Lisa Riley

The household name should prove a hit with ITV’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here viewers after his many decades in the public eye and hugely successful career

A huge TV and pop icon from the ’80s is in ‘advanced talks’ to appear on this year’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!

Martin Kemp is poised to become the first star to join I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here as the second member of a family to have the jungle experience. The Spandau Ballet star is in “advanced talks” to join the hit ITV show when it launches next month.

And he’ll be following in the footsteps of his radio presenter son, Roman, who took part back in 2019. One insider said: “Martin is a household name having been top of the hit parade with Spandau Ballet in the 80s and then in EastEnders in the early 2000s – he’s a great signing and everyone is very excited at the prospect of getting him Down Under.”

One person who’ll be particularly thrilled is Roman himself, 32, who told the Mirror a couple of years ago that he’d be “very up” for his famous dad to take part.

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When Roman did it, he lasted the full 22 days and finished in third place, behind Corrie star Andy Whyment and winner Jacqueline Jossa.

But along the way he tackled some pretty tricky Bushtucker Trials – for which he held his dad partially responsible after he urged the public to nominate his son.

“Listen, I would do anything to see my dad eat llama anus,” Roman told the Mirror in 2022. “I’ll tell you why, because when I got nominated the first time it was the eating trial,” he recalled. “When you’re in there, you get so paranoid about why people are voting for you, because you’re like ‘am I coming across as a d*** and people want to see me suffer’?

“When I got out I was looking through some of the headlines, and it turns out the only reason I got voted to do that trial at the beginning was because my dad tweeted: ‘Let’s get my son to eat kangaroo anus’. So, my God, I’m very up for him going in.”

Once Martin arrives in the jungle, there will be a Kemp TV takeover in Britain with him on ITV alongside hosts Ant and Dec and his kids Roman and elder sister Harley Moon competing on BBC1’s Race Across the World from next week.

And Martin, who is a regular on Celebrity Gogglebox with Roman, will also be following his old bandmate Tony Hadley, who competed on the show in 2015, finishing in sixth place.

The singer of hits including True, Gold and To Cut a Long Story Short, afterwards described his jungle experience as “one of the best things I’ve ever done” despite his endless conflict with fellow contestant Lady Colin Campbell, who took an instant dislike to him.

Martin, 64, married to former Wham backing singer Shirley Holliman, is unlikely to ask Hadley for tips, after the rest of the Spandau members fell out with the lead singer when he quit the band in 2017.

Hadley told the Mirror earlier this year that he and Martin’s brother Gary – the band’s songwriter – were unlikely to work together again. “I haven’t spoken to him in 10 years. I don’t have anything to do with the Spandau thing at all,” he said.

This came after Gary claimed, in 2021, that he and Tony had never been mates “even at school”. But Martin has always remained hopeful about the possibility of a reunion, saying a few years ago: “It’s something I would love to do and I know Gary would love to do it. It’s very difficult to get five adults to say ‘yes’ at the same time. Tony at the moment doesn’t want to do it and I understand his reasons for wanting to be a solo singer.”

I’m a Celebrity is expected to start on ITV on November 16 with other camp-mates likely to include Emmerdale’s Lisa Riley and ex- EastEnder Shona McGarty plus radio host Nick Ferrari, comedian Ruby Wax, model Kelly Brook and presenter Vogue Williams.

A show spokesman said the official announcement would come soon, adding: “Any names suggested for I’m A Celebrity are speculation.”

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I Fought The Law has had viewers in tears and as Sheridan Smith’s triumphant return to the screen plays out, she is joined by a host of other familiar faces

I Fought The Law has had viewers in tears in recent days after the ITV drama first began to air. The four-part series follows the remarkable true story of the story of Ann Ming, a mother-of-three from Billingham, County Durham, who battled for 15 years to see her daughter Julie’s killer brought to justice after he was initially acquitted.

Julie Hogg, aged 22, was a mother to three-year-old son Kevin and wife to husband Andrew. She vanished after working a late shift at a local pizza parlour.

Heartbreakingly, Ann found Julie’s body hidden in the bathroom of her home in January 1990. 80 days earlier, the murderer had concealed Julie’s body behind the bath panel.

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Despite extensive searches by police forensics teams after Julie’s disappearance, they failed to locate Julie’s body.

The brand new drama features a stellar cast, headed up by none other than British TV legend Sheridan Smith, who has been a regular face on screens for decades. She started her career as Janet Smith on the BBC Three sitcom Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, which she appeared on alongside the likes of Ralf Little, Natalie Casey and Beverley Callard.

