Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Venom And Loathing

Troy Kennedy Martin, the legendary British screenwriter whose credits included the groundbreaking procedural police drama Z-Cars and the script for the cult Michael Caine movie The Italian Job, has died from cancer aged seventy seven. The award-winning writer began his career at the BBC in 1958. His most famous TV creation was the Liverpool-based Z-Cars, which ran for sixteen years from 1962, although Kennedy Martin himself was only involved in the first two series. He subsequently moved into feature films with the original screenplay for Peter Collinson's The Italian Job, Kelly's Heroes, The Jerusalem File and Sweeney 2, based on popular TV series The Sweeney created by his brother Ian Kennedy Martin. He also co-wrote the screenplay for Red Heat with director Walter Hill in 1988 and Red Dust, directed by Tom Hooper, in 2004. He made a thrilling return to mainstream TV work during the 1980s, writing the critically acclaimed political thriller Edge Of Darkness, The Old Men at the Zoo and the hugely popular ITV espionage drama Reilly, Ace Of Spies. He also adapted Andy McNab's book Bravo Two Zero. Although he was best known for his work spanning TV and film, he also penned a novel, Beating The Damask Drum, published in 1959, and gave many lectures including the McTaggart at the Edinburgh International TV Festival in 1986. After serving with the Gordon Highlanders in Cyprus, Francis Kennedy Martin wrote his first TV play, Incident at Six Echo, for the BBC in 1958. The Interrogator (1961) and Man Without Papers (1965) followed and he created the anthology series Storyboard in 1961, including a fine adaptation of John Wyndham's The Long Spoon. However, it is for his creation of television's first noire police series, Z Cars that Kennedy Martin made his reputation. Diary of a Young Man, which he co-created with his Z Cars collaborator John McGrath in 1964, has been described as 'The Likely Lads meets Ken Loach', and was Nerys Hughes' first big TV break. Kennedy Martin also contributed to the SF anthology Out of the Unknown, a clever adaptation of The Midas Plague. Though film work occupied much of his time later in his career, Kennedy Martin was always a popular name on TV, writing episodes for series as diverse as Colditz and The Sweeney. Known for writing his scripts in long-hand and a hatred for word processors, he was one of Keith Telly Topping's heroes and will be greatly missed as much for his very low tolerance threshold for numpties as for his, quite magnificent, scripts which influenced a couple of generations of TV dramatists. He did not go quietly into that endless night. Thank God.

Kate Moss was 'joking' when she threw a series of tantrums at the GQ Awards last week, according to an unnamed source quoted in a press report. The supermodel appeared to flounce out of the ceremony with her close friend, Lily Allen, in tow last Tuesday. Initial reports suggested that Moss's alleged anger was sparked by a risque joke that actor Jimmy Nesbitt made about her at the event. However, a source described as being 'close to the thirty five-year-old' has now allegedly told the Daily Star: 'Kate was just messing around when she pretended to storm out. She was winding up James about his smutty remark. They've been pals for years. Kate and Lily Allen had already decided to leave the bash straight after dinner and head back to their Claridge's hotel suite for a party.' Love the way that the source just threw in there that Katie was staying at Claridge's. You know, a fantastically expensive hotel where you common people will never get to stay, even if you saved up for, like, a million years. Anyway, Moss was also seen interrupting a video interview with Jezza Paxman's good mate, Mister Dizzee Rah-scal, to complain about a lost lipstick on the night. The insider added: 'Kate has a wicked sense of humour. She wanted to wind Dizzee up by butting in and pretending she'd lost her lipstick. Come on, as if Kate cares! She has thousands of lipsticks.' Again, thousands. Considerably more than you plebs can ever aspire to having. 'People don't realise she loves taking the piss and isn't afraid to laugh at herself. She doesn't take life that seriously.' Well, that all sounds perfectly believable.

Running into London's Trafalgar Square on Tuesday, Eddie Izzard took the last of one and a half million steps, from the forty three marathons he has completed in fifty one days. He has run at least twenty seven miles a day, six days a week, over the past seven weeks, covering more than one thousand one hundred and ten miles of England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. The aim - to raise what he calls, in classic whimsical Izzard style, 'billions' for charity Sport Relief. Just the one marathon race is enough for super-fit modern athletes and the pinnacle of achievement for many 'fun runners.' The suggested recovery time afterwards is two to three weeks. It seemed impressive enough when hardened explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes ran seven marathons, in seven days, on seven continents in 2003. So how has Eddie, a forty seven-year-old with no previous aspiration to emulate Paula Radcliffe, made it through so many since his first marathon in July? And if he can run forty three marathons in a row, can it really be that difficult? Yes. It can. And Keith Telly Topping has absolutely no intention of trying it for himself, although he is happy to watch anyone else who wants to. Go for it, and the best of British to ya.

