It was April 24th, 1993 when I first laid eyes on Carl Robinson from the Dream Boys and I’ve thought about him every day since.

The boys were doing a cabaret show on a boat trip between Dover and Calais and me and two friends bought tickets.

It was a good excuse to have a few drinks but when Carl flashed his smile and I clapped eyes on his tanned body I was smitten.

I actually met him after the show and he gave me a peck on the cheek and there was no looking back for me after that.

I went to every Dream Boys shows I could with the girls and pretty soon realised my marriage to my husband to Steve was a sham. I loved Carl not Steve.

Mt friends said I was crazy and infatuated but I had talked to Carl a few times backstage by then and I knew my own feelings. We’d had a few hugs and friendly kisses too.

But he never asked me out even though we used to chat a lot on the phone and exchange texts.

Steve used to get upset that his texts never reached me because my inbox was full of messages from Carl which I refused to delete.

I thought about Carl all the time – hoping he would ask me out one day.

Then in March 1994 on a trip up to a club in London to see the Dream Boys again one of my friends introduced me to Zoey.

“I don’t half fancy that Carl Robinson,” she told me sitting in the back of the car on the way up to London .

I thought to myself I might have a bit of competition but I needn’t have worried.

As soon as Zoey clapped eyes on Richard Kane, who was in the group with Carl, she was smitten too.

“This may sound silly but it wasn’t his sexy black zipper outfit that got me - it was his smile,” she told me later that night.

“He is gorgeous,” she kept saying and before we knew it she had got backstage and had snogged him.

After that we went everywhere together to watch Carl and Richard.

Zoey was in a relationship with Dave but she was in the same position as me – spending a lot of time talking to Richard on the phone.

“I think about him all the time,” she told me. “And even though I’m with Dave I know I would prefer to be with Richard.

“It’s not just his body. I’ve got to know him well. I even know his favourite breakfast is Coca Pops – he’s so sweet.”

By 1996 I’d divorced Steve. We had been together for 10 years and  Carl was definitely a factor.

I was very upset about it particularly for my five children. But I knew I couldn’t live a lie.

I’ve got seven tattoos of Carl’s name on different parts of my body in English, Arabic, Thai and Chinese, including ‘I love you Carl’ on my left hip. What man would put up with that?

And Zoey split up with Dave too.

“I know Dave is not the man for me,” she said. “I don’t think it is to do with Richard, but I do think about him a lot.”

Everywhere we went we collected pictures and memorabilia. We must have spent thousands of pounds on show tickets, posters and petrol.

Our friends thought we were crazy.

Richard became such a good friend to Zoey he used to speak to her son Ocean, who is now 12 years old (corr) on the phone. That’s how close they became.

Then just just before Christmas in 1997 after a show in London Carl pulled me towards him and gave me a massive snog. I was in shock!

He turned to the group’s manager and told him to give me his phone number.

I was in heaven. On the way home that night we stopped at a motorway service station and I yelled at the top of my voice : “I’ve just snogged Carl Robinson from the Dream Boys.” Everyone thought I was mad.

I kept calling him on the number his manager gave me but he was always on answer machine and he never called back.

Neither Richard or Carl ever asked us out, though we both lived in hope.

Then Carl went through a really rough time when his marriage to the pop singer Natalie Appleton ended.

I wrote to him a lot during that time and we became closer. I was a good friend to him and he wrote back to me too. But I also really tried hard to get him out of my system because Zoey and I both realised Carl and Richard would never be ours.

We had to move on.

We didn’t go to a show for ages but then for old time’s sake we went to see them in 2003 at a club in Redhill, Surrey .

“It just wasn’t the same,” Zoey told me afterwards when she chatted to Richard backstage.

“He has moved on and got a proper girlfriend. It was like talking to him for the first time.

“But I know if he walked through that door now and said he wanted me I would melt.”

To be honest I didn’t feel the same as Zoey and still had strong feelings chatting to Carl but he still didn’t ask me out.

Carl is 40 now and Richard is 35 and they are both still stripping for a living, though they are not with The Dream Boys anymore who celebrate their 20th anniversary in June (2007).

Zoey has a new man in her life, also called Dave, and her two lovely children, Ocean, and Julie who is four.

She  has moved on better than me, though I know she still thinks about Richard.

I’m on my own now and a clairvoyant told me that one day I will be with Carl – though it may be in the next life. But to be honest I want him to walk through the door this minute.

I suppose deep down I am still waiting for him but I am trying to move on.

I’ve still got the last text he sent me on May 24th, 2005. It says: “Hi babe. How are you doing? Hope you’re well. Lots of love Carl xxxxx.”  Five kisses! My girlfriends couldn’t believe that one.

Just how close to their men did they get?

Care worker Lynda Munro, 45, from Crawley, West Sussex .

How many snogs - one

Favourite bit – his cheeky personality

Favourite memory – that snog

Naughtiest memory – I think he was aroused when he hugged me after a show once

Biggest regret – nothing ever came of it

School dinner lady Zoey Cross, 31,  from Rochester, Kent .

How many snogs - five

Favourite bit – his smile

Favourite memory – an affectionate cuddle after a show at Butlins

Naughtiest memory – No naughties (only in my head!)

Biggest regret – Not telling him how I felt

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