Table of contents for 03-2022 in Best

Gloria Hunniford is one of my best friends. Her wise words and her sometimes not-sogentle chiding have hit home more than once and no less than last week when I called her shouting: ‘You didn’t tell me, you were on The Masked Singer!’ Of course, she couldn’t tell me – or anyone – for months. It’s against the rules, but on page 66, she explains the behind-the-scenes workings and – as ever – makes a great observation. ‘We all wear a mask in life, especially when we are sad – and we say everything is OK.’ See what I mean? Bingo. ‘I’m fine’ is something many of us say when we are anything but. I’ll admit to that. And ‘my Glo’, as I call her, has passed on some wise…

They met in 2008 and the 21-year age gap meant many thought it would never last – but it has. In fact, they have now been married for three years and Mark finally reaches 40 on Monday… Time to party, as they tell Editor-in-Chief Siobhan Wykes! Mark was 26 when you met. Will you trade him in now he’s 40? It’s quite a big deal. MARK: The indignity! CAROL: I would never do that! What are your memories about the Eighties? CAROL: Freddie Laker came out with the £99 return fare to the US. I saw NYC for the first time. Channel 4 was born. Prince William was born. MARK: Wacaday – let’s give Timmy a shout-out. Come On Eileen came out the year I was born, ’82, but I loved that…

Taking my sons swimming one cold, grey February day in 2009, it felt as if the walls were caving in. I couldn’t breathe, my heart was thumping in my chest. Booking an appointment with the GP, I suggested that maybe I had the flu. ‘No, Michelle, it’s not the flu,’ she said gently. ‘You’re burnt out. You’re crashing.’ I’d been on red alert since the moment Luis was born in April 2005. The umbilical cord was wrapped twice around his neck and he was born without a heartbeat. I watched helplessly as an emergency team crowded around him, trying to revive him. I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the months that followed and realise now I also had postnatal depression and, thanks to Luis struggling with…

IN ASSOCATION WITH COPPA FEEL! TOP TIP! Add a handful of sugar or salt to make your own scrub.…

Tofu Pad Thai Pressing the tofu is worthwhile as it gives it a firmer texture, which helps for frying. Cooking time: about 10min Serves 4 · 396g block firm tofu (not silken), we used Cauldron· 1tbsp sunflower oil· 300g rice noodles· 1 red pepper, deseeded and sliced· 1 garlic clove, finely chopped· 3tbsp soy sauce· 1tbsp fish sauce· 3 spring onions, sliced· Juice 1 lime· 40g salted peanuts, roughly chopped 1 Drain and dry tofu well with kitchen paper. Sit tofu block on a baking tray lined with kitchen paper. Cover with more kitchen paper and another baking tray and sit a heavy pan on top. Leave to press for 15min. Cut tofu into 2.5cm (1in) cubes. 2 Heat half the oil in a large frying pan or wok over…

‘Another life coming to an end,’ I mused silently. But this wasn’t the funeral of someone I’d known and loved – in fact, I’d never met them before. And this was far from the first time I’d attended a stranger’s memorial. I’ve lost count of the exact number, but it must be over 150 now. Many people think it’s a strange thing to do, but, for me, I believe it’s a way of honouring those who have passed away, showing regard for their lives and experiences. I came from a large Irish-Catholic family and every Sunday, we’d all meet in the cemetery for the adults to tend the graves of loved ones while they caught up and I’d spend the time reading the gravestones and drawing pictures of them. Then,…

AND… WE’RE BACK! I’m so happy to be back on Dancing On Ice this Sunday–with new judge Oti Mabuse who will be brilliant. I can’t wait to bring you readers all the gossip here and on best’s social media, and hopefully brighten up those dreary January nights! Life becomes full-on crazy right about now – but I wouldn’t have it any other way… SALLY’S FIRST SKATE Sally and I perform our first routine this weekend, to She’s Always a Woman! Sally wanted to dedicate it to 50+ career women who have perhaps overcome illness, like she has. Prevent Breast Cancer (@prevent breastcancer), is hoping to run a fundraiser simultaneous to the launch show at a Manchester theatre, which is wonderful. PLAYING WITH FIRE Our pro skaters’ opening performance is one…

As an only child, I’ve always been very close to my parents. Sadly, Mum was diagnosed with dementia in 2019 – and then Dad last Christmas. It’s a nightmare. I live nearby and decided to move in, but it’s getting too much. I couldn’t bear to put them in a home, but I don’t know what else to do. I have no help and their siblings died years ago. I’m really struggling – it’s a new year and I feel no hope for the future. This is just not how I envisaged my life. Keely-Anne, New Forest I am so sorry for you, your parents and all your family is going through. It’s clear, though, that even with the kindest intentions you now need outside help. Contact your parents’ GP…

