The cat that got the dream: Nicole Scherzinger says goodbye to the Dolls

By LIZ JONES

'I don't really like the Wag tag because I think it's demeaning. I mean, I'm an independent woman, says Nicole


Having slogged hard to get to the top, former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger is a lot more relaxed on the diet and fitness front these days. But that certainly doesn’t mean her solo ambitions are taking a back seat to F1 beau Lewis Hamilton’s career, as Liz Jones discovers

I have a Pussycat Doll (well, a former Pussycat Doll) in my hotel room. She keeps ordering food, and glasses of white wine, which is something celebrities, especially female celebrities, rarely do. I keep thinking of all the men I could send a text message to who would be driven insane with jealousy that Nicole Scherzinger is perched on the end of my bed.

She is all in black – skin-tight jeans, curvy jacket – and she’s complaining about the cold: London is in the grip of a deep freeze. ‘I live in California!’ she cries. ‘Please can I shut the window?’


Nicole with F1 boyfriend Lewis Hamilton, left, and performing on The X Factor


If there is one woman in the world who can outdo Cheryl Cole in the incredibly, outrageously groomed glamour-puss stakes, it’s 32-year-old Nicole.

When she stood in for Cheryl as a judge on The X Factor, her lashes were longer, her black hair reached that impossibly round posterior, the clothes seemed airbrushed on to her naturally honeyed skin, and her affinity with the contestants bordered on the motherly. She was hilarious, rather than always being on the verge of crocodile tears.

To one clearly hopeless hopeful she said, deadpan, ‘You need to work on your vocals.’ She spotted the potential of eventual runner-up Rebecca Ferguson after about one perfect note. ‘She reminds me a little bit of Billie Holiday, maybe Aretha Franklin meets Etta James,’ she says today. ‘It’s just that really, really, you know, dirty-sounding voice.’


Nicole speaks in that slightly hushed, soft whisper beloved of so many American stars, but the gentle tones belie the fact that she possesses what is clearly an inner core of titanium. I’ve been reading her Tweets, and it seems 17-hour days are routine.

The morning after we meet she says she has to be up at five. When I ask what she is going to do with the one evening she has free in London, she replies, ‘I am going to watch a film in my room and order room service!’

But when I ask how on earth she finds the time to maintain a body like hers – she’s a UK size 8 – she says she has in fact become more relaxed about her body, and is 11lb heavier than in her Pussycat heyday. She used to do that Los Angeles thing of never eating after 7pm, but with me she is tucking into the olives as if there’s no tomorrow, and it’s almost 7.30! ‘I’m a perfectionist, but I have been trying to be a little easier on myself,’ she says.


‘I love my pasta, my chocolate; I cook when I can. I love making down-home Southern cooking, and just chilling and having cakes and pies and baking stuff, you know. I’m a pretty simple girl. I’m eating now with you because I haven’t had time all day. Not a second.’

Cakes? Pies? So does she work out all the time? I read that instead of feeling like a singer, she feels like an Olympic athlete. She shakes her head. ‘I’m taking a break now. For a couple of years, at the end of the Dolls, fitness was my life. I’m a lot more relaxed now. The choreography from the dancing keeps me in shape.

If I ever feel like I need to be stronger in my mind and body then I jog. I’m a runner, I like that. But I love to sleep. I used to not like to sleep but now I love it.’

On the day we meet, she gets the news that her single ‘Poison’ is number one on the UK iTunes chart. Sales were boosted by her live performance on The X Factor. Although she had huge success with the Dolls, you feel Nicole has still to prove herself as a solo artist.

Nicole’s new single ‘Don’t Hold Your Breath’ will be released on 13 March


Nicole Scherzinger ,HD 1080p , Poison ,live Daybreak



source: dailymail

Did you catch the red-eye, Michael? Mr Douglas has sore peeper as he and wife Catherine have CBE celebration meal

By JODY THOMPSON


Sore spot: Michael Douglas was sporting a bloodshot eye as he took Catherin Zeta Jones to dinner at Gordon Ramsay At Claridges last night


He recently fought and won a cancer battle so it was a mere trifle - but Michael Douglas appeared to have a bit of a sore eye in London last night as he and wife Catherine Zeta Jones celebrated their earlier trip to Buckingham Palace.

