Latest news with #LadyMagazine
Daily Mirror
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Britain's Got Talent's Susan Boyle's romance with doctor as she reveals sweet texts
Susan Boyle has decided to keep her life away from the stage relatively private but has previously opened up about her first romance after meeting a mystery man on tour Susan Boyle is arguably one of the biggest Britain's Got Talent stars after she blew the judges away with her voice. Initially, Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan doubted the Scottish star after she first appeared on stage and had attempted to write her off – until she started singing I Dreamed A Dream, revealing she wanted to be as famous as Elaine Paige. Since finding fame in 2009, the singer has kept a relatively low profile and has only shared an insight into her life on a handful occasions and even shared a look into her romance which she said wasn't too serious. Prior to her mystery relationship, Susan had been open about not being romantically linked to anybody. While on tour after appearing on the ITV talent show which airs this weekend, Susan found her first romantic partner. Although she remained coy about the details about their romance, Susan previously hinted that it was purely casual and they were not too serious about one another. Although she has never shared his name, she he has shared some information about her mystery man. The man in question was an American doctor. Speaking in 2016, she told the Mirror: "I don't want to reveal the doctor's name. It's nothing serious at the moment." I But Susan went on to admit that she's no stranger to delighting her mystery man with snaps of herself. She teased: "I will send him a picture of my weight loss – if he's a good boy! I do enjoy male companionship." In another admission, she explained: "I don't want to say any more about who he is right now as that would be unfair on him. "All I'll say is we are around the same age and he was a very nice guy." But she later admitted that their romance had run its course, revealing: "I did have a gentleman friend, a doctor. We went for lunch but I didn't tell anyone. But if I had a man friend it would be purely platonic - I've been on my own too long now to get married." While romance was off the cards for Susan, the Scottish singing sensation had also hoped to start a family and adopting a child – but feared that her beloved cat may get slightly jealous. She admitted: "I would love to adopt a child too but my cat might get jealous. I don't want to see a cat and a baby fighting. It's something I might do later." However, Susan later admitted she feared she was too old to adopt and instead considered fostering. "I've a lovely house, why not share it?" She went on to say to Lady Magazine: "I love children. I've never had any of my own, that's my biggest regret." Unlike most celebrities, Susan has remained at her childhood home in Blackburn, West Lothain, Scotland. She spent £111,000 on the semi-detached ex-council house next door to her childhood home in order to turn both properties into her dream house. Although she could afford to bag herself a lavish mansion, Susan said she it found it too hard to part with the home she grew up in due to its sentimental value. She previously told OK! magazine: "It's to do with the memories of your house and your upbringing, you need to take stock of things and maybe see where you come from and where your roots lie. It's best to be grounded and with your roots. It keeps you grounded and prevents you from saying things maybe you shouldn't say." Now, its estimated that she's worth over £22 million but isn't the type of person to spend thousands in one go. The singer previously told Piers Morgan she lives off a humble £300-500 weekly allowance to keep her going. In an interview with the TalkTV host back in 2010, she said: "I've only just learnt how to go in a taxi. I don't flash the cash." Asked by Piers if she would like to buy a Lamborghini car, she asked, innocently: "Is that a drink? No fancy cars, no." Susan continued: "I'm always careful with money. I'm not saying I'm mean, but I'm always careful. I have an allowance, it's about £300-500 a week because that's plenty for me. It's pocket money." Britain's Got Talent: Live Semi-Final airs on Saturday at 7pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Lady: The decline and fall of the bible of female gentility
