BB FANS

Lee leaves LBC evening slot


Former 11 O'Clock Show presenter Iain Lee has left London talk radio station LBC, to be replaced in the weekday evening slot by Nick Abbot.

Lee's departure comes less than two months after the departure of the station's managing director, David Lloyd, and less than six months after it was bought by Charles Allen's Global Radio.

Lee has been on LBC in various slots since joining the station three years ago. He said he had a "fantastic three years" on the station.

"I was given the creative freedom to make the show I wanted, and for that I will always be grateful," Lee said.

Abbot currently hosts the Saturday night phone-in on LBC and will take over the weekday evening slot between 7pm and 10pm with immediate effect. Abbot first appeared on LBC in 1999 and regularly filled in for Lee's show when he was away.

Global Radio bought LBC parent Chrysalis Radio for £170m earlier this year. Global's portfolio includes LBC, sister station LBC News 1152AM, as well as the Heart and Galaxy networks.

The LBC programme director, Jonathan Richards, said: "We want to thank Iain for all his hard work and the original style he has brought to early evenings on LBC 97.3. Iain is a talented broadcaster and we wish him all the very best for the future."

Lee presented Channel 4's 11 O'Clock Show, which helped launch the careers of Ali G and Ricky Gervais, and was one of the presenters on RI:SE, the channel's ill-fated follow-up to the Big Breakfast.

LBC attracted a weekly audience of 586,000 listeners in the third quarter of this year, according to the latest Rajar listening figures, down around 50,000 listeners on the previous quarter and down marginally from 594,000 in the same period last year.
guardian

Ken Dodd Documentary

BBC Two has secured access to Ken Dodd for a special programme looking at the entertainer’s career, as he celebrates his 80th birthday.

The broadcaster has spent the last few months following Dodd for the documentary, which will be transmitted over Christmas as part of the Arena strand.

It will look back on his career, which has spanned five decades, and is expected to feature clips from his early performances in the sixties and seventies. The one hour programme will also include recent footage of the performer’s current stage routine as part of his Happiness Tour.

BBC Arena director Ashtar Alkhirsan, who has been filming with Dodd for several months, said Dodd was arguably variety’s “last significant exponent” and added: “Arena has been given a rare opportunity to spend time with Ken Dodd, to explore and talk in detail about his career and his craft, which he’s spent the last 55 years perfecting.”




EastEnders - Cast Members Dies

Actress Hilda Bird, who played Nana Moon in the BBC One soap, has died at the age of 78.

She died peacefully at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, East Sussex after a period of ill health, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Braid starred in the soap from 2002 to 2005. Her other TV credits include Citizen Smith, Casualty, and Man About The House.

An EastEnders spokesman said she was a "much-loved member" of the cast.

"We at EastEnders are very sorry to learn that Hilda has passed away.

"She was a lovely actress who brought her great humour and wit to the role of Nana Moon which earned her many fans, young and old alike.

"She was a much-loved member of our cast who appeared in over 200 episodes of EastEnders, most notably the award-winning episode that saw her character, Nana Moon, visit her beloved late husband's grave in Normandy with grandson Alfie Moon.

Shane Richie played Nana Moon's grandson Alfie

"Everyone at EastEnders sends deepest sympathies and condolences to her family and close friends at this sad time."



QVC To Stay On Freeview

Shopping channel QVC will be carried on Freeview until 2022 following a deal with multiplex owner SDN.

QVC already had a carriage agreement in place lasting until November 2010.

Managing director of ITV consumer Jeff Henry said: "The contract extension underlines the on-going strength of the Freeview capacity market, providing for substantially improved terms for SDN, effective immediately, and longer term benefits for QVC including certainty of carriage on the UK's largest digital television platform.




BBC Football Rights

The BBC is to screen Football League and Carling Cup matches from the 2009 to 2012 seasons after winning the contract in a joint bid with Sky.

It means Championship matches will be screened live on the BBC for the first time, with 10 first-choice games per season exclusively live on the BBC.

The Carling Cup final will be simulcast live with Sky, and two semi-final legs shown exclusively live on the BBC.

Director of BBC Sport Roger Mosey said: "We are genuinely excited about the potential of the Football League properties on the BBC.

