Rachel Johnson lifts the lid on Newsnight

Rachel Johnson has never been shy of using her Notting Hill neighbours as a source of ‘inspiration’ for her series of chick-lit Notting Hell books. Her latest book Fresh Hell is no exception. It follows a character rallying against a major basement conversion in a storyline not dissimilar to Johnson’s own efforts to oppose her neighbour’s plans for such underground developments.

However, another plotline in the book has caught Mr S’s eye. The novel follows Notting Hill journalist Mimi going on Newsnight – the current affairs programme which Johnson has appeared on in the past – to name and shame her basement digging neighbour. In the book, Newsnight is edited by a man called Josh Kurtz, whose name bears some resemblance to Ian Katz, the show’s current editor:

‘It is my debut scoop. And not a bad one, though I say so myself. Even Josh Kurtz, who must be super-busy, found time to text me:

‘Proper investigative journalism, so great for the prog. Well done, Kurtz xxx.