The 66-year-old star was spotted sporting the bloodshot retina as he squired his stunning 41-year-old wife to dinner at Gordon Ramsay's eponymous restaurant at Claridges Hotel in London.

Perhaps he had shed a few too many tears of pride earlier in the day when his wife was awarded the CBE by Prince Charles for services to charity and the film industry.


Dinner time: The couple were both beaming after Catherine was earlier awarded a CBE at Buckingham Palace by Prince Charles


Then, the former Darling Buds Of May star had sported a beautifully elegant taupe suit with matching hat and gold Louboutins as she was joined by her Hollywood legend husband and their children Dylan and Carys for the ceremony.

Later that afternoon when they arrived back at the exclusive Duke's Hotel where they are staying in St James, Swansea-born Catherine took delivery of a huge bouquet of flowers, thought to be from Michael.


She's a lady: The honourable Welsh beauty looked stunning in a black bodycon bandage dress and black longline beaded jacket


Then last night, he treated her to dinner at Gordon Ramsay At Claridges, for which she wore a sexy black bodycon bandage dress and tailored black jacket with beaded trim and black peep toes.

The pair, who live in New York, were still beaming as they entered the restaurant, one of Ramsay's flagship establishments.

Perhaps Catherine chose the steamed Anglesey bass with langoustine, cucumber, apple and Oscietra caviar sauce for her taste of her homeland.


Bunch of flowers: A huge congratulatory bouquet was delivered to Catherine at the hotel she and Michael are staying in


Earlier in the day after receiving her award, she said: 'It means a lot to come home with my family and to be honoured in this way - very emotional, rather nervous I must say, and it was worth (it) to have Michael in good health to be able to enjoy it (with me).'

The actress also revealed that she had chatted to the Prince about her husband's health and recent battle with throat cancer and said Charles had expressed his sympathy.

She added: 'Obviously we talked about Michael. The last time I saw His Royal Highness, Michael had just got his treatment so he was concerned, but he was very happy to hear... he's well on the road to recovery.'

By comparison, a bloodshot eye is just a blinking nuisance...


Honoured: Prince Charles congratulating Catherine during her investiture at Buckingham Palace earlier in the day


Happy families: The Douglas-Zeta Joneses - including daughter Carys and son Dylan - have a lot to celebrate right now


Zeta Jones Celebrates CBE Honor With Douglas



source: dailymail

Skeletal models and super-sized hypocrisy: As fashion designers insist they've turned their backs on anorexic chic, do they think we're blind?

By LIZ JONES

Matchstick: Model Martyna Budna for Mark Fast shows off her worryingly thin frame, with jaunty shoulder bones and her ribs clearly visible


At a London Fashion Week where one designer, Maria Grachvogel, was forced to take in the seams on her samples because she couldn’t find any models who were a size ten, a ghost appeared on the catwalk.

It was as though I were looking in a mirror, at me aged 18, weighing 5st, about to be drip-fed on a ward in St Barts hospital.

I sat up straight on my narrow gilt chair. I looked around me to see if anyone else had seen what I had seen. But no, it was all sycophantic smiles, or that other thing fashion folk do, just the tops of expensively highlighted heads, tap, tapping away on their iPads.

I looked over at front row guest Samantha Cameron, but even she had failed to go pale. It is the drip, drip, drip effect, you see, when so many girls swim like matchsticks before your eyes, a death mask on the face of a teen becomes unremarkable.


Skin and bones: A model for Antonio Berardi's Autumn 2011 collection shows off her shockingly thin legs (left), while model Hannah Hardy's hip bones could grate parmesan', according to Liz Jones


I was at the collection for the autumn/winter shown by Erdem, the hot Brit designer of the moment. And this was the hottest model of the season: Chloe Memisevic, who was born in Sweden in 1993, and is represented by Wilhelmina Models in New York.