"Our aim in the three seasons of our agreement is a simple one: to showcase the new acquisitions across all our platforms, and to make our commitment to football deeper and stronger at every level. "

Under the new deal, Sky Sports' broadcast rights include 65 matches from the Football League, exclusively live, and the Football League play-offs - including all three finals - exclusively live.

Sky will also show exclusive live matches from rounds one to five of the Carling Cup - two matches per round - and two legs of the Carling Cup semi-finals exclusively live.

The new agreements are worth £88m per season to Football League clubs and encompass terrestrial and pay television, broadband internet, video-on-demand and mobile services.



Dominic Littlewood Was Tired

Strictly Come Dancing contestant Dominic Littlewood today blamed his failure in the BBC One show on tiredness.

Speaking on the BBC's Breakfast, Littlewood said there were also outside influences such as the illness of his niece which had an affect on his performance. He also revealed he was a diabetic and his sugar levels were often dangerously low.

In newspaper reports yesterday, the former car salesman slammed the judges saying they based their marks on final rehearsals. He told the Mirror his performance was "flawless".

Asked today if he had changed his mind about the judges he said: "The have eleven couples to comment on and it's very difficult to give different marks to everyone.

"They got me on a really ratty day.

"Unfortunately, I was very fatigued and warn out."

waveguide.co.uk

George Osmond, Osmond family patriarch, dies at 90 CNN

60 SECONDS: David Gray


Singer-songwriter David Gray sold more than 6million copies of his 2001 album White Ladder and dazzled the world with his wobbly-headed singing antics. He spawned a resurgence in male singer-songwriters. David released a new single, The World To Me, earlier this week and his Greatest Hits collection is out on Monday. He is currently on a UK tour.

You’re releasing your greatest hits – that must make you proud.
Yes. You don’t want to take the p*** and pop it out too early. It’s been 13 years since my first single.

It was a while before you had a hit. Did you consider giving up?
I’m not a quitter but I was staring defeat in the face and contemplating what I was going to do with my life. I was thinking of becoming a milkman. I love painting too, that is my other abiding passion, so I thought I’d paint in the afternoons and deliver the milk in the mornings. I was just about managing to survive. Mary Black did a load of my songs on one of her albums which I got royalties from. That kept me going.

Are you responsible for the glut in the singer-songwriter market?
Of course. White Ladder came from nowhere and changed the way people thought about how marketable this stuff was. It wasn’t done selfconsciously, whereas a lot of records that have come in its wake have been cynically tailored to fit that mould. Every successful record has its copies.

How do you stand out in the current crowd?
I’ve got more gravity, I’m more real, I’m not as saccharine and inane as some of my competitors. When I sing, it’s a soulful thing. I’m not aiming at some throwaway froth that will please people for six months. I’m in it for the long term. I’ll be making records for ever. It’s taken a while to get over the bump of success and I took myself far too seriously. It’s only in the past 18 months I’ve rediscovered myself and my social life and got my head above the madness. I haven’t tried to emulate what I did with White Ladder – it would be cynical to make records that way – but what I’ve done is equally potent. I’m very optimistic.

Is there a particular song you have to switch off when it comes on the radio?
Everything. There is tonnes of rubbish out there. I can’t listen to the radio, it upsets me too much, I drive into a hedge. I can just about manage Radio 4. It’s just the way everyone over-emotes in a breathy sub-Mariah Carey way, and she was bad enough. Surely it’s completely unpalatable to anyone with a sane mind but it seems to sell by the bucketload.

There’s lots of rubbish. Everyone over-emotes in a breathy sub-Mariah Carey way, and she was bad enough

What do you spend the money on?
I’m not good at extravagance. When I grew up, there was a competition between my father and the rest of his family in this very nouveau-riche, car-buying, house-buying nonsense. Even as a child I thought it was evil, so I’ve always shied away from buying sports cars and the obvious things. My biggest extravagance has been buying the studio and the Steinway I put in it. I’ve spent a lot on clothes in the past month. Savile Row is my new discovery. Kilgour are fantastic. I’ve got three-piece suits from Daks and go to JM Weston for shoes. I’ve gone a bit mod.

What’s the most ridiculous promotional thing you’ve done?
I did this bizarre breakfast radio show in Salt Lake City. It was hosted by people in pink gorilla suits, even though it was for radio. I had to oblige by grunting at their God-awful humour thinking: ‘This must be success.’

