Bill and Giuliana Rancic light Lombard tree, meet fans
Just about everyone waiting in line to meet Bill and Giuliana Rancic at Yorktown Center Friday described the reality TV couple the same way: down to earth.
Many fans waited more than an hour outside to see Bill - famous for winning the first season of Donald Trump's "The Apprentice" - his wife and longtime E! News anchor, Giuliana, and their 2-year-old son, Duke, light a 30-foot Christmas tree outside the Lombard shopping center.
The family showed up 30 minutes later than expected, but that didn't seem to bother many in the crowd, which was made up mostly of women. There were cheers when the couple arrived and lots of "aww"s when Duke took the microphone and said "I love you" to the crowd.
"We always go shopping here, we always go to the movie theater here, so it is so nice to be able to be part of this first tree lighting ceremony," Bill said, adding that he grew up nearby and his family still lives in the suburbs.
Giuliana noted some of the new stores at the mall, including H&M and Eddie Bauer. Bill also encouraged people to visit the shopping center on Dec. 14 to help Lombard firefighters fill a sleigh with toys for kids in need.
About 200 attendees had a chance to interact with the Rancics after the tree lighting, during a meet-and-greet inside that included lots of photos, autographs, smiles and small talk.
Lynaire A. Cacal of Addison said she talked with the Rancics about her hometown, Elmhurst, where Bill's sister resides.
"It's good to have celebrities that remember their roots, like where they come from," she said. "They give back to the community in so many ways and this is the perfect season to do it."
Sophia Sutor of Niles said her boyfriend knows she is obsessed with the Rancics, so when he heard an ad on the radio announcing the event he told her immediately.
"He tried signing me up to the meet and greet," she said, adding however, that they didn't win the giveaway sponsored by 93.9 MY-FM. "We just showed up and asked for a pass and we got it."
Sutor had a chance to tell Bill and Giuliana that she has reservations at their Chicago restaurant, RPM, and said afterward that the hourlong wait inside was "completely worth it."
Monica Sopiarz of Orland Park said she was ecstatic when she won a wristband for the meet and greet, even though she couldn't find anyone to come with her with such short notice. She asked Bill and Guiliana to record a short Christmas greeting on video for her mom and they agreed.
"My mom's like a huge fan so I'm excited to show her," she said.
When Dana Patterson of Romeoville got up to the Rancics she told them about her 16-year-old son, who is recovering from a ruptured brain aneurysm. She gave them blue rubber bracelets that said "Stay Strong Mason" and they immediately put them on.
"They are so down to earth, so nice, so sweet. They're so normal," she said. "I was really nervous the whole time, but I kept my composure. I thought I was going to bust into tears."
Patterson, who won a meet-and-greet opportunity, was told she could only bring one person along. But after the Rancics heard Mason's story they told her to call him and have his dad drive him out to the event so they could meet him too.
"My family and I watch them together, their family, and their family grow, and everything that they've been through. So for us, it's an honor to meet them," Patterson said. "They're amazing."