Latest news with #BryonyGordon
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Meghan Markle's Close Pal Defends Duchess, Calls Out 'Ridiculous Double Standards' In Royal Family
Journalist Bryony Gordon, a close friend of Meghan Markle, has criticized the royal family's "double standards," contrasting the way the duchess and Prince Andrew are treated. She recalled Meghan's warmth at their first meeting and their ongoing friendship, questioning why minor actions, like early-morning emails, drew criticism. Citing a book that alleges Prince Harry once physically confronted Andrew over remarks about Meghan Markle, Gordon expressed frustration at the disparity in how the two royals were treated. Bryony Gordon Recalls First Meeting With Meghan Markle And Slams Royal Family's Scrutiny Journalist and podcaster Bryony Gordon, a longtime friend of Meghan, has spoken out against what she describes as "ridiculous double standards" within the British royal family. Gordon, who first met the Duchess of Sussex in 2018, said Meghan has faced far harsher scrutiny than other senior royals, drawing a pointed comparison to how Prince Andrew has been treated. Writing in the Daily Mail, she questioned, "Can you blame the couple for wanting to escape the peculiar prison of royal life, especially given the ridiculous double standards applied to the Duchess of Sussex and Prince Andrew?" Recalling their initial meeting at a Royal Foundation event, where she was hosting a mental health panel, Gordon said Meghan immediately put her at ease. "She gave me a big old bear hug, the kind that makes you feel at ease — particularly when you are being presented to assorted royals in front of a bank of baying photographers," she wrote. According to Gordon, "Meghan's down-to-earth demeanor worked like a charm, removing all the anxiety felt by myself and the other attendees." Bryony Gordon On Meghan Markle: 'I Wonder What It Says About The World That She Could Be So Vilified' Gordon shared that her friendship with Meghan didn't end after their first encounter seven years ago. Since then, they've met for lunches, collaborated on charitable initiatives, and even spent time together at Frogmore Cottage, the Sussexes' former home, which they were eventually required to vacate. She has also visited Meghan at her residence in Montecito, California. Reflecting on their conversations and shared moments, Gordon admitted she's often struck by the contrast in public perception. "Each time we meet, or exchange texts about life, I wonder what it says about the world that she could be so vilified and trolled, while other members of the royal family seem to have been given a free pass to behave as badly as they want," she wrote. One such figure, Gordon noted, is Prince Andrew, the subject of Andrew Lownie's recent biography, "Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York." The book includes a series of damning claims, among them an allegation that the Duke of York once berated a palace employee, calling them a "f-cking imbecile" for failing to use the Queen Mother's full title. Bryony Gordon Slams Royal Double Standards: Meghan Criticized For Minor Acts While Prince Andrew Is Shielded Gordon admitted she was "riveted" by the book's revelations about Prince Andrew, but said they only deepened her frustration. "With each sordid allegation, I have become more and more furious that so little was done to help Meghan as she struggled with life in the royal family, while so much was done to protect Prince Andrew," she wrote. She questioned how Meghan could be so vilified for relatively minor behavior, such as sending staff emails at 5 a.m., while others faced little to no accountability. "Somehow, Andrew got away with it for decades, while Meghan was branded 'Duchess Difficult' the moment she so much as asked the Queen if she might be able to borrow a tiara for her wedding," Gordon noted. Her central question remained pointed: "Why is it that people will tolerate all manner of misbehavior from the likes of powerful men like Prince Andrew, but not a woman who, according to critics, has a habit of occasionally emailing her staff at 5 a.m.?" The Alleged Altercation Between Prince Harry And Prince Andrew According to Lownie's biography, Harry once physically confronted Andrew over alleged remarks about Meghan, a claim Harry has categorically rejected. In an excerpt obtained by the Daily Mail, Lownie writes that more than a decade ago, a heated argument supposedly ended with Harry leaving Andrew with a "bloody nose" after the Duke of York allegedly made a comment about Meghan behind his nephew's back. The author claims Prince Andrew referred to the "Suits" actress as an "opportunist" and said Harry had gone "bonkers" for not doing "due diligence" into her past, per The Blast. Prince Harry Slammed The Prince Andrew-Meghan Fight Story As 'Defamatory' Harry's spokesperson has since firmly denied the story about the duke fighting his uncle, Andrew. In a statement, they said: "I can confirm Prince Harry and Prince Andrew have never had a physical fight, nor did Prince Andrew ever make the comments he is alleged to have made about the Duchess of Sussex to Prince Harry." The representative also called the allegations "gross inaccuracies" and "defamatory." Solve the daily Crossword
Daily Mail
25-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Kavana reflects on his secret struggle to hide his sexuality and alcoholism battle in bombshell new interview on The Life of Bryony podcast
