OHMYGOSSIP — ‘Coronation Street’ veteran Kevin Kennedy sank a bottle of vodka a day on his way to the set of the soap – before downing three bottles of wine at night and taking speed and cocaine at the peak of his drink and drugs abuse.
The actor, famed for playing Norman ‘Curly’ Watts on the ITV show from 1983 to 2003, fought a long battle with alcoholism but has now spoken about how he is celebrating 25 years clean.
He told the Daily Mirror in an interview printed on Friday (10.02.23): “The last time I had a drink will be 25 years ago in October.
“I haven’t thought much about it as it’s never the last drink I worry about, it’s the next one.
“That’s what I’m always concentrating on. But I’ll probably raise a cup of tea in salute, because tea is the answer to everything.”
The Mirror detailed his massive previous daily drink and drugs intake in the chat, and said Kevin turned his life around after he collapsed and was rushed to hospital in May 1998.
He credits ‘Coronation Street’ bosses with saving his life after they sent him to The Priory, after which he stopped drinking and taking drugs.
Kevin added: “It wasn’t the pressure of the job that made me do what I did, I did it because I liked it and liked it so much I got addicted and couldn’t stop it.
“But playing Curly was the perfect job for an addict, because when I performing I was someone else, and he was a lovely guy who everyone loved.
“To be honest, being Curly, it was a bit of a reprieve from being me.”
Kevin, who has daughters Katie May, 19, and Grace, 16, with his wife of 27 years Clare – also a recovering addict – is now starring as the opposite of his clean-living self by playing hedonistic drug-addicted club owner Dennis Dupree in the musical ‘Rock of Ages’, now on a UK farewell tour.
He said about the part: “He’s as extreme as I used to be – he’s very hedonistic and takes a vast amount of drugs.
“But although there is a lot of ‘cocaine’ on stage and I’ve always got a bottle in my hand, it doesn’t bother me or trigger me any more.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Joe Lycett is set to host a ‘TFI Friday’-style show on Channel 4.
The 34-year-old comic has recently made a name for himself tackling David Beckham for working in Qatar and Shell for its claims it is pursuing a green agenda, but is now said to have a series in the works that will lift elements from the Chris Evans-fronted 1990s hit.
The new live show will be co-produced by Rumpus Media and My Options Were Limited, and Joe said: “I’m absolutely psyched and naturally very nervous about hosting a weekly live show from Birmingham.
“It has been a dream of mine for many years and I look forward to some (controlled) late-night chaos.”
The show is due to start in the spring and creators say it will be “funny, silly and explicitly Joe Lycett”.
The Sun reported on Friday (10.02.23) the new series will have “more than a whiff” of ‘TFI Friday’.
It added the series will have a waterfront setting of the canals in Joe’s native Birmingham, and also like ‘TFI’ – filmed on the banks of the River Thames in London – it will be centred around celebrity guests and a live audience.
A TV source told the newspaper: “Channel 4 bosses were impressed with his ‘Big Pride Party’, which aired last year and earned him a National Comedy Award nomination.
“This feels like a continuation of that vibe and has more than a bit of a whiff of ‘TFI Friday’ about it.
“The difference here is that there’ll be more of a focus on ‘inclusion’ and as well as famous faces, Joe will welcome a few local heroes as well.”
Last summer, Chris Evans, 56, claimed he was bringing back ‘TFI Friday’, which ran from 1996 to 2000 before a brief return for a series in 2015, but suggested it would go online because there was no longer any “need” for it to have a home on television.
According to the Daily Mirror, he has now said doing “radio in the a.m.” in the form of his Virgin Radio breakfast show is his “limit” as “family time is everything” to him.
But Joe has spent his time packing his broadcasting scheduling.
Since he quit hosting BBC One’s ‘Great British Sewing Bee’ in 2021, Joe has been making shows for Channel 4, including ‘Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back’ and ‘Joe Lycett Vs the Oil Giant’ in which he tackled Shell’s green claims.

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — The current ‘Love Island’ series is expected to end on March 13th after an eight-week run.
