At least Gemma Atkinson and Gorka Marquez’s Strictly Come Dancing affair won’t wreck any marriages
WELL, it’s all kicking off on Strictly Come Dancing. It’s only week three but apparently love is already in the air.
This time there’s a twist, because instead of the celebs copping off with their dancing partners, there’s been a bit of sequin swapping going on.
We are told Gemma Atkinson, who is my one to watch, has been secretly dating Alexandra Burke’s dance partner, the cute Spaniard Gorka Marquez.
He and Gemma are the subject of intense gossip on set, after they clicked when they met during group rehearsals. It’s early days but they are enjoying each other’s company and working out in the gym together, which would be my idea of a date from hell. I really like Gemma and think the judges were a bit harsh on her last week.
She danced well and deserved far better marks than they awarded.
She also made me laugh when she dismissed the whole idea of a “Strictly Curse” saying that in her case it would be a blessing because it’s been so long since she’s had a boyfriend.
If a Strictly romance has blossomed, then we should be thankful that, for a change, it’s not going to wreck a relationship.
Gemma is free and Gorka split up with his fiancée last year when the show moved to the Blackpool extravaganza. They are both young and single, so there are no obstacles in their way — although there have been reports that Alexandra isn’t best pleased by the romance.
The fiercely ambitious X Factor winner gave a blistering performance last week with Gorka that set the bar high.
You can’t blame her for feeling slightly discomfited that her partner’s eye might be off the Glitterball if he’s dating another contestant. Of course, we have cha-cha-cha’d this way before when it comes to love on Strictly.
In 2004, it was rumoured that Natasha Kaplinsky had a fling with her dance partner Brendan Cole which broke up both their relationships at the time.
Ben Cohen left his wife for Kristina Rihanoff in 2013. Before that, Kristina dated Joe Calzaghe who also split from his partner.
Countdown’s Rachel Riley dumped her husband to eventually be with Pasha Kovalev.
Although there was no one else involved, Louise and Jamie Redknapp’s marriage also ran into trouble during the last series.
If there was anyone I thought a certainty to be “getting it on” this time around, it would have been your man from EastEnders and that new sizzling blonde sex-pot.
Their scorchingly hot routine nearly set the place alight, but Davood Ghadami is happily married and is just a brilliant actor, although it wouldn’t take much to portray fancying the pants off Nadiya Bychkova.
My favourite remains the irrepressible Susan Calman, who is so happy to be part of the process and is bouncing around like an enthusiastic puppy.
Ruth Langsford showed real improvement and looked happier and more confident, and although Charlotte Hawkins had a bad week (well, she had to pretend to fancy Brendan) she will be back with a bang tonight.
Speaking of bangs, I hope things work out for Gemma and Gorka, although it does look like producers missed a trick by not pairing them up in the first place.
Whatever happens, this remains one of the most entertaining shows on the box.
Tom finally listens to me
SO poor, wee Tom took my advice and headed for the hills away from his manipulative parents in BBC’s Doctor Foster.
He was the only character who came out with any sort of likeability.
Yet as this troubled young man had sexually assaulted a classmate and wandered around looking pale and grumpy for the past month, it demonstrates the ghastliness of all concerned.
Mum and dad Gemma and Simon were so busy tearing each other apart they did not even notice their son was in agony and about to take drastic action.
I’m not sure I particularly want to spend any more time with this nest of vipers and hope by now Tom has reached a place of safety and is enjoying life without his parents yelling his name in between bouts of torrid hate sex.
Massacre won't be the last
SHAME on President Trump and all of the US politicians who kowtow to the powerful American gun lobby.
It was deeply shocking to hear Trump declare this week – when 59 people were massacred by Stephen Paddock – that it wasn’t the time to talk about gun control.
The Las Vegas outrage was the worst mass shooting the US has suffered, but welcome to Groundhog Day.
We must never forget that last June, 49 people were killed in another horrific mass shooting in the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
Despite the appalling loss of innocent lives, nothing has changed.
The NRA made a half-ar*ed call for regulations on “bump stocks” this week, a sinister piece of kit that turns a semi automatic gun into a fully automatic, so that shooters can kill even more people.
This is nothing but a cynical ploy, especially as – virtually in the same breath – the NRA wants further relaxation of laws allowing Americans to carry concealed weapons.
How the hell can someone’s “right” to swagger and boast and easily buy weapons that kill men, women and children be more important than keeping people safe and protecting them from terrorists?
What rational human being would want to cling to outdated laws that have resulted in the death of more than 1.5million Americans in the past 50 years? Astonishingly that’s more than all the US casualties in every single war fought in its history.
Sadly, just like in the aftermath of the shootings in Florida, nothing will change after Las Vegas, and we all know in our hearts there will inevitably be yet another massacre.
Perhaps not next month, or next year, but one day soon – and everyone who could’ve made a difference and failed to act will have blood on their hands.
Michelle Keegan looks great after weight gain
MICHELLE KEEGAN looked fierce and fabulous in a recent shoot for a fitness magazine, and how refreshing to hear her say she looks far better after putting on half a stone while filming the new series of TV’s Our Girl.
Michelle added that she was too bony before the weight gain, and I have to agree that she looks even more gorgeous than usual these days. She is still teeny tiny, but has curves in all the right places.
I’m sure her husband, Mark Wright, currently carving out a career in the US, would wholeheartedly agree – that’s if the two of them ever find time to be in the same continent at the same time.
You've got to feel bad for Theresa May
YOU’D have needed a heart of stone not to feel a bit sorry for beleaguered Theresa May during her disastrous conference speech.
It was a complete car crash, from the deeply unfunny “comedian” – who luckily was just waving a bit of paper rather than a knife – to that wheezy coughing fit, and finally the letters plopping off the backdrop like the opening titles of Fawlty Towers.
Just like that famous sitcom, this was farcical and almost painful to watch at times.
But maybe it wasn’t a total disaster.
We will always root for the underdog and don’t enjoy seeing anyone – not even prime ministers – being kicked when they are down.
Theresa gained a lot of sympathy and what at first looked like a disaster could be her saving grace, if she survives the latest plotting.
Trial by innuendo
SO, Ted Heath may have been a paedophile who raped a young boy, according to a report into the former PM. Or he might not.
We will never know because he died in 2005 aged 89.
I’m uncomfortable with this sort of trial by innuendo but if he was guilty, there must have been a cover-up which surely can’t be too difficult to unravel, even after all this time.
If he did commit such heinous crimes, his victims deserve justice. But even if Heath is totally innocent, his name will always evoke the whiff of scandal.
