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Showing posts with label Femail. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Femail. Show all posts

Apprentice winner Yasmina finally reveals the childhood sweetheart she's been dating for ten years


The Apprentice winner Yasmina Siadatan has finally lifted the lid on her love-life and revealed that she met her sweetheart when she was just four years old.

Yasmina lived on the same street in Reading, Berkshire as her boyfriend Jack Patey, 27.

The families moved away, but in a a stunning coincidence when they up sticks again, they ended up living on the same street, aged 11, and their relationship grew out of a close friendship.

Yasmina Siadatan and Jack Patey

Your hired: The Apprentice Winner Yasmina Siadatan with her boyfriend Jack Patey, who she has been dating for around 10 years

'I’ve always loved him. We were best mates as teenagers and I was infatuated with him. He was the cool one. He played guitar and looked really hot.', she told Hello! magazine.

'And yeah, I wanted to make him mine. It took a few years of me just pretending to be his friend and then he finally crumbled when we were 18.'

Even then, her gritty personality shone through.

Yasmina recalled: 'I gave him an ultimatum. I said, "Either you tell me you love me or we can never be friends again." He said, "I love you."'

The couple have dated - 'apart from a few breaks for university and stuff' - for around ten years and say they are part of each other’s families.

Yasmina, 27, denies she was keeping her love life a secret while on the BBC show.

'I wasn’t keeping it a secret. It’s just that The Apprentice is a business show.'
Kate Walsh and Yasmina Siadatan

Finalists: Yasmina and Kate Walsh, who she denies having a fierce rivalry with

Yasmina - known as Mina to close friends - had an unusual upbringing. Her English mother Paula and Iranian father dad Medi had three children together but divorced after ten years of marriage.

Hello

Hello! magazine is on sale now

Both her parents remarried and Paula had a further three children. Muslim Medi, who now lives in the Middle East, has three wives and nine children.

Yasmina added: 'I had to deal with that situation from a young age, so nothing fazes me. I feel privileged that I got such close experiences of a different society.'

Jack, who also runs his own company, was convinced Yasmina would win.

He said: 'From the day Yasmina told me she was applying, I knew that she’d win. Absolutely.

'Knowing her like I do, and having watched the show, it would have been a travesty, in my opinion, if she hadn’t won.”

Yasmina added: 'When I first met all the other candidates, I thought, "Yeah, I’m in with a good chance."'

She also dismissed suggestions that she and runner-up Kate Walsh were fierce rivals.

'We’re extremely good friends, ridiculously so. I’ve got a lot of respect for her. We have this thing called the Monday night club, when we get together and do something fun.

'She has been adorable to me - I don’t know if I’d have reacted as well if I’d been in her position.'

Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger leaves beau Lewis Hamilton behind as she enjoys beach break with bandmate


Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger showed off her toned body as she took a dip in the sea in Hawaii.

The 30-year-old, who is dating Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton, turned heads in a multi-coloured bikini as she soaked up the sun on Waikiki Beach.

Nicole was all smiles as she sun-bathed with bandmate Ashley Roberts and ran along the beach before the group took to the stage in Honolulu.

Nicole Scherzinger and fellow Pussy Cat Dolls dominated the beach in Waikiki, Hawaiii

Beach babe: Nicole Scherzinger shows off her toned body as she takes a dip in the sea in Waikiki Beach, Hawaii

Nicole Scherzinger and fellow Pussy Cat Dolls dominated the beach in Waikiki, Hawaiii

Bikini fit: The 30-year-old does her best Baywatch impression as she jogs along the beach

The singer has rarely left her boyfriend’s side in recent months, but their was no sign of the 24-year-old who is preparing for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone next week.


The race comes at the end of a difficult season for Lewis who has been playing second fiddle to fellow Brit Jensen Button in this year's Formula 1 Championship, and hasn't managed to win a single race.

While Lewis was missing from Nicole's beach jaunt, onlookers would no doubt have been surprised to see her enjoying the company of bandmate Ashley after months of rumoured conflict within the group.

It is believed Nicole is planning to leave the Pussycat Dolls to focus on her solo career and finally release her long-delayed debut album My Name Is Nicole.

Nicole Scherzinger and fellow Pussy Cat Dolls dominated the beach in Waikiki, Hawaiii
Dolls invasion: Nicole walks the beach with bandmate Ashley Roberts

Their latest single Hush Hush; Hush Hush has been billed as from The Pussycat Dolls featuring Nicole Scherzinger, instead of the previous Pussycat Dolls, which has reportedly caused further tension.
Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton at the Mercedes Bendz Driving Academy

Nicole's boyfriend F1 driver Lewis Hamilton at the Mercedes Benz Driving Academy yesterday

Several songs from the album, which was originally scheduled for release two years ago, ended up on the Doll Domination album last year.

Melody, who often has her own solo segment in the Dolls' previous singles, made her feelings known on stage in her native Phoenix, Arizona in April, when the group were supporting Britney Spears.

As each Doll introduced herself, Melody said: 'I want to give a shout out to my family. Thank you for supporting me...even though I'm not featured.

'Don't give up on your dreams. Don't let anybody stop you - ever.'

After her on-stage outburst, she was given an enthusiastic high-five by redhead Jessica.

Writing on her Twitter micro-blogging page, Melody later said: 'You don't have to take the advice, but to all those who wish to be in the industry, don't sacrifice your integrity. Takes longer, worth the wait.

'Its so funny to me sometimes how nuts people in the music industry are.

'I will maintain by remaining the same, you will just wear yourself out.'

Out for the count: Cambridge students celebrate 'Suicide Sunday' with binge drinking and all-women jelly wrestling


They are supposed to be the brightest and the best we have to offer, but yesterday Cambridge students showed they were also some of our biggest drinkers.

The university's notorious end-of-exams 'Suicide Sunday' party lived up to its reputation with a series of alcohol-fuelled garden parties across the city hosted by its drinking societies.


One female student had to be helped by a friend after she appeared to collapse unconscious at the side of a road outside Magdalene College's 'Gentlemen's Wyverns' event.

