How she's changed: Pouty Abbey Crouch is unrecognisable from her fresh-faced teen years

By Andrea Magrath


Changing face: Abbey is sporting plumped-up lips and blonde hair these days


The staggering bright blue eyes are the exact same... but that's about where the similarities between this pretty young woman and the Abbey Crouch we know today end.

Posing confidently with highlights in her brunette hair and her vest pulled up to expose her midriff, she was a fresh-faced 18-year-old.

This was Abbey Crouch (née Clancy) in her days in girl band Genie Queen in 2004.

WAG-over: Abbey Clancy, pictured today, is unrecognisable from this picture of her at 18 in her Genie Queen girl band days


Two years later, she would make it to the finals of Britain's Next Top Model and catch the eye of footballer Peter Crouch.

Despite losing out to Lianna Fowler, Abbey's fame was cemented and her girl-next-door beauty would win her lucrative modelling contracts.

She was the face of EuroMillions and Lynx3 spray, and landed the covers of FHM and Sports Illustrated.


Plump up: Both pouting at the British Fashion Awards this week, and smiling in Dubai earlier this month (right) the WAG's lips are suspiciously fuller

Makeover: Abbey unveiled her plumped up look at the British Fashion Awards on Tuesday

But these days, Abbey's plumped-up lips and seemingly frozen, arch-eyed expression have led to speculation about what work the model may have had done to transform her looks.

Of course, seven years is going to make a difference to anyone's face, but the model and television presenter today is practically unrecognisable to her teenage self.

In new pictures taken this week, Abbey, still only 25, displays a surprisingly plump pout, in stark contrast to the natural smile she sported at the start of her fame.

A spokesperson for Mrs Crouch insisted to Mail Online that the WAG has not had any work done on her lips.

But photographs of the blonde beauty in 2006 and 2007 reveal a much more natural looking smile, with a thinner top lip.

And even pictures of the model smiling earlier this month in Dubai show a fuller smile.


Fresh-faced beauty: Pictures of the model-turned-WAG in 2007 show a much more natural smile



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Rooney hits the bottle: Coleen taps into her festive side as she dyes her hair red ahead of WAGs Christmas party

By Nadia Mendoza


Radiant: Coleen Rooney looked ready for party season with her newly dyed hair


Coleen Rooney appears to have had a makeover from her fairy godmother yesterday.

The mother-of-one stepped out during the day looking like any other parent clutching their tot, before emerging later as a redhead goddess.

Wayne's wife underwent the transformation for the WAGs Christmas party held by fashion designer Phillip Armstrong.

Dye-ing for a change: Earlier in the day Coleen Rooney sported fair hair during a lunch date with Kai, before going red for the WAGs Christmas party


The event was held at Room restaurant in Manchester yesterday, before Coleen headed to Rosso with Ashley Ward's wife Dawn for cocktails.

While swanning around earlier in the day, 25-year-old Coleen was pictured with Kai, one, dressed down in jeans and flip flops - albeit Chanel ones.

Festive: Coleen changed her hair ready for party season, sprucing up her all-black ensemble with red shoes and clutch


She bundled her blonde locks atop her head, wearing minimal make-up and bling while running errands.

However, the social butterfly later stepped out in an all-black ensemble, adding splashes of colour with her new tresses, red peep toe heels and a clutch bag to match.

Her lipstick was subtle and the neutral shades softened the Scouse brows.

A night off from mummy duties: Abbey Crouch had some time away from Sophia as she also attended the party in a star-speckled frock


Abbey Crouch also attended, taking another night off from mummy duties.

The former Britiain's Next Top Model contestant previously spent a night away from Sophia on Monday, leaving daddy Peter in charge as she headed to the bright lights of London for the British Fashion Awards.

Crouch, 25, looked elegant in a star-speckled frock as she sipped a fruity cocktail from a martini glass during a cigarette break.


Smoker's corner: Abbey puffed on a cigarette while sipping from her glass


Martini glass, check! Abbey made sure she didn't go anywhere without her drink



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The eyes have it: The A-list love it, but can you bear the panda look?

By Claire Coleman


Make-up aficionados might wax lyrical about nude make-up or statement lips, but for a show-stealing look this party season, the eyes have it.

And not just any eyes: we’re talking kohl-heavy, slick-lined, panda-style eyes, as favoured by Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, and her sister, Pippa.

Kate Winslet sports the look on the cover of November’s Harper’s Bazaar, and Victoria Beckham and Carol Vorderman have been going extra heavy with the eye pencil.


Smokey: Kate Middleton, left, and actress Emma Watson are big fans of the kohl-rimmed look


Starry-eyed: A-listers Sarah Jessica Parker and Victoria Beckham specialise in creating the perfect peepers

Sparkling: Dannii Minogue and Keira Knightley ensure their eyes pop by applying mascara to the lower lashes


So why are celebrities going back to black? After all, piling on the eyeliner is very much a retro look.