Your songs were used on TV and in films. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve popped up on?
Porn. Please Forgive Me was on some sort of sleazy Playboy-type soft-porn film. That was strange. Management told me about that. Hopefully, all the money filtered through the Performing Right Society. And it was on a keep-fit video, too.

You’re renowned for your head wobbling when you sing. Has it always done that?
It’s just my natural tick when I get entranced. It’s weird watching myself. I’m not aware of it at the time and my eyes go completely dead – it’s like watching a great white shark. People always ask: ‘Why do you wobble your head?’ but there’s no answer to it.
Metro

Dog’s Ex-Wife: “He’s A Racist” … and Other Family Members Agree!!!! perezhilton

BBC Drops Rough Justice

BBC programme Rough Justice is to be dropped after 27 years, it emerged today.

The documentary strand investigated miscarriages of justice.

Simon Ford, who was the programme’s executive producer and recently took voluntary redundancy, said: “For 27 years, a programme like Rough Justice has proved that television, as well as reporting on injustice, can actually change things.

“Without a dedicated team doing that, many individuals who are wrongly imprisoned will stay there and the British public will remain ignorant of the failings of our justice system.

“This is a tragedy for the prisoners themselves and our greater society.”

A BBC spokesman said: “Rough Justice has not been on the air since April and the strand will not continue.”

“But news and current affairs will continue to investigate potential miscarriages of justice, for example the recent Panorama on Barry George and current affairs investigations into the Webster family and Angela Cannings.”



Choir Wars Is Coming

BBC One is to screen a new talent show next year featuring a contest between amateur choirs.

In Choir Wars, groups from classical to barbershop, folk or rock will compete before a studio audience in a series of live heats.

Similar in format to Any Dream Will Do and Strictly Come Dancing,
contestants will face a judging panel but viewers will decide who goes through to the next stage.

The BBC said today that with more than 25,000 registered choirs across around the country, it will be the UK's biggest ever talent search.

The in-house production was commissioned by controller entertainment, commissioning, Elaine Bedell, and acting BBC One controller Roly Keating.



No Blind Date For Alan Carr
Alan Carr tonight denied reports that he is to host a new series of Blind Date.

Speaking to Paul O'Grady, Carr said the reports that he was to take over from Cilla Black were untrue.

He said: "Because I've got the same size teeth as Cilla, they want to sign me up."

waveguide.co.uk

Weather girl Trish is killed Sun

60 SECONDS: Nicola Roberts

Girls Aloud singer Nicola Roberts, 22, is 'the best pop star in Britain', says Heat magazine's Mark Frith. Famed for her ginger locks, she's one-fifth of Britain's premier pop group whose hits include The Show and Sexy! No No No. She gives out fashion advice in new DVD Style, out today. New album Tangled Up is released next Monday, with single Call The Shots out a week later.

On the dVd, you advise people not to buy jeans without pockets on the bum. why’s that?
Because they make your bum look long, flat and awful. It takes a long time to find a pair of jeans that fit you properly, especially for us, when we have to wear them on stage. We once found some perfect jeans but they didn’t have pockets on. They looked ugly as sin from the back so I made the stylist sew pockets on them. The jeans looked so much nicer. It makes all the difference. If a woman wants shape to her bum she needs pockets on her jeans. Style is so individual but if it’s such a drastic thing as people wearing ugly jeans, it’s nice to be able to advise them on what to do.

what’s the worst thing you’ve had to wear since you’ve been in Girls Aloud?
The silver outfits we wore for No Good Advice made us look like we’d been beamed down from space. I hated the Jump outfits too. They were basketball-themed thing with these horrible boots.

what about the PVC catsuits?
People took those pictures the wrong way. They were for the Sexy! No No No video and were supposed to be a blank canvas which would contrast with these huge red dresses we were wearing. The catsuits were awful to put on. We had to put lubricant all over our bodies and it felt like we were swimming around in the suit, it was disgusting. It worked on the video though.

Have any of the outfits been so good you’ve kept them afterwards?
The videos are seen so much you can’t wear the outfits later. People say: ‘That’s what she wore in the video.’ It’s a bit skanky. We keep our costumes as memorabilia though, so when we get older we can show our kids, just for nostalgia.