During the show’s lengthy run throughout the 2000s, she also appeared on Fat Friends opposite Emmerdale star Lisa Riley as well as sunny sitcom Benidorm and BBC favourite Gavin & Stacey. She then turned to musical theatre, winning an Olivier Award for her portrayal of Elle Woods, the character made famous by Reese Witherspoon, in the West End production of Legally Blonde.

Further stage credits in Funny Girl and, more recently, Shirley Valentine and Opening Night followed.

But it’s gritty dramas that Sheridan has really made her mark. In 2014, she starred as Cilla Black in Cilla, played a cleaner with a gambling addiction in Cleaning Up and also starred in a number of true crime dramas with her the mother of a young gay man killed by Stephen Port in Four Lives, and as Karen Matthews’ friend Julie Bushby in the BBC drama The Moorside.

But Sheridan is not the only famous face to be starring in the much-anticipated drama. She is joined by Enzo Cilenti as DS Mark Braithwaite. He previously starred in Jekyll & Hyde for ITV alongside Hollywood star Richard E. Grant and Strictly Come Dancing’s Natalie Gumede. He also had a main role as Aubrey Hackett in The Last Tycoon opposite Lily Collins, Matt Bomer and Kelsey Grammar and can also be seen alongside Olivia Colman and Dominic West in the 2019 BBC version of Les Miserables.

Esteemed actor Andrew Lancel makes an appearance as Guy Whitburn QC in I Fought The Law, but soap fans are likely to remember him as the villainous Frank Foster on Coronation Street. He appeared as the business associate of Underworld manager Carla Connor (Alison King), and subjected the factory boss to a horrific act of rape.

He was later found dead on the factory floor and it turned out that he had been murdered by his own mother Anne, who was played by Heartbeat favourite Gwen Taylor, after she discovered what he had done. Prior to his stint on the cobbles, he had appeared on Bad Girls and Queer as Folk and has also carved out an illustrious career in theatre having starred in tours of The Sound of Music and Cilla.

The cast is rounded out by Victoria Wyant, who plays the victim in question, as well as Rivals star as Rufus Jones. The actor recently starred as Paul Stratton in the hit Disney+ series and has also starred in The Casual Vacancy and appeared in the likes of Inside No. 9, Beyond Paradise and Black Ops over the years. Fans of Hollyoaks might also recognise Kent Riley, who played Zak Ramsey in the Channel 4 soap.

CBBC fans might also recognise Aimee Kelly, who plays Judith Morden in the drama series. The actress first found fame as a teenager when she played Maddy Smith in the hit supernatural series Wolfblood opposite Bobby Lockwood.

Since she quit the supernatural series more than a decade ago, she has appeared in episodes of Call The Midwife, Grantchester and Holby City. In 2024, she played Sasha in the psychological thriller Platform 7. Others set to appear in the programme, which finishes its run on September 8, are Jack James Riley, Bryony Corrigan, and Buddy Wignall-Ho.

Ann, unhappy with the Cleveland Constabulary’s investigation, took it upon herself to challenge senior officers in a bid to uncover the truth about her daughter Julie’s murder and bring the culprit to justice.

William Dunlop was twice put on trial for Julie’s murder, each time denying his guilt. On both occasions, the jury failed to reach a verdict, leading to his formal acquittal and release.

In 1999, while serving a seven-year sentence for violent offences, Dunlop confessed to a prison officer that he had murdered Julie. At the time, due to the double jeopardy rule, he could not be retried for the murder following his acquittal.

Ann, who also serves as a consultant on I Fought the Law, expressed her support for the ITV series and shared her delight that actress Sheridan would be portraying her, stating she was “overwhelmed”.

“I am very pleased that Hera Pictures will tell the story of my campaign to overturn the Double Jeopardy Law. My daughter’s killer was wrongfully acquitted, and a number of years later confessed to her murder, for which he could only be prosecuted for perjury due to the 800-year-old Double Jeopardy Law. I wasn’t going to let this stand in my way of getting justice for Julie.

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Dominic Brunt has announced Paddy Kirk will be brutally attacked by a dog in a jaw-dropping Emmerdale storyline. But the aftermath is set to flip his life upside down.

He’s been playing vet Paddy Kirk for the past 28 years – so it’s no surprise Dominic Brunt knows the Emmerdale rollercoaster better than most.

