Declan Donnelly's ex-girlfriend Georgie Thompson arrested for drink driving

Sky Sports host Georgie Thompson has been arrested for allegedly drink driving.

The 33-year-old was stopped by police in her black Porsche on Sunday afternoon in Chelsea, West London.

Thompson, ex-girlfriend of Declan Donnelly, was found to be over the legal drink drive limit and is due to appear in court next month charged with drink driving.

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The TV presenter's arrest comes four months after she split from Donnelly following a two year relationship.

Speaking about the break-up back in June Georgie said: "It's been painful. At the moment, the party line is that we’re really good friends and really support each other.

"But it’s been tough, it’s really tough. It’s a really hard thing to live out a painful break-up when you’re in the public eye. It hurts but we have to be grown-up."

Georgie's agent James Williamson said: "We can confirm she was pulled over for being over the limit at the weekend."

 

George Michael announced his split from his long-term partner Kenny Goss

George Michael announced his split from his long-term partner Kenny Goss at the first show of his 195-date Symphonica concert series, his first tour since 2008. Midway through the set, Michael revealed to his audience at the Prague State Opera that he and Goss broke up nearly three years ago, mainly as a result of his former partner's alcoholism.

"My battles with substances are well documented and my partner went through similar problems with drink," he said while introducing a new number titled "Where I Hope You Are," which he says is the first break-up song he has ever written.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have reportedly rented out a 16th century Scottish estate for their family.

The couple - who have kids, Maddox, 10, Pax, seven, Zahara, six, Shiloh, five, and three-year-old twins Vivienne and Knox - are believed to have taken up residence in historic Carnell Estate in Ayrshire, Scotland, while the actor films his latest movie 'World War Z' in Glasgow.

The brunette beauty has been spotted playing with her children in the 10-acre grounds of the stately home, which sleeps up to 18 guests.

Top Gear fakery row: Clarkson's 200mph Lamborghini stunt 'was really carried out by racing driver

His outspoken comments and motoring expertise have helped make him one of the BBC’s highest-paid stars.

But it has now been claimed that many of the scenes filmed by Top Gear star Jeremy Clarkson are actually performed by professional drivers.

Sources say a large proportion of the stunts on the BBC2 series which appear to show Clarkson careering around the show’s racetrack at high speed are actually executed by professional racing drivers hired by the BBC.


Fakery: A large proportion of the stunts which appear to show Clarkson careering around the show's racetrack at high speed are actually executed by professional racing drivers

These are then edited alongside footage of the star inside the car, leaving viewers with the impression that he has been behind the wheel throughout.

One source says that a memorable clip from April 2008 which appeared to show Clarkson test-driving a Lamborghini at over 200mph is actually the work of Formula 3 driver Aaron Scott.

 
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Top Gear is one of the BBC’s most successful formats and has been sold around the world with spin-off series in Australia, America and Russia.

Clarkson pockets a reported £1million-a-year salary, which was topped up last year by £830,000 earned from merchandising and overseas sales of the Top Gear brand – to which the  51-year-old owns the rights along with executive producer Andy Wilman.


Wrong impression: A clip from 2008 appeared to show Clarkson test-driving a Lamborghini at over 200mph is actually the work of Formula 3 driver Aaron Scott


Tricked: The April 2008 clip shows Clarkson test driving a £178,000 Lamborghini Murcielago and apparently pushing it to reach a top speed of 207mph in heavy rain

But a well-placed figure, who worked on the series for more than five years, said professional racers were in the driving seat ‘most of the time’ on complicated filming sequences when viewers believed they were watching Clarkson.

He said: ‘Certainly most of the time professional drivers are doing the clever stuff on the track. These takes are cut in to the presenters’ in-car pieces when the programme goes out to make it look like Clarkson has been driving all the way through. Pros make it all look more exciting. That’s what I did and that’s what others currently do.’


A source estimated that 80 per cent of the driving on the show is done by pros such as Aaron Scott, although it is made to look as if it's done by Jeremy

Two independent sources, both with close links to Top Gear, told The Mail on Sunday professional drivers were used to make the programme more dramatic and because the presenters weren’t able to perform the tricks themselves.

Asked if Clarkson could do the work himself, one source said: ‘Well, he’s not a pro, is he? There are limitations with filming. It’s all done on a pretty tight time schedule and they need to get the right shots quickly, which is why they use pros because they can do the stunts in one take.’

A second source said: ‘Top Gear rely on professional racing drivers a lot more than the show would suggest. I would say 80 per cent of the driving on the show is done by pros but it is made to look as if it’s done by Jeremy. When you see the wheels on a car spinning and smoke coming out, that will more than likely be a professional driver.

