Showbiz 5: Sausage in the Hole

Another newswrap as Penelope Teeth casts her views over recent entertainment news…

Ozzy goes back to the beginning

At the home of Aston Villa, Sharon Osbourne and Tony Iommi announced on Wednesday that the original Black Sabbath – Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward – will play for the first time in 20 years. The band will take to the stage to headline Back to the Beginning on July 5^th at Villa Park.

 The all-star event will celebrate the true creators of heavy metal and will see Ozzy Osbourne play his own short set before joining with Black Sabbath for his final bow.

“It’s my time to go Back to the Beginning….time for me to give back to the place where I was born. How blessed am I to do it with the help of people whom I love. Birmingham is the true home of metal. Birmingham Forever.” – Ozzy Osbourne

Formed in Birmingham in 1968 and going on to become one of most successful metal bands of all time, Black Sabbath have sold over 75 million albums worldwide across their legendary career. Setting the blueprint for the many routes heavy metal took, Black Sabbath’s influence and importance is as vital today as it was in the early 1970s.

Back to the Beginning will feature sets from Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Gojira, Halestorm, Alice In Chains, Lamb Of God, Anthrax and Mastodon

The all-day event will also feature a supergroup of musicians. Artists announced so far include Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins), David Draiman (Disturbed), Duff McKagan & Slash (Guns ‘n Roses), Frank Bello (Anthrax), Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit), Jake E Lee, Jonathan Davis (Korn), KK Downing, Lzzy Hale (Halestorm), Mike Bordin (Faith No More), Rudy Sarzo, Sammy Hagar, Scott Ian (Anthrax), Sleep Token ii (Sleep Token), Papa V Perpetua (Ghost), Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine), Wolfgang Van Halen and Zakk Wylde.

Tickets go on sale at 10am GMT on Friday 14th February 2025 at LiveNation.co.uk.

Loose Men

Loose Men returned to our screens this week with Craig Doyle, Danny Jones, Pete Wicks and Jordan Banjo on the panel. In the spin off show, the panel took on the topics that matter and kicked off the conversation around tattoo trends, anxiety, experiences with alcohol and relationships as they continued to tackle the taboos around men talking about their mental and physical health – as well as having some trademark lunchtime laughs in between.

Jordan candidly admitted: “I grew up really not around a lot of drinking and it wasn’t for me until I hit lockdown. When I went into lockdown, out of nowhere, I started drinking and then it became a daily thing. Once it becomes a habit, it’s a hard thing to break. This is going to sound so stupid, but I was like 28 when lockdown first hit, and it’s gonna sound so dumb, it was almost like being 16/17… I could just drink this and feel drunk and feel a bit merry, and it just became constant, constant, constant, to the point where in November 2023 – I had to just cut drinking cold…”

Pete also opened up: “I grew up with family that had alcohol dependencies and I think I would never have considered myself to be someone who had a problem with drinking. But, Strictly really changed my drinking habits. Pre [Strictly] I was a pretty heavy drinker for 15 years, to the point where I’d have a bottle of wine a night, every night, and that’s just cooking and chilling out. It was my way of kind of chilling out, until I did Strictly and kind of stopped drinking and realised that actually, all that was doing was kind of numbing parts of my reality.” 

Sharing his own experience, Danny said: “I have very happy memories of playing in pubs when I was younger and seeing the joy that drink and music can bring to everybody. It was only when I had friends close to me that had an issue with it and then I was under trauma myself – say, if I had something like an anxiety or not quite not quite balanced mentally, I didn’t like the person I became when I drank.”  

“Also I’d have like, five Coronas before I went on stage, just to get me through something that I didn’t feel quite mentally ready for. So, [that beer] became safety and it became a habit, ‘If I don’t have that, then I might not do a good gig’. So, yeah you are around it all the time. It’s just, I didn’t like the person I’d become. I think you’ve got to be careful of the condition that you’re in when you’re drinking, I think that it really enhances your emotions.” 

Catch up on Loose Men on ITVX and the STV Player.

Britney’s past being a bitch

Britney Spears and Paul Soliz’s relationship is still going strong, and according to leading relationship expert Dr. LaShandra Batiste-Manary from Liquid London, tells ATV Today’s Showbiz 5 that this could be the stability and connection the pop star has been searching for.

After a highly publicised conservatorship battle, a short-lived marriage to Sam Asghari, and years of intense scrutiny, Spears appears to have found something different with Soliz, something that could last.

“People underestimate how important shared life experiences are in building a long-term connection,” says Dr. Batiste-Manary. “Paul is a father, Britney is a mother,there’s a foundational understanding there. They’re in the same phase of life, and that brings a level of emotional depth that may have been missing in her past relationships.”

Spears, 42, and Soliz, 37, were first linked shortly after her split from Asghari. While their romance initially raised eyebrows, Dr. Batiste-Manary suggests that Spears may finally be embracing a relationship that isn’t defined by fame but rather by personal connection.

“The relationships we build outside of the public eye often hold the most authenticity,” she continues. “Paul isn’t a Hollywood A-lister, he’s someone who seems to bring normalcy to Britney’s world. After everything she’s been through, that sense of grounding could be the key to her long-term happiness.”

Dr. Batiste-Manary also points out that Spears’ past relationships have often been influenced by external pressures, whether from the media, her conservatorship, or industry expectations. “For the first time, Britney is making choices that are entirely her own. That’s powerful. If she feels safe and supported, this relationship could be exactly what she needs.” While some critics have raised concerns over Soliz’s past, Dr. Batiste-Manary believes people can evolve and that Britney may be drawn to someone who understands what it means to be judged by past mistakes.

