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Caroline Flack On 'Xtra Factor' Exit: 'I Felt Really Upset'

June 10, 2015, 10:45 am
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Caroline Flack has opened up about being axed from ‘The Xtra Factor’, revealing her upset at being replaced by Sarah Jane Crawford.

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The presenter - who, in an ironic twist of fate, is set to take over hosting ‘The X Factor’ later this year - has told fans of what actually happened when she lost her job on the ITV2 spin-off show in 2014.

caroline flack
Caroline Flack


Speaking to the Daily Record, she recalled: "The producers took me for lunch one day, and told me they were screen-testing other people for my job, that they were changing the whole thing.

"They were really nice about it, but I knew I had to leave.”

The reigning ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ champion added: "Yes, I felt really upset, but every career has ups and downs. You have to have a thick skin. And sometimes if you want to have a little cry, you do it on your own, and you get rid of it.

"Then ‘Strictly’ came along and it was like, 'One door shuts, another one opens."'

Caroline originally hosted ‘The Xtra Factor’ with Olly Murs from 2011-2012, before she was joined by Matt Richardson in 2013.

She is set to reunite with Olly when the new series of ‘X Factor’ begins later this year, taking over hosting duties from Dermot O’Leary as part of a massive shake up of the show.

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Sarah Jane took over from Caroline but has since been axed


Sarah Jane also fell victim to the axe, having hosted just one series of ‘The Xtra Factor’.

Simon Cowell is due to return to the panel along with Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, with Nick Grimshaw and Rita Ora rumoured to be replacing axed judges Mel B and Louis Walsh.

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Caroline and Olly will reunite to host 'X Factor'


However, Caroline - who is currently fronting ITV2’s ‘Love Island’ - backed Robbie Williams to take one of the seats, telling The Mirror: “I’d love Robbie. He’d be the dream. He loves the show. I just don’t know if he would do it.

“He’s been brilliant at judges’ houses. I want Snoop Dogg! How good would that be?”



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Charlie Dore Comes Full Circle

June 11, 2015, 4:56 am
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Charlie Dore, singer, songwriter, actress and multi-instrumentalist, brings her tour (in support of Milk Roulette, her most recent album) to The Pheasantry, King's Road, on Wednesday 17th June. It's a chance to watch a master songwriter in an up-close-and-intimate Central London venue. Over the course of a forty-year career, there is little she hasn't done, except acquire the level of fame commensurate with her talent. But the pursuit of fame has never been her motivation. "I don't have very sharp elbows," she confides.

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Photography: Nikoletta Moneyok

And since she darts adeptly between genres, pulling in elements of folk, pop, country, classical, Americana, bluegrass, jazz, bossa nova and more, she's been impossible to pigeonhole since her first album appeared on Island Records in 1979. "Every time I try to describe my songs, it sounds like a casserole of indecision cooked up by a procrastinator with ADHD," she says. Although this has made the marketing of her work a complex undertaking, she wouldn't have it any other way. "It's what I relish. I use folk instruments, but I'm not strictly folk - or country for that matter, even though I enjoy words in a way that might be considered more in the country vein. I suppose I'd love to inhabit my own category".

The arc of her career should reassure anyone worried that they haven't got it all figured out by twenty-five; it's only over a series of post-millennial releases, starting with 2004's Sleep All Day, that Charlie has started making albums that accurately capture her musical identity. What's more, the critics have concurred, and her last five sets have come out to increasingly rapturous reviews. Her achievements as a recording artist alone guarantee her a significant place in rock history, but then there are her other careers, including writer-for-hire (with clients including Celine Dion, Tina Turner, Sheena Easton, Jimmy Nail and George Harrison), film, theatre and TV actress and impro-comedian.

Charlie's first break came in the early seventies when, with Julian Littman and Karl Johnson, she was lifted from repertory theatre and beamed into the living rooms of the nation as the musical element of Thames Television's children's programme, Rainbow. "We recorded three shows a week and they needed a song for each show, so we had our work cut out for us. But it was fun most of the time, great training for future songwriting and we were earning well for the first time in our lives".

After building a following on the pub circuit, rubbing shoulders with The Police and DP Costello (soon to become Elvis), Charlie signed with Island Records and began work on her first album, self-written with some co-writes from Julian Littman, her writing partner and integral band member to this day. It had a complicated gestation. "They signed me as a British Emmylou Harris and we were recording a very rootsy, real-sounding album". When initial results were too country for Island's ears, remixes and re-records ensued to sweeten the sound and give it a pop sheen. The end product, entitled Where To Now, was more 'British Karla Bonoff', an enticing prospect but not what Charlie had first envisaged.

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Charlie with her band, Hula Valley, circa 1976 (L-R Stewart Johnson, Bruce Simpson,
Julian Littman, Garrick Dewar, Charlie, Karl Johnson) Photo: C. Hickman

What no one anticipated was that 'Pilot of the Airwaves', the bouncy, harmony-laden single, would soar to No.11 on the Billboard Hot 100 with no promotion. And although in hindsight it's possible to see why a song about DJs would enhance its own chances of airplay, the song was not written with that possibility guilefully in mind. But if Charlie thought she'd be able to capitalise on the accidental hit, Island had other ideas. "There were some weird politics going on between Chris Blackwell [head of Island] and Warner Brothers and they decided they weren't going to pay for me to go out to the US".

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Charlie interviewed by Melvyn Bragg, 1978
Photo: LWT

After a second album (Listen, 1981) proved even less a true representation of her music, Charlie walked away from the singer/songwriter world and straight on to the silver screen, cast alongside Jonathan Pryce, Tim Curry and Frank Finlay in The Ploughman's Lunch (1983), a political drama directed by Richard Eyre. "It re-awoke my interest in acting. It was my first 'proper' movie, so I was secretly terrified, but we had a hoot".

