Inhoudsopgave van 46/47 - 2018 - Best

‘Getting presents ready for Christmas… doesn’t sound like a bad day job’ Eyal Booker, 23, was a successful model six months ago. Now, he’s a reality TV star, famous for his curly mop of hair, ‘deep’ chats and inability to nab a girlfriend… So, after a couple of false starts on Love Island and more recently being called ‘boring’ on E4’s Celebs Go Dating, Eyal’s done with matchmaking shows for a while. Right now, the north-London boy – with a twinkle in his eye – is happy to channel his innerelf, as he met with Dylan, six, and Jesse, four (our celeb ed Shelley Spadoni’s little people), as well as two-year-old Noah, who is our beauty ed Helen Pike’s son. We’re not sure who the cutest kid is, and for what it’s worth,…

Meghan’s mum, Doria Ragland, has reportedly been invited to spend Christmas at Sandringham, after the Queen extended a personal invitation. It’s a move that would break with tradition and protocol, but would be a mark of the affection the Queen holds for Meghan. After all, Doria, who impressed the world with her quiet dignity at the Royal Wedding, was the only member of Meghan’s family to attend the ceremony. Watch this space.…

He might be 97, but Squadron Leader Allan Scott still loves the feeling of soaring towards the clouds with the wind in his hair. Allan is one of the last surviving Spitfire ace from the Second World War. Earlier this year, to celebrate the centenary of the RAF – which he served in for 35 years – he flew one of his beloved planes again and looped the loop over Biggin Hill airfield, in Kent, as part of its celebrations. ‘It’s like riding a bike,’ says the great-grandfather. ‘You never forget how to fly a Spitfire. ‘I’m one of the lucky ones,’ Allan explains. The life expectancy for Spitfire pilots during the Battle of Britain was just four weeks. These days, remarkable Allan prefers to play down his part in…

Tony Stowell is a determined man. For the past two years, he has dedicated his life to stamping out abuse and neglect in care homes. Tony is convinced the only way to achieve this is to make CCTV monitoring compulsory in all places that offer residential care. The father-of-two from Hull is the first to say he’s had an eventful life, as an almost-pop star, a Tom Cruise lookalike and a model. Tony, 50, spent years travelling the world mingling with celebrities and sipping Champagne until he settled down in Hull with his wonderful partner, Chantal. He began his campaign to end abuse in residential care two years ago in honour of a family member. Spurred into action, he gave up his career to concentrate on raising awareness of the…

Forget Call The Midwife, it was more a case of ‘Call my teenage son’ when heavily pregnant Arriana Shell found herself in labour on her kitchen floor. It was Arriana’s third child, and experience told her this baby was coming – NOW! The mum, from Stamford, Lincolnshire, was alone in the house apart from her teenage son, Tyler, aged 13. He was getting ready for school when he heard his mum’s frantic yells for help. Instead of panicking, Tyler calmly rolled up the sleeves of his school blazer and, with Mum’s instructions, delivered his baby brother, Jacob – right there on the kitchen floor! Passing the baby to his mum, Tyler laughed when Jacob let out a loud cry. ‘He’s letting us know he’s here, Mum,’ he said. When help, in the…

Wrap star V-necks will flatter fuller chests and draw attention to your waist. Simple sparkle The combination of three-quarter length sleeves and ruching at the waist, make this the most flattering party dress of the season! Radiant rainbow You can never go wrong with sequins. Choose styles with cinched waists to highlight the smallest part of your body. Maximum impact Full-length silky maxi dresses will skim over your curves creating a smooth silhouette. TAP THE APP Snap pics of your wardrobe and upload to the Mode-Relier app to build outfits to suit you.…

