Are your workers in need of a bit of uplifting? If so, would you pay petrolhead Jeremy Clarkson a somewhat hefty sum to come up with some words of encouragement?
For I hear the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire host has signed on with US agency AAE Speakers to deliver motivational speeches to American companies — starting from £158,000.
‘His opinionated but humorous tongue-in-cheek writing and presenting style has often provoked a public reaction,’ AAE Speakers’ website tells would-be clients.
It acknowledges: ‘His actions, both privately and as a Top Gear presenter have also sometimes resulted in criticism from the media, politicians, pressure groups and the public.’
The fee, they explain, is for him to fly to the US to speak.
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire host has signed on with US agency AAE Speakers to deliver motivational speeches to American companies — starting from £158,000
His agent says that Clarkson’s ‘opinionated but humorous tongue-in-cheek writing and presenting style has often provoked a public reaction’
Top equestrian artist Georgea Blakey is in good form when it comes to staying friendly with an ex.
The socialite who previously painted a then Prince Charles with his polo pony, dated former champion jockey Richard Dunwoody, whom she has featured in her new exhibition ‘Carousel’.
St Paul’s-educated Georgea has included him in a portrait entitled Desert Orchid, below, on display at the Osborne Gallery in London.
The piece, which is worth £5,800 sees Dunwoody riding the legendary ‘Dessie’, who won 34 races including the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1989.
Georgea tells me at the private view of the exhibit: ‘Yes, it is my ex Richard on Dessie. We are still on good terms and speak, though he is living in Spain now’.
Top equestrian artist Georgea Blakey is in good form when it comes to staying friendly with an ex. The socialite previously dated former champion jockey Richard Dunwoody, whom she has featured in her new exhibition ‘Carousel’
I spy Bond writer and Fleabag star Phoebe with chum Maddie
Fleabag star Phoebe Waller-Bridge tried her best to go incognito as she watched her pal Maddie Rice perform in the gala performance of the comedy thriller The 39 Steps this week at the Richmond Theatre in London.
While 38-year-old Waller-Bridge avoided being snapped on the red carpet, she happily posed for a picture with Rice, who was
carrying a bunch of roses, backstage at the after-party at the venue. ‘I’m just here to support Maddie,’ Phoebe tells me.
Meanwhile, despite my best efforts to get Phoebe, whose company made almost £20 million in 2021 after she contributed to the screenplay for the last James Bond film, No Time To Die, to discuss whether she’ll be directing the next 007 flick, or if she’d be up for the role of Bond herself — she remains tight-lipped.
With that performance, I’d say she’d make a great spy.
Fleabag star Phoebe Waller-Bridge tried her best to go incognito as she watched her pal Maddie Rice perform in the gala performance of The 39 Steps this week at the Richmond Theatre
Why Kelly will always be close to her stepchildren Sienna and Savannah
The Princess of Wales’s favourite interior designer Kelly Hoppen was previously married to Hollywood actress Sienna Miller’s father, American former banker and art dealer Edwin Miller.
Despite the pair divorcing in 2003, she hates being referred to as the former stepmother of Sienna and her bridalwear designer sister Savannah.
‘I’ve never understood when people say Sienna’s ex-stepmother because if you love a child and you are there for a majority of their childhood, you don’t just switch that off,’ says Hoppen.
‘Ed and I parted on good terms and Savannah calls me Mama K and Sienna calls me Celtic Wizard — we have nicknames for each other.’
She adds: ‘ You’ve got to remember I’m 64 and being stepmum to them was not normal back then – these kinds of extended families.
‘When I used to stand at the school gates, I was frowned upon like I was the other woman, and it was tough for me.’
Kelly, who has one biological daughter, food writer Natasha Corrett says: ‘If I didn’t have Sienna or Savannah, I would have felt cheated that I didn’t have another child.’
Mother love: The Princess of Wales’s favourite interior designer Kelly Hoppen hates being referred to as the former stepmother of Sienna Miller and her bridalwear designer sister Savannah
Could Princess Eugenie become the first royal to be sporting a pair of vegan trainers designed by US rap star Nicki Minaj?
I only ask as I hear the Duke of York’s daughter’s favourite ‘urban lux’ eco-friendly footwear brand — LØCI, which crafts shoes from bamboo, recycled foam and rubber — has collaborated with the rapper to release 11 pairs of new sneakers.
The British firm, which recycles 20 plastic bottles into every pair it makes, has received a hefty investment from actor Leonardo DiCaprio, which seems to have piqued Minaj’s interest.
‘Nicki always keeps her ear to the ground and noticed that the brand was being supported by established figures like Leonardo,’ an insider tells me.
She’s hopes her designs will connect with their clientele.’
Dame Maureen Lipman, 78, is dazed by the ‘amazing’ romance she’s enjoyed for the last year.
‘Neither of us expected this late love,’ she says of her beau, sports business consultant David Turner.
‘We’re very grateful,’ adds Lipman, who suffered the loss of beloved husband Jack Rosenthal in 2004, and of Guido Castro, with whom she blissfully bonded for 13 years, in 2021.
But she’s rejected one proposal from Turner — to take a gap year in his ageing Citroen.
‘I thought: ‘What a brilliant idea. Two old codgers going around the world.’ Then I thought: ‘When am I going to stop long enough to do that?’ ‘
(Very) modern manners
Billionaire businessman John Caudwell and his girlfriend Modesta Vzesniauskaite have more than enough money but the pair prefer modest hols.
Modesta tells me: ‘It’s beautiful to have a bling life but it’s just so beautiful to be a normal human and not just stuck in one gold box.’
The Lithuanian former Olympic cyclist, 40, who has two children with the tycoon, 71, says: ‘We are cycling in the Alps with the kids this summer. We’re not going in the Winnebago this time.
‘When we drove that last year, it made it so difficult trying to travel around America because we couldn’t drive into the supermarket car park because the RV was too big.’
Billionaire businessman John Caudwell and his girlfriend Modesta Vzesniauskaite have more than enough money but the pair prefer modest hols
