Petula Clark recalls the time Elvis Presley 'tried it on' with her and Karen Carpenter
Posted: November 5th, 2025, 10:25 am
https://www.goldradio.com/artists/elvis ... carpenter/
Petula Clark turns 93 later this month, but has still lost none of her ability to hold a crowd in the palm of her hands.
Rather than on stage, this time the 'Downtown' singer had everyone on the set of Loose Women gripped with a rock 'n' roll anecdote.
Promoting her new memoir Is That You, Petula? (title courtesy of a remark from John Lennon), Petula told her go-to story about the time she crossed paths with Elvis Presley.
This time, she filled out some of the details that had the panel and audience gasping and whooping.
"Actually, I was out with Karen Carpenter," Petula told the panel.
"She was a friend of mine. We thought, well, what should we do?
"We were in Las Vegas. Let's go out on the town. Well, Elvis was in town. Karen didn't know Elvis and I didn't either. So let's go see Elvis."
She continued: "So we go along and he's we get we received like royalty at the hotel. You know, give us the best seats in the house. That was very nice.
"And we watched Elvis and he was really on. It was good... he was very, very handsome. And he was singing well. He was doing the whole bit.
"And at the end the maître d' comes, 'Miss Clark, Miss Karen Carpenter, Mr. Presley would like you to go to his dressing room'.
"Okay. So off, off we trot, and the dressing room, my darlings, is huge. And then there's a sort of special place where the star does his or her makeup and gets ready. And that's where Elvis was."
Petula added: "So we we're sitting outside. There are some people from Nashville over there... out comes Elvis looking drop dead gorgeous. And he was so thrilled at seeing us.
"It was quite obvious that he was thrilled seeing us. They were very tight trousers. Let's put it that way!
"No, but he was he was gorgeous and he was very thrilled. you know. We were the two biggest female stars in the world at the time, Karen and me.
"So he was charming and he was a very southern gentleman kind of attitude but I sense there was something going on here."
She continued: "He kind of fancied both of us. I'm putting it bluntly. You know, Karen was rather naive and I was a bit more worldly wise. You know, I'd been living in Paris and I saw the signs, if you know what I mean!
"So I said to Karen, 'This has been been very nice, but we really must be going, Karen, you know, you've got that thing in the morning'. And she said, 'What thing in the morning?'. Nobody does anything in the morning in Las Vegas, you know.
"So I said, 'We really have to be going, Elvis. Thank you so much for a lovely evening. We really have to go'. And he said, 'What?' And I said, 'We have to get our beauty sleep'. He says, 'You don't need beauty sleep'.
"We left like a couple of scared rabbits out there. And as we were leaving, I turned around and Elvis was at the door and he looked at me and he went, 'I'll get you one day'... he didn't!"
Petula Clark turns 93 later this month, but has still lost none of her ability to hold a crowd in the palm of her hands.
Rather than on stage, this time the 'Downtown' singer had everyone on the set of Loose Women gripped with a rock 'n' roll anecdote.
Promoting her new memoir Is That You, Petula? (title courtesy of a remark from John Lennon), Petula told her go-to story about the time she crossed paths with Elvis Presley.
This time, she filled out some of the details that had the panel and audience gasping and whooping.
"Actually, I was out with Karen Carpenter," Petula told the panel.
"She was a friend of mine. We thought, well, what should we do?
"We were in Las Vegas. Let's go out on the town. Well, Elvis was in town. Karen didn't know Elvis and I didn't either. So let's go see Elvis."
She continued: "So we go along and he's we get we received like royalty at the hotel. You know, give us the best seats in the house. That was very nice.
"And we watched Elvis and he was really on. It was good... he was very, very handsome. And he was singing well. He was doing the whole bit.
"And at the end the maître d' comes, 'Miss Clark, Miss Karen Carpenter, Mr. Presley would like you to go to his dressing room'.
"Okay. So off, off we trot, and the dressing room, my darlings, is huge. And then there's a sort of special place where the star does his or her makeup and gets ready. And that's where Elvis was."
Petula added: "So we we're sitting outside. There are some people from Nashville over there... out comes Elvis looking drop dead gorgeous. And he was so thrilled at seeing us.
"It was quite obvious that he was thrilled seeing us. They were very tight trousers. Let's put it that way!
"No, but he was he was gorgeous and he was very thrilled. you know. We were the two biggest female stars in the world at the time, Karen and me.
"So he was charming and he was a very southern gentleman kind of attitude but I sense there was something going on here."
She continued: "He kind of fancied both of us. I'm putting it bluntly. You know, Karen was rather naive and I was a bit more worldly wise. You know, I'd been living in Paris and I saw the signs, if you know what I mean!
"So I said to Karen, 'This has been been very nice, but we really must be going, Karen, you know, you've got that thing in the morning'. And she said, 'What thing in the morning?'. Nobody does anything in the morning in Las Vegas, you know.
"So I said, 'We really have to be going, Elvis. Thank you so much for a lovely evening. We really have to go'. And he said, 'What?' And I said, 'We have to get our beauty sleep'. He says, 'You don't need beauty sleep'.
"We left like a couple of scared rabbits out there. And as we were leaving, I turned around and Elvis was at the door and he looked at me and he went, 'I'll get you one day'... he didn't!"