WEEK IN SHOWBIZ

TEN YEARS OF RYLAN

My pal’s latest autobiography is called Ten, and hasn’t it flown by! I remember the first time I interviewed Rylan – he was on X Factor. ‘Filling in for you on Daybreak was my first telly job,’ he reminded me recently. ‘Aren’t you lucky I don’t like early mornings!’ he added cheekily. We’ve become firm friends since, thanks to our adventures at Eurovision.

A BUMPER

Ex-strictly pro Kevin Clifton is buzzing. He’s tearing up the floor with Eastenders star Maisie Smith in a tour of his dream show Strictly Ballroom and of course he’s got a baby on the way with partner Stacey Dooley. ‘We’re in the nice stage of her bump getting bigger by the minute and it’s all very exciting,’ he tells me. His tour with Maisie runs up until next summer. So what next? ‘There’s a couple of projects in the pipeline, but the main project is project baby and becoming a dad!’

CORRIE ON EILEEN

A cheeky lunch with pal Sue Cleaver to toast 20 years of friendship – and not a witchetty grub in sight! It was the first time we’d managed to get together in over two years, so there was plenty of gossip to catch up on. She’s treated herself to a caravan for the family and promises me that we’ll be taking our show on the road next summer. In the meantime, my Queen of the Cobbles will have to stick to camping…