Spice Girl Mel B is ready to make a shock return to the UK. After years of living with her hubby Stephen Belafonte and her two children in LA, the pregnant star is hoping to make a return to the UK so the family can experience everything British.
I hooked up with Mel this week as she launched the Spice Girls Limited Edition Hard Rock Café ‘Artist Spotlight’ T-shirt in aid of Chickenshed Theatre Company this week and he told me all. “I want the children to experience being back in the UK for a while,” she said. “They’ve been to Leeds before but I think it could be great for them. I’m considering things right now but I’m open to returning and there’s lots coming up that could bring me back to the UK for a while. So if that happens it would be the perfect opportunity to get them into a good school and for us to have some time over here.” Oooh, I wonder if it’s X Factor, as rumoured!
The singer tells me she’s quit plans to film a second series of her reality show in the States due to her pregnancy. Oh, and another thing. She can’t stop eating! Mel laughed: “I’m having paninis all the time and I can’t stop cooking roast dinners. My ass is getting so big. I like putting on weight during pregnancy – it’s the only time I let things go. I’m always in the gym when I’m not pregnant but I haven’t worked out for months. I’m not looking forward to shifting the baby bulge. I think it will be a challenge judging from the size of me.”

Buy your Spice Girls t-shirt exclusively in Hard Rock Cafes in London, Manchester and Edinburgh now!

Amy Winehouse must be feeling a bit flush these days. That would explain why she’s ploughing a truckload of cash into her friend Kristian Marr’s future as a singer.
I hear Amy has given Kristian – who used to date Sadie Frost – a “blank cheque” to record his debut solo album.
A pal of the pair tells me Amy’s grown close to Kristian and he’s decided to lend him a helping hand with breaking into the music industry. The source tells me: “Amy and Kristian have known each other for years and she really believes he’s a talented guy that could break into the business and be a success. She’s told him to do whatever he needs to do and try and get an album together. Amy said not to worry about the cost and she’ll pick up all the studio costs. It’s likely to cost upwards of £50,000 so he’s extremely grateful for her help.” What a nice friend Amy is!

She’s one of Britain’s sexiest stars, who is rarely seen on TV with a hair out of place.
But in real life, actress and mum Keeley Hawes admits her life is a world away from her glamorous on-screen persona.
And the one person who’s not afraid to tell her when she’s looking far from glam is her actor husband Matthew Macfadyen.
Keeley says: “The other day I took the kids to school and just as I was leaving the house Matthew said: “Are you going out like that?”
“I said yes and he said: “You look like you’re going in for an operation at hospital.
“I suddenly realised I looked appalling and I frantically started brushing my hair.
“Sometimes I think I’ll be caught out. I’m certainly not Claudia Schiffer on the school run if that’s what you are thinking. Quite the opposite.”
Today Keeley, 35, is treading the boards for the first time in 25 years in London’s West End.
She is also the face of Boots No.7 cosmetics as well as a devoted mum to 11-year-old Myles, from her marriage to cartoonist Spencer McCallum, and Maggie, seven and five-year-old Ralph, from her union with Matthew, 36.
And her hectic schedule means there’s not much time for lengthy beauty rituals.
“My beauty regime is simple – I always take my make-up off before bed these days,” she said.
“And I always put moisturiser on and that’s about it. A bit of soap maybe. In the adverts I look like I do because 150 people have spent seven hours making me look dazzling. That’s not me at all.”
Her face bears no trace of Botox or fillers – and she is resolute in her intention to grow old gracefully.
“I intend to age naturally. I don’t want things injected in my face. My face fully moves. I was trying on a wig at the National last week and I was making the wig move by raising my eyebrows and the woman said to me: “You’ve got a very mobile forehead.” I couldn’t stop laughing.
“All these women getting older and starting to morph into the same person. I mean, each to their own.
“But I think I just want to grow old. I have seen Botox go wrong and it’s frightening.”
Standing at a statesque 5ft 10in Keeley, 35, is also refreshingly happy with her womanly curves.
Sickeningly, she never uses the gym. “What a waste of time and I have three kids to think about,” she states, matter-of-factly.
Nor is she a slave to diets. After each of children she says she snapped right back into shape with ease.
Keeley, who married her Spooks co-star Matthew in 2004, asked him if she should lose some weight recently – and received the sort of response only a husband could (just) get away with.
“I said to Matthew the other day: “Do you think I could be thinner?”,” she revealed.
“I guess I was fishing for a big compliment where he would say I was perfect and he replied: “Well everyone could be a little bit thinner.” That really wasn’t the right answer.”
It’s clear though that she is blissfully happy – and enjoying the hum-drum of “normal” married life, revolving around school runs… and even a KNITTING circle.
“As far as having three children and being married and going to work is concerned it’s as normal as it can be,” she says.
“We’re not particularly show-bizzy as a couple so you won’t see us at many events. We hide and do normal things with the kids.
“I’ve never tumbled out of cars drunk in public. Behind closed doors, fine – I can tumble. But in public? That’s not very dignified is it?
“I’m much more a person to stay at home with a glass of red. Also when you have children at school it’s a bit embarrassing, isn’t it? I wouldn’t want to be doing that.
“One of the mums at school has a knitting circle which I’ve joined. What’s happened to me? There’s such a nice wool shop near my house. They make flapjacks for you too and have coffee morning on a Sunday. So you get the picture.”
But, she admits, she’s not entirely domesticated.
“I don’t cook at home,” she said.
“Matthew cooks everything. When he goes off working is when I lose weight because dinner turns into a slice of cheese. I’m useless.”

