lined

MADONNA is being lined up to make a superstar appearance at London Pride on Saturday.

She has long been a celebrated figure in the LGBTQ+ community, and kicked off Pride Month with a surprise showing in New York last month.

London Pride, which is expecting 1.8million people, will take place at locations across the centre of the capital, with acts including Beth Ditto and MNEK booked to play the main stage in Trafalgar Square.

And my music moles have told me that is where they are expecting Madge to pop up.

My insider explained: “Madonna is a passionate advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and has been a very vocal campaigner for decades.

“Pride means so much to her and the London event happens the day after Confessions II is released.

MUM MODE

Madonna speaks out on ‘rift’ with ‘standoffish’ daughter Lourdes Leon

AT LONG GLAST!

Madonna, 67, gives huge hint she’ll FINALLY perform at Glastonbury

“Organisers are playing it by ear in case of any last-minute changes but as it stands, Madonna is primed to come out on the main stage.

“She isn’t going to be performing like she did in New York. It’s more her coming out, speaking to the crowd and then heading off.

“They’re expecting absolute pandemonium if they pull it off.

“But it would be incredible for everyone going to the Pride event in London.”

Madge’s surprise 20-minute set in the Big Apple just weeks ago went down a storm with the crowds, who watched her sing Get Together live for the first time in two decades.

And fans don’t have long to wait until they can hear Confessions II, her latest album with producer Stuart Price.

Madonna has signed a huge new deal with TikTok, with the app streaming tracks from the record live tomorrow night from her VIP album launch party.

The hour-long broadcast will also see Madonna being interviewed about the making of the record, as well as playing a handful of her favourite songs from Confessions II.

It’s a big move for Madonna, after she revealed this week that she can’t stand social media, branding it “mesmerising and also soul-destroying”.

She told Vogue Italia: “Algorithms and artificial intelligence are the opposite of taking risks and to me that is the opposite of making art.”

Anything for us fans eh, Madge?

NICOLE’S PUSSYHAT DOLL

NICOLE SCHERZINGER is brimming with happiness in this sunhat as she celebrates her 48th birthday.

The Pussycat Dolls singer posed for a selfie at the beach on Monday.

Nicole is with her British fiancé Thom Evans in Hawaii, where she was born.

She said: “Last day at this age and she was feeling cute at sunset, back home at her fave beach.”

Nicole will begin rehearsals later this summer for the Pussycat Dolls reunion tour. UK arena shows start on September 29 in Birmingham.

BAD BUNNY COURTS OLD FLAME AT WIMBLEDON

BAD BUNNY has hopped back into his ex’s good books.

He has rekindled his romance with jewellery designer Gabriela Berlingeri, who was with him before fame arrived.

The Puerto Rican rapper played to more than 100,000 fans during two sell-out shows at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at the weekend.

There in support was Gabriela, who has quietly been accompanying him on tour.

She was also by his side at Wimbledon on Monday.

They met in 2017 and dated until 2022. She even appeared as a bride in the video to his 2022 single Titi Me Pregunto.

But he later got together with Kendall Jenner and they dated for 18 months.

Bad Bunny has had quite the glow-up in the past few years and he’s become one of the most-streamed acts in the world.

I’m sure Gabriela will now be the envy of millions.

BRITISH girl group Flo have found a superfan in K-Pop sensation Taemin.

Jorja Douglas, Stella Quaresma and Renee Downer met Taemin backstage at BST Hyde Park where they played on Sunday, after he requested an audience with them.

A source said: “Taemin absolutely loves FLO and thinks they’re brilliant. They talked about working on a collaboration together, which made Taemin’s day.

“They were laughing and joking around for ages before the girls offered to teach him the dance routine to their song, Leak It.”

LILY’S SITTING PRETTY

SULTRY Lily Allen actually has plenty to smile about despite her very public divorce from Stranger Things actor David Harbour.

The singer and actress wore satin lingerie and tiny black shorts when she brought her West End Girl tour to London’s O2 Arena at the weekend – and will return to the capital next week for a third gig at the venue.

Despite looking moody while sitting in a chair on stage, Lily found her smile again as she clutched a bouquet of flowers.

Lily has spent much of the year on the road and was back on stage in Dublin last night.