Ant and Dec have insisted that reality TV has a bright future despite the downfall of Big Brother. Critics have suggested that Channel 4's decision to axe the long-running show after next year's series marks an end of the genre's golden age. Reflecting on the programme's fate, Ant told the Daily Star: 'It changed TV, like Pop Idol. But reality TV is here to stay. People who want to kill it off are going to be disappointed. It's not the root of all evil.' Well no, that's a fair comment - Keith Telly Topping has always said that there are only two types of television - good television and bad television and that entire genres can't be dumped in one category or t'other simply because of what they are. There are good reality TV shows just as there are bad sitcoms, dramas or documentaries. Nothing in life is ever black and white. Except laurel and Hardy films. The pair also agreed that they enjoy the opportunity to travel around the country for Britain's Got Talent auditions each year. Dec explained: 'You can get so insular staying in London, thinking this is the centre of the universe, and it really isn't. It's so interesting to go out and meet people.'

Big Brother may be preparing for the end on Channel 4 but Endemol has confirmed new orders for the reality format in the US and Germany. RTL2 has commissioned Endemol Germany to produce a tenth series that will launch in a primetime slot in 2010. It follows the success of the previous run, that aired from July to December 2008 and climbed more than forty per cent above RTL2's average market share. In the US, CBS has ordered a twelfth series for broadcaster in 2012. The current series has proved the summer's number one entertainment show on the network across all hours. While the show has not been renewed by Channel 4 in the UK - with a final celebrity series and one more run of the format due to air in 2010 - broadcasters in Italy and Spain have been enjoying success with the programme. In Italy, this year's ninth series of Grande Fratello averaged 6.6 million viewers and a twenty nine per cent market share, becoming the most successful in three years and beating Canale 5's current primetime share by more than twenty seven per cent. Grande Fratello 10 is now due to launch in October.

Derren Brown first made his prediction of last Wednesday's lottery numbers nearly a year ago, it has been claimed. The illusionist appeared to correctly guess the results of the draw in a live Channel 4 broadcast last week. He later claimed that he used predictions from twenty four members of the public to compile his line-up of numbers using a system called 'the wisdom of crowds.' According to the Sun, Brown revealed a second 'explanation' of the stunt to members of a studio audience when he recorded his Friday night follow-up episode. The footage did not make the final cut. It is believed that the star played a video to the crowd which showed him asking children to pick one ball each from six bags on London's Oxford Street, where Christmas lights could be seen in the background. The balls chosen displayed the numbers picked at random in Wednesday night's lottery draw. A source commented: 'It was pretty impressive stuff. But when the show aired it had been taken out and Derren never mentioned it.' A representative for Channel 4 said that the mysterious video was cut due to 'time restraints.'

Live From Studio Five had a desperately poor start for Five last night, according to overnight viewing figures. The 6.30pm chatshow, which sees Big Melinda Messenger, Kate Walsh and giggling Ian Wright-Wright-Wright discuss topical showbiz stories, averaged a disappointing four hundred and seventy six thousand viewers over the hour, making it only the twelfth most-watched show on Five across Monday. The audience declined in each half hour, peaking with five hundred and seventy five thousand viewers at 7pm when Channel 4's Hollyoaks finished. There was then a rapid decline in audience numbers by the end of the show, which finished with a lowly two hundred and seventy three thousand. It was beaten by E4's screening of the next Hollyoaks, which had a shade under five hundred thousand viewers between 7pm and 7.30pm, and was close to being topped by Home And Away, which pulled in four hundred and fifty five thousand viewers between 6.30pm and 7pm on Fiver. Later on Five, The Gadget Show - featuring the Goddess that is Suzi Perry - scored one million four hundred and one thousand during the 8pm hour, and just over one million watched Warship at 9pm. Over on BBC1, Waking The Dead continued its impressive upwards trend with 6.71m (just over twenty nine per cent audience share), easily winning the 9pm hour against ITV's disappointing Blue Murder (4.5m).