A year later, her name began popping up on other people's records, and she made her second appearance on the US chart when Sheena Easton reached No.4 with 'Strut' (a co-write with Julian). Soon, this third career was well underway, although notably at odds with her own sound, perhaps most obviously in the case of 'Ain't No Doubt', the New Jack Swing-style song that reached the top of the UK charts for Jimmy Nail in 1992. "If I'm writing for an artist, I want it to sound right, coming out of their mouth," Charlie explains. "It shouldn't sound like some world-weary songwriter in an office somewhere, honing slick little phrases and bon mots". Still, she was able to slip in some of her quirks: "'Rain, Tax (It's Inevitable)' got cut by Celine Dion. That surprised even my publisher, who told me it would be hard to get a song covered with the word 'tax' in it. Not sexy, she said".

When a return to recording (Things Change, 1996) didn't turn out how she wanted, Charlie kept going with acting and comedy. In 1990, she co-founded The Hurricane Club, a comedy-impro venue on Oxford Street. "It was such a buzz to make a roomful of people laugh. We were nervous about filling the place with just impro, so we always booked a couple of stand-ups - Jo Brand, Harry Hill, Mark Lamarr, Alan Davies, Stuart Lee et al. Robin Williams joined us onstage one night - one of the most exciting times I've ever had as a performer".

Ten years ago, when the time came to record again, Charlie had a new attitude. "I just felt that there was no point in me writing and performing anything with a view to it meeting approval by some mythical taste-maker somewhere. It had to feel authentic and personal. I've spent too many years trying to fit a mould and I finally decided just to do whatever felt right. Hang the idea of being commercial!". Consequently, she's now making records that expose her own, unadulterated vision. The Guardian, The Telegraph and Mojo have championed her with renewed enthusiasm, penning liberal amounts of stellar reviews.

Milk Roulette (following Sleep All Day, Cuckoo Hill, The Hula Valley Songbook, and Cheapskate Lullabies), is arguably the best so far, an intricate mix of pop crossed with Victorian parlour songs, drawing room ballads and a sprinkle of folk and country. The work of Kate and Anna McGarrigle springs to mind, although Charlie's supple singing voice is a steadier instrument and therefore an easier taste for the uninitiated to acquire. One also senses a sardonically-raised eyebrow reminiscent of Kirsty Maccoll.

The story-songs include tales from the viewpoint of a couple undergoing IVF and the parents of a newborn child before a dramatic change of pace occurs and songs about alcoholism and the defiant resisting of one's own mortality play out. Not only does it work wonderfully on record, it's material that makes for compelling live performances. "I want to keep making better albums," says Charlie of her future plans. "I'd like to write a book, a film and a play...and learn to relax. I may do all of them, but possibly not the last one".

Charlie Dore plays The Pheasantry, King's Road, London on 17th June. Tickets available here. Read the full Charlie Dore interview here. And find out more about Charlie here.

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Carol Vorderman Reveals She Can Balance A Pint Of Beer On Her Bum

June 11, 2015, 5:14 am
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Not content with having been named Rear Of The Year, Carol Vorderman has now revealed she can perform a rather impressive trick with her famous behind.

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The ex-'Loose Woman’ told Lorraine Kelly that she is able to balance a pint of beer on her bum.

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Carol Vorderman


During an appearance on ‘Lorraine’ on Thursday (11 June), the breakfast TV presenter told Carol that her bottom was “a thing of beauty”, with the star replying: "It's a thing with it's own gravitational field. I can balance pints of beer on it now."

Kim Kardashian, eat your heart out.

The former ‘Countdown’ mathematician also admitted she’s had a lot more male attention since going blonde last year.

The single star - who split from pilot boyfriend Graham Duff last October - said: "I've had an interesting reaction, let me tell you Lorraine. Blondes do have a lot more offers of fun. They absolutely do."

carol vorderman rear
Carol won Rear Of The Year for the second time in 2014


Admitting she hit the bottle after getting “bored” of her brunette locks, she added: “It looks a bit grey now.

"I've got a very low boredom threshold. What's the worst that can happen? You're slagged off? So what's new."



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Lauren Goodger Denies Holidaying In Dubai, Where Ex Mark Wright Was On Honeymoon, As She Sparks Jake McLean Reunion Rumours (PICS)

June 11, 2015, 6:11 am
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Lauren Goodger has hinted that she’s back with her ex-boyfriend, Jake McLean, after having to deny that she’s spent her holiday in Dubai, while her ex-fiancé, Mark Wright, enjoying his honeymoon there.

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Earlier this week, The Goodge uploaded a photo to her Instagram page, along with the caption: “Dubai my holidays”, prompting some to speculate she’d flown out there for a holiday, while her ex was holidaying with new wife, Michelle Keegan.

Dubai my holidays

A photo posted by Lauren Goodger (@laurenrosegoodger) on





Following this, Mark fired off a string of angry tweets about Lauren, calling her “embarrassing” and pleading with her to stop mentioning him in the media.

Lauren later released a statement, claiming she only mentions Mark in her magazine column when she wants to clear up untrue rumours, and had “been privately in a relationship” of her own as of late.

A representative for the former ‘The Only Way Is Essex’ cast member has now insisted that she was only staying in Dubai for the day, and had actually been spent the rest of her holiday in Abu Dhabi.

Her spokesperson told MailOnline: “Lauren is in fact on holiday in Abu Dhabi and not Dubai. She popped over to Dubai yesterday for dinner with friends that live there.”

What’s more, Lauren later uploaded another photo to her Instagram page hinting that the identity of her mystery suitor was her ex, Jake McLean.

Abu Dhabi you've been amazing! Thanks to this special boy for my surprise romantic getaway #spoilt

A photo posted by Lauren Goodger (@laurenrosegoodger) on





Although she never mentioned Jake by name in her post, fans of The Goodge recognised his distinct sleeve tattoo, and speculated her new beau might be her ex.

Lauren and Jake previously split up at the end of 2013, and during her time in the ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ the following summer, she tearfully admitted during an emotional discussion that she still had feelings for him, confessing: “I try to convince myself that I’m over him but I’m not.”