Panda peepers go right back to the Egyptians, but from a fashion perspective it came into its own in the Sixties when thick black lines were the perfect foil to futuristic clothes by the likes of Mary Quant.

Fast forward 50 years and this bold look was to be found on the catwalks of every fashion house for this year’s autumn/winter collections. Whether applied with Cleopatra flicks or lashings of black eyeshadow, kohl is king once more.

And yet it’s hardly the most forgiving style. In fact, applied too harshly, it can add years to even the most youthful face. Celebrity make-up artist Katie Reedman of Slap UK (which counts Sienna Miller, Twiggy and Anna Friel among its clientele) says Kate and Pippa are guilty of this.


Sultry: Bronzed beauties Penelope Cruz and Cheryl Cole accentuate their dark good looks with thick eyeliner


Model behaviour: Kate Moss and Kelly Brook both love to play up their eyes with heavy make-up


Brilliant brunettes: Liz Hurley and Carol Vorderman favour high-impact mascara and charcoal eyeshadow


‘It’s very easy to get eyeliner wrong. I think the way Pippa applies it looks too harsh and heavy. She’s a pretty girl, but the way she and her sister take the line all the way around the eye is ageing,’ she says.

So, how to get it right? Katie suggests using gel liner or a pencil rather than liquid.

‘Apply liner right inside the rim, as it gives a good strong base to the look.’

And if you’re blonde or nearing 50, swap black for grey or brown. ‘Black can be unforgiving as you get older,’ says Katie.

The flick is crucial. She suggests extending the natural curve under the eye towards the brow’s outer edge.

With practice, perfect black eyes could be achieved in time for the arrival next weekend of two stars who model the look effortlessly well — Tian Tian and Yang Guan, Edinburgh Zoo’s new giant pandas.



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Crissy Rock is latest jungle diet success story as she squeezes into size six shorts after losing a stone and a half on I'm A Celeb

By Kirsty Mccormack


Noticing the benefits: The actress was jumping around in delight as she realised how much weight she has lost whilst being on the show


She may have branded herself 'fat' during the Beat The Bugs challenge but it seems Crissy Rock has had a change of heart.

The Benidorm actress was over the moon tonight as she revealed that she has lost weight since being in the jungle.

The blonde star revealed the news as she pranced around in a pair of Jessica-Jane Clement's red shorts - which she had left behind after leaving the show.

Contrast: Crissy looks much slimmer than she did when she first entered the jungle


'These are a size six, do I look fat in them? Crissy asked the group.

'Not at all, you look skinny in them,' replied Mark.

Crissy then began jumping up and down and shouted: 'The only time I’ve ever been in a six is in a shoe!'

'You must have lost a stone and a half,' Mark then said.

This just spurred the actress on and she continued to jump and dance around.

But her fun moment soon turned into something much serious as Fatima Whitbread urged her that she must follow through with the transformation once the ITV show comes to an end.

This angered Antony - who isn't Fatima's biggest fan - and he felt the need to go to the Bush Telegraph and get his feelings off his chest.

But once back with the group he was quick to give Crissy some advice also.

As she continued to pull the shorts up, he told her: 'Don’t pull them too tight darling, you don’t want a moment.'

'I can bend in them as well,' she said., which prompted Antony to ask: 'What couldn't you bend before?'

'I couldn't because my belly was in the way,' Crissy replied.

No doubt the weight loss has come about due to the scarce amount of food that the celebrities have to eat each day.

Although the camp mates have been fantastic at earning enough stars during the Bushtucker trials, the dinners they receive each day have still only been enough for small portions per person.

And it seems Crissy is used to a lot more than that normally as she revealed her usual purchases when stopping at a service station.


Making it fit: Crissy discovered that she had lost weight when she tried on Jessica-Jane's size six shorts


Losing weight: Crissy was so happy to have shed the pounds whilst in the jungle


'I'll normally pick up a few sausage rolls and two custard tarts,' she told the group.

Her camp mates persuaded her that she can no longer do that, and should stick to eating less in the future.




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'With every mouthful of food I've always felt guilty': Gary Barlow on how he went from being 'the fat one' to 'the hot one'

By Andrea Magrath


Confidence: Gary Barlow reveals that he gets a kick out of people calling him 'too thin' after a lifelong battle with his weight


He has had women across the country swooning as he deals out stern criticism to the X Factor contestants every Saturday and Sunday night.

But the revelation that many, inlcuding his fellow judge Kelly Rowland, have a crush on him bewilders Gary Barlow, who is still coming to terms with being known as 'the hot one' from Take That, after years of being taunted as 'the fat one.'

Speaking to this week's Grazia, the 40-year-old reveals: 'I'm at a weight that I'm just so bloody happy with and I feel amazing. I'm full of confidence.


'It's going to sound shallow, but being happy with the way I look makes me spring out of bed in the morning and want to live life.'

Barlow's weight famously ballooned a he battle depression after Take That's break-up in 1996.