The drinking club was forced to relocate their party from college grounds for the first time in 80 years after a woman student was arrested for punching a spectator during 2008's all-female jelly wrestling competition.



Out of it: A female student lies at the roadside surrounded by concerned friends

Hundreds of students were bussed to Anstey Hall, a restored 17th-century manor house five miles from the city centre.

Extra security and police were also drafted in to patrol the party, while other college celebrations were cancelled.

Despite the new venue the end-of-exams celebration followed the same format with a blazers and bikini theme, riotous drinking games and plenty of vomiting.

'The way the students were behaving was absolutely disgusting,' said one passer-by. 'It was only midday on Sunday and there were lots of families and young people around enjoying the sunshine.

'The students were lying across the verges, lots of them were vomiting and they were singing rowdy drinking songs.


Tired and emotional: An apparently unconcerned police officer looks on as the girl is helped by a friend. She eventually gets to her feet and, with a shoulder to lean on, heads off to recover

'I understand they want to celebrate the end of their exams but they were completely out of control.'
The Wyverns' party kicked off at 11am and after just an hour many graduates had drunk themselves into oblivion.

'The Wyverns aren't popular with the university officials and after last year's arrest they didn't want anything to do with the party,' said one student, from Magdalene College.

'We were told the party would have to be held away from college grounds. But hundreds of people have still turned up and this year has been bigger and better than ever.'
The highlight of the day was the jelly wrestling contest, with hundreds gathering to watch bikini-clad female students battle it out for a £250 prize.

The party-goers shouted and cheered as the girls hurled jelly at each other in an inflatable paddling pool.

'It was a very hot day and some students drank far too much,' said one graduate, from Trinity College, who did not want to be named.


How Cambridge University's newspaper, Varsity, covered the event. Women students from Sydney Sussex College perform as the 'Sydney Sluts' at a garden party


Unsteady: Two friends help keep each other up during Sunday's parties, which mark the end of the academic year

'The event involves lots of drinking games and you soon lose track of how much you've drunk.

'A lot of people could hardly walk by the end of it.'


Many students later moved onto garden parties hosted by other drinking societies including the Squires of Gonville and Caius and the Trinity Hall Crescents, who are the only ones still allowed to host their celebrations on college property.

Between the parties lots of students faced gruelling initiations such as drinking a non-alcoholic beverage through a fish smeared in marmite and licking cream off a half-dressed stranger.

One student was taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital with a broken ankle midway through his initiation which involved tackling a university under-20 rugby player.

Students gather in the sun ahead of a day's partying to celebrate th end of their exams

Students gather in the sun ahead of a day's partying to celebrate th end of their exams


The theme for Magdalene College's Wyverns' party was bikini. Women students entered the annual jelly wrestling contest

Another fresher was taken to hospital after falling down a flight of stairs.

The Newnham Nuns' garden party was cancelled by the college and many students have been forced to hold initiations in secret.

Natasha Wear, president of the Newnham Nuns, said: 'The college needed to be seen to be doing something to combat the problem of binge drinking.

'Our garden party was fully organised but the college wouldn't let it go ahead.

'They cancelled the party as a punishment for the bad press we have had in the past.'


Last year classics student Nadia Witkowski, 23, was given a caution for common assault after losing the jelly wrestling contest at the Wyverns party and punching a female spectator.


Ready for fun: Three girl students arrive at the start of the event yesterday

The Wyverns drinking society has a reputation for its hard partying and excessive drinking.

Its initiation ceremony involves eating a 15-course meal with delicacies such as a pig's snout with wasabi sauce and a pint of water with a goldfish swimming inside.

This year's ceremony featured raw leeks, whole uncooked squid and entire chillis.

The four prospective members then had kippers put round their necks and had to down four pints in three minutes each containing food, spices and other foreign liquids.

Police said there were no arrests.

The drunken parties come just a day after a senior bishop has criticised middle-class drinkers who binge on alcohol.

The Rt Rev John Gladwin, the Bishop of Chelmsford, said it was the more affluent members of society who were behind the rise in alcoholism and claimed they were just as irresponsible as drunken youths roaming the streets.

He told a Sunday newspaper: 'While we do have a significant problem among young people, not least the binge drinking that breaks out onto our streets, that is not the issue. Growing prosperity is behind the rise in alcoholism.

'Often poorer people in society haven't got the protection - the safety of jobs and homes - so when young people do go out clubbing it's all very public, whereas for older people you can collapse at home at the weekend and have levels of alcohol consumption that are just as bad.

'People in the middle-classes have got into habits of high levels of alcohol consumption without thinking through the implications for the whole community. They can't turn around and complain about another generation who, with cheap alcohol and easy access to it, are doing the same but more publicly.'

An NHS report released last month showed one in four adults in England are now classed as "hazardous" drinkers.

The cost of alcohol-related harm to the NHS in England is £2.7 billion and rising.

Big Brother girls show off bikini bodies during rare show of sunshine


As the sun shone over the Big Brother house this weekend, the series 10 contestants took the opportunity to peel off and flaunt their bikini bodies.

Hot new couple Kris Donnelly and Sophie Read headed to the diary room today - leaving little to the imagination - as the rest of the housemates sunbathed in the garden.

Dressed in in a printed bikini several sizes too small, Sophie was only too happy to show off her cleavage.

Sophie

Peeling off: Kris Donnelly and Sophie Read head to the diary room - leaving very little to the imagination

big brother
The couple were warned not to fake their romance after kissing in the swimming pool

The glamour model joined by Karly Ashworth earlier in the garden, who opted for a more demure black two-piece.

Sophie and Kris were then summoned to the diary room - where they heard played back conversations regarding who they fancy in the house by Big Brother as suspicions arose over the couple faking their romance.

The scantily-clad pair were warned of severe consequences if they were.
Sophie

Barely-there: The glamour model took the opportunity to flaunt her figure

Big Brother
It's getting hot in here: Sophie and Karly go head to head

The pair puckered up for the first kiss on this year's show during a hot flirting session in the swimming pool yesterday.

