Strictly Come Dancing 2022 Strictly Come Dancing season has started, and we’ve had a taste of the enormous talent on offer this year!  As usual, I will start with four of the celebrities, and hope to gradually cover them all over the course of the run up to the final in December. Kym Marsh Kym […]

Categories: Celebrities

Darius Danesh (1980 – 2022) “He couldn’t have been a nicer, warmer guest [to The Kumars at No. 42] with a great sense of self-deprecation.” ~ Sanjeev Bhaskar Do you remember Darius Danesh?  Who could forget his falsetto rendering of “Baby One More Time” in Popstars in 2001?  Sadly, we heard this week that he […]

Categories: Celebrities · Obituary

Olivia Newton-John (1948 – 2022) “People don’t want to hear that you’re nice, but that’s what  I am.  In fact, I’m pretty boring” ~ Olivia Newton-John Singer and Actress Olivia Newton-John died this week at the age of 73.  She made her mark on this world in several ways, not least in promoting health research, […]

Categories: Celebrities · Obituary

Eurovision Song Contest 2022 “I’m incredibly excited to make some friends, chat some music, and just take in every moment of this beautiful, wild bonkers thing.” – Sam Ryder Long-term readers of my blog will know how much Eurovision means to me!  And I have to declare last night’s Eurovision Song Contest the best ever […]

Categories: Celebrities · News · Space Travel

June Brown (1927 – 2022) “Ooh I say!” ~ Dot Cotton June Brown, and her alter ego, Dot Cotton, was a household name, even for those who didn’t watch EastEnders.  She died last week, at the age of 95.  Though it was announced that she left the soap in February 2020, for the viewers her […]

Categories: Celebrities · Obituary

Will Smith and Chris Rock The course of Will Smith’s life was altered at the 94th Academy Awards, an occasion which represented both the zenith and the nadir of his life and achievements, the consequences of which are yet to unravel.  For Chris Rock, the host whom he slapped in response to a joke about […]

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Jamal Edwards (1990 – 2022) ‘We all die. The goal isn’t to live forever. The goal is to create something that will’ ~ Jamal Edwards Music entrepreneur Jamal Edwards died last week, aged just 31.  He apparently suffered a heart attack after performing as a DJ the previous night.  His mother Brenda was with him […]

Categories: Celebrities · Obituary

Bamber Gascoigne “Your starter for ten… Fingers on the buzzers… I’ll have to hurry you…” The original quizmaster of University Challenge, Bamber Gascoigne, died last Tuesday, at the age of 87.  The quiz show began in 1962, and I was an avid viewer before I went to university (the questions were easier, then!) and in […]

Categories: Celebrities · Obituary

Ronnie Spector (1943 – 2022) “Ronnie lived her life with a twinkle in her eye, a spunky attitude, a wicked sense of humour and a smile on her face.  She was filled with love and gratitude. Her joyful sound, playful nature and magical presence will live on in all who knew, heard or saw her.” […]

Categories: Celebrities · Obituary

Sidney Poitier (1927 – 2022) “I was a pretty good actor and I believed in brotherhood. I hated racism and segregation. And I was a symbol against those things.” ~ Sidney Poitier The iconic actor Sidney Poitier died on Friday this week, at the age of 94.  It seems astonishing to think that in the […]

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