Coventry Telegraph - Pass the Remote

David Hasselhoff's A High Society Dude

2009-07-02T11:57:13Z

DAVID Hasselhoff introduced his daughters to English high society at London's Somerset House.

The Baywatch star attended the wedding reception-themed party to launch LIVING's summer TV schedule with Taylor Ann, aged 19, and Hayley Amber, aged 16, on either arm.

The Hoff, aged 56, is set to return to the channel for a set of all-new specials, in September showing him and his daughters experiencing English country life, trying everything from Morris dancing and rowing, to polo.

Nicola McClean was also at the party to promote new series Four Weddings, which begins on July 6 and sees brides assessing each other's nuptials in a bid to win a luxury honeymoon.

Hilary Duff's Abot To Become A Gossip Girl

2009-07-02T11:51:34Z

HILARY Duff is reportedly joining the cast of Gossip Girl.

The former Lizzie McGuire star will feature in the New York drama for several episodes as Olivia Burke, a movie star seeking to experience normal college life, EW.com reports.

Hilary's character will enrol at New York University, where Blair (LEIGHTON MEESTER), Dan (PENN BADGLEY) and Vanessa (JESSICA SZOHR) were also accepted, and Olivia will turn out to be Vanessa's roommate.

The 21-year-old actress and singer's first appearance in the show will air in the US on October 5.

Contract Competition For Beatles Fans

2009-07-02T09:18:46Z

THE Beatles' first contract was removed from lock and key to be shown off to fans who are being offered the chance to win the document.

A competition has been launched in which contestants pay to guess the value of the contract, with the winner keeping the highly prized document.

The fab four's prospective manager, Brian Epstein, offered to sign the band after being blown away watching them perform in Liverpool's Cavern Club.

John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr signed the contract in 1962.

The contract bears a mistake where Lennon wrote his name in the wrong part and it was also signed by some band members' parents, due to their young ages.

Epstein spotted the band in the Cavern in 1961 and the contract was signed the following year.

The foursome were catapulted up the charts on both sides of the Atlantic.

The contract has only changed hands a couple of times over the decades and was acquired for The Imagine Corporation at Christie's auction house.

It is currently insured for £500,000 but is regarded as an irreplaceable piece of musical heritage.

Competition entrants must pay £10 for the chance to estimate what the contract was valued at by a panel of experts if it had been put up for auction in April 2008 at a London auction house.

The winner, who will be announced in around six weeks time, has to match the panel's estimated value.

The contract is usually kept in a secure vault, but it is being closely guarded as it takes a tour of the UK to promote the competition.

The competition can be entered by visiting www.imagine.uk.com.

Oscar Winner Karl Malden Dies

2009-07-02T08:22:18Z

KARL Malden, the actor who won an Oscar for his role in A Streetcar Named Desire, has died aged 97, his family said.

Malden's family informed the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences of his death. The actor served as the academy's president from 1989-92.

He made his screen debut in the 1940 movie They Knew What They Wanted, and was praised for his role as Mitch in the 1951 classic A Streetcar Named Desire.

Comedy World Mourns Mollie Sugden

2009-07-02T08:10:12Z

COMEDY star actress Mollie Sugden has died in hospital after a long illness, aged 86.

The Yorkshire-born star of popular sitcom Are You Being Served? died in the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford yesterday afternoon.

Her twin sons, Robin and Simon Moore, were at her bedside, according to her agent Joan Reddin.

Ms Reddin began representing Sugden in the 1960s before she became famous with her role as Mrs Slocombe in Are You Being Served?

She said: "I represented her for more than 30 years and I was a very close friend as well.

"She had had a long illness and various problems but it was very quick in the end.

"Her twin boys were with her and she faded away. She was a lovely, lovely person and I never had any trouble with her. She was a great professional."

Mollie, who lived in Surrey, was married to fellow actor William Moore.

She never fully recovered from his death nine years ago, Ms Reddin said.

"They were very much in love," she said. "She started to go down when he died."

