Inside Lewis Capaldi’s new life in London as he settles in £3m pad and talks about starting football team

HE only bought a fancy new house in a leafy part of North London last month but Lewis Capaldi is already one of the area’s most popular celebs.

Insiders at his favourite boozer told me that the Scottish Beyonce has already enamoured himself with residents — who have branded him their favourite famous face.

And it seems the Someone You Loved singer is keen to ingratiate himself further into the fold by getting involved in the local footie scene.

A source said: “Lewis has found a home for life here and everyone loves him.

“He is a regular in a few of the local pubs and has got great banter with the locals.

“Lewis is a big football fan and has said he’d be keen to get involved if the chance came up.

“He’s got a load of famous mates like Harry Styles, in the area, and Liam Gallagher and Patrick Kielty live nearby too, so he could band together a whole team to take on the locals.

“He seems really happy and is in such a great place.

“Everyone who sees Lewis is so pleased to see how well he’s doing.”

We told last month how Lewis had splashed out £3million on a house close to Harry’s in the capital.

He has been spotted in recent weeks hanging out with his girlfriend, actress Ellie MacDowall, as he takes time out of the spotlight.

Lew’s second album, Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent, went straight to the No1 spot last year.

He later went on an extended break after struggling with his mental health.

But in January he treated fans to an extended version of the record with five new songs.

Lew said at the time: “I’m going to continue taking some time to carry on looking after myself, maybe writing some music and taking a moment to reflect on some of the most incredible years of my life.

“I want to make absolutely sure I’m 100 per cent before getting back out there again properly for more shows and doing what I love more than anything.”

I can’t wait to see Lewis back on stage again but looking after himself is the most important thing.

It's all change for Zen

ZENDAYA has nailed the four-hand smash on her Challengers junket tour.

The Hollywood actress plays a tennis coach in the new film and showed off four amazing outfits as she promoted it in New York.

Although she admitted earlier this week she had no idea about tennis before starting work on the film, Zendaya has clearly been using Wimbledon for style inspiration.

She kicked off the day in a smart white top and trousers for a fan screening of Challengers at AMC Lincoln Square before changing into a Kylie Minogue-style hooded dress.

Zendaya then switched up for her look again – and wore a tennis ball-coloured dress at Zero Bond in the Big Apple, before putting on a grey top and trousers for a well-earned dinner at Mamo.

Given how hard Zendaya has been working on the promo trail for Challengers, I hope for her sake it’s ace.

Scott has Swift reply

TAYLOR SWIFT’s new record The Tortured Poets Department has broken records since its release this time last week and today is at the No1 spot in the album chart.

Despite this, Pet Shop Boys frontman Neil Tennant says he cannot understand the Taylor “phenomenon”.

I told you on Wednesday that Neil had questioned whether she really had hits, saying: “What is Taylor Swift’s Billie Jean?

“Shake It Off? Is it though? I even know that is the answer but I listened to that the other day and it is not Billie Jean, is it?”

In my eyes, Neil couldn’t have been more wrong.

And now Scott Mills has agreed with me.

He said on his Radio 2 show yesterday: “Neil from Pet Shop Boys has questioned the success of Taylor Swift.

“Taylor Swift, the biggest pop star on the planet.

“But, apparently, Neil can’t name any famous Swifty songs.”

Reeling off her accolades, including the No1 position today, Scott added: “She was 2023’s Person of the Year, she’s won 14 Grammy awards and has so far had eight UK No1s. She’s quite big, Neil.”

Jokingly, Scott added: “You know she will now write a song about you, Neil, I hope you realise.”

Be warned, Neil. The Swifties have quite the bite.

Ricky is stage struck

JIM and Barb reunited in Stockport after Sue Johnston surprised her Royle Family hubby Ricky Tomlinson.

He is appearing in a new UK-wide production called Irish Annie and was stunned when Sue walked out on stage this week.

She was in character as the BBC sitcom’s long-suffering Barb and she strolled on mid-performance to shock Ricky and then said: “I thought I would find you in Irish Annie’s pub”

Afterwards, Ricky admitted: “I had no idea Sue was making an appearance and it was a wonderful surprise.”

The Royle Family is one of my stepdad Alan’s favourite telly shows, and we were both gutted when the final special was screened in 2012.

In 2028, it will be 30 years since it first came out, so I’m holding out hope for an anniversary special.

Madonna ex in Rio gig snub

MADONNA’s ex Jesus Luz will swerve her huge beach concert in Brazil after a major falling out.

The pair managed to stay friends following the end of their two-year romance in 2010.

But now he won’t be going to her huge May 4 gig.

The model told local press in Rio De Janeiro, where Madonna will wrap up her Celebration tour: “There’s no way to pretend that everything is fine. I had a disagreement with her last week, via text. And I’m not going to the show.”

Oh to be a fly on that WhatsApp chat.

More than a million fans are expected to be heading to Copacabana Beach for the concert, which Madge is putting on for free, so I doubt Jesus will be missed.

As Liam Gallagher would say, it’s going to be biblical

Chris is short on style

DON’T worry, Chris Pine has not gone a little bit strange and sacked his stylist.

The Hollywood actor, who usually looks pretty hot, top, dressed up as the leading character from his new film Poolman during the Toronto International Film Festival.

Chris, who appears in the film alongside Danny DeVito and Jennifer Jason Leigh, went full method with shaggy hair and shorts – and even drove up to the red carpet at the Vista Theatre in his character Darren Barrenman’s Awesome Aquatics pool cleaning van.

I’d need a few G&Ts before I’d be persuaded to do that.

Roman: nice side of nepo

ROMAN KEMP is embracing his “nepo baby” label and says he isn’t alone.

On The Brits Podcast, which is back for a third series, the radio DJ said that being the son of Spandau Ballet's Martin Kemp has its upsides – despite the fact he regularly gets the mickey ripped out of him.

When asked if he’s got a nepo WhatsApp group, Roman said with a laugh: “Yep. Me, Brooklyn Beckham and Lily Allen,” before adding:

“It’s the best. People go, ‘You haven’t worked’. Well, actually I have worked but I’ve had really nice things.”

Roman told host Jordan Stephens he is now working to get his FA football badges after quitting Capital FM’s Breakfast Show.

When asked about his plans for the future, Roman said:

“Football coaching. I’m going to do One Show as well but I’m going to do my coaching.”

As a joke, he added: “Nepo ref.”

I can hear the chants already.

Mabel gets a vitamins boost

MABEL is back today with her new song, called Vitamins.

The track is inspired by her early R&B roots and she told me: “It is my family and friends’ favourite out of all the music I’ve made over the past couple years.”

In a nod to her boyfriend, Sony executive Preye Crooks, Mabel added: “It’s a reminder to the man I love to take care of himself, but also that in difficult times I’ll always be there in his corner.”

Meanwhile, Griff has announced her debut album Vertigo, out on July 19, and a world tour that includes dates in Glasgow, Birmingham, Bristol and London.

Today, Florence And The Machine reveal a special BBC Proms performance on September 11, celebrating 15 years since debut album Lungs.

Madness will drop an expanded version of their first No1 studio album, last year’s Theatre Of The Absurd Presents C’est La Vie, with five new tracks.

And Jess Glynne's third, self-titled album, also drops today.