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Kim Kardashian's Old MySpace Profile Has Resurfaced, And It Is A Thing Of Wonder

June 11, 2015, 6:11 am
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Kim Kardashian may be a social media queen these days, but things were much different back in 2006, as her unearthed MySpace profile proves.

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The reality star opened her page on the site eight years ago - before finding fame on ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’ - and it’s fair to say she had a much more modest following than she has now.

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Kim Kardashian's old MySpace profile


‘Princess Kimberly’, as she was known, had a measly 856 friends on the social networking site - a far cry from the 32.5 million followers she now boasts on Twitter.

She also had just 73 posts from her friends on her wall.

Among the other things on her profile - which was uncovered by Us Weekly - included her bio, which read, “I’m a princess and you’re not so there!”, while she stated she was “in a relationship”, as she was dating singer Ray J at the time.

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Kim now has much more of an internet following


Kim also listed “Home movies” among her interests, which is pretty apt considering a certain ‘home movie’ she filmed with Ray J a year after creating this profile, turned her into a household name the world over.

Her profile picture was also a suitably-posed shot, so it’s good to see that some things definitely haven’t changed as the years have gone on.



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Alice Cooper Interview: Becoming A Christian, His Biggest Ever Addiction, And Why Mick Jagger's The Prototype

June 11, 2015, 6:14 am
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Alice Cooper reveals that, despite his decades on the road where his antics have led to the label of ‘Godfather of Shock Rock’, the most rebellious thing I ever did was become Christian.

He explains to HuffPostUK, “Because it goes against everything I’m meant to stand for. But I’m dead serious about it. I can still be Alice Cooper, and be a Christian.”

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Alice Cooper is still going strong after four decades on the road


Alice is supporting Mötley Crüe on what is definitively, legally bound to be, their very final tour, but despite seeing his rock and roll chums quit the road, he has no intention of stopping himself.

"Someone once asked what my best song was. I said I hadn’t written it yet. I bet if you asked McCartney that, he’d say that too.

"If you ever feel like you’ve written your best song, then you might as well not write any more.

"I never smoked cigarettes, I quit drinking 30 years ago, I’ve been married 40 years, never cheated on my wife, so I’m very happy in everything in my life – there’s no reason for me to stop. I’m in better shape now than when I was 30. At 30, I was a mess. At 67, I can get up five nights a week and do an hour and forty minutes and feel great, and I know how to do it now.

"Mick Jagger makes it look easy, he’s the prototype for every lead singer in every band. Still going. You sit there and you say, ‘That’s the guy.’

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Alice (right) is joining Motley Crue for their definitively final tour this year


Clean-living Alice says his biggest addiction these days is the game of golf, which he only started playing because he knew he had an addictive personality.

“I quit drinking and drugs, and I needed to find another addiction that wouldn’t kill me,” he remembers.

“And it’s the biggest addiction going. Lord help you if you get two or three good shots. It’s the most addictive sport in the world.”

With Mötley Crüe going out with a bang at the end of the year, and rock music making way for folk and dance music in the charts, Alice Cooper laments that young musicians are taking their craft far too seriously…

“It’s supposed to be funny, angry, and that’s what I’m missing right now. Right now I’m hearing lots of important little people writing important little things that make me want to go ZZZZZ.

“If I hear one more band talk about oil… everything that’s politically correct, I’m so sick of politically correct. You’re 16, this is your time to shine.

“These guys (he gestures to Mötley Crüe next door) created a really fun world in rock and roll – a blitzy, glam, sexy, hard, fun world, I can’t see a generation saying, ‘I want to do that.’

“I think there’s going to be another generation of bands. The Darkness came too soon. A band called Steel Panther who were basically a tribute band, are now headlining. There’s so much fun in that kind of thing. There are probably 16-year-old kids right now, figuring what to wear, how to do it. And it might come out of London.”

Conversation moves onto the different music movements of the last few decades, including the grunge era of Seattle. Alice raises his eyebrows…

“Seattle went anti-glam. I got to the point, I was thinking, lighten up. All you’re thinking about is darkness. I was going to hire 10 buses and take all these kids to Disneyland for a weekend, just to cheer them up.

“I saw what the reaction was, against the last generation. There’s going to be a reaction against this folk thing, everybody’s introspective, everybody has something important to say. If people ask me what to write about, I say, ‘Write about your girlfriend.’”

So, if Mick Jagger is the prototype, where’s the new Mick to be found? Alice looks conspiratorial.

“I haven’t seen that yet, but I’m sure he’s out there.”

Alice Cooper will be supporting Mötley Crüe on their final world tour which starts in Austria tomorrow and continues until their final gig in Los Angeles on New Year's Eve - more information here.

The changing faces of Alice Cooper...



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Diarmuid Gavin Celebrates 'The Mary Berry Effect' As He Prepares To Take Gardening Masterclass At Britain's First GrandFest Festival For 'Mature People'

June 11, 2015, 7:40 am
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Renowned garden designer Diarmuid Gavin thinks having Mary Berry sharing her knowledge on primetime TV is proof that we need to value the skills and knowledge of more senior citizens.

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Diarmuid is holding a Masterclass at Britain’s first GrandFest this weekend in East London, a festival dedicated to the interests of the older generations, and he tells HuffPostUK of his delight at “the Mary Berry effect”.

“I think society has a real problem in the way it deals with people a little bit more mature,” he says. “Respecting the elderly happens far more in the East, where they’re integrated and encouraged to share their wisdom.

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Diarmuid Gavin credits Mary Berry for influencing people to view elderly citizens differently


“Here we have figureheads like Mary Berry – nobody would dare to criticize her life skills, strong craft and general sense, and she’s helping people to change their attitude.

“It’s the Mary Berry effect – people beginning to value, and questioning why we would ever dismiss anyone over the age of 65.”

