Ashley Cole certainly didn’t look like a man wanting to rekindle a romance with his ex-wife last Saturday night when he hit London town following his football game in Glasgow.
But now it would definitely appear any hopes of a reconciliation with Cheryl Cole after the pair openly snogged at her birthday bash in London last month are off. My spy spotted Ashley and two of his friends at the posh One Four One private members club on Park Lane in London last weekend. And the love-cheat – who defied the club’s ‘strict’ no trainers policy turning up in sports shoes – was definitely enjoying the attention of an entire group of young girls.
My friend alongside the partying footballer reveals: “Ashley was on the table near us and he was covered in young girls wearing the usual next to nothing club outfits. One blonde girl in particular was gyrating all over him. She had a blonde bob and a bright blue dress that was so short you could practically see everything.
“Ashley’s eyes were popping out of his head. He was enjoying every minute and was definitely playing the single man part. He was on his phone quite a bit in between girls dancing for him. And as a reward to the group of ladies he bought a tray of about 20 shots. Which they happily downed before starting their smutty dance routine again.”
And I’m told on this occasion Ashley made a huge effort not to be seen out and about enjoying himself – even sending out one of his pals to hassle a waiting photographer who had pitched up following my friend alerting me to his presence in the club.
My female snapper told me: “One of Ashley’s mates came outside and said he would smash my camera in if I attempted to take a picture.” Nice!
Eventually Ashley was sneaked out the back entrance of the club by four bouncers ensuring he wasn’t pictured at 3.30am.
Memo to Cheryl: This is one leopard that will never change his spots. He’s trash. In the past few weeks he’s been exposed sleeping with an air stewardess, a former Miss Ireland and more ladies across the pond. Let’s move on now!

Example is a chart star with a mission to leave the bullshit out of the equation when he does an interview. It’s so refreshing to interview somebody that you can ask anything to. So I asked him about topics we’re all interested in before he playing at BBC Radio 1′s Ibiza Party on Friday. Check out his frankness below.

Is Simon Cowell killing music?
Yes he is, of course. He’s fucked it all up. He’s basically created a show and an industry which is making one hit wonders and morons the way forwards. People look at a short lived career, Simon makes a lot of money and they’re going to be fucked. He comes out on top. He uses Olly Murs, Alexandra Burke and Cher Lloyd or whoever. They’re all puppets who will make a quick million. As soon as he realises they aren’t bankable her sacks them off. I guess it’s good as they go from unknown to making a lot of money in a short period of time. They’re promised the dream and within a year or two nobody gives a shit about them. They know nothing about the music industry – they’re muppets. They don’t spend time in the industry working away. They don’t know how to write songs, they don’t know who their accountant is and they’re fucked. In terms of what he’s turned out over the years, he’s bloody awful.

Why is Nicola Roberts solo music not selling?
I don’t know. I met Nicola and she’s lovely. I haven’t got a bad word to say about her. People in girlbands that try and go solo have a hard time. I met her and she was a really nice girl. I really like her songs and I don’t know why it’s not flying. She’s got a really unique voice and she’s genuine. If she came out as a solo artist by herself before Girls Aloud she’d do alright. But I guess the problem is that Cheryl Cole’s the most popular and good looking one and she’s fighting a hard battle. She’s third or fourth in line as most popular so maybe it’s harder. Having met her and heard the songs I wish her luck.

Is Tulisa ready to go solo from N-Dubz?
When people from a band try to go solo it’s always hard to make things work. You need to be the star of the band to make it work don’t you? I mean, when Beyonce went solo it worked for her. But the other two it didn’t. My view on N-Dubz is that I rate them. They’re hard working and they are a great act. Amazing live. But the star of the band is Dappy. He’s so talented. If anyone is going to make it solo it will be Dappy. I’ve met Tulisa and she’s lovely – there’s not a bad word to say about her but Dappy is the star of the show.