After a summer of festivals, she will fly to North America in September to play arenas there.

It’s clear Lily is chuffed with the show she has created, which sees her perform her West End Girl album in full.

She wrote on X: “Everyone on this tour is really working very hard to give people the best show we possibly can, and I’m extremely proud of it.”

SAM: I’M HOOKED ON FISH

SAM SMITH has revealed a yearning to be a fishmonger.

The Promises singer told the Dish from Waitrose podcast: “I’m still gutted I’m not a fishmonger. Honestly, I’m not just saying this.

“I was lucky as a kid. We used to go to Waitrose a lot – and the fish section, I just loved. I just like to handle fish. I don’t know, it felt very calming.”

Earlier this year I told that Sam had launched a TikTok account called Sam Served, which documents favourite meals.

And it’s all part of a ploy to get closer to the fish counter.

Sam said: “I was in San Francisco on tour and I was bored, so,I filmed myself eating and it’s just reignited the fishmonger in me.”

I’VE got a sneaky suspicion there may soon be a song featuring pop girls Zara Larsson and Jade Thirlwall.

The pair secretly had a studio session in Paris last week, after the Solidays Festival, where they were both set to perform, was cancelled due to bad weather. I have high hopes for whatever it is they come up with.

BOWIE TREASURE ON TOUR

DAVID BOWIE fans are in for a treat as the V&A Museum has announced today that his incredible archive of outfits, handwritten lyrics and photographs are going on tour for the first time.

David Bowie: On Tour opens at V&A Dundee in November, before heading to Blackpool, County Durham, Hull and Bristol, with more locations to follow.

The collection on Bowie features never-before-seen items including Polaroids for his make-up and costume fittings, a Ziggy Stardust-era acoustic guitar, unreleased projects, lyrics, performance notes and costumes from the singer’s final albums The Next Day and Blackstar.

WILL’S BRIEFS ENCOUNTER

SEEING Will Ferrell playing golf in his underpants wasn’t on my wish list.

But Kim Kardashian signed the actor to model her Skims men’s undies – and it has certainly got us all talking.

Will appears in blue briefs for the new ad campaign, though he was in character as golfer Lonnie Hawkins from his new Netflix comedy series, The Hawk, out July 16.

Kim said of Will: “His body says retired, his Skims say one more round. Built for men who still know they’ve got it.”

If you say so, Kim.

SHAGGY IS THE RIO DEAL

THEY say never meet your heroes, but Shaggy has spent a lifetime doing exactly that.

He has no shortage of famous fans and everyone from Nelson Mandela to Michael Jackson has sung his praises.

In a chat with showbiz reporter Freya Fraser at Rock In Rio Lisboa festival in Portugal, he said of meeting the former South African president: “We were at an award show in South Africa and we’re at the same table.

“He just kind of says, ‘You’re doing really great stuff’.

“We had a great conversation. I’ve met a lot of other people. Michael Jackson was also a super-big Shaggy fan.

“That’s documented on YouTube, everybody sees that. I have actually performed twice for Pope Francis. Queen Elizabeth, we performed for her Jubilee. I met all my heroes, to be honest with you.”

Shaggy is not modest when it comes to his achievements, and he is pretty flashy with his lifestyle too, even if he reckons he isn’t.

He said: “I’m a very practical person, so I’m not buying cars I don’t drive because I’m always on tour. I never drive anywhere, somebody’s always driving me around.

“I’m not buying homes I don’t live in. I have two homes. I’m not buying five of them, you know, I’ll rent them when I need them.”

But he is humble when it comes to his career, which has seen 16 Top 40 hits including four No1s.

He said: “I’m not a genius, God gave me those. If I wrote them, I’d be writing one every week.”

CAUGHT LIVE

Central Cee @ Rock In Rio Lisboa

★★★★☆

CENTRAL CEE ticked Lisbon off his bucket list as he took over the World Stage at Rock In Rio Lisboa before headliner 21 Savage.

On what was the most rap-focused line-up in the festival’s 22-year history, the Londoner tore through a mammoth 21-track set, including Loading, Doja, and Band4Band.

Cench proved he is an international star as thousands of Portuguese fans rapped every word back to him.

The atmosphere could not have been more different from the night before, when Sir Rod Stewart, Cyndi Lauper and Joss Stone had fans swaying along to their anthems.