Keeley’s currently combining acting as an Ambassador for Kenco Millicano coffee with her return to treading the boards, playing tough Jewish wife Belle Stark in new play Rocket to the Moon.
After receiving some harsh criticism for her role in Ashes to Ashes she admits getting less than rave reviews is tough – but she’s relishing the challenge.
“It’s a healthy thing to get some bad criticism,” she said.
“I’m still here and I’m fine but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t get to you reading negative stuff.
“I guess for the past ten years I’ve been in series television for most of the time.
“Before this role I’d not done anything on the stage for a good 25 years.
“Just standing on stage and getting the line out was one of the best things I’ve ever done. I cried afterwards – it was that scary. It was a fantastic thing for me to do. I was like Marmite on Ashes with some people not liking me at all so I was scared of the critics.”
She is also looking forward to returning to her critically acclaimed role as Lady Agnes Holland in Upstairs Downstairs in October – admitting the fabulous clothes are also a perk.
“They are so forgiving – I can’t even begin to tell you,” she laughs. “I love a bit of fur too. I know it’s wrong…but in those days it wasn’t wrong, it was right. “That’s my excuse anyway.
“The dresses are all about the underwear. If you get a good foundation underneath the dress then you’re good to go. Everything is better with a good foundation.”
Keeley claims she’s not in the slightest bit ambitious these days – saying she’s just a girl that got lucky.
“I’ve been ambitious in the past. But not now. I have a family and I’m content. If I was ambitious in my career then I would have moved to the States and given it a good go at films. I had a child at 24 and I’ve built that kind of life. I don’t want to go and drag the children to LA and strive for it. Matthew’s just done this huge Musketeers film but that wasn’t shot in LA. You can have a film career these days without having to up sticks. I love it where I live and I love my quiet life. We’re not the Beckhams, are we?”

To celebrate the launch of Kenco Millicano, Keeley is searching for trend-setting women around the UK. See www.facebook.com/kencomillicano