But he is currently on a high following the band's hugely successful reunion tour with Robbie Williams and a critically-acclaimed album.

'Weight has always been my enemy': Barlow pictured a decade ago on a family holiday when he was at his heaviest


In an interview with the magazine, Barlow credits his wife of 11 years, Dawn, with supporting him through the highs and lows.

'I knew she was the one for me because she understands me,' he says, revealing that he proposed over Chinese takeaway after pestering her to marry him for four years.

'She has known me through thick and thin. She has known me at 17 stone, when nobody wanted to call me anymore.

Dark days: Gary, pictured in 1998, admits he battled depression and overeating after the band broke up in 1996


'Dawn knows how weight has always been my enemy, how with every mouthful of food I have always felt guilty.

'I've actually had major problems with food for years and years. I realised that once I started to eat I couldn't stop.'

Gary admits he gets doesn't mind people going so far as to say he's lost too much weight.

'I can't say I don't get a little kick out of it. Me, too thin ... will wonders ever cease?'

Back on top: Gary began shedding pounds again when Take That reformed in 2005


But he won't become so vain that he'll follow in his boss Simon Cowell's footsteps.

'I'm not bothered about (Botox)' he tells Grazia. 'I'm bothered about how I feel.

I'm light on my feet at the moment. I can spring around, play football with the kids, I can put on a suit and say "I look nice."'

Barlow admits that the ratings battle has him sweating every week.

'There's no question that every week when I'm waiting for the text with the ratings I'm s****ing myself. I want it to be great.'

Barlow, who said his only contact with show supremo Cowell was an 'occasional text', added it was 'a very aggressive show to be on'.

Terrified: Gary Barlow has admitted he struggles with nerves while waiting to find out how well X Factor has done in the ratings battle


He said: 'Simon (Cowell) warned me very early that I was strapping myself into a rollercoaster.

On Sunday night, The X Factor soundly beat Strictly Come Dancing in the ratings after the BBC show beat the ITV show on Saturday.

On Sunday the X Factor got an average audience of about 12million and Strictly got 10.7million.

Meanwhile, Barlow also spoke about his battle with his weight, saying he finds it funny that people have commented that he now looks too thin.


Last chance: Gary with his last remaining contestant, Marcus Collins



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Woman reveals horrific damage to her face after it was injected with cement and tyre sealant by 'butt implant doctor'

By Chris Murphy and Tamara Abraham


An alleged victim of 'fake doctor' Oneal Ron Morris has come forward to show the horrific state of her face after it was injected with a toxic mixture of cement and tyre sealant.

Rajee Narinesingh, 48, from Miami, Florida, says her face was ruined by Morris, who had just been released from custody after she was accused of administering the potentially lethal shots to another victim.

Ms Narinesingh, who, like Morris, 30, was born a man, but lives as a woman, said she suffered acutely lumpy cheeks, misshapen chin and ballooning upper lip after the back room beauty treatment.

Back room beauty treatment: Rajee Narinesingh, 48, from Miami, Florida, says her face was destroyed after it was injected with a toxic mixture of cement and tyre sealant by 'fake doctor' Oneal Ron Morris


She admitted that she initially turned to Morris because she did not have the money to pay a licensed plastic surgeon. She says she learned of him by word-of-mouth in the transsexual community.

She told Miami television station CBS4: 'It becomes so dire that you want to match your outside with your inside that you're willing to roll the dice and take your chances.'

'As a transgender person, you're thinking, "Oh, my God, I can start to look like I want to look like and I don't have to spend a lot of money."'


Damage: Ms Narinesingh suffered acutely lumpy cheeks, misshapen chin and a ballooning upper lip

Desperate: Ms Narinesingh admitted that she initially turned to Morris because she did not have the money to pay a licensed plastic surgeon, and heard her name via word-of-mouth


Ms Narinesingh has since had several plastic surgery procedures to repair the damage, and faces more still.

'I had to end up going to surgery, to get me even to this point,' she revealed.

Morris, who was released from custody late last night after posting $15,000 bail, declined to comment as she left the Miami Dade County Jail.

She said only that she has a lawyer to answer reporters' questions, and the lawyer claims she is innocent.


Allegations: Oneal Ron Morris, who was released from custody late last night after posting $15,000 bail, declined to comment as she left the Miami Dade County Jail

'Fake doctor': Prosecutors say Morris administered the potentially lethal shots to three alleged victims


She was arrested earlier this month for practising medicine without a licence and causing serious bodily injury after a patient complained that she injected cement and a chemical compound called Fix-a-Flat, which is used to mend car tyres, into her backside.

The treatment left the victim with life threatening injuries, needing several surgeries and round-the-clock care.

Since Morris's alleged practices came to light, prosecutors say several victims have come forward.

A court was told that Morris used cement, mineral oil and Fix-a-Flat, in her backroom beauty treatments.

It heard that she then used superglue to patch up entry wounds in the skin.

Her arrest photographs show an apparently enhanced rear. Detectives say she performed the potentially lethal treatment on herself.

