Rather than lie low while ex-wife Demi Moore recovers after rehab, Ashton Kutcher makes a play for the hottest young star around.
Young, hot and accepted by the Hollywood in crowd – it’s everything Demi Moore tried so hard to be. Which makes it all the more devastating for her to discover that Ashton Kutcher’s secret new hook-up is exactly that.
Friends of the troubled actress are believed to be on tenterhooks as she absorbs the revelation that Ashton, 34, has been wooing controversial pop star Rihanna since January. Their hook-ups went undetected until last week, when photographers snapped 24-year-old Rihanna being picked up from Ashton’s LA ome at 4am, after spending four hours with the Two And A Half Men star.
Heartbroken Demi, 49, who went to rehab in February with anorexia and addiction issues following a seizure, is putting her foot down and cutting him out for good – at least she wants to. “Demi’s gutted that Ashton has chosen to hook up with a huge celebrity, because he must have known a fling with Rihanna would generate a lot of headlines,” says an insider speaking exclusively to Woman’s Day.
Another source close to Demi adds, “Having a female like Rihanna visit his bachelor pad is the final straw for her. Now she doesn’t want anything to do with Ashton.” But behind her brave face, it’s believed the latest blow could derail all the hard work from her time spent at Cirque Lodge rehab facility in Utah.
Read more about Demi’s breakdown and the celebrity friend who could help her througbh it all in this week’s Woman’s Day on sale Monday April 2, 2012.
After 15 years of marriage, Melanie’s been left reeling by shocking pictures of her husband kissing another woman.
As Latin music pounded through the Cancun bar, Antonio Banderas, 51, tossed back yet another tequila and made eye contact with a hot young blonde. It wasn’t long before she agreed to dance with the Spanish superstar – and even less time before he followed her to a dark corner of the Congo Bongo nightclub. What happened next was enough to shake his already fragile wife Melanie Griffith to the core.
“They kissed more than once,” a witness tells Woman’s Day. “At 2am, Antonio and his beautiful blonde left together.” Another source adds, “There was so much chemistry that I wouldn’t like to say what might’ve happened next. He was acting like a single man. His wife would be heartbroken if she had seen him that night.”
Melanie, 54, was at home in LA looking after their daughter Stella. At the time of going to press, the actress had yet to officially respond to the damning photographs, but had tellingly re-posted another blogger’s quote, “BoyfriEND, girlfriEND, friEND, everything has an end, except for family.”
The pain of her rocky marriage had been showing well before this incident. As she stormed from the set of The Hot Flashes, quitting the film over what she described as “creative differences”, friends were more stunned by her frail, thin figure. A source says, “Antonio’s begged Melanie to eat more and take better care of herself.” It’s not the first time she’s reportedly been blindsided by allegations of her husband’s cheating in Mexico. Visiting the country in 2007 to promote Shrek The Third, Antonio was spotted at an intimate dinner with a mystery woman.
See the exclusive pictures of Antonio Banderas and his mystery woman in this week’s Woman’s Day on sale Monday April 2, 2012.
You wonder where a novel is going when chapter one has the main character locked up alone on death row.
John Meyer Frey was just seventeen years old when he was sentenced to die for the murder of his girlfriend.
He faces a very short future in a small cell in a forgotten corner of Ohio. Six years later, singer John Schwartz is arrested after assaulting a passenger on a ferry between Finland and Sweden.
Slowly links begin to emerge between the two cases. Police in Stockholm and investigators in the US uncover an incredible plot, which will put the justice system in both countries to the test.
Sweden is to crime novels what France is to cuisine and Germany is to beer, and the thrillers of Roslund & Hellstrom are among its best.
Cell 8 starts slowly, but spirals into suspense so gripping I was reading it at red lights and hoping for a traffic jam.
Survival of the nastiest should not be the law of the schoolyard. Child health expert Erin Erceg has this advice on beating school bullying.
Bullies have made great fodder for stories, from the vile Flashman in the 1857 novel Tom Brown’s Schooldays to the testosterone-laden sports jocks in Revenge Of The Nerds. In fiction, the bullies get their just desserts and the bullied ultimately get the girls. But in real life the effects of school bullying can be much more serious.
