Latest news with #BruceForsyth
The Sun
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Stephen Mulhern reveals surprising reason he won't miss co-host Holly Willoughby after she quit You Bet & DOI was axed
STEPHEN MULHERN wants to kick off a new era of his career, ditching his 'Mr Beige' tag to become the new Bruce Forsyth. And it is all because sidekick Holly Willoughby ditched him for Netflix. 7 7 The duo lost Dancing On Ice when it was shelved by ITV earlier this year and Holly also stepped back from co-hosting gameshow You Bet! with him. But Stephen remains busier than ever with Celebrity Catchphrase and three new shows in the works. Chatting to TV Biz, he said: 'I'm gutted she's not doing You Bet! with me, but I've had time to think about it and Bruce Forsyth was the first person to do You Bet! and he did it on his own. 'Matthew Kelly made it the best show on the telly. 'And every time I've been interviewed and they say, 'What show would you bring back?' I've always said 'You Bet!' 'So maybe it happened for a reason. We've filmed one episode already without Holly, and it felt very comfortable. Maybe it is just a one-presenter show.' 'I cried a lot' Stephen has become an ITV stalwart through his work with Holly, Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly. But now he is forging his own path. So much so that, chatting to my reporter Felicity on the Catchphrase set, the former magician revealed he has an idea for a show — and is coughing up his own cash to pay for it. Stephen said: 'It's very hard to pitch stuff on paper, you've got to show people so I'm just going to invest my own money into it then pitch it. Watch moment Holly Willoughby is left red-faced as Dancing On Ice co-host Stephen Mulhern makes x-rated joke on live TV 'I want to do a bit of magic, a bit of wind-up, practical jokes . . . the key is for the family to sit down and enjoy it.' And now Stephen is ready to finally let viewers see the real him after agreeing to film an ITV travelogue with Ant & Dec along the lines of An Idiot Abroad, called Accidental Tourist. Stephen said: ' Emma WIllis called me Fifty Shades Of Beige because all my food is beige. 'I don't travel a lot, I always go to Florida — the food's safe. 'But the idea is I step out my comfort zone. I was doing stuff that I'd never do. 'When people see it they'll see a completely different side. It's stripped down. Everyone's like, 'Oh Stephen, he's so nice' but on this I think you're going to see it. 'People have seen me on TV for nearly 25 years and they go, 'What's he like at home? Is he going out with someone?'' 7 Being exposed in that way was a lot for Stephen. He added: 'You'll see a lot of emotion, 100 per cent. You'll see me totally out of my comfort zone. 'I remember sitting on the bed, and I was like, 'Was this the right choice? Was it the right decision?' 'They film and film and film. I've never done that. No one's ever seen me cry but I cried a lot.' For now Stephen is back in his comfort zone, filming a fresh series of Celebrity Catchphrase. Michelle Visage, Melanie Blatt and Seann Walsh are some of the celebs appearing on the current run, which continues this Sunday at 6.55pm on ITV and STV. And Stephen has now filmed more episodes than show legend Roy Walker. He said: 'I used to watch Catchphrase growing up. I love it because of the gameplay of it. You can never call it. 'The secret to success now is proper family entertainment. 'If you can't sum up the show in a sentence, it will never work. Play Your Cards Right, higher or lower. You Bet!, will they do it, will they not? 'Catchphrase, say what you see. Deal Or No deal, pick the right box.' So what is the secret to his own success? 'Because I'm not the rebel! You hear of certain performers or presenters and they go, 'They're bang out of order'. And you go, 'Well, they're not working now. . .'' Never change, Mr Beige. 7 Sister act two for Ella ELLA BRUCCOLERI was the unassuming Sister Frances in Call The Midwife, and her latest role is set to be every bit as understated. I can reveal that the actress, who left the period hospital drama in 2022, has been cast as Mary Bennet in BBC One's The Other Bennet Sister. 7 Mary is the seemingly unremarkable middle sibling in Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice, and the story sees her stepping out of her sisters' shadows to find her own epic love story. The ten-parter, which starts filming soon, is based on Janice Hadlow's bestselling novel of the same name. Ella, who says she can 'relate' to Mary, described writer Sarah Quintrell's scripts as warm and humorous. She added: 'They reveal that beneath Mary's awkwardness and formality lies a woman longing for purpose and connection.' 'Ender line for Bernie EASTENDERS favourite Clair Norris has been axed after eight years on the soap, bringing an end to one of the show's favourite families. Clair's character Bernie Taylor made her debut in 2017 alongside onscreen mum Karen (Lorraine Stanley) and brother Keanu (Danny Walters), who became a victim of The Six in 2023. 7 It comes three months after executive producer Chris Clenshaw was replaced by Ben Wadey. A source said: 'When a soap gets a new boss they want to make their own mark, it's nothing personal. 'She was the last Taylor standing and it's time to close the chapter on them.' I'm sure the imminent return of Jake Wood as Max Branning after four years away will bring more drama.
