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Hamilton leads Celebrity line-up…
Nov 12th
Veteran Hollywood actor George Hamilton and former glamour model Samantha Fox are among contestants in this year’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
They will be joined in the Australian jungle by ex-EastEnder Lucy Benjamin, Strictly Come Dancing’s Camilla Dallerup and TV chef Gino D’Acampo.
How Clean Is Your House? star Kim Woodburn is among other contestants.
Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly will again present the ITV1 show, which returns on Sunday.
The line-up is completed by Hollyoaks actor Stuart Manning, Sabrina Washington – a former member of girl band Mis-Teeq alongside Alesha Dixon – and interior designers and partners Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan.
Secret plans
Former Dynasty star Hamilton, 70, said there was no chance he would “wuss out” of the show’s bushtucker trials.
“There’s an old saying that a coward dies a thousand times but if you’re brave you only die once,” he added.
“It’s like when a fly hits the windscreen, it doesn’t think anything. So if you hear a splat, that’ll be me.”
He said he had kept his jungle plans secret from his friends.
“None of my celebrity friends will be watching as they currently think I’m on a yacht in the South of France with a silk robe on and a glass of champagne in my hand, surrounded by beautiful women,” he said.
Fox, meanwhile, said she had always seen herself “as a bit of a female Rambo”.
“I’ll jump out of a plane, no problem,” said the 43-year-old. “What I am scared of is creepy, crawly, wriggly, horrible things.”
She said she was glad she would be filmed “under the waterfall in my bikini”.
“I’m a 43-year-old woman and everything’s natural about me, which I’m really proud to say, and I just want to show women in their 40s that we can still look great.”
Actress Benjamin, 39 – who played Lisa Fowler in EastEnders between 1998 to 2003 – said it would be the first time she had been away from her daughter Bessie, who will turn four while her mother is in the jungle.
“From the point of me leaving her and getting on that plane out there, that is going to be the worst part for me.
“So, if I can deal with that and get through the other side when I land I’m going to have a great time and just say, ‘I’m going to give it my best shot’.”
This all the participants have chosen to raise money for the same charity, Malaria No More UK.
“I’ve travelled a lot and seen malaria first hand, like when I was in Kenya,” Fox said.
“I’ve had friends who suffered really badly from malaria and it’s so important that Brits educate themselves before they go away on holiday.”
It has been reported that model Katie Price – who met ex-husband Peter Andre in the third series of the show in 2004 – is going to join contestants in the jungle.
An ITV spokeswoman said: “Katie Price’s participation in I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! is speculation.”
Last year’s series was won by another former EastEnder, Joe Swash.
Tennis player Martina Navratilova finished in second place while Star Trek actor George Takei was third.
Cole plans duet with Snow Patrol…
Nov 11th
Cheryl Cole is to duet with rock band Snow Patrol at this week’s Children in Need’s charity concert.
The X Factor judge will sing Martha Wainwright’s lines from the Snow Patrol song Set The Fire To The Third Bar at the Royal Albert Hall on Thursday.
Frontman Gary Lightbody told the Spinner Music website that some people had “raised an eyebrow” when they heard about the collaboration.
The BBC has denied reports that Robbie Williams will sing with Take That.
‘Not true’
The Sun newspaper said Williams, who left the band in 1995 to launch his solo career, would perform with Take That at the gig, which has been organised by Gary Barlow.
But a BBC spokeswoman said that was “categorically not true”.
Speculation about Williams re-joining Take That has increased since the singer told Jonathan Ross on his Friday night chat show that there are plans for him to perform with the band again some time in the future.
The 35-year-old said: “We’ve got together, done bits and bobs. I can’t say much.”
Meanwhile, Lightbody said there were other unexpected duets planned at the charity concert.
“Everyone doing that gig has to duet with someone from the gig,” he said.
“Everyone gets a partner, it was like getting a partner at school. We got the prettiest girl in the class.
“People have raised an eyebrow now and again when we’ve mentioned we’re doing it with Cheryl Cole but I think it’s going to be a really interesting experience.”
In October, Barlow told Radio 1 breakfast show presenter Chris Moyles that each act would be doing two songs, but promised there would also be “three or four one-off duets that have never been seen before”.
Other acts taking part in the charity gig include Muse, Sir Paul McCartney, Dame Shirley Bassey and Dizzee Rascal.
