OHMYGOSSIP — Ash Atalla was nicknamed “IRA” when his family moved to England from Northern Ireland.
The Egyptian-born British TV producer, 51 – who uses a wheelchair after contracting polio as a child and has been behind hit shows including ‘The Office’, ‘The IT Crowd’, ‘Man Stroke Woman’ and ‘People Just Do Nothing’ –picked up a Northern Irish accent when he was moved to the province aged two due to his parents’ work as doctors.
He told The Observer: “I was born in Cairo and moved to Northern Ireland when I was two for my parents’ work – they’re both doctors.
“I’d open my mouth and this really manic Northern Irish accent would come out, which was even more incongruous for a little brown boy in a wheelchair.
“When my family moved to England, my nickname at school was ‘IRA’.”
Ash added about how his early career aspirations had nothing to do with television: “I was really interested in becoming a stockbroker. I’m a product of the ’80s, with the stock market booms and red striped shirts.
“I thought, ‘They’re just sitting down, shouting into a telephone. I could do that!’
“That’s what I trained to do, but when I got there, I wasn’t very good at it.
“I got fired or resigned – depending on who you ask.”
Ash went on about how he finally broke into making some of TV’s funniest shows after coming to hater his City job: “I can’t tell you that I grew up wanting to work in comedy. It’s something that occurred to me quite late.
“I got my midlife crisis out of the way when I was 23, a realisation that I was at the bottom of a ladder I didn’t want to climb.
“There’s something melancholy about trading in the City. As the new guy, I’d sit seven down from the man who’d been there 25 years.
“I thought, ‘I don’t want to be him.’”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Stephen Fry is convinced empathy will be built into artificial intelligence products.
The ‘Blackadder’ and ‘Fry and Laurie’ comic, 66, has compared the rise in the technology with the industrial revolution and said corporate-style writing is going to rely on AI – but insisted the need to treat humans equally will also be included in the tech’s make-up.
He told The Observer: “Any writing that is the equivalent of digging a canal in the 17th century – summations, precis of things, reports – will be done this way (with AI.)
“We progressed from steam shovels to JCBs, and nobody would call for a second to abandon these machines that do these backbreaking, laborious, repetitive, meaningless jobs.”
Stephen warned about his worries for humanity: “What worries me is that it’s taken us hundreds of years, through the age of reason and the Enlightenment and modern times to come to grips with the fact that all human beings should be treated equally.”
But he insisted about how such lessons will be included in future computer networks: “That sense will be built into our AI frameworks.”
Stephen also warned superpowers will handle the tech differently.
He said: “China and Russia have completely different ethical frameworks, and the idea that these realms (humanity and computing) can be kept separate… well, it’s a bit like saying, ‘If I pee into the Channel, it’ll never get to the Pacific.’
“Yes, you can put up firewalls, a bit like waves and dams, but things always get through.”
Stephen, who has starred in more than 60 TV shows, at least 50 films and written 17 books, is now on screen in the film ‘Treasure’ alongside ‘Girls’ creator Lena Dunham.
It sees him play Edek, a Polish Holocaust survivor, reluctantly turning to his homeland with his journalist daughter played by 38-year-old Lena.
Stephen said about taking the part: “Just occasionally, roles come along that ask for something else, and to have someone like Lena to work with – I fell in love with her straight away.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Stephen Merchant was banned from the High and Mighty clothes store after he slammed its extra-large products.
‘The Office’ co-creator, 49, who stands 6ft 7in tall, said the chain’s staff barred him as he had slammed its offerings in an interview with Time Out.
He revealed he found out about his ban after a member of the costume department on one of his shows who needed outfits for him visited the shop and told an assistant: “I’m buying these for an actor.”
Stephen was quoted in the Sunday Express saying: “The woman behind the counter said, ‘Which actor?’… ‘Is it him?’
“She pulled out a copy of the Time Out interview and said, ‘We’re not selling clothes to him.’”
Stephen also recently opened up about how he took three wallets on a night out in case he got mugged.
He carried two fakes to hand to thieves in London, but said his plan backfired when one mugger asked for his phone instead.
Stephen told US talk show host Seth Meyers: “They were walking away and I was like, ‘Do you want a wallet?’”
