“I stood there and thought ‘did that really happen? Did I imagine it?”Hazel Wilkinson danced on stage with Bruce Springsteen at the Manchester Apollo in March 1981.
She talks about her experience in new BBC doc When Bruce Springsteen Came To Britain.(Image: Michael Putland Archive)

The date of Tuesday, March 24th, 1981, is one Hazel Wilkinson will never forget.

It was the night Hazel, a huge Bruce Springsteen fan, was plucked out of the audience at Manchester’s Apollo Theatre by the American rock legend to dance with him on stage.

The treasured moment from 44 years ago will be revisited again this weekend – when Hazel’s experiences are retold in a major new BBC documentary, When Bruce Springsteen Came To Britain, to air on Saturday night.

Bruce himself has been interviewed about his career in the new film, while back here in the UK on his ongoing world tour.

Bruce Springsteen interviewed in the major new documentary, When Bruce Springsteen Came To Britain airing on Saturday 31st May 9.30pm, BBC Two and BBC iPlayer(Image: BBC)

Bruce, 75, will look back at his earliest gigs in the UK – and the impact they had on fans, as well as exploring his impact on the music world.

Hazel is among those who will speak about her experiences in the documentary, and has returned to the Apollo in Ardwick to recall how the special night all unfolded back in 1981.

She says: “I was 17 years old, I was standing here at the front it was half way through and Bruce was playing the song Cherie Darling.

“At the instrumental break, he looked down, looked at me and said do you want to come and dance with me?

“Two bouncers picked me up, put me on stage. Bruce took me in his arms in a dance hold, we tangoed across the stage and turned around and danced all the way back, and then we did a bit of a boogie.”

The treasured moment when Hazel danced with Bruce was captured by photographer Michael Putland(Image: Michael Putland Archive)

She adds of the moment: “I was glued to him. I did quite fancy him, I was looking into his eyes a lot of the time and he just looked into mine.

“Then Bruce took my hand, kissed it and then led me gently back to the bouncers who put me down to the ground. I stood there and thought ‘did that really happen? Did I imagine it?”

Reflecting on the moment now, 44 years later, Hazel says: “It was just really special, because I was a 17 year old, I was just finding my way.

“It was that moment of being seen, being noticed, being picked out by this guy who was one of my heroes, having that moment with him and it was a moment to treasure.”

(Image: BBC)

Hazel, now 61, told the MEN how her appearance in the documentary was all down to an earlier family quest to find the pictures of the incredible moments she got to dance with Bruce.

She explained: “When it was the 40th anniversary of that concert, my son Toby put it on Reddit about me dancing on stage. Someone replied to say they’d seen a photo of that night in Melody Maker.

“I found the article, and I bought the copy from somewhere in America, and was able to get in touch with the photographer, and managed to see some of his photos.

“Because that was all on Reddit, the documentary makers saw that and got in touch.”

Hazel was able to find photos from the night thanks to her son’s Reddit post(Image: Michael Putland Archive)

Hazel said she was delighted to be involved in the documentary, saying “I’ve never done anything like that before, it was really good fun to go and meet them at the Apollo and time to reflect.

“My whole family are all big Bruce Springsteen fans, all my siblings, we’ve all followed him for many years.”

It was Hazel’s big brother, Graham Lingard, 63, who had camped out overnight at the Apollo back in 1981 with his friends to secure front row tickets for the gig.

He then drove Hazel and his friends from their home in Macclesfield to the show on that fateful night.

She says Graham has continued his commitment to watching Bruce since then – and on his recent gigs in Manchester was there at every show at the Co-op Live Arena, seeing him a massive 58 times now in total.

As for mum-of-two Hazel, who now lives in Wrexham, she was able to get tickets for the upcoming Liverpool Anfield show in June. Although it’s unlikely there will be a repeat of her on-stage dance.

Hazel, now 61, has relived the moment for the BBC documentary(Image: BBC)

She laughs: “We’re not front row this time, I’m right at the back so I’m just hoping to have a good night and a good dance.”

Hazel, who is a counsellor and artist, said it remains a “nice little story to tell, especially to fans of Bruce.”

She says: “I absolutely love his music, the way he interacts with the audience. He’s a hero to our family, especially now he’s spoken up about the things going on in America, he’s very brave.”

Now, whenever Hazel sees the video to Bruce’s 1984 smash hit Dancing in The Dark, it brings the memories flooding back.

In the video, Bruce memorably pulls a girl (played by Friends star Courtney Cox) from the crowd – wearing a similar outfit to Hazel in white t-shirt in jeans – to dance on stage.

She says: “I love that song, and the video with Courtney Cox dancing with Bruce, because it reminds me of what happened.”

When Bruce Springsteen Came To Britain, Saturday 31st May, BBC Two and BBC iPlayer