THE RADIANCE RESCUE PLAN Is your skin feeling the effects of winter? ‘I’ve lost my glow’ is a problem we hear most often from our patients, especially around now with Christmas looming, when we all want to look our radiant best. Skin texture and colour changes as we age and, in some cases, a quick scrub often won’t cut it, and cheating with an illuminating powder can risk settling in wrinkles, highlighting every pore, making you look years older. Here’s how to keep the glow in the lead up to the festive season, no matter how much you burn the candle at both ends. HI-TECH COMPLEXION PERFECTION To glow, your skin needs to be smooth to reflect more light. ‘Young’ skin cells naturally turn over every 28 days but, by…

It’s a shocking case… someone confessing to murder, being arrested – and then not being believed. But that’s exactly what happened to Janet Holt. In November 2011, Janet called the police and made a shocking confession. She told detectives that in 1976 she had been raped by a farmer called Fred Handford, and fearing he would do it again, she’d shot him at point-blank range before disposing of his body in a shallow grave. Janet had first met Fred Handford at Ball Beard Farm in Buxton, Derbyshire, when she was 14 years old and stabled her horse on his land. She began helping out on the farm and later became his business partner. But in March 1976, when she was 26, Fred, then 56, vanished from the farm and was…

WIN 1 X £200, 2 X £100 OR 3 X £50 PRIZES STRAIGHT CLUES ACROSS 1 Expressing orally (6)5 Places money into an account (8)9 Malleable materials (8)10 Frightens (6)11 Torn piece of cloth (3)12 Anticipation (8)14 Brought into life (4)15 Every 24 hours (5)17 Tall building (5)18 Observed, sighted (4)19 Is built from (8)23 Item of neckwear (3)25 Chewing (6)26 Not a copy (8)27 Dimensions (8)28 Autographed (6) DOWN 2 Skilled enough (4)3 E.g., life or car cover (9)4 Departing (5)5 Medicine measures (5)6 Mails (5)7 Calibrated line of measurements (5)8 Those people, unaccompanied (10)13 Railway engine (10)16 Replying (9)20 Sets out from harbour (5)21 Sweetener (5)22 Parts of a rash (5)23 Attempts (5)24 Strong wind (4) CRYPTIC CLUES ACROSS 1 Orally reporting an adage (6)5 Puts down lees…

Merry ex-mas? More like ‘Bah, humbug!’ Finally, I’ve caved in and agreed to my teenage daughter spending Christmas Day with my ex-husband – her dad – for the first time in four years. Our girl is 17, and me and her father have been divorced for 11 years, so she’s well beyond harbouring fantasies of us getting back together – but it won’t make a day with the man any easier! He still delights in belittling me in front of her, so it’ll be all I can do not to stick a fork in his head before we’ve even got to the turkey. Any tips on how to survive the day? Mandy, London Well, if I were you, Mandy, I think I’d be considering suggesting to your daughter that she spends…

NERVE-SHREDDERS A Spark Of Light Jodi Picoult Hodder & Stoughton, £16.99 The queen of issue-based fiction turns her attention to abortion rights in this powerful, multi-layered story set in a women’s clinic in Jackson, Mississippi. As a gun man bursts into the centre, seven lives converge. READ THIS IF YOU LOVED GONE GIRL Skin Deep Liz Nugent Penguin, £7.99 We meet Cordelia as she flees the scene of a murder – from the first page we know she has killed someone – and, over the course of this suspenseful thriller, we find out why. Rich, complex and completely gripping. SPINE-TINGLERS READ IT IF YOU LOVED MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS A House Of Ghosts W C Ryan Zaffre, £12.99 In 1917, with casualties from the First World War at their…

SNOWMAN’S LAND N-ice to see you, to see you – n-ice! That’s all this list of Arctic animals know, you know… Look for the cold-loving creatures listed in the grid. All are hidden in the usual way, except one – which one? See if you’re right on page 85. ARCTIC FOXARCTIC HAREARCTIC TERNARCTIC WOLFBEARDED SEALCANADIAN LYNXGREENLAND SHARKHARP SEALMUSK OXNARWHALPOLAR BEARPUFFINREINDEERRIBBON SEALSNOW GOOSESNOWSHOE HARESNOWY OWL SUDOK-GO! Fill the grid using the numbers from 1 to 9 only. Each number must appear once in every column, row and 3x3 square. See if you’re right on page 85. FACE TIME Have a look at the motley crew below. Who are they and what connects them all? Solution on page 85. BIG QUESTION: Sticking with the theme, what well-known Carol have we disguised below?…