Worth £365! Winner of over 63 international awards, the Tony & Olivier Award-winning smash hit musical Jersey Boys has triumphantly returned to London’s West End. Playing to sell-out standing ovations at every performance, this bespoke new production of Jersey Boys brings you closer to the action in the exclusive, intimate setting of the spectacularly refurbished Trafalgar Theatre. Staged by the original Broadway creative team and featuring an all-new cast, including Ben Joyce making his West End debut as Frankie Valli, Jersey Boys tells the story of four guys from New Jersey who had a sound nobody had ever heard… and the radio just couldn’t get enough of. The show is packed with Four Seasons hits, including Beggin’, Sherry, Walk Like A Man, December 1963 (Oh, What a Night), Big Girls…

I pulled up my fishnet stockings, adjusted my corset and beamed at the women around me. ‘Ready, girls?’ I grinned. ‘Ready!’ they agreed, their faces equally excited. As the music started, I made sure everyone was in their places, then got myself ready for the curtains to open to step out into the lights. This was far from my first burlesque show but every time me and my ‘big, happy, if slightly dysfunctional, family’, as we call ourselves, got ready and performed, I still felt the same excitement – and sense of disbelief. ‘If you’d have told me 10 years ago I’d be a burlesque instructor, I’d never have believed you,’ I often say. Because back then – and until fairly recently – my life was very different. I’d worked…

CAPRICORN 22 December – 20 January Former first lady and bestselling author, Michelle Obama, creator and star of Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda and other Capricorns can find change unnerving but there’s a challenging choice ahead of them. They will look back and see this as having been a necessity that was either needed or that resonated with their soul. ARIES 21 March – 20 April A friend with romantic problems is looking for a shoulder to cry on. They’ve been through similar patterns before and this will continue unless they leave their partner, which is something you know they aren’t going to do. A group project you once enjoyed doesn’t have as much to offer as an exciting venture starting up this week. CANCER 22 June – 23 July You’re trying…

SAVE THE CINEMA Inspired by the extraordinary real-life events sparked by tenacious hairdresser Liz Evans (Samantha Morton), this heart-warming film illustrates how the resolve of a small Welsh town, inspired by the magic of cinema, was able to bring Tinseltown to their doorstep. Out Friday. ROCK DOG 2 One year after the original Rock Dog, Bodi and his band, True Blue, have become famous in the village of Snow Mountain. But when a music mogul named Lang gives them the opportunity to tour with pop sensation Li’l Foxy, Bodi and his friends learn that fame comes at a price… Out now. NAKED SINGULARITY Casi (Star Wars actor John Boyega) is a promising young New York lawyer whose idealism is beginning to crack under the daily injustices of the justice system…

1 JUST WHAT THE DOCTOR ORDERED… How adorable is the latest addition to Dr Alex George’s family?! The former Love Islander and mental health campaigner recently welcomed teddy bear pup, Fred Arthur George, into his new home with girlfriend, Ellie Hecht. Alex said, ‘We love him so much already, Freddie has even had a Face Time with his big brother, Paddington!’ The pooch has his own Insta account (with more than 17,000 followers), too – @freddietheteddypup… 2 Who wowed the crowd? Leather is mixed with soft fabrics for stylish Winter outfits. We love 50-year-old Amanda Holden’s L’Agence Fashion blouse and Karen Millen skirt… Holly Willoughby, 40, opts for a Great Plains dress over a Massimo Dutti top. While Jane Moore, 59, pairs a Next top and shirt with trousers from…

Josie Gibson is one of the nation’s most treasured TV personalities. In 2010, she was crowned queen of reality TV after winning Big Brother – and we’ve enjoyed watching her bubbly Bristolian personality on the box ever since (especially during her presenting stints on This Morning, even standing in for Holly Willoughby. Here, the 36-year-old – who says co-star Alison Hammond is her body inspiration - ‘I love the way she looks now.’ explains why her NY resolution is just to be more active and keep up with her three year old son, Reggie. Hi Josie, is this going to be your year of fitness – will you be doing an Adele?! Gosh, I hope so! I’m trying so hard to fit exercising in, but when you’ve got a toddler and you’re balancing your…

HOW IT WORKS Longer nights may tempt you under the duvet, but US-based sleep expert Dr Michael Brues says good quality sleep can help boost metabolism, fire up the fat-burning process and help with skin repair. Follow our eat, sleep, repeat plan and you could lose 7lbs! • A US study revealed that when we’re sleep-starved we’re more likely to snack on high carb, sugary foods – even getting up at night to eat! While research by the University of Chicago showed sleep deprived participants chose snacks during the day with double the fat as those who slept eight hours or more, due to the surge of the hunger-creating leptin hormone produced when we sleep less. • ‘Skin repairs while we’re resting,’ explains aesthetician Jessica Craven at DermAssure, who offer…