You kept a dignified silence during the feud between Girls Aloud and lily Allen, why?
Because I know what can happen when you open your mouth. Sometimes it’s not worth it. You just have to think it’s silly and pathetic and I’m not going to rise to it. But when someone says something so nasty and uncalled for [Lily called Nicola ugly] then you really want to jump in. I was really tempted to say something back but decided she wasn’t worth it. It would have just kept the story going.

I was really tempted to say something back but decided she wasn’t worth it. It would have just kept the story going

If you took over the world what changes would you make?
I’d sack Gordon Brown to start with. He needs a good old shake-up. We need someone else to take lead of the country and sort it out because it’s a bit of a mess. We need more laws. People are running around and shooting people and getting away with it and that needs to stop.

What's the most ridiculous promotional thing you've done?
What's the most ridiculous promotional thing you've done? We were on a hidden camera thing for Ant and Dec. We used to do four TV performances a day so by the end we'd roll up, get hair and make-up and go on without thinking about it. We went to one place and was told by our TV person that it was for the God Channel. She said if we did it we'd get the Lottery for some reason. We totally bought in and we went into the studio and there were 70 nuns there. We were stunned. We couldn't believe we were expected to perform this song to an audience full of nuns. After 10 minutes though we realised it was Ant and Dec but it was terrifying at first. We were begging not to do it.

Did Geri give you any helpful advice when you were all on Popstars: The Rivals?
Not really. She said don't believe what you read in the papers and have fun but that was about it. No one said 'this is the way it is'. We had to learn by ourselves. We made mistakes but don't regret anything, it all worked out for us.

What's your favourite Girls Aloud song?
I really love Sexy! No No No and Call the Shots becasue it's new. It's fresh to sing and a bit more of a challenge. When you've done the same routine for five years it's nice to do new things. Songs like Sound of the Underground are second nature so you don't have to think about them.

Metro

60 SECONDS: Jake Shears


Jake Shears is the flamboyant frontman with party-friendly popsters Scissor Sisters. He is renowned for his crazy costumes and onstage banter with singing sidekick Ana Matronic. The group release their new DVD Hurrah today. It features their concert at the capital's O2 arena plus videos of their hits I Don't Feel Like Dancin' and She's My Man.

what’s the most unusual place you’ve done a gig?
The giant snow peaks of Ischgl in Austria. They had oxygen by the side of the stage. They said no one had needed to use it before but, by the third song, I was about to pass out, so I took oxygen hits between songs.

You’re famous for your unusual outfits. what’s your favourite item of clothing?
It’s impossible for me to pick a favourite. I’ve discovered I might be a bit colour blind. I get my reds and purples mixed up, so my outfits often end up looking a bit weird. One of my favourites was a set of Disney suits. I had them in white, gold and blue with matching visors and they had Mickey, Donald and Goofy all over them. I looked like a senior citizen on vacation. I loved them but the fans hated them – I got letters asking me not to wear them again.

what’s the biggest argument you’ve had in the band?
Remember Buckethead, who used to play guitar with Axl Rose? He wore a KFC bucket over his head on stage. There is an ongoing vicious fight about whether Buckethead is scary or just stupid. I think he is kind of scary but Ana just thinks he’s stupid. Usually, I just let Ana win the fights – it’s easier.

Are you going to work with Kylie minogue again?
Yes, we sang together the other night at the Music Industry Trust awards. We get into the studio together a couple of times a year and have fun. She’s always fun to collaborate with.

what’s her appeal to the gay community about?Everyone loves Kylie, don’t they?
Not just gay people. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love her. We write together a few times a year and hang out and are creative in the studio. The last thing we did was a song called White Diamond, which is also the title of her documentary film.

I had a set of Disney suits with Mickey, Goofy and Donald all over them. My fans asked me not to wear them again

why do you think you sell records in Britain but no one’s heard of you in America?
Maybe it’s because people have said it so much, it’s become true. If there’s one thing I can think of, and it applies to both Kylie and Scissor Sisters, it’s that our sexuality isn’t dark. With music in the US – whether it’s hip hop, r’n’b or straight-up pop – your sexuality has to have a much darker edge. Our sexuality isn’t dark. That’s a positive thing.

when did you first realise you were famous?
I never have really. I don’t think of myself in that way. I don’t get a lot of attention, you’d be surprised to learn. I blend in really well. The friends I have are because they’re creative, amazing people and hopefully they think the same about me – it’s not that I perceive them as being famous or vice versa.

what’s been your most extravagant purchase?
I’m so proud of the fact I’ve just bought my own place in New York. I can finally afford a place with a laundry room. That’s big news in New York. People have been coming round and I’ve been saying: ‘And here is my laundry room.’ I can do my own washing, which is a complete luxury in New York City.