Among his other recent embarrassing revelations was a tale about how he thought a woman was coming onto him – but only wanted to use him as a “meeting point” for her and her friends on a night out in London.
He said in his latest stand-up special: “I was in Trafalgar Square at New Year. So I was watching the New Year fireworks.
“It was approaching midnight and a woman kind of was looking at me and I was like, ‘Hang on, here we go. Game on. This lady’s seen me on the telly. She wants a little piece of Stephen. She’s only human.’
“And she came up and she said, ‘Are you going to be here for a while?’
“And I said, ‘Yes, I am!’
“And she said, ‘Great, because my friends and I have arranged to meet back at you.’
“Because I’m 6ft 7in. I’m normally about a foot and a half taller than most people in any crowd. She said, ‘Don’t worry. You can still move around. We’ll see you wherever you are.’
“And yeah, by about five past midnight, a bunch of people were just gathered around me.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — ‘Emmerdale’ star Danny Miller has been left mind-blown after reaching more than 100 countries with his audio series with his young son.
The 33-year-old actor – who has young son Albert and daughter Edith with his wife Steph – teamed up with his radio presenter pal Nigel Clucas to record children’s tales as part of the series ‘Albert’s Bookshelf’, and he cannot believe how many listeners they’ve attracted across the globe.
He told the BBC in a heartwarming clip reading with his little boy: “We’ve got a sort of an app that allows us to see where people are downloading it, and some countries, if I’m absolutely honest, I haven’t even heard of.
“I think, last time I counted, was 119 countries.
“It’s kind of gone from recording a few books to being endless ideas of getting more education to the kids.”
He then asked Albert who is the better bedtime story reader, mummy or daddy, and his son replied: “Yeah.”
With some encouragement from his father, who told him to say “daddy”, his little boy smiled: “Daddy.”
Danny is best known for playing Aaron Dingle on the long-running ITV soap, whilst he won the 2021 series of ‘I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!’ in 2021.
He got the call to return to the Dales last year after leaving the soap.
He later told how he got the call about returning to ‘Emmerdale’ just after he and his spouse found out they were expecting Edith, who was born in August 2023.
He told the Daily Mirror: “When I got the call, we had just found out secretly we were expecting number two and I don’t know if its karma but I do believe everything happens for a reason. It sounds cringey but I feel like the stars were aligned.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Eamonn Holmes will reportedly tempted into the ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ house with a £250,000 offer.
The 64-year-old telly star is believed to be high on the list of potential signings for the next series of the ITV reality show and TV bosses are said to be planning to put together a lucrative deal in a bid to get him into the line-up.
A source told The Sun’s Bizarre column: “Celebrity Big Brother bookers are drawing up a wish list of contestants and Eamonn is on it. They would love for him to take part as he’d be such a popular housemate …
“The offer would be a meaty six-figure sum, around £250,000, to try and tempt him in. Eamonn has always been wanted for ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ but has never wanted to take part.”
Eamonn – who split from wife Ruth Langsford this year – has suffered a number of health problems recently and the report suggest ‘CBB’ bosses would be keen to assure the TV star he will be well taken care of during a stint on the show.
He is believed to have turned down a number of offers to take part in ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ with previous reports suggesting Eamonn rejected a massive £800,000 for a previous series.
A source previously told The Daily Star: “Eamonn has turned down a number of offers over the years. This one is the biggest so far at £800,000. But no amount of money could tempt him.
“He’s said it isn’t about the money … Eamonn told producers he absolutely loves the show and is a committed viewer, but definitely doesn’t want to be a housemate.”
The reality TV series initially aired on Channel 4 between 2001 and 2010 before later moving to Channel 5 which cancelled the series and the main ‘Big Brother’ show in 2018.
It was revived earlier this year on ITV with housemate including Louis Walsh and Sharon Osbourne with reality regular David Potts being crowned winner.

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Gemma Collins wants to lose weight for the sake of her future children.
The 43-year-old reality star has managed to accumulate a reported fortune of nearly £3 million since starting her career on television on ‘TOWIE’ more than a decade ago but now that she is engaged to Rami Hawash, 49, has decided to get in shape so that she can be the “best version” of herself should babies come along.
