■ FEARSOME

former BBC inquisitor Jeremy Paxman didn’t seem very happy to have been handed the title of Cuddly Rottweiler of the Year at The Oldie awards yesterday.

‘No I don’t f***ing take to being called cuddly,’ he growls at the ceremony at the National Liberal Club in London. Paxman, 72, enjoyed the gesture, though. ‘Since I have felt 60 since the age of ten, I am very grateful,’ he tells me. ‘I don’t miss being on TV. It’s like saying, “Do you miss taking the bins out?”’