Kavana has spilled the beans on his extraordinary life, including his struggle to hide his sexuality, in a bombshell new interview amid the release of his explosive autobiography. 90s popstar Anthony Kavanagh, 47, who rose to fame under the name Kavana, has lifted the lid on the darker side of stardom with his tell-all memoir, Pop Scars. And while his book contains some sensational tales of his days in the limelight, Kavana still had plenty of juicy gossip to share with Bryony Gordon on a new episode of The Life of Bryony podcast. The sensational chat sees the I Can Make You Feel Good hitmaker open up on leaving a bevvy of 'beautiful girls' who were waiting for him in a lobby miffed because he 'couldn't have sex with them' amid his secret battle to keep his true sexuality under wraps. In the interview, he explains: 'They'd get funny with me, some of the fans, some of the girl fans, 'cause they didn't understand why I wasn't taking it to the next step', noting how he'd often have to turn down his tour manager's offer to set him up with women. Meanwhile, the sizzling podcast chat hears of the moment Kavana recalls sharing a kiss with a much older manager who discovered him in a gay club as a teenager. Kavana shares: 'There was a kiss... he didn't know my age at the time... But it was complex. And I think there was some arrested development that went on for sure. And I had feelings for this person because suddenly something opened in me where I was attracted to a man who had power.' In other tantalising moments from the interview, the singer reflects on having 'flirty feelings' for the late Stephen Gately but says their relationship was innocent and 'wasn't the love affair of the century'. While he also touches upon his alcoholism being so bad that he resorted to drinking aftershave. It comes after Kavana revealed that he was once paid for drug-fuelled sex after having an 'exhausting' battle to hide his sexuality during his pop career. He found success at the age of just 16 years old with a series of hit singles such as I Can Make You Feel Good and Special Kind of Something in the late 1990s. But he has now revealed the personal cost of fame after he battled both alcohol and drug addiction which ended up leaving him homeless and admitted he 'needed to be locked up'. Manchester-born Kavana was signed to a record label in his teens and soon found himself partying with pop stars and touring with Boyzone. However with a young female fanbase, the heartthrob was 'afraid' of having his sexuality outed as his fame deepened on him being 'straight' for his young teenage girl fans. In other tantalising moments from the interview, the singer reflects on having 'flirty feelings' for the late Stephen Gately but says their relationship was innocent and 'wasn't the love affair of the century' [Stephen pictured in April 2009] While on one tour, Kavana had a secret relationship with Boyzone's Stephen Gately, who tragically died of an undiagnosed heart condition in 2009. Discussing hiding his sexuality, he told The Guardian: 'It was difficult and that's where alcohol came in as a comfort. 'It's crazy when I look back now, the time that we were in. It was a constant act and it was exhausting but you just got on with it because I was so lucky for this to happen to me'. Soon after touring, Kavana was dropped from his record label and his fame bubble popped causing him to turn to booze even more. The 90s star decided to move to the States to see if he could break America but jobs soon dried up and admitted he hit rock bottom after becoming lonely and turned to alcohol and crystal meth. Kavana said he became a 'loose cannon and got myself into situations' including waking up in a stranger's flat realising he had been paid for sex. In the memoir, Kavana described the reality of waking up in a stranger's apartment and the realisation he had been paid for the sex he couldn't remember. He also revealed that he had smoked crack in a skip in Hackney with a homeless woman he had just met and whom he trusts with his bank card to score more drugs - before adding that 'you should never give a stranger your pin code while high'. He was forced to move home after seven years penniless and also lost his elderly parents' home, which he had been paying the mortgage on. Kavana turned to drink once again as he saw the stars around him, including Ant and Dec and Billie Piper, reinventing themselves and become successful while he felt 'shame' and 'regret'. The ex pop star started hanging out with Amy Winehouse, who also had her own alcohol addiction, before she died age 27 in 2011 from accidental alcohol poisoning. Kavana's drink and drug problem drained his wallet and ultimately led to him 'secretly living in an old people's sheltered housing complex with his mother.' After attempting to go to rehab and AA meetings, Kavana was forced to sign up to the job center in Manchester and was scared of being recognised as 'the washed up popstar' causing him to relapse. However, following getting a large payout from a newspaper after they agreed to settle a defamation case he had long forgotten, Kavana went to a private rehab facility as he admitted 'I need to be locked up' as he thought alcohol was going to kill him. He is now three and half years sober and wrote his new memoir Pop Scars during the first year of sobriety and is using that as a reminder of where alcohol took him. Kavana noted to the publication how it is strange doing interviews again in a time where he can be open about his sexuality and mental health, 'we didn't talk about it back then'.
