EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Queen of shops Mary’s blistering broadside for gay fashion gurus

Traditionally, he never allowed himself to be straitjacketed; especially in his personal life, where he was married twice and divorced twice; first with Unilever executive Graham Portas, then with fashion journalist Melanie Rickey.

But this is unlikely to prepare the fashion industry for the brutal scrutiny from ‘Mary Queen of Shops’.

In a Smart Works speech at the Mayfair Hotel in west London, Mary Portas made a shocking judgment about the state of the fashion industry, which she believes is run by gay men who she claims have little contact with average-sized women.

‘Look at the designers. “Most men are gay designers,” Portas points out. ‘They design for these iconic women in their minds. We’ve been selling this for years. ‘This is very difficult to eliminate.’ Portas is unlikely to be accused of being homophobic. He and Melanie Rickey had a child with Portas’ younger brother, Lawrence, who is her biological father.

Portas has since found new love with a woman whose identity he has not disclosed.

But perhaps Portas’ most refreshing observation is about Dame Anna Wintour, whom she calls ‘one of the most powerful women in fashion’.

‘He’s too small. It’s definitely too small,’ says Portas.

Portas, 65, suggests others have followed where Wintour led, explaining that her distorted way of thinking has affected ‘all the catwalks’.

He reflects: ‘It’s definitely tiny young women and young men who go there.’ Portas adds: ‘I talked to people and they said: “If I’m skinny, I’m seen to be together, I’m good, I’m not lazy, I don’t care about my body.”‘

With such harsh statements, we have little chance of seeing Portas in the front row next season, but Portas does not care and says: ‘Fashion industry; ‘I wouldn’t want to go back to that.’

Megan’s hot sideline

Actress and writer Megan Prescott says she feels ‘better treated on OnlyFans’ than when she starred in E4 drama Skins

Megan Prescott, who played promiscuous teenager Katie Fitch in Skins when she was just 16, says she was unprepared for the sex scenes she had to do in the controversial E4 drama.

‘I’m treated better on OnlyFans than on Skins,’ said Prescott, 34, who turned to the adult subscription service to make a living.

After telling her story in her first one-woman show, Really Good Exposure, she was delighted to win the Creation award at the OffWestEnd Awards at the Methodist Central Hall in Westminster this week.

‘A lot of creative freelancers do sex work but the reality is they can’t be open about it, the creative freelance industry is underfunded,’ she tells me. [so] ‘People are turning to sex work.’

Will sweetness return to relations between the House of Windsor and the Sussexes? The King’s Highgrove website has started offering Highgrove Harmony Royal Garden Honey, enriched with ‘fragrant linden flower’, for £20 per jar, with all proceeds going to charity. This could have a negative impact in California, where the As Ever brand boasts of its Honeycombed Sage Honey that ‘holds a special place in Meghan’s heart’ and has a bank balance of £24 per jar.

(Very) modern etiquette

Internet personality Hofit Golan attends the 74th annual Cannes Film Festival in 2021

Hofit Golan’s pet dog Yuki was photographed under the spotlight of red light therapy on social media

Bio-hacking enthusiast Hofit Golan, who used red light therapy to treat a thyroid problem, has now turned his infrared light on his pet dog, Yuki.

“Yes, I give Yuki red light therapy for her skin and fur,” she admits to her online followers.

little pomsky [Pomeranian and a Siberian Husky crossbreed] He looks dazed as he takes full advantage of the red substance considered safe for man’s best friend.

Earlier this year, Hofit, 40, revealed that she turned to the popular wellness trend to treat Hashimoto’s disease, in which the body mistakenly attacks the thyroid gland in the neck area.

Brand bids time in bar selling to make £100k profit

Russell Brand speaks during the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville in July 2024

The Crown pub in Pishill, Oxfordshire, is now being bought for £975,000

His trial was postponed until October, but Russell Brand, who faces seven charges ranging from rape to indecent assault, all of which he vehemently denies, has now left a harrowing chapter behind.

I’m talking about his property at The Crown Inn, Pishill, Oxfordshire, which he bought for £870,000 in 2021; He promised to keep it open – only announcing plans to convert it into a recording studio and offices.

