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Callum: Adam deserved to win

Mastchefs Callum and Adam

As the MasterChef cook-off closes it kitchen for another series, LUCY CHESTERTON discovers that the challenges are far from over for Callum and Adam.

Like ill-fated macaron towers under the scrutiny of the MasterChef judges, Callum Hann and Adam Liaw have finally collapsed after a boil-over finale at the weekend.

For fresh-faced Callum, his confidence has been shattered after his campaign was blighted by accusations of favouritism, while an exhausted Adam vented after trying to hide his dark side throughout the series.

Callum is so plagued by self doubt, the 20-year-old says he has decided to delay his dream of opening his own restaurant. “I’m an amateur,” he says. “I don’t consider myself a professional chef yet – and I’m no more deserving of the title than anyone else.”

In fact, despite his confident façade, the aspiring chef admits he relied heavily on his competitors to help him in the series. “The reason I got so far in the show was ability and passion, but also the help I got from the other contestants. I don’t believe I deserved to win any more than them.”

Callum, who served up unfinished roast pheasant dishes during a crucial challenge last week, says he was lucky the guest panel – including Sydney chefs Mark Best and Kylie Kwong – let him off lightly. “The guest judges got me through that challenge,” he admits, adding that the usual judges George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan might not have been so lenient, despite Matt Preston defending the decision.

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Ninja Nanna

Ninja Nanna

Joan Wood looks like any other grandma as she potters around in her garden and whips up cakes in the kitchen. But don’t be fooled. This granny is a lean, mean fighting machine. After taking up karate seven years ago to “try something different”, Joan, 78, has just been awarded her black belt – the ultimate level in the martial art. “It was a huge thrill,” she says.

Joan has certainly put her skills to good use. Last year, as she strolled through the spice markets of Marrakesh in Morocco while on holiday, she noticed she was being followed.

“I was walking with a friend, when I felt this thief grappling for my bag,” she recalls. “I didn’t know if he was armed or was part of a gang, but I quickly turned, fronting him in a fighting pose. He just looked at me in horror, threw his hands up in the air and bolted into the crowd!”

Four months later, back in her home town of Nambour in Queensland, Joan returned home from a karate lesson to see two thugs hanging around her house. She believes they were waiting to mug her. They didn’t stay long. “I got out of my car wearing my karate uniform, and they fled,” says the retired doctor of computer science. “I think they thought I’d be an easy target.”

Joan is the oldest woman in Australia to achieve black-belt status and she’s the oldest in her class by several decades.

“It just shows that you are never too old to give something new a go.”

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Tears over Facebook death

Tears over Facebook death

Nina Belomesoff clutches a scrunched-up tissue and wipes away the tears on her cheeks. It’s been just over nine weeks since her 18-year-old daughter, Nona, was found dead, and the tears won’t stop falling. “It’s very hard,” she says quietly, before Nona’s big brother Gary adds, “It brings us all to tears when we think of how much we miss her.”

This week, 20-year-old Christopher Dannevig will face court, charged with the murder of the teenager from Cecil Hills in Sydney’s south-west – he is yet to enter a plea. “We hope that justice will be served,” says Gary.

Animal-lover Nona went missing in May after arranging to meet a man who had contacted her through Facebook. He allegedly set up a false profile page, claiming to be part of animal rescue group WIRES, and invited her to go camping for an overnight training session with the promise he’d help her get a job.

“She was at TAFE doing animal studies and loved it so much,” says Gary with a sad smile. “She’d get home at the end of the day with blisters on her feet because she’d been working so hard.”

Two months after Nona’s death, the family wants to warn people about staying safe online. “You never know who’s on the other end of a computer,” says Gary. “Anyone can pretend to be someone.”

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Number 96 together again

Number 96 together again

Turning 90 gave Johnny Lockwood the perfect excuse to reconnect with his old friends at what was once Australia’s favourite address.

Nothing got tongues wagging in the 70s like Number 96 – the racy TV ratings smash of its day that went where no show had gone before. Leading the cast was battling deli owner Aldo Godolfus, played by Johnny Lockwood, who – incredibly – is now celebrating his 90th birthday.