It was thought the current season of the ITV2 dating show, which is the second-ever winter UK series, may only last six weeks after the first-ever winter run went on for six weeks in 2020, but show bosses are said to be “sticking” to the eight-week schedule they adopt for the summer versions.
A source told The Sun newspaper’s TV Biz column: “There was speculation that the current series might only run for six weeks as that was the format for the first Winter Love Island outing in 2020.
“By the same token, there was talk last year that the summer series could be extended as ratings were so impressive thanks to the likes of Ekin-Su and Davide.
“But bosses plan to stick to their usual eight-week schedule and crown their winners on March 13th.
“That gives the Islanders just four weeks to crack on and find love.”
Former ‘Love Island Australia’ star Jessie Wynter and farmer Will Young are currently odds-on to win this year’s series and the £50,000 prize.
Tanyel Revan was dumped from the island on Thursday night’s (09.02.23) episode, and she wants Ron Hall and Lana Jenkins to win the show.
She said: “I want them to win the show. I said to him when I was leaving, ‘If you let me down, that’s our friendship done.’
“I’m so happy they’re together. I feel like they’re the strongest couple and they have the most genuine feelings for each other. I hope he won’t let me down.”
‘Love Island’ airs at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX and can be seen in Ireland on Virgin Media Two and Virgin Media Player.

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Fred Sirieix has had his heart broken “many times”, but admits time has “healed everything” for him.
The French-born star, 50 – who lives with his fiance, who is known affectionately as “Fruitcake”, but has 18-year-old daughter Andrea as well as another child from a previous relationship – has seen hundreds of people try their luck on blind dates as the head waiter on Channel 4’s ‘First Dates’, but admitted that when it comes to his own romantic life, he has had to learn how to “get back up” after heartache.
Asked if he has ever been heartbroken, he said: “Oh, many times! But the good thing is, I always get back up! Time heals everything.”
The ‘Million Pound Menu’ star went on to add that a successful relationship is built on “trust and warmth”, and he believes Valentine’s Day is “all about the anticipation”.
He told new! magazine: “It takes two to tango. You have to work on it. It’s about trust and the warmth you feel for the other person, and whether you’re able to laugh and enjoy each other’s company.
“The going will always get tough, no matter how good your relationship is. I talk about this on my BBC Radio 4 show ‘A Life Through Food’. When I was writing the show, I got my partner to read it and said, ‘What do you think?’ She said, ‘My God, it’s up and down. It’s like love, like a yo-yo.’
“Valentine’s Day is all about the anticipation, excitement and preparing something that is going to make. the other person excited. You meet someone and it’s all exciting but as time goes on, it’s easy to let slip.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — ‘Coronation Street’ is basing its stalking storyline on real cases.
The soap has teamed up with anti-stalking charity the Suzy Lamplugh Trust as it runs its ongoing plot about barmaid Daisy Midgeley being hounded by Justin, after he became fixated on her after only one chance meeting at hospital during her cancer scare.
Saskia Garner from the group told the Daily Mirror in an interview printed on Friday (10.02.23): “We’ve given our insight from the experiences of the victims we speak to every day to shape the way the story has gone.
“It’s so important programmes like ‘Coronation Street’ highlight the impact of stalking.
“One in five women and one in 10 men experience stalking. Victims tell us it’s a crime of psychological terror. You’re not safe in your own home, on your phone – stalking infiltrates every aspect of a person’s life.”
Actress Charlotte Jordan, 27, who plays Daisy, said about her character’s plight: “She feels isolated and decides to take things into her own hands and it escalates very quickly. She’s not a violent person, but she punches Justin.”
Justin, played by Andrew Still, 29, has been seen sending Daisy flowers and chocolates and bombarding her with texts as well as cyberstalking her and turning up at a wedding fair she was attending.
His obsessiveness left Daisy terrified, but she was horrified when she found police could do nothing and the plot is set to get more dramatic in coming episodes.