“She has been written off, underestimated, and controlled for years. She knows what it means to fight for autonomy. It’s possible she sees the same resilience in Paul.” Whether this is truly Britney’s fairy tale ending remains to be seen, but as far as Dr. Batiste-Manary is concerned, Spears is finally writing her own love story, on her own terms.

Happy Birthday Alison

Wednesday on This Morning, hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley surprised Alison Hammond at her Birmingham home with a selection of surprises. Wishing the former Big Brother contestant turned darling of ITV a very happy 50th birthday the show sent Jeff Brazier up to the West Midlands to help deliver the morning of surprises including celebrity messages and a special performance by the West End’s Magic Mike cast.

Alison said: “Welcome to The Hammond’s, everybody! I’m on the fifth floor and it’s alright up here, isn’t it Ben!” 

Ben said: “Al, you got to embrace it, it’s a new decade, a new outlook, things shift but you still got that gorgeous smile and that energy, which is magic.” 

In a montage of clips, friends of Alison’s and This Morning shared their birthday wishes for Alison on her milestone birthday, including: Ant and Dec, Rick Astley, Dannii Minogue, Jason Donvoan, Leigh Francis, Prue Leith, Minah from The Traitors, Rylan Clark, Noel Fielding, Sian Welby, Chris Stark, Jordan North from Capital Breakfast, Gok Wan, Rustie Lee, Ryan Reynolds Loose Women’s Judi Love and her Friday co-host Dermot O’Leary, who said: “It’s been one of the great pleasures of my life meeting you and you being my friend… Just to say I love you and I’m very proud of you. Have a great birthday!” 

Back in the studio, Ben explained: “We’ve got one more very special message, because the whole world globally remembers the very special interview you did with Ryan Gosling and Harrison Ford – and you of course had a morning tipple, a little tipple with the two of them. Well it would appear that Harrison hasn’t stopped drinking since…” 

Following their interview going viral online, a hilarious message from Hollywood star Harrison Ford played and he joked: “I remember meeting you one morning with my friend Ryan, and me, we came over to your place… And had a drink… And they tell me you’re 50 years old now. Grow up!”

This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1 and STV

Sex Pesto?

Now it can’t have anything to do with This Morning as ITV paid a fortune for a investigation that despite many people’s concerns saw the daytime offering far from toxic, far from a problem. In fact the finding made the magazine show seem like the television version of Mary Poppins behind the scenes, so reports that ‘celebrity chef’ Gino D’ACampo – a favourite with ITV for many years – has now become the subject of inappropriate behaviour complains can only concern his prime time offerings.

There have been several reports this week – all that D’Acampo deny – that he has been accused of inappropriate conduct and intimidating behaviour by more than a number of people. Some of those coming forward with concerns said the chef made sexualised remarks that made them feel highly uncomfortable, with some incidents going back over a decade. Some reports also suggest ITV bosses were warned several years ago about the alligations.

One woman said in 2011 D’Acampo told her he would “like to turn me over and f*** me up the a*** against the kitchen counter.” Another said that on a shoot he opened the door to his room wearing only boxer shorts before making reference to his penis. A third sent in a statement saying D’Acampo said to someone: “If you don’t get me a Cornetto I will f*** your girlfriend.”

The initial investigation came from ITN produced ITV News, which proves that news on ITV should be independently produced; would Good Morning Britian – made by the same production arm as Lorriane and This Morning – have bothered to do such a probe into one of their own stars? Their handling of Phillip Scofield (to ignore everything) suggests they wouldn’t. GMB, to their credit, this time did have Gino’s alleged misdemeanours as a top story this past week.

Of course, with this situation ITV are in a bit of a difficult position. Their programmes have actively encouraged his saucy behaviour – naked cooking – sexual innuendo – and all the rest of it played on ‘not understanding the English lingo’. Personally, I’ve never found the appeal of Gino, it appears to be all about looks over substance. For example, would the lady viewers be jumping to his defence if he looked like Marco Pierre White? And maybe ITV need to learn from that.

A series of Family Fortunes recorded in 2023 with Gino as host is still unbroadcast.

D’Acampo said in a statement,

“I have been told by ITN News that allegations have been made about me acting inappropriately, some dating back over 10 years ago. I have never been made aware of these matters previously and the allegations are firmly denied. I would not do anything that I thought would upset or distress anyone. This is simply not in my nature. I do not recognise the version of events being put to me.

“Not only have these allegations never been raised with me before, I have been repeatedly supported by executives at the highest level and was commissioned on prime-time programmes during the period in which it is now suggested I was acting inappropriately.

“I am a father, husband and have worked with well over 1,500 people on around 80 productions in my career, which I have been so proud of. I take such matters extremely seriously and the suggestion that I have acted in an improper way against is deeply upsetting.”

He didn’t mis-understand any of the allegations then, maybe he baked a sausage in the hole to commiserate.

In the showbiz departure lounge this week…

We said goodbye to Brian Murphy the star alongside the late Yootha Joyce of Man About the House and George and Mildred.

The views expressed are of Penelope Teeth and not ATV Today. Penelope Teeth, Judi Dentures and Joanna Gumley are ATV’s exclusive showbiz drag queens with bite.