EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Selina Scott turns down ‘outdated’ BBC Breakfast 40th anniversary reunion offer

The normally placid waters of BBC Breakfast have been turned into a whirlwind by Selina Scott, who launched the show with the late Frank Bough. She declined the producers’ invitation to join the highly publicized 40th anniversary celebrations next week.

I hear BBC bosses are asking the producers why they failed to lure Selina to their sofa in Salford, Greater Manchester, to join in a look back at the opening day broadcast. “It’s like Hamlet without the Prince of Denmark,” fumes a senior executive.

BBC Breakfast has followed up its celebratory show with frequent footage of disgraced Selina co-host Frank Bough, who was fired from the show after he was discovered in a Mayfair brothel. It is understood that this promotion hardly helped attract Selina.

Despite her dislike of Bough, who tried to seduce a fellow host on the show and bragged about the size of his ‘manhood,’ this isn’t why viewers will be missing Selina when the show airs Tuesday. .

She tells me: ‘The problem with the BBC is that it doesn’t inspire women like me anymore. We are of interest only if we are always traveling the yellow brick road, reminiscing, or hosting cooking shows.

‘It has to be all down memory lane or we are history to them. Many women who continue to live challenging lives refuse to bow the knee to these outdated and, frankly, ridiculous television stereotypes. We prefer to look ahead rather than remember forever. Selina was robbed by the BBC of her job as a presenter on ITN and was paid a whopping £1,000 a week, prompting questions in Parliament about her salary. At the time, she was the most glamorous woman on television and she garnered as much press attention as Princess Diana, who she was said to resemble.

I can also reveal another reason why Selina said ‘thanks, but no thanks’: having agreed, after much persuasion, to participate in Breakfast’s 25th anniversary, she impressed the production team so much with her handling of the live show , which urged the editors to rehire her. Unfortunately this never happened.

“It’s not that she feels rejected,” a friend tells me. She doesn’t look back in anger, but they say revenge is a dish best served cold.

Selina tells me, ‘I won’t be watching, but I wish the show the best.’

Ramsay acquires the former family home of Gina, lover of Matt Hancock

The set of Gordon Ramsay’s new ‘toughest cooking competition ever’, Next Level Chef on ITV, looks like a dank multi-storey car park. When the fiery Glaswegian is done with work, he prefers somewhere much cozier.

I can reveal that the foul-mouthed 56-year-old cook has just spent millions on a five-bedroom Edwardian house in one of London’s most desirable areas.

He and his wife, Tana, 48, are believed to have bought the property from Gina Coladangelo and her estranged husband, Oliver Tress, the founder of the luxury homewares and clothing chain Oliver Bonas.

Gina, 45, left Tress, with whom she has three children, for former health secretary Matt Hancock, 44, who competed on I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! “Ramsay’s been seen out there, measuring,” one of his new neighbors in south-west London tells me.

The home was not known to be on the market and the price has not been disclosed. Zoopla puts its value at up to £4.75m.

Tress and Gina paid £3.8 million for it in 2015.

A similar property on the same road, with a 90ft garden, is currently on the market for £4m. It is understood that the TV chef paid in cash.

Ramsay, who is worth an estimated £175m, already owns a huge house, said to be worth £7m, less than a mile away.

His spokesman declines to comment, but he may have bought the house due to extensive work currently underway on his other London platform.

Last year, it was reported that he, Tana and their five children moved in temporarily after construction began on a super basement.

The couple also own vacation homes in California and Cornwall, where, at one point, they owned three properties.

The smart set is talking about… Keeping up with reality star Lady Sitwell

Forget keeping up with the Kardashians, can society keep up with Martha Sitwell?

I hear the former ‘face of Royal Ascot’ has signed up for a documentary series about his fascinating life.

The ex-wife of film producer baronet Sir George Sitwell confirms that work has begun. “We’ve been filming for a couple of days,” the late foodie Justin de Blank’s daughter tells me, and she declines to elaborate.

The 42-year-old socialite gave birth to a son when she was 17 and decided that the baby should be raised by her aunt.

However, she admits that the reveal of Prince Harry’s soul has made her nervous about revealing details of her private life: “Harry’s memoirs made me think, ‘Oh, gosh, do people need to know that?’ I’m incredibly honest at all times and happy to cover most things.’

Queen’s Private Gift for Wedding Day Soldiers

While Prince Harry spent all week whimpering in US television studios, Windsor Castle staff have been reminiscing about how pleased his grandmother Queen Elizabeth was with their wedding.

I heard that a couple of days after he married Meghan Markle, four young soldiers were busy brushing and washing their horses in the Windsor stables when they suddenly felt someone watching them. When they turned to look, the Queen was there, a smile on her face.

Of course, they bowed politely, and she told them, ‘I’m very happy with my children on the wedding day.’ You kept the horses the proper distance from the carriage and there were no accidents or problems with the horses. In fact, I am so pleased with the way you handled the horses that, out of my own pocket, I am sending all four of you on holiday to Canada. To stay with the Canadian Mounted Police.

A source tells me: “Everyone was excited and had a wonderful and unexpected break from their duties.”

Idris and his wife Sabrina steal the show in Milan

IDRIS ELBA and his model wife, Sabrina, took a page from the Prince and Princess of Wales’ style book yesterday as they arrived at the Gucci show at Milan Fashion Week.

The couple rocked a coordinated outfit, just as Prince William and Catherine had shown a united front in complementary emerald green and navy blue outfits during a visit to Royal Liverpool University Hospital the day before.

At the fashion show, Luther star Elba, 50, made a bold style statement in a sleek turquoise suit.

Meanwhile, Sabrina, 34, who married the actor in 2019, donned a bespoke red and turquoise leather chevron dress from the Italian fashion house.

Sabrina has said that it’s not just a sense of style that she shares with Elba.

“Our values ​​are connected,” he insists.

“We have the same interests and we have the same sense of comedy.”

Has Jerry Hall grown weary of country life, including the £11m Oxfordshire pile near Henley that was part of his divorce settlement when his six-year marriage to Rupert Murdoch ended last summer?

I heard that the former model has just withdrawn her application, in the name of ‘Ms. Murdoch’, to build a rather elegant barn with east and west wings and covering almost 2,800 square feet, twice the floor space of an average home.

Hall, the mother of four of Mick Jagger’s eight children, declines to comment. But it’s hard to imagine the 66-year-old Texan disdaining the saddle for long. She once said that she liked to ride at least three times a week. A hint that, from now on, he’ll ride somewhere else?

Here’s some good news to cheer King Charles up as he reels from the ugly revelations from Prince Harry. A Balmoral butcher plans to celebrate his coronation with a special sausage, and it won’t have a trace of ginger. Although his mother’s 1953 ceremony was celebrated with a coronation chicken, HM Sheridan in Ballater, who has held two royal warrants, ensures the event runs smoothly. “It will be a sausage fit for a king,” butcher Barry Florence tells me. “Her Majesty is particularly fond of lamb, so it’s a small hint, but it will include many of her favorite things.”