Showbiz Newswrap
From the extraordinary mind of Russell T Davies to Carol McGiffin
Showbiz Newswrap for Sunday, May 7th…
Can it be that a week has passed since we last chewed the beef over some celebrity tittle-tattle? Yes, it certainly is. So without a GB News-style five-minute opening rant, let’s just get right on into the action…
GLEEFUL NEW ARRIVAL AT DOCTOR WHO
Jonathan Groff is set to appear in the new series of Doctor Who in a key role. Jonathan shot to fame when he landed the role of Jessie in the musical comedy-drama Glee and now he’s on his way to jump aboard the TARDIS in a mysterious and exciting guest role.
On joining the Timelord, Jonathan notes: “I am so thrilled to jump into the extraordinary mind of Russell T Davies and watch the incredible Ncuti Gatwa soar in this iconic role!”
Doctor Who returns in November to BBC One.
Showrunner, Russell T Davies added: “This is an incredible coup, and a great honour, to get such a huge star striding on to our set. So strap on your space boots, this is going to be a blast!”
NOLAN NOT DEAD
Linda Nolan fans have been assured she is alive after a tweet saying she’d died started spreading across the internet. The 64-year-old Nolan Sisters performer is battling cancer and on Thursday someone posted a message on Twitter saying how sad they were to hear that the star had died. It seems the singer has had a spell in hospital over this weekend, so some reports suggest, but she isn’t without a pulse as yet.
KEEP BRIXTON’S MUSIC PALACE OPEN
A petition to save the O2 Academy Brixton from permanent closure has reached 50,000 signatures reports BBC News. The Beeb note, ‘The south London venue had its licence suspended after two people died during a crush outside the building ahead of a gig by Afro-pop singer Asake last year. London Ambulance Service treated 10 patients at the scene, eight of whom were transferred to hospital following the crush on 15 December.’
The campaign to save the historic venue, which began life as The Astoria cinema and theatre in 1929, was launched following the Met Police filing to have the premises closed down. The site has been a nightclub since 1972. The petition, to Lambeth Council, has been supported by musicians and bands.
RIP
It was farewell this week to singer Linda Lewis who died aged 72. A career in music that spanned over four decades saw the self-taught guitarist and keyboard player, with a five-octave vocal range, appear at the first-ever Glastonbury Festival in 1970 and Linda went on to have four top-40 hits including a disco cover of The Shoop Shoop Song peaking at number 6 in 1975.
Earlier this year, Lewis appeared on the James Whale Unleashed show on TalkTV and performed an acoustic version of Rock-A-Doodle-Doo which reached number 15 in the UK charts back in 1973.
James paid tribute on social media saying, “So sad to hear today of the death of Linda Lewis, she appeared on the show a couple of weeks ago and did an acoustic version of Rock-A-Doodle-Doo. It was brilliant. Our love goes out to Shirley and all her family at this very sad time.“
Radio legend Tony Blackburn also noted, “She was a lovely person and talented singer who used to appear at our Radio London Soul Nights Out. She had a remarkable singing range and was a great performer. Linda R.I.P. and thanks for the music.”
LET LOOSE WOMAN
Loose Women panellist Carol McGiffin this week confirmed she currently is ‘off’ the show after refusing to sign a new contract with ITV Studios. McGiffin who also pops up as a commentator on GB News, says she is ‘on a break’ from the ITV daytime programme due to a dispute over new stipulations in the contract she was issued for the show.
In a column for Best Magazine, the former radio broadcaster explained her absence from the female-slanted daily debate show was due to the “unjust and unworkable” contract ITV wanted her to sign up to.
“The problem was, ITV were insisting, for the first time since I went back in 2018, that if I wanted to carry on doing the show, I would have to sign a contract that was totally unjust and unworkable for me, so I had to say ‘no thanks’,”
Carol was part of the Loose Women ‘Body Confidence’ promotions (pictured right) at the end of February this year, but recently vanished from the panel.
McGiffin first appeared on the show in 2000 when it was relaunched as ‘Live Talk‘, leaving in 2001. She returned in 2004 for a long stint until she quit in 2013. She was one of a number of former faces lured back in 2018 as the show embarked on marking its two decades on the air.