What’s your favourite film?
I’ve just seen Blade Runner – The Director’s Cut and I think it’s the most perfect film I’ve ever seen. It’s complete visual poetry. The soundtrack by Vangelis is amazing. It blew my mind.

Have you ever been attacked by an animal?
My tortoise craps on me a lot but he’s never attacked me. He’s called Cheeseburger and he’s three years old. He’s very cute.

what are your pet-care tips for tortoise owners?
People might not realise it but tortoises like exercise. Cheeseburger loves to get out of his cage and crawl around the house. It makes him much happier to get out once in a while and hide behind the TV.

What's the worst gig you've ever done?
I can't think of one right now but I have lots of dreams about it. I have performance nightmares that are just awful. I dream we're playing a show but can't get the PA right and people leave or you come out on stage and there are 10 people there when there should be thousands. That hasn't happened in reality but I'm haunted by performance anxiety.

You recently appeared on cult US soap Passions. What was that about?
Passions ran for 15 years and they cancelled it right after we did our two episodes. We were the death knell. It was a strange daytime soap opera with very strong occult themes. There was a child character in it called Timmy who also turned into a doll. There were monkeys, midgets and witches so we were huge fans of the show. We really wanted to be on the show but we demanded we had to be conjured up by the resident witch Tabitha and sang a song in her living room. Ana was really good but I realsied I cannot act my way out of a paper bag. I was so bad.

Are you still pals with Elton John? There was a story you fell out because you lost the keys to his house.
That's absurd, that was a very silly story. I was just with Elton and David in Las Vegas. We're still incredibly close.

Are you going to be redecorating?
My wonderful boyfriend has done all the renovations himself with his own hands. He designed it all and has done a really beautiful job. He tore down walls and put new wood floors in. I'm very lucky to have a partner who is creative in that way. We didn't have a bunch of contractors come in and bling it out.
Metro

60 SECONDS: Richard Archer


Richard Archer, 30, is the frontman with crowd-pleasing popsters Hard-Fi, whose hit singles include Cash Machine and Living For The Weekend. Hailing from Staines, Middlesex, their current album, Once Upon A Time In The West, went straight to No.1. New single Can't Get Along (Without You) was released this week. Hard-Fi begin a nationwide tour on December 4.

What's the new single about?
It's about a man whose life falls to pieces when he leaves the girl he loves. He thinks it's the best thing to do but it's obviously not. He realises what he's done and tries to go back and fix it.

Is it autobiographical?
Parts of it are, you want to make a good story and spice it up a bit. Everyone's been through a situation like that.

What’s the secret of Hard-Fi’s success?
Soul music is in the DNA of Hard-Fi. We love all that 1960s soul. It’s got a beat you want to dance to and a melody you want to sing along to but it also says something that touches you emotionally. We’ve always wanted to write great songs that people can connect with and be positive and passionate rather than negative and cynical.

Not all critics have been receptive to your tunes. Are you bothered?
If they don’t like the music, then that’s fair enough. They can say what they like about me but sometimes they say things about our fans that would land them in court if they were talking about an ethnic minority. They write them off as being stupid and they’re always described as ‘proles’. It’s disgusting.

What’s the worst gig that you’ve played?
We played Seattle just after their team lost the Super Bowl. It was in a big hall and they’d been showing the game. The place was full of people decked out in the Seahawks’ colours. They were all there for a celebration and they had lost. We came on to a few hundred people but there was still a big sense of disappointment in the air.

How are things going for you in America?
We can play to 200 people on the east and west coasts but that's a long way from breaking America. It's going OK but we've still got a long way to go. You can go over there and play everywhere and spend all your money you've ever made and get nowhere.

What’s the last thing you bought on eBay?
I tried to buy a pool table for our studio but it was such a palaver that I didn’t bother. We needed an old, clapped-out one from a pub. This one was in Slough which is just down the road. Perfect. But it wasn’t to be.

What’s the best thing about coming from Staines?
It’s close to the airport. There’s not much to do, admittedly, but there are some creative people there, so it’s not all bad.

