The Shoreham-born music star, whose home is now in Australia, is currently on a UK tour. He played at Worthing’s Assembly Hall on Saturday (October 5). Read our exclusive interview with Leo here.
Ahead of the show, Leo visited The Richard Cobden pub in Cobden Road, Worthing, after posing for a photo alongside a painting of himself on a wall near the venue.
Anonymous street artist Horace creates large murals that can be spotted throughout Worthing town centre.
Pub landlady Donna Potter said: "We had been messaging him [Leo Sayer] and someone tagged him in the picture of the painting and said 'come and see this next time you're in Worthing’.
"He did say he would. That was a couple of weeks ago.
“We knew he would be playing in Worthing and he turned up out of the blue.
"It was such a shock. We didn't know he was coming. It was really lovely.
“He was very sweet – such a friendly man. He was chatting, shook my hand and gave me a hug.
"He was telling us about his shows and we spoke about the Horace artwork.
“I invited him into the pub to have a drink with us. He greeted all the customers.”
Donna admitted she was a ‘little star-struck’ – as were a number of the locals in the pub.
“Lots of people recognised him,” she added. “They were saying 'wow, it's Leo Sayer'.
"It was really nice. We had some photos with him. He had a half a Guinness.
"People who had travelled to Worthing [for the gig] had also seen the post on Facebook and came to visit the pub. That was really lovely.”
Leo Sayer was born in Shoreham and went to school and college in Goring and Worthing. His childhood home in Upper Shoreham Road has since been demolished but he still remembers watching a plane departing Shoreham Airport, which provided the inspiration for his debut solo studio album, Silverbird.
He wrote his hit song Moonlighting while he was at a Mexican restaurant in Montague Street.
Leo is loving being back in the UK.
He told us: “I have already been all over Sussex. I went to see my sister in Saltdean and I have been driving all over the Sussex hills. And I did Butlins in Bognor the other day and it was fantastic. Where I live in Australia actually looks a bit like Sussex, and I live in a little village that looks like a Sussex village and you have to pinch yourself to think whether you are in Australia or in Sussex. It’s got that quality of Henfield or Beeding or Bramber and actually most of my neighbours are British as well.”
Click here to see the 14 other famous people who have lived or were born in Adur and Arun.
1. Leo Sayer returns to Worthing
Sussex music legend Leo Sayer visited a Worthing pub ahead of his latest gig in the town – and posed in front of street artwork created in his honour. Photo: Contributed
2. Leo Sayer returns to Worthing
Leo Sayer posed for a photo by the artwork with Andrew and Donna Potter, who run The Richard Cobden pub in Worthing Photo: Contributed
3. Leo Sayer visits Worthing pub
Donna Potter admitted she was a ‘little star-struck’ – as were a number of the locals in the pub. Photo: Contributed