AS TAMARA ECCLESTONE welcomes me through the doors of her £75million, 57-room London townhouse, I don’t think I’ve ever been anywhere so posh.
But the Formula One heiress has had things far from easy in recent years, after her home was burgled in a raid in 2019.
The thieves made off with £25million in cash and jewellery.
“I don’t wear any jewellery if I am out, not even my wedding ring,” Tamara tells me.
“I have security with me all the time. But if I am out with my girls, Fifi and Serena, I don’t really want something to happen or for them to see security intervening.”
Tamara, daughter of F1 mogul Bernie, adds: “I tell myself it’s just material things and really it doesn’t matter.
“I don’t have anything to prove. I don’t need to wear all the bling.
“I won’t be pushed out of this house. This is my happy place.
“It took me a while to settle back in. I think anyone who has experienced returning home after a burglary can relate but we have moved on as a family.
“I still haven’t told Fifi exactly what happened because she can be quite anxious, especially at the moment with her school exams.”
And as Tamara ushers me through the door, it seems just like any other hectic family home and we chat excitedly about singer Sabrina Carpenter headlining BST Hyde Park.
“Sabrina is a favourite in our house,” Tamara tells me.
“Fifi is obsessed. We can’t wait to see her in concert.”
Tamara’s daughters are everything to her, and she breaks into a smile every time we speak about them.
The pair inspired her new children’s book Fifi & Friends: The Super Car Race, which is the reason I wangled an invite.
I’ve read so many books to my kids,” Tamara says.
“I always wanted to create a book and I said yes because it’s a project I could do without being away from my girls and I could involve them.
“One of our dogs, Teddy, features in the book too, as well as one of the tame squirrels from our garden.
“I wanted the F1 connection too because only ten per cent of that industry are women.
“I wanted girls everywhere to see that a career in a man’s world is possible. I tell my girls they can do whatever they want, anything is possible.
“This book is dedicated to them and it spreads a message to be kind. They love it.”
So what is life like for a woman worth almost £300million, I ask, wondering if she does her weekly big shop at Aldi like me.
As quick as a flash, Tamara replies: “I’d shop at Aldi but tell me where there is one in central London? I’ve never seen one.”
It’s a fair point. So what about cleaning?
“I don’t scrub toilets,” Tamara says with a cheeky smile.
“But, honestly, my life is just as normal as anybody else’s. I was up all last night because one of the girls was having a nightmare.”
Tamara’s decision to be a hands-on mum has raised eyebrows at the school gates.
I’m damned if I do, damned if I don’t
Tamara Ecclestone
“One of the mums said to me the other day, ‘I just don’t understand why you feel the need to accompany them everywhere’,” Tamara tells me.
“But I want to. One of the highlights of my day is taking Fifi to and from school.”
Yet criticism is something Tamara has had to get accustomed to over the years and her decision to share her life on Instagram has made her quite a target.
“I would never delete the comments or turn them off because I’m not ashamed of what I post,” she says.
Tamara could, I venture, post a picture of herself giving a £1million cheque to charity and still get stick.
With a laugh, she agrees, and adds: “They’d say that’s a drop in the ocean or that’s not enough.
“I’m damned if I do, damned if I don’t.”
The most recent kick-off was this summer when, for Fifi’s birthday, Tamara arranged for a sloth to come to their house during a party.
Looking at the comments, you would think that she had actually maimed it.
Rolling her eyes, Tamara says: “The sloth had been rescued and is used by the company to teach children about rewilding.
“We had to turn up the heating to bring it inside, you know, all the children were very respectful.
“They learned about animals in captivity, rewilding — everything.
“And then the sloth went home to the place where it lives, which is not in the wild either because it was rescued.
“If people have an issue with me doing something educational, then I think it says a lot more about them than it does about me.”
Doesn’t it just.
SIR ELTON JOHN’s new documentary Never Too Late charts his life and times – and includes intimate segments from a diary he kept in the Seventies.
In the Disney+ special, out next Friday, Elton shares some difficult truths about his relationship with former manager and boyfriend John Reid, who he has accused of being emotionally and physically abusive.
I wasn’t surprised, then, to see John popping into the same screener as me, although he was keen to go unnoticed.
On the relationship, Elton reveals in Never Too Late: “It was an era that produced a lot of magic for me but it also was a pretty horrible time. I was afraid of John. He had violence in him.
“A few drinks too many, if you crossed him he would punch you or he’d break the glass and put it in your face.