Diarmuid, despite being an eternally cherubic presence on our screens with his part on a host of home improvement shows, now happily puts himself in the category of “older gardener” and says he personally resents what he sees as “young gardeners banding together. It’s a movement at the moment and it’s not cool”.

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Diarmuid will be sharing his wonder at seeing things grow at this year's GrandFest in London


This weekend sees Diarmuid sharing his skills in a Masterclass at GrandFest, set in what he agrees is the determinedly youthful hipster-ville of Hoxton. However, Diarmuid will be demonstrating small, achievable ideas in his workshop, including windowboxes of herbs and putting summer colours on patios.

He adds: “It’s the basics of growing. I also want to show how we can get children interested in gardening.

“I remember I got my interest from watching mustard and cress grown for the first time. I still remember the magic of seeing them shooting up from seeds in a matter of days. That’s what we need to remind people of.”

Diarmuid will be joining GrandFest, hosted by the Royal Voluntary Service, this Saturday 13 June in Hoxton Square, which hosts a series of master classes held by talented older people all 70 years and over. From preserve making to crochet and home brewing to woodwork workshops, GrandFest offers the public an opportunity to learn a new skill or brush up on an existing one. Click here for more info.

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Charlotte Church Talks Anti-Austerity, Political Activism And THAT Sign

June 11, 2015, 8:11 am
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Charlotte Church has hit back at those questioning the motives behind her growing political activism and said that high profile figures are “scared” of mentioning politics or religion.

The singer-turned-activist said she is determined to become more “socially conscious” and “more active in the community”.

In an interview for The Pool with Lauren Laverne, Church said: “I don’t want to be the poster girl for this, I want to be involved in the whole thing.

“There should be more people in my position who can get attention doing things. Michael Sheen has been very good on the NHS.

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Charlotte Church is determined to become more active in her community


“But people are scared. In this industry, you can't mention religion or politics.

“That's why so many high profile women haven't said they are feminists for so long.

"I could live in a nice house and not have to work and go on nice holidays, but I don't want to live like that."

Church was quick to hit back at those who criticised her for joining anti-austerity campaigners earlier this month.

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Blasting those who labelled her a hypocrite and doubted her motives, she tweeted: “I’m disappointed at the vitriol directed my way, if I gave 70% of my earnings to HMRC voluntarily, not only would it not last long as our public services cost 100s of billions to fund but I doubt it would encourage the richest in this country to get a conscience and follow suit.

“I have no ulterior motives. The injustice and inequality in society that is pushed further by this government makes me as angry as the hulk!”

In the interview, which will be broadcast in full at 9pm tonight, Church told Laverne that she was “absolutely devastated” by the result of the General Election and felt she had to act.

Last month Church appeared at an anti-austerity march in Cardiff, where she was spotted holding a placard which read: “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more.”



She was criticised by Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies, who labelled her comments “unfortunate and unbecoming” and described her as a “champagne socialist”.

But Church said that there was “loads of support and people thanking me for speaking up for other people”.

At a conference ahead of an anti-austerity rally in London she was asked why, as a millionaire, she had taken up such a cause, to which she replied: "Being poor is not a prerequisite for empathy."

Church is also one of the many who have come under fire from Katie Hopkins.

Hopkins described Church as a "fat Welsh Russell Brand" and a “chubster”, while Church responded by labelling the columnist a “parasite”.

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Brooklyn Beckham Looks A Dead Ringer For Mum Victoria In Rollacoaster Magazine Shoot (PICTURES)

June 11, 2015, 8:22 am
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With his deep brown eyes and surly pout, you’d almost be forgiven for mistaking Brooklyn Beckham for his mother Victoria in his latest photoshoot.

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The teenager has posed for a series of trendy snaps for the latest issue of Rollacoaster magazine, where he is a dead ringer for his singer-turned-designer mum.

brooklyn beckham
Brooklyn Beckham


And he is clearly following in her fashion footsteps, as he can bee seen modelling the best of this season’s menswear.

The 16-year-old was also bestowed the honour of covering the magazine, where he’s kitted out in some of Ralph Lauren’s best togs.

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Victoria Beckham


However, despite his tender age, it isn’t actually his first mag cover, having previously graced the front pages of Man About Town last year.

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Brooklyn posed for Rollacoaster


Brooklyn isn’t the only Beckham child who has shown a keen interest in fashion, as Posh and Becks’ middle son Romeo has already starred in campaigns for designer label Burberry.

See Brooklyn's full shoot in the latest issue of Rollacoaster magazine, out now.

brooklyn beckham

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Chris O'Dowd, Ben Foster In First Trailer For 'The Program', Depicting Battle Between Lance Armstrong And Journalist David Walsh

June 11, 2015, 8:37 am
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The first trailer for the new film detailing the downfall of Lance Armstrong has been released, revealing the conflict between the apparently all-conquering cyclist and the journalist determined to unravel the lies around him, David Walsh.

'The Program' stars Ben Foster as the superstar cyclist, determined to squash anyone who dared voice their beliefs that his victories were the result of anything other than an iron will, and Irish actor Chris O'Dowd as the Sunday Times journalist who did exactly that - from the first day he saw Lance back in the saddle following his treatment for cancer in the 1990s.

ben foster
Ben Foster plays Lance Armstrong, whose cycling victories inspired millions


The film, directed by Oscar-nominated Stephen Frears and from the Working Title stable, is based on David Walsh's memoir of how he tirelessly pursued doctors, teammates, sponsors and ultimately Lance himself in his belief that a massive lie was being foisted on cycling fans, and all those who supported Lance Armstrong and his LiveStrong charity foundation.

the program
...And Chris O'Dowd as the journalist determined to unravel his lies


Lance Armstrong was eventually robbed of his record-breaking seven Tour de Force titles in 2012. At the time, he stressed his innocence but later confessed his culpability in a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey. He said he had taken drugs, but he didn't consider it cheating, because that meant stealing an unfair advantage and, to his mind, everyone in the race was doing the same thing, so it was a level playing field.

