OHMYGOSSIP — Graham Norton says Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield “did nothing wrong” by “jumping” the queue to see Queen Elizabeth lying in state.
The chat show host, 59, revealed he was offered a ticket by a British minister friend to skip the huge line and view the monarch’s casket, but decided not to accept to avoid criticism and maintain the right “optics” to the public.
He spoke after ITV’s ‘This Morning’ hosts Holly, 41, and Phillip, 60, were accused of “skipping the queue” to see the Queen’s coffin and film a segment for their breakfast show at Westminster Hall, London.
Graham said during an appearance on Nihal Arthanayake’s BBC Radio 5 Live show on Monday (26.09.22): “Phil and Holly – the queue. So, as far as I’m concerned, they did nothing wrong. There was a two-tier system. You could queue jump!
“Now I got offered a queue jump ticket by a friend of mine. He’s an MP and he said, ‘Do you want to come?’
“I didn’t say yes because I thought if anybody sees me I’ll get it in the neck.”
Graham went on he wanted to keep the right “optics”, continuing: “So I suppose what Phil and Holly got wrong was they thought people wouldn’t care. I guess that that’s their crime.
“The actual queue jumping? They did nothing wrong. Absolutely nothing wrong – but foolish of them to not think that people would be annoyed.”
Holly and Phillip have been hit with floods of abuse online in the wake of claims they jumped the queue to see the Queen’s casket earlier this month, with an online petition campaigning for the pair to be fired from their ‘This Morning’ jobs.
The Mail on Sunday revealed the pair’s names were not on the accreditation list when they made their visit to see the Queen lying in state.
Holly and Phillip issued a statement insisting they did not skip the queue.
Footage inside Westminster Abbey appeared to show the duo walking along an area separate from the media box but ITV has said they did not join mourners in filing past the coffin.
An ITV spokeswoman told Mail Online: “This Morning had press accreditation and like other media, Phillip and Holly were escorted to work from the press gallery by government staff.
“They did not file past The Queen’s coffin… any allegations of improper behaviour are categorically untrue.”
Most mourners waited up to 16 hours to see the Queen’s coffin, including former footballer David Beckham, 47, who had a 13-hour wait after joining the line at 2am, and is said to have declined an offer from an MP to skip the line.

