Search

A BRITISH diver was recovering last night after spending 19 hours adrift in shark-infested waters near Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Dick Neely, 38, and his American girlfriend drifted nine miles in strong currents before they were picked up by a helicopter early yesterday. They had been on a one-hour dive off the Queensland coast on Friday afternoon but had resurfaced 200 yards from their boat, and were swept away by a strong current, without being spotted. They were not reported missing until three hours later, by which time the couple, both experienced divers, had drifted much further away. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

THIS is Beatrice Aston, the Australian actress I'm A Celebrity winner Christopher Biggins married, despite knowing he was gay. But while Biggins is being feted to star in his own TV programme following his success in ITV1's jungle reality show, The Mail on Sunday has discovered the woman he married in 1971 is living a much more modest life in a tiny flat in the Sydney beachside suburb of Clovelly. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

AS A rule, he is more than happy to be a guest at other people's parties. But last night the celebration was his and his alone. As the cast and crew of I'm A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! gathered at the Calypso bar in the Gold Coast town of Coolangatta, it was Christopher Biggins's long awaited chance to hog the spotlight. The party theme of A Day At The Races may not have been entirely appropriate -- Australian horse-racing is currently banned because of equine flu -- but nothing could dampen the spirits of Biggins, a man whose victory seemed assured the moment he arrived in the Queensland jungle. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

THE I'm A Celebrity love triangle took another twist yesterday when banished EastEnders actor Marc Bannerman sent a love letter to singer Cerys Matthews back in the jungle. Despite heading home to a furious live-in girlfriend -- who witnessed Bannerman sharing a hammock with Matthews and talking about forbidden fruit -- he has told Matthews he'd like to meet her again. Bannerman's letter, read out on air, said: 'Keep singing songbird, you are doing amazing and I am rooting for you. 'Your sister Amanda and the kids are all well and are also rooting for you. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

AS THE pushy PR guru who inspired the character of Edina Monsoon in Absolutely Fabulous, she's met her fair share of flighty characters. But none will have given Lynne Franks more trouble than the hungry ostriches she encountered on last night's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! The terrified 59-year-old was pecked repeatedly by the aggressive birds as she tried to complete one of the ITV show's notorious bushtucker trials alongside ex-model Janice Dickinson. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

GLOBAL warming may provide a welcome bonus for this year's I'm A Celebrity contestants - because there is a shortage of witchetty grubs for the infamous bush-tucker trials. Australia's worst drought in 100 years has had a devastating effect on the edible 3in grubs, the protein-rich larvae of cossid moths which feed on the roots of the wanderrie wattle bush. Special supplies of the Aboriginal delicacy were being flown in from Hobart, Tasmania. However, the ten celebrities still face some hideous food trials, including the challenge to eat pigs' anuses. Executive producer Christopher Lore, who has 70 assistants on the show, said last night: 'We are going to push all the celebrities to the edge of their fear factor. The subjects of the trials are claustrophobia, heights, darkness, very deep water and nasty biting animals. There are also new delicacies to eat including one, which I won't divulge, except to say that it's live, it flies and I recommend you hold it by the wings and just eat the body.' [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

RELAXED and smiling, and keeping close to her male companion as she strolls around a country fair, Jennifer Chubb seems to be without a care in the world. It is hard to imagine from the relaxed image of her in these pictures, taken in Australia, that Mrs Chubb is at the centre of a macabre inquiry into the death of her late husband, Crown Court judge Andrew Chubb, who died in a fireball in his garden shed just 90 minutes after asking for a divorce. Or that she is wanted back in Britain for a second inquest which opens tomorrow in Glastonbury. Today, The Mail on Sunday can reveal that Mrs Chubb, 60, has no intention of attending, even though it is understood that the district coroner, Sheriff Payne, has asked her to give evidence. The UK courts are powerless to force her to return. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

PRINCE Andrew has been accused of arrogance after refusing to go through an airport security check. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A DRUG-ADDICTED drifter was last night beginning a life sentence for the murder of backpacker Caroline Stuttle. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

CHILLING tapes of a drifter laughing loudly as he allegedly confesses to murdering British backpacker Caroline Stuttle were played to a jury yesterday. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

THE jury in the Caroline Stuttle murder trial were yesterday shown a photo-graph of the British backpacker clutching the handbag for which she was killed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

BRITISH backpacker Caroline Stuttle screamed in terror as she was thrown to her death from a bridge by a mugger, a court heard yesterday. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]