She’s known for having the longest legs in Belgravia, but they didn’t help wealthy divorcee Amanda Cronin outrun one of the thieves who plague Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan’s lawless London.
‘I had my phone stolen the other day, around the corner from my house,’ The Real Housewives of London star tells me at Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park.
Amanda, 57, adds: ‘I was turning the corner into my street, looking at some messages, then this mugger appeared.’
The thief swiped her smartphone before racing off on an electric bicycle.
‘I looked into the distance and saw him going off with my phone,’ she reveals. ‘It could be worse – he did not attack me – but I was shocked and upset.’ The entrepreneur, pictured – a former girlfriend of Wham! star Andrew Ridgeley – says the theft played havoc with her skincare business. ‘I run my clinic on WhatsApp, so that was a problem. I couldn’t get the WhatsApp back for a few days.’
Amanda Cronin says a mugger snatching her phone played havoc with her skincare business
She has now taken the precaution of wearing her phone on a strap round her neck.
Last month, Reform UK MP Richard Tice showed me how he had taken to wearing a similar strap around his wrist to thwart potential thieves.
Earlier this month, TV presenter Alexa Chung revealed that she had clung on to her phone after being targeted by a thief in London’s East End. Former It-girl Lady Victoria Hervey was left shaken earlier this year after she had her phone snatched in Pimlico by an e-bike rider.
But Amanda isn’t giving up on London. ‘I don’t like to be negative about the city,’ she adds. ‘I talk it up and always try and be positive, but there are problems.’
Old habits dye hard for Mel B, as she shows off pink pooch… again!
Former Spice Girls singer Mel B was dogged by criticism last year when she dyed Cookie, her Yorkshire terrier, bright pink during a spa day.
But the artist formerly known as Scary Spice, 50, is clearly not frightened to continue colouring her canine companion.
Scary Spice previously came under fire for dying her dog’s hair bright pink during a spa day
At The Beauty Awards, in the grounds of the Honourable Artillery Company in east London, Mel held her bemused pet, whose appearance had been spiced up with a halo of pink around her face and a natty leopard-print jumper.
Asked about her own beauty regime, Mel tells me: ‘You have to feel it on the inside and you take time to take care of yourself. Make that time to have a face mask, to have a bubble bath.
‘Forget the brands. Forget the money. It’s all about me-time.’
Cressida Bonas admits that she yearns for days gone by – although her hankering has nothing to do with her former relationship with Prince Harry.
‘Mum listens to Boom Light every day, which I now listen to, because it’s all the Fifties music,’ says Cressida, 36, the daughter of Lady Mary-Gaye Curzon, 78, of the easy-listening radio station. ‘That was our childhood – this Fifties music, which I don’t think our generation probably listens to.’
Harry’s wife, Meghan, is also a fan of the genre. During their wedding reception at Frogmore House, the former Suits star, 44, played 1950s and 1960s soul classics throughout the night.
Keeley’s a knockout at gym
Actress Keeley Hawes with The Feathers Association’s chief executive David Jones
Bodyguard star Keeley Hawes can clearly look after herself in real life.
The actress, 49, donned boxing gloves to open a £50,000 community gym at The Feathers Association in Marylebone. She’s pictured sparring with David Jones, the charity’s chief executive.
Keeley, who is the charity’s ambassador, attended the Feathers youth club as a child, says: ‘This centre helped shape me, and returning to see it thriving has been a real privilege.’
After having an emergency triple heart bypass, Bob Mortimer was told to cut right down on his cheese consumption. But the comedian, 66, would rather take his chances. ‘The dietitian said, “You can have a matchbox-size [piece] every week”. That broke my heart. There are probably those who do stick to it, but I’m probably in the school of thought that I’d rather have three years less.’ And don’t bother inviting him to a dinner party. ‘Sounds like torture,’ he says. ‘I hate that sort of formal fear. The people I know don’t invite me to anything.’
Renee took the edge off Bridget
As hapless 30-something singleton Bridget Jones, Renee Zellweger endeared herself to the nation.
But the American actress had none of the character’s British sharpness, as described in author Helen Fielding’s books and newspaper columns, according to Sally Phillips, 55, who played sweary Shazza in the film adaptations.
‘It’s interesting that Bridget has more edge in the books than she does in the film,’ Sally tells me at the British Audio Awards at the Royal Opera House.
Referring to Houston-born Zellweger, 56, Sally explains: ‘The genius of the film was to bring in a Texan with all her Texan charm… that made the character more universal.’
Looking back on shooting a fight scene with portly Captain Kirk actor William Shatner for the 1994 movie Star Trek Generations, British actor Malcolm McDowell remarks cheekily: ‘Oh, there’s me with old fatty!…I adored the man. He’s absolutely ridiculous, but he gave me a good laugh.’ McDowell, 82, recalls that their characters’ carefully choreographed brawl ended badly for Shatner, now 94 – much to the amusement of the film crew.
He says: ‘We were doing this fight and he went left instead of right, and I cold-cocked him [knocked him out]. About 100 people turned away from where we were shooting, and all I saw was a lot of heaving shoulders. People were trying to stop laughing.’
The Yorkshireman adds: ‘He came to… and blamed me.’