Their behaviour left little doubt that it would be the beginning of a beautiful relationship - with plenty of magazine deals in the future.

The two have been considered the most attractive couple in the house and seem to have predictably found each other's company.
Big Brother
Sun worshipers: Angel and Rodrigo Lopes chill out on the grass

Eat your heart out, Chelsy: But how will Prince Harry's new squeeze, Caroline Flack, go down with Granny?


The Gladiators host is a lads' mag pin-up with a taste for lethal cocktails and calls the Prince 'Jam' (because he's red and sweet)...

Picture the scene. It's Sunday morning and behind the cream walls of Clarence House there's a bit of light-hearted nosy-parkering going on.

Who, they are asking in the corridors and kitchens, did Harry bring home this time?

It's hardly going to be Chelsy Davy - Harry might still be in touch with his ex, but they're not that close.
Strike a pose: Caroline Flack caught Prince Harry's eye
Strike a pose: Caroline Flack caught Prince Harry's eye

The name Astrid Harbord is bandied around: a couple of months ago, Harry arrived home at 3am with the blonde in tow, but the word is that there's absolutely nothing going on there - he was just looking after a friend who was slightly unsteady on her feet at the end of a long night.

That's certainly not the situation with the young woman now waking up in an unfamiliar bed in the Prince's apartment, asking what's for breakfast and wondering exactly how a royal fry-up might be served.

Caroline Flack was introduced to Harry by mutual friends at a poker tournament in London in April and the chemistry was immediate.

Their giggly chat was followed up over the next few days with a series of flirty texts in which Caroline teased the Prince and he joked about being useless at cards.

The friendship continued apace. 'They have a lot of mutual friends, including Natalie Pinkham, and are out and about on the same social circuit when Harry is in London,' says a friend.

Natalie is another dark-haired TV presenter, who looks uncannily like Caroline, and was once photographed with Prince Harry jokily grabbing her breast.

Another friend adds: 'They have certainly been texting each other a lot of late. Harry thinks Caroline is cute and the feeling is mutual.'

Last Saturday, after a trip to the Shepherd's Bush Empire in West London to see singer-songwriter Billy Franks, Harry headed to the nearby Troubadour nightspot on the Fulham Road to meet up with Miss Flack.

At 4am when the Prince's people carrier, driven by one of his Scotland Yard bodyguards, finally zipped through the gates of Clarence House, Harry was not alone on the back seat - gorgeous Miss Flack was sitting beside him.

On paper, 'Flack', as she's known to her friends, isn't the most obvious of matches for a Prince - a comprehensive educated TV presenter.

Very different from Chelsy who comes from a wealthy family in her own right and loves her 'Afro-trash' lifestyle in Cape Town.

But what is Harry's relationship with Chelsy at the moment?

While it would be wrong to portray them as star-crossed lovers - Chelsy has been seen on the arm of a new man, property developer Dan Philipson - they are still fond of each other and have secretly met on several occasions since their highly public split earlier this year.

On one occasion, Harry wore a ridiculous-black wig to disguise himself when they went to a South London rave.

Jam man: At 29 Caroline is five years older than Harry

They couple were also due to see each other last night at a drinks party to raise funds for Harry's charity, Sentebale, in London's Pall Mall organised by his best friend, Tom 'Skippy' Inskip.

The problem, though, for Harry is that Chelsy hates the fuss that comes with dating the third in line to the throne.

And while it is far too early to say whether Caroline Flack will turn out to be the new Chelsy, she certainly seems to be the strongest contender for the vacancy since the split.

But the differences are striking. For a start, at 29 she's five years older than Harry, who won't be 25 until September.

Then there's her career. At least, unlike many of the girls who surround William and Harry, she has one and isn't afraid to work. But it doesn't quite fit the Windsor preference for low profile discretion.

'I work in telly!' as she puts it on the profile on her myspace page.

The brunette is perhaps best known for replacing Kirsty Gallacher as the host on Sky One's Gladiators, though she's also been a big hit on the BBC children's show TMi and played Michael Jackson's long-suffering girlfriend Bubbles in Bo' Selecta!

And that's not forgetting the photoshoots she's done with two men's magazines, one of which, alongside pictures of her prancing around in T-shirt and pants, called her 'TV's new saucepot' and noted that she is 'bubblier than a fresh pint of Foster's top'.

'I don't usually get pictured in my knickers, but I eased into it and by the end of the day I was running around being silly,' she said in the accompanying interview.

She went on to chat about her drinking habits. 'I'm sick if I have shots, so they're out the window.

'I like spasbombs though - Morgan's Spice [a brand of rum] dropped into Red Bull. Me and my friends like downing them.

'For someone so small, I can drink quite a lot.' So it's not difficult to spot what Harry sees in her then.

'Flack's really hot,' says a friend, with just a slight air of envy. 'And he's a Prince. So it's not exactly that much of a surprise that something's happening. There's quite a spark between them.'

What is a surprise is that the couple haven't really bothered about keeping their liaison quiet.

That's not to say they've been entirely open. Caroline refers to Harry by the codeword 'jam' - 'because he's got jam-coloured hair and he's really sweet,' she tells friends - and even posted a message on her Facebook site saying: 'Caroline Flack: Love jam...x'

And, in keeping with her exuberant character, the whole thing has an air of casual excitement.

Spotted: Caroline Flack was spotted leaving in the same car as Prince Harry after a night out


Spotted: Caroline was spotted leaving in the same car as the Prince after a night out

Caroline and her twin sister Jody were born on November 9, 1979, at Chase Farm Hospital in North London to Ian, then a pastry cook, and Christine Flack.

Her first home backed onto Tottenham Hotspur football ground - which explains why she's an ardent Spurs fan - but the family soon moved to Norfolk.

While the upper-middle-class girls with double-barrelled surnames with whom Harry is usually linked were at boarding school and hanging around county estates and polo grounds, Caroline Flack was growing up near Thetford, in Norfolk, where she attended the local comprehensive, Wayland High School, getting involved in plays and pantomimes.