TV star Amanda Holden is thrilled to be “top dog” on Britain’s Got Talent this year – and says she’s not missing Simon Cowell or Piers Morgan at all.
Speaking this week Amanda said: “I’m top dog now. Like God, actually. I’m not missing Simon in the slightest – it’s all about me now! He won’t like the fact he’s not missed. Simon will return for part of the live finals and I’d love him to come down the ceiling on a cloud wearing a toga showing off his macho chest. That would be a good way for him to return.
“Piers text me on the first day of filming and said: “How are they?” And I replied saying: “Who is this?” Piers is old hat now.”
Amanda’s return to BGT comes just two months after tragically losing her baby.
She was rushed to hospital on February 1 after filming the last live auditions episode for the show, where the star’s son was stillborn.
But she’s throwing herself into work in the wake of the tragedy and is loving the new lease of life that new judges David Hasselhoff and comedian Michael McIntrye are bringing to the series.
Amanda says Michael’s going to be the audience favourite in the series and that Baywatch legend, who she continually calls Michael after his character in Knightrider, David has found God ahead of this year’s live finals.
Amanda, 40, said: “How do I put this, the Hoff is a friend of Jesus. He’s definitely found the Lord lately and is continually coming out with religious references.
“The best one is like his motto and he keeps telling me to ‘breathe in God and breathe out a smile’. He’s really into his faith which is great in a slightly funny American kind of way. I actually can’t stop calling him Michael when we’re on set – I was so addicted to Knightrider.”
The blonde star also says she’s disappointed David, known for his bonkers personality and former drinking problem, has failed to try it on with her. She laughed: “He hasn’t tried to pinch my bum or do anything of the sort. I thought he’d be far more hands on. I’m actually disappointed he hasn’t tried to grab my bum yet. Offended, even.”
Launching a range of Trimsole toning footwear this week in London the star said she cannot wait to start her six month run playing Princess Fiona in Shrek: The Musical on the West End after her BGT appearance finishes.
She said: “It’s been seven years since I was on the West End with Millie so it does feel a little daunting. But exciting. Shrek rehearsals are going very well and the team and cast are great.
“It’s a real family show – suitable for all ages. It’s very much like the film story wise but on stage. I’m actually only painted as an ogre for the final scene so I’m not green throughout. But I’ve already decided that one night I’m going to go to The Ivy for a posh meal dressed as an ogre. That would give a few people a fright.”

It’s instantly apparent that La Roux front lady Elly Jackson has changed. The giant quiff that plagued her for all of last year has been removed from the equation. After tiring of her slightly iconic hair-do, Elly has decided to go for a slick-backed, simple flick which she describes as “slightly more classic and less novelty.” And it’s also good to know the star is the same girl we met during her debut album – scooping a Grammy for Best Electronic/Dance album in January and their self-titled debut album being certified platinum in the UK has failed to change her. Phew. Natalie Edwards sat down with the singer to chat about the second album plans, Elly’s sexual side and why there won’t be a collaboration in the near future

First of all – a massive congratulations for scooping a Grammy. It’s an incredible achievement – especially for a British act and a debut album.
We are very, very chuffed. I didn’t really know anything about the Grammys really. I just associated it with people like Mariah Carey. It doesn’t compute in my mind that we would even be up for one. To me it’s up there with other things, like Elton John. It doesn’t compute with me so it was weird. It is amazing as an English act to have won and also with the kind of music that we do which was even a little bit difficult to get out here. To have done so well in the States in just a couple of years – in the grand scheme of things it’s quite a sort space of time –and then to be awarded a Grammy is pretty incredible.

Where have you put it?
I haven’t got it yet! You’re on stage and you’re like ‘I’ve got a Grammy’ and then they literally take it straight off you as you walk off stage. I was like ‘What are you doing? That’s my Grammy!’ and the woman told me it was just a prop. We did four hours on a press run afterwards and you see them all piled on hundreds of podiums all around the building. They are quite big awards as well and some of the biggest I’ve ever seen. Then there are all these girls there just standing there just polishing them! My sister was with me and was telling me to have a picture next to a Grammy but literally the security come down on you and take your camera away. They only want the photographers they’ve paid to be there to take any pictures and you have to make sure you hold it a certain way round. It’s almost as strict as meeting the Queen!

