London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 10, 2025

The British seat-filler mistaken for Billie Eilish's grandad at the Grammys

The millions who have seen clips of Billie Eilish scoop five Grammy Awards probably assumed the smartly-dressed man leaping to his feet in delight right behind her was some sort of music industry bigwig.

He is not. Terry George, from Leeds, is a successful businessman, but he says he found himself among the US pop prodigy's entourage after winning the chance to be a seat-filler at the star-studded ceremony in Los Angeles.



Until recently, the 54-year-old admits, he thought Billie Eilish was an Irish comedian.

But on Sunday, he found himself chatting to the 18-year-old superstar while in the middle of the celebrations when she and her brother - who is her producer - won.

"I felt part of the entourage," George tells BBC News. "I don't know if she was just overwhelmed with the whole emotion of it all, but she and her brother grabbed my hand and shook it when they came back down [from the stage].

"Just being there, hearing the gasps and hugging people around them like their mum, I just felt quite caught up in it all.

This was the fourth year that George has been a Grammys seat-filler - he has previously rubbed shoulders with Beyonce, Madonna and Rihanna.

Ceremonies like the Grammys use members of the public to fill seats to make it look like there are no empty spaces when stars go backstage or to the bathroom, or don't turn up at all.

"I heard that Taylor Swift was going to be sitting where I was," George says. "I don't know how true that was."

(Swift was nominated for three awards but didn't attend, with sources telling Variety she dropped out of performing several days before.)

The role of the seat-filler has received more attention this year after Lewis Capaldi - who lost out to Eilish for song of the year - said a woman mistook him for one, possibly as a result of his laid-back (i.e. scruffy) appearance.


George made the same mistake. "To be honest, I didn't even know what he looks like," he says. "I thought he was a seat-filler as well. He looked very casual."

He explains: "They move you around all the time, but I tended not to move around so much on this occasion.

"I was one seat away from the stage - three footsteps and I would have been at the bottom of the stage steps. It was that close."

The ceremony cameras showed him cheering enthusiastically directly behind Eilish as she looked ever more stunned each time she completed one part of her clean sweep of the show's main awards.

"They were all very chatty and talking and I could just feel the atmosphere, and [hear] the gasps when she was getting called out," he says.

George was close enough to listen in to Eilish and brother Finneas O'Connell as they tried to comprehend what was going on.

"She'd done a speech and they came down and they were saying, 'How do you think the speech went? I didn't know what to say.'

"I think they were pretty surprised that they were winning the awards."

And he was close enough to have a conversation with the singer herself amid the whirlwind.

"She looked round to me and caught my eye, and I said, 'What are you going to do if you win this next one?'" he recalls.

"She was clenching her hands really tight and really gasping, and she said, 'Oh, my goodness, I don't know what I'm going to do, I don't know what I'm going to do.' You could hear the anticipation in her voice."

'Are you her grandad?'
Other people in the audience on Sunday also assumed that George, in his tuxedo and open-neck white shirt, was part of Eilish's inner circle.

"People kept saying to me, 'Are you her grandad?'" he laughs.

"I thought, I'm not that old. Maybe I am actually! I just smiled. I thought it was kind of funny."

George's businesses include a portfolio of bars, clubs and hotels in Leeds. He has appeared on TV in the UK as the benefactor on The Secret Millionaire, and on I Own Britain's Best Home on Channel 5.

But he says his presence at the Grammys was not down to his business connections or deep pockets. "It's not something that's paid for," he says. He and a friend enter a ballot to be seat-fillers, and he has been successful four times in the past seven years, he says.

"I feel kind of blessed to have even got to be at the Grammys, but to have witnessed such a historic occasion and being placed next to Billie Eilish was like winning the golden ticket," he says.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
Labour Expected to Withdraw Support for Special Needs Funding Model
Leaked Audio Reveals Tory Aide Defending DEI Record
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Musk Battles to Protect Tesla Amid Trump Policy Threats
Air France-KLM Acquires Majority Stake in Scandinavian Airlines
UK Educators Sound Alarm on Declining Child Literacy
Shein Fined €40 Million in France Over Misleading Discounts
Brazil’s Lula Visits Kirchner During Argentina House Arrest
Trump Scores Legislative Win as House Passes Tax Reform Bill
Keir Starmer Faces Criticism After Rocky First Year in Power
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
×