Daily Mail
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Doctors thought I had a brain aneurysm - Ashley Roberts reveals how stress of life in the Pussycat Dolls caused her 'body to shut down'
Pussycat Dolls singer Ashley Roberts revealed the devastating physical toll the music industry had on her in the latest episode of the Mail's The Life of Bryony podcast. Ashley, 43, told Mail columnist Bryony Gordon how being forced to give up dancing - and discovering breathwork - pulled her back from the brink of a mental breakdown. The performer was only 22 years old when she joined the group in 2003, eventually moving to London from Los Angeles after their split in 2010. Ashley's new book, Breathwork, transforms the hard-won lessons from her difficult past into practical techniques for improving mental and physical health. 'My body was literally shutting down', Ashley told the podcast. 'The Dolls were in London doing a show. I was sat in my hotel room and all of a sudden I had this extreme headache. 'The pain was unreal. I also felt really sick. We were supposed to do a show in Germany the next day, so I called my manager - who told me to go to the hospital. 'The doctors thought I'd had a brain aneurysm. When I went to have an MRI, my knee locked up and that was viral arthritis entering my body. 'My mentality at the time was all about making it to the next show – but that was the moment I remember thinking: what's going on here? I need to take a second because this isn't cool.' Ashley revealed how the cutthroat music industry had instilled a toxic work ethic that was destroying her health. 'The early 2000s was a whole different era honey', the performer told Bryony. 'No one ever spoke about mental health or the importance of checking in. I am grateful there has been a shift – people cancelling shows now when they need to look after themselves. 'I felt I was weak. It was instilled in us from a young age that we were interchangeable. There was a pressure of like, if you don't show up, who knows what might happen. 'I grew up in the dance world and there is still an attitude of – if you break your toe, you need to keep going. Your mind is programmed to think: the show must go on. 'In the end, I had to take some time off. It was a viral infection with extreme side effects – what was probably a manifestation of being so rundown.' Following the Pussycat Dolls' split in 2010, Ashley began building her career in the UK, finishing runner-up on I'm A Me Out of Here! in 2012. After making the move to London permanent, the Heart radio presenter told Bryony how feeling 'spiritually lost' in her new home led her to discover breathwork - her second great love after music. Breathwork is a practice that uses controlled breathing techniques to reduce stress, improve mental clarity, and promote physical and emotional healing. 'After the Dolls, I stopped dancing completely', Ashley said. 'Being in a pop group for so long, I just shut all that down and wanted to go in a different direction. 'I decided to go to Bali – I went because I knew this life coach who was putting on a retreat out there. I went on my own for 12 days, no cell phones, no technology, I completely disconnected. 'I remember doing my first breathwork class and oh my God, it felt so good. It created this sense of calm that I can't explain. 'I always felt this chaos internally and suddenly, for a few moments, it felt like I wasn't battling it anymore. 'I didn't quite realise how then how great a tool it would be in helping me process life. 'When my dad died, that ability to reflect gave me the motivation to stay strong – and I want to share that.' To listen to the full candid interview with the former Pussycat Doll, search for The Life of Bryony now, wherever you get your podcasts.
Daily Mail
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE I have seen politicians, royalty and movie stars naked - this is why you need to stop hating your body
Spray tanner to the stars Jules Von Hep revealed how the beauty industry 'conditions you to hate the way you look' on the latest episode of the Mail's The Life of Bryony podcast. Von Hep co-founded the celebrated tanning brand Isle of Paradise and has over twenty years of experience spray tanning 'every type of person', from bridesmaids to politicians and movie stars. After recently leaving the company he helped create, Von Hep now dedicates his time to spreading a body positive message to his over 109,000 Instagram followers. Having struggled with body image issues throughout his career, the beauty industry insider has channelled the lessons from his personal life and career into a new self-help book, The Confidence Ritual, which is available now. 'Everybody, whether they're famous or not, has some kind of hangup when it comes to their body', Von Hep told Mail columnist Bryony Gordon. 'This was a massive learning experience for me, and I realised that everyone is conditioned to hate the way they look. 'Everyone I worked with – when they enter the spray tan tent and take their clothes off – the first reaction is always an apology. 'We are told to hate the way we look in order to sell products so brands can make money. They need to make us believe we have a problem which doesn't really exist.' Von Hep has made it his mission to counter these sinister sales tactics by helping people love their bodies as they are. He explained: 'I am not teaching anyone something new, I am teaching you how to unlearn the beauty industry's programming. 'We're not born hating our bodies – it's a learned behaviour through our teenage years and into our early twenties. That's when we first think there's something wrong with us. 'Whatever you think you have on your body – I'll tell you now, as someone who has stared at naked bodies for literally twenty years, someone else has it. 'Don't stress about it because your body is carrying you through this life. It's giving you every experience, every joy and every moment to be present. Listen to The Life of Bryony podcast Ever feel like everyone else has it together while you're barely hanging on? Join Bryony Gordon for honest, unfiltered conversations about life's messier moments – from anxiety and heartbreak to addiction and loss. Listen wherever you get your podcasts now. 'You've got to be grateful. Don't waste time hating it.' To prove his point, Von Hep recounted an experience from a fashion shoot that exposed the industry's distortion of body image. 'I remember tanning a very famous model for a fashion shoot', Von Hep said. 'She was naked, lying on the side of a pool. I was on the set with my little kit bag running on and off, moisturising her thighs and shoulders. 'I remember looking up at the monitor - she looked great in the pictures. Anyway, six months later, that image was on the side of busses and used in TV campaigns. It was everywhere. 'When I saw it, I thought to myself: f*** me, her ass didn't look like that on set. All her cellulite was gone; all her wrinkles had been removed. 'I was with my friends at the time, and I remember thinking, they don't know she has been retouched. They actually think she looks like that – and I know she doesn't. 'It was a light bulb moment. People need to know that every image they look at has been retouched. It could be a flyaway hair; it could be a wrinkle. 'I know celebrities who have it in their contract to remove one wrinkle from one hooded eye every time an image of them goes out. 'People are beautiful exactly the way they are – it's all so pernicious.' Listen to Jules Von Hep's full interview, including his personal battle with body dysmorphia, on The Life of Bryony - available now wherever you get your podcasts.
