Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Fobbed off Army widow to hand back gong
Rocker reveals how he hooked up with his wife Emma
It seems the MoD don’t want to push for answers LINDA SPROUTING ON HER MORAL STRUGGLE
THE widow of a Black Watch captain accidentally killed by an American soldier aims to return her war widow’s medal in disgust at the Government’s failure to get justice for him.
Mum-of-two Linda Sprouting plans to hand the Elizabeth Cross back to Prince Charles who awarded it to her after 46-year-old Dean’s death in Iraq in 2018, describing him as an “outstanding soldier”.
Now she thinks she was given it to shut her up.
Capt Sprouting, a veteran of Northern Ireland and Bosnia with 29 years’ service, was hit by a forklift truck during a daylight jog on a sanctioned route at the US Al Asad Airbase.
A US army investigation cleared the soldier driver of blame – but Linda, 48, claims the probe was a “whitewash”, ignored by the
Ministry of Defence who didn’t want to “upset the Americans”.
She said: “The report into my husband’s death was 300 pages... double that had been redacted. I asked the MoD two years ago to get the full report... nothing happened.
“It seems the MoD don’t want to push for answers. British military police have told me evidence of negligence was so strong, a British soldier driving the truck would have been charged.” Linda, of Falkirk, believes the MoD thought her medal would make her “go away and keep my mouth shut”. She added: “It’s been devalued. I want to hand it back to Charles and tell him why. I wrote to him but his staff said he was too busy.” Linda said sons Oliver 16 and Harry 11, had struggled over their dad’s death. “They lost their role model. I never even got an apology from the Americans.”
The MoD sympathised and said: “We liaised with US authorities during the investigation.” Clarence House declined to comment.
After 15 happy years together, they are one of telly’s golden couples.
But Matt Willis has revealed how he was caught out by his then-girlfriend for brazenly flirting with the woman he would go on to wed.
The Busted rocker recalls: “Suddenly we were being interviewed by the fit girl from MTV. I’m not sure you’re allowed to say that these days.
“At the time, she had a boyfriend. I had a girlfriend, who was our TV plugger who was with us.”
Matt, 37, says his furious partner later confronted him after noticing the chemistry between him and Emma, 44.
EXCLUSIVE
But he brushed her off and said: “It’s just flirtation on TV. That’s the way it goes.”
Their relationship really blossomed, however, after The Voice host Emma made the first move.
Speaking to Geordie Shore star and I’m A Celeb 2015 winner Vicky Pattison on her podcast, Matt recalls: “I was on Saturday Night Takeaway with Ant and Dec and Blue were on the same night.
“Emma was at home. She had split up with her boyfriend. Suddenly Simon from Blue hands me a phone and it’s [mutual friend] Tim Kash and he says, ‘Emma is really trying to get hold of you – do you mind if I give her your number?’
“And I was like, ‘Yes, here’s my number, tell her to call me’.” But Matt almost blew his chance by trying to play it cool. He says: “That night, I got a text from Emma. I waited two-and-a-half days. What an idiot.
“Everything in me wanted to say, ‘Hi, I’m on my way’. But I waited. I rang her, we went to a Scissors Sisters gig, and everything else is history.”
The pair married three years later and now have three children – Isabelle, 11, Ace, nine, and Trixie, four.
STREET WISE... Vicky quit Corrie to get some peace
GLAM SHOCK Corrie party clip
PLAYING Corrie loudmouth Janice Battersby took a real-life toll on actress Vicky Entwistle.
For 14 years, soap fans were gripped by feisty Janice’s antics – but a decade after leaving the show, Vicky reveals that she had to quit for her own wellbeing.
The 52-year-old says: “Corrie was only the third job I’d done and you go from being yourself to this loud, obnoxious woman that’s showing up in half the country’s living rooms.
“I wasn’t prepared for the attention. It was like being dropped in the sea when you can’t really swim.
“By the time I left, I was desperate to find some peace.
“It was a brilliant job in so many ways but by the end, it was hard to know where Janice ended
AS HERSELFVicky and I began.
in Celeb Big Brother “She was so feisty, it became physically exhausting to play her – hours on end shouting and screaming at people.
“I’d think at the end of filming, ‘How the hell am I going to drive home after all that?’ I’d have to go and calm myself down.
“Those rows, all that drama… I was going through it physically in this full-on, relentless schedule.
“It almost felt like I was becoming Janice. People presumed I was like her in real-life and I even started to worry myself. I’d
JAN’S MAN With TV hubby Les think, ‘Am I this gobby? Am I this rude?’ In the end, it wore me down. I was exhausted.
“I know it wasn’t exactly life down the pits, but I was getting more and more anxious and I had to get my life back. In the end, I just knew I couldn’t do it any more.”
Vicky recalls the night a group of men lifted her up in the street and carried her into a Manchester bar – an example of how her fame had become a burden.
She adds: “I found that side of things very intense. There were something like 25 million people watching the show back then and if I’m honest, I found it a bit scary.”
Janice was head of the rowdy Battersby clan – wife to Les, mum to Toyah, stepmum to Leanne.
Since quitting Corrie, Vicky, who lives in Lancashire with her set designer hubby Andy Chapman, has been in Ackley Bridge, Holby City and Celebrity Big Brother, as well as stage shows such as Les Mis.
But she is quick to quash rumours of a return to the cobbles.
“I can’t see it,” she says. “I had lots of great friends there but I was knackered before they even added an extra episode so I don’t think I’d keep up.
“I’m happy with how things worked out. We might not fly off to Barbados every year but I have a home and a husband I love. That’s all anyone could ask for.”
GOBBY Telly loudmouth lets rip
People felt I was turning into Janice ...and even I started to worry VICKY ENTWISTLE ON PRESSURES OF CORRIE
HEADS UP Haircut goes awry