Irun my own small stationery company and one of my employees is so personable and fun, we have some great nights out together and he makes the entire team laugh constantly – but the work ethic is nowhere to be found! Since the pandemic, we’ve had to tighten the belt and I just can’t carry him any longer. I’ve given him so many chances to prove himself, but he never does. I feel like it’s a new year and time to clear the decks. Should I? It feels so cutthroat and if I do, I’ll lose him as a friend. Annie, Nottingham You run a small company but start to act as if it’s a multi-million pound conglomerate. If you had a big HR department you’d summon your colleague, give…

WINTER ASTHMA WOES Dr Hilary, I love this time of year – especially the crisp walks I can take through the countryside near my home. But my asthma hates it, and I have been hospitalised in the past after severe episodes, almost always in the Winter months. What can I do to try and make sure this doesn’t happen?! Dara, Belfast DR HILARY SAYS: Cold dry air and exercise can both commonly trigger asthma. Usually, the mouth and nose humidify and warm the air you breathe, but walking in the Winter chill and breathing rapidly through the mouth means this does not happen. Irritation of the airways causes inflammation in their lining and spasm in the muscles encircling them. This leads to coughing, wheezing, tightness in the chest and shortness…

1 PICK YOUR WEAPONS
 Before you start, make sure you have everything you are going to need to hand. You will need… • Strong bin bags or garden sacks • Cardboard boxes from the supermarket • Rubber gloves • A spray cleaner • A cloth • A vacuum cleaner Check the vacuum bag isn’t already full and that the filters are clean, otherwise you’re putting in a lot of hard work and not getting the benefit!

 2 KNOW YOUR LIMITATIONS In terms of both time and energy. There’s nothing worse than starting and running out of time halfway through a job or losing the will to live when surrounded by bin bags! In other words, don’t set yourself up to fail. Whether you have a big task to tackle, such as a full…

The charity shop I volunteered in was known for getting strange donations. We’d had pairs of false teeth, buckets with holes in, and once, we even got given a lady’s ashes by mistake. I found the dress in a bin bag full of musty smelling pieces of fabric, half-covered in cobwebs. ‘What’s this?’ I said, examining the beautiful material, pretty beading stitched across it. ‘It must be a costume,’ Linda, one of the volunteers said. ‘I heard the local am-dram group were getting rid of some of their old stuff.’ ‘Nah, this bag’s from that old house down by the sea,’ Cheryl told her. Cheryl was the manager. She knew everything about everything that came through our doors. ‘The old lady that lived there died recently. They must be having…

BIDDULPH GRANGE, STAFFORDSHIRE This exciting, ambitious garden created by Victorian plan-thunter James Bateman (from 1841, he spent over 20 years collecting plants from all over the world) takes visitors on a journey from an Italian terrace to an Egyptian pyramid, via a Himalayan glen and Chinese-inspired garden… BODNANT GARDEN, CONWY This Welsh, 80-acre garden is famed for its plants from around the world. You can enjoy grand Italianate terraces with rose gardens, lily pools, herbaceous beds and a dramatic dell. This year, visitors can also explore the pretty, recently added Winter Garden. STUDLEY ROYAL WATER GARDEN, YORKSHIRE This 18th-century water garden justly deserves its status as a World Heritage Site. The least-altered Georgian landscape garden in England, a crisp Winter walk around its elegant ornamental lakes, avenues, temples, cascades and…

Through all Prince Andrew’s troubles – and there have been plenty of them – his loyal ex-wife Sarah Ferguson has been his staunchest supporter. No matter what revelations or accusations swirled around the Duke, the 62-year-old has stood by her ex-husband, who she calls ‘the best man in the world’, declaring she is behind him ‘100 per cent’. But, in the wake of Ghislaine Maxwell being found guilty of five of the six trafficking charges against her – although she is seeking a retrial – the situation around Prince Andrew has worsened, and it appears that Sarah is one of the few still in his corner. As best went to press, the ruling had not yet been made on whether Andrew’s case against Virginia Giuffre – who accused him of…

Asked why he wrote After Life, Ricky Gervais said in his deadpan manner: ‘I never doubted a comedy about a suicidal man whose wife dies of cancer could be anything other than hilarious.’ Jokes aside, series three is released on Netflix this Thursday, and 85 million people (the number that watched the first two) are expected to ensure it’s another hit. ‘I never realised so many people were grieving,’ Ricky said. Yet, despite its success, he insisted this is the last series. If you managed to miss it, After Life is about a man called Tony who, having lost his wife Lisa, decides not to kill himself and instead decides to punish the world by saying exactly what he’s thinking – to everyone. ‘It’s like a superpower. Or is it?’ he…