‘It’s been going on for years. The fact is the presenters on Top Gear are presenters. They are not professional drivers, so why would you get them to do a job that an expert can do better, faster and in one take?’

The April 2008 clip shows Clarkson test driving a £178,000 Lamborghini Murcielago and apparently pushing it to reach a top speed of 207mph in heavy rain.

According to a source, it was Aaron Scott, a Formula 3 driver and motor racing coach, who reached the top speed in the car. The source said: ‘That was Aaron getting to 207mph in the wet, not Jeremy.’


Clarkson pockets a reported £1million-a-year salary, which is topped up with merchandising and overseas sales of the Top Gear brand

Close-ups filmed in the Lamborghini show Clarkson speaking to camera as he builds up speed along the Top Gear racetrack during the Power Lap section of the show – which sees him take a different supercar out for a test drive each week.

The carefully edited film then shows a close-up of the speedometer needle creeping over 200mph. It then cuts back to a shot of Clarkson driving – with no sign of a camera to film the speedometer and no view of the speed dial.

Aaron Scott declined to comment when asked whether he was driving the Lamborghini in 2008. He said: ‘I can’t help you with that, I’m afraid.’

On Friday The Mail on Sunday contacted the BBC to ask if Top Gear used professional drivers for the Power Lap.

The show’s spokeswoman Tara Davies said: ‘Yes, professional drivers are used on the show.

‘On the Power Laps, production have the car for a day, and during that time Jeremy has to go off to do scripting, so rather than him driving for a bit and then everyone having some down time and the car just sitting there while he goes off and writes, and because it is a very expensive show to make, other people may do the driving.


Richard Hammond, Jeremy Clarkson and James May: Professional drivers were used to make the programme more dramatic and because the presenters weren't able to perform the tricks themselves


A cut above: Top Gear is one of the BBC's most successful formats and has been sold around the world with spin-off series in Australia, America and Russia

'Having said that, a lot of the shots are Jeremy. That’s not to say that every time it’s an external shot it’s not Jeremy, because more often than not, it is.’

She added: ‘If you see Jeremy, Richard [Hammond] or James [May] driving a car around a track it is them driving but the crew may need to go back and get “pick-up” shots, which may use another driver.’

Yesterday Miss Davies released two further statements at 1pm and 3pm clarifying their position.

The first statement, which the BBC demanded be printed in full, said: ‘When Jeremy, James and Richard are seen driving on the show, it is them driving, but on occasion, the crew may need to go back and get pick-up shots.

‘As Jeremy wrote in his column in The Sunday Times in October 2007, “On Top Gear I whiz about for the camera until I have a feel for the car. Then I disappear into a hut for an hour or so to corral my thoughts into a workable script. And how do we occupy the expensive film crew while I’m doing that? Stand them down? Or put a researcher in the car and have him slither about until I’m ready to come back?” ’

A BBC statement issued two hours later at 3pm said: ‘To be clear, Jeremy performs all of the challenges you see him perform on Top Gear. During power tests, the speed at which Jeremy is seen driving is the speed at which he drove the car, so to suggest otherwise is untrue.’

Miss Davies added: ‘Jeremy would have driven the car and got it to 207mph. Then, when they wanted a camera shot of the speedometer going up to 207mph they would have got a different driver to do that.
‘For just the shot of the speedometer, it may have been another driver but Jeremy absolutely would have driven the car at 207mph.’

 

Homeless men squatting in Ann Curry's $2.9m New York house

$2.9m New York house belonging to Ann Curry has been taken over by squatters.

The Today Show host has been renovating the Upper West Side townhouse since she bought it eight years ago.

But it has been lived in by at least one homeless man for the past year after building work stopped because of a fight with neighbours.

Squatter: Police evict a homeless man who was sleeping inside a $2.9m house being renovated by Anny Curry

Trouble: Today Show host Ann Curry has faced problems with the house since she bought it to renovate in 2003

The 54-year-old journalist bought the house on West 71st Street with her husband, Brian Ross, in 2003 and began the renovation works.

But all major construction stopped five years ago after a string of alleged Buildings Department violations and a lawsuit, in which four neighbours sued Curry for $900,000.

The homeless man was removed from the property yesterday at around 9am.

He said he had spent most of last winter in the 3,700-square-foot home, but did not know who the television host was.

'I've been living there for about a year now,' he told the New York Post. 

'I'm not a drug addict, I just don't have a place to sleep.'

'Ann Curry means c**p to me' he added. 'The reason I lived there was because they chased me out of Central Park.'

The man said he first got into the property after contractors failed to lock up.

Evicted: The homeless man said he had been sleeping in the house on and off for a year but did not know who Ann Curry was

 

Renovation: The four-storey house has been a source of problems for the television host. Four neighbours sued her for $900,000 because of building work

Neighbours said he is the second homeless man to be found living in the brownstone in a year.