When these failed in the face of a number of objections, Brand proposed conversion to ‘mixed use’, with offices, a media studio and a function room located next to the bar. This quickly angered Lord Camoys, who pointed out that a mile from Stonor Park, the family seat, Brand had made ‘no attempt’ to reopen The Crown, shrouded in thorny bushes and ivy following lockdown.

But what I can say is that salvation is just around the corner: The Crown was bought for £975,000 by 45-year-old John Bloomer, a businessman with qualifications in psychometric assessment. Perhaps useful when negotiating with Russell Brand…

Why is ‘free-spirited’ Christine still living with comedian ex McGuinness?

Christine McGuiness attends the British Diversity Awards in London on March 25, 2026

It’s business as usual this Easter for TV comedian and presenter Paddy McGuinness and his ex-wife Christine.

Christine, 38, who describes herself as a ‘free spirit’ rather than bisexual or lesbian, insists nothing has changed at home despite being in a new romantic ‘situation’ with a woman.

The couple, who divorced in 2024 after 13 years of marriage, continue to live under the same roof in their £6.5 million Cheshire home and raise their three children.

‘We still share the family home together, we’re in no rush for that to change,’ he told me at a party in London. Christine explains: ‘I want my children to know where home is.’

Sir Richard Branson and his family were heartbroken when his wife Joan died at the age of 80 last year. But they found some solace with a newcomer. Sir Richard’s son Sam adopted a puppy he named ‘Lucky’ in the British Virgin Islands, where he spends most of the year with his wife Isabella Calthorpe and their two children. “I passed a very sick stray dog,” Sam wrote online. ‘He looked at me as I passed and I had to stop and look closer. He’s so sweet, so smart and so loving.’

Kimono is a no-no for tea lover Leah

Leah Wood, daughter of Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood, recently attended a Japanese tea ceremony in Notting Hill with tea master Keiko Uchida.

In less complicated times, Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood posed in a kimono for Pattie Boyd’s photo shoot, but her daughter Leah Wood was unwilling to do the same for fear of cultural appropriation.

The artist, whose mother is Jo Wood, held a Japanese tea ceremony in Notting Hill with tea master Keiko Uchida for a private view of his Cherry Blossoms art collection and considered wearing a kimono until husband Jack MacDonald stepped in.

‘My mother gave me a few [kimonos] I was going to wear a beautiful pair of purple shorts to try on, but my husband said:

“You can’t do that, there’s a backstory to the kimono. That would be like me walking in.” He wears a samurai outfit in the shop.” ‘

Lady Jean Campbell may be in a relationship with artist Orfeo Tagiuri, but there is another man she holds dear to her heart. 7. Earl Cawdor’s 28-year-old daughter, who has suffered chronic pain since a skiing accident aged 12, says: ‘I loved my physiotherapy. He was called Jeremy, he made it [recovery] I feel it is possible. ‘He was also really handsome.’

Singer Lily Allen has made selling pictures of her feet a surprisingly lucrative side business, charging fans £8 a month to subscribe for exclusive close-up shots.

It’s not a path A Place In The Sun star Laura Hamilton wants to walk, despite persistent requests for her to join WikiFeet, a site where users browse and rate photos of celebrities’ bottoms. ‘People are the ones making comments about me,’ he told me at an awards ceremony in Mayfair. online feet which I find disturbing. I put a bunch of photos of people without shoes all around my house, and they say to me: “Wow, you know you have a really good WikiFeet?”

The TV presenter, 43, insists: ‘I would never sell photos of my feet, it’s hard enough creating content for social media platforms.’

Smartphone advice for children from Ore

Strictly star Ore Oduba’s estranged wife Portia Jett has been an open book on social media about their messy separation, even revealing that the sale of their marital home has left their two young children ‘devastated’.

However, 40-year-old Oduba, who will run the London Marathon for a Smartphone-Free Childhood, is trying to get her children away from devices. ‘The most important thing is to help them understand why it’s not just a phone call, but the harm that comes with it,’ he tells me.’

The star, who spoke about her porn addiction last year, adds: ‘I try to model the behavior I hope for them. There is so much that even we adults are not effectively prepared for.’

I’m sure Portia will have a lot to say on this subject; of course over the internet.

• Edited by: Stephanie Takyi