'The Program' will be in UK cinemas later in the year.



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'TFI Friday' Returns: 14 Things We Didn't Have When The Show First Aired In 1996 (PICS)

June 11, 2015, 8:48 am
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Nostalgia fans can look forward to the return of ‘TFI Friday’ to our screens this week, where Chris Evans will be taking the helm of the Channel 4 show for a one-off special, 15 years after it last hit the airwaves.

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‘TFI Friday’ first burst onto our screens in 1996, and quickly made a name for itself as being one of the most chaotic shows on telly, thanks to its controversial mix of guests, politically incorrect segments and outrageous moments that had everyone gasping from their sofas.

Almost two decades later, and things are more than a little different. For one thing, if you missed ‘TFI Friday’ back in the day, there was no on-demand service to catch up with it, there were no digital recorders and there was definitely no pausing the live TV to make yourself a cup of tea when it all starts getting a bit lairy.

If you didn’t have a VHS recorder, you’d have to go without, and even if you did, you’d have to make sure no one else wanted to tape anything on the other side.

That’s not the only change that has happened in the past 19 years, though. Here are just 14 of the things we have today that we were solely lacking when ‘TFI Friday’ first aired in 1996...



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You Are Dead: Peter James' Latest Blockbuster

June 11, 2015, 8:54 am
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Drat! He's done it again. But how? You Are Dead, the best-selling author Peter James' 11th annual offering about a fictional British detective, Roy Grace, may just be his best yet. Well, his publishers would say that, wouldn't they? After all, they said it last year after the publication of Want You Dead. Hype? Annoyingly - and yet satisfyingly for the reader - they might just be right again this time. So what is it about Peter James? He seems to be able to get under the skin of murderers, deadbeats, psychopaths, weirdos, and all kinds of other deeply unpleasant characters. And now - a serial killer. Perhaps more than one?

By way of contrast, he has no problem conjuring up decent, civilised police officers - along with one or two less pleasant coppers, particularly the whining, deeply irritating Cassian Pewe who has a higher rank than Superintendent Grace and makes our hero's life much more of a stressful and annoying struggle than it should be.

When you meet Peter, as I often do, it's hard to believe such a delightful, friendly and intelligent man could come up with such "shiver me timbers" story lines with some pretty gruesome scenarios. Before he came up with his Roy Grace character more than a decade ago now, Peter wrote horror thrillers - the kind that might well give you nightmares later as you burnt the midnight oil, unable to put one of his books down until a disturbed sort of sleep finally closed your trembling eyelids.

In a way it's a relief to his fans that he's switched from horror to crime, but Peter being Peter he can't resist throwing in some horrific moments. I don't want to give too much of the game away, but of the 111 chapters of You Are Dead (all punchy and crisp, as short chapters have to be to keep the pages turning) some are truly masterful. In Chapter 22, for example, a certain Harrison Hunter meets Jacob Van Dam, a psychiatrist, at his Harley Street consulting room.

"For a moment they were forced into silence as an emergency vehicle siren screeched by outside. As the siren faded the only sound for some moments was the hiss of the gas fire in the grate."

Why bother with the hiss of the gas fire? Because James is a master of background noises and images. Somehow tiny touches like that - which litter the book - lure the reader into the already compelling but often disturbing mesh of his narrative. As the siren fades, Hunter continues: "I'm an anaesthetist. But a rather unusual one."

Pausing as another siren screams past - and then a third - Van Dam asks: "Would you like to tell me in what way you consider yourself to be unusual?"
To which Hunter replies: "I like to kill people."

Is he telling the truth? Is he a fantasist? Serial killer? Both? If so, is there more than one? If there are, who exactly is killing whom? Are the victims all pretty girls with long brown hair? No men?
The denouement - there are three actually - make the reader sweat it out right to the end. As usual Roy Grace's long-lost missing ex-wife Sandy pops up from time to time, but tantalisingly, as You Are Dead ends with a hat trick of surprises, Grace gets closer than ever before to having to deal with the traumatic possibility that she is still alive. I'd got to within four pages of the ending as our flight from Spain (where I'd been lolling on the beach reading this latest epic) landed at London's Gatwick Airport, and somehow - in between getting my luggage and my wife Vivianne's down from the overhead lockers - I just had to complete the last pages. Even while I was still walking down the aisle to disembark. That's what you call a book you really can't put down!

You Are Dead is published by Pan Macmillan.

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Pharrell Williams Tells World Leaders To Tackle Climate Change By Providing Green Jobs For Young People

June 11, 2015, 8:57 am
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Pharrell Williams has demanded world leaders move to tackle climate change by providing millions of green jobs for young people around the globe.

In a video to be screened at the International Labour Organisation’s "World of Work" summit in Geneva on Thursday, the Grammy-award winning artist calls climate change the “most defining issues of our time, one that threatens our very existence on Earth.” He also notes “another serious problem… millions of young people who don’t have jobs.”

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Williams attends an event marking International Day of Happiness at United Nations headquarters in New York on March 20, 2015


"Right now, we have a unique opportunity to tackle climate change and to make sure that young people and our planet have a future that is sustainable for many generations to come,” said Williams, 42. “Making economies green could create millions of good, decent jobs all around the world."

He added: "You -- the workers, the employers, the governments, the presidents and prime ministers meeting here today -- you guys have the opportunity to make a difference. Make sure that green jobs are right at the top of the agenda when the world meets in Paris this December."

World leaders, including French President François Hollande, are attending the event in Switzerland with the implications of climate change on workers and businesses a key topic for discussion.

Williams, along with former US Vice President Al Gore, is involved in the organisation of the Live Earth music event scheduled for later this year ahead of December’s UN climate change summit in Paris.

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'Emmerdale' Spoiler: Charlie Hardwick To Leave Val Pollard Role

June 11, 2015, 9:03 am
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‘Emmerdale’ star Charlie Hardwick has revealed she is leaving the ITV soap.

