Jade Goody has flown out to India in a bid to save her reputation after the Big Brother racism scandal.

She arrived in New Delhi today with her agent Sally Andrews and UK talent scout Jazz Barton who said: “We’re very happy with the reception we’ve received. We were given a warm welcome at the airport and we look forward to travelling in India.”

I wish Jade the best of luck and hope that she returns home in a better and calmer state of mind than she has been in recent weeks and months.

Dog training dominatrix Victoria Stilwell returns for a new series of It’s Me or the Dog and is about to take on her biggest challenge yet. Kicking off the new series is Crufts, a one hour special in which Victoria has just six months to train three unruly dogs to compete for the coveted ‘Best In Show’ title at the greatest dog show on earth.

With her reputation on the line, Victoria pulls no punches, introducing a no holds barred training regime. Life for the dogs and their owners will never be the same. But when it comes to the big day, will our dogs be claiming their place on the podium or returning home with their tail between their legs?

Horrible hounds beware as Victoria then continues her mission to transform the nation’s out-of-control dogs into perfect pets in a new run of It’s Me or the Dog.

Its Me Or The Dog returns to Channel 4 early this March.

Tricia Penrose (born 9 April 1970 in Kirkby, Merseyside) is an English actress and singer.

She is best known for her role as Gina Ward in ITV1’s long-running 1960s drama Heartbeat. She has also appeared in The Royal, Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Boon and Dancin’ Thru the Dark.

Penrose has made several attempts to break into the music industry. She has released two singles – “Where Did Our Love Go?” (1996) and “Don’t Wanna Be Alone” (2000); neither of which was especially successful. In 2002 she reached the final of A Song for Europe (the competition to select the UK’s Eurovision Song Contest entry) but did not win. She has also sung a number of times on Heartbeat.

Penrose has several times expressed a desire to try new things, but has always returned to Heartbeat. She has recently (2006) signed a new contract with the show, thought to be worth £100,000.

Courtesy Of Wikipedia

Michaela Henderson-Thynne told the girls in the WAGS Boutique about her split with England and Middlesbrough star Stewart Downing in a recent episode, but what she didn’t know was that her boyfeiend of four years, not only cheated on her, but had a secret baby as well.

The millionaire footballer only discovered that he had a daughter when nursery boss Donna Moloney knocked on his parents door and introduced the baby as their granddaughter.

A friend of Michaela’s told The Sun “When she found out Stuart not only had a daughter but had cheated on her during their relationship, she was distraught. She’s been in floods of tears. Everything she thought she knew about the romance was a lie.”

Lee Sharpe has admitted that he thinks a man should win Dancing On Ice this year as they have a much tougher job than the girls.

He told the Daily Star Sunday, “It is easier for the girls. They just have to concentrate on looking nice and smiling in front of the cameras. They only have to be lifted up by their partners.

“Because they are mostly singers and actresses they are used to acting up in front of the cameras, which helps.”

I would be inclined to agree with Lee and in fact I started a thread over on our forum saying this exact thing. When the required element last week involved skaters skating independently of their partners, most of the girls struggled, while the men excelled. I think Lee has made an excellent point, but I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes when he meets up with the girls later this week.

ITV have today announced the lineup of their judging panel for their newest reality show ‘Grease Is The Word’.

Putting his reputation on the line judging the potential hopefuls, as well as producing the eventual winners in the new West End show, is renowned theatre producer David Ian. Joining David on the judging panel is; I’m A Celebrity favourite, multimillionaire American showbiz impresario and producer David Gest, American choreographer Brian Friedman and The X Factor mentor, 80’s pop icon and West End star in her own right Sinitta (Mutiny, Hair, What A Feelin’).

David Ian said of taking part in the series, “I’m absolutely thrilled and delighted to be working with ITV on this project looking for a brand new Danny and Sandy for the West End production of Grease. It’s so exciting to be looking for genuine new UK talent to fill the boots of John Travolta and Olivia Newton John and to perform in one of the greatest musicals of all time.” Read more & comment »

Ray Stubbs (born Wallasey, Merseyside, 1956) is a broadcaster and former footballer. He currently works for BBC Sport presenting Final Score as well as the coverage of snooker and darts. He occasionally presents Match of the Day, Match Of The Day 2 and 6-0-6 on Five Live.

