Fox Corp. Names Lauren Townsend SVP, Communications

Chelsea and Newcastle United star Gavin Peacock still felt there was something missing.Perhaps it was the thrill of playing in front of a 100,000 strong Wembley crowd in the 1994 FA Cup final. Maybe it was the irreplaceable day-to-day dressing room culture all footballers fall in love with?Whatever it was, it was missing, and Peacock found himself “in need of a saviour”.A flight to Calgary, and many years off studying later, Peacock overhauled his life, left the BBC sofas for good, and embarked on a spiritually fulfilling quest as a pastor.

Playboy star Melissa Howe has revealed that the infamous mansion Grotto saw that much sex, the water became infected.The Berkshire born model, 31, lived at Hugh Hefner's famous Los Angeles mansion between 2013 and 2017, alongside her twin, Carla.During her time at the famous residence, Howe saw a string of A-list celebs walk through the doors and attended Hefner's mega parties at the California home, which had been surrounded by zoo animals.But there is one stand out memory for Melissa that she explains repulsed her after discovering the gruesome news following a string of raunchy, yet 'normal' events.Speaking exclusively to Daily Star, she told me: "I knew things were going on because we had a grotto in the garden, there would be craziness going on in the grotto with random people hooking up."The water was infected because they shut the grotto off."She went on to add in further detail: "When we heard that we were like 'what the f**k?' because we would be going in there all the time."We'd be chilling in groups because it was like a sauna, boiling up but when we heard that we were like 'okay, we're not going in there', people were having sex in the grotto." Following the news that a poodle became addicted to cocaine at the mansion, Melissa added: "His animals would always be going around the mansion, so I'm not surprised.

Stacey Dooley joined Dan Walker and Sally Nugent on Monday's episode of BBC Breakfast.The Strictly Come Dancing winner opened up about her demanding schedule, from documentaries, a new book and the launch of her new BBC Three cooking show, Hungry For It.The 34-year-old was questioned about her culinary skills at home but admitted she is no "sous chef".Her admission comes after the BBC Breakfast presenters quizzed her about boyfriend Kevin Clifton, 39.The documentary filmmaker cheekily quipped about the pair's romance as neither of them is skilled in the kitchen.Stacey remarked: "It's so jokes because I'm useless in the kitchen. I'm rubbish."Dan interjected: "Kevin's rubbish at cooking as well right?""Kev's useless," she agreed, before adding: "It's a miracle we're still standing."Stacey added: "We just have toast."The presenter also opened up about her time working behind the scenes of her new series.Dan commented: "I'm disappointed you did a cooking show and didn't come out with a signature dish."Stacey replied: "No.

James Martin is back on our screens this morning with the latest episode of his cooking show Saturday Morning. However, many fans are likely to want to know a little more about the television chef and his life off-screen as well.James has been in a relationship with his girlfriend Louise Davies for over 10 years.The pair tend to keep their personal life to themselves and are rarely seen in public together.However, James has opened up in the past about their relationship, as well as why they won’t have children.Speaking in an unearthed interview from 2018, Jame explained he doesn't want kids.He said: “I go round to my mate’s house, who has four kids, and realise that I don’t want them after about two minutes."Kids are great, but it’s just no, not for me.“You sacrifice so much in this work and the job and everything else.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are 'loving life' in California and have amassed celebrity pals like Katy Perry, an expert has claimed.Royal commentator Richard Mineads gave a positive latest assessment of the royal couple's experience in their Montecito mansion since baby Lilibet’s birth.Speaking the London Evening Standard, he revealed that Archie and Lilibet have been going on playdates with celebrity's children whilst the Sussexes mingle with the likes of Katy, Orlando Bloom, Ellen DeGeneres and Oprah Winfrey.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentIn the early days of what we used to call “coronavirus” in March 2020, before we all became budding epidemiologists, people flocked to Steven Soderbergh’s eerily prophetic 2011 drama “Contagion” on streaming services. Within a month or so, the movie was propelled from the 270th slot to the second most watched film in the Warner Bros.

Carole Horst Rose Byrne’s array of credits includes a wide range of projects, from comedies such as “Neighbours” and “Bridesmaids” to historical dramas including “Mrs. America” and superhero pics “X-Men: First Class,” horror films and gems “Juliet, Naked.” Now, her production company Dollhouse Pictures has “Seriously Red,” being sold by Arclight Films at the EFM. The film, written and starring Krew Boylan (another Dollhouse principal), follows Red, a vivacious and at times misguided redhead who trades in her real estate career to become a full-time Dolly Parton impersonator.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItalian director and producer Roberto De Paolis, whose 2017 debut “Pure Hearts” launched from Cannes, is stepping up activity of his Young Films shingle and has completed his follow-up feature, “Princess,” about a young African woman who’s a victim of the sex trade.Described by De Paolis as “the unfiltered story of a young Nigerian who prostitutes herself in Ostia, outside Rome, in a seaside pine forest,” “Princess” (first look image above) features Glory Kevin, a real victim of the sex trade, in the title role plus other non-professional actors with similar backgrounds. Rounding out the cast are Lino Musella (“The Young Pope”), Salvatore Striano (“Caesar Must Die”) and Maurizio Lombardi (“The New Pope”).

Friends of TOWIE star James Argent called an ambulance to rush over to his Essex home after getting worried when they couldn't get ahold of the star, The Sun has reported. The 34 year old turned his life around in the last year after dropping 13 stone following a gastric sleeve surgery in 2021. However, according to the publication, pals of he star were left concerned when they weren't able to reach him.

John Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentFilmax has swooped on international rights to “Irati,” an action adventure feature set in the eighth-century Pyrenees.Produced by Spain’s Bainet, Ikusgarri Films, Kilima Media with France’s La Fidèle Production, “Irati” weighs in as one of the most ambitious new Spanish movies being brought onto the market at Berlin. Filmax will present a promo at the EFM.Featuring battles, mythological creatures and fantasy elements in a mix of Basque legend and historical events, it also marks director Paul Urkijo’s follow-up to “Errementari: the Blacksmith and the Devil,” which Filmax sold to Netflix for the world.Now in post-production, “Irati” turns on a pagan girl who guides a young Christian lord called Enekoon a journey into an ancient, mythological world. Eneko hopes to recover lost treasure, key to his defending his valley from Charlemagne’s marauding army, which is devastating the Pyrenees.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentItalian director Matteo Garrone, who was at the 2020 Berlinale with Roberto Benigni-starrer “Pinocchio,” is set to return to the director’s chair in March with coming-of-age adventure drama “Io Capitano,” on which France’s Pathé will be handling international distribution.Garrone’s new pic, whose title translates as “I, Captain,” will be shot in Italy, Morocco and Senegal, marking the first time, Garrone –– a two-time Cannes jury prize-winner, with “Gomorrah” in 2008 and “Reality” in 2012 –– sets a feature film outside of Italy.As is customary with Garrone, story details of “Io Capitano” are being kept under wraps, besides the fact that he wrote the screenplay with regular collaborators Massimo Gaudioso and Andrea Tagliaferri and actor Massimo Ceccherini (“Pinocchio”), who also contributed to the “Pinocchio” screenplay.

Christopher Vourlias Rwandan director Kivu Ruhorahoza’s “Father’s Day,” which bows in the competitive Encounters strand of the Berlin Film Festival, is a timely story of fatherhood in a country that saw a generation orphaned by one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century.The film presents a trio of interwoven stories set in the East African nation. A mother tries to cope with the loss of her only son.

Christopher Vourlias Russian VOD platform KION has unveiled a slate of original content it will be presenting to buyers at the European Film Market.Launched less than one year ago by telecom giant MTS, the company has so far surpassed expectations, according to Igor Mishin, VP for media business development at MTS and CEO of MTS Media. “We have exceeded all business key performance indicators, in terms of the subscriber base and streaming views,” he said.The company is launching two new feature films and two original series at EFM.“Ophiuchus” is an erotic thriller about a bold and sexually liberated pathologist whose lovers begin to die under mysterious circumstances.

“Death on the Nile” was being released in the rest of the Middle East over the weekend, according to Deadline.Gadot, 36, served in the Israeli armed forces for two years, as is required of all young Israelis, before she entered show business.It’s not the first time the former Miss Israel’s nationality has caused controversy as tensions persist between the two warring nations.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorEman Varoqua was named executive producer of “Nightline,” the latest in a series of moves by ABC News President Kim Godwin to fill some of the top positions in the news division.Varoqua has been with ABC News since 2018, most recently working as senior broadcast producer for the late-night news show that launched with Ted Koppel in 1980, with roots in ABC’s coverage of the Iran hostage crisis. During her time at the program, Varoqua executive-produced a breaking-news special on the January 6th insurrection at the U.S.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFox Entertainment said it acquired MarVista Entertainment, a studio that specializes in, among other things, production for digital platforms. The acquisition is part of a bid to expand the company’s content portfolio as it places more emphasis on Tubi, the ad-supported streaming outlet that parent Fox Corporation bought for $440 million in 2020.MarVista, founded in 2003, creates an average of 80 titles across different genres and has a content catalog of more than 2,500 hours of programming.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorChris Wallace is leaving Fox News Channel, he announced on his program Sunday morning, a move that abruptly sunders the cable-news outlet’s connection with one of its most recognized and independent journalists.Wallace delivered the news himself, in the last minutes of his “Fox News Sunday,” which he has anchored for nearly two decades on the Fox Corporation-owned outlet.  “I want to try something new, to go beyond politics to all the things I’m interested in. I’m ready for a new adventure.

Former Starz head of communications Lauren Townsend has been named SVP of Communications for Fox Corporation. Townsend, who will be based in Los Angeles, will start Jan. 3, reporting to Fox Corp. Chief Communications Officer Brian Nick.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorCarrie Byalick, a longtime Hollywood publicist who has become one of comedian Stephen Colbert’s top advisers, has been named president of his production company, Spartina Productions, as it prepares to increase its number of active projects.Byalick will supervise all aspects of Spartina, which in October set a three-year pact with CBS Studios to develop content for linear and streaming venues. Colbert’s team already produces the animated “Stephen Colbert Presents Tooning Out the News” for Paramount Plus, as well as “Fairview” and “Washingtonia” on Comedy Central.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorOn Thursday evening, Fox News hopes to bring new light to the holiday season after a large Christmas tree placed outside the company’s New York headquarters was set ablaze Wednesday morning.“Fox & Friends” weekday hosts Steve Doocy and Ainsley Earhardt will be joined by meteorologist Janice Dean, weekend “Fox & Friends” hosts Pete Hegseth and Rachel Campos-Duffy and early morning hosts Todd Piro and Carley Shimkus as Fox News lights a new tree during the first segment on its late-afternoon panel show “The Five.” Lawrence Jones and Abby Horancek will lead the event.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV EditorFox Business Network offers a market forecast each weekday. On weekends, it will start to offer one related to the weather.Starting Saturday, December 4, the Fox Corp.-owned cable outlet will offer two hours of Fox Weather programming in the early morning, the first time the streaming weather service, which launched in October, will be made available for linear TV audiences.