Pick of the week’s Gossip

Sandi Toksvig (pictured) and the late humorist Alan Coren spent many hours together in hotel rooms when they were opposing captains on Call My Bluff in the 1990s. They often sat in front of the TV eating burgers, and on one occasion, according to Toksvig’s new memoir, she even tidied his room for him. “Dear God, Alan,” she said, “we’re almost like an old married couple, only we don’t have sex.” Coren paused, then replied, “No, Sandi, we’re exactly like an old married couple.”

Theresa May had a terrible relationship with her chancellor Philip Hammond, according to Anthony Seldon’s new book about her premiership. In particular, the PM – who was not strong on economics – was driven mad by the way Hammond would explain the economic realities to her. “Theresa, that’s not how it works,” he would tell her in their meetings. On the other hand, she did much the same to Boris Johnson, who often irritated her by failing to grasp the detail. In Cabinet, ministers would wince as she deployed her favourite put-down: “No, Boris, it’s not that simple.”

Robert De Niro’s fans were taken aback when he cropped up earlier this year in an ad for Warburtons bagels, playing a New York ganster who flies over to confront the bakery’s owner. But the actor doesn’t see what the problem is. “Look, they asked me to do it and I met the guy, Warburton, and I thought it was funny,” he told GQ. “I saw [ Sylvester] Stallone do it, and I thought at least he has a sense of humour about it and about himself... Should I think I should never have done that? I’m too good for that or something? And I said, ‘F**k it, I’ll do it.’ Why not? Don’t hold it against me.”