Surely charity is about helping others, not massaging your own ego? Ed Sheeran’s boycott of Band Aid is yet another example of putting virtue-signalling above doing actual good. I thought of delicate petal Ed when I was asked to join some media friends to record a cover version of ‘All You Need Is Love’ to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital, which is building a children’s cancer centre. Our group – shamelessly called The Celebs – included Christopher Biggins, Frank Bruno, Anne Hegerty, the terrifying star of the quiz show The Chase, and a clutch of actors. It was my first time singing in public since I leapt to my feet, aged 12, to lead a singsong at the end of Ramsgate pier on a family summer holiday. The pianist passed a hat round which raised £3. The payment was designed to shut me up, as there was definitely no clamour for an encore. I hope our efforts this time raise much more.
On Tuesday I went to the West End’s Adelphi theatre where the Mamma Mia! star Mazz Murray performed the songs of Dusty Springfield. It was camper than Christmas and – for me – even more fun. Judy Craymer, who produced Mamma Mia!, once rashly agreed to me being an extra in the show. I was in the chorus for the wedding scene where the three fathers stand up in unison. Unfortunately, I stood up too. I blushed a deeper shade of pink than the suit they had dressed me in. Just like in Ramsgate, I wasn’t invited back.
I will miss John Prescott. Yes, he was a bruiser, but I always admired his canny ability to turn almost anything to his advantage. My first run-in with him came in 1996 after he claimed that, since he became an MP, he had stopped regarding himself as working class.
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