Best known for her comedy roles often playing battleaxes, Sugden also appeared as the fearsome Mrs Hutchinson in The Liver Birds.

But Ms Reddin said that although Are You Being Served? was her most famous show, Sugden was "too good" an actress not to do drama as well and her career spanned a variety of roles.

Born in Keighley, West Yorkshire, in July 1922, Sugden trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

Her early career was spent in repertory theatre, where in Swansea in 1956, she met Moore.

They married two years later, when she was 35 and he was 39. Their sons were born six years later.

Frank Thornton, who played Captain Peacock in Are You Being Served? told the BBC: "Mollie, of course, was an excellent comedian.

"If you can play comedy, you can play anything - you can play tragedy as well.

"And if you can only play tragedy, you can't play comedy.

"She was a jolly good actress."

Of their on-screen chemistry in the long-running BBC sitcom, he said: "You can't play comedy if you don't get on. It was a wonderful team."

The BBC's head of comedy Mark Freeland said: "It is with sadness that the BBC learns of Mollie Sugden's death.

"She will be remembered as a truly funny and instantly recognisable actress - a star of 1970s British comedy.

"She lit up the screens in both The Liver Birds and most famously, Are You Being Served?

"Her daftly enormous purple rinse and never-to-be-forgotten catchphrase are the stuff of comedy legend and she takes her place as one of TV's iconic funny women."

Did Michael Jackson Have A Secret Lover?

2009-07-02T08:02:18Z

MICHAEL Jackson had a secret long-term girlfriend and fell victim to a series of unscrupulous private physicians, his British former bodyguard claimed today.

Matt Fiddes, from Barnstaple, Devon, who was introduced to the pop star around 10 years ago by psychic Uri Geller, said there was "someone special" in Jackson's life, but refused to identify the mystery woman.

He told Sky News: "I'm not going to name who she is but I think the family were aware that there was someone special in his life who he loved and adored and had his ups and downs with.

"I don't know how long they've been a couple. I know she's been with him for some time in different capacities but...it's up to her if she wants it to come out or the family to speak about this very private information."

The 30-year-old martial arts expert blamed the singer's death last Thursday on doctors who had supplied him with unnecessary medication, claiming they had "blood on their hands".

He also described how he and Geller tried to hide drugs and syringes from Jackson.

Fiddes said: "I never witnessed him actually taking drugs but I knew they were there and I confiscated packages, and Uri did too.

"And Uri confiscated injection equipment from his room ... Uri would scream at Michael, you know, intensely, to stop doing this but we were getting pushed out.

"The doctor had such an influence over Michael that we felt our efforts were falling on deaf ears.

"As far as I'm concerned they have Michael's blood on their hands, they know what they've done and there's people out there who could have helped, could have stepped in but didn't do for financial reasons.

"We went to great efforts to keep the doctors away. But as soon as we said anything and it gets back to Michael, Michael would have a screaming fit that we were interfering with his private life, that he knew what he was doing and he was in denial."

Sir Cliff Richard Told To Knock Down Extension

2009-07-01T14:39:32Z

SIR Cliff Richard was ordered to knock down his £30,000 conservatory after his council decided it was too big and built without permission on a Green Belt site.

The 68-year-old singer must now demolish the extension to his home in Virginia Water, Surrey, which was only erected three years ago.

Runnymede Borough Council can take legal action if he does not comply with its request.

An enforcement notice to demolish the building was issued after Sir Cliff submitted a retrospective planning application for the 17ft by 13ft (5.2m by 4.2m) conservatory.

The council's planning committee said permission for the building should be refused because it increased the property's floor area by more than the 30 per cent threshold.

This represented a "disproportionate addition" to the original building and was considered to be a "harmful development" to the Green Belt site.

The singer, who is estimated to have a £40 million fortune and has sold more than 260 million records, is expected to appeal the decision.

His publicist, Bill Latham, said the matter was a "private issue" and would soon be resolved.

Sir Cliff was today at Wimbledon watching the tennis and unavailable for comment.