What is the most ridiculous promotional thing you have had to do?
We did a show in Tokyo and got hammered on saki. The next day we had to get the minibus to Osaka and there were a load of girls on board. It turned out they’d all won a date with Hard-Fi. No one told us. They were sitting there talking in Japanese and we didn’t have a clue what they were saying. We went round the city with three girls each for the day. It was a bit much to take in with hangovers.

Did they have any expectations that you weren’t prepared to fulfil?
If they did, it was lost in translation. We never mix business with pleasure.

Why did you change your name from Thieving Hippie Dole Cheats?
We got that from a headline in the Daily Mail. We changed to Hard-Fi though because it’s always good to have a period of renewal.

How did the story start about you dating Scarlett Johansson?
A paper phoned our manager and said: ‘We know he’s dating Scarlett Johansson, her people have told us.’ We told them it wasn’t true and that I’d never even met her. They ran the story anyway, saying I was secretly dating Scarlett Johansson. A week later they ran another story saying her people were denying it and that: ‘Richard Archer, from Hard-Fi, is a fantasist.’ It was quite funny until I ended up looking like a prick.

What Hollywood actress would you date?
Elizabeth Taylor. It’s a lottery isn’t it? You could be the tenth Mr Taylor and you could end up inheriting the lot. It’s all about timing.

What was the last book you read?
Homage To Catalonia by George Orwell. I’m just starting to read his stuff. It was really good.

What advice would you give to Britney Spears?
Chill out and have a holiday. It’s the same as the Spice Girls. They’ve all made a load of money and yet they keep coming back. Why not just take it easy? Stay at home and take up needlework or, alternatively, become a Nascar driver.

Metro

VIC REEVES and wife NANCY SORRELL 'We didn't get jiggy in jungle'

And now the couple are set to work together again with a radio show called House Arrest, in which VIc is trapped in his house each week.
Sun

Sean Penn, one of the best actors of his generation, is going to play gay political icon Harvey Milk in a new movie directed by the wonderful Gus Van Sant, Focus Features announced on film.

Often referred to as the “Mayor of Castro Street,” was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in America. In 1977, he was voted to the supervisors’ board of San Francisco.

His life was cut tragically short when the following year homophobic fellow supervisor Dan White brutally murdered both Milk and then city mayor George Moscone.

Van Sant and Penn’s Milk begin production in January.

This has Oscar contender for 2009 written all over it!
perezhilton

New BBC Talent Show

The BBC has today announced details of its new talent show, to be hosted by Graham Norton.

Starting in January, The One And Only... is a primetime Saturday night show that will aim to find the best tribute band or artist in the UK.

Performers will not only have to sing like a superstar, they have to look like them, dress like them, and act like them.

Auditions have taken place throughout the UK where thousands of hopefuls paid tribute to their favourite idol to win a place in the Superfan Singoff.

All this leads up to the weekly live shows on BBC One, where the tribute acts will sing their hearts out in front of a studio audience full of friends and Superfans, to earn viewers' votes.

Established vocal coaches to the stars David and Carrie Grant will be also on hand to mentor, prepare and perfect the sound of the acts.

For the winner there is a once in a lifetime opportunity – a three month performing contract in Las Vegas with the renowned Legends In Concert, the world's longest–running celebrity impersonator show.





Ricky Gervais And Reality Shows
Ricky Gervais has vowed never to sign on for a reality TV series - despite his love of such programmes.

The comedian's favourite reality show is I'm a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, which sees stars struggling to survive in the Australian jungle for a fortnight.

However, The Office star said he would never step foot in the rainforest himself - because he would "be the first out."

The 46-year-old told a magazine: "(I couldn't cope with) the fact there are no comforts like a bath or running water. The lack of privacy would do my head in first, then the idiots I was in there with.

"Then you've got the dangerous animals that could kill you, and having to eat kangaroo ***** - it wouldn't happen!"





Chris Tarrant Radio Return

Chris Tarrant will be returning to radio next year, he said in an interview.

The 61-year-old presenter of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? was with London's Capital Radio from 1984, most of the time on the breakfast show. He handed over the early morning crown to Johnny Vaughan three years ago.

Speaking about his former station, Tarrant said: "It has got lost in the world of market research. Capital as a radio station has lost the plot.... They have missed missed the point that it was the soul of London."

