THE DIARY
The Backstreet Boys’ nostalgic megamix on Strictly drew a mixed reception on Sunday night. Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain was a huge fan of the 90s boyband, then and now. “Watched with a massive knot in my chest!
“I still love them as much as I did two decades ago.” Olympian Greg Rutherford said: “One or two of the voices may not have aged particularly well. But still. Love them.”
The Thick Of It star Chris Addison enjoyed the performance a little less, though. He said: “Backstreet Boys now look like a bunch of dads who’ve gone to the cricket dressed as Backstreet Boys.” The Traveling Wilburys lost another member last year when Tom Petty passed away, which has prompted British festival bosses to start arranging a tribute to the rock legends. The group included Bob
Dylan and late stars George Harrison and Roy Orbison. Isle Of Wight festival organisers are trying to bring together some of the biggest names in music for a modern version of the Wilburys for a big, one-off gig for charity.
“The wish list includes Noel
Gallagher, the Stereophonics and Travis,” the source says.
This year’s 50th anniversary IoW event is up for Best Festival at tomorrow’s Q Awards.
Countdown’s Susie Dent was “bemused” by claims that the show’s late host Richard Whiteley was an MI5 spy. “It’s difficult to imagine,” she says, after Royle Family star Ricky Tomlinson
accused Whiteley of spying on him last year.
But the Dictionary Corner star admits she could have missed certain clues – Susie only belatedly learned the head of her Oxford college, Daphne Park, had formerly been a “key member of the secret service” and still kept a dagger in the safe.
“I clearly didn’t recognise the signs there, so maybe I didn’t recognise the signs with Richard either,” she concedes.
Michael Caine’s filmography includes some questionable career choices – Jaws: The Revenge to name but one.
“I never turned any movie down – that’s why I made so much crap,” he explains to the Radio Times. “Where I was lucky was I would make three or four really crap pictures and then I’d get a big hit, which saved my a***.”
I thank Kanye for the gift of white sneakers. Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, aged 74, is no doubt thrilled with the thoughtful present he received from Kanye West, who is visiting the East African country with his wife Kim Kardashian.