What really happened to the Desperate Housewives: From an explosive photoshoot row to 'racism' claims and the 'difficult' star left dating her cat... ANTONIA HOYLE reveals fallout after the show - and who wants a reunion
The female stars became household names. Their larger-than-life characters skewered our own aspirations and foibles, whether we liked to admit it or not, yet the show never took itself too seriously. Which is perhaps why the series, now streaming on Disney, has become an unexpected hit with Gen Z, with over two billion views of the #desperatehousewives hashtag on TikTok.
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Daily Mirror
38 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
'I saw real Bonnie Blue behind closed doors - there's one dark truth people don't see'
As a new Channel 4 documentary delves into the shocking real world of Bonnie Blue, mirror writer Ellie Fry argues that the viral adult star's dark influence over young men and women is painfully ignored Sat in a cosy cinema room packed full of press, Bonnie Blue, real name Tia Billinger, seems to be in her element. As her famous face and bright blonde curls pop up on the big screen, us viewers have no idea what's in store as we sit down to watch one of the biggest adult stars in the world appear in a brand new Channel 4 documentary, which promises to deliver full access to the real life of Bonnie Blue. But sitting there alongside her "proud" mum, other family members and small team, Bonnie knows all too well that the extreme sex empire she's painstakingly crafted is about to become even more mainstream, as the broadcaster has spared no blushes in its fly-on-the-wall hour-long show, titled "1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story". Her life behind the scenes and the inner workings of her multi-million pound businesss have been shrouded in mystery until now. But one thing Bonnie's always been desperate to promote are her extreme sex challenges. The star's troubling social media strategy, where she posts aggressively across platforms like Instagram and TikTok, means that everyone - including young girls and boys - can easily stumble across a glimpse of her explicit content, where she boasts about sleeping with married men and being "helpless" as men "take her". Sadly, Channel 4's deep dive does little to hold Bonnie accountable for the undeniable responsibilities she has as a world famous adult star promoting potentially dangerous sex stunts on social media. Our online landscape is already teeming with violent porn and unhealthy perceptions of sex, and in this bleak attention economy of viral videos and views, it seems as though there's no limit to how far Bonnie will push herself. Chillingly, the star's whole business model centres around sleeping with 'normal' men in amateur videos. What struck me watching the film is the horrifying juxtaposition of going to such extreme, unrealistic measures with everyday members of the public. Bonnie positions herself as somewhat of a saviour - relishing in giving the average man a chance to sleep with a porn star, or "teaching barely legal" virgins how to perform in the bedroom. She says in the doc: "I found my purpose in porn. I found the niche I want to focus on. And it's not just because I'm obsessed with 18-year-olds, it was such a bigger picture in terms of teaching them how to have sex; watching their face light up as they lost their virginity. I really love that." But while these gritty, 'homemade' scenes may seem real - and earn Bonnie millions of pounds - the relatability ends at the amateurs involved. The star's extreme stunts - from sleeping with 1,057 men in a day and planning to cage herself in a glass box in a sex 'petting zoo' - are merely perpetuating dangerous myths about what women need to do for their partners - and what men should expect in the bedroom. In a bid to brush away her critics, who have questioned the ethics and power dynamic in her content, Bonnie says that she talks about consent until she's blue in the face, insisting that every participant has to sign a consent form and show ID before taking part. But I can't help but notice her thirst for control over the participants she chooses - notably people who are not in the porn industry, or have never filmed such extreme content before - and wonder where that stems from. It seems as though she deliberately profits from the vulnerability and innocence of the young men and women who agree to appear in her films. And this connection to the everyday public is exactly where that danger lies - it feels so within reach, despite being so extreme. The star's ex husband Oliver Davidson, who appears fleetingly in the film, explains her strategy perfectly. "She really connects with the fans," he says. "Most people, if they do porn, they seem out of reach. You're never going to meet them. You're never going to be able to film with them. Whereas Bonnie puts a location online, and then obviously her fans can actually film with her. It's like a defining moment in porn, where she's completely changed the game." But the normalisation of such severe porn will soon seep into the psyche of young people being fed the content by the giants at Meta and TikTok. And this marketing strategy puts Bonnie at risk too. The star admits in the film that she hasn't left the house alone in the last six months, and fears being attacked by acid on the street. The documentary is radically uncensored in its depiction of Bonnie's work and shows explicit sex scenes, something Channel 4 says is "editorially justified" and "presented in a non-gratuitous manner". Seeing what happens behind the scenes is no doubt shocking, but it's the lesser known 'challenges' involving young women that are more disturbing to me. In the show, the more viral Bonnie gets, the further she leans into these extreme sex acts, as she begins relying on the use of young girls in her content. One scene shows Bonnie filming a sex tape with multiple other young female