But in upcoming scenes due on ITV, the village favourite’s world is shaken after he’s attacked by an aggressive dog. “He’s already scared of horses,” Dominic says, “Now he’s got something else to be scared of.”

Everything kicks off when Paddy spots a sheep tangled in a fence. He steps in to help – but a protective dog lunges at him, leaving him badly injured. Paddy is saved from the worst by his father Bear Wolf (Joshua Richards) and rushed to hospital.

The intense scenes were carefully choreographed with a highly-trained Alsatian and off-camera, Dominic had nothing but praise for the canine.

“That dog could do anything, he was amazing,” he remembers, “He’s an evil-looking thing. He’d growl and slabber everywhere but you felt really safe because as soon as someone pulled out his favourite food, he’d start wagging his tail. It was a big game to the dog but it was really impressive.”

The attack triggers a huge shift in Paddy. Known for his dislike of hoses, it sends his confidence plummeting even further. “He worries about the fact that he won’t be able to do his job anymore,” Dominic says. “He has no other skills and he’s goning to have to work it out what he’s going to do in the future.”

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And it’s not just Paddy struggling. He’s been increasingly worried about his father Bear, whose mental health has been deteriorating. “Paddy’s kicking himself that he hasn’t noticed,” Dominic says, “But the attack makes him see eye to eye with his dad.”

Unfortunately, just as the two start to connect, Bear flees.“Bear leaves the village for a good, long while,” Dominic teases, “But he has a big story coming up. We’ll explain where he’s been.”

Amid the fallout of Paddy’s attack, Emmerdale welcomes a new face: Jaye Griffiths joins the cast as Celia, a no-nonsense farmer who ruffles feathers and tries to strike a deal with Moira Dingle.

Dominic was thrilled to work with her. “She’s just unbelievable,” he says, “I was aware of her from various long-standing shows she’s been in. I did her screen test.

They auditioned lots of people and it was down to the last eight. All the actresses were brilliant but she did something else. It’s one of those scenes where you think, ‘This is something special.’ I can’t wait for people to meet her.”

With almost three decades of soap under his belt, Dominic has built strong bonds off-screen too. For nine years, he co-hosted a zombie film festival in Leeds with pal Mark Charnock, raising money for the World Animal Protection.

“We don’t do it anymore, I don’t know why,” Dominic says, “There’s only so many zombie films you can show. We have children and we live quite far apart now.”

Distance has never mattered in his friendship with Lisa Riley, who plays Mandy Dingle. “We were still friends when Lisa left. We stayed in contact all the time and met up for lunch,” he says.

“She’s a friend for life. When they brought us back together, it was like slipping on an old pair of shoes. We’re very close, we know each other’s thoughts.”

He’s just as warm about his other on-screen wives. “I worked with Zoe Henry for years and we became really close. Then they put me with Lucy Pargeter and we were best friends for seven, or eight years,” Dominic adds. “I was really pleased that, although I wasn’t with them, I was back to my original best friend.”

Despite saving all sorts of animals as Paddy, Dominic sticks to simpler companions at home: three dogs and a handful of cats. “I’m more of a cat person but in recent years, I’ve swayed towards dogs. They get you out – we live in the middle of nowhere, and I enjoy taking walks,” he says.

Dominic has also been vocal about wanting Emmerdale to show more of Paddy’s ongoing mental health battle. In 2023, the beloved vet was diagnosed with depression after struggling with isolation and grief.

Since then, he has been linked to Andy’s Man Club, a national men’s mental health charity. “I’d like to see more mention of the fact that it still relies on the Samaritans and Andy’s Man club, but they’re going to sprinkle a bit of that,” Dominic says.

“He has to have one eye on the fact that this can come back and a dog attack can spring it back up. This happens to people with depression – they can feel well for years and then they’re back there. Nobody’s ever out of the woods.”

Away from the cameras, Dominic keeps busy. He plays the mandolin and has a fascination for archeology – he’s even studied it. “I get these intense obsessions that last about four to five years, then I’ll get bored very quickly and drop it all, it’s weird,” he says. “I return to them but they become more of a hobby than an obsession.”

Still, it’s Emmerdale that holds his heart. “It’s still an incredible job,” he says, “I’m still nervous when I have masses of lines to do and really well-written scenes.

But it’s one of the best jobs in the world. As long as they keep writing these storylines, I’m sold. I’m very loyal to the show and I still love it to pieces.”

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