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The actress has played the character of Val Pollard for 11 years, but has decided to quit, in order to pursue new projects.

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Charlie Hardwick as Val Pollard


Announcing the news on Thursday’s (11 June) ‘Loose Women’, she said: “I’m leaving the show. I’d like to thank all the people who watch 'Emmerdale' who have been so lovely to me over the years and who have enjoyed the ups and downs of Eric and Val.

“I thought, let’s have a chance at another chapter in my life, you know just when it’s time to go.”

When asked about her exit, Charlie admitted she would be disappointed if producers decided to use Val’s HIV as a way of writing her out.

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Charlie announced the news on 'Loose Women'


“I am not at liberty to say and luckily I haven’t read the scripts. I would be very angry if it was HIV-related, there would be hell to pay,” she said.

“Because I think the whole point of having Val as HIV positive is to show that you can live a happy and healthy life.

“I’m going to have a break. I’ll just lie in a hammock - that’s all I can say!"

News of Charlie's departure comes after Natalie Anderson announced she was leaving her role as Alicia Metcalfe last month.



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The Pleasure and Pain of Shoes Examined at V&A

June 11, 2015, 11:39 am
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Shoes are a popular subject and it could have been so easy for the V&A to pull together a couple of hundred pairs of shoes, place them prettily and charge an admission fee for still, visitors would have come. So credit to the V&A curation team for deciding to interrogate this subject for the result is a revealing and challenging exhibition on a much-loved item.

Sexuality and shoes have always been deeply intertwined and a part of this exhibition is stylised with sultry red velvet textures and deep maroon colours. It screams seduction. But the pieces on show demonstrate how sex and fetishism have influenced footwear.

The high heels and knee high leather boots are on show, as is the evocative trademark red sole of the Louboutin. But this link with sex is nothing new for also on display is a pair of shoes worn by a Japanese orian, a prostitute, where the platforms are so high as to make any kind of practical movement impossible.

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This restriction of female movement retains its power as a source of fantasy, which we see today in all high heels and is demonstrated at its extreme in the David Lynch/Christian Louboutin collaboration that is on show, where the shoes have impossibly angled heels, forcing the woman to crawl rather than walk.

Of course, for many this is in dangerous territory. Shoes which restrict female movement and encourage submission is a politically charged subject. But what was revealing about this exhibition was the history of gender roles and behaviour that has been weaved into shoes - and how this can often surprise.

It is the female shoe that we expect to be high-heeled and embellished. This design is associated with a concept of femininity and, again, the restriction of movement is desirable. In comparison, masculinity is associated with rugged boots and big, heavy shoes.

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So where does that leave the cowboy boot? For cowboys are considered to be some kind of masculine archetype but yet the pair of cowboy boots on show are high heeled and decorative, covered in studs and beads. It's interesting, seeing assumptions challenged and this exhibition does just that.

Some of the pairs of shoes are extraordinary historical artefacts - and included with a purpose. One pair of sandals is 2000 years old, from late Pharaonic or early Roman Egypt, and the shoes are delicately embellished with nearly pure gold. Intriguingly their sole is designed with a sharp point at the toes, much like contemporary designs. It's interesting how long this idealized and desired foot shape has been around.

The V&A has vast archives and wonderful access to so many collections to bring together a great range of shoes. And in addition to many historical artefacts there are, of course, some headline grabbers.

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David Beckham has lent a pair of boots from his Manchester United playing days and there's the delicate glass slipper designed for Disney's recent Cinderella film - both demonstrations of shoes as fantasy items that can transform behaviour and people. The infamous Vivienne Westwood platforms that Naomi Campbell fell over in are on display (and looking as desirable as ever), as are a pair from Imelda Marcos' vast collection.

But a real highlight is the deadly pair of red ballet shoes from the 1948 film, The Red Shoes. A stunning and iconic treasure from cinema history and in a deeply evocative blood red as opposed to the more usual candy pink.

Much like the stunning Alexander McQueen exhibition that is also on in the V&A, Shoes: Pleasure and Pain examines the extremes in fashion. And much like Savage Beauty, this exhibition is also fascinating - full of craft, intellectual discourse and a flash of celebrity.

Victoria and Albert Museum, London to January 31, 2016

Image Credits:
1.Installation view of Shoes: Pleasure and Pain, Christian Louboutin 'Pigalle' pump © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
2.Installation view of Shoes: Pleasure and Pain © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
3.Installation view of Shoes: Pleasure and Pain © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
4.Red ballet shoes made for Victoria Page (Moira Shearer) in The Red Shoes (1948), silk satin, braid and leather, England, Freed of London (founded in 1929), 1948. Photograph reproduced with the kind permission of Northampton Museums and Art Gallery

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'Inspiring Birds' - A Beginners Guide to Birdsong

June 11, 2015, 11:44 am
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I've been living in the Oxfordshire countryside now for 10 years, surrounded by woodland on one side and open fields the other. These, apparently, are perfect 'birding' conditions.

We have a resident pair of jays, owls, tits, wagtails, finches, woodpeckers (three types!), turtle doves, birds of prey and a plethora of robins and sparrows. We also have a stream running the length of the garden which last year brought us a kingfisher (so tiny!) and a pair of ducks with 12 ducklings. The mum then went on to lose half of them while on a stroll one day. Tardy!

I'm not a big fan of the winter months, mainly January and February, they seem to last an eternity so when Spring starts to appear and the birds start singing I feel like joining in! I don't even mind getting up at 6.30 am five days a week for the school run as long as it's light and I can hear that the birds are awake too.

I became interested in different bird calls a few years ago while sitting outside at night listening to tawny owls calling to one another - it really sounds like a long distance conversation from tree to tree. Each call varies slightly in volume, phrasing and urgency. The amount of times I've tried to creep up to whichever tree they're sitting in so I can take a peek only to realise it has departed - silently - probably looking down at me and laughing to itself. "Silly fool thinking she could get close enough to see me, ha ha ha. crazy lady!"