1 CHEEKY DAVINA! We love Davina McCall for many reasons, and her sense of humour is just one of them! Just last week, the 51-year-old posted a snap of a form she was filling in, saying, ‘Just did this. Feeling like a naughty pixie.’ She’d filled in the ‘sex’ box with ‘Yes please’, rather than ‘female’! The recently divorced star must be feeling frisky in the festive season! But we’re sure Davina won’t be short of offers for a New Year’s kiss! Santa’s little helpers have worked their magic on these three ladies’ red-carpet looks 2 Who wowed the crowd? It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, and this applies to red-carpet outfits, too! Holly Willoughby, 37, channelled her inner fairy in clouds of tulle and glitter, while Gemma Collins, also…

TOP TIP Lace on the shoulders is a subtle way to embrace this seasonal trend. TOP TIP Culottes look equally fabulous teamed with a sweatshirt and a pair of sliders. TOP TIP Invest in a pencil skirt as it will be the hardest working item in your winter wardrobe!…

Eamonn talks to… …OUR best HEROES The dictionary definition of a hero is ‘a person admired for their courage, outstanding achievements or noble qualities’. It’s a good description, but it doesn’t begin to describe the best Heroes of 2018 who I had the honour of meeting. Heroes like: Yvonne Lawson, who lost her son Godwin to a knife killing, but who now works tirelessly to help prevent the same tragedy and heartbreak afflicting another family. Benjamin Napier, who despite being diagnosed with cancer and his wife suffering a stroke, decided to be an example to his young children on why you should never give up. Second World War Spitfire pilot Allan Scott, 97, who also didn’t give up and who, against vastly superior odds, was part of a small contingent…

Yvonne’s son, Godwin, was a typical teenage boy. He was popular, loved his food, was mad about football – and always had to be reminded to tidy up his boots and socks! Although Godwin was a natural sportsman, Yvonne always made sure he worked hard at school. ‘You need your education to fall back on,’ she told her son. He was a strapping lad at 6ft 1in, always looked out for the people around him and put others before himself. People looked up to him – literally! Then in 2009, he was offered a scholarship by Oxford United football club. It meant being away from the family home in Enfield five days a week but despite missing him terribly, Yvonne felt nothing but pride. ‘It was his dream,’ she says.…

Back in June, we shared Alex’s courageous story in best. He’d contacted us after reading an interview Eamonn Holmes had given us about having hearing loss, which has been linked to dementia. Eamonn said that if that fate should ever befall him, he would chose to go to Switzerland to die with dignity. It struck a chord with Alex because, in 2015, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and it was a devastating blow. The university lecturer knew all too well how cruel the disease could be, because he had watched his beloved father, Vincent, suffer with the same illness. It had changed Vincent into an aggressive, violent and, at times, lewd man – a far cry from the father he’d once been. Alex didn’t want to leave his loved ones with…

Dr Aamer Khan first met Mark Allen, a soldier in the Royal Anglian Regiment, after his girlfriend paid for private laser treatment to help reduce the scarring that Mark, 26, suffered when he was caught in a bomb blast in Afghanistan. Mark has lost both of his legs below the knee and had shrapnel wounds to his lower face, arms and neck. Within minutes, it was clear to Dr Khan that one treatment would not be nearly enough. It would have been devastating news to the young couple without Harley Street’s Dr Khan’s assurance that he would personally make sure Mark got all the treatment he needed for free. As the pair got to know each other, the doctor realised that Headley Court – the Ministry of Defence military rehabilitation…