She told OK! Magazine: “I’ve gone from Gucci bags and living my best life down Bond Street to not giving a s**t*- my health is my wealth now. Nothing against overweight mums at all, but I want to run and play with my kid. I want to have as much energy for my child as possible and to be the best version of myself for my child. I don’t want to be an overweight mum.”
The ‘Diva Forever’ star has been open about her PCOS [polycystic ovaries syndrome] – a condition which causes difficulties in getting pregnant as a result of irregular ovulation – over the years and admitted that even though a recent checkup confirmed that all symptoms of the condition have now gone after taking up the diet plan, there is always a “struggle” in whatever she does.
She said: “I’ve always been that one that’s got the struggle to bloody get there! It’s the same with my fertility and I share it because so many people reach out who are going through the same thing. I don’t have PCOS anymore. The last time I went to get checked, all my PCOS symptoms had gone away.”
Gemma has taken up a diet plan with health coach Steve Bennett and admitted that she now feels more “educated” about her diet than ever before as she admitted that in the past she would end up “furious” when fad plans didn’t work.
She said: “Before, I was a bit ‘furious’ because everything I tried just wasn’t working. Now, I’m feeling much more relaxed and I love myself more than ever – I’m actually feeling real, wholesome and [have] love for my body. And the more you love your body, the more it’s going to love you back.
“I feel very educated about food and my body now. I don’t know what’s happened to me – I’ve become like a guru. Where has the GC gone? It’s like I’m from outer space.
“I’m never going to be stick-thin overnight and let’s be honest about it, you’ll never see me doing 20 star jumps or jumping jacks. I’ve got zero interest in all of that – I think my boobs would knock me out anyway. But I do walk my dog twice a day and I get my steps in. It’s not always about vigorous exercise.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Kym Marsh suffered from “very bad anxiety” when her father passed away.
The 48-year-old actress lost her dad David passed away in January at the age of 78 following a long battle with prostate cancer and recalled that the grief would “bite at [her] throat” and left her having anxiety attacks, although she has learned to “control” things in recent times.
She told The Sun newspaper: “When Dad passed away, I had a bad time and my anxiety was very bad,” she explains. “It was like it was biting at my throat the entire time. But I haven’t had an anxiety attack for a while now.
“I do struggle sometimes still, but I recognise it and I take time to deal with those feelings. I have learned to control it.
“I know when my anxiety is flaring up. I take myself away and meditate or just sit and be still.
“I think anxiety is within us all and you just have to learn how to cope with it and deal with it.”
The former Hear’Say singer left her long-running role as Michelle Connor on ITV’s ‘Coronation Street’ after more than a decade on the soap opera and went on to host ‘Morning Live’ for the BBC.
The ‘Waterloo Road’ star remembered that her father would arrive at the set and constantly tell her co-host Gethin Jones that she owed him a five pound note as a running joke and, shortly after he passed away, she found one in her car and buried it with him.
She said: “Every time Dad came on ‘Morning Live’, he would say to Gethin, ‘She’s still not given me that fiver’. It was a constant running joke. Shortly after Dad passed away, I randomly found a five pound note in my car. I don’t know if people believe in stuff like this but I don’t know how it got there. I put that in the coffin with Dad and I said, ‘There you go, Dad, I’ve given you your fiver now’. Whether you believe in it or not, it’s not wrong to take comfort from something.
“I found a fiver and I thought, ‘That’s my dad’. It gives you something to hold on to and it gives you hope, all those little reminders. Or sometimes I find myself in a moment and I smile to myself about a memory.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Noel Edmonds “feels sorry” for Mr Blobby.
The 75-year-old presenter featured alongside the bulbous pink figure covered in yellow spots on his TV series ‘Noel’s House Party’ in the 1990s and even though he is usually “too busy” to reflect on the heyday of his career, joked that he is still in touch with the fictional character.
Speaking on ITV’s ‘Good Morning Britain’, he said: “I’m too busy. I’m running the biggest online radio production company. In New Zealand, I have a farm of a thousand acres, I have a vineyard, and last week I found out our white wine is up for an award. I talk to Mr Blobby most days. He calls me; it has to be said, not the entertaining conversation. I feel sorry for him. He wants a station on my radio!”
