Flight attendant reveals what celebrities are REALLY like on board

A flight attendant has dished on some of the celebrities she has met in the skies, with Paula Deen and Michael Blackson among her favorite A-list passengers thanks to their positive attitudes.  

Emily Kelly, from Alabama, who uses the handle @thehungryflightattendant on social media and flies for American Airlines, decided to share some of her favorite celebrity encounters, with Australian actor Joel Edgerton being her first subject. 

She said she was at Atlanta airport on her way to Dallas when she bumped into The Great Gatsby star and he was ‘the most humble, kind, amazing person’ she has ever met.

She explained: ‘He made me feel important [and] he made me feel heard… He told me that he was in Atlanta scouting places for a new movie that he was directing but he said it so casually… he did not say it in a pompous [or] arrogant way.’

Joel also revealed to Emily that he had some cousins in Alabama and so they connected further on her home state. 

Another great passenger experience the aviator shared, was with comedian Michael Blackson ‘several years ago… before he was super, super famous.’

She recalled: ‘I mean, he already had a million followers on Instagram, so that’s famous, but this was before he was very, very famous.

‘He put a picture of us on his Instagram and I got like 500 new followers from that.

‘He was like “this is my flight attendant” and tagged me and then people thought we were dating and were commenting on my Instagram.

‘I was like “oh my gosh, this is crazy” but he was super friendly [and] super, super kind.’

One passenger who Emily was especially excited to meet due to her love of cooking was Paula Deen. 

She said the TV chef lived up to expectation and she was ‘so friendly, so warm, she’s exactly how she was on her cooking show, just like a sweet little, warm grandma.’  

When Emily told Paula how much her mom and sister also loved watching her on TV, she said the kitchen pro gave her ‘full attention [and] was just really incredible.’

Coincidentally, Emily went on to meet chef and restauranteur Bobby Flay three days later on a flight from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. 

As with Paula, Emily expressed to Bobby how she was a fan of his and she said he was ‘so, so kind.’

She said she went on to watch him the whole flight, adding: ‘I know that’s weird but I’m such a chef girl and chef lover so that was really cool to share a flight with him and be within just like a few feet away.’

As they left the plane, Emily managed to snag a selfie with Bobby, who was more than happy to strike a pose alongside her. 

For her followers who are fans of The Bachelor, Emily revealed how she once looked after Arie and Lauren Luyendyk, who appeared in season 22 of the TV show.

She said Arie – who shares the same name as her husband – was ‘so friendly and super warm,’ while Lauren was also ‘super nice’ but she didn’t get to talk to her as much. 

During the flight, Emily said Arie opened up to her about his experience of filming The Bachelor and ‘it was just really interesting to speak to him.’

Moving to some big name movie stars, Emily reminisced about once looking after Jamie Foxx and daughter Corinne.

She said that Corinne was ‘so sweet and so beautiful,’ while Jamie was ‘super friendly and smiled a lot and didn’t ask for anything on the flight.’

On the same flight, Emily said her ‘inner child freaked out’ when she realized Mary-Kate Olsen was also onboard, as she was a big fan of the Olson twins growing up.

She said Mary-Kate was ‘so tiny, so cute and made eye contact,’ but ‘she went right to sleep and she didn’t ask for anything.’

In her celebrity confessional, Emily said she has also dealt with some not so pleasant stars but she won’t share those stories in a bid to maintain professionalism.