Charlotte said about how her ordeal will worsen and lead to her character crumbling: “(Justin is) what is known as an intimacy-seeking stalker. He fully believes they’re in a relationship and that they’re in love and she starts to get extremely scared.
“She’s a confident character, but what you see is this guy take her power from her and destroy everything that is her. You’ll see her slowly crumble and get smaller and I don’t think she’ll ever be the same.”
Actor Andrew said about playing the stalker: “He has this delusional belief that they’re going to run off together. He’s laser-focused, I think he’ll go to whatever lengths he feels necessary.”
The Suzy Lamplugh Trust was founded in 1986 after the disappearance of estate agent Suzy Lamplugh on 28 July that year in Fulham, London, when she was aged 25.
She was officially declared dead, presumed murdered, in 1993, with evidence suggesting she may have been targeted by a stalker.

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — ‘Happy Valley’ will be taught as part of a university TV writing course.
The BBC One drama finished after three series over nine years on Sunday (05.02.23), with 7.5 million fans watching Sergeant Catherine Caywood and Tommy Lee Royce’s final showdown, and Sarah Lancashire tipped for acting awards for her portrayal of the grieving police officer.
Professor Ann Marie Di Mambro from Glasgow’s Caledonian University is now planning to use Sally Wainwright’s show in lectures for the MA in TV Fiction Writing course as she says it broke so many rules of television script writing.
She told the Daily Mirror on Friday (10.02.33): “It’s the perfect marriage of brilliant perfect casting. It’s so deeply, deeply emotional. It’s raw from start to finish.
“It goes against a lot of what we teach – that’s what is so wonderful about it. The penultimate episode ends with a phone call between two people (Tommy Lee Royce and son Ryan.)
“You tend to teach people not to over-write the dialogue. Phone calls can be quite dull.
“Don’t have scenes that are too long, but because it’s so unique and so original (it works.)
“I would imagine that it’s written from the heart and these are characters that the writer really believes in, who are so flawed.”
Prof Di Mambro added 58-year-old actress Sarah’s character of Sergeant Cawood is also mould-breaking as she plays an ageing single woman facing retirement.
‘Happy Valley’ writer Sally has been praised for setting the show’s finale around a kitchen table, where Catherine and Tommy have a war of words about her keeping the fact he had a son secret from him.
The escaped convict then sets himself on fire, with the final scene showing the police officer at her late daughter Becky’s grave getting a text saying he had died in hospital.

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Amy Childs wants Lauren Goodger to come back to ‘The Only Way is Essex’, admitting it would be “amazing” even if she just made a cameo appearance.
The 32-year-old reality star shot to fame as an original cast member on the ITVBe show in 2010 alongside Lauren, 36, and the pair both quit the series in 2012, but Amy returned in 2020 and she would now love to join forces with her former co-star again.
She told new! magazine: “Even if she did a cameo, it would be amazing, as she’s an OG. We go back a long way, me and Lauren. How amazing would it be if she came back on the show?”
Her comments come just weeks after the former ‘Dancing On Ice’ contestant admitted that would “never say never” to the idea of returning to the show that made her famous, and admitted she will “always be grateful” for the opportunities it has provided her with.
She said: “Is the door still open for ‘TOWIE’? Never say Never. ‘TOWIE’ is the show that opened so many doors for me. I will forever be grateful. So who knows, in the future I could go back.”
Lauren – who last appeared on ‘TOWIE’ as a guest in 2016 – is thought to be “in talks” with bosses about a possible comeback.
A source said: “She’s had chats with producers and while she hasn’t signed on thevdotted line yet, the door is definitely wide open for her to come back. Lauren would be the big star of the show if she was to return, and Amy Childs’ comeback proved a huge hit with viewers, so watch this space.
“While the cast always has fresh members to bring new drama every series, the originals always bring a lot of buzz and bosses know a returning star it’s a sure fire way to bring back any lapsed viewers and spice things up.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Former ‘Love Island’ star Zara Deniz Lackenby-Brown feels “disappointed” that Lana Jenkins reconciled with Ron Hall.
