It was a thrill to be asked to present the Beachwear Award at this year’s glamorous Comfort Prima High Street Fashion Awards with Frank Lampard’s ex Elen Rives earlier in the week!

Elen’s a little pocket rocket and we had an absolute ball at the bash. Other celebs that turned out for the event included Sophie Anderton, Scott Henshall, Beverley Knight, Liz McClarnon and opera boys Blake.

Sophie tells me she’s joined forces with Scott and the pair are designing a lingerie and swimwear range for next year – details will follow! I wish them both well.

Leah Wood hosted the Bugaboo and (RED) afternoon tea in central London this week to launch the new partnership between the two companies which sees 1% of Bugaboo’s total revenue being donated to the (RED) Global Chairty Fund.

The (RED) Global Fund is an amazing charity that you may have heard off through their previous partnerships with companies including Gap. The money raised from (RED) partnerships – like the Bugaboo prams one – helps to fund AIDS programs in Africa with the emphasis on helping with the health of the women and children suffering from the disease.

The event was star studded too – with Holby City star Tina Hobley, Fran Cutler (above), socialite Tamara Beckwith and former Atomic Kitten star Jenny Frost (below) turning out for the tea and cakes!

I had a lovely chat with Leah Wood and we spoke about her mother Jo Wood (who’s currently divorcing Rolling Stone star Ronnie) and how she’s getting along taking part in rehearsals for Strictly Come Dancing.

Here’s how our conversation went!

What happened with your mum when she burst into tears on the street after Strictly training last weekend?
She was doing the group dance and its difficult and obviously things can get the better of you. I actually haven’t met Brendan yet but I’ve heard he’s nice – possibly a bit of a task master but that’s fine.
She’s going to be fine competing on the show I think. I was totally jealous when she told me about signing to appear.

Is Jo as excited as she looks about being on Strictly Come Dancing?
She comes home from rehearsals every day and show me what moves she has learned. She’s learning all the time. I’d love her to get to the final three but who knows. I will be there on and off throughout the time she is in the show. She definitely wants to get to the final three – she’s set herself that goal.

Being on Strictly she’s bound to have male admirers – how do you feel about that?
Obviously being on this show with give her male attention and that’s fine by me. I’d love her to meet somebody but to be honest she’s so busy with strictly she doesn’t have time for a man right now. She deserves it so much. She’s still finding her feet with being single.

What will you do if she gets picked on during the show?
If Brendan misbehaves ill get one of those toy guns with a fist on and punch him in the head! And those judges had better be nice to her or I’ll be heckling them. I won’t take that!

For more information on the Bugaboo and (RED) partnership log onto www.bugaboo.com.

Beverley Knight is one of the most open and genuine celebs I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. She’s talented, sincere and has never entered into the reality TV world. She deserves respect.

I watched her cracking set at the O2 Rockwell event in aid of the Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy charity and was blown away by her vocals. She also got the crowd going big time!

Beverley, who this week released her new album 100%, tells me she’s been working out like a crazy thing to get fit for her current set opf promotional tours. She said: “I’m a 6-8 dress size nowadays but all those years ago when I was starting out I was a 12-14 dress. Those were different days. I’m very active and healthy now. I work out most days doing a 8-10k run firstly followed by weights and crunches. I’m pretty into my fitness. You have to be as you get older to stay fit!”

She’s one lady on a mission – and Beverley keeps getting better the older she gets!

This year will be known as the year of Florence and the Machine – after all, she is the biggest selling debut artist of 2009 so far! The Mercury Music prize nominated star called me this week to announce her brand new headlining tour in December. If you haven’t seen Florence perform then you should be ashamed. She’s utterly spellbinding. The star, who’s looking fab in her superhero Hannah Marshall outfit in her Drumming Song video, tells me she’s one hell of a busy girl. “I was actually told I wasn’t due a day off until about 2011 this week,” she giggled. “But the tour’s going to be exciting. I love having mystical superhero style outfits. But if I was a superhero I’d be the villain. I always found Poison Ivy very alluring. She was an inspiration along with the Wicked Witch in Sleeping Beauty.”
A limited amount of tickets for the gigs, at the below venues, will be available on her website www.florenceandthemachine.net at 9am on Tuesday! Don’t miss out!

Florence Plays……
6th December – Belfast – Ulster Hall (www.ticketmaster.ie)
7th December – Dublin – Olympia Theatre (www.ticketmaster.ie)
9th December – Glasgow – O2 Academy (www.gigsinscotland.com)
10th December – Manchester – Apollo (www.gigsandtours.com)
11th December – Lincoln – Engine Shed (www.gigsandtours.com)
13th December – London – Brixton Academy (www.gigsandtours.com)

Book tickets on the double!

