‘He was a girls’ man!’ What Baby Reindeer star was REALLY like

When punters arrived at the Hawley Arms in London‘s trendy Camden, they couldn’t believe their eyes when they saw who was pulling pints behind its busy bar.

After doing a double take, they would realise it was actually Amy Winehouse, then at the height of her fame, chatting and giggling with guests.

‘Amy said it was what she was born to do,’ says a friend of the star who was also a regular at the pub back in the mid- to late-Noughties.

‘She loved that pub. She would love talking to normal people coming in for a pint, totally not expecting to be served by her. She thought it was hilarious.’

It was Amy’s local, just a stone’s throw away from the Camden flat where she lived with ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil.

To the outside world, it was nothing more than a standard London boozer, like many, painted in red.

What made it stand apart, however, were the hordes of paparazzi waiting outside, ready to snap whatever A-lister might stumble out of its doors. Because, even without Amy Winehouse behind the bar, the Hawley Arms was, back then, ‘hipster central’.

A grubbier and trendier version of that other 1990s celebrity hangout, the Met Bar, it was the regular haunt of Russell Brand, Liam Gallagher, Kate Moss, Noel Fielding and Pixie Geldof.

And now, the bar which is just yards away from the world famous Camden Market, is having a renaissance thanks to the hit Netflix series Baby Reindeer.

The series, which has gone viral, tells the story of a semi-fictional character named Donny, played by the show’s creator Richard Gadd, who worked behind the bar where he met a strange, lonely woman.

Feeling sorry for her, he offers her a cup of tea on the house, triggering what quickly turns into an obsession. What follows is a dark, psychological thriller, as the woman turns out to be a deluded and dangerous stalker.

While fact and fiction have been blurred — the pub is called The Heart in the show — Gadd did actually work at the Hawley Arms, and it is the setting for the series.

And Gadd is still remembered by old regulars. Even back in 2009, he referred to himself as a ‘writer’ according to one. And while his employment there was ‘fleeting’, he did earn the reputation of a ladies’ man with one woman recalling: ‘He would love chatting to women, and he would sometimes snog some of us.

‘He wasn’t the loudest but every now and again he would talk about his writing. But then most people who went to the Hawley would say they were writers too, so it was just a case of ‘Oh, whatever!’ None of us back then foresaw this.’

What the millions of viewers of Baby Reindeer do not see in the programme is how the Hawley Arms was already famous in its own right.

Amy was a firm regular at lock-ins in a private room upstairs which boasted a huge chandelier. It was there that Amy would put on her favourite song, Down In Mexico from the movie Pulp Fiction, which became the anthem for their wild nights.

To gain entry, you had to knock on the locked door and wait to be approved for entry.

One regular recalls seeing Amy working as a barmaid on the night she won best female act at the Mobo awards for her album Back To Black in September 2007.

‘She welcomed people in like she was the landlady. We used to joke that she would go all Peggy Mitchell and start shouting ‘Get outta my pub!’ ‘

Amy would also regularly serve Kate Moss who would be there with her then boyfriend Pete Doherty.

‘Russell Brand was always there,’ recalls one former regular. ‘He would come in, dressed head to toe in black and strut up to the bar. Girls would be swarming around him, Russell was just being Russell and loving the attention. Usually he would leave with one of them.’

Located a couple of minutes from the MTV studios, the Hawley Arms was a firm favourite among those from the British music industry, too.

Razorlight lead singer Johnny Borrell, The Kooks and Florence Welch from Florence & The Machine would often rock up looking for a late party. David Gardner, David Beckham’s best friend, and the late television presenter Caroline Flack were also spotted propping up the bar.

Not that it was just British celebrities who made a beeline for the Hawley Arms. Hollywood stars flocked there, too.

Mischa Barton, star of U.S. teen soap The OC, was spotted there in deep conversation with Alison Mosshart, the US singer from the band The Kills who is now dating actor Damian Lewis. Actress Kirsten Dunst, briefly dating Razorlight guitarist Johnny Borrell, was another visitor.

‘They were absolutely great times,’ recalled a regular. ‘It was rammed every night. It was one of those places where you could walk in on your own and you’d know at least three other people in there. There was the downstairs and the upstairs but right at the top there was another room that you could only get in if everyone knew who you were.’

But there was another, side to the Hawley Arms, claims another former punter. Back then, cocaine was ‘everywhere’, and no one even bothered going to the loos to take it. ‘To be honest, people would do coke anywhere in the Hawley Arms – even on the tables.’

‘We used to say imagine if the police came in they’d have to arrest everyone!’

However, in February 2008, the pub set on fire – much to the horror of its A-list guests.

Amy was so distraught that she headed up a fundraiser to reopen it and put pressure on Camden Council, whom she felt was dragging its feet in giving it permission to open its doors again.

‘It broke Amy’s heart when it burned down,’ said a friend of the late star. ‘It was like a second home to her and so she felt she had to do something.’

It worked, and eight months after the fire, it reopened. There was a three-day party to celebrate.

Amy continued to visit until she gave up alcohol some months before she died in July 2011.

Today, both the Hawley Arms’ owners and staff are not exactly embracing the pub’s globally famous credentials.

Fans have flocked to the venue to order their own glass of Diet Coke (Martha’s daily ‘tipple’) and cup of tea. However, any attempts to engage in conversation with the bar staff are likely to be one-sided.

Baby Reindeer fans have been quick to share their disappointment on social media.

One said he went here wanting to have a ‘friendly chat’ with staff who might have been able to talk through some of the history of the pub but said they appeared to be ‘sick’ of the attention.

Their reported lack of enthusiasm has left former fans of the Hawley ‘sad’.

One said: ‘It was such an amazing pub with good vibes. It was like Cheers — everyone knew your name. It’s a shame that people running it today appear not to embrace its newfound fame.

‘Because Amy would have absolutely loved it. She would have been beside herself with pride.’