Johnny’s birthday is the perfect excuse for the gang to get together again at the setting which changed their lives, the very building that made its way into the hearts of television viewers. And the celebrations soon turn into a trip down memory lane.

“We couldn’t go outside without being mobbed,” Johnny recalls of the show’s heyday. “Hell, even the hookers went off the streets at 8.30pm so they wouldn’t miss an episode.”

Other cast members there to celebrate with Johnny are Philippa Baker, 79, who played his screen wife Roma, and Jeff Kevin, 66, the ever-nervous Arnold Feather, who came all the way from his home in Hobart.

Also reunited are the show’s “family”, Mike Dorsey (Reg MacDonald), 80, who flew in from Perth, Wendy Blacklock, 78 (his screen wife, Edie), Frances Hargreaves, 56, who played their daughter Marilyn, and James Elliott, 82, and Liz Kirkby, 89, who played English migrant battlers Alf and Lucy Sutcliffe.

“It’s so special celebrating my birthday in the original Number 96,” Johnny says. “This is probably the last time we shall ever get together like this. I was orphaned at 11. When we did the show back in the 1970s, these people were so important to me. Like family.”

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My third child isn’t my husband’s

Image source: Getty - posed by models

Image source: Getty - posed by models

My husband and I have been married for 7 years now. We’ve been through a lot of ups and downs and having kids really changed our relationship.

I kept working after the birth of our 3 year old daughter, Ashley, and then went back to work with the same company after our second daughter arrived 12 months later.

I never realised how hard having two little girls so close in age would be on our relationship. Although I really love my husband, I felt so lost and confused when I went back to work just 12 weeks after our second daughter was born.

The only thing that really got me through was my boss, Byron. He was so caring and kind. He always complimented me on my clothes and had something nice to say to me every day.

My husband, Alex, seemed to forget that I was a person in my own right and only complimented me on what a good mum I was or how well I managed the girls. Suddenly in a space of 12 months, Alex no longer saw me as his lover, only the mother to his children.

The more time my boss Byron and I spent together, the more I began to feel attracted to him. I knew that he was feeling the same way and although he was married with young kids of his own, he made it clear that he would like to be more than friends.

I felt so tired and confused. My husband didn’t seem to want me anymore and yet this attractive, clever man did. Although I rejected Byron’s physical advances, I must admit I encouraged the flirting and fun we had together.

It was liberating to feel like a sexy woman again and I didn’t want that feeling to end even though I knew it was wrong. I value my wedding vows and I always made sure that our mucking around stopped short of me doing anything physical.

Then one morning after I’d fought with Alex about how much I’d been spending on clothes, I started crying when Byron told me how nice I was looking. He sat me on his desk and started comforting me.

Before I knew it, Byron had raised my skirt and was having sex with me. We didn’t make love, it was just sex. I didn’t try to stop him. I just lay there the whole time wishing it was over.

Afterwards as I straightened my clothes, Byron told me how much he’d enjoyed himself, but I just felt numb. I thought having an affair would make me feel like an attractive, desirable woman again but instead it just made me feel more weary and tired of my life.

Although it hasn’t happened again, I have paid a high price for my sin. Byron wouldn’t stop pestering me after that and when I realised I was pregnant again, I had no choice but to leave the job I loved. No matter how I did the math, I knew the baby was Byron’s.

I’m lucky that my husband trusts me absolutely and has never taken the time to work out there’s no way this baby could be his. So now I’m 7 months pregnant and at home full time.

In two month’s time I’m going to be a mum to three kids under three, have no job and be carrying an incredible burden of guilt.

Instead of improving my self-esteem, I’ve destroyed it. All of my stupidity has made me realise that I love my husband so much and never want him to find out what I’ve done.

All I can think is what sort of wife does this to the man she loves?

(Names have been changed).

Your say: Have you experienced a similar situation? How did you deal with it? Tell us your story below…

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Does the origin of cancer lie with a pregnant lizard?

New findings on the origin of cancer may lie with a pregnant lizard, a young Australian zoologist has found.