He added: "When I realised I missed music, I became Mr Ipod and now I'm talking in some detail about doing a new radio show next year."

waveguide.co.uk

Simon Cowell is the King of TV

Simon Cowell has been crowned the richest man on TV.

The music mogul, who is a judge on TV talents shows 'The X Factor' and 'American Idol', has a staggering £100million fortune, according to a list compiled by Britain's Daily Mail newspaper's Weekend magazine.

Weekend financial journalist Duncan Farmer said: "It's the 47-year-old's continuing success in the US, particularly with 'American Idol' - a show watched by 41 million Americans every week - that has really helped to fill the Cowell coffers.

"A recent report in an US magazine estimated the 'American Idol' and 'X Factor' brands could be worth as much as £750million for Cowell."

Simon's fellow 'X Factor' judge Sharon Osbourne and her husband Ozzy - who both starred in MTV reality show 'The Osbournes' - saw their collective riches equal Simon's.

'The Weakest Link' presenter Anne Robinson was in second place with £62million. However, she could be set to lose half her wealth in a bitter divorce battle with ex-husband John Penrose.

Gordon Ramsay

Celebrity chefs battled it out for fourth position, with Gordon Ramsay eventually beating fellow chef Jamie Oliver by £20million.

Gordon - who owns nine restaurants and two pubs in London, as well as one in New York, and plans to open eateries in Florida, Los Angeles, Paris and Ireland next year - has become even more popular after releasing two autobiographies.

His show 'Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares' is currently in its fifth series on British television.

Glamour model-turned-businesswoman Katie Price showed off her ample assets by placing ninth in the list with a net worth of £30.5million through her underwear, perfume and book lines, as well as her chat show with husband Peter Andre, and deal with Britain's OK! magazine.

A surprise entry in the top 15 is possibly 'Frasier' actress Jane Leeves. She came eleventh with £25million, despite her acting career waning since the popular American sitcom finished in 2004.

But it is her production company, Bristol Cities, which nets her the most money.

Farmer wrote: "Jane, 46, is now a powerful force behind the camera, having established her own production company - she is executive producer of the US version of 'The Vicar of Dibley'."

Ant McPartlin and his presenting partner Declan Donnelly rounded off the top 15, despite the recent ITV phone-in scandal which threatened to damage their careers.

Daily Mail's Weekend magazine's Top 15 Richest People in Television:

1. Simon Cowell - £100million

2. Sharon and Ozzy - £100million

3. Anne Robinson - £62million

4. Gordon Ramsay - £60million

5. Jamie Oliver - £40million

6. Jonathan Ross - £35million

7. Chris Evans - £31million

8. Chris Tarrant - £30million

9. Katie Price - £30.5million

10. Coleen McLoughlin - £30million

11. Jane Leeves - £25million

12. Noel Edmonds - £24million

13. Delia Smith - £23million

14. Gary Lineker - £22million

15. Ant and Dec - £20million each

(C) BANG Media International
myparkmag

Brown 'offered GMTV Fiona a job'

Ms Phillips is patron of a number of health-related charities
Television presenter Fiona Phillips has turned down a job advising Prime Minister Gordon Brown, it has emerged.

The decision comes after they held talks on Ms Phillips becoming involved in campaigns, such as on public health.

A Downing Street spokesman said Mr Brown welcomed "all men and women of talent who want to contribute".

The PM is reported to have been impressed with the presentation skills of the GMTV presenter, who is patron of a number of health-related charities.

'All the talents'

She has previously expressed an interest in politics and is said to be a friend of Mr Brown.

A Downing Street spokesman said: "The prime minister is not going to comment on individuals, as the prime minister has said previously.

"In previous statements by the prime minister, he said he would welcome all men and women of talent who want to contribute to public life."

Mr Brown has expressed his desire to create a government "of all the talents", with businessman Sir Alan Sugar also advising him.

Former Royal Navy head Lord West is now the security minister, while the former director general of the Confederation of British Industry, Baron Jones of Birmingham, is a trade minister.

Ms Phillips, a graduate of Birmingham University, is involved with several charities and is patron of Barnardos, Alzheimer's Society, Age Concern, Richard House Hospice and Mildmay Mission Hospital.

She was invited by Mr Brown's predecessor, Tony Blair, to dine at the prime ministerial country residence Chequers.
BBC