Broadcasters are employing 'Twentieth Century tactics with Twenty First Century technologies' such as +1 channels and failing to capitalise on advertising sales around repeats, a report has claimed. According to research house Digital-i's Strategies for Maximising Audience and Advertising in a Time-Shifting World, broadcasters are failing to exploit the significantly increased audiences that repeats generate. Digital-i managing director Ali Vahdati said broadcasters were 'still living in the 70s' and not thinking enough about the life cycle of their programming. 'They are still selling advertising blocks in the old way,' Vahdati told Broadcast. 'For example, they could tell DIY advertisers that Grand Designs may get three to four million when it premieres, but it could get six to seven million across the week.' However, Vahdati warned that 'smart scheduling' of repeats was paramount and that too many broadcasters were guilty of getting it wrong. 'Sometimes you see a show premiere in peak and it does really well,' he said. 'But for some reason it gets repeated in the early hours of the morning.'

Strictly Come Dancing host Tess Daly has revealed that the show's stars are terrified about making their debut on the programme. Joe Calzaghe, Lynda Bellingham, Martina Hingis, Ricky Groves, Jade Johnson, Ali Bastian, Chris Hollins and Rav Wilding will all fight to save their places in the competition when the new series begins on Friday. The other eight stars will compete the following week. Writing in her column for the Mirror, Daly commented: 'Of course my big news is that Strictly is back on Friday and on Saturday we'll lose our first couple. They're pretty much all petrified and none of them want to be the first to leave. For me one of the most thrilling moments is seeing them all together for the first time on the dance floor.'

Former Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Phillips is making a swift return to judging in a BBC version of hit US show So You Think You Can Dance. The choreographer will sit on a panel of experts headed up by former Popstars judge Nasty Nigel Lythgoe. Dancers are invited to participate in nation-wide auditions which will take place during October. The best will be selected as finalists to compete for the title of Britain's Favourite Dancer this January. Each week they will be challenged to different styles of dance like hip hop, jazz, Broadway, lyrical and contemporary with a new routine taught by a different choreographer and mentor.

Duncan Bannatyne has hit out at Watchdog host Anne Robinson, branding her dishonest. The Dragons' Den star appeared on the BBC1 consumer show last week to defend the use of sunbeds at his health clubs. Robinson later claimed that he 'stormed off' the programme in a 'very, very angry' mood after she interviewed him. Denying the allegation in an interview with the Daily Express, Bannatyne insisted: 'I have a live audience and the crew as my witness. Perhaps Anne has some memory loss or dreamt it. I was in a hurry to leave. We were begged to stay for an extra hour as Anne kept fluffing her lines. I had an appointment so had to hurry but in no way stormed out.' The businessman also insisted that Robinson lied to viewers when she claimed that a melanoma she had removed from her back in 2001 was caused by sunbeds. He commented: 'Is Anne saying she's never been out in the garden, gone to the beach and built a sandcastle with the sun on her back? Is she saying she lived her whole life in a darkened room? She has no evidence her melanoma was not caused by sunshine.' Bannatyne increased the age limit on his fitness club's sunbeds from sixteen to eighteen in response to Watchdog's investigation into young people's use of the tanning machines.

EastEnders is to broadcast a live episode to mark the soap's Twenty Fifth anniversary. On Friday, 19 February the cast and crew of the Walford serial will celebrate its milestone year by screening its final instalment of anniversary week live from Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, at the usual time of 8pm. It will be the first time the BBC soap has attempted a live transmission. Exact details of the episode have yet to be finalised, but the show's executive producer Diederick Santer has promised that it will include the climax to 'a big storyline' that will keep viewers guessing 'until the very last moment.' Speaking of the occasion, Santer said: 'It's too early to discuss the exact storyline at this point, but viewers are assured that this live episode will bring them all the high drama and excitement they expect from EastEnders and then some. The episode will feature, amongst other things, the resolution to a big storyline which will keep the audience - as well as the cast and crew - guessing until the very last moment. Every time I think about this episode, I get excited as well as a little nervous but nonetheless, we are all thrilled to be celebrating our Twenty Five years on screen with a live episode.' He added: 'It's a big test for every member of the production here and hopefully a big treat for the audience.' Coronation Street marked its Fortieth anniversary with a live episode on 9 December 2000.