The next series of Celebrity Apprentice in the US has the makings of classic television. I can reveal former Dynasty star Joan Collins is in negotiations to join the Donald Trump on the show – that’s if they can afford her! A mole tells me: “It’s three months worth of work and although Joan’s agreed to sign for the series she’s not happy with the money. She says she’s worth more and knows people will watch her on it. So she’s holding out to see if they can bump up her cash.”
And two other Brit stars are close to signing for the series too – Sharon Osbourne has been offered the gig and is likely to sign and Spice Girl Mel B has been offered it too. Sounds awesome to me!

*Fashion presenter Louise Roe (above centre) has been marching around town wearing snazzy new Bjork and McElligott skinny jeans! The designers have teamed up with Alfa Romeo to sell the slick threads with takings going to support the Jeans 4 Genes charity. Snap up yours at www.mitojeans.co.uk. Louise is currently shooting a new television dating show called Perfect Catch in Greece with former Baywatch girl Carmen Electra – look out for it!

*Lingerie company Ultimo celebrated their 10th Anniversary this week with a glitzy launch at Debenhams with Mel B. Following that I had drinks with Mel and her film producer hubby Stephen Belafonte before the couple flew out to the Venice Film Festival to premiere Stephen’s latest flick, Bad Lieutenant. The film stars Nicholas Cage and Eva Mendes – and I hear it went down a storm.

*A huge thank you goes out to jewellery company Ice Cool Diamonds. The online bling store surprised me with a gift this week – they made my DP column logo up into a snazzy P Diddy style pendant. Set with 54 diamonds it’s going to wrapped around my neck at all the top showbiz bashes – starting with GQ Awards this Tuesday! Check out www.icecool.co.uk for more info!

*Natalie Pinkham isn’t just a super ice skater! She’s a business woman too – the star, who’s buddies with Prince Harry, launched clothing label Circle of Gentlemen this week with a glittering bash at the effortlessly trendy Sanctum Hotel. Mark Fuller, Nick Knowles, Pussycat Dolls singer Kimberly Wyatt and Lizzie Cundy all turned out. Log onto www.circleofgentlemen.co.uk for more info!

*Peter Andre is preparing for his first red carpet slot at the TV Quick & TV Choice Awards tomorrow night in his new role as a showbiz reporter on This Morning. Rumour has it Jordan has also been invited to the bash and may attend. It could be pistols at dawn! And it’s not just Pete joining This Morning – I’ll be on the ITV1 show this Wednesday giving you all the goss!

It was the ultimate betrayal when Christopher Ciccone decided to write a tell-all book about his superstar sister Madonna.
But it seems that time can truly be a healer, because I can reveal the Queen of Pop is making an effort to reconcile with her estranged brother for the sake of the Ciconne family.
Although the pair have yet to speak, Madonna has quietly reached out to Chris on email in an effort to try and repair their broken relationship. My source in the Madge camp reveals: “Madonna did it more for her family than for herself. Her feud with Chris was creating huge tension within the family so she decided to be the bigger person.
“At one point Madonna wanted all the family member to cut off Chris – but her father wasn’t willing to become embroiled in the row. So it’s been a nightmare ever since. She’s calmed down about the book situation and had time to think. She realised blood is thicker than water and has said she will meet with him later this year in Los Angeles.”
My sources tell me now that another main reason for the reconciliation is due to the departure of Madonna’s second husband Guy Ritchie. Chris blamed Guy for the breakdown of his relationship with Madge. I actually met with Chris in July 2008 and he didn’t beat around the bush when it came to Guy. He told me: “Our relationship broke down after Guy arrived. I think the combination of Madonna and mine’s closeness and the fact that I was gay made it worse.”
In his book, Life With My Sister Madonna, Chris claimed Guy and his male pals had taunted him with homophobic remarks on Guy’s stag do.
Chris will be over the moon now that the singer is back in touch. The pair have had a turbulent relationship for the past few years before the book too. He’s only met one of her children too – Lourdes. He’s still yet to meet Rocco and adopted children David and Mercy.
Looks like Chris had better get ready to play the uncle – for the very first time!

Oh My Lord! The stars of Byker Grove are reforming. Well, sort of! Donna Air and Declan Donnelly will be reunited at the Boomerang Pet Personality Awards in Regents Park. And if you remember rightly the pair even played boyfriend and girlfriend on the show – but there’ll be no kissy wissys as Dec’s sassy sports presenter Georgie Thompson is hosting the bash next Sunday!