Daily Mail
23-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Women are being brainwashed - author and anorexia survivor Megan Jayne Crabbe challenges diet culture and beauty standards in candid Mail podcast
Society's toxic obsession with women's appearances must be 'dismantled' to protect young people's mental health, author Megan Jayne Crabbe told the latest Life of Bryony podcast. Megan, 31, is a social media star known online as Bodyposipanda, an anorexia survivor and anti-diet enthusiast who advocates for fat acceptance and body positivity. She's the author of the bestselling book Body Positive Power, which has taught thousands of people how to stop dieting and make peace with their bodies. Speaking to Mail columnist Bryony Gordon, Megan criticised the relentless pressure on women to lose weight, constantly shave and wear makeup to satisfy the male gaze. 'Everything I watched when I was young presented this one incredibly narrow vision of beauty', the author said. 'You had to be thin, white, able-bodied, cisgender, young and straight – that was the beauty standard. 'For the majority of my young life, I believed reaching that standard wasn't even an option. 'I am mixed race, I was chubby as a child, I was never going to turn into Rachel Green from Friends – but in my head, it felt like the only option.' Born in the 'fatphobic' mid-nineties, Megan revealed she began experiencing body hatred as early as age five. During her teens, these feelings escalated into an eating disorder so severe she needed treatment in a psychiatric hospital. 'My body image issues started from the first day of primary school', Megan told the podcast. 'I thought there was something wrong with me because I looked different. I latched onto dieting as a way of solving the problem. 'By age ten, I was consistently trying to lose weight. That spiralled over the next few years and developed into anorexia nervosa. 'I am very lucky to be sat here right now. I was hospitalised and had to spend time in a psychiatric institution for young people. 'Recovery was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. When your weight has been restored – people tell you you're fine. 'But then you go back into a world where disordered eating is everywhere and so normalised. Everyone's tracking calories, body shaming themselves and obsessed with how much they weigh in the morning. 'It's a complete minefield – trying to recover within such a diet-obsessed society.' Megan's new book, We Don't Make Ourselves Smaller Here, expands beyond body positivity to explore female sexual empowerment and beauty standards. The issue of shaving features prominently throughout the collection of essays, with the influencer asking her audience to examine where women's urge to remove body hair actually comes from. 'Like all women and girls, I was taught that body hair was disgusting', Megan began. 'I believed it was unhygienic, unfeminine and that you must shave it. There was a point during lockdown where I hadn't been as diligent with shaving, and I realised that I didn't want to do it anymore. 'I asked myself: who am I doing this for? The reason why women feel the way they do about body hair is very similar to the reason they feel the way they do about thinness. 'There are huge amounts of money, massive industries that have successfully brainwashed all of us into thinking that we must be hairless to be beautiful.' Megan explained that building body positivity and confidence begins with small, everyday practices of self-care that help 'rewire your brain'. She also encouraged women to reject the various manifestations of diet culture, from the recent Ozempic craze to wellness fads. The author advised: 'Start with something simple – sit in your bedroom and look at yourself naked. Challenge yourself not to zoom in on all the things we have been conditioned to see as flaws. 'Do not make a mental list: notice when that negative self-talk pops up and try to redirect it. 'This takes practice – I did not flip a switch one day and become the most confident person on the internet. I started by challenging myself to wear shorts at home and not be disgusted with myself. 'You have to decide once and for all that your body is not a trend. It doesn't matter what is in or what is being sold, we all deserve to just exist in whatever variation and diversity we exist in.'