Is Cher Lloyd going to make it?
I hope not. You know my problem isn’t her. My problem is the fact that when you sing to a major label with millions of pounds to spend they should hook you up with the best writers and producers. And that is how it should work. And she’s been hooked up with the worst producers and the worst writers in terms of Swagger Jagger. It’s embarrassing. I just feel sorry for Cher – she’s 18, she’s got her life ahead of her and she’s pretty decent talent wise. I can relate to her because she’s the ugly duckling. She’s not the typical pop star and I can relate to that. But the songs that she’s made and been given are fucking atrocious.

Is Leona Lewis going to make a huge comeback with Collide?
It’s not Leona’s fault. But Simon Cowell has blatantly stolen the beat off of Avvici and the Ministry of Sound. The thing is the Leona song isn’t actually that bad but they didn’t actually ask to use it. It’s arrogant to do that. It’s a case of Simon and Sony thinking they have more money and more clout than them. It’s an aggressive and nasty way to do business.

Example’s album Playing in the Shadows is out September 4

I’m loving American sister duo The Pierces right now – their album You & I is firmly one of my soundtracks of the summer. And it seems I’m not the only one! They have already made a fan out of Sir Elton John and had Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman asking to produce them. The album made the Top 5 in the UK charts last week.
They release new single It Will Not Be Forgotten today and I caught up with one half of the Pierce’s, Catherine, to chat about Elton’s baby son, performing on Gossip Girl and adjusting to life in the UK.

In the UK you’re being presented as a new act but in your home country you’ve already released three albums. Does it feel strange to be starting all over again after eleven years?
It doesn’t feel strange. We’re just happy that everyone is liking this record. We’ve learnt so much along the way and feel that this is our best record so it doesn’t bother us at all that this is the first thing that most people hear. It feels good and each record feels like a fresh start but now it just feels great on a much bigger level because all these amazing things have started to happen to us.

Your latest album You & I has been produced by Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman. How did that come about?
We met Guy years ago in New York as musicians there all kind of gravitate to the same hangouts. We chatted to him and said that we were musicians and gave him a demo copy of our last record which he liked. We spoke about maybe opening for Coldplay at one of their next gigs but that never happened because we were on and off of labels. Then Guy decided that he wanted to start a production team with Rik Simpson and they chose us to be their first project. It was a huge breakthrough for us. I was a Coldplay fan beforehand and really loved their first record – when that came out I listened to it constantly!

Have you struck up a relationship with the rest of the Coldplay guys?
We know them all well and they are great. They are the nicest guys that you could ever meet and they have welcomed us into their studio where we recorded half of the album.

Have you got to meet Gwyneth Paltrow too?
I actually met Gwyneth a long time ago and before I met Guy. It was at some New York party which her and Chris attended. I thought she was so down-to-earth, friendly and just seemed genuinely happy. She was a really lovely person.

Gwyneth has been flexing her vocal chords recently on Glee and Country Strong so is there a possibility we’ll see a collaboration between you in the future?
Maybe! I haven’t seen her since I met her years ago but she has a great voice. When I saw her perform at the Grammys it made me realise how much of a strong singing voice she has.

Will Guy be producing your future albums or was that a one-off experience?
I think we all would like to do that and we all hope that it works out that way. He is busy with Coldplay’s new record and I don’t know what is going to happen with us but I think probably. We loved working with him and he really shared the vision.

You’ve been playing so many UK festivals this summer that you must have made friends with quite a few artists?
We keep playing all these festivals and missing seeing lots of icons which is really upsetting! We played at the Hop Farm Festival with Prince but we had to leave before he came on and we also missed seeing Paul Simon at Glastonbury. V Festival is our last festival for the summer so hopefully we’ll stay the whole time if we can. We did get to see Eliza Doolittle though who was very sweet and we got to watch Aloe Blacc too. We also got to meet Elton John and his baby which was really cool. It was amazing but it is also kind of freaky to meet an icon because you don’t know what to say to them and you can’t be like, ‘So what do you do for a living?!

So what did you talk about with Elton?!
He just asked us question after question. He is so into music and was asking us which bands we liked, who we wanted to play with and who we got to see play at festivals. He was really friendly and I’m sure he is used to people being stunned by him so is very good at holding up the conversation.

And you got to meet baby Zachary too?
Elton is madly in love with his baby! He kept saying how it had changed his life and how it was the best thing he’d ever done. We didn’t get to hold him but we rubbed his little toes. Whenever I have a bad day or am feeling bad about something I just remember little Zachary’s face and it all disappears!

