Suspicious Minds? Elvis And Other Celebrity Germaphobes
Performing to over 12,000,000 people over the span of his 23 year career? No Problem. Using someone else’s silverware? Unthinkable.
For a man whose personal life has been heavily and openly scrutinised since his death in 1977, it’s not every day that a new piece of information about Elvis comes to light.
That day came on Saturday when Priscilla Presley (Elvis’ divorced wife) revealed that Elvis was a bit of a germaphobe, to the extent that he would take his own silverware to restaurants or people’s houses and would only drink from the spot where the handle joined a mug, as he believed that no-one’s mouths or fingers would’ve touched that particular spot.
In her interview with Jonathan Ross, Priscilla said: “He never liked to go to people’s homes to eat because didn’t like eating with other people’s silverware, so he would take his own silverware."
“And he didn’t like drinking out of cups that other people had drunk out of, even restaurants or other people’s homes. So when he drank, he would drink where the handle was, knowing that no one would ever drink at that side."
“I think he just didn’t like to put his mouth where other people put their mouth, with silverware, things that you put in your mouth.”
Would he have acted the same if he’d known about the antimicrobial properties of silver? Who knows?
Of course, Elvis isn’t the only famous germaphobe.
Celebrity Germaphobes
Howie Mandel, Canadian comedian, actor and TV host also suffers from an irrational fear of germs, refusing to shake hands with anyone unless he is wearing latex gloves and instead opts for a friendly fist bump. In addition to this, Mandel will also request two dozen towels that he can use to create a walkway over the carpet.
Virgin Mogul, Richard Branson, also opts for high fives or fist bumps over handshakes for both comfort and hygiene reason. Donald Trump on the other hand generally tries to avoid hand-to-hand contact, as-well-as touching the ground floor button in an elevator - logically deeming it to be the most touched and therefore germy.
Other celebrity germaphobe behaviour includes Gwyneth Paltrow taking her own brush and comb to the hairdressers, Nikola Tesla's avoidance of pretty much anything that might have germs on and Cameron Diaz’s reported avoidance of doorknobs.
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