Bridget Murphy, a PhD student from the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Sydney, has discovered a protein that is pivotal to a pregnant lizard’s placenta, which may hold the answers to the origin of cancer in humans.

“Our egg-laying ancestors probably never got cancer, but things changed when we started having live young,” she said in a media release.

“Embryos need an extensive network of blood vessels to allow them to grow. So do tumours,” she said.

“I found that the three-toed skink, which gives birth to live young, uses a particularly powerful protein to encourage the growth of blood vessels. The only other place where this protein has been found is in pre-cancerous cells grown in the laboratory.”

Murphy says future testing of the protein may provide a basis of new therapies for cancer, promote wound healing or the regeneration of blood vessels in patients with heart disease.

This particular protein can assist in producing blood vessels in the uterus during pregnancy.

“Both tumours and embryos must develop an extensive network of blood vessels which bring in oxygen and nutrients to allow them to grow,” Murphy said.

“And they both must avoid rejection by hiding from the immune system of their host. In fact, many researchers think that cancers have hijacked the molecular machinery that originally evolved to allow embryonic development,” she said.

“It may be that animals that give birth to live young, such as humans and some lizards, have an increased susceptibility to cancer.”

Murphy is one of 16 early career scientists presenting their research to the public for the first time as part of Fresh Science, a national program sponsored by the federal government.

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Super celebrity slim-downs

Kelly Osbourne has had a long battle with her weight. But she managed to go from this in 2007…

…to this! At the end of 2009 Kelly slimmed down thanks to a stint on the American Dancing with the Stars. She also said her successful weight loss was due to nibbling on half an apple before bed.

Drew Carey went from this…

…to this! He has lost just over 36 kilos in seven months. “I like being skinny. I was sick of being fat on the camera,” he told People magazine. “I just got sick of it.”

In 2005 Kate Winslet looked like this. Now…

…she looks like this! The beauty showed off her stunning figure at the premiere of The Unusuals in New York. Despite her slim down Kate says she will always love her backside! “I’ve decided I am going to start loving my backside because I don’t know anyone who does that. And for my daughter, I want to be able to say to her, “I love this”,” she told the UK’s Daily Mail.

Lily Allen slimmed down from a size 12…

…to a size eight, which she put down to eating organic food, going to the gym and simply being happy!

Actor John Goodman went from this to…

…to this! He has lost just over 45 kilos thanks to a new healthy lifestyle encourgaed by his life coach. “I know it sounds sappy, but it was a waste,” he told People magazine. “It takes a lot of creative energy to sit on your ass and figure out what you’re going to eat next … I wanted to live life better.”

Jennifer Lopez has slimmed down from this…

…to this! She says the secret to maintaining her weight is a healthy diet and regular gym sessions.

Star Jones has always battled with her weight and says at her heaviest she tried to disgise her weight by increasing the size of her personality. She went from this to…

…to this! Her super slim down took her from weighing 130 kilograms at one stage to a new slim physique.

Catherine went from this…

…to this! Her slim down was thanks to her highly demaning physical role in the broadway musical A Little Night Music.

Jennifer Hudson went from this…

…to this! The singer dropped 5 dress sizes during her slim down and went from a size 16 to a size 6.

Ricki Lake went from this…

…to this! The television host has had one of the most dramatic transformations in Hollywood loosing 63.5 kilos.

Hilary Duff slimmed down after feeling pressured to lose weight. She went from this…

…to this skinny frame. She says she maintains her weight loss by eating a healthy diet.

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At home with Jamie Durie and his daughter Taylor

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Oprah’s greatest TV moments

Dressed in skinny jeans Oprah wheeled a wagon loaded with fat onto the set of her show to represent her 67-pound weight loss. Oprah said recently that this show was her “biggest, fattest” mistake. “I had literally starved myself for four months, not a morsel of food, to get into that pair of size 10 Calvin Klein jeans. Two hours after that show, I started eating to celebrate, of course, within two days those jeans no longer fit!”

Oprah sat down with the extremely private and shy entertainer Michael Jackson after he refused to do an interview for 14 years. The interview attracted a worldwide audience of 90 million people. “It was the most exciting interview I had ever done,” Oprah said. “It certainly was going to be the most watched interview I had ever done.”