Mr Blobby then crashed the set of the breakfast programme, and threw his arms around the former ‘Deal Or No Deal’ host, who exclaimed to hosts Susanna Reid and Ed Balls that he “had a feeling” that something like that was coming.
The former ‘I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!’ contestant moved to New Zealand in 2019 and launched his radio station over there but told natives of the country not to worry because he had no plans of taking his former sidekick over with him.
He told The Spin-Off: “Kiwis can rest easy, I’m not going to inflict myself upon this proud nation. I’m definitely not bringing Mr Blobby over. I’m here to behave, not to inflict Noel Edmonds on you. Seriously, Positivity Radio New Zealand is not a Noel vehicle. Yeah, I thought of it, I’m going to fund it for as long as I can, but it’s very much being driven by our Kiwi chums, and the pick-up has been astonishing.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Dan Walker tried to have a “conversation with viewers” when he announced the news of Queen Elizabeth’s death.
The 47-year-old journalist was presenting on Channel 5 when the news broke that the late monarch – who died in September 2022 at the age of 96 following a 70-year reign – had passed away, and he recalled having to be “super serious” but also down-to-earth with his approach.
He told Sorted magazine: “When I was at the BBC, now and again, you would go through what they call the obituary procedure: what you would do in the case of what they referred to as a Category 1 death. You need to be super serious, but you also have to have a conversation with your viewers. I don’t know if you ever told a member of your family that someone that you both love has passed away.
“That’s the conversation you must have. Virtually everybody watching that programme had not known life without the Queen.
“It did feel like we were losing a family member, somebody that we knew. On Channel 5, I said something like, ‘I’m going to tell you some breaking news now. I think you might want to sit down for this.’
“That’s certainly the way that I would want to hear it if I were on the other end of that TV screen. I just explained what was happening at Balmoral at the time, and I think the nation was prepared for it, but nothing gets you ready for the news that it’s actually happened and it’s official.”
The former ‘BBC Breakfast’ host has had a varied career in the media having reported on sports, current affairs and even competed in ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ but admitted that when he first started out, he “never expected” to get anywhere in the industry and initially planned to be a teacher.
He said: “I did A-levels and went on to do a degree in history. And then I did another degree in broadcast journalism.
“I was going to be a teacher, but I was turned down. I went into journalism instead and then got a job on local radio. From there, I started working my way up the greasy pole, or the ladder – however you want to look at it. I never really expected to get anywhere. I just thought this was a cool job. I get to go to football matches, be in a studio, read the news, and present programmes.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Craig Revel Horwood is gearing up to release an album.
The 59-year-old star is best known as a judge on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ alongside Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke, and Motsi Mabuse but announced on Monday (17.06.24) that he has recorded a covers collection titled ‘Revelations: Songs Boys Don’t Sing’.
He said: “I am thrilled to announce the release of my debut album! It’s a momentous occasion for me, and I can’t wait to share the songs I’ve carefully chosen.”
Away from the Latin and ballroom show, the TV star has enjoyed an illustrious career in West End theatre having directed and choreographed productions of hit shows such as ‘Sister Act’, and ‘West Side Story’ and will soon star as the Wicked Witch of the West in a touring production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s version of ‘The Wizard of Oz’.
He noted that each track on the album is one that is often associated with a vocalist and ahead of its October release, he will launch a cover of the Dame Shirley Bassey track ‘This Is My Life’.
He said: “Throughout my musical journey, I’ve had the privilege of performing as both a dancer and a singer in numerous musicals.
“However, this album holds a special place in my heart as I’ve had the opportunity to select songs that truly resonate with me.
“Each track on the album is traditionally associated with female singers, which presented a delightful challenge. “I embraced this opportunity to record these songs, knowing that it might be my only chance to give them my own interpretation.
“The album is a perfect blend of drama, pathos, romance, and a touch of high camp. I’ve poured my heart and soul into every note, hoping that you will love each and every song.”
“Thank you for joining me on this incredible musical journey. I can’t wait for you to experience the magic of my album!”

Source: VacationHunter.Online