X Factor finalists The MacDonald brothers are convinced that they can win the X Factor, if they can first manage to win over Simon Cowell.

Craig, 20, said: “We thought we did really well last week when we played the tape back.

“It all went well, apart from what Simon Cowell said. We just need to win him over but we think that’s possible.

“Once Simon has warmed to us, we could win the show.

“Every single person there has a chance of winning and you just have to go in there with confidence and enjoy it.”

Simon Cowell has said that the X Factor contestants are in for a shock on Saturday night and many people are expecting a double eviction.

Judge Simon Cowell has revealed there will be a “shock twist” on the talent show and it could reportedly be one of four scenarios.

A double eviction is one possibility, as is the return of one of the acts who have already been evicted.

In a third scenario, guest judge Tony Bennett will decide who leaves the competition.

The last possibility is leaving all ten acts at the compete mercy of the public vote.

A source said: “The contestants have no idea what is going to happen. But that’s the point - we don’t want anyone getting too comfortable. We want to give viewers some extra excitement.”

Another source said: “Simon Cowell was disappointed with the standard of talent on Saturday night. It will come as a massive blow to the contestants.”

I can’t see Simon reintroducing an act so early on, and I can’t imagine that Tony Bennett will be allowed to decide, but the other two options sound good to me!

The second series of the BBC reality TV show Castaway is to return next year with volunteers living in a remote part of New Zealand instead of a Scottish Island as was the case in the first series.

The BBC said the location was chosen “to take the Castaways even further from their current lives”.

BBC One controller Peter Fincham said: “Fans of the previous series will recognise it, but we’ve got a few twists and surprises up our sleeve.”

‘Lives changed’

The BBC said the contestants on the second series would “reflect all aspects of British life” and they would use their skills to “develop the infrastructure of the island”.

Lets hope all the contestants last the enitre time in the new series! In the original series seven people left during the course of the year.

Two quit the show following arguments and one of them, Ron Copsey, won a settlement of £8,000 from the BBC after claiming he was misrepresented on TV.

Eight seriously obese people have been given an extraordinary chance to lose weight, get fit and change their lives in a marathon 500-mile walk from the south coast of England to Edinburgh.

The walkers taking part are:

Adam Van Gogh – 29, from Newcastle, weighs 22 stones 9 lbs

Adam wants people to see past his weight to see the man inside, but his wife’s cooking – she even deep-fries lettuce – isn’t helping!

Alice Duxbury – 27, from Leicestershire, 22 stones 8 lbs

Alice wants to get married but is afraid she won’t look good in her wedding dress. She has tried every diet in the book and all of them have failed. This is her last chance to get control of her weight.

Gary Baines - 44, from Lancashire, weighs 24 stones 4 lbs

He’s been told that unless he loses weight he won’t be around to see his daughters grow up and is worried that they will become fat too.

Hayley Rentall – 27, from Middlesex, 23 stone 11 lbs, dress size 24-28.

Hayley has two kids, aged 2 and 3-years old, and doesn’t want to be the fattest mum at the school gates. She was bullied as a child for her weight.

Jack Gordy – 20, from Leeds, weighs 26 stones

Jack wants to lose weight to have the confidence to stop hiding away at home and get a life that a lad his age should be living, going out having fun and meeting girls. He has a BMI (Body Mass Index, a measure of how fat someone is) of nearly 50 – twice the recommended healthy limit of 25.

Jane Thompson Smith – 41, from Middlesborough, 23 stones 3 lbs

Jane wants to have kids, but she’s been told that it will be a risk unless she loses weight.

Stacey Pinnock – 22, from East London. 23 stones 8 lbs, dress size 28.

She’s never had a boyfriend and is unemployed. Stacey wants to lose weight to get her dream job as an airhostess (she can’t fit into the seats at the moment).

Vincent Youngman – 24, from Brighton, 31 stones 5 lbs

Vincent is an actor who’s sick of being offered jobs because of his size and wants to be appreciated for his talent instead.

Starts Monday, November 6th on Channel 4

Eight seriously obese people have been given an extraordinary chance to lose weight, get fit and change their lives in a marathon 500-mile walk from the south coast of England to Edinburgh.

The four men and four women are aged between 20 and 44 and come from across the country. Their weights of up to 32 stones are not only making them unhappy, but also putting their lives at risk.

They have a range of reasons for taking part: Gary’s doctor told him that if he didn’t lose weight he risked not being around to see his kids grow up; Stacey wants to be an airhostess, but can’t even fit in airline seats; while Jack hopes that losing weight will give him the confidence to stop hiding himself away and get life a lad his age should have, going to clubs and having girlfriends.

But it’s going to be a huge lifestyle change for the walkers, who are more used to comfort-eating on their sofas than hiking in all weathers. And despite help and advice from experts at the start, it’s down to them to find the physical and emotional strength to complete this amazing challenge.

