ALISON BOSHOFF: Advantage Castle? Tennis star is locked in grudge match with neighbours

An Englishman's home is his castle – but Andrew Castle's dream home in the 'Beverly Hills of Surrey', currently part-built, is under siege in a planning war.

After a two-year dispute, relations between Castle and his wealthy neighbours have become so hostile the tennis ace turned broadcaster has gone so far as to 'snitch' on them for allegedly building a swimming pool without permission in their own garden.

Castle, a one-time British No 1, will be the lead presenter of the 's coverage for the last time this year. He announced earlier this month he would step down after this summer's tournament.

He said in an interview: 'My wife Sophia and I are building a house, and we're about to have a third grandchild, so things are good.'

The bitterness over his proposed building works in Cobham, Surrey, is not mentioned.

The saga of Andrew's castle began in 2024 when he and Sophia snapped up a modest three-bedroom home on a private estate for £3.75million.

By the end of the year the Castles had put in the first of a number of planning applications, proposing to knock it down and in its place build a mansion with a gym, 32-foot swimming pool, pool house and sauna.

That would be in keeping with the big-money neighbourhood, which is popular with sportsmen and celebrities including Peter Crouch and Andy Murray.

Why ITV's thinking outside The Box with Lineker's new show

Gary Lineker has been in the spotlight during the World Cup – but where on earth is his new ITV entertainment show, The Box?

The network believed they had scored a coup by snapping up former England striker turned broadcaster Lineker a few weeks after he was forced out at the Beeb, hiring him to front a splashy format based on a show which is a hit in Norway.

The programme, which sees celebrities put in a box and transported to a place where they have to take a challenge, was filmed in September and October last year.

It was supposed to air this spring (something confirmed in an interview last year by Dragons' Den favourite Sara Davies, who is among those taking part).

And yet there's still no sign of it... and it turns out that it actually will not air until September this year, which is quite a long delay, and rather squanders Gary's current high profile due to the World Cup.

Perhaps executives are nervous about how it might go down with viewers – ITV is reeling from a string of embarrassing and expensive prime-time flops in the entertainment genre. 

These include (deep breath) Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters, Graham Norton's The Neighbourhood, David Tennant's The Genius Game and Ben Shephard's The Summit.

The 'sex genius' behind Olivia's new hit movie 

Olivia Wilde – whose age-gap love affair with Harry Styles intrigued the world – says she has been influenced by Belgian 'sex genius' Esther Perel and her secrets for maintaining intimacy in relationships.

Psychotherapist Perel is often said to be the greatest relationship guru of modern times. Wilde revealed she has long been a fan of the 67-year-old, who is based in New York City. And she said she kept her views in mind when directing comedy The Invite, which is out today.

In fact, Perel is credited as a consultant on the movie, about a stressful dinner party involving upstairs and downstairs neighbours in a San Francisco apartment building. 

'There is a lot of Esther's philosophy in the film,' said Wilde. 

'The thing that really stuck with me was her concept that one can have multiple relationships within one relationship. 

'You cannot expect to never change, but you are allowed to start a new relationship with that person.'

What would the REAL Wonka say... 

Gene Wilder's voice as Willy Wonka has been recreated by AI for a Charlie And The Chocolate Factory-themed competition series on Netflix.

Wonka's Golden Ticket will start streaming from September and show 12 golden ticket holders and their partners competing in a series of challenges based on the beloved 1971 film (and not the 2023 Chalamet-starring Wonka). Wilder died in 2016, and his estate signed off on the project.

Short-statured actors Tiffany Sarich and Dane Noonan are in the show, presumably as Oompa Loompas; and the actor and magician Ash Hodgkinson, known as Magic Ash, also features.

Netflix bought The Roald Dahl Story Company in 2021 and this is one of the first fruits of the deal.

Louis, the babyfaced Bond? 

There has been a rush of bets on Dulwich boy Louis Partridge to be the new 007 – so many he's now in second position at bookies William Hill.

Partridge, who is 23 and has been called the British Timothee Chalamet, is best known for romance. One fictional – he plays Millie Bobby Brown's love interest in the Enola Holmes films – and one real – his two-year relationship with American pop star Olivia Rodrigo ended in December.

Are we really ready for a Gen Z James Bond who looks as if he hasn't graduated from uni, let alone served as a Commander in the Royal Navy?

Meanwhile, nobody seems to have noticed that Callum Turner, the bookies' favourite, is fully booked with films from now until next spring; while Amazon want to get going on the new Bond film at the end of this year or by January 2027 at the latest.

And James Norton – the man the film's writer Steven Knight thinks would be perfect for the part, but is a generation older than Partridge – will be playing Hamlet in the West End this autumn.

Curse of the Duke strikes the West End 

The Duke of York's Theatre in London's St Martin's Lane is to drop its historic name.

In the wake of the accusations of sexual misconduct and corruption which saw the Duke of York, Prince Andrew, stripped of his titles, the theatre is following suit.

It is to be renamed the Tom Stoppard Theatre, in tribute to the great British playwright and screenwriter, who died in November 2025, aged 88.

Melanie Smith, Global CEO of theatre owner ATG Entertainment, announced the change without making any reference at all to the former Duke, who is now plain Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

Lively wants $8m back 

Blake Lively's lawyers are trying to claim back a shade over $8million (£6m) in legal fees. 

The actress says that's how much she spent fighting a failed defamation lawsuit filed in January by Wayfarer Studios, which is co-owned by Justin Baldoni.

Her lawyers say that the lawsuit was a 'weapon of intimidation'.

The actress's final legal bill is likely to be many times that, now that the court battle over alleged sexual harassment on the set of It Ends With Us is over.

The lawyers of her former co-star Baldoni have until July 13 to agree to pay, or fight it.

Loose Woman star 'milking cash cow' with new tour 

Full marks for honesty to forthright Loose Woman Janet Street-Porter.

The veteran broadcaster has launched a one-woman touring show titled Still Off The Leash At 80! which will run from September until next April.

The press release states: 'As a broadcaster, television executive and newspaper editor she was at the forefront of some of Britain's most enduring cultural moments. 

'Now she finds herself on the cusp of turning 80 and so her agent has decided he needs to milk this cash-cow while he can.'

Knowles quits wife's struggling lingerie firm 

Nick Knowles has quit his wife Katie Dadzie's struggling lingerie company. 

The TV presenter was a director of Boa Boa Wear, set up by Dadzie in 2022 before she and Knowles married.

But the company is currently £12,000 in debt and has faced two notices for compulsory strike-off – both lifted.