Mark Wright’s Dad Calls Him ‘Idiot’ for Pool Prank Endangering Nephew, 3
Mark Wright left his namesake father furious on Saturday when he pushed the family patriarch into his swanky swimming pool. Taking to…
His father was the wunderkind of the restaurant world, becoming the youngest Briton to be awarded three Michelin stars – aged 33.
But Luciano, Marco Pierre White’s elder son, currently seems destined to make headlines in an even more dramatic but far less favourable manner.
A year since he had a run-in with bailiffs – after his restaurant business collapsed owing investors £300,000 – he is, I can disclose, contending with battles on two fronts.
Neither of his companies has managed to file its accounts on time, with the result that both have been threatened with being struck off – a threat that continues to hang over one of them, Boxfields Ltd, of which Luciano, 31, owns the lion’s share.
But it’s at The Rudloe Arms that matters now threaten to boil over, according to stories steaming away on the TripAdvisor website.
The country house hotel, on the western edge of the Cotswolds, was lovingly refurbished by Marco, who opened its doors for business in 2012. Now it’s run by Luciano – seemingly in the spirit of Basil Fawlty.
Described by one guest as ‘rude, arrogant’ – and brimming with ‘aggression and arrogance’ by another – Luciano is accused of giving ‘terrible customer service’, being ‘discriminatory’ to a guest with a disability, and of issuing edicts about what can and cannot be eaten. These allegedly included an insistence that ‘peas and other vegetables could not be served without butter’ and that batter ‘could not be removed from fish’.
Another guest alleges that, aside from being ‘surly, rude, uncaring’, Luciano ‘lied constantly, got bookings messed up’, gave ‘zero customer service’. Yet another claims that his ‘rudeness and arrogance’ were ‘beyond belief’.
Luciano, Marco Pierre White ’s elder son (both pictured), is contending with battles on two fronts
Perhaps most startling of all, however, are claims that Luciano periodically assumes a different identity. ‘Luciano (he said he was called Guy) was aloof and not welcoming,’ alleges one of The Rudloe’s recent patrons.
Other guests chime in with their own examples. ‘[He] told us we were holding him up from checking out and was in fact called Guy,’ says one guest in disbelief, ‘and we were preventing HIM from checking out.’Another is blunter. ‘“GUY” is Luciano White,’ says the guest. ‘He lied. Gave us a fake name’. This ‘disgraceful’ attitude, adds the critic, will ‘ruin Marco Pierre White’s beautiful property’.
Luciano declines to comment. Perhaps he’s buoyed by the many glowing reviews which The Rudloe Arms has also received on TripAdvisor. Or is he perchance mulling over the advice of another detractor? ‘The biggest tip I can give Luciano is to leave the industry.’
Stair role: Top Gun Tom hits a new high
He’s said to be growing closer to Bond Girl Ana de Armas who, at 37, is 25 years his junior.
But, as gaps go, that’s but half a stride for evergreen superhero Tom Cruise, as he demonstrated when awarded a British Film Institute Fellowship.
Expressing his gratitude, Cruise, 62, reflected that he and his Mission: Impossible co-stars ‘love being in movies’ and know ‘how magical that is’. Then they showed how, sometimes, the magic spills over into real life, posing for this snap.
It shows Tom, 5ft 7in, towering above Greg Tarzan Davis and Hannah Waddingham, both 5ft 11in, with Angela Bassett, 5ft 4in, sandwiched between them, while Hayley Atwell, 5ft 7in, is to Tarzan Davis’s right.
Tom Cruise was awarded a British Film Institute Fellowship last night (pictured centre)
Seemingly on the same level as Cruise are Samantha Morton, 5ft 3in, and Pom Klementieff, 5ft 7in.
Only producer Tommy Harper – height unknown – appears taller than Tom.
Countdown wordsmith Susie Dent managed to impress children on a classroom visit.
‘I went to a primary school on World Book Day and mentioned the word “Skibidi”,’ the lexicographer, 60, tells me at the British Book Awards at Grosvenor House in Mayfair.
‘They found it hysterically funny.’ Skibidi is a slang term used among ‘Generation Alpha’ children born between 2010 and 2024 that can mean anything from bad to cool.
Dent adds: ‘I asked them to invent their own new words – and they were so excited and impassioned.’
Countdown wordsmith Susie Dent managed to impress children on a classroom visit by using the word ‘skibidi’
Why Sam and Petra are moving on
As a billionaire’s daughter, Petra Ecclestone might expect to have a ‘forever home’.
Instead, the Formula 1 heiress is apparently condemned to life on the move.
‘We do projects – we design homes then sell them,’ explains her husband, Sam Palmer, who has put their LA pad on the market for £31.5 million.
Sam, 40, and Petra, 36, bought the house, which has seven bedrooms and an infinity pool, two years ago for £23 million.
‘We’re staying in LA,’ he adds. ‘We love it here.’
Petra Ecclestone and her husband Sam Palmer ‘design homes then sell them’
Culture Minister Sir Chris Bryant has questioned Paddington Bear’s origin story.
‘I’m told by my Peruvian friends that there aren’t any bears in Peru,’ he informed MPs.
‘Hugh Bonneville (Mr Brown) told me he was slightly upset when he signed on for Paddington In Peru.
He said, “I thought we’d be filming in Peru. I only got as far as Borehamwood”.’
Culture Minister Sir Chris Bryant has questioned Paddington Bear’s origin story
Life Down Under can be painful for Dannii Minogue, currently hosting BBC show I Kissed A Boy.
‘I got bitten three times before I got on the plane [to Britain], twice on one leg and once on the other,’ Kylie’s sister says of venomous white-tailed spiders.
‘These open wounds don’t heal quickly. I’m having to reorganise my clothing.’
Life Down Under can be painful for Dannii Minogue, currently hosting BBC show I Kissed A Boy
Royal jeweller turns designer Ford’s head
Since snapping up an £80million house in Chelsea last year, Tom Ford has been busy supporting his local businesses.
I hear the celebrated fashion designer and film-maker, 63, recently popped into royal jeweller Butler & Wilson in Fulham Road, where he asked to try on all their jackets – and left with a flamboyant headdress that wasn’t for sale.
‘I said, “You’re Tom Ford”,’ says Simon Wilson, co-founder of the brand loved by royals including the Princess of Wales.
‘I was like a child. And I’ve never done that. He said, “I’ve just seen these jackets in the window. I need to try them”.
‘He tried every jacket in the window. And there was a big headdress that I’d done for a show, with all beautiful turquoise and fabulous things. He said, “Ah! That’s amazing”. My colleague Jane said, “That’s not for sale”. I said, “It’s for sale for Tom Ford”. I gave it a great price.’