“I can see a lot of my father’s behaviour. I was a young, first-time-in-love person.”
Never Too Late is a hard watch at times but also a celebration of his amazing music.
A must watch, but maybe not for John.
THE CORRS are going back on the road in 2025.
They proved a hit with fans following a string of live dates this year.
Now, as well as appearing at the Isle of Wight Festival in the summer, the band will play three more dates in the UK, starting with Scarborough’s Open Air Theatre on June 11.
They are in Halifax the following night, before performing at the Plymouth Summer Sessions on June 14 and heading to the Isle of Wight six days later.
Lead singer Andrea Corr said: “The reception we received from audiences on the tour was unbelievable and we can’t wait to get back on stage.
“The energy the crowd has given us is like nothing we’ve felt before. It’s such a privilege to share the music with everyone.”
BECKY HILL, Sea Girls, Enter Shikari and AJ Tracey, have been announced for Reading and Leeds Festival next year.
The August event will see Chappell Roan, Travis Scott, Bring Me The Horizon and Hozier as headline acts.
Bloc Party, Rudimental, Amyl And The Sniffers and Conan Gray are also on the bill.
MARIAH CAREY is on course for No1 this Friday with All I Want For Christmas Is You.
Early data from Official Charts reveals the self-confessed Queen of Christmas has jumped from No5 to top place, with Tom’s Amazon exclusive, It Can’t Be Christmas, rising from No23 to No2.
Wham!’s original 1984 release Last Christmas is at No3 – but only 300 chart units separate the three, meaning it is all to play for this week.
I’m a huge fan of Tom, so I would love to see him clinch the prime position
Plus, this song is an absolute tune.
KATY PERRY added extra sparkle to the starry line-up for Capital’s Jingle Bell Ball this weekend.
The singer performed at London’s O2 Arena last night, topping a packed two-day event.
Jordan North hosted it for the first time as other acts including Coldplay, Tom Grennan, Perrie Edwards, Teddy Swims and Craig David played live.
Capital DJ Jordan told me of the event: “The best thing is that loads of collaborations start there. Artists will start speaking backstage and then agree to work together. That’s the beauty of it.”
Jordan’s predecessor Roman Kemp told us he liked to party hard after the show.
But Capital’s breakfast show presenter Jordan said: “We’re on air Monday at 6am. I’d love to say we’re going out but I’ll be in bed by midnight.
“We’ve got our Christmas party next week and we’re going big for that.”
HISTORY is mixed when it comes to musical adaptations.
Even the much-hyped Spice Girls musical Viva Forever failed to get off the ground.
But I’m pleased to report Elton John’s adaptation of movie The Devil Wears Prada is nothing short of joyous.
Infectiously camp and silly, the West End play has the feelgood factor – and then some.
Vanessa Williams is an excellent fit as Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly while Georgie Buckland is a perfect fit for Anne Hathaway’s Andy.
But it’s Amy Di Bartolomeo who steals the show with her version of Emily Blunt’s character Emily.
Fans of the film will be pleased to know much of the 2006 script has been lifted for the stage adaptation, with some extra scenes added in for good measure.
Reviews have been mixed so far and if you are a theatre snob, it’s probably not for you.
But if you’ve got an open mind and want a good laugh, this is for you.
Even Elton’s long-time frenemy Sir Rod Stewart has given the show his approval.
Sadly he was forced to nip out at the interval due to his wife Penny Lancaster being ill but promised me he’s going back for a second show.
“Penny was supposed to be with me but was working and missed it,” Rod told me.
“She phoned to say she was unwell so gallantly I left the show to be by her side. I enjoyed what I saw and will return with Mrs Stewart.”
4/5
JACK HARDWICK
TODAY: The nominations for the Golden Globes will be announced in Hollywood ahead of the ceremony on January 6. Gladiator II, Wicked and Dune 2 are all expected to receive nods.
WEDNESDAY: Mufasa: The Lion King will get its premiere at London’s Leicester Square, with Beyonce and her daughter Blue Ivy expected to attend, as they voice characters in the film.
FRIDAY: Manchester City players including Jack Grealish, Phil Foden and Erling Haaland are on the guest list for a VIP opening night of Winter Funland in Manchester’s Bowlers Exhibition Centre.
SATURDAY: Kubix On Tour will celebrate Nineties and Noughties acts, bringing EAST 17, Vengaboys and more to Newcastle before shows in Aberdeen, Leeds and Hull.
