OHMYGOSSIP — Susanna Reid believes Piers Morgan has “toughened her up”.
The 53-year-old journalist presented ‘Good Morning Britain’ alongside Piers, 59, from 2014 until his abrupt exit in 2021 and she has since presented with a host of others but still has a very “personal” connection with her former co-star even though they didn’t always see eye-to-eye on air.
Speaking to the Daily Mirror newspaper, she said: “I am still friends with Piers.
“We were doing a story about potholes last week. I got a text from Piers saying, ‘You are currently filming in the car park next to my home in Sussex. I can tell you personally what the potholes are like.’ So he still watches and tells me what he thinks.
“And, look, we are personally still very connected. He played a massive part in our show’s success. I’ve got a huge amount to thank him for.
“He made me a better broadcaster.
“He toughened me up. I didn’t just go on air and spar with the guests, I sparred with Piers.”
The TV star has hosted the show since its inception and stressed she was looking to present the programme until ITV bosses “decide they don’t want [her] anymore”.
She said: “I’m a stick of rock with ‘Good Morning Britain’ running through me for ten years.
“I’ll be at ‘GMB’ until they decide they don’t want me anymore. I love it.
“Honestly, there is no better job in broadcasting. Every day, you turn up at the same time and finish at the same time.
“But what happens between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. is always different. It’s so dynamic, you feel like you have had a workout every morning.
“You can do anything once you’ve presented ‘Good Morning Britain’.”
Since Pier’s departure, Susanna has hosted the programme alongside ‘This Morning’ presenter Ben Shepard and money expert Martin Lewis.
Presently, she hosts the show on rotation with former ‘I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Here!’ contestant Richard Madeley and ex-Labour MP Ed Balls.
She said: “I love going to work every day because it’s never the same. And Richard and Ed bring such brilliant qualities to the programme.
“Ed knows everything about how the political system works, so he can explain the mechanisms, the intricacies of a world we just can see from the outside.
“And then, Richard has boundless enthusiasm. He’s just so interested in everything, just has such energy. And is a unique broadcaster, I think we would acknowledge. Viewers just love him. He’s a legend.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Dame Esther Rantzen doesn’t want to be “forced to live longer than [she] wants to”.
The 83-year-old TV presenter – who has stage four lung cancer – revealed she registered with the assisted dying company Dignitas in December 2023, and has campaigned to give people greater end-of-life choices in the UK – an issue that will be debated in Westminster later today (29.04.24).
Speaking to the Daily Express newspaper, she said: “I want people who disagree with it to come or to watch the debate so that they can hear all the arguments for and against.
“I hope they will take into account all of the arguments and bear in mind that we want to offer them the choice, but we feel they should offer us the choice too.
“If theft are healthcare professionals, no one is going to force them to bump me off.
“But on the other hand, I don’t want to be forced to live longer than I want to.”
Esther emphasised she was “fighting for her family” and other families who have to suffer watching a loved one “[beg] to have their life ended”.
She said: “It’s a very complicated issue and everyone’s case is a bit different.
“But at the moment, there are families who dread having to watch someone they love begging to have their life ended and not being able to help them.
“It’s dreadful. Those memories outlive happy ones, they act as a sort of barrier.
“I am fighting for my family and I believe I am probably fighting for a lot of other families.”
The former ‘That’s Life!’ host stressed it was critical medics working in assisted dying should know that legalising end-of-life care would not depreciate their profession.
She explained: “I don think that very often, one of their reason [for standing against it] is that they think it would replace palliative care and undermine what they do.
“We now have evidence from the countries that have legalised assisted dying, carefully regulated, that it has a positive effect on palliative care, which improves.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Cheryl Fergison secretly battled cancer almost a decade ago.
The 58-year-old actress – who is married to Yassim al-Jemoni, 39, but has 24-year-old son Alex with ex-husband Jamshed Saddiqi – was diagnosed with stage two womb cancer in 2015 and underwent a hysterectomy but kept the news to herself until now.
She told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “The time is right to talk about it. My family and I have been through a lot but we’re still here. Yes, there were some dark moments when I thought: ‘am I going to die?’ Am I going to leave my husband without a wife, my son without a mum? But I am strong and I’d knock those thoughts away. I was determined that it wasn’t going to beat me.”
Cheryl decided not to go public with her diagnosis, and only confided in some of her close friends including the likes of Dame Barbara Windsor, June Brown and Steve McFadden as well as Paul O’Grady and Julian Clary.
The former ‘EastEnders’ star – who played Heather Trott on the BBC One soap opera from 2007 until 2012 – was left in “absolute shock” at the diagnosis and noted that it “impacted” her as a woman because she had not long been married to Yassim but had any chance of having more children taken away from her.
She said: “I was in absolute shock; stunned to the core. I couldn’t believe the doctor was talking about me.
“I remember in the scanner having an earpiece in to listen to music and ‘Paradise’ by Coldplay was playing. I thought ‘this is about as far from paradise as it’s possible to be’.
“All I could think was ‘I have to get this thing out of me’ but it was very difficult. It impacted how I felt as a woman.
“I’d not long married Yassine and suddenly any thought of having a child together had been taken away.
“We may not have gone down that route, of course, but we’d lost the ability to choose. It brought on early menopause too; in terms of how I saw myself as a woman, it felt as if it had all come to an end. It was a horrendous time.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 and ‘Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland’ were amongst the big winners at the BAFTA Television Craft Awards.
The accolade presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) aims to reward “excellence” within the industry and the annual song competition received Entertainment Craft Team for Kojo Samuel, Michael Sharp and Dan Shipton and the Director: Multi-Camera gong for Nikki Parsons, Ollie Bartlett and Richard Valentine.
Meanwhile, the BBC documentary which centered on personal stories of conflict and peace 25 years on from The Troubles in Ireland also scooped two awards for Best Editing and Best Original Music: Factual.
Charlie Brooker and Bisha K Ali won the Writer Drama category and Stephan Pehrsson won for Photography and Lighting Fiction for ‘Black Mirror’ episode ‘Demon 79’.
Atli Örvarsson won Original Music: Fiction and Gavin Bocquet and Amanda Bernstein won Production Design for their work on ‘Silo’, the Apple+ series that focused on an underground culture set at some point in the future.
‘Slow Horses’ – which starred Gary Oldam as the boss of a dysfunctional team of MI5 agents -won Sound: Fiction, and Sam Williams collected a BAFTA for Editing: Fiction, for their work on the first episode of the show.
Director: Factual was won by Peter Beard and Bruce Fletcher for ‘Otto Baxter: Not a F***ing Horror Story’ and Peter Hoar won Director: Fiction for ‘The Last of Us’, whilst for the BAFTA Breakthrough, Jack Rooke collected the BAFTA for Writer: Comedy for Big Boys.

