FORGET all the emotion surrounding the sale of stuff owned by Michael Jackson and Princess Diana.

I was most disturbed to hear that one of my childhood heroes has just had the contents of his museum flogged at auction.

Reading about American singing cowboy Roy Rogers – who told his son that if ever the museum operated at a loss he should
close it and sell the contents – brought back a bizarre childhood memory.

I loved Roy Rogers with a passion – or maybe it was his horse, Trigger, that attracted my interest. Hmm.

Either way it was the biggest treat of my life when I saw the two of them perform at the Birmingham Hippodrome.

Yes, that’s right, a cowboy and horse on the stage doing lassoing and yodelling and things.

Or maybe I imagined the yodelling.

Not exactly a boy band, which would be the choice of treat these days, though I do remember poor old Trigger trotting around the stage in One Direction (sorry).

For the uninitiated (ie, the young) Roy, who died in 1998, and his horse made 188 movies together and Trigger even beat actor and comedian Bob Hope by winning an Oscar for the film, Son of Paleface.

My parents allowed me take a couple of friends to the show, and – I’ve saved the best till last – we did not sit in the stalls or in the circle. Oh no.

We had a box! A box, all to ourselves…

They must have saved up hard for this very special treat for me, and the magic of being so close to the stage in our own little space cemented my love of the theatre (and them) forever.

n I WAS less than impressed by Cheryl Cole’s rear end being an item of news last week.

The tale of her new vivid rose tattoo which covers both cheeks appeared on several news bulletins.

We all know celebrity gossip sells and that it’s traditional to end with a ‘soft’ item of news, but I’m sure there could have been more suitable stories to follow the terrible happenings in Syria.

One thing’s for sure – when it comes to flogging off the Cole Collection, she’ll not be able to sell any of those tacky tattoos.