EastEnders star Scott Maslen has admitted that he is unfamiliar with many fan favourites from the soap's past. The thirty eight-year-old actor, who plays Jack Branning on the BBC drama, revealed that he is usually confused when he hears about popular cast members making comebacks. Speaking to BANG Showbiz, he commented: 'They keep bringing people back, but to be honest with you, I never used to watch EastEnders apart from when I was young, when I was forced to by my mum. When I was fifteen, I was straight out of there. I didn't watch much telly anyway, so a lot of the faces, they'll all probably come back, but a lot of them I don't even know.' Maslen went on to name Danniella Westbrook (Sam Mitchell) as one of the only recent returnees who he was already aware of. He then added: 'But since I've been in EastEnders everybody gets along - there isn't any ego. When you're working on something that's so intensive you've got to just get on with it. There's nobody in the show that demands or expects any more than anyone else.'

Coronation Street's cast and crew have adopted a stray cat who hangs around the programme's set, according to a report. The show's team fell for the animal when they spotted her at work and have since named her after Weatherfield legend Elsie Tanner, the Daily Star Sunday claims. It is believed that some cast members have helped to pay vet's fees for their new pet, as well as showering her with treats. Jane Danson, who plays Leanne Battersby on the soap, confirmed: 'There's even a little bed for her outside the wardrobe department.' A show insider added: 'We've had so much bad luck recently with accidents on the set and personal tragedies that everyone thinks Elsie may have brought us good luck.' The original Elsie, who was played by the late Pat Phoenix between 1960 and 1984, remains one of Coronation Street's most iconic and memorable characters. And, could be a bit catty when the mood took her.

Kevin Kennedy has played down rumours that he will return to Coronation Street next year. Yesterday, a tabloid reported that Kennedy was poised to make a 'shock comeback' as Curly Watts for the ITV soap's fiftieth anniversary celebrations in 2010. The speculation came after the actor confirmed that he would like to reprise the role for the programme's milestone. However, speaking to BBC London breakfast show, Kennedy insisted: 'The thing is, like any kind of weird sort of wonderful situation, you work for a big company like the BBC and what have you and it's like the actor or presenter is probably the last person to know what's going on! The press seem to know more than I do anyway. There's rumours flying - every three months there's something asking if I'm going back but at the moment, to be honest with you, no-one's said anything to me so I can only tell you that, unfortunately, it's not true as far as I know.' Kennedy went on to confirm that Curly returning to Weatherfield after a stint in jail is one idea which was 'floated around' for the character in the past. He also revealed that he would love to be back in the programme. Curly was last seen in 2003 when he left the Street with wife Emma (Angela Lonsdale) and son Ben.

The BBC has announced that Never Mind The Buzzcocks will return this autumn with a brand new line-up. Mighty Boosh unfunny man Noel Fielding joins Phill Jupitus on the show as a team captain, while the series will be presented by guest hosts David Walliams, Dermot O'Leary, Jack Whitehall, Rhod Gilbert, Frank Skinner, Mark Watson and James Corden. And, that knobcheese bassist out of Blur who gets himself everywhere. 'I am so excited about Buzzcocks. I am leaping across the Camden rooftops dressed as a small white kitten,' Fielding said. Yeah, like I say. Unfunny. Very. Executive editor Katie Taylor added: 'It's great to welcome so many comics and top musicians, many who have proven themselves as Buzzcocks panellists in the past, to the host hot seat. Noel Fielding will bring his eclectic music taste and surrealist humour, while Phill, having been there since day one, now takes the title of the elder statesman of the show.' It was reported earlier that Simon Amstell had decided to move on from his role as presenter on the gameshow. Never Mind The Buzzcocks returns on Tuesday, 29 September to BBC2. Never been the same since Bill Bailey left. Anyway ...

BBC Radio 2 has announced a major four-part documentary series which profiles a quartet of enduring and celebrated icons of British comedy to transmit from Tuesday 15 September. Four of today's best loved comedians – Clive Anderson, Ben Miller, David Walliams and Eddie Izzard - will commemorate the lives and legends of four national treasures – Frankie Howerd, Benny Hill, Dick Emery and Stanley Baxter - in Radio 2's Comedy Greats. Full details here

Patrick Swayze has died from pancreatic cancer, aged fifty seven. The actor's publicist Annett Wolf said that he passed away with his family by his side on Monday. The Dirty Dancing and Ghost star was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January 2008 and underwent chemotherapy treatment. He starred in US TV show The Beast following his diagnosis and was writing a memoir with wife Lisa Niemi at the time of his death. 'Patrick Swayze passed away peacefully today with family at his side after facing the challenges of his illness for the last twenty months,' said Wolf in a statement released to the Associated Press.

