MISSING LINKS

HOW two seemingly unrelated figures in the news are joined by a series of unexpected connections.

PETER KAY

… is making a return to live comedy after 12 years, delighting fans left disappointed when he pulled his previous stand-up tour just days after announcing it in 2017, citing ‘unforeseen family circumstances’. He shot to prominence partly thanks to the ads he made for John Smith’s bitter, even though he is teetotal. Another abstainer flogging booze is Kiss frontman…

GENE SIMMONS

… whose band once launched its own range of Zin Fire Wine and Destroyer Beer. The rocker is famous for being one of the world’s best fireeaters, having a 7in tongue and having slept with 4,500 women, a tally similar to…

MICK JAGGER

… whose much-quoted 4,000 bedpost notches are said to be an underestimate. The singer once tried therapy for his sex addiction, to the delight of partner Jerry Hall. But her relief was short-lived, as he ended up sleeping with the therapist. One woman Jagger has admired without it being sexual was Margaret Thatcher, finding her steadfastness appealing. Other Maggie fans include…

LULU

… who once said: ‘I liked her strength… like a strong headmistress.’ Lulu was famously Britain’s 1969 Eurovision entry with Boom Bang-A-Bang, while another UK representative at the song contest was…

OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN

… who lost out to Abba in 1974. Although Australian, she was born in Cambridge to an illustrious Jewish emigre family. Her maternal grandfather was Nobelwinning physicist Max Born, and she’s a third cousin of comedian Ben Elton. For 45 years, Newton-John held the Guinness World Record for the shortest gap between No1 albums for a female star on the US Billboard chart – 154 days. The record fell to….

TAYLOR SWIFT

… in 2020 with just 140 days between Folklore and Evermore. She this month broke an even bigger record, becoming the first artist to take every slot in the Top 10 US singles chart. Swift has just announced a tour, news that proved so exciting to fan Karlee Kluck, 19, that she suffered a collapsed lung.