'She was always a bright and lively girl, very popular and capable,' says one of her former teachers, Mike Tynan.

'Her passion at school was dance and she stood out, even at an early age. She came back last July and gave a talk at prize-giving day.

'She spent a lot of time speaking to students and signing autographs. She was always engaging and that hasn't changed. The school's proud of her.'

Caroline went on to study drama and dance at stage school in Cambridge, moved to London at 21 and began to pick up acting work in commercials.

Gladiators ready: Caroline Flack hosts the TV show

Before the TV work kicked in, she wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty, at one point working in a meatpacking factory.

'I loved it, though in the end I had to give it up,' she says. 'People wouldn't come near me because I reeked of pork.'

Then in 2002 she got her first big break when she began presenting the International Pepsi Chart Show.

Like his brother, Harry has surrounded himself with friends made up of the sons and daughters of gentry, Army officers and public-school types.

In contrast to William, however, the high-spirited Prince isn't afraid to let his hair down in public and was recently seen leaving yet another London nightspot sporting pink nail polish after allowing a female friend to paint his nails as a joke.

Harry is attracted to Caroline's sense of fun and naughty sense of humour. This is, after all, the girl who says she relishes doing children's TV because: 'You can come up with any silly idea and no one will care.

'If you say, "I want to dress as a banana" they make it happen. I dress up as a badger on a regular basis.'

She giggles that her most embarrassing moment came as she took a shower backstage at the V Festival when Taylor Hawkins from the Foo Fighters walked in unexpectedly.

Old flame: Harry with Chelsy Davy at an England rugby match when they were still together

'We just had a little chat. He asked how the shower was, I said it was fine. . .'

She's also cheekily street smart. Interviewing John Leslie the day after the Abi Titmuss sex tape came out, she asked him: 'I hear you used to be a goalkeeper. Are you very good with your hands?'

Clarence House would have been quite a contrast to the small flat in Crouch End, North London, she shares with a female friend. And she isn't exactly a hunting and fishing girl.

On her internet networking site she describes herself as 'lightweight, scruffy, very messy' and lists her interests as: 'Going out for drinks and eating jerk chicken burgers in Banners.

Watching films in bed. . . Reading the papers. Watching the news. Eating pancakes in Pick More Daises. My little flat. Buying old rock and roll love songs on vinyl. Staying in.'

And Harry, with his Pink's shirts and slip-on shoes, is quite a departure from the men she usually dates.

He may be spending every scrap of time available (most weekends) partying in London, but he's also based with the Army Air Corps at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire training to become an attack helicopter pilot.

Caroline's last serious boyfriend was a musician who goes by the name of 'Dave Danger'.

After they split up, she was seen leaving the NME music awards' backstage party with Luke Pritchard of the Kooks.

She's also talked about being 'turned to putty' by Anthony Kiedis, the tattooed vocalist of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, who has battled heroin addiction.

It's hard to imagine anyone more different to an aristocratic Sandhurst boy.

But maybe that's what Harry finds so beguiling about Caroline who is a fun-loving, unpretentious girl more than capable of keeping up with his party lifestyle.

How tennis star Daniela the gaunt's grown a figure to flaunt


Daniela Hantuchova

Pin-up: Daniela poses confidently at the poolside

It isn't long since she was known as the Slovakian Skeleton – her angular frame prompting rumours of an eating disorder.

But just look at tennis star Daniela Hantuchova now.

The 26-year-old is happy to pose in a swimsuit to reveal her more rounded physique. Gone are the sinewy muscles and visible rib cage.

Her incredible 44-inch legs now look shapely rather than scrawny.

Despite her transformation, 5ft 11in Miss Hantuchova is still unhappy at the way sportswomen come under constant scrutiny, particularly about their weight.

'I think that there is way too much emphasis on the way we look in sport in general,' she said in an interview last year.

'With the guys nobody bothers, except to say that Ronaldo (the Brazilian footballer) has got a little bit heavy or something.

'But with the women, there is too much. Everyone has a different shape. People should focus only on the game.

'After ten years on the tour, I can handle things. This is what I love doing and I wouldn't change it for anything else in the world.'



Miss Hantuchova, a classically-trained pianist who speaks an impressive six languages, looked painfully thin and appeared on the verge of a nervous breakdown when she crashed out of Wimbledon in tears in 2003.

She blamed the pressure of the game for her change in her shape after bursting on to the scene as a 15-year-old.

'Yes, I did change shape, because there was too much pressure on me and I was not ready to handle it all,' she said. 'Now I hope that I can be some kind of inspiration for young kids, by showing them that you can turn things around.'

The former world number five, now ranked 33, was posing in Miami where she was competing in the Sony Eriksson Open.

In February she appeared in the Sports Illustrated Swimwear Edition alongside Bar Refaeli – the Israeli model girlfriend of actor Leonardo DiCaprio.
Daniela Hantuchova

Puny: Six years ago, before she crashed out of Wimbledon in tears


The hair factor: Dannii Minogue gets a power bob ahead of new X Factor series


She has kept Simon Cowell waiting for an answer as to whether she'll rejoin the X Factor judges for the next series.

But Dannii Minogue clearly means business as she unveiled a new power bob hairstyle as she looks set to return to the hit show, alongside Cowell, Cheryl Cole and Louis Walsh.

Dannii, 37, showed off the sharp bobbed look at the Myer Precious Metal Ball at Melbourne Museum last night.

Dannii Minogue

Back in business: Dannii Minogue unveiled her new power bob hairstyle at the Myer Precious Metal Ball at Melbourne Museum in Australia last night.

Dannii Minogue

Chop: Dannii has given her shoulder length tresses the chop

She attended the event with beau, former rugby player Kris Smith and happily posed with him for pictures on the red carpet.

The new style signalled a mature direction for Dannii, as she shed her chestnut tresses for the Louise Brooks style bob.