Telegraph
29-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Anton Du Beke: ‘Brucey was my hero. He was everything I wanted him to be'
Anton Du Beke, born Anthony Beke in 1966, is a professional ballroom and Latin dancer, author and singer. He is best known for Strictly Come Dancing, and is the BBC series' longest-standing cast member, beginning as a competitor at the show's launch in 2004 and becoming a judge in 2021. He is now trading in swing dancing for a golf swing with his new podcast, Putt & Strut, which he presents alongside sports journalist Sarah Stirk. He has been married to Hannah since 2017, and together they have two children, twins George and Henrietta, also born in 2017. Best job you've ever had? My best job I've ever had is being a father. It surprised me. It just is. I've loved it from the moment… You hear someone say: 'I've got children.' 'Oh, how old are they? Four? Oh, four, what a lovely age!' But every age is more lovely. 'Five. Oh, I loved it when they were five! Oh, six, we went out walking. Oh, seven, how lovely!' It just gets better and better. There's not one great age. Every second of it I love. Best personality trait? This isn't a question for me, this is a question for someone else! I don't know, probably should ask my wife. Can I call my wife? [phones wife] She says: 'Everybody always asks me, is he really like that in real life?' Emphasis on 'that'. 'Yes, he is… But it's for you to decide what the 'that' is!' Best childhood memory? Of course, growing up, it was always when one gets one's first bike! When I was eight or nine. It was red, I think. That's always a fine memory. Best celebrity encounter? It has always been Sir Bruce Forsyth. Meeting Sir Bruce Forsyth. He's my hero, to be honest with you. He was such a brilliant entertainer, and he was everything I wished and wanted him to be. They say never meet your heroes, but that has never been further from the truth for me. He was absolutely incredible. Generous, kind, funny, helpful… Just the most incredible man, really. Best moment on Strictly to date? Doing a song-and-dance number with Brucey. We did Me and My Shadow years ago on Strictly Come Dancing, and that was the career highlight. Best thing about getting older? For me, the best thing about getting older is having had children later in life. It's the best thing I ever did, because I'm in a much better place as a human being to have had children, and I'm loving it more than I possibly could if I was younger. I was so focused on me when I was younger. Dancing, competing, travelling. Now I've got a different career, and it's just been the most wonderful thing. Best lesson you've learnt in life? A mantra which I try to live by, which was said to me by an old dance teacher of mine many years ago, was: 'Get better.' I think it's a good mantra for life, really. You can only control you. You can't control anything else, and don't complain about everything else. Just get better at what you do, and the rest will sort of take care of itself. I used to be a wonderful complainer about everything. Oh, the floor was terrible, the suit doesn't fit, my partner was heavy, she didn't look any good, didn't like her dress, music was awful... I used to complain about everything, apart from me. I was marvellous! Turns out I wasn't. So his advice to me was, get better. My mum always said to me, 'Work hard,' and those two things I live by, really. Worst job you've ever had? I was a carpet-cleaning salesman going from door to door. No one was in! I was banging on people's doors saying, 'Would you like your carpets cleaned?' They'll go, 'No.' 