HOW IT WORKS 1 Follow the menu to the right. You can start on any day you choose, swap days around if there’s a meal you really fancy or repeat days if there’s something you particularly enjoy! 2 Foods printed in bold are ‘Free Food’. Base meals around Free Food, like veg, pasta, lean meat, fish, rice, potatoes, fat-free dairy, eggs and more, and if you feel hungry between meals, snack on these foods, including fresh fruit, too. 3 As well as Free Food, stock your store cupboard with fat-free salad dressings, herbs, passata, oil-free tomato purée, soy sauce, spices and stock, which can be used freely to add delicious flavour to meals. 4 To make sure that you’re enjoying a fully balanced diet, Slimming World encourages you to enjoy…

It’s meant to be a place where dreams comes true, but as I stood next to Mickey Mouse in Disneyland, I felt like I was in a living nightmare. ‘Get a bit nearer,’ my friend urged, gesturing me closer. Suppressing a sigh, I forced a smile and pressed myself up against the cuddly character. As a huge Disney fan on my third trip to the Paris theme park, a snap with the main man should have been my idea of heaven. But I felt nothing but dread. Examining the photo, it was as bad as I’d feared. Although Mickey was in an oversized costume, my size 26, 5ft 5in frame dwarfed him. Growing up, I had always been a slim child. My mum made healthy, home-cooked meals and I enjoyed…

BACTERIA FOR GOOD What springs to mind when you think of fermented foods? You’ve probably been eating them your whole life without even realising it. Many of our everyday staples – wine, tea, feta and cream cheese, sourdough bread and chocolate – are made using fermentation processes. The more we learn about the importance of a healthy gut and how we need friendly bacteria, the more important fermented foods become. They are natural probiotics in food form but better, because they provide a much wider range of friendly bacteria than a typical probiotic. The most obvious is sauerkraut – finely chopped cabbage, fermented so it has a sour flavour. I love it with mashed potatoes. Then there’s miso, which is Japanese fermented soya. Traditionally prepared miso contains friendly bacteria as…

Black Forest Slice A riff on a Black Forest gâteau, this is an everyday version of the classic celebration cake. Serves 16 175g plain flour25g cocoa powder1tsp espresso powder1tsp baking powder175g unsalted butter200g light brown, soft sugar1tsp vanilla extract3 large eggs200g cherries, pitted and quartered1 quantity of crème Chantilly25g 70% dark chocolate16 cherries in kirsch, drained TO MAKE THE CRÈME CHANTILLY Whipped, sweetened cream flavoured with vanilla. Crème Chantilly is for spooning and piping. Chill the bowl and whisk, as well as the cream, before you begin, for maximum volume. Makes about 400g 300ml double cream50g icing sugar1tsp vanilla bean paste YOU WILL NEED • A chilled mixing bowl• A chilled balloon whisk 1 Pour the cream into the bowl and add the icing sugar and vanilla bean paste. 2…

This year, glitter is back in the beauty aisles, and in a big way with sales up a huge 683 per cent year-on-year in Superdrug. We’re not talking about dousing yourself in the stuff from top-to-toe, of course. Much like highlighters for your skin, subtly applied glitter can enhance and flatter. If you can’t play around with some shimmer and sparkle at Christmas, when can you? 1 Hair raising There’s a fine line between adding a festive gloss to your ’do and looking like you’ve got sparkly dandruff. For this reason, less is more. Toni & Guy Illuminating Hair Perfume, £7.99, features a subtle shimmer that coats your locks as you spray. As the name suggests, it does a brilliant job of instantly reviving your hair when it’s feeling less…