Little Britain duo write new show….
Nov 2nd
David Walliams says he and Little Britain writing partner Matt Lucas are penning a new show together.
The comic actor, who was recently nominated for a prize for his first children’s book, says it’s halfway between a sitcom and a sketch show.
He said: “We’re really, really excited and just sort of starting work on that now, so hopefully that will be on towards the end of next year.
“We’re really confident about it and really pleased with how it’s going. But it’s very early days.”
The comedy duo survived the critics’ negative comments towards Little Britain USA too, with US company HBO co-producing the new show with the BBC.
David added: “They really loved Little Britain USA and wanted us to do more but we felt we wanted to do something fresh. Especially for our audience in Britain.”
David has recently been supporting Matt Lucas after his former husband Kevin McGee died.
“We try and make each other laugh,” he said of their writing process. “It’s all trial and error with comedy. You have to know that you’re probably going to fail some of the time.”
Young fans
David admits it was Little Britain’s younger fans who inspired him to become a children’s author and do something especially for them.
His second book, Mr Stink is about a shy, slightly chubby little girl called Chloe who hides a tramp in her garden shed.
“Little bits and pieces are inspired by things in my own life,” he said. “But I never lived life as a little girl or indeed hid a tramp in the garden, so it must have come from my imagination.
“I was very insecure, I was quite fat as a child. I was probably about three or four times the size I am now,” he laughed.
“I used to comfort eat a lot, I wasn’t that happy. I was working out who I was, but I guess that’s what kids do.
“With Chloe she’s a bit disconnected from her family but Mr Stink comes into their lives and heals all the rifts in their family which is rather nice.”
Jedward fan
David is currently sporting blonde hair and dyed eyebrows for a film he’s making in LA with Steve Carrell and Paul Rudd called Dinner For Schmucks.
“I play a Swiss billionaire called Muller,” he explained. “They said, ‘Don’t worry we’ll dye it back when you get back to England.’
“What they meant is in January, when I go back to England for good. People are going to tease me for looking like George Michael in Careless Whisper.”
David also confessed his recent X Factor addiction, and outed himself as a Jedward supporter.
“I like John and Edward, they’re entertaining,” he explained. “Between the two of them they still haven’t got enough talent for one person, but watching the show I was thinking, ‘Who do I want to see most of all?’ John and Edward, because I know it will be entertaining.”
He says he doesn’t get the Danyl haters either.
“I don’t see what he’s done wrong. I think he’s probably peaked too soon and that just meant he didn’t have the same kind of journey,” he said. “He’s hugely talented though.”
Not that David admits to watching many of the actual performances.
“I have to fast forward the actual singing,” he admitted. “It’s just the judges’ comments I want to watch. They start singing, that’s the boring bit. The judges – they’re the real stars of it.”
Microsoft cancels Family Guy deal…
Oct 28th
Microsoft has pulled out of sponsoring a TV spin-off show of animated comedy Family Guy because of concerns over edgy material.
The software giant was to have sponsored Family Guy Presents: Seth and Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show, to promote the launch of Windows 7.
The one-off special includes sketches by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane.
But after seeing a recording of the show, the company said “the content was not a fit with the Windows brand”.
The show is still due to be broadcast in the US on 8 November.
It is part of a special night of programming on the Fox TV network dedicated to MacFarlane, who voices Family Guy characters including patriarch Peter Griffin.
The show, which stars MacFarlane and Alex Borstein – who voices Griffin’s wife Lois – is billed as a half-hour special of comedy sketches and animated shorts.
But after attended a taping of the show, which reportedly contained jokes about deaf people, the Holocaust and incest, Microsoft bosses pulled the plug on its sponsorship deal.
“We continue to have a good partnership with Fox, Seth MacFarlane and Alex Borstein and are working with them in other areas,” Microsoft said in a statement.
Fox made no comment on Microsoft’s decision.
EastEnders makes internet spin-off….
Oct 22nd
EastEnders is venturing beyond TV screens, with an online spin-off series which will take a fresh look at Albert Square through the eyes of young newcomers.
A team of 13 new London writers aged between 17 and 22 created and wrote the online drama – called EastEnders: E20.
The new show will go live in January 2010 in the run-up to EastEnders celebrating its 25th anniversary on February 19.
The web-based series will follow four new teenage characters, whose casting is yet to be announced, who arrive in Albert Square, each searching for an escape from their regular lives.
