Why I'm A Celeb stint may help Coleen Rooney battle her debilitating illness

Love a bit of Celeb chit chat? Join me Daily Mirror Columnist Jessica Boulton for Jess Saying, my weekly three-minute witty, wacky and oh-so-wry round up of the showbiz week.....

Cross to bare Monday

Kopykat Kim Kardashian has an unlikely new fashion muse: Princess Diana.

The reality star turned lawyer turned activist turned underwear entrepreneur has been busy showing off her new bling this week: a £150,000 bejewelled cross which had been previously worn by the late princess.

If you look closely at the picture, below, you might just be able to spot it. Ahem .

Yep, it’s not exactly dainty. In fact, the 1920s Garrard piece – which Kim bought in a Sotheby’s auction last year – is definitely what one would call “statement jewellery”.

So what statement is Kim making?

Well, from the looks of the two pictures, she’s clearly drawing ­attention to a very real and desperate plight that is affecting the very fabric of society today…

The fact that we’re not using enough of it. Our fabric, that is.

For, besides the adaptations Kim has done to the necklace, there’s another vital difference between the way the two fashion idols modelled the cross. Diana went for a demure velvet number (with very 80s' frills) in 1987.

And Kim went for the, um, barely there/”less is phwoar” look in a skimpy dress with a deeply-plunging, very unregal neckline.

What next? Kim posting swimwear selfies while donning a House of Windsor tiara? Or snapping up a couple of Windsor sceptres to use as hiking sticks?

Mind you, Kim’s hardly the first American beauty to bag herself an attention-grabbing royal accessory.

Meghan's one came with his own crown jewels.

Coleen on trial Tuesday

It’s nearly jungle time again.

I’m A Celebrity hits screens next weekend but we might not see as much of its big star as
we’d hoped.

For Coleen Rooney has previously spoken about her reactive arthritis, a ­debilitating condition where stressful situations can cause incredibly painful flare-ups.

And reports on Tuesday claimed ITV would be carefully monitoring her before each Bushtucker Trial to decide whether it would be safe to let her do them. It means she may need to sit some out.

But while Coleen’s incredibly brave to go into the jungle with her condition, one imagines a few creepy- crawlies will be nothing compared to the stress she faces on the outside. (And not just when Wayne’s on a lads’ night out).

For her Wagatha Christie nemesis Rebekah Vardy has been less than kind about Coleen following in her jungle footsteps. She even tweeted: “The irony of such a ‘private ­individual’ going on one of the biggest reality shows isn’t lost!”

So there may be rats, bugs, maggots and many other horrors waiting for Coleen in Oz.

But if she unearths any snakes in her camp, she really need not worry.

They’ll be far less venomous than the one she discovered here.

Hump Trump Wednesday

A (not-so) long time ago in a country (not so) far, far away... It was a dark time for the woke ­rebellion ...

Yes, America has unfortunately signed us all up for the next ­instalment of The Sly-talker Saga... Episode II: Trump’s Empire Strikes Back.

Why? Who the heck knows. But astoundingly some 51% of US ­citizens decided:

• Not to look to the stars to decide their future.
• To ignore the pleas of Luke Skywalker and Han Solo (or, rather, Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford).
• And to surrender... to the Dark (Orange) Side.

Yup, 2024 was the year Trump became only the second man ever to win two non-consecutive terms as ­President of the US. And that teaches us all a couple of lessons. The first? The public don’t care about celebrity endorsements. Either that, or they genuinely believed ­MAGA-man Hulk ‘sex tape’ Hogan to be more of a political savant than... deep breath... Mark and Harrison, Arnie ‘Terminator’ Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, Leo DiCaprio, Pretty Woman’s Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, Madonna, Reese ­Witherspoon, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, the cast of the Avengers, Jennifer Aniston, Lady Gaga, LeBron James, Cardi B, Rihanna, Dick Van Dyke, Katy Perry, Viola Davis, Mick Jagger, Margaret Atwood, will.i.am, Smokey Robinson, Jon Bon Jovi, Sarah Jessica Parker, Cher, Jennifer Lopez, ­Homeland’s Mandy Patinkin, Bruce ­Springsteen, Barbra ­Streisand, Jamie Lee Curtis, Carole King, Octavia Spencer, Sally Field, Stevie Wonder, John Legend, Oprah Winfrey, P!nk, Spike Lee, Sigourney Weaver... or any of Kamala’s other many acolytes.

The second lesson? We’re all suckers for irony. Not only will the world usher in a Happy New Year while knowing a you-know-what grabber is about to have his hands on the nuclear button...

But the new leader of the FREE world could technically still be LOCKED UP for his hush money conviction.

Dance cull? Thursday

There’s rumba-lings afoot about a looming cull on Strictly – as bosses are allegedly looking to cha-cha-chop some of the older pros. According to some reports Katya Jones, Gorka Marquez and Neil Jones are among those who might be dancing their last dance this series as the head honchos are looking to shake up the line-up.

Strictly is yet to comment on such rumours, but if true, it’s poor Neil whose head must be really in a spin.

In his eight years on the show he’s only competed three times. And his partner Chyna was so pleased he finally bagged a celeb this year, she bought their one-year-old daughter Havana a specially-made T-shirt.

It boasted the slogan: “My daddy finally has a partner.”

Unfortunately it didn’t prove a lucky charm: Neil and Toyah Wilcox were second to be eliminated.

Talk about fast fashion: That T-shirt was out of date before it even hit the wash.

Phwoar Friday

Congratulations to Normal People’s Paul Mescal! For he has been ­crowned the official title-holder of…Understatement Of The Month.

The Irish actor is the new star of Gladiator II, which hits cinemas next week, and – no spoiler alert! – it obviously involves lots and lots and lots of fight scenes.

Now either there was some creative writing on Paul’s acting CV or director Ridley Scott just had a feeling he wouldn’t pull any punches. Because Paul, whose credits include a lot of smaller indie films, is not exactly a pro at such roles.

In fact, he admitted on Friday: “I had done one fight scene before. Independent budgets don’t really accommodate the safety of actors. So we’d kind of just WING it and hope that the other actor doesn’t punch you in the face.”

Sounds like a great training ground… for a career in MMA. ­Fortunately though, Gladiator II’s £100million-plus budget could afford more than just a few plasters and a bottle of TCP.

So how did Paul describe the steep learning curve that came with weeks of fight training and long days of gruelling fight scene shoots?

Well , he said – wait for it – …“This was a bit of a step up.”

Er, “A bit of a step up ”? I’d say. And then some, Paul.

Not that he’s a stranger to a steep learning curve, of course. In a handful of years, he’s gone from a bit part in a TV ad flogging bangers to a hit BBC drama flashing his sausage to the top dog in a Hollywood blockbuster.

Now thanks to these new Gladiator guns, above, viewers will surely be hungry for even more.

Have you seen a funny celeb moment this week? Is there showbiz someone you love or love to hate? Let me know in the comments or @JessicaBoulton on X or Instagram.