Morris is now free on bond but the probe by the Miami Gardens Police and health officials is continuing.

Dr Dr John Martin, who is now treating Ms Narinesingh, said he has been giving her therapeutic injections that he hopes will eventually soften the hard nodules that formed in her face and return her to a more normal appearance.

'There is not an easy solution to this nightmare,' he said.

Ms Narinesingh says she is grateful to Dr Martin for trying to help give her a face back.

'I have learned my lesson,' She said. 'I could have died. I know that now.


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What WILL she pack? How Royal protocol will see Kate change several times a day for first Christmas at Sandringham

By Maysa Rawi


Wardrobe dilemma: The Duchess of Cambridge will need an outfit for church, including a hat, a long dress for dinner and at least one other for lunch


Spending your first Christmas with the in-laws can be a daunting experience.

But when the occasion involves the Royal family, nerve-racking is a more fitting description.

The Duchess of Cambridge faces the ultimate wardrobe dilemma for her upcoming stay at Sandringham - where she could be expected to change outfits several times in one day.


It's no wonder Kate has been spotted shopping on the King's Road recently, probably in search of suitable pieces for her upcoming trip.

Thankfully the Duchess has a natural instinct for appropriate attire and will no doubt look near perfect for every event.

Royal etiquette expert Jean Broke-Smith told Grazia magazine that the Duchess could be expected to change outfits up to five times in a single day.

'She won't be able to wear the same outfit twice,' she said.

'Kate will need a casual outfit for breakfast, a smart outfit - and a hat - for the morning church service, a dress for lunch, a cocktail dress for early evening drinks and a full-length dress for the evening meal.


Pressure: Kate will spend the occasion wit the Royal family


'The golden rule is nothing too short, too revealing or too gaudy.'

The Palace, however, has dismissed the idea that Catherine will be required to change so many times.

Kate has been seen shopping at Zara, LK Bennett where she reportedly picked up a black sheath dress and two cashmere cardigans.

For a more high-end look, she is said to have ordered two evening dresses from Alexander McQueen - the label she chose for her wedding gown to marry Prince William.

If the heavy sartorial pace isn't enough pressure, imagine having to pick a Christmas gift for the Queen...



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Kate's new best friend: Sharing beauty tips and royal do's and don'ts, how Camilla has become Kate's mentor

By Richard Kay and Geoffrey Levy


From one Duchess to another: Camilla and Kate share a moment - and similar outfits - together on Remembrance Sunday this year


Of all the Royal Family’s hopes and expectations when Kate Middleton married Prince William, no one could have anticipated it would transform the former Mrs Camilla Parker Bowles.

Thanks to Kate, the Duchess of Cornwall’s stock has never been higher within the palace walls, especially with the Queen — who once looked upon Prince Charles’s former mistress as a potential threat to the stability of the monarchy.

Her resoundingly successful visit to the set of Strictly Come Dancing at the weekend — where she chatted animatedly to Sir Bruce Forsyth, joked with contestants and cast her glowing verdict on a rehearsal of the quick-step — was that of a woman at ease with herself who is enjoying new-found royal favour.


The reason for this heartening approval is that Camilla, 64, has taken the Duchess of Cambridge firmly under her wing. Camilla has claimed the crucial role of making sure Kate that feels ‘at home’ as a royal.

It was always clear that Kate would need help to see her through the difficult early years of life in the royal goldfish bowl — something no one gave Princess Diana, with tragic results.

William couldn’t really help very much. Indeed, he is viewed as lamentably inadequate in this area. ‘He’s not always the easiest of people, entirely understandably, given how old he was when Diana died,’ says a close family friend.

‘At the best of times, the royal men just don’t have much sensitivity when it comes to helping ease new members into the royal life. They’re not unkind — they just don’t think.’

Enter the Duchess of Cornwall, a woman who has lived more than a little. She is ‘in regular touch’ with Kate and has become her sounding board on practically everything: from how to deal with other, more prickly members of the family such as Princess Anne, to coping with photo-graphers. She told Kate that one trick is to focus on the faces of one or two cameramen she recognises in order to help her look more relaxed.

The Royal men, including Prince William and Prince Charles, don't have much sensitivity when it comes to easing new members into royal life, according to a close family friend

Advice: Camilla has also been offering matronly guidance to Princess Beatrice, left, and Princess Eugenie, right, the daughters of the Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, centre

Quietly, Camilla is creating a senior role for herself by also proffering matronly advice to Prince Andrew’s daughters Beatrice and Eugenie. ‘Believe me, we hope the lesson of Diana has been well and truly learned,’ says the friend.

Camilla, of course, had a private, ringside view of the totally avoidable tragedy of Diana’s unhappiness.

So for Diana’s friends, at least, it is a bitter irony that the fabled ‘third person’ in the Princess’s marriage should apparently be setting out to make herself indispensable to the popular young woman who would have been Diana’s daughter-in-law.

