Fern Britton defends gastric band operation
Fern Britton has hit back at criticism following her revelation that she had a gastric band fitted.
The 50-year-old, who has shed five stone in the past two years, admitted at the weekend that she underwent the operation in 2006. She had previously put her dramatic weight loss down to exercise and healthy eating.
Speaking while hosting ITV1's This Morning with Phillip Schofield, she said: "I did not need to run around telling people. Only five people knew including my husband (Phil Vickery).
"Back then I did not know there would be so much interest. But then all these magazines started publishing all this stuff and a lot was not from me. All these things about diet I had not said, except for exercising more and eating less."
She released a statement about the surgery after her agent informed her that the News Of The World planned to expose it.
The presenter, who is paid £200,000 to star in ads for health food crackers Ryvita, said: "They expected me to say it was preposterous. But I just had it done. It's great and I'm very happy, but don't get it done yourself."
She added: "Next time if I have a facelift or haemorrhoids, I'll ring the Sunday papers and tell them all about it."
Here's the [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfYcXrgoka8"]speech[/ame] on This Morning.
What is with the media these day? So she had a gastric band, what business is it of ours? NONE. I don't get the big hullabaloo over it, what Fern does in her private life is her business and nobody else's and it's certainly not for the media to spread her medical history around the world :angry:
Obviously the News Of The World didn't have anything better to put on the front page. With all what's going on in the world, they must have Fern on the front page.
R&R Legend Bo Diddley dies at 79
BO DIDDLEY, hailed as a founding father of rock, has died of heart failure after months of ill-health.
The 79-year-old legend, who suffered his second stroke in a year last month, was famed for his homemade square guitar.
The Bo Diddley sound of early rock ’n’ roll influenced many stars.
His first hit, the 1955 song called Bo Diddley, featured a rhythm that became his trademark.
Diddley — real name Ellas McDaniel — toured until well into his 70s.
Rolling Stone MICK JAGGER said last night: “He was a wonderful, original musician, an enormous force in music. We learned a lot from him.”
But Bo sold his songs for a flat fee and claimed he was never paid what he deserved.
Artists who recorded his songs included ERIC CLAPTON and U2. He won a Grammy lifetime achievement award in 1999 and was in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Four-times married Bo, a dad of four, died at home in Archer, Florida.
Jolie baby pics 'worth £7.5 million'
A magazine bidding war has broken out over the first pictures of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's twins.
The snaps are said to be worth an estimated £7.5 million, with OK! and People reportedly willing to "print blank pages" for the rest of the year in the hope of securing them.
The previous record for baby pictures was £3 million for Jennifer Lopez's newborn twins in February.
A People spokesperson confirmed that the magazine is interested in the snaps, while OK! admitted that it would be "foolish" not to attempt to buy them.
The first photographs of the couple's biological daughter Shiloh went to People for £2 million in 2006, with an additional £1.75 million to Hello! for the British rights. The cash was reportedly given to charity.
Jolie is due to give birth on August 19.
Hammond to front BBC1 kids' science show
Richard Hammond is launching his own production company, through which he will front a new children's science gameshow for BBC One.
Richard Hammond's Lab Rats will see the Top Gear host rule over a "surreal and fictional... top secret underground laboratory".
Two teams of children will compete in carrying out experiments and other tasks in each week's half-hour episode.
The show will start early next year in the Friday night BBC One CBBC block and on the CBBC channel.
Hammond's new indie, Hamster’s Wheel Productions, is a production partner with September Films.
Peter Wyles, executive producer for September, said: "Richard is the perfect person to host this series – he lives and breathes the world of popular science. As parents ourselves, we are both incredibly keen to make science entertaining and engaging for a new generation."
Very original name