The Lady, Britain's longest running women's magazine, has formally announced that it has ceased publication. The magazine is famed for its etiquette advice and adverts for butlers, nannies and discreet liaisons with well-heeled 60-somethings. In a statement, the publishers confirmed recent media reports that the April edition of the magazine will be the last, but added the website with its jobs board and recruitment agency will continue. Here's a look back at its place in, and impact on, British culture over 140 years. The Lady was established in 1885 by Thomas Gibson Bowles, as a magazine for gentlewomen, a weekly guide to navigating the social minefield of well-to-do British life. Its very distinctive character was affectionately lampooned by PG Wodehouse. In his Jeeves stories, Bertie Wooster is briefly employed by a magazine called Milady's Boudoir, which was housed "in one of those rummy streets in the Covent Garden neighbourhood". The real Lady Magazine just happened to be in Bedford Street in Covent Garden. The Lady's fame owed much to its advice to women on the mysteries of the British class system. In 1936, for instance, its readers were given an update on the acceptability of novels. "The reading of fiction, not long ago thought deplorable by nearly all social workers, is now becoming almost a virtue," it noted. It's first edition began with an explanation that its objective was to cover "the whole field of womanly action". Almost all of it was written by a man, Thomas Bowles, using various aliases. It was not a huge success. Fortunes changed in 1894 when Thomas Bowles appointed his children's governess, Rita Shell, to be editor. Under Rita Shell's control, it became a successful weekly guide to women who found themselves in charge of both a household and a budget to outsource the daily drudgery to the lower classes. In December 1927, it cautioned young women "to become a good cook before you marry, darling. Then you will be competent to rebuke a staff of domestics or to dispense with one". Eighty years later, those concerns remained central. Editor Rachel Johnson was a firm believer in not being too familiar with staff, writing: "Never sit in the kitchen chatting to your nanny, it'll end in tears before bedtime." And even today there are still pages of classified adverts for livery workers and other assorted varieties of domestic help but the demand now is more for live-in carers for the elderly than butlers or nannies. That age profile has long been a concern. In 2009, Johnson was taken on to give the magazine a more youthful rebrand. She was asked to halve the average of the reader, which was, when she started, 78. A Channel 4 documentary revealed it was not universally welcomed, and Johnson's diaries later catalogued all the difficulties of aiming articles at younger readers amongst adverts for walk-in baths and absorbent underwear along with products to remove their associated odours. It was an eventful three years that made more than a few headlines. Nevertheless, while the readership did briefly increase, like most print magazines, sales have been in sharp decline in recent years. Once a weekly, it went from fortnightly to monthly. The last published figures in 2023 revealed it sold just under 18,000 copies an issue. And while the website will continue, it is the end of the line for a very distinctive bit of British culture. The current owner of the Lady, the great grandson of the founder, Thomas Bowles, Ben Budworth has spent 17 years trying to keep it afloat. He took over the running of the magazine in 2008 and over saw the controversial rebrand. His decision to sell off the Covent Garden offices and move production to a business park in Borehamwood in Hertfordshire was met with protest. The premises on Bedford Street were a seen by many of the staff as more than just another office, they helped define The Lady's character. No one had a direct phone line. Instead, calls all went through a telephonist. One former editor said work would stop at 2pm to listen to the Archers, and again at 3:30pm for tea. Johnson said the wall safe was where the tins of custard creams were stored. One particular perk was her own peach-coloured WC. Each day she would be handed two freshly laundered towels. The building was a reminder of its long history and the magazine's many contributors, among them Lewis Carroll, Nancy Mitford and Stella Gibbons, who while giving the impression of being hard at work wrote Cold Comfort Farm in the magazine's offices. However, heritage does not pay bills. Problems with a tax demand made headlines in 2024 and suggested the move to Hertfordshire had not solved the financial woes. The problem of the shrinking and ageing readership was never going away. Even the word lady has shifted over the years from being an aspiration to a term widely regarded as demeaning and disparaging. And while there are older magazines, such as The People's Friend (which did not begin as a magazine aimed specifically at women) and the American Harper's Bazaar which absorbed the even older British stalwart Queen, the Lady has a good claim on being the UK's oldest surviving women's magazine. However, 140 years on, a magazine that once billed itself as an indispensable guide to society has found that society has moved on.