'Oh, OK. Thank you.' Next one, no one in, next one... I did it for one day and gave up. I got dropped off somewhere in some high street, I can't even remember where, it was years ago, and it was horrendous. Worst personality trait? I wish I could overcome the shyness! [laughs] I'm sure I've got many sort of personality traits that are a bit annoying. Probably a bit too needy, needy of affirmation. How do I look? Am I all right? My wife once described me as an island of an individual. I think I've had, in the past, the propensity to be a bit all-consumed and -consuming. I think that's got less since I've had children, though. Surely I have a bridge, maybe a jetty, or a pontoon – a retractable one, I grant you, but one nonetheless. My wife says I'm annoyingly quick with my wit, you can put in brackets 'smarta--e'. Worst fan interaction? I've had people want to shake my hand when I'm stood there having a wee in a loo. Like, 'Hi, Anton.' Er... Give me a minute! Worst childhood memory? When I was a little boy growing up, I used to play football all the time. I remember going to this football thing, a competition or something to play, and the ground was frozen and we couldn't. I have to tell you, I was devastated. I also remember when I was about 10 years old, Liverpool made the FA Cup final – I know this is football and it shouldn't be, really, but when I was a little boy, there wasn't much else going on – I remember Liverpool lost to Manchester United and I cried. I'd never cried before over football. That was heartbreaking. Worst celebrity encounter? Not really anyone, really. I'm always pretty generous with people, because I know I'm not going to spend the rest of my life with them. So even if they are annoying, I just sort of go, 'Well, it'll be over soon. We'll be done in a short period of time.' There's nobody where I've gone, 'I'd be happy never to meet them again.' There's nobody I've ever swerved. Worst moment on Strictly to date? Getting voted off first was always the worst moment for me [with Susannah Constantine in 2018 and former home secretary Jacqui Smith in 2020]. Getting voted off at all, actually, you don't want to get voted off at any stage. Even if you feel it coming, you just think, 'Oh, I wonder if we could go another week,' but once you're out, you're out, and that's it. Worst thing about getting older? I can't remember routines like I used to. It takes longer to remember. It's so irritating. Hearing's gone as well. Bits start to drop off, and that's really upsetting. I'm a machine, obviously, so it doesn't happen to me yet, but I'm waiting for it to happen at any stage. But I've had to have my hair done twice [a hair transplant], just to keep my hair in one place. The salt-and-pepper look has been an absolute revelation to me. It saved me having to dye it. I've looked at some of my dyed hair coloured in photos, and I've wondered why somebody didn't mention it to me earlier! Worst lesson you've learnt in life? That money doesn't actually grow on trees. The absolute worst? Winter seems to have got longer. What happened to winter being for a short period of time? It's now nine months of the year. How come the UK's suddenly got wetter? I find it sort of getting bleak. I'm happy to get rid of winter. We have a breath of spring, summer lasts a fortnight, then we're into autumn. That's annoying. I think we need to cancel winter from the first of January. That'd make me happy. Putt & Strut with Anton Du Beke and Sarah Stirk is available to listen to on Global Player, and all major podcast platforms.
The Guardian
22-03-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Wales v Kazakhstan: World Cup qualifier
Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature One of the top-30 sides in the world host the team ranked 110th, a collective which has lost ten of its last 11 competitive matches, drawing the other 0-0. On paper, this is as close as it gets to a surefire thing, and thus a hard sell. But then football is football, so you never know … and in any case, Wales right now are just so much goddamn fun . For example, has a goalless draw ever been as enjoyable as this? Turkey 0-0 Wales: Nations League – as it happened Not too often, is the correct answer to that one. So let's settle down for some more top-drawer Saturday-night light entertainment courtesy of Bruce Forsyth Craig Bellamy and the lads. Kick-off is at 7.45pm GMT. It's on! Managing Wales has allowed me to calm down, says Craig Bellamy Share