The eight-week trip will be an incredible journey for all of the participants. Not only do they face up to twelve hours of walking a day, but they will also need to stick to a new eating plan. And on top of that, they’ll have to get along with, and support, their fellow walkers as they share tents camping along the way.

The march comes as Britain faces an obesity epidemic; half of the population are overweight and a fifth are clinically obese, risking early deaths.

Losing weight should be straightforward: eat fewer bad foods and do more exercise. Yet many experts believe that there are psychological as well as physiological factors stopping people from getting thin and staying that way.

How will the walkers get on, and can they provide a radical solution to their own and others problems?

Miss Great Britain Danielle Lloyd is to send temperatures soaring on ‘I’m A Celebrity- Get Me Out Of Here’.

The blonde beauty - who is dating football veteran Teddy Sheringham - is the latest star to be linked to the jungle show.

Also rumoured to have signed up is ex S Club 7 singer Rachel Stevens.

For all the gossip on whos headin to the jungle check out our I’m a celebrity category!

Charlotte Church is desperate to duet with ‘X Factor’ contestant Ben Mills.

A source told Britain’s Daily Star newspaper: “Charlotte is a complete ‘X Factor’ addict and has been glued to it every year. She loves Ben and is backing him to win. Charlotte’s already phoned up loads of times to vote for him.

“And she reckons it would be so much fun to do a duet with him.”

The 20-year-old ‘Crazy Chick’ singer has taken a break from her music career to present ‘The Charlotte Church Show’ on Channel 4. On each show she has a group or singer and at the end of each show, performs a duet with them.

So far she has sung with Amy Winehouse, Nelly Furtado and The Feeling and now she wants 26-year-old Ben to duet with her on the show.

The source added: “She doesn’t fancy him or anything like that - he’s hardly got the same looks as Gavin. But she thinks he’s got loads of talent and deserves to win the show.”

CELEBRITY X FACTOR’s MICHELLE MARSH launched her debut single with a raunchy performance in a London strip club last night.

Michelle strutted her stuff in Stringfellows while singing her catchy new pop tune, I Don’t Do.

The glamour girl-turned-saucy singer was accompanied by two busty brunettes dressed in revealing animal print costumes.

On stage Michelle worked the club’s saucy poles like a pro, while tossing her long blonde hair and thrusting her groin at the crowd.

Speaking after the performance, Michelle joked: “Now I’ve finished singing, I’m 20 quid a dance.�

What are teenagers supposed to do?

Politicans think they’re workshy hoodies, while the experts are worried they’re being forced to grow up too quickly. But no-one seems to have bothered to ask teenagers themselves.

So E4 decided to find out if a group of teenagers have what it takes to tackle adulthood. For six weeks a diverse group of teenagers from across the country will move into a house in a Devon village.

For the first time in their lives they are completely independent. In the first episode, the teenagers move into the house and try to find jobs. And they soon discover that getting on - in work and with one another - isn’t as easy as it first appears.

Stop Treating me Like A Kid Airs Tonight (Tues 24th October) on E4.

Guess what? The number one cause of relationship breakdown isn’t sex - it’s money - with one-in-three people lying to their partners about how much they spend.

In Your Money or Your Wife debt detective and city trouble-shooter Cesarina Holm-Kander helps couples to come clean about their debts and break the cycle of ruinous spending.

Tonight (25th October) she tackles the case of label-loving Kerri. But will love of her life, and soon-to-be business partner, James do a runner when he finds out about her massive debt?

Two weeks into my vow to lead an X-Factor-free life and it hasn’t started well.

Let me begin my saying, sometimes there is a reason some acts aren’t already selling albums like Cowell buys teeth; namely, The Unconventionals. Personally I’m glad to see the back-end of them.. That reminds me; didn’t they have the look of a nudist club about them.

4sure will feel hard done by to be knocked out on week two, not least by seeing the sickening grins of the MacDonald brothers next week. But to be fair, they weren’t in the best of voice.

For me, Ben and Ashley flopped like dead fish on week one despite my high-hopes. And in honesty a week later and Ashley still seems a touch lazy in his performance. Ben on the other hand had fully mastered the art of looking a plonk, launching himself onto a piano only to wonder why.

Leona and Dionne are the voices of the year, but right now, both seem far too sure of themselves to gain any likeability from me. Saying that, Dionne was as good as publicly laughed-at standing beside the (thankfully fully-clothed) Unconventionals last Saturday.

And whilst I am the first to call myself passionate of music, never before has it made me sick to the stomach. That is until now. The Macdonald brothers simply take the piss. Never in my days have I seen 2 grown men dragged onto TV in such a humiliating way. They looked like the new islanders to hit “Ballamory” and sounded like two high-school lads putting in a half-hearted rendition of the Music teacher’s favourite song.

Like Ashley, Nikkita still needs her batteries a-rumbled, Eton Road must avoid being Louis-ised (i.e. all stand on key-change) and if Ray gets any cheesier he’ll be more laughing cow than Robbie Williams.

