RICHARD EDEN: Call The Midwife star Helen George reveals death of secret boyfriend: ‘I cried over this lovely, beautiful man’

Call the Midwife star Helen George was involved in some harrowing scenes.

In real life, the actor experienced a much more traumatic tragedy that he has kept secret until now. Helen, 42, revealed her boyfriend died of blood cancer shortly after they became a couple.

The ordeal was made worse as he had to leave the country to film ITV’s Shark! Waters Invaded by Celebrities, which was published last year.

‘I was dating someone who was suddenly diagnosed with leukemia,’ she says. ‘He was quite serious from the beginning and he knew it.

‘The day after this incident I had to fly to the Bahamas to film the ITV shark documentary. ‘I’d call my best friend and cry on the phone about this lovely, beautiful man.’

Helen says spirituality and her crystals helped her cope with the tragedy. This convinced him that the dead continue to watch over the living.

She said of her boyfriend, ‘He is now successful in my clairvoyant readings; “He cares about me,” he says. ‘I would like to be a clairvoyant. ‘I’d like to talk to dead people.’

‘I went to this clairvoyant ant last week and she said, ‘This is your ex-boyfriend and he died suddenly after you started dating him,’ she says on the Mystic Mates podcast. ‘He came into the room because he wasn’t very happy with your situation.’

‘I cried because it was amazing to think that this person I hadn’t known for so long was there.

‘He was angry that he left me to look for someone else and then find someone else who wasn’t a good fit.’

The comments come after Helen’s whirlwind romance with businessman Dan Innes ended earlier this month. Innes, 52, had moved into the London home he shares with his two daughters.

Helen was previously in a relationship with Call the Midwife co-star Jack Ashton for seven years.

Archer’s academic alto

He has given up his seat in the House of Lords and insists he has written his last book.

But if Jeffrey Archer, 86, is making it a little easier, his fragrant wife Dame Mary, 81, is still enduring the most daunting of public hearings – as evidenced by the couple’s Diamond Wedding anniversary bash held at their Cambridgeshire retreat, The Old Vicarage, Grantchester, last weekend.

‘Mary was the one who stood out,’ says one of 200 guests, including former cabinet secretary Lord Butler, former Prime Minister Sir John Major and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who prayed.

‘Mary sang Tom Lehrer’s famous song The Elements,’ my informant tells me, referring to the melody that begins ‘Antimony, arsenic, aluminium, selenium/And there’s hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen…’ and continues breathlessly through the periodic table. ‘Great memory skills and beautiful singing. Cheers rang out.’

Why isn’t the Minister of Labor a fan of Charli?

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy slams privately trained pop stars at UK Music Summer Party

Pop star Charli XCX, who attended the exclusive Bishop’s Stortford College, was originally hailed in Miss Nandy’s speech but was omitted in the updated version.

In keeping with Labour’s vitriolic attack on independent schools, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy used her speech at the UK Music Summer Party to attack privately educated pop stars.

‘As the (Paul Simon) song says, ‘Every generation brings a hero up the pop charts.’ But pop is becoming more popular and that has to change,’ Nandy told guests.

State school stars include Coldplay’s Chris Martin, who went to Sherborne School, Lily Allen, who went to Bedales, and Florence Welch, who went to Alleyn’s.

I can paraphrase an earlier version of Nandy’s remarks hailing Charli XCX as one of the UK’s greatest musical assets. However, the singer went to the private Bishop’s Stortford College. Charli did not appear in the updated version of the speech released by the Ministry of Culture, Media and Sport.

Good catch from Jagger before big mistake

With the Rolling Stones seen as their younger selves in the video for new single In The Stars, thanks to the use of artificial intelligence deepfake technology, Sir Mick Jagger has revealed that he noticed an embarrassing mistake just before the song was released.

Explaining that guitarist Ronnie Wood was mistakenly replaced by another rock legend, Jagger recalls: ‘I was talking to the lady who was working on the video. ‘Stop at 3.18, it’s Jeff Beck!’ I said. ‘The problem is, Ronnie was in a band with Jeff Beck, so they might have returned to filming.

‘I said, ‘You should change it to Ronnie!’ Jagger chuckles: ‘So there was Jeff Beck in the band for a minute. ‘That was interesting.’

New Strictly presenter Emma Willis’ husband Matt admitted he can’t wait for his ‘tough’ four-month run of Cabaret to end after it left him in a ‘dark place’. The Busted star played the disturbing ‘psycho’ Presenter. ‘I go home and my family is in bed asleep, then I’m there alone and I’m sitting with these emotions trying to get out of this dark place. ‘This is very strange,’ he says.

Princess brings shaman to England

Princess Martha Louise of Norway and Durek Verrett explore London and take selfies at Portobello Market

Not all royals who marry Americans are singing and dancing like this about their visits to Britain.

Princess Martha Louise of Norway, 54, didn’t have a care in the world while exploring London with her husband Durek Verrett (51), a shaman who boasts of making contact with aliens.

The couple, who got married in 2024, visited Portobello Market and shared a selfie on the internet.

‘There’s something timeless about London,’ says Durek, who acts as Gwyneth Paltrow’s personal spiritualist.

Harry and Meghan stepped down from royal duties in 2020, while Martha Louise gave up royal duties two years later to focus on alternative medicine.

Sir Keir Starmer may have undermined his hereditary peers but the House of Lords is still a family affair. Transport minister Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill answered a parliamentary question from his brother Lord Hendy.

Hendy, 78, told Hendy, 73, of Richmond Hill: ‘I am grateful to my noble kinsman for this reply.’

Some of their peers had no idea the two Hendys were related. They are not very similar to each other and have very different parliamentary personalities. Minister Hendy gives a grumpy performance at the mailbox. Old Hendy is a notoriously dull orator.