This is the very agency whose managing director had come along to a debate in New York a few seasons ago about the need for more realistic models, an event where Natalia Vodianova, the face of Calvin Klein, had broken down in tears when recounting how she had been told off for not losing her baby weight fast enough, and rejected by designers for being too fat.


Worrying signs: Chloe Memisevic is this season's hottest model, but she is doing her body huge damage by being so thin - including symptoms which could lead to an early death


The fashion world is going crazy for Chloe Memisevic — she was back on the catwalk yesterday for Mary Katrantzou looking horribly emaciated. As well as Erdem, she has walked the runway for Proenza Schouler and Marc Jacobs in New York, and Roksanda Ilincic and Twenty8Twelve here in London.

She is the face of Marc Jacobs. She is 5ft 11in and measures 32, 22, 34. On a Body Mass Index scale (a way of measuring body fat that proved too problematic to introduce at fashion shows, though it was mooted by Labour’s Model Health Inquiry back in 2008), she would hover somewhere below number 15.


Unimpressed: Samantha Cameron grimaces as the stick thin Swedish model Chloe Memisevic shows off a new design during the Erdem show


A healthy BMI falls somewhere between 18.5 and 24.9. This means she is at risk of brittle bone disease later in life. And heart failure. And pneumonia. And an early, horrible death.

Just to give you an idea of how far fashion has stretched its new ideal of beauty, let me tell you about the Issa show on Saturday. Yasmin Le Bon walked the runway, and while in the Eighties she was seen as very skinny and flat-chested (her photo on the cover of the first issue of Elle prompted me to have a breast reduction), on the runway in among all these emaciated 16-year-olds she looked positively elephantine.


Weighty issue: Chloe Memisevic barely filled out the floor-length gown as she walked the runway


‘Oh God, that a***!’ said the male fashion director of a glossy weekly, sat right in front of me, clutching his man bag. This sums up our second biggest industry right now, the one that makes £20 billion a year for this country, the very one Samantha Cameron was so keen to big up (my God, if only she could!) in her heartfelt speech to launch the proceedings.

Disenchanted by what I had seen at Erdem, I turned up at the Mark Fast show on Monday night, in the hope of a breath of normality.


source: dailymail

Secret to being a model? It's hard work! Alessandra Ambrosio gets put through her paces in Pilates class

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Working up a sweat: Victoria's Secret supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio attended a Pilates class in Venice, California, yesterday


Alessandra Ambrosio proved yesterday that a body worthy of a Victoria's Secret catwalk show doesn't come easily.

The Brazilian supermodel was spotted working up a sweat on a specialised 'reformer' machine during a Pilates session in Venice, California, yesterday.

Dressed in a green vest, leggings and leg warms, the 29-year-old brunette was put through her paces in a group session.

The 5ft 10in mother of one says she approaches her catwalk career very seriously.
'I guess it's like a real job,' she recently told W magazine. 'When I started, it was a hobby, something fun to do.

'Before, models had that rock star life and it was all about going to the parties and having that glamorous life, and I think these days, models are more like businesswomen and the whole industry takes it really serious.'

As well as Pilates, Alessandra uses a combination of workout techniques to keep in shape for her frequent lingerie and swimwear shoots.


Bend and stretch: The Brazilian model showed just how she keeps her lean body in shape


She said: 'I have a personal trainer who created the Brazilian Butt Lift class that mixes capoeira and samba. It's fun but you're still doing squats and getting exercise.

'I did cardio after I had my daughter to get in shape again, but I usually don't do cardio other than walking on the beach. I'm not a fan of going into the gym and running on a treadmill. I would rather go for a hike.'

'In the beginning of my career I really felt the pressure to be thin - but one thing I always said was that if I had to stop eating to work then I would have to switch careers. Compromising my health to be a model was never an option for me.'

