Showbiz Newswrap
Showbiz 5: From ballroom love to old granny roles
Penelope Teeth casts her view over this weeks showbiz news…
This week we said farewell to former EastEnders actress Jane Whittenshaw, Jane was best known for her role as social worker Anita Banks in the late 1990s in the BBC One soap.
Her agent released a statement noting Jane had died “peacefully” with her husband, best friend and carers by her side. The statement added that Whittenshaw was “generous to a fault” and “great fun to be around”.
We also said goodbye to actor Darren Kent who had appeared in shows such as Game of Thrones and EastEnders, usually in supporting roles. The Mushroom Theatre Company, which Darren was patron, said they were ‘So very very sad to hear about the passing of our patron’, they added, ‘Our thoughts are with his family & friends at this difficult time.’
Strictly Come Dancing contestant of 2021 John Whaite has spoke about how his dance partner Johannes Radebe gave him the horn while he was taking part in the show.
In an interview with The Times, the Great British Bake Off champion said “I can’t speak for him – because I’m not allowed to, legally – but it felt like there was love there,” adding, “You go through life being told that you’ll fall in love with someone, you’ll get married, you’ll have children and that’s it. But love can’t just be directed to one person. The heart can easily split into two or three or four. And those loves aren’t mutually exclusive.”
He went on to say that he made Paul, his partner of 15 years, aware of his feelings for Johannes. They spent time apart for a while but are now reunited and John noted he only speaks to Johannes occasionally.
Celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson is quitting being a landlord. The Ready, Steady Cook personality currently owns The Greyhound Inn, however Antony says the boozer and eatery needs ‘new blood’ so is hanging up his restaurateur apron after nearly twenty years.
Metro paper report ‘Antony’s stepping down isn’t the first time The Greyhound has been in the headlines, with the pub making national news during the pandemic when a sign was spotted in the pub saying that unvaccinated people were welcome.’ The newspaper adding, ‘Meanwhile, it was reported earlier this year that The Greyhound had scored a low hygiene rating.’
Northern Ireland BBC presenter Stephen Nolan has apologised following allegations revealed in a newspaper. Nolan is the 5th best paid BBC on-air presenter behind Gary Lineker, Zoe Ball, Alan Shearer and Huw Edwards.
However he’s also now one of yet another names linked to sending sexually explicit photographs, although thankfully not of himself, a small saving grace. Instead The Irish News listed claims Nolan sent images of Stephen Bear to his television production team in 2016. Nolan said he was “deeply sorry”.
BBC News noted that ‘The paper alleged that in 2016, while the production team on Nolan Live were attempting to book the reality TV contestant Stephen Bear for the programme, Mr Nolan had sent them two sexually explicit images of Bear.’ The Beeb subsequently carried out an investigation in 2018 following a complaint from a member of staff about the images.
In other allegations Mr Nolan denied that members of BBC staff were placed in the audience of the Nolan Live TV show and said they were “completely, categorically false”.
The brilliant Annette Badland spoke out about only being offered “old granny roles” because she’s an older performer. The EastEnders and Crossroads soap star who has also featured on stage and screen including programmes such as Midsomer Murders and Ted Lasso.
Annette has no plans of stepping out of the spotlight, but believes telly executives may have other ideas. Speaking to Soap From the Box podcast: “I think it’s terrible, when a woman hits 40, for those actresses aged between 40 and 60 who have been leads in series, at the top of their game and suddenly they’re not required anymore. They don’t fit into the box. For me, I let my hair go white during Covid because I wondered what was under there, thought it was a great opportunity and then liked the colour and decided to keep it.
“But now I do find I get a lot of grannies, old lady roles. You think, come on, Helen Mirren, and what about all the barristers, the businesswomen of that age?”