OnlyFans creators and a male porn star. Interviewing the women who have been recruited to take part in the stunt, filmed in a school classroom, the documentary's director reveals that the creators aren't being paid to take part. One young woman, who profits on OnlyFans with solo work and content with her partner, tells the camera that she's never done anything this "adventurous" and looks visibly nervous. Another timidly admits that the only time she's ever seen live sex is in Amsterdam in the red light district. A third creator, a 21-year-old woman, admits her subscribers love her content because she looks so much younger than she is. In an admission that makes my stomach churn, Bonnie says of the classroom stunt: "The fact that they are so nervous actually works in my favour, because their reactions are going to be more realistic." Bonnie seems to relish in stamping out the innocence of her participants. Yes, they've all consented. But the undercurrent of exploitation, in a classroom full of young women who have never filmed porn before, never mind extreme content, feels palpable. What message does that send out to young boys watching her videos, whose perceptions of consent and power are being shaped by such content? To me, the star appears to hide behind the guise of empowerment - both of herself and virgins, young content creators and 'normal' men - when in reality she is profiting from their vulnerability and glorifying rape culture with her 'challenges'. Her petting zoo stunt, that got cancelled after OnlyFans decided to permanently ban her from its platform at the final hour, would have seen Bonnie "tied down" in a glass box in a house in London, where strangers would come and do "whatever they wanted". Bonnie bragged in the documentary: "I am going to be completely helpless, tied down, gagged, choked". Alarmingly, a recent government review found porn involving non-fatal strangulation (NFS) was "rife" and that its prevalence online was contributing to choking becoming commonplace in some people's sex lives - particularly among young people. Even more disturbingly, the UK courts have seen an alarming rise in women's lives ending after what those accused of their deaths say were 'sex games gone wrong'. To the feminists who challenge her behaviour, Bonnie hits back, saying in the doc: "You fought for women's rights for years and years. You've fought for us to have control over our body and be empowered by that. I'm now living by that. "And suddenly you want me to shut up, have a couple of kids, get married and stay quiet, but I don't want that. If anything, I'm an image of what you've just been asking for for years and years. And suddenly you see it, and you're now thinking, f***, we don't want this woman to speak proudly of sex." As a woman who openly brags about using rage-bait as the cornerstone of her business model, spamming multiple TikTok and Instagram accounts a day with content designed to outrage, it's hard to take anything Bonnie says seriously. But she certainly refuses to take any responsibility for the influence she may have over the younger generation. When asked how she feels about young teenagers coming across her content, Bonnie admits she "forgets" to think of it from that point of view. She then says bluntly: "There's also a parent's responsibility to say, hey, there's people in the world that do mass murders. [It] doesn't mean you do that." Even if it's not Bonnie's job to educate young people on safe and healthy sex, there's something sinister in wanting to profit from those who may be vulnerable. In one part of the show, she admits: "I really want to do a disabled gang bang". Rage-bait or not, where do we draw the line at accepting such statements? And who is being "empowered" here? Channel 4 failed to press Bonnie on that vile remark. It's a show that leaves more questions than answers, and feels more like an advert than a documentary. It's too early to say just how much of an impact this new trend of extreme sex stunts will have on young people, but it feels like a nightmare waiting to happen - and, as the show does thankfully note, Bonnie clearly has no interest in taking accountability for the fallout.
Daily Mail
38 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Iconic comedian reveals jaw-dropping cost of playing Taylor Swift song at his show
Comedian Marc Maron has revealed the eye-watering sum he paid to use Taylor Swift 's music in his stage show. The 61-year-old star revealed the five-digit figure while appearing on Vulture 's Good One podcast this week. 'I think it came out to $50K, around that. I did everything I could to get the joke in front of her,' he said about spoofing the 35-year-old singer's 2022 song Bigger Than the Whole Sky. He said he initially reached out to Swift's longtime collaborator, musician Jack Antonoff. 'I know Jack Antonoff enough to text him — and he's the cowriter on that song,' Maron explained. 'I said, "I don't know what's proper or how to do this, but we're running out of money on this thing. It's probably going to come out of my pocket. Is there anything you can do about this song or talk to Taylor?"' has contacted Taylor's representatives for comment regarding Maron's payment claim but have yet to hear back. Maron said that Antonoff directed him to 'go through the proper channels' to obtain a license for the song, which was featured on Swift's Midnights album. He said about the cost, 'It was doable. We made enough money. It was tight, but because of the ticket sales for the [televised version of the] special, we are able to get that song.' The fee allowed him to sing just 'a minute' of the tune, with financial consequences if he were to extend it. 'If I would have gone over the minute, it would have been more money,' he divulged. 'We couldn't even let it, like, play out the special or anything. So, I got together with a band and wrote that music as the opening and closing. Yeah, it was under a minute,' the entertainer recalled. Maron emphasized his 'history' with the song, and said he felt that he needed to play it during his standup set. 