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Paralympian Ellie Simmonds says it means “everything” to compete in the new run of Strictly Come Dancing.
The 4ft athlete – and first person with a genetic form of dwarfism called achondroplasia to appear on the BBC ballroom show – made the declaration when it returned to screens on Friday night for its 20th series.
Five-time Paralympic gold medallist Ellie, 27, was paired with professional dancer Nikita Kuzmin, 24, and told host Tess Daly when asked about what it meant to her to be representing people with dwarfism on Strictly: “It means everything, to represent not just dwarfism but disability in general, for me to go out of my comfort zone and do something that I’ve never done before.
“Dancing is for all – yes, I’m going to have to adapt, I’m going to have to see what it’s like, but to be out there every Saturday night dancing… I’m so, so proud.”
Nikita said about his partner: “For me, the goal for this season is for Ellie to have the best time of her life.”
The pair spoke during the show’s pre-recorded launch episode, filmed at Elstree studios and aired on BBC One on Friday (23.09.22) at 7pm.
It saw each of the 15 new contestants matched with their pro dance partners, before the show returns on Saturday evening (24.09.22) at 6.45pm.
KISS FM DJ Tyler West was paired with Dianne Buswell, while actress Kym Marsh was matched with Graziano Di Prima.
Actor Will Mellor will dance with Nancy Xu; presenter Helen Skelton with Gorka Márquez, EastEnders actor James Bye with Amy Dowden; singer Fleur East with Vito Coppola; host Hamza Yassin with Jowita Przystal; singer Matt Goss with Nadiya Bychkova; actor Ellie Taylor with Johannes Radebe; CBBC’s Molly Rainford with Carlos Gu; Radio 2 host Richie Anderson with Giovanni Pernice; broadcaster Kaye Adams with Kai Widdrington; former England and Arsenal player Tony Adams with Katya Jones, and actor Jayde Adams with Karen Hauer.
The opening show also saw the return of Tess’ co-host Claudia Winkleman, along with judges Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas and Anton Du Beke.
The celebrities and professionals performed their first group number to finish the launch show, with John Legend also performing his new single ‘All She Wanna Do’.
The show will air live every Saturday throughout the autumn, with the final usually shown the last Saturday before Christmas.
Strictly Come Dancing continues tomorrow (24.09.22) on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Pete Wicks is concerned about “what people will think” after he rekindled his romance with Ella Wise.
22-year-old blonde beauty Ella has renewed her relationship with Pete, 33, and although she says she is “more mature than my age”, she is worried about what others think.
According to The Sun, she said: “He is 11 years older than me. It is quite a bit. It’s hard because in my head I am not 21, I feel like I am more mature than my age and I get that from people too.”
She also admitted that she is worried about how they will act around each other if the romance doesn’t work out, comparing it to Pete’s doomed romance with former pal Chloe Sims.
She said: “If it doesn’t work out, would we want to be friends again? Look at Pete and Chloe. They are not really friends or as close as what they were so there is that risk. Is it worth it?”
Meanwhile, Pete recently admitted he was “gutted” to have been medically withdrawn from ‘Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins’.
The star was left unconscious and suffering broken ribs after jumping from a helicopter with fellow recruit Ashley Cain, and was told to depart the programme because he needed a chest x-ray.
While he’s disappointed not to have gone further in the competition, he understands why his stint was cut short.
He said: “I was gutted actually. This is a bit of a thing for me, it’s like I’ve always wanted to do this show and the worst thing for me was to be taken out because that’s something that I can’t control.
“But being completely honest, they’re a hundred per cent right because I wouldn’t have been able to carry on with my broken ribs.
“To have been out so early, I was absolutely gutted because it’s a fail. And unfortunately now for me, I feel like I failed. It’s something that will f****** haunt me because I just don’t fail things.
” I don’t say I’m going to do something and don’t do it, so I was genuinely so hurt, gutted, disappointed, f***** off and angry at myself. And I still am, to be honest, even a year later. That was tough for me. I felt like I’d let a lot of people down, I felt like I’d let myself down.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — James Bye isn’t worried about the ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ curse.
The 38-year-old ‘EastEnders’ actor – who has been married to wife Victoria since 2012 – insists the show will not affect his marriage and his spouse actually encouraged him to take part in the series.
He told The Mirror: “It’s not really come up for us. It’s one of those things attached to the show but being a part of it, I genuinely don’t see any of that.
“I’m a massive family man, and both Victoria and I pride ourselves on putting our family first at all times so before I even contemplated it I wanted to speak to her first.”
And James and Victoria – who have children Edward, eight, Louis, six, and Hugo, three, together – are planning to renew their vows next year.
He said: “At the beginning of next year we are going to take the family out to where Victoria and I had our honeymoon and we are going to renew our vows on the beach in front of everybody.”
James has been partnered with professional dancer Amy Dowden on the show and admitted there is “added pressure” on his ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ stint because the last three of his ‘EastEnders’ co-stars competing on the show have made the final.
The star – who plays Martin Fowler on the BBC One soap – isn’t aiming to win the upcoming 20th series just yet, but admitted he has big shoes to fill on the dance floor after Rose Ayling-Ellis (Frankie Lewis) won last year’s ‘Strictly’, and Maisie Smith (Tiffany Butcher) and Emma Barton (Honey Mitchell) reached the final in the 18th and 17th series respectively.
Asked if he has his eye on winning the Glitterball trophy, he said: “At the moment, not really. I’m just in it to have as much fun as possible.
“I’d love to get to Blackpool, then you can say you really gave it a good go. There is also the added pressure that the last three people from EastEnders have been in the final!”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Jayde Adams says her ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ partnership with Karen Hauer is a “sisterhood”.
The 37-year-old comedian revealed the partnership brings back memories of dancing with her late sister, who died of a brain tumour in 2011.
She said: “I think my partnership with Karen is more about sisterhood. And if you’re in the dance world, which I was as a child, the sort of all-girl and all-male partnerships is quite commonplace.
“Obviously it’s a new thing in these dance shows, the one that’s in Australia and the one that’s in America, but I think the world is changing and to me it just doesn’t seem like anything that is abnormal to me. It seems like a completely natural thing.
“When I danced with my sister, I was the base and I used to lift her all the time and actually the last time I danced was actually with my sister… so this felt really natural for me.”
And, she is looking forward to lifting Karen during their dances.
She said: “I always thought it would be better if it was a woman because I would be able to lift her. I [don’t] want to offend the boys but they ain’t strong enough [to lift Jayne].”
Jayde and Karen are one of this year’s two same-sex couples, with last year’s winner Giovanni Pernice set to perform with radio presenter Richie Anderson.
Jayde previously revealed she is a huge fan of ‘Strictly’, saying: “Since I watched the first series in 2004, I feel like every step I’ve taken in my career over the last 11 years was to be on ‘Strictly’.
“I cannot begin to express the emotions I am feeling, this means so much to me and my family. I’ve always watched it, apart from a brief hiatus in 2011 as I was relentlessly gigging every weekend (to try and get on ‘Strictly’).
“‘I’ve been a massive fan of the show for years. I feel like I’m watching myself in a dream and I can’t believe I’ve manifested this.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Alex Scott says she “briefly turned to drink” due to online abuse.
The 37-year-old former footballer was devastated after receiving hate for her role on the BBC’s coverage of the Tokyo Olympics last year and admitted it took its toll.
Alex also revealed that criticism from Lord Digby Jones left her devastated, after he tweeted: “Enough. I can’t stand it any more! Alex Scott spoils a good presentational job on the BBC Olympics Team with her very noticeable inability to pronounce her ‘g’s at the end of a word. Competitors are NOT taking part, Alex, in the fencin, rowin, boxin, kayakin, weightliftin swimmin.”
She told The Times newspaper: “I can slip into dark places. And once I slip into dark places, I don’t stop.
“I loved being out at the Olympics, but afterwards I realised the mad pressure that I’d put on myself to take everything – the trolling, the racism, Lord Digby Jones.”
“I went into the Olympics knowing the scrutiny that I would be under once again from all the trolls. But then to open Twitter and see that from him, I was just like, ‘I’m not going to be silent any more. I’ve had enough.'”
Alex also revealed she received death threats online, after she was inaccurately named as the new host of BBC sports quiz show ‘A Question of Sport’, explaining: “That was at a level that I was scared for my life. I was scared to leave my house to even go to the shop.
“That’s the stage that we’d got to – that, oh my gosh, someone black might be replacing a national treasure could cause such hatred.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Gareth Malone has been unmasked on ‘The Masked Dancer’.
The 46-year-old choirmaster has become the latest celebrity to leave the ITV show, after he was sent home by judges Peter Crouch, Davina McCall, Oti Mabuse and Jonathan Ross.
Following his elimination, Gareth – who was revealed to have been under the Cactus mask – said: “I have had so much fun. The last time I danced I was seven and I danced with a broom in the school play.”
Davina, 54, asked Gareth about the challenge of being on the show, and learning from other people.
She said: “How hard was it being taught, after you being the teacher?”
Gareth replied: “It’s awful, isn’t it? I’ve put so many people through that, and you go, don’t worry, just go out and sing in front of 4,000 people, you’ll be fine … It’s awful.”
Despite his musical background, Gareth confessed to being out of his “comfort zone” on the show.
He said: “I’m never doing it again. I was sick with nerves. I’m so out of my comfort zone. I don’t know how to dance, I don’t have that thing.”
By contrast, Oti heaped praise on the choirmaster, observing that he brought a lot of “personality and life” to his performance.
The 32-year-old star – who is best known for appearing on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ – also explained that he was “brilliant to watch”, despite his nervousness.
She said: “The thing is you just perform – you really brought so much personality and life to the floor. It was brilliant to watch.”

