OHMYGOSSIP — Zara McDermott is to present a new documentary series about the impact of stalking.
The former ‘Love Island’ star will be spending time with victims and following how they report their experiences to the police in a new programme that has been commissioned for BBC Three and BBC iPlayer.
Zara said: “I, like many others, know people who have been affected by stalking. I really want to witness the real impact of stalking on people’s lives as they deal with the stress, fear and process of reporting these crimes.”
The 27-year-old TV star, who has fronted a number of documentaries for the channel, continued: “I want to look at what can be done to support them and bring their stalkers to justice.”
Zara appeared on the popular BBC series ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ last year but her professional partner Graziano Di Prima was later axed from the show after allegations of misconduct relating to how he treated her during rehearsals.
She said at the time that she was reluctant to speak out because she was “scared about the public backlash” but acknowledged that there were videos of “particular incidents, which are incredibly distressing to watch”.
McDermott wrote on Instagram in July: “Reports have been made about my treatment on the show and there were witnesses to some events, as well as videos of particular incidents which are incredibly distressing to watch.
“I have wrestled with the fear of opening up – I was scared about public backlash, I was scared about my future, I was scared of victim shaming.
“But after a lot of conversations with those I love, I’ve gained the strength to face these fears, and when I was asked to speak to the BBC, I spoke candidly about my time on the show.
“The culture within our society makes it difficult for people to speak up, especially in a world where social media opinions and voices are so loud.
“This is something I’ve seen through working with countless women on my documentaries.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Chris McCausland will carry on “poking” Craig Revel Horwood on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’.
The 47-year-old comic has jokingly fired back at the notoriously harsh judge’s comments after his dances on the BBC show so far and is relishing the pair’s verbal sparring.
Speaking on spin-off ‘Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two’ on Tuesday (01.10.24), Chris said: “Do you know what, he’s a character isn’t he? I’ll poke him with a stick and see what I get out of him.”
The comedian explained how he felt that Craig’s comments after the pair’s dance on last weekend’s episode were “rubbish” but he and professional partner Dianne Buswell soon realised that he had a valid point.
McCausland recalled: “When he gave us that comment – fair play, I said, ‘Think of something original’. And he came back with this line about my fingers like bananas.
“I walked off and said to (Dianne), ‘Honestly, that was rubbish, my hands were like this on your back. He’s made that up just to get out of that!’ And she looked at the video and she went, ‘Yeah, your fingers are all over the place’. I’m like, ‘Alright, maybe he had a point.'”
Chris is the first blind contestant to take part in ‘Strictly’ and recently revealed that his 10-year-old daughter is terrified that he’ll fall off stage and “break a leg” while competing on the show.
In a column for the Daily Telegraph newspaper, he wrote: “I showed my 10-year-old daughter a clip of the show and asked her if I should do it.’No, Daddy,’ she said.’You’ll fall off the stage and break your leg.’
“She’s a joker at heart, but she’s got a point. Not quite the ringing endorsement other celebrities get. But I’ve checked and there is no stage so the joke’s on her …”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Will Best says that the tasks have “gone up a notch” on the new series of ‘Big Brother’.
The reality show returned on ITV last year and Will, who is back as host alongside AJ Odudu for the latest run of the show that begins on Sunday (06.10.24) , claims that the production team have “raised the bar” in terms of the tasks that the housemates will have to complete.
Will told The Sun: “I’m excited about the tasks, I think the tasks this year, maybe some learning – not learning as that makes it sound like there were things that could have been better – as the tasks were phenomenal last series.
“But I’ve been speaking to a few members of the team and I think they’ve raised the bar even further this series.
“I think the tasks have been taken up a notch.”
Will explained that he is hoping that the new tasks “generate a bit of conflict” between housemates.
He said: “In previous series, I liked some of the simple ones. I liked it when they sat in boxes and they just had to sit in a box.
“The simplicity of that but it worked really well. I liked Ignore the Obvious, when they were bringing external things into the house and they had to ignore it.
“And ones that helped generate a bit of conflict, that were challenging and played with the dynamics in the house, as well as being visually amusing.”
Will is excited about meeting the housemates for the latest series as they bring a “unique feel” to every series of the show.
He said: “Meeting the new housemates and seeing if they will be as good as the last ones and seeing what unique flavour they’re going to bring. Every series of Big Brother has such a unique feel because the nature of the show and the nature of the social experiment just means that the alchemy of those 15 or 16, it’s their interactions together.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Lorraine Kelly has said that appearing on ‘The Masked Singer’ was the highlight of her 40-year television career.
The 64-year-old presenter took part in the ITV singing competition earlier this year and performed pop hits like Kylie Minogue’s ‘Padam Padam’ and ‘Don’t Stop Moving’ by S Club 7 and can’t wait to share the memories with her baby granddaughter Billie once she grows up.
Lorraine is quoted by The Sun newspaper’s TVBiz column as saying: “Appearing as an owl on ‘The Masked Singer’ was one of the most enjoyable and happiest of experiences and I can’t wait to show Billie when she is older.”
The broadcaster also described her BAFTA Special Award – which she received earlier this year for her contribution to TV – as another treasured moment.
