EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Why was Dame Joan Collins so camera-shy at her bash

EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Hello! Why was Dame Joan Collins so camera-shy at her anniversary bash?

Dame Joan Collins isn’t normally one to be camera shy so I was surprised to find the actress dodging the snappers as she hosted a glittering anniversary bash at Claridges to celebrate 20 years of marriage to her fifth husband, film producer Percy Gibson.

The happy couple are rumoured to have signed a deal with Hello! magazine for an exclusive tell-all on the party, which took place at the same spot where they exchanged their vows all those years ago. 

However, the style icon was spotted leaving the hotel in a glamorous white and silver dress and furry stole. 

Dame Joan Collins isn’t normally one to be camera shy so I was surprised to find the actress dodging the snappers as she hosted a glittering anniversary bash at Claridges to celebrate 20 years of marriage to her fifth husband, film producer Percy Gibson

While Dame Joan played coy, stars and socialites of all vintages were happy to pose for the snappers as they helped Joanie, 88, and Percy, 57, celebrate. 

Turning heads on the night in a plunging red Roberto Cavalli number, was Elizabeth Hurley, 56. The actress slinked in with her son, Damian, 19, dressed in traditional white tie and tails. 

Meanwhile, Dame Joan had a Dynasty reunion with her co-star Stephanie Beacham, 74, who played Sable Colby in the TV drama and was a fierce rival of Joan’s Alexis. 

She arrived looking suitably sparkly in a diamond choker and black feathery dress. 

Other stars included Duran Duran singer Simon Le Bon and his wife Yasmin, actor Anthony Andrews, his wife Georgina Simpson and model Poppy Delevingne. Sarah, Duchess of York, wore an elegant black gown with sheer sleeves for the occasion.

And I’m sure Dame Joan and Percy would have had marriage advice for newly engaged music mogul Simon Cowell, 62 — who flouted the dress code in a shirt unbuttoned to his chest — and fiancée Lauren Silverman, 44.

The happy couple are rumoured to have signed a deal with Hello! magazine for an exclusive tell-all on the party, which took place at the same spot where they exchanged their vows all those years ago. Their original wedding is seen above

And I’m sure Dame Joan and Percy would have had marriage advice for newly engaged music mogul Simon Cowell, 62 — who flouted the dress code in a shirt unbuttoned to his chest — and fiancée Lauren Silverman, 44

Turning heads on the night in a plunging red Roberto Cavalli number, was Elizabeth Hurley, 56. The actress slinked in with her son, Damian, 19, dressed in traditional white tie and tails

The smart set’s talking about…

Party Rottweiler Fran’s toyboy

Having made her name as the ‘party Rottweiler’ for the Primrose Hill set in the 1990s, it’s little wonder that Fran Cutler may be feeling nostalgic for her youth.

I can disclose the 58-year-old has found herself a toyboy, Jake Wanstall, a hairdresser to the stars at London’s Larry King hair salon.

She shared this loved-up selfie with hunky Wanstall, who is 26 years her junior. ‘The age gap is not an issue,’ a close pal tells me. ‘They’re in love.’

I can disclose the 58-year-old has found herself a toyboy, Jake Wanstall, a hairdresser to the stars at London’s Larry King hair salon

She shared this loved-up selfie with hunky Wanstall, who is 26 years her junior. ‘The age gap is not an issue,’ a close pal tells me. ‘They’re in love’

While millions of people stayed at home sheltering from the onslaught of Storm Eunice, Boy George was keen to get out in the wild weather.

The Culture Club singer, 60, says he has reconnected with nature since taking up a meditation breathing technique known as the Wim Hof method.

‘This is the perfect weather to be in nature,’ he says. ‘I love to go outside and stand in the rain.

I can have a totally different relationship with the rain now.’

I do hope that he didn’t get too windswept as he meditated.

Crime writer (and Benny Hill star) Mo left £3 million

Controversial crime writer Mo Hayder has left behind a fortune of almost £3 million.

Hayder, who won a series of awards for her violent and disturbing novels, died last July aged 59 from motor neurone disease.

She bequeathed £65,000 and cancelled any outstanding loans for her second husband, Robert Randall, a retired police sergeant whom she married shortly before her death. Newly released probate documents reveal that she also permitted her trustees to create new trusts for the benefit of her daughter Lotte and her mother Susan Hollins.

Hayder became a household name under the pseudonym of Candy Davis when she worked as a model and actress appearing on TV shows including The Two Ronnies, and The Benny Hill Show.

