Elton Johns Secret to Sobriety for A-Listers

Alcoholic Sir has said he got sober with the support of the 'godfather of rehab' – his friend Sir .

The singer has helped many celebrities – including Donatella Versace, , Rufus Wainwright and – to kick drugs or drink; and friends say he played a key part in Sir Andrew's sobriety, which the impresario confirmed last weekend.

It can also be revealed that decades before the composer got sober, he mentored 'dozens' of West End colleagues through the same process, paying for a number of them to go to residential rehab facilities (in some cases, more than once).

A friend said: 'After his son Nick died [in March 2023, of gastric ] he got very drunk, and then he started going to AA meetings and he got very sober.

'I mean, he had been drunk for 30 years before Nick got ill and died; so that wasn't the reason, But things became more extreme after his child died, which is understandable.

'Elton stepped in. He and [husband] David Furnish have both been phenomenal.

'He reached out to Andrew, because it was known to a lot of people that he was struggling; and Elton wanted to help – and he did.'

The friend added: 'What is not known is that Andrew has also helped other people over decades. I know a number of people for whom he has paid for residential rehab.

'Some of them have been famous people, and some of them have just been figures in the West

End – involved in his musicals, or not. One of them was a quite well–known actress.'

The source explained that if Sir Andrew heard someone was struggling with addiction issues, he would 'quietly offer to pay for rehab'.

The impresario, 78, recently revealed in an interview with The Sunday Times Culture magazine that he began his journey to sobriety 16 months ago and attends daily Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

He said he had convinced himself those close to him were unaware of the extent of his drinking, adding: 'You think it's secret, but it's not.'

Sir Andrew – composer of the musicals Evita and The Phantom Of The Opera – went to his first AA meeting in Switzerland and said being recognised had not held him back. He attended a session in New York earlier this month on the day his show Cats: The Jellicle Ball opened on Broadway and 'nobody said a thing'.

The composer is now auctioning off the final tranche of his wine collection, which he has been amassing since he was 15. The money will help disadvantaged secondary school pupils gain access to classical music.

Sir Elton, 79, set up an intervention for Ms Versace, who said later he had saved her life. But not all the singer's friends have accepted his advice – both George Michael and Whitney Houston refused his offers.

Daring old man in his flying machine

Bloody Dangerous, a book by 105–year–old flying ace Colin Bell, has enjoyed heart–warming success.

The veteran, pictured, recounts his tales of derring–do as a Mosquito bomber pilot during the Second World War, when he flew 50 missions and was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross. He retired as a chartered surveyor at the age of 98.

Remarkably, the book – Bell's first – reached number two in the non–fiction charts.

One of the tales recounts how, on his final mission, a tyre burst when he took off from France.

When he got home, Bell ignored instructions to land with his wheels up – on the plane's belly – because he was giving a lift to a colleague and instead brought it down on one wheel.

His squadron leader told him afterwards that if the risky move had failed, he would have been court–martialed.

'If I hadn't got away with it there wouldn't have been anything left to court–martial,' Bell commented drily.

Ralf Little spent four years playing DI Neville Parker in Death In Paradise, but he now admits that the plots 'have a habit of unravelling' if examined too closely.

He said each episode would end with his character revealing who the killer was and why. Ralf, 46, added: 'But then I'd turn to the crew and say: 'Yes, but where is the forensic evidence that's going to make this conclusion hold up in court?!'

He added that like many detective shows 'it's probably best not to pick at the threads of a storyline too much'.

Keira to spend summer in France, with an old flame 

Now that's what I call interesting timing.

Actress Keira Knightley, whose marriage to musician James Righton has come under scrutiny in recent days, is preparing to spend the summer in France – making a film with her ex–boyfriend Jamie Dornan.

The Worst is the directorial debut of actor Simon Woods (who also wrote the picture – a satire skewering the rich).

Woods played Charles Bingley in the 2005 Pride & Prejudice movie starring...Keira Knightley.