Have you started work on the follow-up yet? Everyone is so excited to hear some new material.
So am I actually. It’s weird because it’s difficult to talk about it as when you make a record so many things change over the course of making it. I could say now ‘It’s a bit like this and it’s a bit like that’ but then in a few months time it could be completely different. But I think we are nearing settling on a style but there’s still a lot of work to do. We have written a few things but I’m about to go on holiday so that will put it on hold for a bit. I’m not telling anyone where I’m going just in case as I really, really want to be left alone! We’ve been in the studio on and off for a bit but we only finished touring at Christmas and I’ve been taking some time out as I’ve got loads of things to do to my house as it needs renovating. In order to write a record about anything real I kind of need to have a life again. Obviously I have a great time when I’m working but who wants to hear an album about me being in a tour bus or having some hummus in a dressing room? Of course there are stresses with being on tour as you do get tired and you do get homesick but I don’t want to f**king write about it at all. It’s just not something that I want to write about. So I’ve got that element of figuring out what the subject matter of the album is and there’s definitely more of a sexual element.

What do you mean – is La Roux going to become La Raunchy?!
It’s difficult to explain it and I’m scared that if it gets edited down then it’s going to sound like I’m writing a sex album! Basically I think I’ve come across in the past as almost as if I don’t like that kind of sexual element to music or entertainment. But I do. I do like a sexual element side to a lot of things but I don’t like it to be in an overtly kind of obvious way. I think the sexiest things about people – and it’s obviously people that we’re talking about as that’s where sex comes from – are the subtitles about them and the mysteries about things that you don’t know. The thing that makes you attracted to somebody is when you don’t know what’s going on. If someone comes up to you, straddles you and says ‘I want to f**k now’ that isn’t sexy, not that I’ve ever had it happen to me! There may be some blokes out there that find that sexy but I certainly f**king don’t. I just think the way sex is portrayed in a lot of songs and a lot of music videos makes it very unsexy. I don’t necessarily have a massive problem with it apart from when it’s being marketed to eight-year-olds and then I sort-of do. I want the sound of the record to be a lot more sexy but not in a ‘I’m going to f**k you in a club’ sort of way. I want it to be old-fashioned sex and old-fashioned sexy – a bit of mystery and a bit of a smoky kind-of slickness. Also with my voice I want it to be a lot deeper and a lot sexier as well because there’s an area of my voice which has opened up recently and I never knew I had it. I think it’s going to be more like that than me talking about sex. I also want to get in an element of a lot of things that I have seen over the last couple of years that aren’t to do with work – like character traits in people that you begin to notice as you get older and begin to know more people. There are a lot of character traits that you never thought would apply to you or that would apply to your friends or that you would ever justify in anyone – like how the darker side of your mind works. Or if you are about to do something that you know you shouldn’t do but yet you do it anyway and it’s the thought process that leads to that. It will mean singing songs about observational stories where I’ve seen people go and do things where you can tell they don’t feel right about it – like going and having an affair – and it’s that thought process which leads you there and makes you justify it. Hopefully it should be good.

When do you expect to finish up the record and get it released?
We have got a way to go yet so I wouldn’t expect anything this side of Christmas. The first record took us a long time as we didn’t rush and we were very, very happy with the results and the rest of our fans seem to have been as well. I literally don’t believe in, or buy into this whole rush culture of if you don’t have something out this year then no-one will f**king buy it. It’s a load of b*****ks. People bought our record when they had never heard who we were before. There are people there and they want to hear the music. If the music is s**t then of course no-one will buy it but if it’s a great record and a really good progression then I do believe people will buy it. All I need to do is make sure that it is good.

Do you have a wish-list of anyone you would like to work with on the record?
I wouldn’t like to work with anyone. Obviously we have done a couple of collaborations that I wouldn’t necessarily have thought I would do and they have been good for whatever reasons and it’s nice to meet other musicians. But I think when it comes to your own record there shouldn’t be collaborations on there. It’s different for rap artists because they need a singer or a singer needs a rapper in a verse so I’m not saying I’m totally against it but for us we write everything that we do and there isn’t really a necessity for it. I don’t really think there is anyone right that would work for what we do either or for what we are about to do. I think it can look a bit unfocused as well. I think if you have about ten rappers on an album you can look it and think ‘Hang on, how much of it is really you?’