The actress and model was dumped from the island earlier this month, but after watching the action unfold in the villa since she left, the star fears Lana may have made the “wrong decision” by going back to Ron, after the makeup artist coupled up with Casey O’Gorman at the start of the week.
She said: “I am quite disappointed in Lana that she’s gone back to Ron. I was really proud of her when she picked Casey. I thought, ‘Yes, she’s remembered her worth, she’s gone with her head and her heart and she can at least try things with Casey.’
“But I think within a day, she’s just gone straight back to Ron. She’s allowed Ron to get into her head and I feel really bad for Casey.
“I think he had a lot to give and he really was focused on her and I do think she’s made the wrong decision, but we’ll have to see.”
Zara now hopes Ron is going to be “truthful and loyal” to Lana.
She added to RadioTimes.com: “We’ll see what Ron does, but I hope he’s truthful and loyal to Lana now.”
Casey hit out at Ron and Lana for being “disrespectful” after they started kissing in the villa just minutes after she told him she was no longer interested, and that her heart was with Ron instead.
He also blasted Lana as “muggy” and insisted a comment she made saying she could be his “wing woman” had then “rubbed salt into the wound”.
But since then, Casey has moved on with new bombshell Claudia Fogarty – the daughter of motorcycle legend Carl Fogarty – while Ron and Lana appear smitten with one another.
‘Love Island’ airs at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX and can be seen in Ireland on Virgin Media Two and Virgin Media Player.

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race UK’ star Cherry Valentine committed suicide, an inquest has heard.
The TV star – whose real name was George Ward – was found hanged at his home in Hornsey, north London, in September by his flatmate Kate.
A post-mortem report read: “[Kate] stated that he seemed normal but recently noticed that he had been sleeping late and getting up late.
“The subject was a successful drag queen, and [his friend] believes he had been struggling with his rise to fame after being on ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’.
“[Kate] also said [Ward]’s ex-partner had recently got engaged.
“[The friends] would regularly chat about their struggles, but [Kate] believed that Ward’s extravagant behaviour was a mask.
“[Ward] previously suffered from depression … this is something he has battled with.”
The hearing was told Kate attended a concert on September 18 and when she returned home, she found a pile of clothes blocking his bedroom door and a note urging her not to enter.
George – who fronted the BBC documentary ‘Gypsy Queen and Proud’ – was later declared dead at the scene.
Dr Peter Straker, the assistant coroner, recorded a verdict of suicide.
George’s family released a statement shortly after his death, admitting that their “lives will never be the same” again.
They said at the time: “As his family, we are still processing his death and our lives will never be the same.
“We understand how much he is loved and how many lives he has inspired and touched. All we ask is for your patience and your prayers in this time. We love you Georgie.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Ellie Spence and Jordan Odofin have been dumped from the ‘Love Island’ villa.
The 25-year-old beauty and Jordan, 28, have left the ITV dating show as part of a shock twist.
After her exit was confirmed, Ellie said: “I felt like I was just about to find my husband so I was sad to be leaving – but it was an amazing experience.”
Jordan also enjoyed his time in the ‘Love Island’ villa, despite his early exit from the show.
He said: “Similar to Ellie … I was trying to find a wife, but I enjoyed my time in the villa. All good things must come to an end.”
Ellie and Jordan found themselves in the bottom three alongside Samie Elishi and Tom Clare, and Olivia Hawkins and Kai Fagan. But they were ultimately sent home early from the show.
Meanwhile, Jordan previously claimed that he was looking to find his dream girl on the programme.
The HR adviser suggested that it was “the right time for [him] to settle down”.
He explained: “I’m looking to find a genuine connection with someone.
“Firstly, I’ve been busy and focused on my career and there have been lots of distractions with dating apps and meeting people on nights out. It feels like the right time for me to settle down.”
Similarly, Ellie suggested that she was “ready to find [her] husband”.
The TV star also admitted that her love life has been pretty uneventful over the last year.
She added: “I don’t know what happened – it’s just not been a great time for me.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online