We often hear of family bands like Oasis and Kings Of Leon falling out so what is it really like being in a band with your sister?
It can be really great and it can be really horrible – it depends how we’re getting along! For the most part we get on really well and we love each other and we are really good friends but it’s hard when you disagree and you’re sisters because you don’t have that boundary of being able to say whatever you want to say. It can be really hard but luckily even when Alice and I fight we get over it really quickly. We are with each other so much and when we are on the road together we are each other’s only friends so if we are mad at each other then it feels really lonely so we have learnt to get over our differences really quickly. A fight does make for a good show though because you have all this pent-up energy you need to get out. We had one of our best shows after one of our biggest fights! It was a few years ago and we were furious and screaming at each other and then we just had to run on stage! It means you don’t have a chance to get nervous.

Did you have fun appearing in an episode of Gossip Girl?
It was bizarre. You see it on TV and it’s so grand and professional and then it just looks so different in real life and the actors look different. You expect people on TV to be a little larger than life and in person they are just people. It was fun and it did bring in many new fans.

Would you be keen to perform on the show again?
It was the right thing to do at the time because we were looking for a way of finding new fans and that was an obvious solution to our problem. Now I don’t know because we are getting out there more. I like some of the fashion on there but I honestly don’t really watch it. I’m sure I could get into it if I wanted to but I don’t watch that much TV. The only TV show that really affects me is Mad Men. It just sucks how long we have to wait for the next series! I’m sure it will definitely be worth the wait.

You’re spending a lot of of time in the UK playing festivals at the minute. How do you divide your time between here and the States?
We are spending much more time in England than America at the minute. We’ve only been home for two weeks this year and then we are going home for another two weeks at the end of August which will be great. We haven’t been that homesick because we’ve been so busy but we are starting to miss our siblings. We have three siblings and they’ve all just had new babies so I’m looking forward to going home and see them. I currently have seven nieces and nephews – they are all popping them out! We are staying in a hotel-come-apartment that has a maid service which is just what you need.

Are you starting to feel like England is becoming a second home for you?
Yes it’s definitely starting to feel like that. Being in England is beginning to feel normal so it’s starting to feel like home. When we first started touring here we thought the bathrooms were hilarious because there seemed to be so many strange little things in there and the bathtubs are always very high and you have to step up into them. We couldn’t understand why that was or why you would have to turn six knobs to get the shower to turn on! We’ve now stopped having to convert pounds to dollars in our heads all the time. Everything seems so expensive at first!

Ellie Goulding says her love of running has had severe consequences on her body – she’s lost her boobs! Natalie Edwards caught up with her at Montreal’s Osheaga Festival and the star confessed she’s thought of having a boob job. “Sometimes I feel like I would like a boob-job because I think I have run my boobs off,” said the flat chested star. “When you run as far and as often as I do the boobs are the first thing to go. When I don’t wear a bra there’s nothing really there. But after thinking about it hard I don’t think I would ever actually get it done because I like running too much.”
Ellie’s clearly loved up with Radio 1 presenter Greg James. So much so he’s the only one she keeps in touch with when she’s on tour! “My phone bills aren’t massive when I’m away because I don’t stay in touch with anyone bar Greg,” she admitted. “I don’t really have any ties back home bar him. I don’t really have many friends but the ones I do have know what I’m doing out here. I find it hard now to make friends because you find people changing their behaviour towards you. They say they don’t but they do.” Clever lady!

