RICHARD EDEN: ‘I wish him well,’ says Bear Grylls of chum Russell Brand

Sometimes he shocks his fans, like when he took refuge in the carcass of a camel in the Sahara. He first removed the organs and skinned the camel, then used the skin as a blanket to spend the night.

But has survival specialist Bear Grylls ever provoked the same disbelief – or even disgust – as he did in April when he starred in Russell Brand’s baptism?

If so, then Grylls handles criticism as fearlessly as he does any extreme challenge.

In his first public statement since the ceremony – which saw Brand fully submerged in the River Thames near his home in Henley – Grylls described it as “a privilege” to have stood alongside the disgraced comedian turned conspiracy theorist.

Fully aware that many feel uneasy about Brand — who is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police following allegations of historical sexual misconduct, which he vehemently denies — Grylls added: “Let’s hope those allegations aren’t true, for everyone’s sake. I always try to live without judging anyone.”

Grylls, 50, confirms he bonded with Brand, 49, when the self-proclaimed ‘thought leader’ appeared on Running Wild, one of Grylls’ reality survival shows.

“I stand by a lot of people… try to never judge, always love, always be kind, support people wherever they are. He was a guest of Running Wild and a friend… proud to do that.”

Any chance that Brand’s baptism – and specifically Grylls’ role in it – would remain private evaporated when Brand posted photos on social media.

The images caused great unrest in The Scout Association, where Grylls has been an inspirational Chief Scout. Weeks later I announced that he would step down from the post he has held since 2009 later this year.

But Grylls has no regrets about his unwavering support for Brand. He describes his friend’s christening as “a journey of a lifetime” and adds: “I really wish him – and his lovely family – all the best.”

Poppy twerks for England on luxury yacht

Of all the football celebrations you can do, twerking (provocatively dancing in a squatting position) is certainly the most unlikely.

And of all the places to twerk when England scores, a private yacht in the Mediterranean is certainly not conventional.

But model and socialite Poppy Delevingne brought the atmosphere of a British pub to her Italian holiday with friends as they watched the thrilling match between England and the Netherlands on Wednesday.

The St George’s flags adorned the deck and Poppy, who always carried an outfit for every occasion, wore an English shirt with a matching English-themed party hat.

In a video posted by a friend, Poppy stands in front of the TV cheering and cheering, followed by a clip of her twerking naturally.

A victory for the Henman family, I might add, in the final week of Wimbledon — albeit an ambiguous one.

In his final months, Tony Henman, who died in May aged 84, led a rearguard action to save the village shop and post office in Weston-on-the-Green, Oxfordshire, where his youngest son Tim grew up and learned to play tennis.

His efforts were not in vain.

“The post office and the store are now safe,” a local resident tells me.

‘Tony was the first to speak at the village hall meeting and probably the first to become a shareholder and raise money to save the village.’

Sir Elton John has been a music icon for decades, but that went unnoticed by a shopkeeper on the French Riviera, where the singer spends his summers.

I hear that Sir Elton, who performed three times to a packed Accor Arena in Paris during his last singing tour, Farewell Yellow Brick Road, was mistaken for an Australian tourist and nearly refused access to the toilet when he entered the Sugarkikz sports shoe store in Nice with his sons Zachary and Elijah.

Until Lebanese owner Ryan Sukkar, 22, reportedly asked the superstar what he did for a living, to which he replied, “I’m Elton John.”

Sukkar immediately picked up his phone to google his name.

How much would you pay to read Christine Keeler’s diary?

Yesterday, the late British model’s small appointment book dating from 1962 and letters from her time in prison, which had been expected to fetch £12,000, sold at auction for £15,600.

Keeler, through her friendship with osteopath Stephen Ward and an affair with John Profumo, the Secretary of State for War, was a key figure in the Profumo scandal, which led to the downfall of Harold Macmillan’s Conservative government in 1963.

“I hope the sale will raise awareness of the campaign to overturn my mother’s 1963 conviction,” said her son Seymour Platt.

David Lammy mocked Boris Johnson, David Cameron and James Cleverly as ‘not the class of people Britain needs running the country right now’.

How will the new Foreign Secretary deal with his colleague, Henry Tufnell, the son of an old Eton landowner and Labour MP for Mid and South Pembrokeshire?

Lammy may meet Tufnell’s wife who, while at Oxford, ignored Hugh Grant when she visited his old college.

“He’s not quite handsome enough to keep us waiting so long—I’ve gone away,” she said. Her name? Poppy Rimington-Pounder.

Useless presenter Alexander Armstrong claims he can remember his time as an unborn baby.

“I really think I have a memory from the womb,” Armstrong, 54, reveals.

‘My whole life I’ve had this extraordinarily incredibly vivid sensory memory of something being a little jarring — like trying to push an eraser against a lacquered table top. Maybe it was my entrance, or my exit [from the womb].

Edited by Lara Olszowska