Oprah’s favourite things put audiences into a screaming, cheering frenzy on more than one occasion. The show where Oprah goes through a list of her favourite things and then gives them away to the audience proved to be extremely popular with both the studio and home audience.

Oprah stepped on to the set of TV show Friends for their first farewell interview after 10 years of the show.

Tom Cruise famously declared to Oprah, and to the world, that he had found love again with his now wife Katie Holmes.

Oprah surprised her audience members with a new car for each of them worth more than $7 million.

Oprah conducted the first interview with the world’s first pregnant man Thomas and his wife, Nancy.

Always a giver, Oprah surprised this overjoyed woman with a new house.

Jennifer Aniston opened up to Oprah about her love life and her candid interview with Vogue in which she called Angelina Jolie’s past behaviour “really uncool”.

When former child star Mackenzie Phillips appeared on Oprah, she revealed a secret that she had kept for 30 years about her father rock legend John Phillips. She told Oprah of her father’s sexual abuse towards her when she was a child in an interview which stunned the music industry.

Oprah unleashed her support for Barack Obama after he won the election. Oprah says she has always vowed never to campaign on her show. But after the election she said: “So I kept my mouth shut and supported Barack Obama as a private citizen,” she said. “Today, though, the election is over – and I’m unleashed!”

When Sex and the City The Movie hit theatres, who had the exclusive interview with the entire cast? Oprah of course!

Sarah Ferguson the Duchess of York, revealed to Oprah how her family reacted to the news that she accepted a bribe from an undercover reporter in exchange for access to her ex-husband, Britain’s Prince Andrew.

Oprah took her show to Radio City Music Hall Celebrating her magazine O for the Magazine`s 10th Anniversary. She helped Dr Phil shave off his moustache for the first time in many years.

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What’s your celebrity travel style?

When you fly do you opt for comfortable chic, comfortable cool or do you go a little over the top? Check out our gallery of celebrities in transit to find out your own travel style.

Actress Anne Hathaway gives her casual jeans and T-shirt look a lift with this cream coloured blazer.

Miranda Kerr’s maxi dress is made cool with a black blazer and matching sunglasses.

Even with a baby in transit, Mary Crown Princess of Denmark, manages to keep herself looking stylish.

Queen of chic Katie Holmes is all about looking good, even after a 10 hour flight! Her plain white T-shirt and blue jeans teamed up with cream blazer leaves her looking comfy but chic.

Super cool singer Beyoncé Knowles, doesn’t let her comfort get in the way of looking good.

Cameron Diaz has successfully pulled off the comfy cool look, teaming light blue jeans with a scarf and jacket.

You can’t miss Katherine Heigl in this number! The Greys Anatomy star has lifted her comfy outfit with this bright silk trench coat.

Looking laid-back, Jennifer Aniston opts for the jeans and T-shirt look, teaming it with double jackets, a grey cardigan and a black leather jacket.

Hello, Reese. Are you in there? You can barely see Reese Witherspoon in her airport outfit. She has gone a little over the top with her accessories, or maybe she just ran out of room in her luggage!

Trench, check. Hat, check, Sunglasses, check. Kate Hudson keeps her accessories under control in flight

We aren’t sure if Kylie Minogue will be comfortable in this outfit for 10 hours, but she seems happy in her heels and figure-hugging dress.

Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman, obviously didn’t have time to change after their flight, so decided to travel all dressed up. They probably weren’t comfortable but at least they saved time!

Peekaboo Posh we still see you! Victoria Beckham chooses to travel in all black and hide behind her hat.

Travelling with two children can’t be easy, so Bec Hewitt opts for the super comfy look in this aqua number.

And the same goes for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, except in their case it’s six children under eight years of age. The whole family goes for the super comfy look.

Courteney Cox looks all rugged up for her flight. Although she has chosen super comfy clothes her purple scarf makes her ordinary outfit pop.

An almost unrecognisable Heidi Klum is a far cry from her usual super model staus in these super comfy clothes.

Sophie Monk keeps herself looking comfy in this simple maxi dress.

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