Andrea, congratulations – you have a UK No.1 album! Life never ceases to amaze! I’d never have imagined this, even in a country that welcomed me from the beginning. Yet what really counts is the affection of an audience – the handshakes, smiles, applause. And having my little, great Matteo by my side – what an indescribable experience. Fall On Me, your duet with Matteo, is stunning… It’s just a very honest song about our relationship – the relationship between all fathers and sons. We only discovered Matteo had this beautiful voice a couple of years ago, so this collaboration has been a wonderful surprise. It’s very emotional – family means everything to me. This album is about family, faith and love. You collaborate with Dua Lipa on Si, among…

Liane Moriarty, 51, was born in Sydney, the eldest of six children. She is married to Adam and they have two children, Anna, 10, and George, eight. Liane hit the big time when her novel Big Little Lies was made into a mini series starring Nicole Kidman, who has already bought the film rights to Liane’s latest book, Nine Perfect Strangers. Nine Perfect Strangers is fantastic – did you have fun writing it? I really did! I felt the weight of expectation following Big Little Lies, but a lot of people didn’t like the follow-up, Truly Madly Guilty, that much. And I realised, ‘Well, that’s not the end of the world.’ So I came to this with a sense of freedom – feeling a bit, ‘What the hell!’ Frances, the heroine,…

They say Christmas is all about the children – and as a mum of three, Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, will have even more to celebrate, as well as having her hands full with her adorable brood. Prince Louis, who was born in April, will be relatively oblivious to his first Christmas, but for his older siblings, George, five, and Charlotte, three, the levels of excitement will be high. No doubt they will be looking out for Santa’s sleigh in the Norfolk skies above the Sandringham Estate. The Queen and Prince Philip will welcome the extended family to celebrate the festive season, as they have done for so many years. According to veteran royal reporter Phil Dampier, Christmas will be ‘extra special’ for Kate this year. ‘She will doubtless love…

DORIA AT SANDRINGHAM I couldn’t imagine Christmas away from my mum. She is my connection with Christmases past and those yet to come. So I really hope it’s true the Queen has invited Doria to join daughter Meghan at Sandringham this year. What a perfect present. HOLLY IN THE JUNGLE I know Holly is worried about her I’m A Celeb… adventure. All I can say is, those of us who know her reckon the jungle is about to crown a new queen. CHILDREN IN NEED It’s Children In Need time again. I hope, like me, you have happy memories of being involved through the years – in my case, since rattling buckets in Plymouth in 1980. Hope you have a rattling good time, too.…

Benjamin Napier’s family have suffered three bitter blows in the past few years. The kind of life-changing tragedy and challenges that would knock most people off their feet. You might survive one, but all three would have most of us asking, ‘What’s the point?’ But this devoted father and husband’s resilience, strength and drive has guided his family and held them together. And, as if that wasn’t enough, Benjamin, 41, from Dunbar, East Lothian, has now dedicated himself to fundraising, as he longs to give back to the people who supported him and wife Sarah in their darkest hour. In 2007, Benjamin and Sarah’s daughter, Chloe, who was aged just one, passed away after a short battle with leukaemia. Soon after losing his youngest daughter, grieving Benjamin discovered that he…

A decade ago, in January 2008, Jonny Benjamin found himself standing on Waterloo bridge, contemplating jumping off – until personal trainer Neil Laybourn intervened. By the time Neil had talked Jonny down, the police had arrived and Neil went on his way to work. It took Jonny, who suffers from schizoaffective disorder, six years to track down the Good Samaritan who had saved his life. But out of that chance encounter sparked a friendship that has been life-changing for both of them. The two men now campaign to raise much-needed awareness of the fact that male suicide is the biggest cause of death for men under 45 in the UK. Jonny, 31, and Neil want us to all feel comfortable talking about mental health in order to dispel the taboo.…

