Highs and shows...
Life’s hard as a celebrity – up one minute, down the next. Whether it was Cheryl losing her toyboy or Dec his Ant, 2018 has been a rollercoaster of a year…
JANUARY
Fresh starts as Meghan Markle shut down her lifestyle website The Tig, Wills bade farewell to the bald patch with his first buzz cut – and Strictly said Foxtrot Oscar to Brendan Cole.
But no goodbye was harsher than Ant McPartlin to wife Lisa Armstrong, with the statement: “Ant is very sad to announce that, after 11 years, he is ending his marriage.”
Thought men couldn’t get any more insensitive? Wrong. Ewan McGregor won the Golden Globe for Fargo and thanked both his estranged wife Eve Mavrakis and new girlfriend Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
FEBRUARY
LA County Sheriff’s Department made a splash when they named film legend Robert Wagner as a “person of interest” in the 1981 drowning of his wife Natalie Wood. Officers said his version of events “don’t add up”.
On this side of the pond, Christine McGuinness was left drowning her sorrows after hubby Paddy was spotted looking friendly with All Saints’ Nicole Appleton on a night out. But all ended well when he swore he would Never Ever play away and she landed a role on Loose Women.
Cheryl Tweedy-Cole-FernandezVersini insisted everything was “fine” with baby daddy Liam Payne as she continued to fight for their love at the Brit awards. Jennifer Aniston proved once more that men are stupid after she split with hubby Justin Theroux.
BBC TV drama McMafia convinced the country 100% that James Norton would be the next James Bond.
MARCH
Ant McPartlin stepped up a gear on his fall from grace, caught on camera emerging from a daytime drink-drive crash with a car carrying a three-yearold girl. Ant scurried back to rehab, before getting a record £86,000 fine.
Costa Coffee opened a branch – in Corrie. Well, they need a pick-me-up after all those gloomy storylines…
APRIL
The world welcomed Prince Louis but it was Princess Charlotte who made history as the first royal female not to be relegated in the line of succession by a younger brother.
ABBA announced a return to the studio after 35 years and the world temporarily seemed like a better place.
MAY
The month was all about one thing: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s big day at Windsor Castle. While Meghan rose to fame in a legal drama, her royal nuptials were pure soap. Her family was NFI (not fudging invited), her dad staged paparazzi pictures then had heart surgery hours before he was due to walk her down the aisle, leaving Prince Charles to do the honours.
It was still undoubtedly the showbiz event of the year. When else would you get Victoria and David Beckham,
George and Amal Clooney, Idris Elba and Elton John in a church together?
JUNE
Love Island started with record viewers for ITV2 and a lesson to us all – no matter how hot you are, you can still get “pied”. (So why not sack off the gym and indulge in a few pasties?)
Celeb love lives proved just as tricky, as David Beckham’s rep was forced to deny rumours of marriage trouble as a “crock of sh**” and Ant McPartlin confirmed he was dating his PA, and wife Lisa’s friend, Anne-Marie Corbett.
Corrie finally killed off serial killer Pat Phelan and EastEnders’ hardman Leslie Grantham passed away in real life aged 71, a sad end for Dirty Den.
JULY
Football came home a bit sooner than we’d hoped after England lost to Croatia in the World Cup semi-final.
But as the nation nursed its 50 years of hurt, Cheryl T-C-F-V announced she was now Payne free. Sir Cliff Richard won his privacy case against the BBC after their live broadcast of the 2014 police raid on his home. The following month his new track Rise Up premiered – on BBC Radio 2.
AUGUST
After President Donald Trump’s July visit, we returned the favour by sending Wayne and Coleen Rooney to Washington. As the Rooneys were moving in, Trump’s alleged mistress Stormy Daniels was signing up to Big Brother. Just as Helen Wood – who claimed a hook-up with Wayne as an escort – did in 2014. Fortunately for Trump, Stormy pulled out before she got in too deep.
But BB didn’t lose its drama in its final series ever – Emmerdale star Roxanne Pallett became the nation’s punchbag when she mistakenly accused Corrie’s Ryan Thomas of hitting her in the house. The X Factor also returned with Robbie Williams and his brilliant-but-not-musical wife Ayda Field on the panel. Reports David Walliams will only return to BGT if his dog Bert is a judge are unconfirmed.
SEPTEMBER
The future looks ginger for Virgin and the royals. Chris Evans announced he was defecting from Radio 2 and Kensington Palace said Meghan and Harry were expecting their first baby.
David Beckham hired Mr Loophole to escape a speeding penalty after doing 59mph in a 40mph zone – as the court notice arrived a day late. He was not sent down but has probably gone down in some people’s estimation.
BBC TV’s Bodyguard continued to crush ITV’s Vanity Fair in the ratings. Some 10.4 million viewers tuned in for a finale that convinced the country 100% Richard Madden would be the next James Bond.
OCTOBER
Ant McPartlin and Lisa Armstrong finalised divorce, with her citing him as “intolerable”. David Beckham gave an ill-phrased interview, calling marriage to Posh “always hard work”. Strictly Come Dancing no-mark Seann Walsh was caught kissing married partner Katya Jones. His girlfriend Rebecca Humphries dumped him and took the cat but he took the mickey and brazened it out on the show.
One feelgood moment: not Princess Eugenie’s This Morning wedding but Rahul Mandal’s sweet Bake Off victory.
NOVEMBER
Strictly hit the headlines again as Red Dwarf’s Danny John-Jules was accused of making dance partner Amy Dowden cry in rehearsals. He was booted off by viewers next week.
Reports emerged that the wives of Windsor were no longer so merry, with Meghan and Kate Middleton becoming sisters-at-war.
DECEMBER
BBC3 star Stacey Dooley waltzed to Strictly victory, a bloke named Dalton Harris won The X Factor and Harry Redknapp (and his wife Sandra) stole the nation’s hearts on I’m A Celebrity.
But the big winner on reality TV was Holly Willoughby. She made a jungle fortune thanks to her girl-nextdoor likeability, reportedly splashing £19,000 on a three-bed suite on the plane ride home. Now that’s showbiz…