Lorraine added: “The Bafta award was, of course, another highlight.”
Despite her singing stint, Lorraine – who hosts her eponymous ITV talk show – has no plans to move away from live morning television despite presenting various breakfast programmes for the channel over the years.
She said: “I have never had a career plan and I still don’t, I’ve just worked hard and I’ve been lucky.
“I love what I do and I have a wonderful production team. You never know what the future holds but I found my niche – live morning TV suits me.”
Previously, Lorraine admitted that she doesn’t think she was “wonderful” on ‘The Masked Singer’ because she had “never sung in public” before signing up for the show.
Speaking on ITV’s ‘This Morning, she said: “I wasn’t wonderful because I’ve never sung in public before but the joy is that you can’t see anything when that head goes on. I couldn’t see the audience, I didn’t have to do anything, I was just worried about learning the lines.
“I’d never done it before and where could you get the opportunity to sing in front of an audience and to have such a lot of fun? There is not enough silliness in the world! It was just a joy to do, it is just a joyous show.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — ‘EastEnders’ has cast Laura Doddington as Teddy Mitchell’s ex-wife Nicola.
The ‘Doctors’ actress – who has also previously appeared in ‘Holby’ and ‘The Midwich Cuckoos’ – is making her way to Albert Square in a “complex” new role.
She said: “I still can’t believe I’ve joined ‘EastEnders’ – I keep pinching myself!
“I grew up watching the show, so the first time I filmed in The Vic, I was like a kid at Christmas to be in such an iconic place with such a brilliant cast and crew.
“Nicola is a complex woman who comes in like the Tasmanian Devil! She’s strong and completely unapologetic about who she is.
“I’ve been so lucky to have my Mitchell boys, Roland, Elijah and Lewis, as they’ve taken me under their wing, and we feel like a family already. I’m loving every second so far.”
Laura has already started filming on the set of the iconic BBC soap, with her scenes set to air in late autumn.
Teddy’s (Roland Manookian) former flame turns up uninvited before quickly introducing herself to the rest of the Mitchells as she tries to build bridges with her sons Harry and Barney.
Her ex isn’t impressed to have Nicola in the area, but she is determined to stand her ground.
‘EastEnders’ executive producer Chris Clenshaw described Nicola as an embodiment of the “Mitchell women” that have come before her.
He added: “Like all the great Mitchell women, Nicola is feisty, strong and loves her family.
“She and Teddy share a very complicated history, which will be fun to explore, as will her relationships with her two sons.
“We’re delighted to welcome the fantastic Laura Doddington to EastEnders to bring Nicola to life.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Shirley Ballas hopes “everyone can move on” from the ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ bullying scandal.
The head judge of the BBC One Latin and ballroom show has expressed her support for the outcomes of the BBC’s recent investigation and backed the way producers have handled issues in the past.
‘Strictly’ was rocked by alleged misconduct claims, with Graziano Di Prima dropped from the show after allegedly being violent towards Zara McDermott, while Amanda Abbington and others have complained about Giovanni Pernice’s teaching methods.
Commenting on the BBC’s report at a book event on Tuesday (01.10.24), Shirley said: “I don’t condone bullying I’ve been through it myself.
“So if things aren’t right or need addressing, I feel for the person that wants them addressed. And I think that’s a big, important part that everybody gets to say their thing. But now the investigation is over and everybody can move on.”
She added: “The eight years I’ve been on the show, it’s been great safeguarding. I’ve always felt taken care of when the bullying got really bad.”
This week, the BBC said that it has taken the claims “very seriously”, although just six of the 17 allegations made against the Giovanni have actually been upheld.
In a statement, the broadcaster said: “We have assessed the complaints and we have upheld some, but not all, of the complaints made.
“We want to apologise to Amanda Abbington and to thank her for coming forward and taking part. We know this would not have been an easy thing to do.”
The report found that some of the language used by Giovanni towards Amanda could be “belittling” and agreed with the ‘Mr. Selfridge’ actress that his feedback was, at times, “overly negative”and that he had used profanity during rehearsals.
The report noted after reviewing several hours of rehearsal footage as part of an official investigation that there were two moments of “inappropriate behaviour of sexual banter in the workplace”, which were found to simply have been “made and received as jokes” between the pair.
Amanda’s complaint that he sent her a video on WhatsApp which she deemed to be inappropriate was also not upheld.

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Phillip Schofield says he was “fired” from ITV for “someone else’s crime”.
The former daytime host, 62, is making a dramatic TV comeback fronting his Channel 5 ‘Cast Away’ show after he stepped down from presenting ITV’s ‘This Morning’ in May 2023 in the wake of huge publicity over an affair he had with a junior colleague.
He has now claimed he didn’t resign from the show, and says he was sacked over a separate wave of negative publicity over the conviction of his paedophile brother Timothy, 54, who was sentenced to 12 months in jail in April 2023 of 11 sexual offences involving a child between October 2016 and October 2019 – including two of sexual activity with a child.
Phillip said on the final episode of his desert island series about how he flew into a rage when his agent called him to say he was being let go from ITV: “My phone rang and I picked it up: ‘Mate are you somewhere quiet?’ – which is never a good sign.”
