I FELT for Maura Higgins earlier this month when designer Scott Henshall kept her waiting hours as she prepared for the British Fashion Awards – and she was then left with a dress she hated and no shoes or bag to boot.
But it’s now come to light that the former Love Island star has demanded £12,000 from Scott for what she says is a “loss of earnings” after she eventually pulled out of the glitzy bash in London’s Royal Albert Hall.
Now, correct me if I’m wrong, Maura, but what could you possibly be owed money for?
You would not have been paid to stand in your frock on the red carpet alongside huge stars including Naomi Campbell, Florence Pugh and Lily James.
Nor would you have been asked to fork out for your ticket to the bash or to pay for travel to and from your hotel?
Did you have to turn down a £12,000 paid gig to attend the awards?
Or am I missing the moment where you somehow believe you lost out on £12,000?
Insiders close to Scott say they were stunned at Maura’s request and have yet to work out what to do.
And I cannot help but get behind them.
As the nation struggles to heat their homes and put food on the table, you have to roll your eyes at the ridiculousness of the whole saga.
Woman gets invited to a party for free.
Woman chooses not to go because she hates her free outfit.
Woman now wants £12,000 for the inconvenience of it all.
As part of the bill slapped on Scott’s desk, Maura is said to have asked for £675.60 to pay her hairdresser.
I mean, I suppose that could be seen as generous as she has saved Scott 40p by not rounding it up to a square £676.
I know it’s meant to be the season of goodwill to all, but this makes me despair.
A good New Year’s resolution for them all would be to learn to read the room.
THE drinks are on Idris Elba this Christmas, as his bumper earnings have been revealed.
New financial documents filed by the actor show that his company IE7 made a whopping £5.8million in 2021 – treble his earnings for the previous year.
He funnels his pay from acting and music jobs through the firm and has now accumulated profits of £11.2million.
During 2021 he had starring roles in The Suicide Squad and The Harder They Fall, which are guaranteed to have given him very healthy payouts.
The bumper sum is huge in comparison to the relatively modest £1.9million he made in 2020, when much of the world was still in lockdown.
I imagine things will only rise for Idris in his next set of accounts because he has starred in four movies this year including Sonic The Hedgehog 2, as well as the TV series Zootopia+.
In 2023, his long-awaited Luther film is due to come out, which will conclude the investigations of his character DCI John Luther after five series of the hit BBC thriller.
He also has his own wine brand and flourishing music career, so the sky’s the limit for the talented Londoner.
EVERY year, Tom Cruise dishes out his famous chocolate coconut bundt cake to his showbiz mates.
But James Corden has revealed the Mission Impossible star never tries the pudding himself – despite the fact he buys hundreds of them as gifts from Doan’s Bakery in California.
Speaking on Heart FM Breakfast yesterday, James confirmed he had received his bun this year, adding: “It’s unbelievable.
“I would say almost everybody he meets who works on The Late Late Show gets one of these cakes.
“It’s like our head writers, Ian and Lauren, you know, different people that he’s met – he’s just so gracious and generous. But here’s the most amazing thing. He’s never tried it.”
James added: “I said to him once, ‘This cake is the most extraordinary cake I’ve ever eaten in my life’, and he went, ‘That’s what everybody says’.”
GEMMA COLLINS has hired a private chef to cook her Christmas dinner – despite insisting she would have a low-key celebration.
The reality star said: “This year it’s about going back to old- fashioned values . . .
“But we do have a chef coming. Just got to be honest about it. Let’s not forget, I still am The GC.”
But multi-millionaire Gemma saved some cash by sending her brother Russell the bill.
LEIGH-ANNE PINNOCK isn’t ready to launch her solo career just yet, but has promised fans will finally get new tunes from her in 2023.
The Little Mix star said: “I’ve been working really hard on music that’s coming together slowly but surely.
“I’m so happy with what we’ve made so far but I know there’s much more to do.
“I’ve been so lucky to work with some incredible songwriters, producers and creatives so far and I can’t wait for you to hear what we’ve made.”
Speaking about 2023 in her newsletter to fans, she added: “I’ve got some exciting projects I can’t wait to share with you all, and of course I’ll be giving you as much music as I can as soon as it’s ready.”
SHE may have been getting into the party spirit but Becky Hill looked like she was channelling the Grinch in this fluorescent green outfit.
The singer, who won her first Brit Award and got engaged this year, posed backstage at the Royal Variety Performance this week, where she sang her David Guetta collaboration Crazy What Love Can Do for the Earl and Countess of Wessex.
PAUL MESCAL became the nation’s sweetheart when he appeared as Connell Waldron in racy drama Normal People in 2020 – and he was soon dating edgy US singer Phoebe Bridgers.
But his own love life appears to be as much of a rollercoaster as his character’s, as it seems the pair have split.
Rumours in the US, where they had been spending most of their time, suggest Phoebe is now romancing comedian Bo Burnham.
The singer, who is a close friend of Taylor Swift, was spotted on a date in New York with comic Bo on Monday night.
They have also been seen together on other occasions in Los Angeles, including at a concert by The 1975, where onlookers claimed they were cuddling up.
Paul and Phoebe are believed to have got engaged earlier this year, and only weeks ago she told Vogue how spending last Christmas in Ireland with him felt like “a full rom-com”.
Before they got together in 2020, Paul was spotted looking for love on exclusive dating app Raya.
Jump back on there and you’ll have no problem finding a suitor, Paul.
DIRECTOR James Cameron is in talks to reboot The Terminator, 38 years after the original.
The filmmaker, who has just released Avatar: The Way Of Water, was behind the first two movies in the hit franchise starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, and will focus on artificial intelligence if it does return.
On the SmartLess podcast, he said: “I’m certainly pretty concerned about the potential for misuse of AI. AI can be great. I also think it could be the end of the world.
“The Avatar films are about the environment. I’m not dealing with AI. If I were to do another Terminator film, I’d make it more about the AI side of it than bad robots gone crazy.”
MARIAH CAREY was grinning from ear to ear while performing a festive concert wearing this sexy Nutcracker outfit in New York.
It is fair to say she has plenty of reasons to smile, after it was revealed how much she rakes in from her hit single All I Want For Christmas Is You.
Last year alone, she earned £1.3million in royalties from the festive favourite.
But it still might not be popular enough in the UK, as it looks like it will fall short of being crowned Christmas No1 on Friday.
The latest stats tonight showed LadBaby’s Food Aid was in the lead with sales of 46,709, while Wham! trailed at No2 with 34,689 copies shifted.
Mariah is hot on their heels though and had sales of 33,092.
With all that dosh rolling in, I can’t imagine the race to No1 will be keeping her up at night.