'It had to happen,' he insisted. 'The real fear is, like, she doesn't let you use it, and then what do you do? You can't do the bit on the special. That's why I was, like, [manifesting] "I think she'll like the bit."' The star noted that while Swift's team gave him the ok to use the music, he doesn't know if the Cruel Summer hitmaker has actually heard his bit. Maron has hosted the podcast WTF With Marc Maron since 2009, making him one of the original podcasters. He said about the cost, 'It was doable. We made enough money. It was tight, but because of the ticket sales for the [televised version of the] special, we are able to get that song'; pictured in 2019 In June he announced that he and producer Brendan McDonald are ending the show later this year, per Variety. 'WTF' is coming to an end, and it's our decision,' he told listeners during an episode featuring comedian John Mulaney as a guest. 'We'll have our final episode sometime in the fall.' He added candidly, 'It was not some kind of difficult decision, necessarily. Neither me nor Brendan — who are the only people in charge of this operation on every level — we both realized together that we were done.' Marc is currently promoting the animated family comedy The Bad Guys 2, in theaters August 1.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Jay Leno blasts late-night comedy hosts
Jay Leno is taking aim at modern late-night comedy shows, claiming the hosts are isolating half their viewers in an interview released just days after Stephen Colbert got the boot from CBS. The former Tonight Show host, 75, reflected on the shift in late-night culture during a sit-down interview with Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation president David Trulio. The candid conversation was taped two weeks ago but was recently shared and quickly circulated online. They spoke openly about comedy, politics, and what's changed in the late-night world. Trulio began by mentioning to Leno that his jokes had a reputation of being equally balanced in his time on air. 'I read that there was an analysis done of your work on "The Tonight Show" for the 22 years and that your jokes were roughly equally balanced between going after Republicans and taking aim at Democrats. Did you have a strategy?' Trulio asked. 'I got hate letters saying, "You and your Republican friends," and another saying, "I hope you and your Democratic buddies are happy" – over the same joke,' Leno said. 'That's how you get a whole audience. Now you have to be content with half the audience, because you have to give your opinion.' 'Rodney Dangerfield and I were friends,' continued Leno. 'I knew Rodney 40 years and I have no idea if he was a Democrat or Republican. We never discussed politics, we just discussed jokes.' 'I like to think that people come to a comedy show to get away from the pressures of life. I love political humor – don't get me wrong. But people wind up cozying too much to one side or the other.' 'Funny is funny,' Leno said. 'It's funny when someone who's not... when you make fun of their side and they laugh at it, you know, that's kind of what I do.' 'I just find getting out – I don't think anybody wants to hear a lecture,' he continued. 'When I was with Rodney, it was always in the economy of words – get to the joke as quickly as possible.' He criticized comedians who inject their political opinions into every monologue and said he preferred making the whole audience laugh rather than pushing an agenda. 'I don't think anybody wants to hear a lecture … Why shoot for just half an audience? Why not try to get the whole? I like to bring people into the big picture,' he said. 'I don't understand why you would alienate one particular group, you know, or just don't do it at all. I'm not saying you have to throw your support or whatever, but just do what's funny.' His comments come in the wake of Colbert's dramatic departure from The Late Show. A media frenzy engulfed The Late Show after Colbert publicly slammed the CBS show's parent corporation, Paramount Global, for settling a defamation lawsuit with Trump for $16 million, calling it a 'big, fat, bribe,' in his opening monologue. Just days after the searing call-out, Colbert told his studio audience that the network was ending The Late Show in May 2026. Speculation has loomed over why the show was canceled, with A-listers and fellow talk-show hosts coming to the comedian's defense. Colbert won an Emmy for his work on The Colbert Report, a satirical show that ran on Comedy Central from 2005 to 2014. After he replaced David Letterman on The Late Show, the program was nominated for the most Outstanding Talk Series at the Emmys from 2017 to 2022. Meanwhile, other late-night legends have rallied behind Colbert in the wake of his show's cancellation. Jimmy Fallon said: 'I don't like it. I don't like what's going on one bit. These are crazy times,' Fallon said, referencing how 'everybody [was] talking about' the decision. 'And many people are now threatening to boycott the network', he said, setting up another punchline. 'Yeah – CBS could lose millions of viewers, plus tens of hundreds watching on Paramount+.' David Letterman also backed his successor and suggested CBS canceled The Late Show because he was 'always shooting his mouth off' about Donald Trump. The 78-year-old late-night legend created The Late Show in 1993 after NBC denied him the chance to succeed Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show. In his first comment on the show's cancellation, Letterman noted that his show was more about political satire than his version of The Late Show but was still complimentary, calling the decision by CBS 'pure cowardice.' 'I think one day, if not today, the people at CBS who have manipulated and handled this, they're going to be embarrassed, because this is gutless,' he told former Late Show producers Barbara Gaines and Mary Barclay.
