So Scotland is of course in the news this week with many world leaders and royalty descending on Glasgow for COP26.
It was sad that the Queen wasn’t well enough to make the trip in person. Her presence was nonetheless felt when she made an unusually personal and emotional speech where she talked about her dear late husband and how proud she was of his legacy, and of Prince Charles and William carrying on his passion and commitment.
She didn’t mince her words either, with reference to the world leaders putting politics aside and suggesting they behave like statesmen. Her words set the scene for the rest of the conference as if she was challenging them all to actually get something done.
Meanwhile, showbiz royalty was out in force for this year’s Pride of Britain Awards.
Even though I’ve been to this ceremony many times, there was most definitely something special about this year’s event.
Perhaps we had all taken for granted how lucky we were to be at such a wonderful celebration. This year however, we were grateful to be there, grateful to catch up with friends and most importantly, grateful to share in the wonderful stories and achievements of the winners.
It was as emotional as ever to hear of their bravery through adversity and you always leave there inspired to be kind and be the best you can be.
As usual I was lucky enough to be invited by Carol Vorderman. Our friend Jules and I went together, and we savoured every moment. Jules had never been to the event before, so it was exciting to see it through her eyes.
Walking up the red carpet is a joy. It is extremely long and the celebrity spotting is off the scale.
Wherever you look there are wall-to-wall soap stars, pop stars, TV presenters and actors and I don’t think Jules could believe just how many were walking past her.
Luckily there were many of them who I had worked with over the years who came up to speak to us, so we just stood there for a long time seeing who else would appear.
Danny O’Donoghue, from the Script, who I’d worked with on The Voice UK, came for a chat; Richard Arnold, from Good Morning Britain, sports star Denise Lewis, Phillip Schofield, Alexandra Burke, Nick Knowles, Frankie Bridge, Arlene Phillips, the list goes on and on, and we even had a chat with the hugely famous American singer Ne-Yo.
Rewind two weeks though, and after trying on every posh dress in my wardrobe and fitting into none of them, I went on a major diet.
My eyebrows hadn’t been professionally done for two years, nor had my nails, so off I went for an overdue bit of pampering.
Fake tan was applied, and I had my first blow dry in ages.
I’m sure that it wasn’t just me.
I can imagine that my overhaul was the tip of the iceberg.
I don’t think for one minute that those celebs who were there hadn’t spent hours in hair and make-up, and many of them had obviously had a lot more tweaks done to them than the odd bit of eyebrow grooming.
Once we were all inside though, the stars of the show were the wonderful winners.
As ever, Carol put them at ease and gave them the confidence just to share their story with us.
Ashley Banjo was a nice addition to the show and was a lovely co-host for Carol.
I hope you managed to catch the show on ITV on Thursday and saw those inspiring people, including wonderful Gee Walker who after her heart was broken when her beloved son was brutally murdered at just 18 in a racist attack, turned her pain into compassion for others. She set up a wonderful foundation in his honour to tackle racism and hate crime.
As a mother, she moved me so much with her words.
What an incredible woman.
Her priority on the night was not her outfit or her hair, although she looked beautiful. Her priority was to tell her story and inspire others to help in the fight against hate.
Simon Cowell was there, and even Hollywood star Sharon Stone, but they kind of blended into the background overshadowed by the winners.
People like Gee give us perspective in life.
People like Gee are the reason Pride of Britain is such a wonderful show.
Have a good week,
Yvie x