They see it — unfairly, perhaps — as the strategic move to take control of an older and more experienced woman from a family that has been close to the royals for generations.

But Camilla’s expanding sphere of influence is something that seems to have started to take shape before William and Kate’s marriage in April.

Many believe that her influence was stamped on the guest list, which excluded long- standing friends of Diana who had known William since he was a child, such as Rosa Monckton and Lady Annabel Goldsmith.

Several weeks before the ceremony, Camilla and her daughter, Laura, enjoyed a girlie lunch with Kate and her sister Pippa at Koffman’s, the Berkeley hotel restaurant in London’s Knightsbridge.

One word in particular reached the ears of fellow diners during their animated conversation — ‘advice’.

On the day of the wedding, Camilla arranged for Kate to have her nails done by her own favourite manicurist, Marina Sandoval, from the Jo Hansford hair salon in Mayfair. She also gave Kate a highly personal wedding gift — a gold charm-style bracelet with a small disc engraved with hers and Catherine’s cyphers.

Each is a large ‘C’ under a coronet, though Camilla’s is surrounded by a circle. What makes the gift so significant? Camilla has a similar bracelet of her own that she rarely takes off.

‘Camilla’s exceptional warmth has really touched Catherine,’ says one of Kate’s friends.

At the weekend it also emerged that Camilla has introduced Kate to beauty therapist Deborah Mitchell, who specialises in a £165-a-time bee sting facial — hailed as the ‘non-surgical facelift’ and an organic alternative to Botox.

Former beauty queen Deborah is said to have been treating the Duchess of Cornwall for six years and to have been giving Kate tips on her complexion since the wedding.

In other ways, too, there is a growing closeness between the two women.

On Remembrance Sunday earlier this month, Camilla was chatting and exchanging warm smiles with Kate on the Foreign Office balcony overlooking the Cenotaph. Lip-readers claimed the 29-year-old Duchess of Cambridge wondered out loud ‘if William will be nervous’.

The other area about which she has been talking to Camilla is which charities to support.

One idea is for Kate to help a specific charity intensively for a limited time of one or two years during special appeals. This could be more beneficial than if she spread herself thinly over dozens of good causes. Obviously, she is in high demand.

These charities include those helping young people and military veterans as well as those in areas such as conservation and art therapy.

But perhaps Camilla’s greatest help so far in smoothing Kate’s path as a fledgling royal is the change she has brought about in Prince Charles.

Though he adores Kate, he is the one figure who has found it difficult to adjust to her arrival in the Royal Family, mainly because of all the uncomfortable memories thrown up by constant comparisons between her and Diana.

Camilla, pictured right next to the Queen and Carole Middleton, played a vital role in supporting Kate during the Royal Wedding earlier this year


‘At one stage he was almost tearing his hair out at the endless references to Diana and what she was like, because it always led to talk of his own shortcomings,’ says an aide. ‘It went on for months, and he has only recently calmed down.’

It was Camilla who soothed him, in the same reassuring way that she has been handling Charles’s glooms and fretfulness for 30 years. But now comes a new challenge.

After the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee next year, the Prince of Wales will have to put up with Kate becoming chatelaine of Kensington Palace, the place everyone associates with Diana and her unhappy marriage — and with the powerful memory of the lake of flowers created by a mourning public after her death.

Earlier this month, it was announced that William and Kate would be moving into the late Princess Margaret’s old apartment there in 2013. Prince Harry is also due to move there, taking over the cottage that William and Kate currently use as their London base.

But with a bitter irony that dismays Diana’s ever-loyal friends, Camilla is likely to be the key influence on young housewife Kate. Setting up home in this vast apartment of 21 rooms on four floors will need the guidance and advice of a woman with experience of that very different life as a royal.

First home: Kate and William will move into Kensington Palace, west London, where she will be waited on by a string of servants


Kate’s biggest challenge will be giving up her idyllic days of normal married life at their farmhouse in Anglesey, where William is based as an RAF air-sea rescue helicopter pilot. (In February, after Kate’s 30th birthday, he leaves for the Falklands on a six-week posting).

Camilla has already warned Kate that at Kensington Palace she and William will require a minimum staff of a butler, a housekeeper, a ladies’ dresser, a valet, a cook, chauffeur and several other workers.

Unlike Diana, an Earl’s daughter who had grown up with servants, Kate is still uncomfortable having staff pirouetting around her. But she knows that, on moving into Kensington Palace, she will have to accept the inevitable.

Camilla has also advised her that a personal dresser is vital if she is to perform the royal role the public expect of her.

As for choosing the staff, the Duchess of Cornwall — mature, knowledgeable, reassuring, and the chatelaine these past six years of Clarence House, Highgrove and Birkhall — will be there to help.

If ever the former Mrs Camilla Parker Bowles dreamed of playing a crucial role at the centre of the Royal Family, this is it.