And it's a look which has been famously worn by revered Vogue magazine editor Anna Wintour, 59.

Dannii has received backing from Cowell for her return to the X Factor, but no official announcement has been made yet.

And today Cowell's ex-girlfriend Sinitta the '80s popstar who works as a mentor on the ITV show, warned that Dannii's return is not certain.

Despite reports that Dannii has signed a new contract, Sinitta told The Mirror: 'Remember it was two weeks before judges auditions that Sharon wasn't there, so anything can happen.

'But as far as I know, all four (judges) are on board', she added.

Dannii Minogue and boyfriend Kris Smith

Close: Dannii and her former rugby player boyfriend turned model have grown increasingly close amid reports they plan to wed

The singer has grown increasingly close to her former rugby player boyfriend Kris Smith.

And according to one unconfirmed report the couple are allegedly preparing for a large wedding within the next 12 months.

A source told Heat magazine Chris wants to propose to her within the next few weeks.

'They're head over heels and Kris is sure she's the one,' said the source.

The pair have spent the past few months together in Minogue's home town Melbourne, where Smith recently secured a six-month modelling contract.

The London auditions for the X Factor took place at the O2 arena earlier this month.

Slumdog Millionaire star Freida Pinto on what it feels like to be an overnight success



Overnight success: Freida Pinto

Overnight success: Freida Pinto

One minute I was a 24-year-old model and travel show presenter in India, the next I was asked to audition for a lead role in a Danny Boyle film.

I had no idea Slumdog Millionaire would become such a huge success. In fact, when we were filming, none of us expected it, so the feeling of surprise and shock is still with me.

The film won eight Oscars and I was nominated for Best Supporting actress at the Baftas, and now, when I look back at photographs in magazines of me at the film awards I can still hardly believe it's me. It's like, 'Was I really at the Baftas and the Oscars?' It's surreal.

I found it all a bit overwhelming at first, but now I'm determined to make the most of it. I don't want to look back in ten years and think that I missed out.

Over the last 12 months I've met a lot of famous people. Meeting Sharon Stone at the Baftas probably stands out more than anything else because she was so enthusiastic about being introduced to the cast, and she told us how much she was rooting for us.

And meeting Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie at the Oscars - I mean, come on, they're pretty much the most famous couple in the world. I was a bit shell-shocked by Angelina. She told me to enjoy the moment and make the most of it all, as you never know when it might happen again.

It is all a bit nuts. I don't even have a fixed address as I'm making movies all over the world.

I'm filming in Israel at the moment and who knows after that, so I'm not making plans to buy my own place yet.

Ultimately, Mumbai will always be home. That's where my family is. There's a saying, 'you can feel like a king in your own country', and I definitely feel like that.

One thing I have found difficult is the lack of privacy. I'm constantly asked if Dev [Patel, her 18-year-old Slumdog co-star] and I are in a relationship, and I don't know what to say.

He's a really, really, great guy, and I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful co-star. He's adorable, and a good friend. He always will be. I was engaged to actor Rohan Antao, but we broke up at the end of last year. Things happen and you have to learn to deal with them.

Slumdog Millionaire is released on DVD and Blu-Ray on 1 June

FILM. 'SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE'. (2009)Dev Patel, left, and Freida Pinto

Chemistry: Freida with co-star Dev Patel in Slumdog Millionaire

Steve who? Bikini-clad Hayden Panettiere joins shirtless James Blunt on luxury yacht


Steve Jones may no longer be around to entertain her, but with James Blunt on hand and a luxury yacht to play on, Hayden Panettiere didn't seem too blue as she relaxed yesterday.

Following the departure of her Welsh love-interest, the Heroes actress joined a group of youthful friends, including British pop singer Blunt, in the sunshine.

T4 presenter Steve, 32, had proved 19-year-old Hayden's constant companion since her arrival in the French Riviera. But work commitments meant he had to leave the constant rounds of sunshine and parties to return to London.



Hayden Pannetiere

Missing T4 presenter Steve Jones? Hayden Panettiere showed off her golden tan in a white bikini as she sunned herself in Cannes yesterday


Hayden Pannetiere

Busy girl: After soaking up the sun, the actress pulled on a protective wetsuit and lifejacket for a spin on a jet-ski

Hayden showed him what he was missing as she donned a white bikini and climbed onboard the yacht.
With a shirtless Blunt at her side, she laughed and joked with her friends.

Over he goes: James Blunt dives into the sea as a host of beauties watch

Over he goes: James Blunt dives into the sea as a host of beauties watch

Good times: Blunt dries off after taking a dip

Good times: Blunt dries off after taking a dip

After sunning herself, Hayden then pulled on a wetsuit and lifejacket, before taking a ride on a jet-ski to show off her skills.

The laughing actress then took a friend for a spin, with the two waving as they noticed the ever-present paparazzi.

The last week has certainly given Hayden much to smile about.

Hayden Pannetiere

Having fun: Laughing Hayden proved a natural as she took charge of the machine

Hayden

She's a hero: Actress Hayden proved she's more than just a pretty face

Hayden Pannetiere
Oops! After briefly sliding off, she was soon back on the jet-ski

As well as enjoying the back-to-back days of sunshine, she has also found time to take in a glamorous party or two.

On Monday night, she joined Steve to rub shoulders with the likes of Orlando Bloom, Twilight star Robert Pattison, and Colin Firth at one of the many A-list parties thrown during the week-long festival.

Hayden broke up with her 31-year-old Heroes co-star Milo Ventimiglia earlier this year, with sources citing the 12-year age gap as a factor.


One for the album: Hayden and her friend wave to photographers as they speed past
One for the album: Hayden and her friend wave to photographers

Brains and beauty: Cambridge student reaches beauty contest final despite weighing 10st


A Cambridge University student has proved she has beauty as well as brains - by storming into the finals of a modelling competition.


Not your average beauty queen, curvaceous second-year student Emmalina Thompsell, who weighs 10st, was spotted by model scouts while out shopping in the city centre of Cambridge just two weeks ago.