In May 2007 the NSW Supreme Court awarded $1million damages to 18-year-old Ben Cox, when it judged he’d been made an anxious, depressed recluse with no friends and no chance of ever being employed as a result of the unchecked violent bullying he endured at age six in primary school.
Bullying is defined as “any offensive or aggressive behaviour directed at another person, repeated over time”. It can be anything from name-calling to insulting mobile phone texts and Internet posts (called cyberbullying) to physical violence.
In Australia, around one in six school students report being bullied at least once a week and one in 20 say they have bullied others. It happens more in primary school, and more to boys than girls.
“Although the rates of bullying have not changed significantly over time, it’s only relatively recently that the extent and the impact of bullying have been recognised and appreciated,” says Erin Erceg, the co-director of the Child Health Promotion Research Centre at Edith Cowan University.
“Bullying by peers is now recognised as a major social problem which can have serious longer term consequences on a victim’s mental, social, physical and emotional health.”
In light of this, schools across Australia are developing programs to help stamp out bullying. But what can parents do if their child is bullied or is the playground bully?
Not wanting to go to school and complaining of headaches or stomach aches.
Often “losing” things such as clothing or school work and asking for extra lunch or pocket money.
Having bruises or cuts they won’t tell you how they got.
Being generally unhappy and irritable and having sleeping difficulties.
Having no friends to share free time with and being rarely invited to parties or other social activities.
Lower school performance.
Ask if there’s anything you can do to help make the situation better, and remind your child it’s not their fault this has happened.
Make sure they know how to get help and support at school, then talk with their teachers to find out exactly what will be done.
At home, help your child work out a plan to improve the situation, so it gives them some sense of control.
Keep a record yourself of what happens each day and keep in contact with the school to make sure any changes are still working.
Talk with your child about what is acceptable behaviour and what is not, for example, you should not tease people because they look or talk differently.
Work with your family to set simple rules about how to treat each other.
Help your child make friends by getting them socialising with other kids in the neighbourhood and inviting friends over for visits.
Improve their self esteem by encouraging them to have a go at new activities and thinking about their abilities in a realistic way.
Ask a teacher for help.
Tell the person bullying others that what they’re doing is bullying.
Refuse to join in with the bully and walk away.
Support the person being bullied.
People who are alone are more likely to be bullied, so tell your kids to be aware of other pupils who are left out or on their own in the playground.
The Duke of Edinburgh has once again shown an aversion to modern politically correct ways when he asked a disabled man on a mobility scooter if he had run anyone over recently.
Ninety-year-old Prince Philip was in Redbridge taking part in the Queen’s diamond jubilee UK tour when he approached 60-year-old well-wisher David Miller, who was on a four-wheeled mobility scooter.
With his usual brusque charm, the Queen’s consort pointed to the scooter and asked: “How many people have you knocked over this morning on that thing?”
No offence was taken as the man and those around him burst out laughing, reports the UK’s Daily Mail.
“That is just typical from the Duke,” said Mr Miller, who has trouble walking because of a spinal problem, after the royal had passed.
“He is renowned for his humour but no offence was taken; it was all in good humour. I told him no, your Royal Highness, I had not knocked anyone down.”
The royal party received a warm welcome from hundreds of flag-waving school kids as they toured the North London suburb yesterday as part of the national tour to celebrate the Queen’s sixty years on the British throne.
This isn’t the first time Prince Philip has made headlines with an off-the-cuff comment. Here are some of the Duke of Edinburgh’s more famous gaffes:
1981 During a recession the prince said: “Everybody was saying we must have more leisure. Now they are complaining they are unemployed.”
1995 Speaking to a Scottish driving instructor he wondered: “How do you keep the natives off the booze long enough to pass the test?”
1996 After the Dunblane massacre, at which 16 children and one adult were killed by a gunman, the duke said: “If a cricketer, for instance, suddenly decided to go into a school and batter a lot of people to death with a cricket bat, which he could do very easily, I mean, are you going to ban cricket bats?”