Four neighbours sued Curry in 2007 after they claimed dangerous and illegal work on the property was creating a safety hazard.

 

 

The mother of jailed student protestor Charlie Gilmour has claimed on Twitter that her son is locked up for all but one hour a day.

According to Polly Samson, the wife of Pink Floyd guitarist Dave Gilmour, her son spends most of the day stuck in his cell, and has even been offered lessons on how to become a pickpocket by a fellow inmate.

Student protestor Charlie Gilmour is locked up 23 hours a day as he serves his prison sentence, his mother claims. (PA)
She wrote on the micro-blogging site: 'Letter from son still locked in 23 hours a day. Pickpocket has offered tutelage but shortage of pockets on prison uniforms.'
Ms Samson went on to say that her son regularly writes letters from prison, which is helping the family cope.
'I think letters are what keeps him sane. His are amazing and reassuring because he's maintaining his sense of humour.'
She also went on to criticise the sentence given to her son, describing it as a 'disgrace', and a waste of taxpayers' money.
The Cambridge University student was given a 16-month jail sentence after admitting violent disorder during last year's student fees protest in London.
His mother said she believed students were paying a 'very heavy' price under a 'catch all' charge of violent disorder, while those who come dressed for trouble in balaclavas get away 'scot free'.
Gilmour had been studying history at Cambridge after trying his hand at modelling and journalism. The university has not confirmed whether he will be allowed to continue his studies after serving his sentence.

 

Leon frontman breaks silence on gig

Kings Of Leon frontman Caleb Followill has spoken out about leaving the stage mid-show during a gig.
The band's US tour was cancelled after the singer walked off during a concert last week in Dallas, Texas, blaming "excessive" and "unbearable" heat.

When asked the reason for his stage exit, Caleb told celebrity website TMZ: "It's my voice."

He added: "I'm just trying to get better."

The singer also joked about how he planned to heal his voice. "Try not to do interviews," he quipped.

Caleb's exit led to pledges by his band-mate brothers, drummer Nathan and bassist Jared, and cousin guitarist Matthew Followill, to replay the show. But Jared also acknowledged on Twitter the band had "internal sicknesses and problems" that go beyond dehydration.

A statement says the band are "devastated, but in order to give their fans the shows they deserve, they need to take this break". They will return to the road in Vancouver, British Columbia, on September 28. The cancelled shows will not be rescheduled.

The group had to postpone some dates earlier this year when Nathan injured an arm while exercising and the band walked off stage in St Louis last year because of pigeon droppings falling from the rafters.

Caleb told the crowd repeatedly last Friday he was too hot and his voice was suffering. At one point he said he was ill and would be back after taking a few minutes to recover, but he never returned.

Jared tweeted on Monday: "Don't jump to conclusions guys, we're not breaking up.

Top Gear presenters Jeremy Clarkson and James May have continued the show's tradition of courting controversy - this time by parking in disabled bays.

Despite George Michael branding Clarkson a 'pig-ugly homophobe' after the presenter made jokes at his expense on the show, the current series of the show has been relatively furore-free. 

Last year’s series had been one of the most controversial yet, with comedian Steve Coogan labelling the Top Gear presenters ‘casual racists’ after they described Mexicans as ‘lazy, feckless and flatulent.’

It did appear the series was about to draw to a close last Sunday without any major scandal, but a segment on electric cars has sparked outrage among disability campaigners. 

Presenters May and Clarkson both parked up in disabled spaces to look at their cars during their segment, a decision which showed ‘a total lack of compassion’ in the eyes of one campaigner. 

Top Gear have defended the segment after complaints from disability campaigners (Pic: BBC)

Disabled Motoring UK’s Jim Rawlings told the Daily Mail: ‘The abuse of non-disabled people parking in disabled bays is rife, and with people like Jeremy Clarkson and James May doing this other motorists will just think they can just park wherever they like. 

‘People who are patently not disabled, like Clarkson and May, obviously didn't have a passing care that a disabled person might have needed those spaces. 

‘I'm sure Jeremy Clarkson especially would not feel contrite about parking in a disabled bay - it shows a lack of feeling and care and a total lack of compassion.’ 

Peter Lyne of the Disabled Motorists Foundation agreed, adding: ‘It's an immense problem and is an extremely frustrating issue which is not helped by the likes of Jeremy Clarkson and James May.’ 

A Top Gear spokesman was quick to stress that the show ‘does not condone the misuse of disabled parking bays,’ explaining that they had obtained special permission to film in the spaces from the car park’s owner. 

They added: ‘There were other disabled spaces available, and of course had anyone needed to park in one of the spaces occupied by Top Gear, we would have moved immediately.’