Full list of winners:

COSTUME DESIGN
‘The Great’ – Lionsgate+

DIRECTOR (FICTION)
Peter Hoar, ‘The Last of Us‘ – HBO/Sky Atlantic

EDITING (FICTION)
‘Slow Horses‘ (episode one) – Apple TV+

EMERGING TALENT (FICTION)
Kat Sadler (writer), ‘Such Brave Girls’ – BBC

MAKEUP AND HAIR DESIGN
‘The Long Shadow’ – ITV1

ORIGINAL MUSIC (FICTION)
‘Silo’ – Apple TV+

PHOTOGRAPHY AND LIGHTING (FICTION)
‘Demon 79 (Black Mirror)’ – Netflix

PRODUCTION DESIGN
‘Silo’ – Apple TV+

SCRIPTED CASTING
‘Three Little Birds’ ITVX

SOUND (FICTION)
‘Slow Horses’ – Apple TV+

WRITER (COMEDY)
Jack Rooke, ‘Big Boys’ – Channel 4

WRITER (DRAMA)
Charlie Brooker and Bisha K. Ali, ‘Demon 79 (Black Mirror)’ – Netflix

EMERGING TALENT (FACTUAL)
Fred Scott (director), ‘London Bridge: Facing Terror’ – Channel 4

ORIGINAL MUSIC (FACTUAL)
‘Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland’ – BBC

PHOTOGRAPHY (FACTUAL)

‘The Detectives: Taking Down an OCG’ – BBC

SOUND (FACTUAL)
‘The King and Queen Camilla’ – BBC

COMBINED
DIRECTOR (MULTI-CAMERA)
Nikki Parsons, Ollie Bartlett, and Richard Valentine, ‘Eurovision Song Contest 2023’ – BBC