Ray also presented Football Focus between from 1999 until 2004 as well as other BBC sports programmes such as Grandstand and Sportsnight.

He was initially a professional footballer, leaving Calday Grange Grammar School to join Tranmere Rovers where he played for five years. After ending his playing career, he stayed with the club in an administrative capacity and then spent three years with BBC Radio Merseyside as a reporter and presenter. Read more & comment »

Miranda Hart (b. 1972 in Torquay, England) is an English actress, writer and stand-up comedian.

Hart starred as “Teal” in the BBC television comedy sci-fi series Hyperdrive, and has also appeared in French & Saunders, Nighty Night, Absolutely Fabulous, The Vicar of Dibley, William and Mary, Smack the Pony, for which she wrote and performed in a couple of sketches and a number of video diaries, Not Going Out and Stupid!.

Forgoing the normal stand-up circuit for more character-based comedy, she’s written her own theatre material for the Edinburgh Festival. Her one-woman shows include Miranda Hart – Throbs, It’s All About Me and Miranda Hart’s House Party. She also performed in Alecky Blyth’s 2006 play Cruising at the Bush Theatre in London.Miranda has recently completed a second series of Hyperdrive will screen in April 2007 on BBC television, in which Hart will reprise her role of “Teal”. She is also due to appear in this years Comic Relief Does Fame Academy.

Courtesy Of Wikipedia

This week the remaining five designers are presented with a pop star client and a real Royal challenge.

Musician and presenter Myleene Klass sets them a challenge of creating a show stopping red carpet dress for her forthcoming appearance at the Royal Albert Hall.

With such an important challenge ahead of them, the designers are lucky enough to get some inside tips from a successful red carpet dress designer, and designer to Myleene- Kyri, but they are up against the clock to decide on the colour combinations and order the sumptuous silk fabrics to complete their designs.

With the pressure mounting the designers struggle to stay on schedule: Wayne hates his dress, Monika’s drab colour selection causes concern with Ben and it’s no surprise that Luke has set himself a rather challenging task. A last minute request from Myleene causes havoc in the studio when the designers are required to create an extra garment to compliment the dress. Shawla seems to have it all in hand until a couple of hiccups set her back. Read more & comment »

One in 200 people in the UK is a hoarder: someone who can’t stop collecting things, but can’t bear to throw them out either. Confessions of a Hoarder (working title) takes a closer look at the debilitating condition, which is on the rise.

Hoarding is a condition filled with shame and guilt, with many sufferers leading a life of such secrecy that even their closest friends might not know the truth. In some cases the condition can become extreme and out of control, affecting the hoarder’s daily life and their relationships with others. Most hoarders live claustrophobic, lonely existences, often in a vicious circle of deprived circumstances with the piles of rubbish preventing them from eating, sleeping and keeping themselves clean.

Confessions of a Hoarder (working title) finds sufferers from all walks of life: from the first man in Britain to receive an ASBO for hoarding: driven by an obsession with the Wombles, he can’t stop filling up his house with his neighbours’ rubbish; to the retired accountant forced to confront the problem when his wife stages an intervention.

Confessions Of A Hoarder will air on Channel 4 in March 2007.

Inspired by the glitz and glamour of US style Prom Nights, High School Dance follows six groups of sixth form students from six different schools across the UK, as they are charged with organising a fabulous school dance. The students are given a budget of £5000 and are responsible for all aspects of their dance - from the theme and entertainment arrangements, marketing and promotion to overseeing the finances and sweeping up at the end of the night.

Tonight’s show features Harlington Community School in West London. The sixth form dance committee decides to hold a glitzy and glamorous Hollywood-themed night in the school, but competition is fierce among the performing arts students and rivalry for the best looking male has everyone racing for the ballot box. But with a committee undermined by a power-mad leader, behind the scenes bitching, teenage apathy and an obsession with bodypopping, will the night end in disaster?