‘Traumatised’ Made In Chelsea stars slam ‘toxic’ show

Posh reality TV show Made In Chelsea prides itself on documenting the lives of the privileged young things living in London’s SW3.

But I hear a storm is brewing for the production, which has made household names of the likes of Millie Mackintosh, Georgia Toffolo and Spencer Matthews.

Amidst the slanging matches, lovers’ tiffs and tipples tipped over people’s heads, two female former stars of the programme have told how they felt exploited by the ‘toxic environment’ of the show.

One of the women, who was in her teens when she starred on the programme, told me she was offered very little aftercare after telling producers her concerns for her mental health.

‘If you live your love life on the show, you live in a weird matrix of what’s real and what’s not.

‘It creates a toxic environment. You won’t know who to trust, you can’t trust your partners or the cast because they can just tell the production team what you said.’

She adds: ‘I vaguely remember having a brief chat with someone who I think was a psychiatrist beforehand, to see if you’re mentally stable enough to go on the show, then after the show I pretty much heard nothing from them ever again. I didn’t get aftercare.’ 

And Jessica Woodley, who starred in the show for two years and was best known for her relationship with Strictly star Jamie Laing, has said: ‘I just want to express how dangerous the nature of mainstream reality TV is.

Posh reality TV show Made In Chelsea prides itself on documenting the lives of the privileged young things living in London’s SW3

‘The effects it can have on human beings, to me it felt like I made a decision at a very young age resulting in what feels like identity theft. Finding my way home has and is taking longer than I expected. I never imagined the repercussions of this choice of mine but here I am faced with a dilemma and to me a trauma.’

A spokesman for Channel 4 and production company Monkey Kingdom told me: ‘Contributor care is of paramount importance on all our programmes and we work closely with production partners to ensure robust protocols are in place.

‘On Made In Chelsea, specialist evaluations are a cast requirement and ongoing support is proactively offered at every stage before, during and after production.

‘This support is available to both current and former cast members. While Made in Chelsea is about real lives, cast members only ever film what they are willing to share.’

Millionairess finds a Nazi surprise in new Belgravia pad

Known for having ‘the longest legs in Belgravia’, Amanda Cronin, was horrified at discovering her new £3.5 million home used to belong to Fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley — so she’s spending another £2 million obliterating its Nazi past.

The former model, 45, who was the subject of Channel 4’s The Millionairess And Me earlier this week, landed a multi-million pound divorce settlement in 2019 from Monaco energy mogul Mark Daeche after just five years of marriage.

And to celebrate, she’s creating a new bacheloress pad for herself.

‘I was so surprised to find out when I was going through the property’s records that Oswald Mosley had lived there. It makes me shudder to think who would have been in that house,’ she tells me. ‘We took the whole interior down and demolished it. So there’s nothing left from its past.’

The mother-of-one hopes turning the Georgian property into ‘a sexy 4,000 sq ft London coaching townhouse’ will double its value.

Known for having ‘the longest legs in Belgravia’, Amanda Cronin, was horrified at discovering her new £3.5 million home used to belong to Fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley — so she’s spending another £2 million obliterating its Nazi past

Is Sir Tony Blair hoping to burnish his appeal among the wokerati? I hear the former Labour PM has been experimenting with vegan fare at heiress Camilla Fayed’s trendy ‘biodynamic’ restaurant Farmacy, beloved of the Notting Hill set.

My source with the mung bean salad tells me Sir Tony was enticed by a £5 fresh forged nettle tea and a £16 ‘Got No Beef’ burger made out of mushroom, walnut and beetroot. But it seems the plant-based choices weren’t enough to convert him full-time, as his spokesman tells me: ‘He is not vegan.’

(Very modern manners)

As the Savile Row tailor to Prince Charles, Ozwald Boateng is accustomed to smoothing out creases on a bespoke suit.

But when it comes to his skin, the designer, who turns 55 this month, reveals he’s been told by a treatment centre he’s ‘too old for Botox’.

‘They said that it’s too late,’ he tells me at Rankin’s The Best Seat In The House exhibition in support of WaterAid.

‘I’ve got so many creases in my skin now that I need a special gel to fill it up.’ He adds: ‘I’m too late, so I have to accept it.’

As the Savile Row tailor to Prince Charles, Ozwald Boateng is accustomed to smoothing out creases on a bespoke suit. But when it comes to his skin, the designer, who turns 55 this month, reveals he’s been told by a treatment centre he’s ‘too old for Botox’

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