ENTERTAINMENT CRAFT TEAM

‘Eurovision Song Contest 2023’ – BBC

SPECIAL, VISUAL AND GRAPHIC EFFECTS
‘The Witcher’ – Netflix

TITLES AND GRAPHIC IDENTITY
‘Wilderness’ – Amazon Prime Video

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — ‘Green Wing’ has been rebooted by Audible.
The hospital-based sitcom ran for two series from 2004 until 2007 on Channel 4 but now the online audiobook and podcast service has relaunched it as ‘Green Wing: Resuscitated’, with original cast members Stephen Mangan, Tamsin Greig, Julian Rhind-Tutt, and Olivia Colman reprising their roles.
The six-part series revisits old characters such as Dr Guy Secretan, played by Stephen Mangan, who is now a media sensation, balancing his TV and podcast appearances with his role as an anaesthetist at East Hampton Hospital.
Following his many near-death experiences, ‘Mac’ MacCartney played by Julian Rhind-Tutt, has now returned to work as a surgeon, while Caroline Todd (Tamsin Greig) is making waves overseas as a medical pioneer.
Meanwhile, Joanna Clore (Pippa Haywood) is now imprisoned following her killing spree but makes a comeback alongside the ensemble cast for the revival which is set 12 years on from the conclusion of the original series.
Created once again by Victoria Pile, and scripted by original writers including Robert Harley, James Henry, Oriane Messina and Fay Rusling, established fans and new listeners alike will be treated to more surreal twists and turns in the lives and loves of East Hampton’s staff.
Several of the show’s cast went on to incredible success in television and film, and Stephen reflected at the time he was appearing as a completely different character in ‘Episodes’ that the medical sitcom had “changed his life”.
He told The Guardian: “‘Green Wing’ changed my life. It was a revelation to have the actors so involved in developing the scripts, and I could really let rip. My character, Guy Secretan, was such an arrogant tosser that I got offered lots of tosser parts after that.
“Now I’m in ‘Episodes’ playing a much nicer guy and I’m being offered more nice guys.”
‘Green Wing: Resuscitated’ will be available exclusively on Audible from 29t April at www.audible.co.uk.
Audible membership may be required.