Wednesday 28 February 2007

Britain’s first rock star chef Marco Pierre White will step back into the kitchen for the first time in seven years when he takes over the reigns at TV’s most exclusive restaurant and puts a team of celebrities through their paces.

Hell’s Kitchen is back. And the first ever British chef to achieve three Michelin stars - before handing them back - is in charge.

Marco, described as the ‘Godfather of British cooking,’ will use his considerable talents to turn a group of celebrities into chefs in just two weeks.

And he is already promising to take no prisoners as he attempts to turn the famous trainees into fully fledged chefs.

Marco is sure to feel the heat as he steps back up to the serving plate and he could employ some of his old-school tactics to knock both the trainees and celebrity diners into shape. In the past his legendary temper has resulted in him throwing irritating staff into the bin and dumping customers out on the street. Read more & comment »

ITV have revealed that Zoe Ball will be replacing Cat Deeley as host of their newest reality TV, Grease Is The Word.

This deal comes hot on the heels of Zoe presenting the recent series of Soapstar Superstar for ITV. Seems like the girl is hot property at the moment.

Zoe will be joined by previous I’m A Celebrity contestant David Gest, who will be one of the judging panel.

Tim Vine (born 1967 in Cheam, Surrey) is an English stand-up comedian. His stand-up act consists primarily of a series of quick-fire one-liners and puns. On 7 October 2004 Vine broke the Guinness World Record for the most jokes told in an hour with 499, beating the previous record of 362. Each joke told by Vine had to get a laugh from the paying audience to count towards the record. He held the record until May 2005. Vine has taken his comedy act on a tour of the United Kingdom, most recently in his February 2006 tour entitled “Current Puns”.

On television, Vine co-launched Channel 5 with Julia Bradbury on 30 March 1997 and presented the game show Whittle on the channel. Vine has also presented the game show Fluke on Channel 4 and later Fort Boyard Takes on the World on Challenge. Vine was also one of the regular team of comedians to write for and appear in the ITV comedy series The Sketch Show, and Vine is currently playing the role of namesake Tim in the BBC One situation comedy Not Going Out.

It was announced on 26th February 2007 that Tim would appear as a contestant on Fame Academy for Comic Relief on the BBC.

Jokes

Many of Vine’s jokes have been falsely attributed to Tommy Cooper[1]; the West End show about Tommy Cooper actually features some of Vine’s jokes.
Vine in the role of Tim in Not Going Out.

* So I was getting into my car, and this bloke says to me “Can you give me a lift?” I said, “Sure, you look great, the world’s your oyster, go for it.”
* So I rang up a local building firm and said, “I want a skip outside my house.” He said, “I’m not stopping you.”
* Now, most dentist’s chairs go up and down, don’t they? The one I was in went back and forwards. I thought, “This is unusual”. Then the dentist said to me, “Mr Vine, get out of the filing cabinet”.
* I went to the butchers the other day and I bet him fifty quid that he couldn’t reach the meat off the top shelf. And he said, “no, the steaks are too high”.
* I was reading this book, ‘The History of Glue’. I couldn’t put it down.
* I got a job as the Duke of Edinburgh’s hairdresser. The other day I parked outside Buckingham Palace and a policeman came up to me and said “have you got a permit?” And I said, “no, I’ve just got to take a bit off the back”.
* The other day someone left a piece of plasticine in my dressing room. I didn’t know what to make of it. Read more & comment »

Shaun Williamson (born 29 November 1964 in Maidstone, Kent, England) is a British actor, singer and television personality.

Career

A former student of the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art he is best known for his portrayal of foolish and hapless Barry Evans on the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders, a role that he played from 1994 to 2004. This was Williamson’s second role in the hit soap, he previously had a brief role as a paramedic earlier in 1994. Other television roles have included parts in the detective series Inspector Morse and the BBC sitcom Waiting for God. He has more recently been seen playing a comically unemployable version of himself in Ricky Gervais’ BBC sitcom, Extras. He also took part in the Channel Five show Gender Swap, where he was dressed as a woman and was given a prosthetic makeover before being sent speed-dating in his new persona. Shaun also presented the ITV gameshow 24 Hour Quiz, which only lasted for one series. Read more & comment »