He added his agent told him: “Erm, I’ve got a bit of a shock. I’m afraid you’ve been let go from ‘This Morning’.
“That’s it, it’s done. You’re not going back on Monday.”
Phillip said he asked: “What? Because of what?”, as his agent replied: “I think it’s the publicity mate.”
The TV host went on: “(I told my agent) that’s got nothing to do with me… that has nothing to do with me. Why would I be sacked for something that somebody else did?”
He said: “I’ve just been fired. Because of him. Because I was becoming more of a story than the programme. It was better for the show, better for the channel.
“And I agreed to say that I’d resigned because it would be neater for everybody.
“I was always open and honest with everyone at work about what was happening with my brother. I was fired for the bad publicity. For someone else’s crime.
“And the thing is, about a week later, I blew my own wheels off with everything else, because I thought the only way to even begin to put this right for everybody is to do a full mea culpa.
“I came clean about my affair. What people don’t realise is, I wasn’t fired from ‘This Morning’ when I admitted lying. It was before. Because of someone I used to call brother.
“But that is my last story, looking back.”
An ITV source has denied Phillip’s claims he was fired over his brothers crimes, with a source telling the Daily Mirror: “Phillip’s new comments are simply untrue… we stood by him through his brother’s court case and he then stepped away when things became too much.
“There was a lot going on and some relationships on the programme had become untenable as was reported at the time.
“He then admitted himself he had been lying about an affair and he resigned from ITV altogether.
“We didn’t sack him, he lied to us and then he resigned, there is not much else to say and we as a network just want to move on.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Benedict Cumberbatch could be set for a comeback as Sherlock Holmes.
The actor 48, starred as the sleuth in 13 episodes of ‘Sherlock’ alongside Martin Freeman, 53, who played his sidekick Doctor John Watson, from 2010 to 2017 – and the producer of the reimaginings of Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic detective tales has said it may soon return to the small screen if all the original stars can be persuaded to sign up.
Sue Vertue, who produced the show, said on the blue carpet at the Amazon Prime Video Trailblazers event in London: “We love that show and there is a future for it. One day. Maybe. If everyone wants to do it.
“I’ve still got the set in storage somewhere, which is probably rotten, to be honest with you.
“It’s just getting everybody aligned – it’s getting the actors to want to do it.”
‘Sherlock’ co-creator and star Mark Gatiss, 57, spoke earlier this year about how he tried to get a movie version of the show made.
He added to Deadline: “We’d like to make a film but trying to get everyone together is very difficult.”
Benedict was last seen on screen in ‘Sherlock’ in a final mystery alongside Martin called ‘The Final Problem’.
Mark created the show alongside ‘Doctor Who’ showrunner Steve Moffatt, 62, with Sue running ‘Sherlock’ production company Hartswood Films, which recently sold to ITV Studios.
Sue added she was keen to find a production partner because “it was getting a bit lonely out there” and “having some mates” was important to the future of her company.
The firm recently produced the Hugh Bonneville and Karen Gillan comedy ‘Douglas is Cancelled’ for ITV and it makes ‘The Devil’s Hour’ for Amazon Prime Video.

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Ian Hislop has thanked fans for their concern after he was caught up in a suspected taxi ride shooting.
The Private Eye editor and ‘Have I Got News For You’ panellist, 64, was in the back of a black cab in central London on Tuesday (01.10.24) morning when his cab driver said a bullet had struck and shattered the rear window of the vehicle.
No-one was injured in the incident on Dean Street in Soho at around 10am, and it has now emerged that after reviewing CCTV footage and forensically examining the taxi, police have concluded there is “no evidence of a firearms discharge at this time”.
Father-of-two Ian said in a statement issued on Wednesday (03.10.24) after the officers’ findings he wanted to “thank everyone for their concern”, adding it was “greatly appreciated”.
He said: “The police investigating the incident in the taxi have now advised me that they have completed their forensic tests, have found no evidence of a firearm discharge and will be concentrating their investigations on indications that a mechanical fault caused the window to shatter.
“Thanks again to all concerned for their support and concern.”
The investigation into the “shooting” incident continues, but the Metropolitan Police said it is thought the cab window simply shattered due to a mechanical failure.
A spokesperson for the force said: “We await further tests and have informed the driver and passenger.”
Ian has been the editor of satirical magazine Private Eye since 1986 and is renowned as one of the most sued men in British legal history.
A witness told how Ian ended up “shaking” after the taxi incident.
The taxi driver told detectives the car was at a standstill in traffic when he heard something striking the window and police conducted a search of the area near the Private Eye offices in Soho.
They closed roads and reviewed CCTV footage as part of the investigation.
One onlooker told Mail Online about Ian after the incident on Dean Street: “He was shaking. When you’re a political journalist like him, you’ve got to be careful.”
Scotland Yard’s full statement on their investigation said: “Urgent CCTV and forensic examinations have been conducted. While enquiries are ongoing, police have found no evidence of a firearms discharge.
“Initial indications suggest a mechanical fault might have caused the window to shatter. We await further tests.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online