TOP TIP! Perfect for outdoors, a soft scarf will also double up a shawl inside…

DE-PUFF TIRED EYES! Green tea is my favourite ingredient! Buy the iced-tea version and mix a batch to keep in the fridge. Soak a couple of cotton rounds and lay on your eyes. The caffeine helps to shrink the appearance of blood vessels, and the antioxidants help eliminate inflammation. Raw chilled potatoes can also be used to reduce puffiness – peel and slice before applying. The potato is a natural astringent and will lessen swelling. DETOX YOUR SCALP AND HAIR A build-up of natural oils and styling products can cause itching and flaking. Just like our faces, scalps require regular exfoliation. Try a weekly scrub by simply adding 1 tsp sugar or coarse salt to a clarifying shampoo, then massaging it into the scalp. Rinse thoroughly and the fine particles…

Slumping onto the sofa in exhaustion, I looked around the living room, full of huge piles of boxes, and, despite my tiredness, I grinned. ‘I love it,’ I thought. ‘I’m going to be very happy here. In my house.’ The removal men may just have left, but that didn’t stop it feeling like home already. Somewhere I felt comfortable and relaxed. Able to be myself. Something I hadn’t felt for a while, if I’m honest. I’d been with my ex-husband since we met in a nightclub just off Oxford Street in London back in 1991, when I was just 21 and finishing my podiatry studies. We had a fantastic life, jetting off on holidays to Thailand and Sri Lanka and working our way up the property ladder in North London.…

Twice a year, the Queen honours deserving people who have made outstanding contributions, in numerous fields, to our society. And 2022 is no different, with the New Year’s Honours list being announced at the start of the month. Both Joanna Lumley and Vanessa Redgrave were made dames for their services to drama and, for Joanna, entertainment and charity. ‘It was an extraordinary shock. I put my head in my hands and sobbed,’ the 75-year-old Absolutely Fabulous actress said of her new title. ‘Then I thought, how has this happened? Is it a mistake? I truly was thrown by it, and thrilled to bits, and so touched.’ Other names on the list included newsreader Moira Stuart, money expert Martin Lewis, Bond actor Daniel Craig and presenter Kate Garraway. And controversially former…

London-born Linda Lusardi is a showbusiness legend. A former model, she’s acted in Emmerdale, Brookside and Hollyoaks and has racked up 25 appearances in panto. Married to former Brookside star turned radio presenter Sam Kane, 53, with whom she shares children Lucy and Jack, she looks phenomenal. Now back on her feet following a frighteningly gruelling battle with coronavirus, she tells us how we, too, can look this ‘okay for 63…’ How are you, Linda, full of New Year cheer? I am feeling very good, thank you. I had a good rest after doing panto – which was gruelling as it was such hard work but brilliant fun! It was a dream come true to be able to do it, as at one point I thought I might never work again, after being so unwell with…

Gloria Hunniford has a mega-watt smile but despite her ability to move on, beneath the surface, the Northern Irish presenter admits she is constantly masking an undiminished grief… Gloria, how long have you known you were going to be on The Masked Singer? About three, maybe four months. My agent called and it took me all of 10 seconds to say ‘Yes’! I’ve always liked the programme. The costumes are amazing and it’s great family entertainment. So you didn’t tell a soul? No! I had to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). It was literally my husband, Stephen, my sons, Michael and Paul, and my driver Ray – because he had to take me to the studios – who knew. Did you have any doubts? No. I was going to be…

Once known as The Golden Torso, chiseljawed Jamie Dornan started his career as a model, graced magazine covers and dated Keira Knightley. Turning to acting, he chilled the blood as a serial killer alongside Gillian Anderson in The Fall and got millions hot under the collar as Christian Grey in the Fifty Shades movies. Married to musician Amelia Warner, with whom he shares kids Dulcie, Elva and Alberta, we caught up with Jamie – whose recent film, Belfast, is gaining a lot of Oscars buzz – to hear about new, six-part BBC One thriller The Tourist, in which he co-stars with Shalom Brune-Franklin, Danielle Macdonald and Damon Herriman, playing mysterious character ‘The Man’. Hi, Jamie! What’s The Tourist about, then? At heart, this is a cat- and mouse thriller, and one man’s darkly comic journey of self-discovery.…

SHROPSHIRE DISTILLERY GIN SCHOOL The award-winning Shropshire Distillery has launched a gin school at its base in Ellesmere. Run by owner Emma Glynn, one of the UK’s few female distillers, the three-hour Gin School Experience allows up to 10 participants at a time to create their own 70cl bottle of bespoke tipple using a mini copper still and their choice of botanicals. It also includes a welcome drink, distillery tour, samples of four G&Ts, plus a taster of you own creation. Cost: £90 a person or £120 for two, theshropshiredistillery.co.uk Stay: The Wynnstay Hotel & Spa, Oswestry, has double rooms from £115 per night including breakfast, wynnstayhotel.com BLACK MOUNTAIN BOTANICALS If you’re a gin lover, you can now make your own bottle of gin to take home with the help of…