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Shirley Ballas has heaped praise onto King Charles and Catherine, Princess of Wales for announcing their cancer battles.
The ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ judge, 63, revealed yesterday (28.04.24) that she is currently waiting for the results of three biopsies taken from her left breast after a lumpy tissue was discovered, and has now applauded the royals after they went public with their cancer news.
Speaking to The Sun newspaper, she said: “I think it was very brave of Charles and Kate to come out and share their stories.
“Lovely Kate, sat on that little park bench in a little striped jumper. It’s a memory I will have for a long time, and I think it’s great for women.
“And King Charles, when he came out and shared his diagnosis. They are inspiring and will encourage others to get their health checked.”
The Princess of Wales revealed towards the end of March that she was undergoing “preventative” chemotherapy for cancer, and her father-inlaw King Charles began treatment for an undisclosed form of the disease in February.
After revealing her own cancer scare, the professional dancer admitted she feels “very emotional” as she awaits the results of her tests.
She previously said: “I feel very emotional. Every time the phone rings I think, ‘Oh, maybe they are my results’.”
Shirley also praised her fellow ‘Strictly’ star Amy Dowden – who also battled stage three breast cancer – for inspiring her to get a mammogram, and recalled finding out a lump had been discovered in her left breast.
She said: “My dear student and friend Amy said to me, ‘You must never miss a mammogram’, so when this particular invite came in I could have put it off until the summer when it is a bit quieter. But I’m glad I didn’t.
“I did it at a mobile NHS unit in a Sainsbury’s car park, and three days later they called me back to go into King’s College Hospital in Camberwell.
“I was shocked as I do self checks, and I’d had a self check with another nurse a few weeks before for something else and she didn’t feel anything. But the mammogram scanners can pick up small abnormalities.
“So I went to the hospital and the doctor said, ‘I don’t want to alarm you but we found something and we’re not sure what it is. We need to do a 3D mammogram, which is a more advanced machine.’
“After that they still weren’t happy after finding lumpy tissue and asked me to come back and do a biopsy. But I asked to do it straightaway because a woman’s mind can work overtime.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — ‘The Great British Bake Off’ will reportedly remain on Channel 4.
The culinary competition – which is hosted by 58-year-old Paul Hollywood, Dame Prue Leith, 84, Alison Hammond, 49, and 50-year-old Noel Fielding – is due to see its UK contract expire within months, which sparked fears a streaming platform could outbid Channel 4 for the programme.
But now, a TV insider has now reassured fans the series’ production company Love Productions will renew their deal with the network.
A source told The Sun newspaper: “Love Productions, which makes ‘Bake Off’, really wants to make the show as accessible as possible for the army of devotees who’ve loyally supported them for the past 14 years.
“So despite rumours of multi-million pound deals with streamers, they’ve decided to stick with Channel 4 where the whole nation can tune in to what’s now considered a national treasure.
“C4 and Love Productions are now hammering out the details, but they’re working on the basis it will stay put.”
The long-running series was first broadcast on BBC Two in 2010 and made television stars out of winners like John Waite and Nadiya Hussain but the format was sold to Channel 4 in 2016 as part of a £75m deal.
Channel 4 recently aired its spin-off ‘The Great Celebrity Bake Off: Stand Up To Cancer’, which saw the likes of TV presenter Gabby Logan, former ‘EastEnders’ actor Danny Dyer, singer Paloma Faith, former ‘Doctor Who’ star Jodie Whittaker, comedian Rhod Gilbert and ‘This Morning’ host Dermot O’Leary take to the tent to show off their baking skills.
Looking to the future, Paul revealed there was a chance pop superstar Taylor Swift could appear on the show for a “Hollywood edition” after her friend Blake Lively expressed giving the programme a go.
Speaking to Best Magazine, he said: “Blake really wants to do it. I mean, she really, really wants to do it and I think she was talking about getting in a couple of friends, and she mentioned Taylor Swift.
“I was like, ‘Listen, if you can get those guys into the tent, get them into the tent’. ‘Bake Off: The Hollywood Edition’.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Dannii Minogue thinks lesbians are underrepresented on television.
The 52-year-old pop star fronted the BBC Three reality show ‘I Kissed A Boy’ in 2023 – which followed a group of single gay men searching for love in Italy – and will return to screens with all-female spin-off ‘I Kissed a Girl’ on Saturday (04.05.24) and is hopeful that the series will help those who come from areas where a gay scene is not so prolific.
She told OK! Magazine: “The girls are fascinating because they haven’t really been represented so much on TV. When you live in London you are used to being exposed to so much, but in some parts of the country there is no gay bar, no scene, so where do you meet people?
“And then you’re thrown into this beautiful summer holiday in Italy.”
Upon the initial announcement of the series, the ‘All I Wanna Do’ singer admitted she was “thrilled” to have the chance to play matchmaker again and was keen to see if she could find even more “connections” with the new batch of contestants.
Dannii said: “After showing love truly is for everyone with ‘I Kissed a Boy, I am thrilled to have the chance to be Cupid again for girls in this second series.
“I’m so excited to see if we can find more connections, chemistry and hopefully love sealed with a kiss. Here come the girls!”
A synopsis for the upcoming take on the show said: “‘I Kissed a Girl’ will serve drama, smash stereotypes and promise more twists and turns than ever.”
And a source told The Sun about the upcoming series: “This must be the last spin on a dating show to come to fruition and many would argue it’s been long overdue.#
“ITV already have a ‘Love Island’ for middle-aged people coming up and BBC Three are just wrapping up ‘I Kissed a Boy’, which had been a successful same-sex dating show for men.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Sam Bailey’s son threatened to take his own life after he was diagnosed with autism.
The ‘X Factor’ winner, 46, has Brooke, 17, Tommy, 14, and nine-year-old Miley with husband Craig Pearson and revealed that after her son was diagnosed with the neurodevelopmental disorder, he endured a “difficult” transition from primary to secondary school and she ended up going to the doctors for advice after his mental health plummeted.
