SHE knows it, we know it and so do the publicity people looking after her.
Amanda Holden is refreshingly honest in interviews.
But sometimes she sails close to the wind.
Like at the recent press launch for the third series of Wild At Heart, which starts on ITV1 this Sunday.
Amanda was discussing the incident last November when she, and her personal trainer, discovered a dead body while out running along the Thames towpath.
Reports of the sad find appeared in newspapers the next day.
“Can I just say, when they said I found a dead body, they said I was 39. I’m 36,” she told us.
“I was more traumatised by the fact they got my age wrong than the fact I’d found a stiff.”
Author: ianwylie
LORD Longford was a remarkable man.
Regular readers will know that I’ve followed the aftermath of the Moors Murders case for over a quarter of a century.
As I wrote back in 2006, I spoke to Lord Longford countless times.
One morning I dashed to try and find him at Kings Cross station in London before he boarded the train north to see Myra Hindley in Durham jail.
I found him queuing on the concourse, where he agreed to an interview on condition I carried his bags on to the train.
He was a bright and compassionate politician who campaigned for Hindley’s release – a cause he could never win.
Whatever you think of his arguments, he had a right to a fair hearing.
Sadly, certain sections of the press were all too willing to whip up hatred against him.
I lost count of the number of stories published every year which were simply made up to suit the anti-Hindley agenda.
(Apologies – this archived content was mashed and photos lost when transferred from its original home on Movable Type to WordPress)
IT’S one of the best British films ever made.
Classic 1950s war movie The Dam Busters told a story of heroism and sacrifice against the odds.
It starred Richard Todd as Wing Commander Guy Gibson and Michael Redgrave as Barnes Wallis, inventor of the bouncing bomb.
Now a new version – Dambusters – is to be filmed, directed by Peter Jackson, with a screenplay by Stephen Fry.
I touched on the story in last month’s blog on Stephen here.
There’s also a flavour of the project in today’s MEN feature interview with Mr Fry – back this Sunday in ITV1’s Kingdom – here.
But for those interested in the production, here’s what Stephen had to say in full about Dam Busters, old and new:
“The Dam Busters is one of the best war films ever made – in its own way, perfect. And we will never unmake it by making ours.
MAX Beesley was sipping from a glass of milk at the launch of his new TV drama earlier this week.
“I’ve got a stomach ulcer,” he explained.
The Burnage-born Hotel Babylon star looks very different as bearded Afghanistan aid worker Michael Ezard in The Last Enemy.
Due on BBC1 next month, the five-part thriller is set in a near future where our every move can be tracked.
He said his false beard became irritable from the very first fitting in London, before filming on location in Romania.
“It was seven pieces and two hours in the make-up caravan – in 105 degrees heat at seven in the morning. It was really annoying, but perfect for the part.”
Did Max not want to grow his own beard?
GOOD reviews this morning for Sarah Parish in new BBC1 drama series Mistresses.
Her performance as GP Katie (pictured) was described as “excellent” by The Guardian and “reliable” by The Times.
The TV critics responsible for those reviews, along with another from the Daily Telegraph, weren’t so kind about the drama itself.
But then all three are men.
Personally, I think six-part series Mistresses is a highly watchable piece of entertainment, perfect for dark and gloomy January nights.
It also appears to be a hit, with 4.9m viewers making it the most watched programme on all the channels at 9pm last night.
Director and co-creator SJ Clarkson said: “We knew we would instantly be compared to shows like Sex And The City and Desperate Housewives, both of which I think are brilliant.
“However, we wanted to do something different.”
At the press launch for Mistresses, Sarah explained how Life On Mars director SJ had helped the four leading actresses with their roles.
JUST returned from interviews with Philip Glenister and Keeley Hawes ahead of the launch of Ashes To Ashes.
Due to the embargo on publication, and as with the set visit interviews last year, I still can’t reveal any of the content.
But I’m glad to say that unlike the rain pouring down outside the interview room, the outlook for A2A looks very bright indeed.
There shouldn’t be too long to wait now.
TV schedules can often be compared to shifting sands.
WE’VE seen a lot less of Vicky Binns recently.
There are two main reasons for that:
1) Her Coronation Street character Molly Compton has been largely absent from our screens.
2) Vicky has shed two-and-a-half stone after filming a weight loss DVD.
There’s an interview with Vicky in today’s MEN Style section. The online version is here.
But, as ever, it wasn’t possible to include all of our chat.
For example, did Vicky have to ask Street producer Steve Frost for permission to change the look of baker’s daughter Molly?
“No, Corrie were fine with it. They’ve been really supportive about it all,” replied the Bury actress.
IT’S time to call a halt to the spread of red across our screens.
I’m talking about TV dramas which insist on showing blood and guts in the operating theatre.
You expect it in something like Casualty, which has never been a natural home for the squeamish.
But then graphic operation scenes started turning up in cosy Sunday night favourite The Royal.
Producer Ken Horn says it’s what modern audiences expect and demand.
Really? At 8pm? Within earshot of The Antiques Roadshow?
Now comes The Royal Today – a 2008 teatime soap based in a modern day wing of the same Scarborough hospital.
And guess what? There’s lots of red stuff on display. At teatime. When viewers may well be toasting crumpets over the fireside.
“ROVERS Return To Be Axed.”
That was the crazy front page headline in today’s Daily Star.
It went on to outline a “soap shocker” with Corrie bosses set to call time on Britain’s best loved boozer.
At the heart of this daft story was a claim that the pub is to close its doors in April for a refit “and may never be the same again”.
It went on: “Sources claim it could be shut permanently or be re-opened as a trendy gastro-pub or even a wine bar.”
A “Corrie insider” was then “quoted” as saying: “This news will have Annie Walker, Albert Tatlock and Ena Sharples spinning in their graves.”
The Rovers was also said to be facing a “massive financial crisis” in 2008 which could result in the Weatherfield local “closing its doors for ever”.
MAXINE Peake isn’t one for an easy life.
She quit the role of Veronica in Shameless, for example, when others may have stayed.
“I never get too comfortable,” she told me when we met up recently.
This in an industry where competition for parts is terrifyingly fierce, even for someone like Maxine.
“I thought it would get easier as I got older. But it’s about doing the right thing. I’ve got to have a good reason to want to do a part.”
The Bolton-born actress is next on screen this Friday in Bike Squad, an ITV1 comedy drama about a group of cycle cops.
Life of Wylie 