Formula 1 is being ruined by political correctness, claims Tamara Ecclestone, whose billionaire father Bernie was motorsport’s supremo until 2017.
“Times have changed since he was in charge, and maybe they’ve changed a little for the worse,” she tells me at the Hyde Park Winter Wonderland preview evening in London.
‘Everyone is very offended… You have to be so careful what you say. It’s everything, even if sometimes you think it’s meant as a joke.’
Last year, F1 champion Lewis Hamilton called for the ‘grandees’ of the sport to be silenced, saying ‘enough is enough’.
He was responding to Nelson Piquet’s use of racist slurs when referring to him, and to Ecclestone’s defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “first-class person.”
Formula 1 is being ruined by political correctness, claims Tamara Ecclestone (pictured), whose billionaire father Bernie was motorsport’s supremo until 2017
Last year, F1 champion Lewis Hamilton called for the sport’s ‘grandees’ to be silenced, saying ‘enough is enough’
He was responding to Nelson Piquet’s use of racist slurs when referring to him, and to Ecclestone’s defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “first-class person.”
Bernie Ecclestone looks on in the Paddock ahead of the sprint ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Brazil at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace on November 4
Darcey’s strict support for Croft
Strictly Come Dancing contestant Annabel Croft left the judges and her audience in tears as she paid an emotional tribute to her late husband Mel Coleman earlier this month.
She brought down the house by blowing a kiss to the heavens at the end of her captivating performance.
The ex-tennis star will perform the American Smooth together with Johannes Radebe (right) at the Blackpool Tower this evening.
As Croft, 57, prepares, she is getting support from her friend and former strict judge Dame Darcey Bussell, 54 (left), who she saw this week.
“It’s amazing how Annabel has been able to express her grief through dancing,” says Dame Darcey.
‘Being on Strictly has really helped her cope and given her the focus and attention of working with a beautiful man like Johannes. They are a beautiful and elegant couple and will be beautiful in super Blackpool.’
Strictly Come Dancing contestant Annabel Croft (left, with Darcey Bussell) left the judges and her audience in tears as she paid an emotional tribute to her late husband Mel Coleman earlier this month
Annabel Croft with strictly professional dance partner Johannes Radebe on November 4
Tom Hiddleston with girlfriend Zawe Ashton
Hiddleston plays a sincere role
The Night Manager star Tom Hiddleston and his girlfriend, actress Zawe Ashton, became parents last year – and are determined to help those whose children were born prematurely.
The couple (right) attended the Borne to Dance Gala in London this week, which raised more than £100,000 for Borne, a charity working to end premature birth.
“Borne is doing extraordinary things in investigating the cause of stillbirth,” says 42-year-old Old Etonian Hiddleston.
Ashton, 39, has not revealed the name or gender of their child.
The smart set is talking about… A success story for the son of Earl of Bradford
Alexander Bridgeman’s wife Eliza (photo) is expecting their first child
After an acrimonious divorce from his second wife, eminent obstetrician Dr Penelope Law, the Earl of Bradford has finally received some uplifting news.
The restaurateur’s son and heir, Alexander Bridgeman, Viscount Newport, becomes a father.
His wife Eliza is expecting their first child – and they have guaranteed succession because the baby will be a boy.
“Lord and Lady Newport are very excited to welcome a baby boy in the spring,” a spokesperson confirmed.
Latvian-born Eliza showed off her baby bump in this photo online (right). “Baby Newport is getting harder to hide,” she notes.
The 32-year-old married Lord Newport, 43, last year in a lavish three-day wedding at his family’s ancestral home of Weston Park, in Shropshire.
I can’t wait to find out what name they give him. The Earl’s second son, Harry Bridgeman, named his child Moon – a brother to their girls River and Sunny.
Lady Colin’s luxury flat donor revealed
The mystery man who gave Lady Colin Campbell the ‘extremely generous’ gift of a penthouse apartment in Tangier can be revealed.
He is Jonathan Dawson, a journalist who was sent to cover the Moroccan city and decided to stay.
“She’s a sweetheart,” he says of the royal biographer who wasn’t to everyone’s taste when she took part in I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! in 2015.
‘I’ve known her for forty years. I moved to Gibraltar and decided to give her my flat.’
Yesterday I announced that Lady Colin had been given the flat where Dawson once hosted Sir Michael Palin at the travel presenter’s 60th birthday.
Comédienne Katherine Ryan has undergone several surgeries over the years. “Not so many plastic surgeries,” says the 40-year-old, “just different things – tonsils out… real medical surgeries.” The Canadian star of Channel 4 hit 8 Out Of 10 Cats added: ‘Before I go down I get really nervous and try to make a joke. Ever since I’ve been on television in this country, I’ve said, ‘Be careful. If you kill me it will be in the Ny Breaking.’
Queen Camilla is not upset when her old friend Nicky Haslam calls the Prince and Princess of Wales childish and unsophisticated, with a ‘normal’ dress sense.
“We’re doing well because I haven’t said anything bad about her,” the 84-year-old interior designer tells me at Langan’s Brasserie in Mayfair, central London.
He adds: ‘I can say everything about William because he is my (distant) cousin.’
Haslam, born to one of Queen Victoria’s goddaughters, adds of his playful ‘Common List’: ‘People have seen the funny side – I love it.’
The only way is Essex for Jack
Comedian Jack Whitehall with his wife Roxy Horner at The Mandrake Hotel on November 16
Jack Whitehall grew up and now lives in West London.
But the comedian, who went to Marlborough College, believes the only way is Essex for his daughter Elsie, who is two months old.
Her mother, model Roxy Horner (above, with Jack), is from Rayleigh in the county. “I absolutely intend to raise her as a full-fledged Essex girl to liquidate my father,” says Jack, referring to ex-theatrical agent Michael Whitehall, who he has called “the world’s biggest snob”. Jack tells me, “I want Elsie’s first words to be, ‘Shut up.’
(Very) modern manners
Are you struggling to put a painful breakup behind you?
Paloma Faith has given fans a very modern, seven-point ‘break-up survival guide’ following the collapse of the singer’s marriage to French artist Leyman Lahcine.
Advice includes ‘block them on all social media’ and wear a ‘full look’ every day. Faith, 42, says, “You have to empower yourself, get dressed, put on your makeup.” After writing lyrics about the breakup for her new album, she adds: “Turn your suffering into wealth, do something creative.”
Faith reveals she even paid for a billboard at the end of Lahcine’s road to plaster her likeness: “I actually did this, so I hope he looked at me every day and said something like ‘s***’.”