Elly was performing a DJ set at a Nissan ‘Behind the Hit’ event in Koko, London, which was the finale of a campaign to uncover new music talent.

Tinie Tempah can’t seem to get enough of bonkers Hollywood star Charlie Sheen right now. Speaking at the launch of his new Lucozade Sport ad Tinie told me: “Let’s see Charlie Sheen join the X Factor panel – I think that would be pretty cool. He’d add a lot of comedy to the show! Amongst all his eccentricities I think there’s a lot of sense in there and based on the Piers Morgan interview he’s a very intelligent man. Piers tried to catch him out but he’d always be on the money and I really like that. I just want to see Charlie everywhere and anywhere. Let’s even get him on my second album. If he says ‘What do you want me to do?’ I’ll just say ‘Anything’. I’m down for a night out with him too.” There may be a slight problem…I’m not sure you’re record company would be so up for that! But the double BRIT Award winning artist – who hasn’t changed one bit since his phenomenal success – doesn’t want to sit behind a judging desk himself. “I’ve always scrutinised the judges whereby they’ve given opinions on singing and some of them have themselves not really been the greatest singers,” he said. “I’m not going to really mention any names. Simon Cowell knows everything he’s talking about and has been in the business for a long time while I’m still pretty new to the mainstream world. I just want to concentrate on making music and don’t want to start imposing my opinion on anybody anytime soon or ever really to be fair.”

Look out for Tinie’s ad – alongside Travis Barker and Katie Taylor at www.facebook.com/lucozade

Is Naomi Campbell vying for a Royal Wedding invitation? It seems she couldn’t have been more complimentary about Prince Charles when we caught up this week at Naomi’s Fashion For Relief pop-up store in Westfield will be open until April 13 with all proceeds going to the Prince’s Trust. Naomi said: “I admire Prince Charles – he’s such a lovely man and he really involves himself in the charity.  I’m so impressed with the the way he uses his position – and this is something I was always told by great Mr Mandela – to help others.”
But we didn’t just talk Royals. She’s been working hard at working out with Madonna’s former trainer Tracey Anderson – and it showed. “I think I’m more toned – look at my arms,” she said. “I like it because it’s dance orientated and for me that’s going back to my roots and I enjoy it.” But there’s only one woman that Naomi is hoping to emulate these days – J-Lo. She said: “I love the way Jennifer Lopez looks on American Idol. Dont get me wrong, I am an X Factor fan too, and those girls always look great – but Jennifer just looks amazing right now, she’s a friends and I love the look she’s going for, her hair, her bodies in incredible shape and she’s rocking it on Idol every night.” Calm down dear.

I’ve always had a soft spot for Amanda Seyfried. She’s beautiful and charming in real life and nowadays she’s dating Reese Witherspoon’s ex Ryan Phillipe. This week she breezed into London for the premiere of Red Riding Hood and told me that living in the spotlight isn’t all it’s cracked up to be – especially when you have another celebrity as a boyfriend. Amanda fumed: “I find the idea that I can’t do anything privately anymore just crazy! I mean just because I’m hanging out with a guy who also happens to be famous we literally have to jump through hoops if we want to do something and not be photographed!
“Also when I’m not working I don’t dress great, I don’t wear make up run, I run errands, hang out and I have these people watching me do it – documenting it! And then people comment that I don’t look great. It sucks!
“But I love what I do – and there are perks, you can do some really special things like private tours of places, you get given free cars, lovely dresses, you can get reservations at really nice restaurants so that is kind of nice.” It’s alright for some….!

Meanwhile…..Amanda and Ryan popped up and partied at Amika nightclub in Kensington on Friday night. They came with Amanda’s cast mate from Mamma Mia, Rachel McDowall, who kind of played goosberry on the couple’s night out. Ryan was drinking Johnny Walker Blue whisky and they also ordered bottles of vodka, champagne and Disaronno for the table. Get them!