Cambridge student and model Emmalina Thompsell

Beauty queen: Size 12 Cambridge student Emmalina Thompsell hopes to prove she's got the brains and the looks when she competes for title of Miss East Anglia



And after sending in a portfolio of shots she has already made it to the final of Miss East Anglia by posing proudly in her bikini.

As well as proving you don't need to be stick-thin to succeed in modelling, Miss Thompsell hopes to shatter people's preconceptions about beauty pageants.

She said: 'Studies have shown that 63 per cent of girls would rather be a topless model or lap dancer than a doctor, lawyer or teacher.
Model student: Cambridge University student Emmalina Thompsell,

Model student: Emmalina, 21, wants to show young girls that education is important




'I want to use this opportunity to show young girls that education is important, as someone that has prioritised my own education and worked really hard to get into Cambridge and get my degree.'

The 21-year-old will swap the classroom for the catwalk in a bid to impress the judges when she'll model evening wear, casual wear and swim wear at the Miss East Anglia heat.

If she wins the social and physical sciences student from Gonville and Caius college will go on to represent her region in the prestigious Miss England competition.


Measuring 5ft 5in tall and weighing 10 stone sporty Emmalina, who has takes a 31-inch waist and 36D cup size, keeps in shape by training with the British national handball squad.

Talking about the up-coming competition she said: 'It really isn't my scene and I'm not stick thin and I'm not a size eight but I am comfortable with my body and think I look pretty healthy.


'This just came along and I entered without really thinking too much about it and was surprised when I found out I was in the final - now it would be great to win.


'I want to show that not everybody who comes to Cambridge is like Gail Trimble - you can be pretty and clever.'


With four a-levels in maths, history, economics and critical thinking, Emmalina hopes her smart answers will impress the judges when she is interviewed at the final on June 14.


She has only recently told her parents Nicholas, a solicitor, and Amanda, a psychiatrist, she has entered the competition and said they had been supportive.

Rowan Pelling's sex advice column: I've never had an orgasm with my boyfriend


The former Erotic Review magazine editor answers your sex questions...
QUESTION: I can bring myself to a climax when I am alone, but I've never had an orgasm with my boyfriend or any previous lover. I am fed up of faking or saying: 'It doesn't matter.' What should I do?

ANSWER: It is one of life's great ironies that while there's no forum as intimate and revealing as the bedroom, it's also a place where we're given to falsehoods. I'm not just talking about faking orgasms or telling your man he's prodigiously endowed.

Disappointed couple in bed

Time for some straight talking: If you pretend he's sizzling when he frankly lacks lustre, don't hold your breath for the earth to move next time




Lovers are understandably wary of denting each other's self-esteem and often talk up lacklustre sex in the hope that boosted confidence will lead to the earth moving next time. The problem with this approach is that if a couple (or just one side of the partnership) pretends everything's sizzling when it isn't, the problem can prove far harder to rectify - which is where you are.

So it's time for a little straight talking. Clearly, it is difficult to tell your boyfriend he hasn't rocked your world, but if he loves you he will be keen to learn the right buttons to push. And you can soothe his anxieties by reassuring him it's hardly unusual for women to experience difficulties in reaching a climax.



The female orgasm results from a complex mix of physical, emotional and mental stimuli. So expecting a man to know what turns you on without telling him is a bit like asking him to make your favourite cocktail without giving the poor chap a list of ingredients.

I remember one Andrew Davies TV drama for its ground-breaking sex scene: the male and female leads were filmed in stereotypical missionary position.

When he asked the woman if she'd had an orgasm, she replied 'Would you like me to?' and took his hand and guided it down her body. This was the first time I had seen a mainstream drama that blew apart the myth that men and women always climax at the same time, in the same way, in earth-shattering synchronicity.

Most women find that imaginative foreplay is key to stimulating their desire and it's possible that all your lovers have been a dead loss in this area - any man worth his salt is happy to receive a little erotic training.

But remember that sensual tastes vary widely - some people are electrified by a foot massage - there are no rights or wrongs; just what is right for you.

If you can reach a climax on your own, you must have some idea of your erotic triggers and how you like to be stimulated.

Give your boyfriend a masterclass in your erogenous zones.

I understand that you may feel mortified talking in such intimate detail, but it's far more mortifying never to have an orgasm. You don't want to end up like one woman I know, who was

spliced for 20 climax-free years. When she finally confessed to her spouse that she'd been faking her ecstasy, he had a breakdown.

He would have given anything for her to have confessed her problem in the early years of the relationship.

You may feel selfish grasping after your own pleasure, but it can be a kindness to your partner to afford him the chance of proper interaction. If you're worried about appearing demanding, I suggest you offer a quid pro quo. Ask him if you're neglecting any sensual areas or if you could improve your erotic technique. Make your conversation an exercise in sharing.

I also wonder if you feel inhibited about engaging with your private erotic fantasies while you're making love. A friend also found it hard to achieve an orgasm with her boyfriend; it transpired that she thought itwas 'disloyal' to think of anything but him while having sex.

I told her half of the women I know would never achieve the acme of pleasure unless they were thinking of George Clooney or whatever mental cinema screening triggers their libido.

One other thought, of course, is a vibrator. I know many men balk at this idea, but plenty are enthusiastic about the concept. And, yes, of course you must stop telling your boyfriend that your climax 'does not matter'. While it's important not to become goal-obsessed, we all like to put one in the back of the net on a regular basis.

How to bag a footballer: Playboy model turned WAG offers up top tips for snaring a player


Nives Celsius suggests sex as an antidote to football defeats

Nives Celsius suggests sex as an antidote to football defeats




A Playboy model turned WAG has revealed the secrets to bagging your very own footballer.

Nives Celsius, who is married to Karlsruhe star Dino Drpic, has penned a helpful guide in her column for the German newspaper Bild.

Some of Nives’s pearls of wisdom include letting the man pay for dates and never asking where he has been.

Here are her top tips for snaring your own top player:

- You have to be young with no baggage, so don't get involved with his colleagues! It means you are new and undiscovered. But women who have had two or three serious relationships are still in with a chance.