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How to get the Liverpool look! Desperate Scousewives' Jodie introduces the 'Scouse brow' to unsuspecting model

By Sarah Bull


Before and after: The poor unsuspecting model who was given the 'Scouse brow' on last night's premiere episode of Desperate Scousewives


Thanks to a little programme called The Only Way Is Essex, the vajazzle became a beauty procedure now synonymous with the county.

And it seems E4's new show Desperate Scousewives, which follows in the footsteps of its 'semi-reality' predecessors, is about to do the same for the 'Scouse Brow'.

Make-up artist and hair stylist Jodie Lundstram introduced the look on the premiere episode of the programme last night, unleashing the thick black brows on to an unsuspecting model as part of an 'audition' for a job interview at a beauty salon.


After being told she should show off what she can do by the salon owners Mark and Christopher, Jodie announced she would be debuting the Scouse brow.

And while Mark and Christopher looked less than convinced by the brows, which dominated fair model Cassie's petite face, she insisted she was thrilled with her new look.

After seeing Cassie's reaction, Mark and Christopher offered Cassie the job on the spot, saying to each other: 'Well, the customer is always right!'

Jodie is obviously a fan of the Scouse brow herself, with her blonde hair in sharp contrast to her heavy brows.

The mouthy blonde also showed the salon owners that she has a novel approach to being interviewed, turning the tables on them and asking them various personal questions about themselves.

After asking the gay married couple if they were brothers, Jodie proceeded to question them about their ages, leaving the pair unamused by her forwardness.

She also told them at the interview stage that she would be needing time off 'to watch her brother playing football', which did little to impress her prospective bosses.

However, it seems Jodie's bright personality and ability to get the job done won the salon owners over, and she was given the position.


Is it going well? Lydia was asked to demonstrate her skills as part of an audition forming a job interview with salon owners Mark and Christopher


They've got the Liverpool look: The 'Scouse Brow' has some famous fans too in Abbey Clancy, Alex Gerrard and Coleen Rooney


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Family joins hospital vigil at George Michael's bedside as he battles pneumonia

By Ben Todd and Tom Kelly



George Michael’s family are today at the stricken star’s hospital bedside in Vienna.

The singer, who is suffering from severe pneumonia, has been joined by his 75-year-old father Kyriacos Panayiotou – known as Jack Panos – as well as sisters Melanie, 49 and Yioda, 53.

His former boyfriend, art dealer Kenny Goss, is also due to join the group in the Austrian capital.

A close friend told the Mail: ‘His whole family are with him. They are very close-knit.

‘George is just such a lucky man in that sense. He’s so adored.’

The 48-year-old star’s boyfriend, hair stylist Fadi Fawaz, has kept a bedside vigil since the singer fell ill on Monday last week.

Mr Fawaz, 38, appeared tired and drawn as he left the hospital during the weekend.

He was accompanied by two women, believed to be Michael’s sisters, one of whom held her head in her hands waiting in the lobby at the AKH hospital.

A hospital spokesman yesterday declined to comment on the singer’s condition.


Hour of need: The singer with his father, Kyriacos Panayiotou, who is at the hospital along with the star's sisters


Speaking of 53-year-old Goss, Michael’s partner for 13 years until 2009, the friend continued: ‘Kenny of course is very concerned. He has been in touch every day. They will always be the best of friends.’

The AKH is Europe’s largest hospital with 1,600 doctors, including world experts in pneumonia who are treating Michael in the intensive care unit using a Triadyne Proventa bed, designed for critical cases.

Michael fell ill last week hours before he was due on stage in the city, and on Friday cancelled the rest of his Symphonica tour.


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Why DO young women go out dressed like this? We meet nightclubbers in four major cities to find the surprising and unsettling answer to the question d

By Tanith Carey


Birthday girl: This young lady in Cardiff proudly displays a cocktail glass hanging around her neck. Right, two young women show off their high heels and skimpy clothes during a night out in Newcastle-upon-Tyne


Eight o’clock on a freezing November evening — but for all the skimpy outfits on the streets of Manchester, you’d think it was 80 degrees on the Costa Brava. Here the women’s hems are so high — and their tops so low — that there’s no more than a few inches of fabric to shield them from the biting winter cold.

Only the fake tans manage to hide the goosebumps as they totter along uncertainly in six-inch ‘hooker heels’, arm in arm for support.

Tonight it’s Hannah Lawson’s 18th birthday and she’s out on the town with five of her college friends after spending three hours getting ready. Teamed with leopard-print ankle boots, her outfit lends a whole new meaning to the term ‘Little Black Dress’


As she and her identically dressed friends line up, hands on hips, only the mottled skin on their naked legs hints at the six-degree temperature. But Hannah proclaims it’s worth it to give them that all-important quality: ‘confidence’.

‘Male attention is good. Then you know you look good,’ she says.

‘Yeah, guys wink and make sly remarks,’ chips in her friend Eleanor, 17. They have only just hit the streets, but already they know that their skimpy outfits have made an impact — another group of girls has branded one of their number ‘a slag’.

