Caitriona to be honoured at pre-Oscars ceremony
THEY may have dissolved their marriage, but Victoria Smurfit and her exhusband Doug Baxter have retained their sense of humour. The former couple have possibly had the most amicable split in the history of splitsville. They enjoyed a very modern family Christmas Day as Doug joined Victoria, pictured left, and their three children for dinner, along with Victoria’s new partner, Alistair Ramsden. And Victoria even bought Doug a present of a novelty gift, pictured above, that seemed to put a smile on his mug. ELAINE CROWLEY returns to our screens tomorrow with her brand new chat show, Elaine. The hugely popular host will be interviewing a top UK soap star to kick of her first season. She will also have her usual gaggle, sorry panel, of women as they muse on the issues of the day.
The Diary can also reveal that fresh from her Operation Transformation success, Elaine, pictured, will be kicking some afternoon butts as she reignites her No Pain No Gain with Elaine fitness challenge.
This year, the contestants will be trained by top personal trainer Sophie Kavanagh, who trains model Holly Carpenter, and who, we are told, will be taking ‘no nonsense’. FILM director Guy Ritchie has already had a stint running a trendy pub in London and now he’s taking it a step further – by opening his own brewery.
The man behind Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels is building the brewery in the grounds of his estate in Wiltshire.
Guy, 48, has dubbed the project ‘Ritchie’s Brewery’ and has even come up with names for his ales, registering several companies including Ashcombe Ale, Bitta Ritchie, and Punch Bowl Beer. COMEDIAN Dara Ó Briain saw the funny side after an imposter used his image to try and get young women to go out on dates with him for no strings attached fun.
The TV star, pictured above, from Bray, Co. Wicklow, was alerted to the fact that a stranger was using his picture on a sugar daddy website to try to attract potential dates.
Happily married Dara was equally astounded, amused and flattered when he discovered he had been catfished.
‘Finally! Somebody is using my barely pixellated face as a catfish. Hope he has the s***ty stick ready to beat them away with,’ he said on Twitter. CAITRIONA BALFE will be honoured at the prestigious Oscar Wilde Awards in LA on February 23, which are staged by the US-Ireland Alliance.
The star-studded soirée, which sees a green carpet rolled out instead of the traditional red, is one of the highlights on the pre-Oscar awards calendar.
Singer-songwriter Glen Hansard will also be honoured at the A-list event.
Glen, 46, will also perform on the night and will be supported by emerging Irish duo Glenn and Ronan.
The annual event is hosted by Star Wars director JJ Abrams and is held at his Bad Robot offices in Santa Monica.
Ms Balfe, pictured right, a twotime Golden Globe nominee and BAFTA award winner, has seen her star rise since she moved from Ireland to LA.
The former Assets model has since landed a number of major Hollywood roles, including one opposite George Clooney and Julia Roberts in last year’s thriller, Money Monster.
Caitriona, 39, has in particular gained a massive fanbase following her critically acclaimed lead role as Claire Fraser in the successful TV drama series, Outlander. SINGER-songwriter Keith Cullen is beginning 2017 on a high as his debut single, Say Something, is making waves in the US Billboard charts.
A dream come through for many, Dubliner Keith is currently sitting at number 25 in the competitive US charts. He said: ‘When I set out to make music, releasing an album was a dream. So, when I saw Say Something climb the Billboard dance charts, it was truly beyond my wildest dreams.’
Say Something is the first single from his upcoming debut album, Dear Future Me, the catchy track is featured on the soundtrack for High Strung, a movie by director Michael Damien, that was released last year.