- You have to be honest as a WAG. Don’t cover up your previous ‘sexual jaunts’ because you and your history will be gossiped about at parties. It is only a matter of time before the truth reveals itself anyway, so it is better to tell people about the ‘mistakes’ of your past. Present them as big mistakes and the craziness of youth. It is a tough thing to do, but it pays in the long run.
Prospective WAGs must behave like they are 'honoured' to be with a footballer, claims Nives, pictured here with her husband Dino Drpic

Prospective WAGs must behave like they are 'honoured' to be with a footballer, claims Nives, pictured here with her husband Dino Drpic




- Don’t ever give everything away! If footballers sense that they have fully conquered you and that you don’t have anything new to offer them, they look for new, undiscovered ‘territory’. Therefore don’t exaggerate your emotions and let him understand that you could also do better.

- Never, never hassle him! Questions like ‘where are you?’ or ‘who are you out with?’ are strictly forbidden.

- Support him in tough situations. Take an interest in his game and his problems, and praise his success. Comfort him when things go wrong. Important tip: Sexual comfort after a defeat is always welcome!




Ashley and Cheryl

David and Victoria


WAGs Cheryl Cole (left) and Victoria Beckham (right), both pictured with their husbands have NOT imparted any advice on how to bag a footballer






- Sex is extremely important to footballers so always look to spice things up. If you are boring and act inexperienced he will lose interest quickly and go looking for passion elsewhere.

- Don’t hassle him with issues such as marriage and children – that will put him off. Professional footballers want to believe that you are honoured to be with them and that getting married to them would fulfil your every dream. So make them think you don’t care – even if you do – as it will make them interested and want to marry you.

- Don’t be too modest! You shouldn’t decline expensive gifts and you should let him pay for dates. Accept the presents he gives you. He should prove to you that he thinks about you and your happiness. But you should also be considerate of him and likewise do good things for him. You should give him small presents – they don’t have to be expensive. It is just important that you pay him attention

'I was hooked on sunbeds twice a day. Then my skin fell off and I needed chemotherapy'


Looking in the mirror at her tanned reflection, 15-year-old Aimee Broberg couldn't help feeling pleased with her appearance.
'It was the height of summer and a few sunbathing sessions in the garden had turned my skin a warm honey colour,' she says. 'The golden tan made me feel glowing with health.'
A few days later, dismayed that her tan was fading, Aimee decided to top up her colour with a session on a sunbed.
It was a decision she would later bitterly regret. For that sunbed session was to mark the beginning of an addiction to using sunbeds - an addiction that almost drove Aimee to the brink of suicide and for which she is still paying a heavy price.
For today, aged 19, her young skin is scarred from using sunbeds. Shockingly, she is on chemotherapy - medicine usually reserved for cancer patients - to calm a rare rash triggered by sunbed use.
She can never sunbathe again, and her consultant has warned her that her chance of developing skin cancer has soared.
Yet, most worryingly, Aimee is not a rare case. She is one of many women finding themselves in this terrible predicament after using sunbeds.
Unfortunately, like so many other teenagers, when Aimee first went on a sunbed the thought of how damaging it may be to her skin was the last thing on her mind.
'As I lay under the sunbed's warm lights, it was so relaxing I almost dozed off,' she says. 'Five more sunbed sessions later and I looked as if I'd been on a cruise around the Med.'


Friends were complimentary. 'Everyone said how great I looked,' says Aimee. 'People kept asking if I'd been on holiday.'
From then on, she was hooked - using pocket money from her Saturday job to fund her habit.
It was an addiction that Aimee's mother, Joanne, 42, claims she had no idea about.
'I knew Aimee had a few sunbed sessions,' says Joanne, a nursery assistant. 'But I warned her not to have too many because she could age her skin.


'One evening, I said to Aimee: "I hope you're not using sunbeds too much." But she told me it was fake tan from a bottle. And I took her at her word - I just never imagined she was having all these sunbed sessions.'
When Aimee left school to work as a carer, her habit increased. Aged 16, she was secretly using sunbeds twice a day - once at lunchtime for nine minutes and again after work for the same amount of time.
'I knew it was wrong,' she says. 'I had to use different salons because no one would let me use a sunbed twice a day.
'Friends had dubbed me "tanorexic" and "permatan", but I didn't care. I loved being brown. Missing one day on a sunbed would upset me because I thought my tan was fading. I convinced myself it wasn't harmful - after all, I never burned.'
But when Aimee was out for a night with friends, she noticed a blister on her finger.
'The skin was hanging off my finger. I couldn't understand where it had come from,' she says.
'Worse to come'
Worse was to come. The next day, when Aimee woke up, she discovered it had spread into dozens of tiny blisters. In places, the skin was peeling.
'My skin felt as if it was blazing on fire,' says Aimee.
In tears, she showed her mum, who was as stunned as she was.
She saw her GP, who was mystified. He gave her creams, but despite several visits and more creams, the rash spread to her scalp.
'When I brushed my hair, skin fell off in clumps,' says Aimee. 'It seemed to fall off like constant dandruff.'
Devastatingly, Aimee discovered even going outside in sunshine made the rash erupt in blisters.
'I locked myself in my bedroom and refused to see anyone. I could not face going to work - I felt ashamed of my skin,' she says.
Her GP referred her to a dermatologist, but despite more prescriptions for lotions, they did not work.
'Then one day I looked into the mirror and, seeing my blotchy skin, couldn't take any more,' she says.
'I raided the medicine cabinet, tipping any pills - aspirin, paracetamol - into my hands.'
It was then, as she stood with pills in one hand and a glass of water in the other, that her mother walked in.


