RYAN REYNOLDS and KSI are about to face a strong challenge from a new fly-on-the-wall football series.
I hear that ITV is planning a show following all the ups and downs at Essex non-league team Maldon And Tiptree FC, owned by millionaire entrepreneur .
ITV is planning a show following Essex non-league team Maldon And Tiptree FC, owned by millionaire entrepreneur Barrie Drewitt-BarlowCredit: The Sun
Maldon And Tiptree FC was bought by businessman Barrie a year ago and he’s been busy trying to turn around its fortunesCredit: Wikipedia/Maldonned
This comes after the huge success of Disney+’s , which has seen Hollywood stars and s take from a lowly non-league side to EFL Championship contenders.
And judge got into the action in February, snapping up Dagenham & Redbridge and making an upcoming YouTube docuseries about his team’s journey in National League South.
Maldon And Tiptree FC was bought by businessman Barrie a year ago and he’s been busy trying to turn around its fortunes.
He became a household name in 1999 after becoming the first gay man to .
Since then, he has been a regular on our screens, appearing on reality shows Below Deck and .
And we’re about to see a lot more of him as cameras follow his transformation of Maldon And Tiptree — currently in the regional Isthmian League — with a dream of climbing up the leagues.
The series will be called Up The Jammers, after the nickname for the team.
Barrie has even got some of his famous pals involved too, with presenter popping up in the show.
Since buying the club in a multimillion deal, he’s overseen some signings, but admits he doesn’t understand the offside rule.
“It still doesn’t make any sense to me,” he told the BBC.
“Every now and then when I see the whistle going from the ref or the linesman, I just don’t get it. I’m like, ‘What’s happened? Why has he stopped playing?’
“I almost thought they were doing a morris dancing kind of thing with their flags at one point. It’s not what I expected.”
With Barrie dreaming of taking Maldon And Tiptree to the top flight, a pilot following his exploits has been filmed and I hear that it’s gripping stuff.
Sounds like ITV have scored a winner here.
Ryan Reynolds took over Welsh club WrexhamCredit: PA
VERNON’S GIRL REEL TALENT
WITH and as parents, it’s no wonder their eldest daughter has been tipped as a future telly star.
But I can reveal the 21-year-old, who studied film production, has already passed up the chance to follow in their footsteps.
Vernon Kay and Tess Daly’s daughter Phoebe passed on the chance to be in HollyoaksCredit: Getty
Channel 4 bosses thought Phoebe would be ideal for a role on their soap .
Show boss Hannah Cheers said at the Royal Television Society awards: “I wanted Phoebe to join the cast.
“I saw Vernon recently and we talked about him being in the first episode on Hollyoaks in 1995 and I said Phoebe would be amazing but he said she prefers to be behind the camera.”
So now bosses have their eye on another nepo baby target – Mel B’s daughter:
Hannah added: “I‘d love to get a Spice Girl or one of their children. I really want Phoenix to be on the show.”
FRY GETS GRILLED ON SEX
FROM The Celebrity Traitors round table to The Assembly hotseat, has faced some tough interrogations of late.
So which one would he rank the hardest?
Sir Stephen Fry had a rough time on The Assembly,Credit: ITV
“The Assembly just pips it,” he says. “It puts one under a microscope.”
The former QI host joins rapper Aitch, Ludwig’s Anna Maxwell Martin, politician Nicola Sturgeon and comedy legend Sir Lenny Henry on the second series of the ITV interview show.
One line of questioning from the group of autistic, neurodivergent and learning-disabled interviewers came as a surprise to Fry.
“The rather eye-watering curiosity as to my sexual preferences,” he explained.
“Not sexuality, you understand – that was understood – but my preferences within that sexuality framework – well, I wasn’t expecting that!”
The Assembly returns on April 8.
THE doors to the First Dates restaurant will open again next month. Fred Sirieix is back as maitre d’ extraordinaire for the 26th series of the Channel 4 dating show, which starts on April 10 at 10pm.
The new series will see retired police detective Kerry return for a second shot at love.
HARRY’S A POPE STAR
SOME people bow at the altar of Britpop’s finest, Oasis– but not Harry Clark.
The Traitors winner would much rather meet the Pope, and that’s his mission in new BBC One show, Harry Clark Goes To Rome, which airs on Thursday.
Harry Clark is off to Rome for a new BBC seriesCredit: PA
“If I had been asked to choose between meeting Oasis or The Pope, to be fair I probably would have said The Pope,” he smiles.
“I mean, he is one of the world’s leaders and it is just more of a personal journey for me to help deepen my faith.
“I have so many questions for people in that role about my faith that would help me as a person.”
He adds: “I would love to meet Oasis, too, but I don’t think I would get much out of them – I mean, I am not a singer or drummer.”
JASON’S MAN OF STEAL
TOUGH guy Jason “Foxy” Fox has fought terrorists and drug barons, but it’s nothing compared with his bizarre encounter with a book thief.
The SAS: Who Dares Wins star was lost for words after a fan admitted stealing his memoir from a supermarket.
Jason Fox was shocked when a fan said he stole his memoirCredit: Getty
Speaking at his Embrace The Chaos show in Somerset, he said: “I was at a set of traffic lights, minding my own business, and this car pulled up alongside me.
“And the guy wound the window down and was like, ‘Nice to meet you’.
“He picked up my book, Battle Scars, and said, ‘I’ve just read this. It’s awesome. I’ve just come out of prison and this has really helped me’.
“Then he goes, ‘I didn’t buy it. I nicked it from Tesco!’.”
A SATIN CAMI
CAMILA MORRONE looks sublime in satin for a new shoot with Porter magazine.
It’s a world away from her scary new role as a bride-to-be, below, in Netflix horror series Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen.
Camila Morrone looks sublime in satin for a new shoot with Porter magazineCredit: Sam Hellman/PORTER/NET-A-PORTER.COM
Camila stars as Rachel Harkin in Something Very Bad Is Going to HappenCredit: © 2026 Netflix, Inc.
The Night Manager beauty stars with Adam DiMarco as her fiance, and she has revealed that there was an instant connection bet-ween the pair during filming – since both of them love drinking matcha tea.
It sounds like that was a matcha made in heaven.
- To see the full Camila Marrone interview, read PORTER at https://www.net-a-porter.com/en-gb/porter/article-8c99fc247e87feaf
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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