Lynda Bellingham’s son says that his mother would be ‘glad’ he’s started working as a butler at The Savoy hotel, and that she has a ‘connection’ with the establishment.
Michael Peluso, 37, started working at London’s top hotel with his brother Robbie, 32, after quitting his dreams of becoming a film star, and is currently featuring in ITV series The Savoy.
The Loose Women star died in 2014 at the age of 66, after her battle with colorectal cancer, and in 1984 starred in a production of Noises Off Comedy in the Savoy Theatre.
Appearing on the show today, Michael told that on his first day the hotel’s head doorman Tony Cortegaca ‘shook his hand and mentioned his mother’, telling him the team would often help her get home safely after a night in the American bar.
Lynda Bellingham is pictured holding her OBE with husband Michael Pattemore (right) and sons Michael Peluzo (left) and Robbie Peluzo (far left) with step-son Bradley (far right) at Buckingham Palace in 2014
Michael Peluso, 37, started working at London’s top hotel The Savoy after quitting of dreams of becoming a movie star after ‘many years of trying’
Appearing on Loose Women today he told that his mother would be ‘glad’ he’s started working as a butler at The Savoy hotel, and that she has a ‘connection’ with the establishment
When asked what his mother would think about he and Robbie working at the Savoy, he said: ‘I think she’d be glad we’re together.
‘She did a show at the Savoy theatre a way back. After the show she would go to the American bar and have a drink or two, and so there’s that connection as well.
‘The first day I started, Tony the doorman shook my hand and mentioned Mum and said how they’d make sure she got home every evening in a taxi, and so I thanked him for that.’
Michael made the decision to join the hotel after ‘many years’ of trying to be an actor, and was recommended the position by his brother.
Michael, pictured preparing to serve a cocktail party on ITV’s The Savoy, told that on his first day the hotel’s head doorman Tony Cortegaca ‘shook his hand and mentioned his mother’
In ITV’s The Savoy, Michael is seen being put through his paces by head butler Sean Davoren (left) , 62, who started working at the hotel in 1978
‘It was a decision I made after many years of trying,’ he told. ‘I have no regrets. I was made redundant and it was, “Do I continue chasing this dream of being in movies?”.
‘I spoke to my brother and he said they are looking for a new butler and I’d never thought about it, but when an opportunity comes up at The Savoy, I went through the number of interview processes and I’m very happy here.’
He explained that guests often get confused between him and his brother, who works greeting guests at reception, and admitted that the pair ‘do play on it a bit’.
‘It’s interesting when we’re working the same shift,’ said Michael. ‘When they arrive the first person that greets them is my brother.
He explained to the Loose Women hosts that guests often get confused between him and his brother, who works greeting guests at reception, and admitted that the pair ‘do play on it a bit’
He told host Ruth Langsford: ‘I meet them and there are that double look and me and my brother do play on that a bit, he’s the one that’s slightly taller and better looking’
‘Then I meet them and there is that double look, and me and my brother do play on that a bit. He’s the one that’s slightly taller and better looking.’
In ITV’s The Savoy, Michael is seen being put through his paces by head butler Sean Davoren, 62, who started working at the hotel in 1978.
‘I’m a little bit of a tyrant,’ Sean says in the show. ‘When I was being trained they would hit you, throw things at you and say, ‘You’d better do better or you won’t be working here.’ It was a good lesson but wouldn’t be appropriate now.’
Admitting that he sometimes struggles to multitask, Michael explained today: ‘There were a few things.
Michael, pictured on The Savoy, explained that the glitz and glamour of the hotel that keeps him motivated, and that he’s ‘very proud’ to maintain a job at a ‘British institution’ such as The Savoy
‘I mentioned in the show, having to do several things at once, someone is calling on the phone, speaking in your ear, you have the requests from the customers from the iPad, you juggle lots of things at once.’
Michael explained that the glitz and glamour of the hotel that keeps him motivated, and that he’s ‘very proud’ to maintain a job at a ‘British institution’ such as The Savoy.
He told: ‘When you see Count Peter [of Savoy] and go into those marble hallways, you can’t help but feel those Savoy sparkles.
‘That’s what helps get up on a dark dreary morning at 5.30 am, it’s a British institution and I’m very, very proud and lucky, especially with what everyone is going through, to still have a job like this.’
Linda is famous for playing the central character in the long-running ‘Oxo Family’ TV adverts, starting in 1983, and Michael explained it’s his mother’s cooking that he misses the most
His mother Linda was famous for playing the central character in the long-running ‘Oxo Family’ TV adverts, starting in 1983, and Michael explained it’s his mother’s cooking that he misses the most.
‘There are many things [he misses about his mother] and anyone watching the show if you lose someone they never lose them, said Michel.
‘Genuinely I miss the cooking, the homemade dinner, especially the Sunday lunches and I wish I paid more attention when she was teaching me. You think they’re going to be around forever.’