It's very quiet here so you can hear all the wildlife really clearly. There's a lot of rustling in the bushes when you're putting the rubbish out at night and it used to scare the hell out of me! I'm so used to it now and have become much better at identifying the sounds of all the different birds and creatures in the garden along with the village weirdo! I noticed a while back that a great tit sounds very much like a car alarm and so decided to liken as many bird calls to other memorable things as I could to help me identify them in the future. A blue tit sounds like super high pitched drum and bass and there's something about pheasants that makes me think of Lady Ga Ga!

The sound of wood pigeons has depressed me since I was at school. It's a Sunday night, I haven't done my homework AGAIN, and it's the most melancholy sound in the world! A turtle dove call on the other hand, although similar, is a jolly sound, not remotely depressing.

Two pairs of red kites were re introduced down the road in the 80's having previously been totally wiped out in this country. There are tons of them now! Huge, beautiful, majestic birds of prey with an eerie, mournful screech that sends our poor rabbit Cookie running for cover. I don't think a kite could actually take him, he's far too fat and I think they live mainly on carrion, but he's definitely nervous when they circle overhead.

When it comes to singing, my favourite bird is not necessarily the most popular, sometimes a little over looked and not often considered the most beautiful. You could say it is the Florence Ballard of the UK bird world. The blackbird, with its sleek, shiny black feathers and perfect, bright yellow beak has the most beautiful voice of them all, so intricate and soulful, a song to brighten up the greyest day.

You know what, I'm new to this game and can't pretend I know much - yet! But what I would say is don't leave it as long as I did to start paying attention to what is all around you. Whether you live in a city, town or the countryside the birds are singing for us.

Sarah Cracknell's solo album Red Kite is out on 15 June on Cherry Red.

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The Longest Ride: Scott Eastwood Gives Co-Star Britt Robertson Bull-Riding Lesson In Our Exclusive Clip

June 12, 2015, 4:08 am
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Scott Eastwood gives his co-star Britt Robertson a bull-riding lesson in 'The Longest Ride' and, as our Exclusive Clip above shows, he's as happy in the saddle as his screen idol father Clint.

'The Longest Ride' is the latest from the Nicholas Sparks stable, and centres on the star-crossed love affair between Luke, a former champion bull rider looking to make a comeback, and Sophia, a college student who is about to embark upon her dream job in New York City's art world.

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Scott Eastwood and Britt Robertson star in 'The Longest Ride'


As conflicting paths and ideals test their relationship, Sophia and Luke make an unexpected and life altering connection with Ira, whose memories of his own decades-long romance with his beloved wife deeply inspire the young couple. Spanning generations and two intertwining love stories, 'The Longest Ride' - like so much of Nicholas Sparks' bestselling work - explores the challenges and infinite rewards of enduring love.

'The Longest Ride' will be in UK cinemas from 19 June. Watch the trailer below...



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Rita Ora And Chris Brown 'Record Duet' For Her Upcoming Second Album

June 12, 2015, 4:28 am
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After collaborating with the likes of Iggy Azalea, Calvin Harris and Charli XCX, Rita Ora is reportedly teaming up with Chris Brown for a new duet.

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Rita is thought to have secretly recorded a song with the undisputed cuddliest man in pop, in what label bosses are hoping will help boost her profile in the US.

A source tells The Sun: “The song with Chris sounds amazing and is bound to be a big hit. It’s the best song Rita’s done and will break her in the US.”

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Rita Ora


The newspaper claim that the pair’s collaboration will appear on Rita’s upcoming second album, currently slated for release later in the year.

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Chris Brown


Rita’s song ‘I Will Never Let You Down’, initially biled as the lead single from the album, topped the UK chart last summer, and was produced by her then-boyfriend, Calvin Harris.

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Rita Ora


However, the track proved to be a bit of a sore spot after their break-up, and Calvin even put the brakes on Rita performing it at an awards’ bash, refusing to grant her the rights to do so.

After a long wait for fans, Rita finally unveiled the album’s actual lead single, ‘Poison’, last month.

It’s thought we’ll also be seeing a lot more of her in the months to follow, as she’s reportedly being lined up to join Radio 1 DJ Nick Grimshaw on the judging panel of ‘The X Factor’.

Meanwhile, she's appearing alongside a host of other celebrities, including Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj and Miley Cyrus, in Madonna's upcoming 'Bitch I'm Madonna' music video.



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Christopher Lee (1922-2015)

June 12, 2015, 4:36 am
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Christopher Lee (1922-2015)

Some years ago now, I forget how many, I was invited to present at the Sony Radio Awards; I forget to whom and for what. I remember being slightly irritated because it was years after the first McAlmont & Butler album, yet they played Yes as I approached the podium to present the gong as if I had done nothing since 1995. That night I was seated at a table with Paul Gambaccini, which was lovely, but I had already met Gambo on several occasions. Suzi Quatro was also seated at that table; she was very funny and sent me up when I asked Paul if he had heard my new album. None of these aspects made the occasion that special for me.

The special moment had happened earlier at the champagne reception in the lobby of the hotel. I turned around to see who was there, as you do, and spotted an extremely tall, elegant, grey haired, bearded gentleman in tasteful tweeds chatting with some people. I was thunderstruck because the tweedy entity in question was a bona fide legend, none other than Mr Christopher Lee. I promptly excused myself from the conversation I was having and shot over to meet him. It was too good an opportunity to miss, even though I didn't know what to expect. Alas it was not the selfie era, alas because this would definitely have been selfie o'clock!

