Why do so many women find it difficult to warm to Amanda Abbington?
After I wrote this week that all the actress and former Strictly contestant seems to do is 'cry, panic and play the victim', I put on my tin hat expecting a barrage of abuse from the sisterhood.
Yet scrolling through the hundreds of comments the piece provoked online, I realised that, far from supporting Amanda, women had almost universally turned against her.
I was as surprised as the next person. Ten years ago at the height of the #MeToo movement, women would surely have rallied around anyone who claimed they were the victim of sexist bullying in the workplace so severe it caused them PTSD, as Amanda has following her time with dance partner Giovanni Pernice.
Maybe views have changed. It could be that, after learning the results of the BBC's £250,000 inquiry, which exonerated Gio of all Amanda's most serious allegations, we women realised she was playing us for suckers.
Actress Amanda Abbington during an interview for Newsnight at the beginning of the month
On reflection, though, I think what finally did for Amanda was her claim that her ordeal with Gio was so toxic her breast cancer scare came as a relief. (She went on to explain the real reason she quit Strictly was because she'd discovered two lumps, which thankfully proved benign.)
What planet is she on? She's talking about a disease that kills more than 11,000 women each year.
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Maybe she thought it would get her the sympathy vote, endear her to those who have, like me, had a similar scare.
Sadly, it had the opposite effect. I lost count of the comments telling her to get over herself. 'I've got stage-three breast cancer,' said one, adding she was 'sickened' that Amanda had 'played the cancer card'.
Another declared it was an insult to the thousands of women facing an uncertain future or death. Still more labelled Amanda 'the worst kind of vengeful woman' and 'the real bully' in the drama.
No, women are not standing by Amanda, and many fear her endless histrionics could be career ending. As one commented, if she goes on like this, no one will ever want to work with her again.
Hearing the joyous news that Miranda Hart, 51, has married a bloke who came to 'fix the mould' in her home, I began phoning round companies for a 'mould man'. Preferably, I said, someone in his 60s, single, with his own hair and teeth. Sadly, no takers so far.
Miranda Hart, 51, has married a bloke who came to 'fix the mould' in her home
Why a Swift escort?
It turns out the real culprit in getting Taylor Swift a Met Police escort to and from her Eras Tour concerts at Wembley was her mother and manager, Andrea, who threatened to cancel the shows unless the service, usually available only to senior royals and top politicians, was provided.
A bad diva moment for the singer who has fashioned herself as a humble, home-spun singer. Leaving us wondering why a woman worth $1.6 billion, and estimated to make $4 billion from her tour, can't pay for her own security.
Taylor Swift performed at Wembley Stadium during her Eras Tour concerts earlier this year
Cobblers, Fergie...
After attending an event for Prevent Breast Cancer while promoting her novel A Most Intriguing Lady, Sarah Ferguson pulled a pint at Corrie's the Rovers in tribute to the late Queen who visited the set in 2021: 'We ought to drink a pint to my wonderful mother-in-law. She really loved her time here.'
Oh dear. Cling-on
Fergie can't help herself. Her late Majesty legally stopped being her mother-in-law 28 years ago after the toe-sucking incident in France and her divorce from Andrew.
Greggs is employing former prisoners in partnership with the charity ReGenerate. Nearly two-thirds of businesses struggle to fill positions and half refuse to employ ex-cons,
but my local cafe The Redemption Roasters, in north London, helps ex-cons, is heaving with customers - and they treat us with more consideration than the posh bakeries up the road.
Emma Raducanu, 21, has hit back at rumours Porsche has 'taken back' her £125,000 911 Carrera GTS. Who would have blamed Porsche if it had ditched Emma (fortune around £10 million)? Never has there been a tennis star who achieved so little and is now worth so much.
Westminster Wars
Depressing that foot-in-mouth Kemi Badenoch could become the next Tory leader when the last woman tasked with that job in Opposition was Margaret Thatcher in 1975. She went on to lead the Tories to three election victories. I doubt Kemi would even be leader of the Opposition in three years' time.
After being removed as Keir Starmer's chief of staff, Sue Gray 'takes a break' before resuming her nonsense role as 'envoy to the nations and regions'.Gray 'takes a break' before resuming her nonsense role as 'envoy to the nations and regions'.
In the real world, when someone is sacked they exit the stage. Yet the woman responsible for Boris Johnson's downfall over Partygate - when he didn't eat any cake - wants to have her cake and eat it.
What further proof is needed that Starmer has a problem with women than sidelining Deputy PM Angela Rayner and sending her to operate a forklift truck at a depot 300 miles from Westminster while preparing for a bombshell tax.
How moving to see Kate join Prince William to meet the parents of the three girls stabbed to death in Southport in July. With no notice that the Princess of Wales would even be there, the couple arrived side-by-side - a far cry from Harry's solo engagements apart from The Meg.
The actress Saoirse Ronan wins plaudits as a struggling single mother in war-torn London in the acclaimed movie Blitz. Shockingly, she arrived at the premiere wearing... a long, white, high-necked dress adorned with nothing but a belt.
No earrings, no cleavage, no skirt split to the crotch. A lesson to stars that less (flesh) can be more - you can be fully clothed and still look fabulous.
Actress Saoirse Ronan arrived at the Blitz film premiere wearing a long, white, high-necked dress adorned with nothing but a belt
Jilly's TV Rivals really hits the spot
Even the sourpusses at the Guardian are over-excited by the launch of Jilly Cooper's bonkbuster Rivals on Disney+.
They claim it is not just 'incredibly well made', but it offers us a Who's Who of stars including Aidan Turner, Katherine Parkinson, Rufus Jones, and even David Tennant.
Adding that in a world of TV misery, 'Rivals feels like nothing less than an explosion. We should all be extremely glad it's here.' Well done Jilly! Your millions of fans are simply orgasmic at your success!
David Tennant as Tony Baddingham in Jilly Cooper's bonkbuster Rivals on Disney+
Reuniting with Joanna Lumley in a one-off Absolutely Fabulous documentary, Jennifer Saunders says when she presented the idea to the BBC's then head of comedy Robin Nash, he trashed it, saying: 'I've never found women being drunk very funny.' Five series and a movie later, Nash must feel like Decca's Dick Rowe who turned down The Beatles.
Rebekah Vardy is hammered again in court as she's ordered to pay her nemesis Coleen Rooney a further £100,000 costs in their Wagatha Christie libel affair. The only one who deserves pity is her husband Jamie who must surely be helping foot the bill for his wife's obsession. There's a book in all this - let's call it Financial Murder On The Lawyers' Express.
Rebekah Vardy is hammered again in court as she's ordered to pay her nemesis Coleen Rooney a further £100,000 costs in their Wagatha Christie libel affair
Cast Away Phillip Schofield lashes out at his former best friend Holly Willoughby suggesting she's one of the 's***s' who destroyed his career. Such unkindness to a woman he once called his 'rock'. It's ugly, Phil, especially from a man who made millions on ITV's This Morning pretending he was a happily married father when he was getting his rocks off with a much younger male colleague.