Staying true to his nonchalant persona, Central Cee – real name Oakley Neil Caesar-Su – asked: “We’re not in a rush, are we?”

And as he worked the crowd and whizzed through high-profile collaborations such as Did It First with Ice Spice and Dave’s Sprinter, I was getting treated like an A-lister.

Rock In Rio Lisboa pulled out all the stops for its guests, with one of the biggest hospitality areas I have ever seen.

The UK may have provided a lot of the talent on this occasion, but we could learn a thing or two from Portugal’s festival scene.

FREYA FRASER

I Will Find You stars Gilmore Girls legend Milo Ventimiglia and Severance icon Britt Lower.

Harlan Coben fans have yet another Netflix thriller to get excited about.

I Will Find You has gone down a storm with Netflix subscribers with the eight-part thriller still topping the streamer’s most-watched charts.

But that doesn’t come as too much of a surprise given that it’s based on another best-selling Harlan Coben novel, following in the footsteps of Run Away earlier this year.

But the author and Netflix showrunner doesn’t let the grass grow for very long as he’s now busy bringing to life another of his books for the small screen. And this time, it’s one of Coben’s most “iconic” characters who has starred in a whopping 12 of the author’s novels.

Watch Unchosen on Netflix

This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more

Starts at £5.99

Netflix

Watch now

Harlan Coben’s Myron Bolitar novels initially began in 1995 with the release of Deal Breaker, delving into the titular character’s world as a sports agent.

Bolitar was an NBA superstar but was forced to switch careers and so now represents other sporting heroes but often finds himself “investigating blackmail attempts, murder and more”.

The new adaptation is also going to be co-showrun, co-written and co-executive produced by Lincoln Lawyer and Big Little Lies creator David E Kelley and Suits writer and co-producer Kyle Long.

Myron Bolitar is currently in development with an expected release date window sometime in late 2027.

Netflix’s Head of Series US and Canada Jinny Howe described Bolitar as Coben’s “most personal and iconic character”.

She continued: “Bringing this story to the screen has been a big priority for us, and we knew that finding the right creative partners was essential.

“It’s been a dream to collaborate with David E. Kelley — a true master of the genre, and the talented Kyle Long on this series.

“This is a major milestone for our partnership, and we look forward to many more years of working together.”

But before viewers can get excited about Myron Bolitar, another Coben drama will be released in early 2027, once again starring Fool Me Once actress Michelle Keegan.

Based on his 2007 novel of the same name, The Woods will see Keegan’s character investigate the 20-year-old disappearance of a barrister’s sister whose traumatic past soon comes to light.

Keegan will be joined by Behind Her Eyes’ Tom Bateman, Mobland star Mandeep Dhillon and Small Prophets actor Pearce Quigley.

Harlan Coben dramas are available to watch on Netflix.

FORMER X Factor winner Matt Cardle is set to come face to face with Simon Cowell on live TV again – 16 years after winning the ITV talent show.

I can reveal that Matt is being lined up to perform at one of the Britain’s Got Talent live finals in the coming weeks.

Rather than performing new solo music, Matt will take to the stage as part of a special performance of West End hit Kinky Boots.

He is starring in the musical at the London Coliseum alongside Strictly Come Dancing’s Johannes Radebe.

A source said: “Simon is a huge fan of musicals and the bosses at Britain’s Got Talent are keen to push the arts as much as possible.

“With that in mind, a number of the live acts booked for the finals this year come from West End shows.

OLIVIA’S IN DE-NILE

Olivia Dean lines up disco legend to help with brand new music

KRUSHED TROLLS

Meghan Trainor on advice Kris Jenner gave her to beat trolls after abuse

“Matt and the Kinky Boots cast are set to perform in a few weeks’ time – it really will be a full circle moment for him.”

This weekend, former BGT winner Sydnie Christmas will perform her new single – Run.

Bizarre’s Jack hung out on the set of her music video earlier this year, so we can’t wait to see that one live.

Zara‘s feeling f-Lush

Zara Larsson has me counting down the days to my summer holiday after hopping on this float to promote her Main Rose swimwear brand.

She was living her own Lush Life as she soaked up some rays ahead of headlining Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Sunderland next month.