Elsewhere, Kerry isn’t doing it for me; vocally she is a million miles behind the rest and while I’ll be told by the bucket load I’m wrong, I believe sympathy is playing its wicked part. Lastly, but none less passionately, Frank “Robert” Bruno is for some as-yet unknown reason, really grating on me.

It’s the ultimate in loveable trashy-telly!

let me know what you think via my website.

This article was written by Carl, one of our Unreality TV contributors. Check out Carl’s own site at foundthatsoul.co.nr

As part of this years Children In Need campaign, BBC Three are in preparations to launch their newest reality TV show Celebrity Scissorhands.

The BBC reports:

Under the tutelage of top hairdresser Lee Stafford, a group of celebrities will train in all elements of hair, beauty and fashion. For two weeks they’ll be working flat-out practising on members of the public and any passing BBC stars in the specially designed hair and beauty academy in the heart of BBC TV Centre in London. On Appeal night, Friday 17 November, we’ll watch the stars back-stage bravely being made up by our novices.

The trainees include:

Steve Strange (80s pop icon)
Michelle Dewbury (winner of The Apprentice)
Scott Mills (Radio 1 DJ)
Emma Samms (actress and Dynasty star)
Richard Fairbrass (Right Said Fred frontman)
Sarah Cawood (TV presenter)
Rowetta (singer Happy Mondays, X Factor)
Ortis Deeley (actor and presenter Kidulthood, Live and Kicking)
Darren Day (TV personality)

Can our celebrities cut it? Or they will get the chop?

Chef Raymond Blanc has been signed up to star in BBC2’s newest reality TV show ‘The Restaurant’.

The winners of the show will be given their own restaurant, which he will financially back with a six-figure sum.

Blanc said: “To set up a business, especially a restaurant business, and make a success of it is one of the hardest things in the world.”

“I look forward to sharing my experience and expertise with like-minded people who are eager to enter this crazy but irresistible world and achieve the dream for themselves.”

But Blanc’s involvement represents something of a U-turn.

He recently wrote of reality shows set in restaurant kitchens: “We have eight million morons watching these programmes. The brains of the British have gone soft.”

He added: “We need to bring respect to our industry. We are not helped in this respect by certain programmes that do us a great disservice.”

“The impression of what happens inside a restaurant is a disaster for us. It strips people of dignity and promotes abuse.”

“A kitchen shouldn’t sound like a market place or an insane comedy. There should be one voice: the chef’s. And he doesn’t need to yell.”

The Restaurant will feature nine couples whose dream is to run their own establishment.

The show will air early in 2007 and each week the worst restaurant will be eliminated from the competition.

BBC2 controller Roly Keating said: “BBC2 viewers are fascinated by food and business - this show audaciously brings them together for a television event.”

“As well as providing an insight into the food that is served on our plates, it will reveal the harsh realities of the restaurant business.”

“We’re delighted that Britain’s most legendary chef has joined forces with BBC2 to create this project.”

After my interview with Lucy Newton from The Unconventionals last week, I had a lot of enquiries about whether they were getting an official website and how people could keep up to date with them.

Lucy came back to say that although there’s no official website as yet (not until X Factor ends), there’s a fansite and a discussion forum dedicated to The Unconventionals.

The band confirmed that they’ll be doing at least one of the shows on the X Factor tour. When the dates are confirmed, we’ll let you all know.

And a treat for forum members….

If we’re very very lucky, we might be organising a chat with The Unconventionals over on the forum sometime soon. I’ll have more details of this soon.

Sky One reports:

Week 2 at the Cirque de Celebrité saw the stars mastering two new (harder) disciplines, the low wire (it was still 8 feet in the air) or ‘bacon slicer’ as it is also known and the ‘corde lisse’ (acrobatics on a spinning rope 15 feet in the air).

Attempting to walk the wire were Syed, a natural in training but falling apart on the night (scoring 14 with the judges), Emma B (an impressive 23), a nervous Sophie (13), Ninia performing on a special extra low wire, only 15� of the ground (13) and Andy showing he’s not quite so handy with his feet but still managing the highest men’s score of the night (22).

Pirouetting on the rope high above the ring were Sinitta overcoming a fear of heights to register equal top judges’ score (24), Lee now christened ‘The Chimp’ by his trainers and fellow celebs (14), Jamie displaying Olympian strength and agility (18), Kenzie bringing a touch of the ‘street’ to the circus (19), Nicola smiling through the pain of an injury picked up in training (18) and Grace performing a spectacular routine suspended from one foot (24).

With the votes and judges’ scores counted, the bottom two celebs facing the end of their circus dreams were Syed and Sophie. Grace, topping the scores once again had to make the final decision and elected to save Sophie. Syed left the glitz, glamour and sawdust behind to resume his career in business.

For more Cirque De Celebrite gossip and chat check out our FORUM!