BBC News
15-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
The Lady: The decline and fall of the bible of female gentility
The Lady, Britain's longest running women's magazine, has formally announced that it has ceased magazine is famed for its etiquette advice and adverts for butlers, nannies and discreet liaisons with well-heeled a statement, the publishers confirmed recent media reports that the April edition of the magazine will be the last, but added the website with its jobs board and recruitment agency will a look back at its place in, and impact on, British culture over 140 years. The 'whole field of womanly action' The Lady was established in 1885 by Thomas Gibson Bowles, as a magazine for gentlewomen, a weekly guide to navigating the social minefield of well-to-do British life. Its very distinctive character was affectionately lampooned by PG Wodehouse. In his Jeeves stories, Bertie Wooster is briefly employed by a magazine called Milady's Boudoir, which was housed "in one of those rummy streets in the Covent Garden neighbourhood".The real Lady Magazine just happened to be in Bedford Street in Covent Lady's fame owed much to its advice to women on the mysteries of the British class system. In 1936, for instance, its readers were given an update on the acceptability of novels."The reading of fiction, not long ago thought deplorable by nearly all social workers, is now becoming almost a virtue," it first edition began with an explanation that its objective was to cover "the whole field of womanly action".Almost all of it was written by a man, Thomas Bowles, using various aliases. It was not a huge success. Fortunes changed in 1894 when Thomas Bowles appointed his children's governess, Rita Shell, to be editor. 'How to sack a servant' Under Rita Shell's control, it became a successful weekly guide to women who found themselves in charge of both a household and a budget to outsource the daily drudgery to the lower classes. In December 1927, it cautioned young women "to become a good cook before you marry, darling. Then you will be competent to rebuke a staff of domestics or to dispense with one".Eighty years later, those concerns remained central. Editor Rachel Johnson was a firm believer in not being too familiar with staff, writing: "Never sit in the kitchen chatting to your nanny, it'll end in tears before bedtime."And even today there are still pages of classified adverts for livery workers and other assorted varieties of domestic help but the demand now is more for live-in carers for the elderly than butlers or nannies. Rebranding The Lady That age profile has long been a concern. In 2009, Johnson was taken on to give the magazine a more youthful rebrand. She was asked to halve the average of the reader, which was, when she started, 78.A Channel 4 documentary revealed it was not universally welcomed, and Johnson's diaries later catalogued all the difficulties of aiming articles at younger readers amongst adverts for walk-in baths and absorbent underwear along with products to remove their associated odours. It was an eventful three years that made more than a few while the readership did briefly increase, like most print magazines, sales have been in sharp decline in recent years. Once a weekly, it went from fortnightly to monthly. The last published figures in 2023 revealed it sold just under 18,000 copies an issue. Custard creams in the safe And while the website will continue, it is the end of the line for a very distinctive bit of British culture. The current owner of the Lady, the great grandson of the founder, Thomas Bowles, Ben Budworth has spent 17 years trying to keep it afloat. He took over the running of the magazine in 2008 and over saw the controversial rebrand. His decision to sell off the Covent Garden offices and move production to a business park in Borehamwood in Hertfordshire was met with protest. The premises on Bedford Street were a seen by many of the staff as more than just another office, they helped define The Lady's character. No one had a direct phone line. Instead, calls all went through a telephonist. One former editor said work would stop at 2pm to listen to the Archers, and again at 3:30pm for tea. Johnson said the wall safe was where the tins of custard creams were stored. One particular perk was her own peach-coloured WC. Each day she would be handed two freshly laundered towels. The building was a reminder of its long history and the magazine's many contributors, among them Lewis Carroll, Nancy Mitford and Stella Gibbons, who while giving the impression of being hard at work wrote Cold Comfort Farm in the magazine's offices. The L word However, heritage does not pay bills. Problems with a tax demand made headlines in 2024 and suggested the move to Hertfordshire had not solved the financial woes. The problem of the shrinking and ageing readership was never going away. Even the word lady has shifted over the years from being an aspiration to a term widely regarded as demeaning and disparaging. And while there are older magazines, such as The People's Friend (which did not begin as a magazine aimed specifically at women) and the American Harper's Bazaar which absorbed the even older British stalwart Queen, the Lady has a good claim on being the UK's oldest surviving women's magazine. However, 140 years on, a magazine that once billed itself as an indispensable guide to society has found that society has moved on.