Pics: Tim Snow

The Only Way Is Essex star Mark Wright is contemplating his future on the successful ITV2 show after signing with a top Hollywood agent, I can reveal.
This week cheeky chappy Mark, 24, signed a deal with former William Morris agent John Ferriter who currently represents US acts including Ryan Seacrest, Piers Morgan, Amanda Holden and Cat Deeley.
Friends close to Mark says the ladies man, currently engaged to perma-tanned bore Lauren Goodger, is contemplating moving to Los Angeles now to avoid being typecast in the third series of the show. Get him!
A source close to Mark said: “Mark doesn’t know what he wants to do. He doesn’t just want to be seen as some reality show boy. He wants to forge a proper career for himself and prove people wrong.
“He studied at Sylvia Young stage school when he was younger and is by no means thick. He wants to be an actor and be taken seriously – and right now he’s not sure whether going back for another series of The Only Way Is Essex is the right move.”
Sources close to the star have also revealed Mark, who is represented by Myleene Klass and Kelly Brook’s agent Jonathan Shalit in the UK, turned down a £250,000 offer two weeks ago to appear on Celebrity Big Brother – even before his dense co-star Amy Childs had signed her deal to appear.
“The show wanted Mark on there to get ratings,” says the source. “He’s far more tabloid worthy and interesting and would guarantee good figures.
“But he decided against it off his own back. He really wants to be taken seriously in his career and have longevity. And the future could mean a move to LA. And escaping all things Essex. He just doesn’t know what to do right now. There are two other offers for solo TV shows on the table and the E! Network in the States is already interested in working with him.”
The Only Way Is Essex has been a runaway surprise hit for ITV2 since it premiered on the channel last October and regularly pulled in upwards of a million viewers – more than any other show on the channel. It even won a BAFTA this year and beat Downton Abbey and Sherlock.
Those of you who read me weekly who I can’t stand untalented reality wasters. So I urge mark to fly the nest. Give it your best shot to become an actor and have an actual career. I dare you.

Shayne Ward is preparing to become a West End star now he’s scooped the lead role of bad boy rocker Stacee Jaxx in new musical Rock Of Ages.
But it’s not his only image overhaul. The former X Factor winner wants to ditch his Mr Nice Guy persona and opt for Plan B – literally.
“I’d like my career to be between acting and singing. Someone who I think has got it down to a tee at the minute is Plan B,” he said. “I can see we’re into similar stuff like gritty drama and edgy storylines. That’s what I want to do and I look to him. It would be pretty cool to get myself involved with similar things. Appearing in a Guy Ritchie film like Snatch would be my ultimate dream.” Get him.
Meanwhile Justin Lee Collins has lost a tonne of weight preparing for the show. How did he do it? “I’ve been doing loads of burpees and squat thrusts,” he said. How very old school.

Hurrah, it finally sounds like Robbie Williams and songwriting partner Guy Chambers are back on track. After their well-documented spats in the past Guy tells me that he’s likely to pen tracks alongside the Robster again for his next solo album.
“Hopefully I’ll work with him on his next album as our relationship now is good and healthy. We’ve definitely talked about it so watch this space. I have no idea if we could ever write a track like Angels again though so we shall see,” he said. “I was very happy for Robbie when he rejoined Take That. I think it’s been brilliant for him as a human being and in terms of his confidence because it really looked like he was having a great time on stage. It was great to see him looking like he was enjoying himself as opposed to being terrified. I’m extremely happy for him and he seems to be on really good form at the moment. I absolutely can’t wait to see him back on full form.”
And Guy, who will put on the next instalment of his clubnight The Orgasmatron on September 29, is also penning tracks with latest X Factor winner Matt Cardle. And with a history of tough times for male winners he’s not sure he’ll be X Factor’s biggest success story. “Matt’s musical style is a cross between Coldplay, Travis and Snow Patrol. It’s very accessible but it’s also very powerful and emotive. I hope he’ll be a success but obviously it will be hard for him to compete with Leona because she is a worldwide hit. The ladies definitely seem to like him and he was melting a few hearts in the studio including my PA’s!” Knowing Matt, I bet he was…..

X Factor’s Belle Amie are back! Many thought it was all over for the girlband when got booted off in week four last year but like a musical phoenix they’ve returned with ace debut single Girls Up released August 28.
But the girls admitted that they thought they were gonners after fourth member Geneva Lane quit at the start of the year.
“We kinda lost hope when Geneva quit as she wanted to do her own thing,” said Rebecca Creighton. “We were confused and in a rut but we picked ourselves up and carried on. We couldn’t be happier now with our choice because everything’s so much better. The dynamics are better and we get along so much better. We’re definitely stronger as a three piece.” Good luck to them.