Michael Jackson's Secret Album

2009-07-01T14:33:18Z

WILL.I.AM has said he was working on a secret album with Michael Jackson before the legend's shocking death last week.

The Black-Eyed Peas star, who also worked with the King of Pop on his remastered 25th anniversary Thriller album, said the pair had worked on a new dance record.

"It was going to be out of this world," he told the Daily Mirror. "It's something Michael has never done before - a dance music album.

"I was very proud of it. But he was very protective and kept it under lock and key."

Matt Lucas In New Radio Comedy

2009-07-01T12:37:16Z

BBC Radio 2 listeners are set for some comedy treats as Matt Lucas, Jason Byrne and Claudia Winkleman head up shows on the network.

Little Britain star Matt Lucas is back on Radio 2 with a new comedy chat show, And The Winner Is, following his recent documentary on the network, Not Letting It Be.

To be broadcast later this year, And The Winner Is finds Matt and guests handing out the most prestigious awards of the year, The Lucases.

Each week Matt welcomes three funny guests on to the show to nominate people, places, songs, films and every other kind of thing for The Lucases, handed out to the best, worst, funniest, ugliest and scariest - as well at every other possible superlative - before Matt decides on the winner of the coveted award.

Matt says: "I'm looking forward to recording the shows. Radio 2 give me a nice chair to sit on and a glass of water, so I'm very happy."

Lucas is no stranger to radio comedy as he co-wrote and starred in Little Britain, which originated on BBC Radio 4 and won a Sony Silver award. Matt is once again re-united with his Little Britain radio producer, Ashley Blaker, who produces And The Winner Is.

Little Britain went on to be one of the most successful comedy series of all time, initially broadcasting on BBC Three, progressing to BBC Two, and finally arriving on BBC 1.

Matt is also set to return with his old chums Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer to BBC Two later this year for a brand new series of Shooting Stars.

Following on from his hit series last year, energetic Irish comic Jason Byrne returns to Radio 2 on July 23 with a new six-part second series of his fast-paced, lively stand-up comedy and sketch show - The Jason Byrne Show.

Having just completed a sell out at the Edinburgh Fringe, this new series sees Jason tackle themes including food, drink, travel and animals in his own lightning-quick improvisational style.

Lewis Carnie, Head of Programmes, Radio 2 and 6 Music, says: "I'm very excited about Radio 2's fantastic offering of comedy this summer with both new and returning series.

"Radio 2 has a rich history of comedy from both established and new stars and, with such a wonderfully talented bunch on the station, listeners will be in for a real treat."

Currently on air on Thursday evenings at 10.00pm, Claudia Winkleman hosts the second series of the topical celebrity-based panel show Hot Gossip.

Charlotte Church's Ex-Boyfriend Charged With Supplying Drugs

2009-07-01T07:20:50Z

SINGER Charlotte Church's former boyfriend Kyle Johnson was last night charged with supplying class A drugs.

Johnson, aged 24, was arrested after attending an east London police station by appointment earlier today.

He will appear Highgate Magistrates' Court today in connection with a £10 million haul of high-grade heroin found at a house in Forest Gate, east London.

Johnson, a barber, of Cowbridge Road West, Cardiff, enjoyed an 18-month relationship with Church, who sprang to fame as a child singer.

She is now with Welsh rugby star Gavin Henson and has two children.

Hollywood Send-Off For Charlie's Angels Star

2009-07-01T07:11:51Z

HOLLYWOOD said a final farewell to actress Farrah Fawcett at a private funeral in Los Angeles.

Fawcett's flower-covered coffin was met by her long-time partner Ryan O'Neal at the gates of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown LA.

O'Neal accompanied the casket on its short journey into the church, where he joined friends and family who had gathered for the Roman Catholic ceremony.

Among the mourners was Fawcett's former Charlie's Angels co-star Kate Jackson.

Her son Redmond - currently serving a conviction for drugs offences - was also thought to have attended under supervision.

Both he and his father Ryan were down to give readings during the service, which started with a recital of the James Joyce poem At That Hour.

Fawcett died in her hospital bed last Thursday with Ryan O'Neal at her side.