Those behind the new show said storylines will stand alone so that they can be enjoyed by viewers who don’t normally watch EastEnders.
“Crossover treats” are also promised for regular fans, both in the web series and the popular BBC1 soap.
EastEnders executive producer Diederick Santer said: “These talented writers are creating a whole new Walford, infused with their own experiences of London life.
“A fresh perspective on a British classic, EastEnders: E20 will – I hope – delight new audiences and EastEnders diehards alike.”
EastEnders: E20 will be available at bbc.co.uk/eastenders in January 2010.
‘Little’ Diana Vickers is ‘Little Voice’…
Oct 20th
Former X Factor wannabe Diana Vickers vamps it up as a sequinned sex-bomb in her new West End show.
Former X Factor wannabe Diana Vickers vamps it up as a sequinned sex-bomb in her new West End show.
The teenage star plays the central role in The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice, mimicking stars such as Dame Shirley Bassey, Edith Piaf and Marilyn Monroe.
The singer plays shy but talented Little Voice, known as LV, who comes out of her shell to brilliantly copy some of the world’s most memorable singers.
And Vickers said that it was easier to play the role when she’s “all vamped up”.
She dons a revealing sparkly silver gown for the scene in which agent and wheeler-dealer Ray Say (Marc Warren) gets her a gig performing at the local nightclub, singing all her favourite songs.
Vickers, 18, said: “Obviously, it’s quite hard playing a shy person when I’m not. It’s quite hard to express yourself through facial expressions when I use my hands a lot, I talk a lot. But when I get up on that stage in my silver frock and I’m doing all these diva things it’s just amazing. I’m not Vickers, I’m just all these different people.”
The production of Jim Cartwright’s play is being staged at London’s Vaudeville Theatre, co-starring Warren and Lesley Sharp, who plays her mother.
Vickers – who revealed her former X Factor mentor Cheryl Cole is coming to watch her in the play – studied hard to learn the voices of the singing legends she imitates on stage.
“LV expresses herself through these people and I can totally understand why she would do that. It’s just this great sense of freedom and it’s great. There were some singers I’d never heard of. I didn’t know who Edith Piaf was – I saw her on the Specsavers advert. I knew Judy Garland, but not a lot of her songs, just Somewhere Over The Rainbow.
“I was really nervous but so excited as well, it was like my own little project and took it upon myself and worked so hard at it and I really enjoyed it as well. I used to look them up on YouTube and now I always listen to Judy Garland all the time, I think she’s great.”
Smith eyes soap role…
Oct 19th
Will Smith is eager to land a cameo role in soap opera Eastenders – and has even begged TV bosses to cast him in the show.
The Hollywood superstar became a fan of the series earlier this year when he was in the UK to promote his movie Seven Pounds – and now he’s hooked.
He tells The Sun, “I was just chilling in my hotel and EastEnders was on TV. I literally could not stop watching it. Before I knew it, all I had done was get room service and waste a whole afternoon watching this show I’d never heard of!
“It was so real and gritty. American soaps are all about the beautiful people and being cheesy. This soap had everything. There was fighting, people sleeping around – it had it all going on! I’m a bit busy but when things quieten down I’d love to do a cameo. I could make a big entrance in the pub and be like: ‘Hey, girl let’s take this outside.’”
Marge Simpson in Playboy, exclusive pics!….
Oct 19th
I’m not sure if this is right and whether you will all want to see this, but I KNOW some of you will!! So here you go, what do you think:
Beckham lands Gossip Girl role…
Oct 19th
Victoria Beckham is set to join the cast of hit US drama Gossip Girl – playing herself.
The former Spice Girl thrilled viewers with a cameo role in Ugly Betty in 2007 and now she’s landed another prime time job.
Beckham was approached by actress Blake Lively to appear in the show – and producers quickly snapped her up, according to the Daily Mirror.
A source tells the publication, “Blake and co-star Leighton Meester are fans of Victoria’s designs, and have both worn her dresses.
“Blake attended the unveiling of Victoria’s new collection in New York last month, alongside the series’ stylist Eric Damen.
“The trio started chatting and Victoria revealed she was a huge fan of the show. From here, Blake pleaded with her to guest star in an episode and ran the idea past producers. She (Beckham) isn’t an actress and wanted her role to be very tongue-in-cheek.”
