Benedict Cumberbatch: "He just kissed one of my bitches!"

How did Benedict Cumberbatch know that the second girl from Kent was a Cumberbatch fan?

For those of you who are utterly baffled by how Benedict Cumberbatch knew when he exclaimed: "He just kissed one of my bitches" at the Graham Norton show that was broadcast on BBC1 yesterday, I am going to describe the incident here and follow it with an explanation of what actually happened.

At the Graham Norton Show, Benedict Cumberbatch, ever a gentleman, had spontaneously ran off the stage to hug and kiss Cumberbatch fans who had travelled a long way to see him on the show (Germany, Hong Kong and Nebraska), making co-star Chris Pine sort of obligated to do so for his fans as well (Japan and Kent).

There were two fans who mentioned that they traveled from Kent to be at the show, but what Pine didn't know was that the second fan from Kent was actually a Cumberbatch fan and not a Pine fan like the first one. So when Pine went over to hug her, Cumberbatch had a mock shocked expression on his face as he pointed at the both of them and he then stood up before sitting back down again.

When Pine finally returned to the stage, Cumberbatch exclaimed, "He just kissed one of my bitches!", covering his mouth after uttering the word "bitches" since he had earlier on demurred to say the word when he was asked by Norton on what his fans called themselves, which is in fact "Cumberbitches" but who he instead diplomatically referred to as the "Cumber Collective". (Nice little bit of alliteration there by Cumberbatch.)

What had happened was that Cumberbatch had immediately recognized his fan from previous encounters before and especially after she presented a birthday compilation video to him for his 36th birthday last year. I am not all that sure Cumberbatch actually heard what she said when she was looking at him while being hugged by Pine and cheekily joking that "I'm a Pine now", since all the applause that was going around probably drowned out her words.

While it is nice to think that Cumberbatch amazingly made use of some Holmesian/Sherlockian skill retained from his role as Sherlock to deduce that the second fan from Kent was a fan of his, all without her ever mentioning it at all during the show, the truth is that Cumberbatch recognized her right from the start. Her name is Tor (short for Victoria) Charlesworth, and she is known online by her Tumblr moniker Cumberbuddy. To find out more about Tor and her previous interactions with the Batch, you can visit her Tumblr webpage at: http://cumberbuddy.tumblr.com/

When I was watching this scene unfold, a Sherlock quote actually popped into my mind. I mean, exactly what are the chances of Graham Norton actually calling on Cumberbuddy, a Cumberbatch fan that Cumberbatch actually recognized, as a second person from Kent who Chris Pine subsequently then mistakes for his fan, thus causing such a hilarious outcome?

Okay, Cumberbuddy did mention this: "we had names on the seats so i guess graham would be briefed before hand on which chairs to look out for. (certain then who’s a fan of who…)" but I think that there was still a randomness to how it all happened.

As Sherlock himself would say: "People say there's no such thing as coincidence. What dull lives they must lead." (Sherlock, Season 2, Hound of the Baskervilles)

Nope, I don't think for a second that Cumberbuddy leads a dull life. Why, she just celebrated her birthday at the Graham Norton show being fought over by two Hollywood hunks! That's a priceless birthday present, I'd dare say.

For Cumberbuddy's own words on what transpired, you can read it all here on her tumblr post: http://cumberbuddy.tumblr.com/post/49868400888/gns-and-the-london-stid-prem-write-up

Please note that some of the links here may be dead because Cumberbuddy has recently removed her postings after receiving a lot of hate messages on her tumblr account.