‘They’re just jealous because we’re beautiful and look young!’ says their friend Ruby Crowther, 19.

Of course, there’s nothing new about young women wanting to look alluring on a night out. But visit Britain’s town centres at night and you cannot fail to notice a disturbing trend: today’s generation of girls have fallen for a style of clothing that is perhaps best described as ‘stripper-chic.’

Suspenders: The tights worn by these two young females in Newcastle would have once been kept behind closed doors. The woman in red cowboy hat is keen to show off her her tiny skirt and lace thong


Party girls: See-through lace tops like the one worn by the brunette, right, in Newcastle, have become a guaranteed way for women to 'get male attention'

Red alert: This woman's revealing dress shows off a tattoo of flowers running up her leg. Right, this lady in Cardiff goes for the look of a burlesque dancer


The standard uniform — micro-miniskirts, sky-high heels and low tops — was once worn only by prostitutes on dingy street corners. Now it’s a mainstream style adopted by almost every female clubber and party-goer under the age of 30.

Why do they cheapen themselves so — especially at a time when young women have never had a greater opportunity to reject crass sexual stereotypes of old.

After all, girls are outperforming boys at every stage of schooling. In the workplace, female employees are starting to out-earn their male counterparts.

Why is it, then, in an age of true equal opportunity that so many women are dressing in such a demeaning way?

By visiting four cities around Britain — Newcastle, Manchester, Cardiff and London — on one night, the Mail set out to talk to these women and discover what motivates their choice of clothing. Their answers gave a surprising — and disturbing — insight into the values of a generation.

Joanne Avery, 23, is a clerical assistant from Chester-le-Street, Co. Durham, out clubbing in Newcastle. Her £45 Playboy skirt sits low enough to reveal a white thong, above it is tattooed her personal motto: ‘Couldn’t give a f***.’ It’s accessorised by another on her upper arm that reads: ‘Raw Sex.’

Joanne’s extensive wardrobe back at home — which includes 25 pairs of high heels — is made possible by the fact she still lives with her family. Indeed, it is her father who lends her money to help fund her £500 a month eBay shopping habit.


A group of friends in Cardiff prepare for the night ahead... but will they still look this way after a night of drinking?

Back to front: The extremely tight skirts of these young women in Cardiff reach the very tops of their thighs. Right, another young reveller wears a see-through top while her friend opts for platform heels in Newcastle

Joanne has no qualms about sharing the reasons why she is dressed so provocatively tonight. ‘I’m looking for a bit of totty. You have to dress in a certain way to get attention.

‘If you’ve got t**s, it helps. It does make me feel more confident. I’m a slut, but it’s OK to be a slut as long as you use protection, which most people don’t.’

For Joanne, it is simply not an option to dress more tastefully. ‘I’d never dress in jeans. I just wouldn’t like it. I always want to wear slutty clothes.’

It would be tempting to dismiss her comments as a one-off. But among the ‘stripper-chic’ girls whom we interviewed in Cardiff, Manchester, Newcastle and London, it was clear that there are many others like her: ordinary women dressing in a deliberately sexualised style.

Among their number were students, nurses, trainee accountants, trainee social workers, nurses and full-time mothers. When asked why they revealed so much of themselves, the answer came back time and time again: ‘It’s for confidence.’

Naomi Maxfield, an 18-year-old musical theatre student from Chesterfield, was out on the town in Newcastle.

‘I like getting male attention. If I didn’t, I would think: “What’s wrong?” ’ she says. ‘It’s quite a nice feeling. It makes you more confident. Guys smile at you, wink, whistle, try to chat you up.’

Natasha Parish, 19, a hairdresser from Newcastle, has taken an hour and a half to apply her fake tan, lashes and make-up. Once again, she cites the need to feel confident for her choice of clothing. ‘I think dressing up is a part of being a modern woman. I’m OK with how I look.

‘It is nice to get a bit of male attention, not too much. It makes me more confident if I know that I’m looking attractive.’

Given the acres of limbs that are exposed, you might assume that these girls are proud of their bodies. Quite the opposite.

It emerges that in many cases their outfits — and the male leering it provokes — are often a way to bandage up their insecurities in a world where they can’t match up to the oh-so-sexy, celebrity stereotypes of womanhood.

It doesn’t always work out as they hoped, as Sian, an 18-year-old carer on a night out in Cardiff, admits. Her insecurities about showing off her figure in such revealing clothes are so profound that she admits to drinking spirits with her friend to work up the bravery to leave the house.

‘We looked in the mirror before we left the house and were so upset that we necked half a bottle of vodka each.’


These shoes were made for walking: Three young revellers stride down the streets of Newcastle

The little black dresses: These two nightclubbers clutch their handbags in Manchester. Right, two more girls in Manchester who have minimal clothes on


Her friend Beth, a student, is wearing suspender-style tights, made popular by celebrities such as Rihanna. She says she didn’t buy them to look sexy or fashionable, but to cover up her legs, which she describes as ‘vile.’