In The Worst, her character is a struggling diversity consultant who, at a dinner party from hell in Provence hosted by a socialite (Alicia Vikander), argues with everybody. Dornan, who dated Keira for three years, plays a name–dropping talent agent.

Earlier this week, Keira's husband of 13 years, former Klaxons star Righton, was spotted without his wedding ring – but within days it was back. The pair have two daughters: Edie, ten, and Delilah, six.

Hit animation KPop Demon Hunters is the most successful Netflix film ever, drawing nearly 500million viewers last year.

You won't be surprised to hear producers have already signed a (lucrative) deal to make a sequel.

Meanwhile, the most–watched film on Netflix this week is Thrash, a sharks–eating–flooded–town movie which I enjoyed (Phoebe Dynevor hoicking her baby out of the water by the umbilical cord made me laugh out loud).

My husband says it's the worst film I've ever made him suffer through. You can't please all the people all of the time!

Sanctions? What Sanctions? Kanye will play two nights in Moscow after Wireless ban

Kanye West is set to announce a jaw–dropping deal to play two nights at the biggest stadium in Russia – while sanctions are still in place due to the war in Ukraine.

The news comes in the wake of the cancellation of Wireless Festival in London, which announced the rapper as its headliner only to run into a storm of protests due to his anti‑Semitic comments.

The Government then cancelled West's ETA travel permit.

Plans for him to perform in France and Poland this summer have collapsed, too.

The controversial star – who likes to be called Ye – has a history of making inflammatory remarks, and the European tour was meant to be part of his rehabilitation.

But now he looks set to pull off an even more audacious and controversial comeback.

I hear that he will shortly announce that he is to play two dates at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, which has a capacity of 81,000 and is the seventh–largest stadium in Europe. Sources close to the deal say Ye is set to make a personal public apology for his anti–Semitic comments to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Russia remains a sanctioned state for the US and trade with it is subject to potentially unlimited fines and other penalties. But I hear that West is hell–bent on doing the shows anyway. He was said by a source to be 'absolutely furious' about the Wireless debacle, even though, as the insider pointed out: 'Everything is the fault of his anti–Semitic comments in the first place.'

Of the Russian dates, a source said: 'No big talent agency would book this deal – but Kanye is now doing his own deals, on his own terms.

'He is going to need all the help he can get from his friends in the Trump administration to get this to happen.'

The news that he is playing in Russia may bring further pressure to bear on the countries where he still has dates in the diary to play this year – including Italy and the Netherlands.

He did make a full–page apology in The Wall Street Journal for his anti–Semitic songs and statements, blaming the outbursts on his bipolar disorder. That is probably now best viewed as a preliminary move to attempting this comeback.

Russia has been sanctioned by the US, UK and EU since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Jack Whitehall once dealt with the world's poshest heckler. He recalled: 'I was doing a gig in Putney, near where I lived... and there were a lot of red cords and Barbour jackets.

'I was doing some material on [celebrity chef] Hugh Fearnley–Whittingstall, because I thought: 'Play to what's in front of you.'

'In the joke I referenced him switching on an Aga. And then this man at the back shouted out: 'You can't switch on an Aga – that's the point!'

'I was like: 'Wow, that is the poshest heckle that has ever been shouted out at a comedy club.'

'And he got a ripple of applause!'

Sans beard, I'm an egghead

Matthew Macfadyen was sorry to say goodbye to his role as assassin Charles Guiteau in the Netflix series Death By Lightning for reasons of pure vanity. 

He told the Prestige Junkie podcast: 'I really liked my beard. It's like wearing a hat, it just changes your face. 

'And then you shave, and it's terrifying because your face looks sort of like an egg. Your upper lip looks really insubstantial and that upsets your offspring.' 

The actor, who will forever be remembered as Tom Wambsgans in Succession, candidly added that when the series finished, he thought: 'God, what do I do now? Nothing will be as good.'