I charged over and barged in as courteously as possible and said, "Excuse me Mr Lee. Sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I just had to say hello because I'm a huge fan." Then I received another shock: he turned to me in the warmest manner and boomed, "Oh, so it was you?" The inference being that he wasn't aware that he had that many fans. I laughed and said, "Yes. I've been a fan of yours since I was a kid. My mother let me stay up to watch your films." After which he said "Thank you" and asked if I'd heard of Lord of the Rings, which I had because I had recently read The Hobbit. He said that he would be appearing in the new film playing one of the wizards, "Oh great! I shall look forward to that." I said. "The evil one!" he added. I laughed and said something like, "But of course you are." And politely excused myself so that he could continue his conversation, wishing that my mother could have been there to share my giddy thrill.

Thanks to my mother I was introduced to his films as a child. My mum was a diehard horror fan: she gorged on the Star and Fontana books of horrors; encouraged my sister and I to purchase Uncanny Tales comic books, which she probably read when we were at school; and she owned the first complete works of Edgar Allan Poe that I ever leafed through. She let my sister and I stay up to watch Supernatural (1977) and all the American International, Hammer, RKO horror pictures that aired late at night. I remember enthusing about the films at school, often to the bemusement of my fellow pupils. I recall enjoying the RKOs and the American International Cormans, but not finding them as captivating or nearly as frightening as the Hammers.

The Hammers had the bloodcurdling James Bernard scores, which sounded as if the violins were being bowed with rib bones accompanied by brass sounds rigged up to foghorns. They had the evocative Eastman colourisation, dodgy, alcoholic men of the cloth, buxom tarts who were just asking to be gnashed in the jugular, cocky- sometimes decent- young lotharios, the dashing, electric blue-eyed Peter Cushing and of course Christopher Lee.

It was his perpetual appearance as Dracula that would stay with me: his fresh menace as he became newly transmogrified by blood stirred into his ashes; his hissing malevolence at men who attempted to protect their women; his ability to transform comely debutantes and reactionary hausfraus into wanton sirens; his athletic grace in his fluttering, full length, black red-lined cloak; and his unbridled howling agony when sunlight, water or the shadow/glint from a crucifix hindered his progress or halted his reigns of terror. Yet, he kept coming back long before Schwarzenegger in The Terminator series ever did.

Evidently, I was not the only youngster enthralled by the Dracula Lee: it explains the renaissance for the star in his many collaborations with Tim Burton and Peter Jackson in the last fifteen years; Gandalf had it going on in the Lord of the Rings series (2001-2004), but Saruman was properly badass, nobody could have opined "A great eye, lidless, wreathed in flame," quite like him. Even George Lucas got in on the action of the nascent, latter day Lee by including him in his Millennium Star Wars series (2002/5/8). How many octogenarian actors have had the honour of going sabre to sabre with none other than Lucas' Yoda?

As recently as last year I watched all the Christopher Lee Draculas again in preparation to review a theatre production in Colchester, which I was unfortunately unable to make. I still have those nights where a Lee Dracula is the only thing that will do. I have bonded with more than one romance upon the discovery that we had a mutual Hammer appreciation. And it wasn't only Lee's Dracula characterizations that held the attention; his performance as Duc de Richlieu in The Devil Rides Out (1968), a film increasingly daft with age, still demonstrates an actor treating camp material with a degree of respect.

His celluloid villainy was much sought after and justly rewarded with one of the most iconic Bond baddies, Scaramanga in The Man With the Golden Gun (1974); controversial because the source character was black, but mercifully Lee didn't "black up" on this occasion; it was still a period where, shall we say, more ethnically appropriate talents might be overlooked in favour of white actors in makeup- The Face of Fumanchu (1965). Even in Gremlins II (1990)- yes Gremlins II- he stood out, as a sinister scientist, Doctor Catheter of course, in which the director or budget missed an opportunity to have his character morph into a half man/half-gremlin. In The Wicker Man (1973), one of most self-respecting horror fans' all time favourite horrors, and one of the most unforgettable horrors ever crafted, he created an appropriately unforgettable villain, Lord Summerisle, laird of the fictional Summerisle. In the right hands he was bloody good.

It has been said by many actors that screen longevity has more to do with charm than talent, and if my brief encounter with Lee was anything to go by he had it in spades. Every year my love of horror seems to unearth another Lee film that I have missed, The City of the Dead aka Horror Hotel (1960), for example. If you cast an eye over Lee's filmography, he took barely a handful of years off once he had started making movies in 1948. The world record number of screen credits is held by an Indian actor Brahmanandam Kanneganti- over eight hundred. In the west, if you will, Christopher Lee died the daddy with over 276 screen appearances; eight decades worth of fans will issue RIPs on line in the coming days, which explains the 500,000 RIP tweets so far at the time of writing.

I would like to add one. RIP to an inarguable legend. Thank you for the shrieks.

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‘Clueless': Angelina Jolie, Reese Witherspoon and Gwyneth Paltrow Could Have Played Cher Horowitz in The 1995 Film

June 12, 2015, 4:59 am
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Classic 90s film ‘Clueless’ could have been much, much different, as it has been revealed that Reese Witherspoon, Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Paltrow were all up for the role of Cher Horowitz.

While the part eventually went to Alicia Silverstone, the film’s writer and director Amy Heckerling has told Vanity Fair that Gwyneth was originally in the frame to play the ditzy teen.

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Alicia Silverstone (centre) played Cher in 'Clueless'


However, the actress turned it down as she was working on "other things" at the time.

Amy also met with Reese, telling the magazine: “I met with Reese because everyone said, 'This girl’s amazing. She’s going to be huge’.”

But Reese’s role as Annette Hargrove in ‘Cruel Intentions’ stopped her from getting the part.

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Gwyneth Paltrow


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Reese Witherspoon


Amy also revealed that Angelina was put forward by her agent, but she was not interested in auditioning her.

“I was just looking at her tape. I remember an agent pitching her, and I’m going, 'No, no, no, this is exactly the opposite of what I need for this’,” she said.

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Angelina Jolie


The 1995 film went on to spawn a TV series, where Rachel Blanchard took over the role of Cher.



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