Edinburgh Fringe star who went viral posted same teary 'no-show' plea last year

06 August 2023 , 13:50

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Georgie Grier was left in tears when only one person showed up to her Edinburgh Fringe Festival show (Image: Twitter)

Georgie Grier, the actress who was left in tears when one person showed up to her Edinburgh Fringe Festival set, has been accused of pulling the same 'stunt' last year.

The performer went viral after posting a tear-strewn selfie saying only one person had shown up to watch her one woman show.

She wrote: "There was one person in my audience today when I performed my one woman play, 'Sunsets' at #edfringe. It's fine, isn't it? It's fine...?" alongside a heartbreaking picture of her wiping away her tears.

Following an outpouring of support online, with comedians including Jason Manford, Sarah Millican and Dara Ó Briain offering words of encouragement, Grier returned to her set the next night to a sell-out crowd.

The theatre was so full of ticket-holders that the gleeful actress jokingly called out 'Hello Wembley!" as she made her return to stage.

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However, fans have now called into question the motive behind Grier's original post as they accused her of pulling a similar 'stunt' last year.

Georgie Grier was in tears when only one person showed up to watch her one woman show (Twitter)

The following night she performed to a sell-out crowd after her post went viral

Tweeting rom her account in August 2022, Grier sad she had been crying because the only people that turned out to watch her Edinburgh Fringe performance were her parents.

Alongside a photo of her flyers, Ms Grier wrote on August 15, 2022: "Just had a cry because the only people who turned up to my first show were my parents. But when I had said cry in the bathroom, some other lovely Fringe performers gave me words of encouragement. And I guess two people is better than none?#EdinburghFringe."

Mirror Online has contacted Ms Grier for comment.

One cynical Twitter user said: "Two years in a row, same stunt pulled (look at date of tweet) Wonder if Georgie will go for three in a row next year and get away with it?!"

Georgie Grier said she had a poor turnout last year (twitter.com/georgie_grier)

Jason Manford offered words of encouragement (Twitter)

Another said they actually 'respected' her for 'trying this gimmick more than once.'

The one woman who showed up to Ms Grier's initial show was identified this weekend as fellow performer Sophie Craig, 32.

Speaking after Grier's post went viral, Craig posted: 'I was that one person in the lovely Georgie Grier's audience. We had a lovely hug at the end and she was so professional and brave and she gave me everything. You should be so proud angel! Thank YOU! Now go get em girl'.

She later added: "It's just so incredibly brave. Bringing a show up to the Fringe on your own, especially as a female and a new writer, is incredibly hard and she just smashed it."

Ms Grier's original post has now been viewed over 13million times on Twitter after a number of high profile names reached out to share their support.

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Dara Ó Briain told her: "We’ve ALL done it. Soon, you’ll dine out on this anecdote. More than once I had to buy my audience a drink, as a thank you for being the only ones there. Best thing though, it’s all stage time, and the show will get better every single time, ready for the big crowds later!"

Comedian Sarah Millican then chimed in to say: "Totally fine. And normal. Dara is right. Well done on having the bottle to do it. Feel proud. X"

Former childrens' TV presenter Dave Benson Phillips added: "Just wanted to lend our support and tell you we've all been there. Our first time at the #edfringe, Big Bear and I were performing our #GetUpAndGo childrens show to just one person, an adult. Mid-show I turned to get my guitar to play a song, and the one audience member left."

While Jason Manford went a step further and shared a personal video message to the London based actress. He said he had seen her message on Twitter and felt obliged to reach out and tell her it was 'normal' to feel upset at a poor turn out when she first started out.

Lucy Needham