The celebrity chef dear old Keith Floyd has also died, after a heart attack, aged sixty five. According to James Sheen, the ghost-writer of his autobiography, Floyd died at his partner's home in Dorset on Monday night. Floyd, originally from Oxfordshire, became famous in the 1980s after fronting numerous cookery shows, including Floyd On Fish and Floyd On France. He had also published a series of cookbooks. His shows often featured music by his favourite band, The Stranglers, whose guitarist, Hughie Cornwell, was a close friend of the chef. In 2004, he was charged with drink-driving after being involved in a car crash while under the influence of alcohol and failing a roadside breath test. The celebrity chef was hospitalised last year following a bout of exhaustion. Earlier, in 2006, he suspected he had lung cancer but was eventually given the all-clear. Keith Floyd almost stumbled into stardom. Born in 1943, he was educated at Wellington School and became a junior newspaper reporter before the sight of the Michael Caine film Zulu led him into the Army. He served as a second lieutenant in the Third Royal Tank Regiment before leaving to pursue a career in the catering industry. After working as everything from a potato peeler to a dishwasher, Floyd opened his first restaurant, Floyd's Bistro, in Bristol. He was a mere twenty two years old. His flambouyant culinary style, with its emphasis on fish, proved a hit and he was soon running three establishments. But Floyd's lack of business acumen - and a staggering propensity to distribute largesse to all and sundry - soon proved his downfall, just as they would throughout his career. Floyd eventually went bankrupt, allegedly after he accepted a thirty six thousand pound cheque for a drinks order from a customer. The cheque, inevitably, bounced. And matters got even worse when the BBC cancelled his shows. Married four times and, apparently, as much of a genuine character off-screen as he was on it (my old mate Paul Cornell has some charming reminiscences about Keith on his blog here) ironically Floyd died just hours before his final TV appearance in Five's Keith Meets Keith in which he was interviewed by actor Keith Allen.

Comic performer Felix Bowness, who played ex-jockey Fred Quilly in sitcom Hi-de-Hi, has died at the age of eighty seven, his family has confirmed. The Berkshire-born actor appeared in other TV comedies penned by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, including You Rang, M'Lord? and Oh, Doctor Beeching! Among his first small screen turns as a funnyman was in The Benny Hill Show in the 1960s. Bowness was also a warm-up man for Sir Terry Wogan's 1980s BBC1 chat show. He also was the warm-up for The Two Ronnies and Morecambe and Wise, chalking up more than three thousand stints for the BBC. Bowness entertained the studio audience for This Is Your Life - and was surprised with the famous red book himself in 1985. The actor was an integral part of the ensemble cast that made up popular sitcom Hi-de-Hi, which ran from 1980-88. He appeared in all fifty eight episodes. Set in a 1950s seaside holiday camp, Bowness's character looked after the horses after his career as a jockey was cut short. He shared a chalet with old, cantankerous - and frequently drunk - Punch and Judy puppeteer Mr Partridge. Bowness also had cameo roles in Croft and Perry's other classic shows, Are You Being Served and Dad's Army during the 1970s. He also appeared in comic roles on gameshow 3-2-1 and Noel's House Party.

Desperate Housewives star Kathryn Joosten has revealed that she is battling lung cancer again. The sixty nine-year-old actress, who plays meddling neighbour Mrs McCluskey in the drama, told People that she learned the disease had returned less than one week ago. 'I've got a little hang-up here but we're going to handle it and move forward. I'm doing great,' she said. 'I felt like the legs had been pushed out from under me. I completely did not expect it, and was devastated. I was crying for nearly five days straight.' She went on to say that she had told her Housewives co-stars and that the show's producers are being 'totally supportive' with arranging her filming schedule around the treatment. The two-time Emmy-winner was originally diagnosed with lung cancer in 2001 but recovered after undergoing surgery without chemotherapy or radiation treatment. Joosten also played the much-loved Mrs Landingham, the secretary to Martin Sheen's President Bartlet in The West Wing. She added that she hoped to use her fame to 'erase some of the stigma of lung cancer,' including the assumption that smokers brought the illness on themselves.