‘There’s lots of pressure to look good. Boys always want that perfect person and other women all look amazing.’

Natasha Parish also ‘hates’ her legs — though you would never guess it from the scarlet and black micro-mini she is wearing in Newcastle city centre.

‘I wish girls wore a bigger variety of clothes going out,’ she says. ‘That’s why I wear dresses — everyone else does, so I would look stupid if I wore a longer skirt or trousers. I do wish it was easier and that I could go out in less revealing clothes.’

When Amber Davies, 21, a full–time mother from Bristol goes out in Cardiff, she wears her full armoury including a push-up bra and false eyelashes. But she has the self-knowledge to realise that ultimately it’s not a very convincing mask.

‘The only problem is that this isn’t what we really look like. In the morning, you’d be there without your hair extensions, make-up and false eyelashes, or your body-control pants — and you’d look completely different. Nobody knows what you really look like when you’re dressed up like this.’

The ubiquitous sky-high heels, fake-tanned legs and micro-skirts are about trying to create an illusion of perfection. With so many young women deep-down hating the way they look, provoking lust has simply become the easiest way they know to make themselves feel better. It’s about provoking a reaction.

As Charlene David, 25, and Stacey Leonard, 27, stop to chat, two male bystanders come up behind them, put their hands around their waists and tell them they look beautiful.

Far from brushing them off, both girls said it illustrated the usual reaction they provoked from men — and asked for the compliments to be recorded.

Other girls were also seen being touched and having their bottoms squeezed by men coming up behind them — or being forcefully coerced into bars. Because they were barely able to walk on their stilt-like shoes, many couldn’t stagger away, even if they wanted to.

It is Leanne McGinley, 25, a mother-of-two in a leopard-print dress, who sums up the contradiction. ‘I do find the male attention irritating. But it would feel a bit weird if there wasn’t any.’

The price they pay is not just to their self-esteem, but also to their bodies. They are willing to go through agony to spend the evening walking around in hooker heels, of up to six inches. Girls report coming home with feet bloodied from blisters.

But still they say the pain is worth it to look taller and thinner. Kelly Hewitt, 22, a full-time mother from Durham, says: ‘I’ve still got clothes with tags in. My highest heels are six or seven inches — I can walk around all night in most of them.

‘Of course it hurts, but I think it’s worth it. If you want to look good, beauty is pain.’

If it gets cold as she walks between pubs and clubs, she says she just drinks more. ‘The drink warms you up by the end of the night.’

But despite the fact these girls endure the chill and the blisters to look as they do, there is no sense of sisterhood. Instead women fight for pole position on the league table for who looks ‘hottest’.

It’s a contest that can spill into aggression and even violence. As the evening goes on, the alcohol flows and the pairings start to happen. Catfights break out, with competing tribes of girls shouting ‘slag!’ at each other from opposite sides of the street.

It comes as little surprise to discover that the more the women dress like strippers, the more men treat them that way. Among the men we spoke to, one described the women out on the town as ‘eye candy for free’ — and a chance to ‘window shop’.

Toby Harris, 29, a project manager from London, says he likes women dressing in barely-there clothes ‘because you get to think whether you want to sleep with them later’.

‘It’s a certain sort of women who dresses that way — easy chicks,’ he says. ‘They’re definitely not a long-term prospect because they are easy.’ In many cases, that sexist view may well be crass and unjustified. After all, shouldn’t women be free to dress as they please without being judged? But whatever their motivation for dressing as they do, there is no escaping how the micro-skirted mob are perceived by men.

Tom Jones, 23, a landscape gardener from Cardiff, says: ‘It’s good to give the game away and know what you’re getting. The less clothing the better.’

For Lewis Quinn, 23, an electrician from London: ‘Being around all these women is like being at a funfair with glaring lights in your face — but they’re not the sort I go for as it’s too revealing for me.’

What, then, of the parents of the girls who see their daughters disappear off into the night looking like life-sized Bratz dolls?

According to the women we interviewed, only a few parents had raised any serious objections. The greatest concern appeared to be the worry they might catch cold — not that they dressed so provocatively.

Some girls reported that their mothers checked their outfits before they went out and said they ‘looked nice’. Others said their mothers sometimes accompanied them out clubbing, envied their figures — and even borrowed their clothes.

Psychologist Dr Linda Papadopoulos, author of the Home Office Review on the Sexualisation of Girls, believes society has become so influenced by porn culture that no one knows where to draw the line any more.

‘We are inheriting more from the porn culture than we realise — everything from fake nails to fake tans. Porn has become mainstream.

‘The sad thing is that the confidence of these girls has become directly proportionate to how they look. It doesn’t come from what they have achieved or what skills they have learned. It comes from how much attention and looks they get from men.

‘Of course, there’s nothing new about wanting to be desired and complimented. But with these young women, it’s not just that they like compliments. They crave them.

‘The problem comes when your only desire is to be desired.’
Additional reporting: Jenny Stocks & Laura Topham.


source:dailymail

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