1998 Speaking to a British student backpacking in Papua New Guinea, he asked: “You managed not to get eaten then?”
2002 Chatting with Indigenous Australians on a visit to the country, he asked: “Do you still throw spears at each other?”
Emily spent the past few months cooking up a proposal, and the answer was a resounding yes!
They’ve been dating for nearly nine years and own a house together, so it’s hardly surprising friends of My Kitchen Rules star Emily Cheung and her boyfriend Matt Davenport have been wondering when the two might say “I do”. “It’s hilarious,” Emily, 27, laughs. “Everyone always asks us when we’re going to get married. And I just say, ‘You know every time you ask us that, we’re going to add another year, right?’”
And although the topic often came up in conversation, Emily managed to avoid making any serious plans. “I was having a conversation not long ago with my mum and she’d been asking me whether we might get married soon,” Matt says. “I said, ‘Nah, Mum. She’s not ready yet. When she starts showing me some signs, then I’ll start moving on my plan to propose.’” Little did Matt know that Emily, who along with her sister Carly, 29, became an audience favourite, had other plans.
“I decided to propose,” she explains. “I know, it’s not very traditional but I don’t really do things normally.”Emily got to work organising her dream proposal – complete with a stunning Georg Jensen engagement ring for Matt, 30, and a lavish meal, of course! “We were watching the episode of My Kitchen Rules where we cooked up the seafood platter, and Matt said, ‘You need to make me that!’” says Emily.
For the finishing touch, Emily planned to present Matt with the pet they always dreamed of adopting – a gorgeous Rottweiler puppy. While she had no problem finding the perfect dog, a purebred named Chevy, he wasn’t old enough to leave the litter. “I scoured the shops for a soft toy version,” laughs Emily.
Emily purchased her ring from Temelli Jewellery, Eastland, Victoria.
Read more in this week’s Woman’s Day on sale Monday March 26, 2012.
Camilla the Duchess of Cornwall and Crown Princess Mary were in fits of laughter playing with guns in Denmark yesterday – but they aren’t the only royals who enjoy being armed.
The entire British royal family spends two weeks each year shooting pheasants, Queen Elizabeth wields a ceremonial sword every other week and Harry has served in Afghanistan.
But the royal with the biggest love of weapons appears to be Prince Charles, who can’t stop smiling whether he’s holding a rifle or a paintball gun.
Camilla and Mary played with prop guns on the set of a Danish TV show.
Camilla looked rather odd with a handgun instead of a handbag.
Charles was delighted to experiment with a paintball gun in March 2012.
Queen Elizabeth waves from the gundeck of a tank in 1997.
Charles shooting a rifle in 1978.
Charles with a traditional Japanese Kendo sword in 2008.
Charles and Camilla experiment with a field gun in 2005.
Charles tries his hand at archery in 1999.
Charles fires his handgun to start a race in Sydney in 1985.
Harry was impressed with this tank’s guns in 2010.
The Netherlands’ Prince Philippe looked overwhelmed by this old-fashioned gun in 2006.
Harry on duty in Afghanistan in 2008.
Harry with his beloved ceremonial sword in 2006.
Harry serving in Afghanistan in 2008.
Harry wields a rather less deadly “gun” in 2011.
Prince William engaging in some target practice in Sydney in January 2010.
Queen Elizabeth grasps a ceremonial sword in Exeter in 2002.
“That’s a big one!” Camilla was very impressed by the size of this mortar in 2008.
Monaco’s Prince Albert competing in a pentathlon in 2001.
Charles looks happy with this field gun at a London museum in 2005.
Prince Philip playing with a bow and arrow as a child.
Young royals: Prince William, Catherine the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.
He has just completed his first solo royal tour, but it seems Prince Harry prefers the company of other royals.
Prince Harry’s brother Prince William and sister-in-law Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge moved in with him at Clarence House when they were first married and now Prince Harry is following the pair to Kensington Palace.
A royal rep has confirmed to the Daily Beast that the prince has already secretly moved into Kensington Palace, where William and Kate have use of a 20-room apartment that is currently being renovated.