Now Alessandra, who is said to have a 34-25-34 figure, does allow herself to indulge in the occasional treat.

'I love Cheetos, those hot, spicy kind,' she says. 'And chocolate. Every time I'm in the airport I'm buying Cheetos and eating them on the airplane.'

Alessandra, who is engaged to California businessman Jamie Mazur, gave birth to daughter Anja in August 2008.

When asked if she plans to have more children, she replied: 'I don’t know. I don’t really plan that. [Anja] came unplanned, and I think that’s the way it is with me.
'I like it as a surprise.'


Catwalk queen: The mother-of-one is among Victoria's Secret's leading lingerie models


Alessandra Ambrosio @SPFW - backstage



source: dailymail

Home for Christmas: After months in intensive care, little fighters give their parents a perfect present

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By ALISON SMITH SQUIRE and TAMARA COHEN

Finley Burton: Survived after his body was 'frozen' by surgeons to slow down his heart beat


After you’ve beaten the toughest odds simply to survive, every day is Christmas.

But tomorrow will be extra special for these babies, at home with their parents for the first time after months in intensive care.

Born prematurely or facing serious complications, nearly every day of their short lives has been a battle.

But as Christmas Day dawns, they will be snuggled up at home where they belong, for a day of celebration their parents hardly dared dream of.

FINLEY BURTON
Just a few months ago, Finley burton lay paralysed on a hospital bed, his life hanging in the balance.

At ten weeks, he suffered complications after an operation to repair a large hole in his heart.


Wired up: Finley in his hospital bed wired up to lots of machines


His body went into ectopic tachycardia, a rapid heart beat of up to 200 beats a minute that can be fatal.

Desperate to save him, doctors used a pioneering technique, ‘freezing’ him to slow down his out-of-control heart rate.

Yesterday, Finley, now ten months, was enjoying the snow with his parents Aaron, 32, and Donna, 28, at their home in Easington, Co. Durham.


‘We really thought we were going to lose him,’ said his mother. ‘It’s a miracle that he survived and we can now enjoy our first family Christmas.’

BURDEN TWINS
Dressed in matching red outfits, the six-month-old Burden twins have made it home in time for their first Christmas too.

Parents Lee Burden, 35, and Amanda Staplehurst, 31, feared the worst when Amelia-Hope was born at 23 weeks, weighing a mere 1lb 2oz.


Amelia-Hope Burden and her brother, Arthur, who weighed 1lb 2oz and 1lb 4oz respectively with their mother, Amanda


Tiny: When she was born, Amelia-Hope weighed just 1lb 2oz. Her twin brother came ten days later and weighed 1lb 4oz


Arthur followed ten days later, at 1lb 4oz, and their battle for life began.

Somehow, their fighting spirit won through and they became the youngest premature twins to survive in the UK.

They were allowed to leave hospital only last month.

‘Bringing them home is the best gift we could have asked for,’ said their mother at the family home in Bournemouth.

JENKINSON TRIPLETS


Three times the fun: Rebecca and Iain Jenkinson with Gabriella, Alexander and Zachary


Happiness is trebled in the Jenkinson household this Christmas. triplets gabriella, zachary and alex were born two months premature after being conceived naturally in a 750,000-to-one chance.

While the first two arrived safely, Alex had a serious heart condition that needed surgery and mother Rebecca had to have a life-saving blood transfusion.

After the drama of last December’s birth, Rebecca and husband Iain are relishing every moment together at their home in Warrington.

‘All three of them are happy and healthy,’ Mrs Jenkinson said. ‘They’re my Christmas miracle babies.’


Merry Christmas 2010 !



source: dailymail
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The City star banned from fashion website after shocked readers complain about her stick-thin frame

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By MAYSA RAWI

Weighty issue: Allie Crandell models a black leather dress by BCBG on the Revolve website, but has been banned after readers complained she was too thin


The City star Allie Crandell has been banned from a popular American fashion retailer after readers complained about her skinny frame.

