PLUS Who has hit The Diary headlines in 2017
STRICTLY, CORRIE AND LOOSE WOMEN IN ‘MOST READ’ LIST
IT’S been a busy old year on Manchester’s showbiz scene, and the city’s stars, their highs, their lows, their loves and their dramas have been filling our Diary pages. We’ve had Real Housewives of Cheshire dramas, you’ve been gripped by Corrie storylines, and we’ve watched Gemma Atkinson do Bury proud on Strictly.
Here, we look back at the top stories as read by you, dear readers, over 2017.
And we hope you’ll join us for plenty more in 2018!
PETER KAY ON STRICTLY COME DANCING
When Bolton’s Peter Kay turned up on the hit BBC show it got people talking – although some TV fans were less than impressed that he took the opportunity to plug his planned stand-up tour. Sadly, just weeks after the appearance, Peter was forced to cancel his live tour due to ‘unforeseen family circumstances’ and we all wish him the best in 2018.
LOOSE WOMEN STARS STRIP OFF
When the presenters stripped down to their undies to ‘stick two fingers up’ at airbrushing, our readers heartily approved.
Nine of the ITV chat show hosts, including Wilmslow’s Coleen Nolan, dared to bare in their swimwear for a photograph to urge other women to have more body confidence. The unedited image was seen on billboards displayed up and down the country.
REAL HOUSEWIVES AT WAR
It was the brooding, rumbling row at the heart of all the rows on hit ITVBe docudrama The Real Housewives of Cheshire – as former best pals Leanne Brown and Dawn Ward were at war.
While we never quite found out what it was all about – we were repeatedly told it was a ‘financial argument’ and it had ‘gone legal’ – it had our readers gripped.
CORRIE STAR SIMON GREGSON PRAISES NHS AFTER WIFE EMMA’S HOSPITAL DRAMA
An emotional Simon was full of praise for the NHS after his wife Emma received life-saving surgery following a medical drama.
Emma was just hours from death – until a hero medic made a midnight dash to perform a scan followed by life-saving surgery at Wythenshawe Hospital.
Simon tweeted at the time: “So three times the wonderful doctors of the NHS have saved my wife’s life even when so over worked and at breaking point.”
GEMMA ATKINSON... AND JUST WHO IS SHE DATING?
We all loved to see former Emmerdale star Gemma blossom on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing – and fans also couldn’t get enough of all the rumours circulating about who Gemma gets to rumba with away from the dance floor.
No less than FOUR stories about Gemma and her love-life feature in our top 20 most-read showbiz list, with the rumoured romance with dancer Gorka Marquez, Gemma’s denials of a romance with Ryan Giggs and laughing off rumours of a fling with TV chef Simon Rimmer among the most read.
LAURA SIMPSON BREAKS HER SILENCE ABOUT WAYNE ROONEY
The drink-drive shame of the former Manchester United star hit national headlines – and there was HUGE interest in ‘party girl’ Laura Simpson, who he was giving a lift home after a night out in Alderley Edge and Wilmslow.
So when Irlam girl Laura finally broke her silence with a TV interview on This Morning, it got plenty of people talking.
Especially when she gave her damning final verdict of Wayne and his wife Coleen: “I don’t think he deserves her... it’s my opinion. I wouldn’t do that to my partner.”
TODD GRIMSHAW LEAVING CORONATION STREET – AFTER ACTOR BRUNO LANGLEY’S FALL FROM GRACE
Plenty of Coronation Street storylines feature in our most-read top 50, but none quite as controversial as the swift departure of Todd Grimshaw. It came after the actor who played him, Bruno Langley, was arrested and subsequently pleaded guilty to the sexual assault of two women in a Manchester nightclub.
When we revealed how Todd would be very suddenly written out of the show, there was naturally huge interest among soap fans.