mitty character”. 

His description came after Mr Nicoll asked if he would take part in a film in which he was interviewing prominent figures with experience of violence.

He wrote: “There was no harm in his lurid tales such as the one about him singing with Take That before Robbie Williams joined the band. In fact, they made me laugh. But he left you totally confused about what was real and what wasn’t.”