Revolve clothing featured Crandell on their online boutique looking painfully thin as she models a collection by BCBG Max Azria.

One image in particular showing her tiny waist and arms sparked outrage among shoppers.


Painfully thin: Allie has attracted attention in the past over her weight while she was on American show The City


One shopper wrote: 'As a normal, healthy woman with a healthy body type. How can I possibly imagine what this dress would look like on me when it is shown on an emaciated frame?'

Revolve have promised not to feature Crandell on their site until she puts on weight.

The spokesperson said: 'We are working closely with both the model and her agent to get her to a healthier size.



Doll-sized: Revolve have said they are working with both the model and her agent to get her to a healthier size


'She won't be appearing in any of our new product batches or in any of our fashion editorial photos moving forward until the issue is adequately addressed.

'We have been attempting to respect the privacy of the model in question while dealing with the issue on our end.'

In 2008, Crandell became a part of the MTV reality show The City.

In one episode, fashion publicist Kelly Cutrone accused her of being too thin before the model goes on to defend herself by insisting she eats healthily.

Although she played a major role in the first season, she has only appeared twice in the second half.

She also starred in Shayne Ward's 2006 No Promises video.

Crandell confirmed via her personal Twitter account that she will no longer be appearing on the show, stating, 'I'm done with the City forever.'

source: dailymail
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Looking fabulous at 50: Carol Vorderman shows why she refuses to fret about her body

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By EMILY ANDREWS

Birthday girl: Carol Vorderman is fabulous at 50


In her younger days she sometimes counted her imperfections. Today, as she turns 50, Carol Vorderman prefers to count her blessings.

And as her elegant red gown shows, she is a woman who has been very blessed indeed.

‘When you’re in your 20s and 30s you often think “I don’t like this bit, I don’t like that bit, I wish I could shave a few inches off here”,’ she said.

‘But when you’re older you’re just blooming grateful for what you’ve got!

‘For instance, I’ve learned that women spend lots of time worrying about cellulite but men just don’t see it, particularly as they get older themselves and their eyesight goes too!

‘At this age you don’t beat yourself up any more - what’s the point?

‘I’m comfortable in my skin, I’m really happy and that’s all that counts.’

The mother of two, who co-hosted Channel Four’s Countdown for 26 years, has been busy concentrating on figures other than her own since she left the show.


She is chairman of a Conservative Party Task Force that will report in the new year on improving maths education.

And she is running an online maths school for children up to age 12, www.themathsfactor.com, which operates with a team of 12 from Bristol.

Then there is the delight of family life in Somerset with her daughter Katie, 18, son Cameron, 13, and mother Jean, 82.

Christmas, coinciding with her birthday, is always a favourite time.

‘I was called Carol because I was born on Christmas Eve... no surprises there...and I just love this time of year,’ she said.

The year ahead, it seems, will be Carol’s year of living dangerously. She wants to use her 51st year to do 50 things she’s always dreamed of, such as learning to ski, completing a scuba diving course and getting her pilot’s licence.

‘I’m actually a real daredevil and I love engines, as I read engineering at Cambridge, so I want to learn to fly and go wing-walking and do some aerobatics,’ she said.

‘This will be an aviation year - I want to go ballooning in Switzerland and to see the final space shuttle go up.

‘There are all these things I’ve always wanted to do, but in the past the kids have been too young or I’ve been working too hard.

‘Now we can do all these things together and I have a lot more time.

‘Katie’s on her gap year before university so hopefully she can come with me to the States to learn to fly and I’ve got lots more things planned.

‘I was the kid on free school meals from a single parent family in the 60s who managed to get to Cambridge and have made the most of everything I could by working hard since then.

‘And as this year ends, I could burst with excitement. I know that a new chapter is beginning.’

Hard work, she often says, has been the key to her success. And it seems that also applies to her fabulous fiftysomething figure. ‘I do have to watch what I eat,’ she admitted.


Carol & Katie Vorderman



Carol Vorderman - Daybreak 10Nov2010


source: dailymail
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