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Will Mellor and Hamza Yassin have topped the ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ leaderboard.
The 46-year-old actor – who played Gaz Wilkinson in ‘Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps’ – impressed the judges with his Jive routine alongside his professional partner Nancy Xu.
Will danced to ‘Livin’ La Vida Loca’ by Ricky Martin, and he scored a total of 34 points out of a possible 40.
Hamza, on the other hand, performed a Foxtrot to ‘Islands In The Stream’ by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers.
The 32-year-old wildlife presenter and his professional partner Jowita Przystał wowed the judges with their footwork. They earned a score of 34 out of 40, putting them joint-top of the leaderboard alongside Will and Nancy.
By contrast, former England soccer captain Tony Adams and his partner Katya Jones failed to impress with their routine.
Katya created an Arsenal-themed Tango, to ‘Go West’ by Village People.
The ex-sportsman began the routine sat on top of a cannon, in reference to his former team – but Tony’s efforts underwhelmed the judging panel, with Craig Revel Horwood describing his performance as “stompy”.
Tony and Katya were ultimately awarded a meagre score of 15 out of 40, putting them at the bottom of the table.
Elsewhere, Matt Goss and his partner Nadiya Bychkov also failed to impress the judges.
The pop star and Nadiya performed a Quickstep to ‘Sir Duke’ by The Chris Walden Big Band.
However, he was only awarded 20 out of 40, placing him near the bottom of the ‘Strictly’ leaderboard.
The results from the opening weekend of dancing will all be carried over to next week.

Source: VacationHunter.Online

OHMYGOSSIP — Charlie Brooks is leaving ‘EastEnders’ 18 months after making a return.
The 41-year-old actress initially starred as Janine Butcher on the BBC One soap opera from 1999 until 2004, then again from 2008 until 2014 and made a comeback to the show in 2021 but will depart Albert Square once more in scenes to be aired in 2023.
She told The Sun on Sunday: “I was only ever due back to ‘EastEnders’ for a year, but when [exec producer] Chris Clenshaw presented me with his idea for the story, I couldn’t say no to staying a little longer. But as always with Janine, she probably should not outstay her welcome — for everyone’s sake.”
Bosses are said to be brining back Janine’s brother Ricky – played by Sid Owen – after a break of more than 10 years as part of the exit storyline, but have otherwise remained tight-lipped on how the “dramatic” scenes will play out.
A source added: “Bosses are staying tight-lipped about her dramatic exit, but massive stories are planned for the rest of the year and for 2023.”
Back in June 2021, former ‘, ‘I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here’ winner Charlie explained that it was “so good” to be back on the show and was looking forward to finding out what Janine – who famously pushed her husband Barry off a cliff back in 204 – had been up to in her time away.
She said: “I am beyond excited to be slipping back into Janine’s shoes and returning to the square. The time feels right and I can’t wait to find out what she’s been up to for the last seven years!”

Source: VacationHunter.Online