Last week was the 7th annual collars and coats gala in aid of Battersea Dogs and Cats home, held at the Millennium arena in Battersea Park where this years’ theme was transformation; transforming dog’s lives and the transforming of the London site with construction of new kennels.The annual fundraiser evening sees a gathering of familiar faces take to the red carpet to show their support for man’s best friend and the work, dedication and passion that goes into looking after so many abandoned cats and dogs in need of help. In fact the home lends a helping paw to over 8,000 fidos and felines each year!
The pooches paraded down the red carpet first, all tails wagging with excitement, before lining the walkway to be coochie cooed by the stars. The event is always bustling with the big stars who are avid supporters of the charity including ambassadors Paul O’Grady whose ‘For the love of dogs’ series is back on our screens and popular children’s author Dame Jacqueline Wilson who said “I am so proud to be an Ambassador for Battersea. It is a lovely charity where every penny is accounted for and you can see for yourself the wonderful work they do.” Jacqueline has written over 100 books now, including my favourite ‘Double Act’ and her friends jokingly tell her ‘it’s time to stop!’. Jacqueline revealed to me that the inspiration for her creativity comes from her love of books; ‘as soon as I knew the names on the spine were authors, I thought I’d like to be one too.’ One of her all time favourite and inspirational books is The Incredible Journey which has now been adapted into the Disney film ‘Homeward Bound’ although she reminded me ‘the original is the best!’
The red carpet was full of glam and glitter, the attendees were certainly getting in the Christmas spirit with their choice of attire. Singer Camilla Kerslake who was due to perform at the event donned a shimmery gold gown whilst Sue Barker glistened in a jazzy blue sequin number and was quite happy to cuddle a dog. She told me she would not be spending Christmas in her home town of Paignton in Devon this year (also close to my home town of Torquay!). Her Mother still lives in the seaside resort where Sue recounts her ‘wonderful happy memories playing tennis’ and she would be ‘going back there and picking my mum up to come and stay with me for Christmas’. Another guest revealed a Christmas gift for their cuddly cairn terrier being ‘something tasty but not squeaky! I got in trouble last year for a squeaky toy!’ Oops!
Whilst some people are out purchasing presents for their pooches or planning Christmas expeditions, some of us are cramming in the gym hours ready to squeeze into this year’s’ party attire pre turkey! However, Dr Christian Jessen of embarrassing bodies warns us ladies that we’re doing it all wrong! ‘Girls are not lifting weight enough, you’re not weight lifting! That’s my number one top tip for women, instead of going on treadmills and killing yourself for 40 mins, you’re getting nowhere – start lifting some weights! It helps control your weight, gets you fit, and helps burn calories faster. Running on a treadmill is fine but you will never ever manage your weight!’ We’re not sure how we feel about lifting 10ks instead of running 10ks! Embarrassing bodies has been off our tv screens for a while now and it looks like it may not be returning anytime soon. ‘We’re in a hiatus because I’m doing some other stuff at the moment, I’ve got another show coming out next week called house of hypochondria, I’ve then got a show called why do the rich live longer. I hope it will come back but I can’t promise you!’ Christian does say however that ‘When you’ve seen one willy, you’ve seen them all!’ hmmmm…. thanks for that thought Dr J who admitted ‘I’m actually painfully shy, I’ve had to teach myself how to do this, it doesn’t come naturally.’ that was still a bold statement!
I can reveal though, a show that WILL be returning to our screens soon is Britain’s Next Top Model (mini fist pump!). The new judges strutted their stuff like model pros on the red carpet, so they certainly know their business! Consisting of previous winner Abbey Clancy, journalist and fashion director of The Daily Telegraph Hilary Alexander, celebrity photographer Nicky Johnston and model Paul Sculfor. They make quite the team although Hilary revealed ‘we don’t beat each other up but we do have arguments’ so who’s the Simon Cowell of the show? ‘he’s the one that rages’ Hilary all too quickly points to Nicky. In the new era of the hit series Nicky told us we can expect it to be ‘exciting’ and ‘more interactive’ and they are looking for girls with ‘personality, commitment and passion. It’s not enough to look good, you’re not being paid to like a dress, you’re being paid to wear it and sell that dress.’ See we told you there were good! Model and eye candy Paul Sculfor added ‘we really want to find someone who can go on and have a serious career. Abbey (clancey) has taken the business by graft herself, you can do that, you would have the opportunity to do that. There’s some really good girls.’
Unlike the puppies at the gala this evening, the judging panel aren’t rolling over when it comes to whittling down the competition and cracking the whip, Nicky said ‘a lot of models who come onto the show we’ve found with this season that they think it’s very easy just to stand there and model and even they with their own admission will say actually I thought it was going to be easier than this’ Hilary added ‘And also I think what a lot of the girls realised that being a professional model is not like taking a selfie – everyone can take a selfie but not everyone can be a model’. Sorry guys, these lot aren’t being fooled by our instagram filters! Though Hilary did give us some useful pointers ‘you’ve got to believe in yourself and believe that this really is your dream to the point where you believe it and you’re prepared to do anything’ and Nicky reminded us ‘to have a passion, if you don’t have a passion for any profession you’ll never succeed’. Full of wise words are this bunch, but they also seem to be having fun on set, when I asked about this season’s challenges Hilary told me ‘you won’t believe what they’re like. They are tough and I can give a little hint, I even joined in one’ Nicky replied ‘it was shocking’ and Paul Sculfor topped it off with ‘fabulously shocking!’ You can catch Britain’s Next Top Model on Lifetime early next year! We can’t wait!
But back to the main focus of this evening, Battersea Dogs and Cats Home and their amazing work to look after and rehome these beautiful animals, they rely solely on the support and generosity of others so to donate and get involved head to their website http://www.battersea.org.uk/
One of my favourite dogs of the evening (although they were all gorgeous) was a fluffy little puppy called Becky, who looked remarkably like Mollie from the Saturday’s puppy Alfie. Mollie was due to be in attendance but was unfortunately not on the red carpet, neither was David Gandy nor his pants! Sorry!