Born in Texas in 1947, the actress rose to fame in the 1970s through the highly successful Charlie's Angels. Fawcett played the role of Jill Munroe in the detective series, winning a People's Choice Award in the process.

Her fame was confirmed through the sales of posters depicting the actress in a one-piece red swimming costume, a picture which adorned the walls of many teenage boys' bedrooms in the late 1970s.

She also won female fans as a result of her hairstyle, with the "Fawcett do" a popular request at hairdressers of the time.

In September 2006 she began to suffer from exhaustion and after two weeks of tests it was confirmed she was suffering from anal cancer.

O'Neal, with whom she had a 17-year relationship, was a constant companion throughout her illness, escorting her to hospital for chemotherapy sessions.

Last month, the actor asked his long-time companion to marry him and she agreed.

After the funeral service a lone bagpiper headed the procession out of the church.

The coffin was taken away to Fawcett's final resting place.

Ryan O'Neal shook hands with security staff outside the church and waved to the waiting media before following the casket.

Chris Tarrant Goes Back To Children's TV

2009-07-01T06:55:54Z

FORMER Tiswas host Chris Tarrant is making a return to children's entertainment with a new TV show.

The eight-part series called Tarrant Lets The Kids Loose will probably feature less gunk and goo than Tiswas did 30 years ago.

The new show, commissioned by Watch, will give three to six-year-olds a go at fulfilling their ambitions in the adult world, whether it is running a photographic studio, a radio station or an ice-cream van.

The Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? host said of the new series: "They say never work with kids or animals.

"But you know what? They're wrong! Kids are funny, magical and always surprising.

"What parent hasn't told an anecdote about the funny things their children say?

"This show totally captures the spirit and the inherent comedy of children - it's the kind of family entertainment I love."

Tarrant Lets The Kids Loose begins filming this month and will hit screens in October.

Pocket Money Pay-Out For Little Miss Sunshine

2009-07-01T06:46:28Z

ABIGAIL Breslin has revealed that she gets 13 dollars (£7.80) a week pocket money - despite raking in the big bucks at the movies.

The 13-year-old American actress - who was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in indie hit Little Miss Sunshine - told People she gets a dollar for every year of her age.

"I get 13 dollars (a week) now, because I'm 13," she said.

Abigail's latest silver screen outing is weepy drama My Sister's Keeper, which co-stars Cameron Diaz.

The film is based on the best-selling book by Jodi Picoult and follows a girl who is seeking medical emancipation from her parents.

Andy Murray Proves Ratings Winner For Beeb

2009-06-30T14:16:49Z

ANDY Murray's nailbiting win at Wimbledon last night was seen by more than 12 million viewers.

BBC1 cleared its schedule to show the match uninterrupted, and extended coverage meant the Ten O'Clock News was put back more than 40 minutes.

The match drew well over twice the usual audience who would be expected to tune in to the news at that time, which is normally around 5 million.

At the moment he won match point against Stanislas Wawrinka in the five-set battle, the audience reached 12.6 million, with an average of 8.6 million watching during the match's duration.

More than half of UK TV viewers were watching BBC1 in the build-up to Murray's triumph, figures showed.

A BBC spokesman said: "BBC1 is where viewers come to enjoy great sporting moments of national importance. Last night's Murray match was one such occasion.

"From the outset it looked like the match was going to be very close so we took the decision to move it to BBC1 as soon as we could and to stay with it right to the end to ensure that the maximum number of people could enjoy this nail-biting game."

Steve Jones Is Unlucky In Love

2009-06-30T14:03:00Z

TV presenter Steve Jones has revealed that he was previously engaged.

The Welsh hunk, who doesn't normally speak out about his private life, told Closer magazine: "I was engaged once. I don't think many people know that.

"I was 22 years old and she was a wonderful girl, but things just didn't work out."

The T4 presenter added that his latest dates haven't been very successful either.

"A while ago one girl got mega drunk and was sick all over my couch", he said. "It's a nice couch too, and covering it in vomit just didn't work for me."