“We can confirm that Harry has moved into KP. That’s now his official London residence,” the representative said.
Prince Harry was originally meant to move from his father’s residence at Clarence House to Kensington Palace’s Nottingham Cottage, but William and Kate are currently living there while their apartment is being refurbished.
Prince Harry, who lived at Kensington Palace while he was growing up with his mother Princess Diana, is currently residing in a one-bedroom staff apartment set apart from the main building.
Kensington Palace is currently home to a number of other royals including Richard and Birgitte, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, and Prince Michael of Kent and his wife.
Georgie Gardner, her husband Tim and their children Bronte, six, and Angus, four. Photo by Michelle Holden.
On the surface, Georgie Gardner appears to have a perfect life. She has a loving husband, two healthy children and a fulfilling career as a news reader on Channel Nine’s Today — but underneath the flawless facade lurks a traumatic childhood that has made her what she is today.
Georgie was one of four children born and bred in Perth. Her early childhood was happy but when she was five years old, her parents went through a bitter divorce.
Her mother remarried shortly afterwards and Georgie’s world turned upside down.
Her new post-divorce life had all the trappings of domestic bliss. She lived in Dalkeith, one of Perth’s most affluent suburbs. She attended St Hilda’s, the Western Australian capital’s most exclusive private girl’s school.
Her mother was a pillar of Perth society and her new stepfather was the son of the state’s governor and a well-known lawyer.
There were trips to Government House when the queen was visiting, tea parties and pretty frocks. From the outside, theirs was a life of privilege and respectability, but beyond the white picket fence and behind closed doors, life was infinitely more complicated.
“There was a tumultuous divorce when we were very young and it led to difficulties in the house we were growing up in with our mother and stepfather, and it was not pleasant,” explains Georgie’s younger brother, John.
“I don’t have particularly fond memories of childhood myself and I know Georgie doesn’t.”
Suzanne Julian is one of Georgie’s oldest friends. They met at school when they were 12 years old. Suzanne remembers Georgie as a “natural leader” with “the gift of the gab and a wicked sense of humour” who had lead roles in all the school musicals such that “everyone assumed she was going to leave school and become an actress”.
Suzanne also spent a lot of time at Georgie’s house and saw first-hand the tensions with which Georgie and her siblings lived. “I was very aware of what was playing out in her home life,” recalls Suzanne.
“Everything was not as it seemed on the outside. There was a lot of pressure on Georgie as a young girl — there were things going on at home that were not pleasant. You can go to the best school and wear a nice uniform, but if things are not right at home, you are no better off than anyone else.
“Georgie has definitely been affected by her family situation over the years. Knowing all the crap she has been through, the way she has blossomed is such a credit to her. Instead of dwelling on it, she has carved out such an amazing, impressive life.”
When asked, Georgie herself won’t be drawn on exactly what the home life “unpleasantness” comprised, except to say she and her siblings suffered after their mother remarried.
“We had a privileged upbringing, in the material and opportunity sense, but there was a lot of turbulence and confusion, and deep sadness brought on by a pretty bitter divorce,” she says. “During the darkest period, my friends and siblings got me through.”
Though she won’t say it outright, it’s obvious that Georgie experienced some sort of trauma growing up. She says she doesn’t want to talk about it publicly — “It risks hurting too many people I care about” — yet it clearly gives shape to her every day.
She has only limited contact with her mother now and mainly for the sake of not denying her children a relationship with their grandmother.
And yet she’s also acutely aware of the privileges she enjoyed and the opportunities afforded by her education and upbringing. She bristles visibly at any suggestion she is a victim.
“I never feel, ‘Woe is me’, because I have so much in my life now to be grateful for and I have managed to extricate myself from that toxic environment and surround myself with beautiful, loving, incredible people,” she says.
“Suffice to say, divorce can be very destructive and a fair amount of pain and misunderstanding exists to this day. But I try and focus on the positives and, without question, my greatest achievement is creating the family unit I have now. They’re my world. I’m at my happiest when I’m with my family.”
Read more of this story in the April issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly.
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