Joanne says: 'I was horrified. I grabbed Aimee by the arm and told her I was taking her straight to hospital.'
Aimee was admitted to James Cook University Hospital near her home in Middlesbrough. She remained there for three weeks while doctors battled to get her rash under control.
Finally, the consultant came to see her. Aimee says: 'He said: "Have you ever used a sunbed?" When I said yes, he told me I had a rare condition called Pityriasis rubra pilaris, which was triggered by sunbed use.
'I broke down when he told me that though it wasn't fatal, there was no cure and I could have it for life. He said I could never go on a sunbed again and would have to cover up from head to foot in sunny weather or the rash would flare up.'
The only treatment that would calm it was Methotrexate tablets, a form of chemotherapy. Two years on from the diagnosis and Aimee is still taking chemotherapy to control the rash which, though a lot better, is still there.
The drug has thinned her hair and if she wants children she will have to come off it for months before she can conceive safely.
'My skin will never be normal,' she says. 'I feel stupid for using sunbeds.'
'Skin cancer'
It is a sentiment echoed by Jenna Gurney. From the age of 16, her twice-weekly visit to the tanning salon - spending 14 minutes (the maximum allowed) on a sunbed, costing 50p a minute - was something of a ritual.
For £14 a week, she managed to keep her bronzed glow, adding to it with regular holidays in the sun where she would console herself that if she did get a little sunburned, that it would soon 'go brown anyway'.
When, at 21, Jenna noticed that a large, flat mole on her stomach had grown and become flaky, she was concerned enough to go to her GP. But she never dreamed she would be told she had skin cancer.
In fact, the cash administrator had the deadliest form, a malignant melanoma, which is the most common form of cancer affecting women in their 20s.
Jenna, who today is as zealous in her determination to protect herself in the sun as she once was to get a tan, describes how the prospect of a death sentence has made her wish she never used a sunbed.
'When I was a teenager, my friends and I used sunbeds all the time. It was important to have a tan all year round and to top it up for nights out.
'I would always go somewhere sunny on holiday and getting a tan was my main aim. Then, when I got home, I wanted to keep the tan, so I started using sunbeds.
'I would use them twice a week on average. When I used sunbeds, I used an intensifier cream instead of any kind of protective sun lotion.
'On holiday, I did put on sun lotion, but never worried about reapplying it regularly or using a high factor.' But then came a trip to her GP that changed everything.


The doctor was immediately concerned when he saw the mole, advising that it should be removed.
'I still didn't think much of it,' she says. 'Even though the risks were at the back of my mind, I'm just one of those people who think it will never happen to me.
'But then the results came back and a nurse told me I had been diagnosed with a malignant melanoma. It was a shock because I just hadn't been expecting it. As soon as someone says cancer, you think: "Am I going to die?" It's scary.'
Jenna had to go into hospital to have an area of skin around the mole removed, along with lymph nodes from under her arm.
She then endured a nerve-racking wait to find out if the cancer had spread. Fortunately, it hadn't. Since then, she has had to undergo six-monthly check-ups.
Today, the 28-year-old still loves a tan, but prefers to fake it than run any risk of harming her skin in the sun or on a sunbed.
'If I could go back and have my time again, I would never use sunbeds,' she says.
'I wouldn't want to go through the stress and worry of having cancer for the sake of a tan.
'I've always liked the look of a healthy glow, but I am now really careful in the sun, stay in the shade and religiously apply sun lotion.
'I hope my story will make others aware of the risks of melanoma from using sunbeds.'
'Heavy price'
Darina Mulligan was another young woman determined to preserve a year-round golden tan.
She started using sunbeds 13 years ago because she wanted to improve her look, but today she is paying a heavy price for her vanity.
'The irony is that, probably as a result of using them, I have a three-inch scar on the inside of my right knee where I had a melanoma removed last August,' says Darina, 31, who runs her own event contracting company and lives in Balham, South London.
'As a teenager, I loved to get a tan on family holidays and associated looking well with having a golden glow. It was purely a vanity thing, but was naive considering I have fair skin and freckles.
'The year I went to university, I'd just returned from a holiday in Spain and a friend suggested that since I had such a lovely tan, I should keep it topped up by having a few sunbed sessions.
'I remember thinking: "Great, now I don't even have to go on holiday to get a tan and I'll still be brown at Christmas."
'Unfortunately, after a couple of visits to the tanning salon, I was lured by an offer to buy a block of ten sessions at a reduced price.
'Even though I didn't use sunbeds every week, I used them regularly until I was 23, going through phases of intensive use.
'Particularly before and after holidays, I'd go on the sunbed in the belief that it would help build up a tan in the first instance, so that I had a head start when I hit the beach abroad and then maintain my colour when I returned home.
'When I look back at the logic I used it horrifies me, but the awareness about the risks of sunbeds and skin cancer wasn't the same at that time. I was no different to my friends - we all liked to look tanned.
'The only reason I stopped using sunbeds was because I went to Australia after university and met a friend who told me I really shouldn't be out in the sun.
'When I asked why not, she pulled down her T-shirt - I suddenly realised I'd never seen her with her decolletage exposed - to reveal a frightening-looking chest covered in dark pigmentation marks and lines.
Shaken
'She explained that she'd been a surfer in her 20s with a constant tan, and this damage had appeared only in recent years.'
Darina adds: 'After that, I stopped using sunbeds and took more care in the sun. But a year ago I noticed that a freckle I've always had on the inside of my right knee had changed shape, size and colour.
'It had always been dark and circular, but the edges had lightened and spread to give it a rugged outline.
'I'd done some work helping to launch three mobile cancer awareness units with Cancer Research, and had taken more notice of my moles as a result. Thank goodness I did.
'By August, I was concerned enough about my mole to see a nurse at a mole clinic, who advised me to have it removed immediately.
'My GP referred me to a specialist and, thanks to private healthcare, within a week I'd had the mole removed under local anaesthetic. As the surgeon excised it, he said he was certain it was a melanoma, and when the biopsy results confirmed this, I had to have another operation to remove the surrounding tissue.'
Luckily for Darina, the cancer hadn't spread, but she was shaken by what had happened.
'There's no proof that using sunbeds or sunbathing caused my cancer, but there's every chance that it contributed to it. If I knew 13 years ago what I know now, I would never have used a sunbed at all.'

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