BBC saga brought Lily to tears

LILY Allen was so devastated by the Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross saga that it brought her to tears.

“I cried all yesterday,” she told us at the Beefeater 24 launch party at Syon Park last night.

Lily, who partied with her brother Alfie and his girlfriend Jaime Winstone, said: “I didn’t think it was too offensive. It wasn’t the funniest thing in the world but it wasn’t that bad.”

And don't expect Lily to get a job on BBC Radio 2 any time soon. The star has also confessed her fondness for making prank calls.

“I make these piss-taking calls all the time,” she told theBuzz last night.

Guy Ritchie's daddy cool

Guy Ritchie splashed the cash at a nightclub last night, but it was for a sedate party with friends and family.

The film director, embroiled in a messy divorce with Madonna, threw a no-expense-spared bash for his father John’s 80th birthday at trendy Whisky Mist. Guy did a video presentation of all the adverts his father had made during his successful career in advertising.

“Guy has consumed himself with work since the news of the divorce came out,” a source tells theBuzz. “So he wanted to just spend some time with the people closest to him, old friends and family. And he really wanted to push the boat out for his father.”

Sadly, we didn’t get to see John join clubbers on the dancefloor. Guy took him home before 11pm...

McKellen and Stewart to unite on the West End stage

IAN McKellen and Patrick Stewart are to unite on the West End stage for the first time ever, in a major new production of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot.

The X-Men co-stars will play the two tramps Vladimir (Stewart) and Estragon (McKellen) in the production set to be directed by acclaimed director Sean Matthias - whose previous credits include McKellen in the National Theatre's Uncle Vanya and the stage and film versions of Bent.

Gavin and Stacey star's stage debut

GAVIN and Stacey star Mathew Horne is to make his stage debut in a revival of Joe Orton's 1964 black comedy Entertaining Mr Sloane.

Horne plays the eponymous Mr Sloane, a handsome but amoral young psychopath who charms his way into the home of two middle-aged siblings, Kath and Ed.

Imelda Staunton also stars as the emotionally desperate Kath in the Trafalgar Studios production, which will open on 22 January

Review: Antony & The Johnsons

Barbican, last night
****

UNLIKE most ‘celebrities’, Mercury winning artist Antony Hegarty shuns the limelight. This year, despite making considerable contributions to the brilliant disco album by Hercules & Love Affair he sadly chose not to tour with the band. So it was a rare treat to see his mesmerising performance with the London Symphony Orchestra.

The statuesque singer, draped like a Greek deity, looked a little awkward, waving his limbs naively to the soaring arrangements - but what the man lacked in confidence, he more than made up for with his one-of-a-kind warble.  If Shirley Bassey can crack your decanters with her voice Antony Hegarty can stop the blood in your veins with his.

Between flawless renditions of For Today I Am A Boy, Rapture and the heart rending Cripple and The Starfish he debuted tracks off his upcoming new album The Crying Light, and gave a bizarrely moving rendition of Beyonce’s Crazy in Love turned into a tortured jazz standard.

- Malcolm Mackenzie

Paris on prowl for William and Harry

Paris Hilton’s plans to party with Princes WIlliam and Harry fell apart last night.

The socialite returned to Whisky Mist nightclub on the prowl for a royal, having met the princes there earlier this month.

She heard Harry and Wills planned to pop in with chums after the Bond premiere, but they didn’t show for fear of being photographed. Undeterred, Paris tried to mingle with the royals’ pals, including Harry’s BFF, Guy Pelly.

"She was asking where the princes were," reveals our spy.

"She told her pals she wanted to see them again."

The Princes, meanwhile, raised eyebrows by skipping a chance to party with the likes of Lily Allen and Daniel Craig during a £1m after party at Battersea Power Station.

What next for Russell Brand?

RUSSELL Brand is set to rake in millions despite quitting his BBC Radio 2 show.

In the wake of his resignation, the 32-year-old comedian and actor released an apology on his personal website and said he hoped to move to Hollywood “and make lots of films”.

Brand, who was paid £200,000-a-year by the BBC for his two-hour weekly show, looks set to make upwards of £3m from a slew of film deals.

The openings follow his breakthrough performance in this year’s summer hit Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

He will next appear in Disney’s Christmas family film Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler, and has been cast as Trinculo in a new film adaptation of The Tempest.

The new Doctor Who?

AN ACTOR who has already appeared in Doctor Who is the early favourite with bookies to replace David Tennant as star of the hit TV series.

Paterson Joseph is the 3-1 frontrunner with bookmakers Paddy Power to become the 11th timelord.

The 44-year-old appeared in two episodes with previous doctor Christopher Eccleston, and is best-known to television viewers as Mark Grace in Casualty.

He also appeared alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in The Beach.

Cold Feet star James Nesbitt, who has often linked with the role, was made third favourite at 6-1 behind State of State of Play actor David Morrissey.

Also in the frame to take control of the tardis are Life on Mars star John Simms, at 8-1, and film stars Robert Carlyle at 14-1 and Jason Statham at 18-1.

Although he’s been ignored by the bookmakers, Rhys Ifans is a popular choice among the show’s fanbase.

CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES FROM THE NATIONAL TELEVISION AWARDS

Noel Gallagher baffles Daniel Craig

DANIEL Craig was baffled by Noel Gallagher’s statement that he wanted to record the next Bond theme.

Noel recently blasted the choice of Jack White and Alicia Keys to record it, and suggested that he would be up for the job. He said: It’s a piss-take the greatest British agent of all time is soundtracked by a bunch of f***ing Americans.”

But Craig said when the pair spoke about it, he was confused, adding: “I’m unsure what it was about. I couldn’t hear a word he said.”

CLICK HERE FOR PICS FROM THE BOND PREMIERE QUANTUM OF SOLACE

Peter Stringfellow set for the jungle?

LEGENDARY lothario Peter Stringfellow could be set for a stint in the Australian jungle – if presenters Ant and Dec have their way.

The pair put the table-dancing club owner at the top of their wishlist for this year’s I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!

Ant McPartlin, 32, said at the NTAs “Every year we say we want Mr T and that’s never happened! I want Peter Stringfellow in the jungle, we think he’d be great.”

Peter, 68, is better known for his talents in chatting up ­ladies than his survival tactics, but theBuzz thinks it could be interesting viewing.

We ask only that if Peter does join the show, he refrain from wearing any leopard-print thongs while on air...