Sergeant Stu Parker says medicine might have saved his life, but it’s the Not Forgotten Association (NFA) that helped him to start living again. The sergeant almost died after being wounded in action, and now helps others who’ve had similar experiences. Stu was just 16 when he joined the Royal Anglian Regiment in 1994. He served in Bosnia, Northern Ireland, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan. But it was on 23 August 2007 that he nearly lost his life. Serving in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, he was caught in a massive explosion, when a 500lb bomb blew up. Three of his comrades were killed outright. Another, like Stu, was severely wounded. Stu’s near-fatal injuries included losing his spleen, part of his left lung, and breaking several ribs and his right leg. He lost…

LEAVE ANN ALONE! Some nasty people kicked off online about Ann Widdecombe returning for the Strictly Christmas Special. But she’s fabulous! There’s a reason why she got to week 11 with Anton Du Beke. She’ll be great – she’s hilarious. I’m also looking forward to seeing Aston [Merrygold] dance again. GLAMMED UP A lovely lady called Summer gets me camera-ready. She’s gorgeous. I know that downstairs on Level 1 she’s preparing all the pros and celebs and it’s total mayhem. But when she’s working with me after she’s finished with that lot, it’s all very zen. For me, it’s like going to a day spa for a bit! She gives me a facial massage, then minimal foundation (not like Bruno, who likes a lot). I look forward to it every…

Continue your weight-loss journey by joining your nearest Slimming World group! Research shows that by joining a group you’re more likely to be successful in the long term than if you go it alone. As well as finding out all about Slimming World’s Food Optimising eating plan, you’ll meet other slimmers and be able to share support and motivation and gain practical advice and strategies for overcoming challenges and barriers that could hold your weight loss back. With this offer from best, join your nearest Slimming World group before or on Monday 3 December 2018 (or Tuesday 4 December 2018 in the Republic of Ireland) and enrol for FREE, saving £10/€18 so you pay only £4.95/€9 in your first week. (Standard first week fee is £14.95/€27 or £10/€18 to enrol…

CRAIG REVEL HORWOOD Swapping Strictly for the stage, our fab columnist Craig Revel Horwood will be playing Cinderella’s Wicked Stepmother at the New Victoria Theatre, Woking. From 7 December – 6 January. atgtickets.com/shows/cinderella/new-victoria-theatre LINDA LUSARDI See former glamour model Linda Lusardi as the Evil Queen in Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, alongside her daughter Lucy Kane as Snow White, at Western-super-Mare’s Playhouse. From 13 December – 5 January. parkwoodtheatres.co.uk KRISTINA RIHANOFF Former Strictly pro dancer Kristina Rihanoff will be sprinkling some pixie dust to transform herself into Peter Pan’s Tinker Bell this Christmas at St Helens Theatre Royal, Liverpool. From 8 December – 13 January. sthelenstheatreroyal.com MICHELLE COLLINS Former EastEnders star and household name Michelle Collins is this year’s festive Fairy in Jack And The Beanstalk! Head to White…

….winning an Emmy for playing shooter Andrew Cunanan in drama series The Assassination Of Gianni Versace… Things didn’t get any more crazy for me after winning the Emmy! The ceremony was a break from the craziness of my life. I got to wear a tux and attend a cocktail party – a fun experience that didn’t require me to do any work. It makes me laugh that people think it’s stressful. … working with Lea Michele (Glee’s Rachel) We’re very close, but very different. For Lea, everything must be prepared and premeditated and she’ll think about performing all day. I’m very spontaneous and I don’t get nervous, so we learn a lot from each other. Offstage, we have a brother/sister relationship. … having fun on tour I’m the worst-behaved –…

Pop’s favourite cheeky chappy reveals how becoming a judge on The Voice gave him back his confidence – and why he’s still looking for love. The video for your new single, Moves, features actor Rowan Atkinson – was that fun to make? It was wicked. We went to the US to film, which added to the fun, and it was great that Rowan agreed to do it with us. I think he is just hilarious, and we had a great laugh making it. Ed Sheeran wrote the new single. How did that come about? We’ve been mates for a few years. He sent me the song because he thought it would suit me. To be honest, I would have loved the song if it was written by Joe Bloggs – but the fact…