Scrum ’n get them
ESSEX is Britain’s rugbyloving capital, according to a study.
A survey shows Brentford is home to the UK’s biggest rugby fans.
More tickets for the Six Nations, which Wales won with a grand slam yesterday, were sold in the Essex town than anywhere else.
Winchester was a close second, with Colchester coming in third.
Despite rugby being hailed as Wales’ national sport, both Wrexham and Cardiff came surprisingly low on the list at numbers six and seven – with more rugby fans in Leicester and Bristol trying to score tickets for this year’s competition.
Alexandra Delvenakiotis, of the online ticket vendor StubHub UK, which carried out the poll, said: “Taking a close look at our data, we were able to determine the UK’s rugby capital.” REALITY telly star Lisa Vanderpump is quite possibly the most famous British woman in America…
Yet most people on these shores have probably never heard of her.
The 58-year-old is as recognisable to most Americans as Hollywood actress Kate Winslet or the Queen, if not more.
Mum-of-two Lisa, a star of both The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills and her own series Vanderpump Rules, is the first to admit her name may leave many baffled in the UK.
But anyone watching TV in 1980s Britain will have a nagging memory as to why her face rings a bell.
Before finding fame in the US, Lisa forged her own career in some major commercials.
She was the woman who famously grabbed the Hamlet cigars man’s wig, and the girl who dived into a pool while advertising Britvic 55.
Now, after 35 years working tirelessly alongside her husband Ken Todd in the restaurant industry, she has created a multi-million pound business empire which boasts some of Beverly Hills’ most desired eateries. Anyone who is anyone in Tinseltown has eaten at one of her restaurants – Villa Blanca, SUR, Pump and Tom Tom.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Star Sunday, at her home looking out over Beverly Hills, Lisa recalled how she found fame after opening up about her lack of sex.
She said: “The producers approached me several times, once through the Stallones. The bosses knew they knew me. They asked if I was interested.
“When I met them I remember saying, ‘Ken and I have sex on Christmas and birthdays – and that’s his birthday, not mine, as that is another day off’.
“Then when the show came out and you don’t know what they’ve edited and what they’ve recorded, it then appears a really true story and a true depiction of your life. Suddenly I was on the f***ing news.
“It was like, ‘Yes, sometimes it’s twice but sometimes it is only once a year and he has to beg’.
“And they are looking at me and taking me seriously and I thought, ‘Well, I can either have fun with all of this or not’.
“Some people were saying, ‘But Lisa don’t you think your husband might stray?’ And I said, ‘No, because when I do it, I’m so good’. And they were looking at me as if to say, ‘Is she out of her mind?’, so I just went with it and thought I’d have some fun.”
The show follows the lives of some of America’s richest and most famous housewives and has featured the aunts of heiress Paris Hilton.
Despite having millions of fans, Lisa shows no signs of becoming a diva off screen, unlike some reality stars.
She still helps out with many charities, giving away money to needy causes.
“I am just somebody who works very hard,” she explained.
“It’s a British thing. I am very heavily involved in all our business. Philanthropy’s a huge factor to me.
“I can’t be as generous as I want to be as I have bills to pay, but for the past 10 years, long before Housewives came along, we have fed the homeless every Monday.”
Lisa didn’t always rub shoulders with the rich and famous. She grew up in London after being born in Kent to John and Jean Vanderpump.
Her dad was in advertising, while her mum held down part-time jobs but mainly acted as a housewife.
But it was when she was 21 that her life changed forever when she met Ken. The pair left London and moved over to Los Angeles.
Despite her wealth, she has made sure that her two children, Max and Pandora, share her approach to working hard. Pandora has launched her own business selling LVP Sangria, which is now being sold all over the world.
Lisa admitted that she has not been back home to the UK for a long time, despite her family still living here, but she has often thought about returning to the land of her birth.
She added: “I miss Britain so much. I am a huge supporter of the Royal Family. I love that pomp and pageantry. I think it sets England apart from anywhere else in the world.”