SOAP star Stephanie Davis has signed up for Celebs Go Dating following her tough break up from Joe McKalroy.
The actress split with him in June when their son, Samuel, was just four months old.
When bosses of the E4 dating show approached the actress to take part, she decided it was time to move on.
A source said: “It’s been a tough six months for Stephanie. She believed she had found the one in Joe so when they split she was utterly devastated.
“Bosses got in touch with her a couple of months back about appearing on the show. She spoke to her family and decided it would be a good thing to do for herself.
“She’s very much looking forward and not back.”
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Breaking Point
The truth behind Stephanie Davis split from boyfriend Joe as he moves out
In September, Stephanie took to Instagram to share the brutal reality of breaking up with Joe just four months after having their son.
The actress, who played Sinead O’Connor on Hollyoaks and Courtney Vance on Corrie, revealed she cried every day for seven weeks.
The mum of two has had a rollercoaster love life and has also been open about her battles with alcohol.
She met Irish model Jeremy McConnell, the father of her first child, while they appeared together on Celebrity Big Brother in 2016.
She gave birth to their son Caben in January 2017 but in August 2017 he was convicted of assaulting Stephanie.
After her latest split from Joe, she wrote on social media: “Never in a million years did I think I’d be writing this. I’ve been left with no choice but to address the rumours.
“This has come as a complete shock and has been an incredibly painful and unexpected time.
“After everything I’ve been through in the past, I truly believed I had finally found my happiness — something secure and lasting.
“But that, heartbreakingly, hasn’t been the case.”
I’m sure Celebs Go Dating will be the perfect way to find Mr Right.
SAFFRON & INDIYAH GO HEAD-TO-HEAD
BETWEEN them, social media stars Saffron Barker and Indiyah Polack have taken on two of TV’s biggest shows in Strictly Come Dancing and Love Island.
Now the two will compete on Netflix’s huge reality series Inside.
They have joined the likes of Geordie Shore’s Chloe Ferry and have already wrapped filming, with more names to be revealed.
Inside sees a group of content creators locked in a bunker where they take on challenges and face eliminations as they battle to save a £1million prize pot.
But even taking a hot shower will reduce that fund.
The show comes from Britain’s Got Talent rapper KSI and his Sidemen collective of internet personalities and launched on YouTube in June 2024.
It was snapped up by Netflix this year – with the most recent series ranked among the streamer’s top three globally.
The first influencer to appear on Strictly, Saffron won through to week nine in 2019 and still has a huge online following.
Indiyah who came third on Love Island in 2022, now co-hosts its spin-off show Aftersun, alongside Maya Jama.
I wonder how they’ll fare Inside when it airs next year.
F1 ACE IN PARKING BOTHER
HILARIOUS footage of Formula 1 racing driver Oscar Piastri struggling to reverse a tractor into a barn is set to feature in the next series of Clarkson’s Farm.
A clip went viral last November after Jeremy Clarkson posted it online.
In it, Jeremy and his assistant Kaleb Cooper look on laughing at Diddly Squat Farm in the Cotswolds.
Jeremy asks how long Piastri had been trying to park. Kaleb replied: “It’s been 40 minutes now. I thought you told me he was a driver?”
Show producer Andy Wilman has revealed cameras were also filming at the time.
Andy told The Room Where It Happened podcast: “We had Oscar up on the farm and he will be in the next series.
“He was trying to reverse. He just dropped by for a bit of a natter. It’s a cracking moment.”
Series five is due to air early next year.
DAWN OF NEW JEN PROJECT
COMEDY legends Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders are set to reunite.
Vicar of Dibley star Dawn said: “We talk every year about what we could do. A sitcom? A comedy?
“Can we be bothered to write it? Should it be a documentary? Maybe we’ll take the [French & Saunders: Titting About] podcast on tour. Jennifer is very keen. I’m keen.
“I will happily take any chance to spend time with Jennifer.”
Until then, Dawn is busy with her latest telly project, BBC sitcom Can You Keep A Secret?, which is set to air early next year.
Dawn reveals she was ready to turn it down.
She told Good Housekeeping: “I didn’t want to do another sitcom. Good sitcoms are as rare as hen’s teeth.
“I thought I’d read Can You Keep A Secret? and make an embarrassing list of all the reasons why I was politely declining. And then I read it and liked it!”
Just as well she read it.
GARY’S PODCAST RICHES
GARY LINEKER’s podcast series made more than double his BBC salary in the last financial year.
His firm, Goalhanger Podcasts now has reserves of almost £4.5million – up £3.1m in the previous financial year – new accounts reveal.
Among its “The Rest Is” brands, it produces The Rest Is Football, which Netflix is to turn into a show.
Gary will also be seen soon on ITV, hosting new gameshow The Box.
Gary quit as Match of the Day presenter at the end of last season to concentrate on Goalhanger Podcasts.
At the time his salary was at least £1.35m, making him the highest paid person at the station.
But it turns out his earning power was actually much, much higher – good for you Gary.
MY POINT BLANC FEAR: SAL
DESPITE playing a composed super-sleuth Sally Lindsay says she would be terrible in a high-stakes situation.
The actress, who stars as Jean White in The Madame Blanc Mysteries, said: “I can’t even get stuck in a lift without screaming.
“I recently got stuck in a restaurant toilet for seconds, banged so hard on the door that three waiters came running.
“I would not be calm or cool in any way.”
Sally said she was inpired by festive classics Die Hard and Home Alone, when writing the Channel 5 series’ two-hour Christmas special.
Cold Feet’s John Thomson and ex-EastEnders actress Kacey Ainsworth feature in the episode on December 23.
TV presenter Clare Balding was out in London yesterday with Stand Up To Cancer mascots depicting a breast, a poo and a vulva.
Raising awareness of screening programmes for breast, bowel and cervical cancers, they visited Westminster, London Waterloo, and Tate Britain.
STRICTLY Come Dancing star Tyler West and Love Island beauty Chloe Burrows promise to bring mayhem as the new hosts of the Kiss FM Breakfast Show.
Present hosts Jordan Banjo and Perri Kiely leave next month ahead of a busy year for their dance troupe Diversity.