British Eurosport has agreed a broadcast deal with ESPN Star Sports to show action from the inaugural Airtel Champions League Twenty20 tournament in India. Under the exclusive arrangement, British Eurosport will show live games from the event in Bangalore from October 8 to October 23. It will also retain all online, video on demand and mobile rights for the coverage. English teams Somerset and Sussex will compete in the tournament against ten other sides from around the world. After twenty three matches have been played over the sixteen-day competition, the winning team will walk away with three million dollar (US) in prize money. British Eurosport director David Kerr said: 'We are delighted to bring world-class cricket to British Eurosport with this brand new and eagerly-awaited event. Twenty20 has taken the game to new audiences and the Airtel Champions League Twenty20 will provide another star-studded fortnight with the best players and teams in the world competing in front of massive crowds for the title of world champions. These prestigious rights represent another major step forward for Eurosport in the UK. Following the acquisition of the US PGA Tour, Golden League Athletics and GP2 series, our UK offer gets stronger and stronger for British audiences and we look forward to welcoming yet more new viewers to the channel.' ESPN Star Sports managing director Manu Sawhney added: 'We are extremely pleased to partner with British Eurosport for the inaugural Airtel Champions League and are delighted to be working with them to serve cricket fans across the United Kingdom.'

Channel 4 chief executive Andy Duncan is expected to stand down this week after five years in the role, ending months of speculation. Sources close to the broadcaster have indicated that momentum was building to his exit after the Edinburgh TV Festival following the quiet summer months. His departure is understood to have been mooted at July's board meeting but with several board members on holiday, no decision was then fully made and the senior executives have been working behind the scenes to agree terms.

Andrea McLean has confessed to undergoing hypnosis to treat her chocolate addiction. The Loose Women presenter, thirty nine, gave up her favourite sweet treats as she suffers from sugar and dairy intolerance. 'I'd always had sugar cravings and have been a huge chocolate-lover since I was a teenager,' she told Closer. 'I kept a supply of bars hidden in my bedroom to satisfy my addiction. Even though it was making me ill, the taste and rush chocolate gave me was worth it.' Speaking about her life, post-hypnosis, McLean said: 'I felt like I was dying for the first few days.' The former GMTV weather girl has recreated the famous nude American Beauty movie poster for the magazine shoot, but has replaced petals with chocolate buttons.

Former Spice Girl Mel B has been photographed buying a lesbian porn movie in London. The singer tried to conceal the DVD in a black plastic bag before handing it to a friend to carry, according to Heat magazine. The thirty four-year-old is currently in the UK filming for new ITV series 7 Days On The Breadline, which follows her living with a family on a council estate in her native Leeds. Brown has previously revealed that she loves 'going commando' and has sex at least five times a day.

Victoria and David Beckham are 'moving on' from their friendship with Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, it has been claimed. Posh's long-time friend Taylor Clyne (no, me neither) told the Daily Express that Posh is now hardly ever seen with the celebrity couple. It is believed that Victoria and David have instead been focusing their attention on Demi Moore and her husband Ashton Kutcher in recent months. Clyne revealed: 'Victoria and David have moved on from Tom and Katie. They used to do everything together but now they only meet up very occasionally. Now they're hanging with Demi and Ashton - they've expanded their social network.'

Lewis Hamilton has reportedly denied breaking up with his Pussycat Doll girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger. It had been claimed that the Formula One racing car driver had decided to split from Scherzinger because she wanted to take their relationship further than him. According to the Sun, Hamilton dismissed the rumours when he was asked about the supposed split after the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday. Maybe that's why he crashed into the wall. Some say, he might have a new suitor. All we know is ...

Nicola McLean has launched a fresh attack on Katie Price, claiming that she needs 'taming.' The twenty seven-year-old has already made headlines over the past seven days by branding Price 'vile' and comparing the model's boyfriend Alex Reid to Mr Potato Head. In a new interview with the Daily Star Sunday, McLean commented: 'Jordan's lost the plot. Someone needs to tame that tart. She needs taking down a peg or two. If you ask me she's a stupid cow. I can't stand the stupid bitch.' So, not a big fan, then? McLean also revealed that she and her husband, Tommy Williams, are friends with Price's ex-partner Peter Andre. They are also said to have grown close to the warring pair's children, Junior and Princess, on a recent joint holiday. McLean added: 'Pete is lovely. He is one of the nicest guys I know. Katie will hate it but I've been getting really close to their kids, especially Junior. Me and Tommy have been staying with Pete at his villa in Marbella. We had such a great time and Junior became a bit obsessed with me. He didn't want to leave my side.' McLean originally fell out with Price in the aftermath of her I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! stint last year. Big fight. Little people.