Speaking on GB News, she explained: “I knew the transition from primary school to secondary school was going to be difficult for him. And I think as parents we were kind of in denial that there was anything untoward that was different or anything and we were told that he would really struggle and to get a diagnosis. I actually went private to get his diagnosis and by doing that it was a quicker process, but after that diagnosis was the hard part because you have to kind of prove that he can’t be in a mainstream school.
“He just festered at home and put on weight. He was threatening to take his life. So it was a really, really tough time and I went to the doctors on my own and said to the doctors, I’m really concerned about my son. I said I’m really concerned about my son, because of how he’s been.”
The musical theatre actress claimed that her son was “turned away” by the GP and was left “absolutely baffled” when she was told to go to the National Autistic Society for help.
She said: “There needs to be autism outreach and they turned me away. I’ve got a letter to say that the GP turned my son away because he was feeling low and told us to go to the National Autistic Society. I was absolutely baffled by it.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Millie Gibson has insisted she could be on ‘Doctor Who’ for years to come.
The 19-year-old actress – who plays Ruby Sunday on the BBC’s hugely popular sci-fi series – has shrugged off speculation about her future alongside Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor after confirmation she will be back in the TARDIS for series 15 despite reports claiming she was only attached for the upcoming 14th season.
Speaking to Radio Times magazine, she said: “I know how it ends next season. But after that I can only guess.
“I might be here with a walking stick in a few decades.”
Currently, there has been no firm casting news on the 16th season, with the 14th set to air soon and the 15th in production.
However, Ncuti recently teased the possibility of him playing the Doctor in a third season as he confirmed he’s “not going anywhere”.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com, he said: “I’ll be around for a while. You’re not getting rid of me yet.”
There had been claims that Millie’s character Ruby may not be Ncuti’s companion in their second season together, and that she would only appear in a handful of episodes.
Hwoever, those reports have been dismissed and showrunner Russell T Davies has hinted she will have a big role to play.
He recently told SFX magazine: “Not leaving. Not at all. We were ordered for two years of a series off Disney, and we’re delivering two years, and the Ruby Sunday story literally spans those two years.
“We are planning [to] shoot the [season twi] finale in which Ruby has the most magnificent scenes, and Millie, it’s some of your most challenging material yet, isn’t it? It will all make sense once you see it play out.”
He described the speculation as “very unfortunate”, while admitting he doesn’t want to fuel the fire by responding to rumours.
However, he said: “You will see the love that we have for Millie and the extraordinary stories that Ruby’s about to go on over the next two years. I guarantee you that.
“That is a problem with shooting the second series while you’re still doing the first series.
“All sorts of problems can happen that way that we saw coming, but what do we do? Stop shooting? No. We’re making such a good show.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Princess Anne “wants to go on” ‘Strictly Come Dancing’.
That’s according to professional dancer Nadiya Bychkova, who claims the 73-year-old Princess Royal told her she watches the BBC Latin and ballroom programme and is up for an appearance on the series.
Nadiya told The Sun newspaper: “I met her at a ballet event.
“She is a ‘Strictly’ fan and she wants to go on the show – she told me.
“She did say that.”
Nadiya thinks Anne would be a “good” addition to this year’s celebrity cast.
She added: “I think she would be good – there’s a lot of personality there, isn’t there?”
Earlier this year, Queen Camilla told Nadiya’s fellow ‘Strictly’ pro dancer Johannes Radebe that she is “one of Strictly’s greatest fans”, and admitted she and King Charles regularly watch the show.
After being offered dancing lessons by Johannes, she replied: “I will be there. I will be there.
“I’ll come. Definitely.”
It wasn’t the first time Johannes – who was born in South Africa – had met Camilla.
He was invited to Buckingham Palace in London to be a part of King Charles’ first State Banquet as monarch, which was held in honour of South Africa’s President Ramaphosa in November 2022.
While meeting the king, Johannes sank to the floor to perform a theatrical curtsey.
Speaking to Hello! magazine, the dancer explained: “As I did it, I was thinking: ‘Johannes, what is wrong with you?’ It’s part of our culture as Africans to bow to an elder as a form of respect, but I don’t know what got into me to think this was a fitting way to greet the King.
“There was a gentle grin on his face as he picked me up with his eyes, and said: ‘Hello Johannes, welcome back to Buckingham Palace’.”
Johannes was also stunned to find out Camilla had voted for him to progress in ‘Strictly’.
He said: “It was the most surreal experience of my life.
“When Queen Camilla turned around and told me, ‘I voted for you guys – three times at Blackpool,’ I felt as if I’d won ‘Strictly’.
“She probably sits down with a cup of tea to watch the show on a Saturday night, just like everyone else.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Ben Elton would be up for making a ‘Blackadder’ play, but only if creator Richard Curtis is “interested”.
The 64-year-old comedian, who co-wrote the BBC sitcom, is keen to pen an “original play” based on the TV series, rather than adapt any of the iconic comedy’s episodes.
He told The Sun newspaper: “A ‘Blackadder’ play, if Richard was keen on it, I’d be interested.
“Not an adaptation of episodes, it would be an original play.
“When I wrote ‘Upstart Crow’ I did three series and three Christmas specials for TV, which was a load of writing, but I’m proud of the fact I then did an original play.
“If we were to do that with Adder it would be the same.”
‘Blackadder’ ran for four series in the 1980s, as well as three specials, including one that was broadcast on New Year’s Eve 1999.
Rowan Atkinson portrayed lead character and antihero Edmund Blackadder, and Sir Tony Robinson appeared as his dogsbody, Baldrick.
Ben admitted it would be “up to them” if any of the original cast – who include Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry – would like to take part in the play.
He added: “If they want to be in it, that’s up to them.
“But with ‘Blackadder’, there’s four figures who have a say in it: Me, Richard, Rowan and John Lloyd, who was the producer.
“So if anything happens, it’s down to us. Who knows if we could ever make it happen.”
In July 2021, Richard insisted he would’ve “died” if he had made any more ‘Blackadder’ series.
He said at the time: “The process – I would’ve died. Seriously, it was just too hard.
“Also by series four we were writing to match tropes that we had already done. That’s a very dangerous thing.
“I think we got out before it became a trope where we were imitating ourselves.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online