The 9 O'Clock News – Tue 18 Nov

Posted by heatworld on Tuesday 18 Nov 2008

Filed under: Arlene Phillips, Dannii Minogue, Gareth Gates, John Sergeant, Lisa Snowdon, Louis Walsh, Strictly Come Dancing

Louis fuming over Dannii’s ‘heartlessness’ on the X Factor:
To say this year’s X Factor has been something of a bitchfest is probably the understatement of the decade, and now it’s Louis v Dannii, with Louis branding Dannii "heartless". Dannii – who had first pick of the songs for this week’s Take That week – has got Louis all hot and bothered after She Of Team Minogue picked Rule The World for Rachel to perform on the live show. Louis, however, had earmarked the tune for JLS, and is raging Dannii’s pilfered his song. JLS even begged Dannii to allow them to sing the song, but she refused to back down. Eek. A show source says, “To say Louis is furious is an understatement – he is steaming mad. JLS were going to sing it on the Best of British night last Saturday, but were saving it instead for Take That. Louis is now going around saying that Dannii’s cold and heartless.” Despite the setback, JLS will be singing Back For Good instead, and we’re sure they’ll be as ace as ever.
 
Lisa and Brian smooch on Strictly
Strictly snogging alert! Is love in the air for Lisa Snowdon and dancer Brian Fortuna? The lady formerly most famous for getting it on with gorgeous George Clooney shared a smooch with dancer Brian Fortuna at a party for Mark Foster last month, after he got chucked off the show. And Brian’s smitten. A show insider says, “Brian is definitely hot to trot. He says he loves Britain and wants to meet a British girl. Everyone was talking about their kiss a few weeks ago. All the dancers were tanked up on vodka and having a great laugh. Brian’s made it no secret that he fancies Lisa. He was in the studio on Saturday night cheering for her.” Ooh! Lisa and Brian sitting in a tree (Or a nightclub. On the dancefloor. Hee). K-I-S-S-I-N-G!
 
Gareth's got a new job!
Good news for Gareth Gates fans – he has landed himself the part the lead in West End Musical Joseph And the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat! Gareth will take over from Denise Van Outen's man Lee Mead in January but before that will play Prince Charming in Cinderella at Wimbledon Theatre. We're queuing up for our tickets already – could this be the start of a Gareth comeback?
 
Arlene: "John's lazy"
Arlene Phillips has launched another stinging attack on John Sergeant – branding him lazy and saying she would be "devastated" if he won the BBC show, Strictly Come Dancing. Raging about the 64-year-old political journalist, Arlene said, "He's not making much effort. The dancers are constantly working but John sits there and reads the paper or admires his dance partner. A lot of people are non-stop practising – to achieve what?" John has faced a host of nasty comments from the judges over the weeks, but has always come up trumps with the public keeping him on the show. But Arlene adds, "I cannot imagine John is going to win, it's too big a bombshell to even contemplate. We have always had good dancers win the show – I would be devastated if he even got as far as the final. But I think all the judges are worried that John will never be in the bottom two, which means we won't have an opportunity to vote him out." But John was quick to bite back, saying, "I've lost two stone, so I'm not just reading the newspapers all the time. Everyone knows the rules, we're playing absolutely by the rules. If people want to vote for us and keep us in, then that's a crime, is it?"