This Friday she will release the deluxe version of her fifth album, Midnight Sun: Girls Trip, packed with collaborations, including Tyla and Shakira.

And it’s testament to Zara trusting herself.

On writing and recording the track, which came out last year, she said: “I stopped focusing so much on what I thought other people would want from me or what I thought radio would want, and just started focusing on what I wanted to do.

“Ironically that’s when people start caring.”

Liam family praise for Louis’s heartfelt concert

Liam Payne’s loved ones made a lowkey trip to his One Direction bandmate Louis Tomlinson’s tour.

Some of Liam’s relatives including sister Nicola were in a VIP box to see Louis perform at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena last weekend.

During the show, Louis was visibly emotional when singing Dark To Light – a track he wrote about Liam’s death.

Taking to Instagram, Nicola said: “Thank you Louis Tomlinson for last night.

“It was extremely emotional, but really beautiful, and it meant a lot to be there.

“Your staging and your songs are beautiful. A truly special night.”

Louis has previously spoken warmly about Liam.

He said: “I could talk all day about how amazing he was.

“We all looked up to him, he was vastly experienced before any of us had done anything.

“If he could just for five minutes live in my head or your head and see how we perceive him, he would be so shocked.

“He was pure.”

The wait for Madonna and Sabrina Carpenter’s collaboration is almost over, as it’s being released this Friday.

The superstars recently performed Bring Your Love at Coachella and now they are putting out the official audio.

The pair made the announcement yesterday when they shared a new photo of themselves with the caption: “We’ve got something to say about it,” which is a reference to Madonna’s 1989 song Express Yourself.

It will be the first official single from the Queen of Pop’s forthcoming album Confessions On A Dancefloor: Part II, after she released a teaser track, I Feel So Free, earlier this month.

Humanize 102 words

Pink girl’s a leg-end

Pink has sold out stadiums and had No1s across the globe, but as far as daughter Willow is concerned she’s top of the charts as an embarrassing mum.

At the opening night of The Lost Boys musical in New York they posed for photots on the red carpet.

But while standing in front of the snappers, Pink gestured at the slit in Willow’s skirt and said, “Show off your legs,” to which the youngster snapped: “No!”

Alan’s tequila stunrise

Alan Carr once fell in the Serpentine in London’s Hyde Park after drinking “hallucinogenic tequila” on his Chatty Man TV show.

The comedian said he was still feeling the effects the next day as he walked his dogs and suffered a mishap.

He explained he’d had a tequila the night before but was given a hallucinogenic one by mistake.

He added: “I couldn’t sober up and I fell in the Serpentine, p***ed.

“My old dog Bev, bless her, she dropped the ball in the Serpentine and I went forward to pick it up. And I think all the tequila rushed to the front of my head and I just fell in.”

Speaking on his Life’s A Beach podcast, he added: “In films, the dogs are meant to jump in and save you, but they were just wagging their tails, like, ‘What’s this p***head done again?’

“So I was just soaking wet and I had to walk . . . You know, when people are pulling their kids away, ‘Come away from the strange man,’ and all that.”

Capital’s Summertime Ball is returning to London, taking over Wembley Stadium to entertain 80,000 fans on June 6.

The line-up will be revealed by Jordan North, Chris Stark and Sian Welby on Capital Breakfast this morning and tomorrow, before tickets go on sale through the Global Player app at 9am on Thursday.

Gracie has secret follow-up

Gracie Abrams is back, two years after her album The Secret Of Us topped the charts.

The American singer released a teaser on Instagram yesterday, and it appears to be a snippet from the lead single for her upcoming third album.

The record is rumoured to be all about falling for Normal People actor Paul Mescal, although it doesn’t sound like it’s been smooth sailing.

They were reported to have briefly split in early 2025, and the song will do little to shut down that speculation.

Gracie sings: “I used to see clearly but it’s bloodshot. And I want you so badly but I closed off.

“I used to think we’d get married. But I guess not.”

Last summer we revealed Paul was at Gracie’s Glastonbury set, singing along to every word.

In February, they made their red-carpet debut at the Baftas in London.

And last month I told how Gracie had moved from LA into Paul’s London home, while he films the upcoming Beatles biopics.

Her last album was all about heartbreak, but I’m expecting some sunnier moments this time around.