*sigh*
It’s been another fairly relentless week, hasn’t it? And in times like this, with the news cycle as chaotic as it is, we’re even more grateful when we find something to laugh at.
Fortunately, the world of celebrity has gifted us with more than a few such moments in the last seven days.
From behind-the-scenes bloopers with the cast of Normal People to Great British Bake Off taking a weirdly surreal turn, here are 10 moments that have brought us some much needed relief this week...
1. Mariah Carey rewrites history and makes zero apologies for it
Mariah Carey truly is the gift that keeps on giving.
Not only has she bestowed us with the year’s most important literary offering in the form of The Meaning Of Mariah, she’s also given us countless iconic lines while she’s been promoting it.
This week, The Guardian ran an interview with Mimi, in which she gave a truly priceless line about being high-maintenance:
““You know what? I don’t give a shit. I fucking am high-maintenance because I deserve to be at this point... That may sound arrogant, but I hope you frame it within the context of coming from nothing. If I can’t be high-maintenance after working my ass off my entire life, oh, I’m sorry – I didn’t realise we all had to be low-maintenance. Hell, no! I was always high-maintenance, it’s just I didn’t have anyone to do the maintenance when I was growing up.””
And she clearly doesn’t mind being thought of as a “diva” either:
“No! Who the fuck cares “Honestly! ‘Oh my God, they’re calling me a diva – I think I’m going to cry!’ You think in the grand scheme of things in my life that really matters to me, being called a diva? I am, bitches, that’s right.””
However, our personal highlight of the interview was the moment she was questioned about why ex-fiancé James Packer had been left out of the book completely:
“If it was a relationship that mattered, it’s in the book. If not, it didn’t occur.””
Ouch.
2. SNL takes on the presidential debate
With the sense of dread and frustration that hung over the entire thing, there was very little joy to be mustered from the first US presidential debate earlier this month... that is, until Saturday Night Live got their hands on it.
The first skit of the new series saw Alec Baldwin reprising his genius interpretation of the US leader, as well as Jim Carrey making his debut as Joe Biden, and he did a pretty great job of it, too.
Stealing the show, as ever, though, was Maya Rudolph – who entered towards the end as Kamala Harris, putting both candidates in their place.
3. Mick Fleetwood gets in on that Fleetwood Mac-inspired viral moment
When TikTok user Nathan Apodaca uploaded a clip of himself skateboarding while swigging cranberry juice and lip syncing to Fleetwood Mac, he probably wasn’t counting on it being viewed by more than 32 million people (and counting!):
What he also probably wasn’t expecting was that it would get the seal of approval from the actual Fleetwood Mac, with Stevie Nicks retweeting a clip of the post and Mick Fleetwood even getting in on the fun himself:
4. This Normal People blooper brings a smile to everyone’s faces
We were big fans of Normal People when it debuted on the BBC iPlayer earlier in the year, though there’s no getting round the fact that laughs were few and far between in the show.
It seems this was not the case behind the scenes, though, with Daisy Edgar-Jones sharing this video of herself and co-star Paul Mescal fluffing their lines during filming, and struggling to get things back on track:
5. Jane Fonda makes a return to the world of home workouts for a good cause
It’s been almost 40 years since Jane Fonda first donned her lycra ensemble for her iconic exercise video, but she’s made a one-off return to the world of home workouts this week.
However, it soon transpired that the exercise she was most concerned about this time around was Americans “exercising” their right to vote, as evidenced by this star-heavy clip:
6. Matt Lucas and Noel Fielding are truly taking Bake Off in a new direction
What we loved the most about Noel Fielding and Sandi Toksvig’s three-year stint presenting the Great British Bake Off together was the way their opposing styles balanced one another out.
But with Sandi out and Matt Lucas in, Noel has really been able to indulge his wacky and left-field sense of humour, with the two seen really egging one another on in the tent.
That was certainly the case at the beginning of this week’s show, which saw them taking part in this rather surreal sketch – even roping in Paul Hollywood in on the action...
7. Dolly Parton’s new Christmas film looks outrageously camp, and we can’t wait
The meeting of Dolly Parton and the art of the Christmas movie was never going to be an understated affair, but even when we found out the country icon was going to be playing Christine Baranski’s guardian angel in the new film, we still weren’t prepared for quite how camp things were going to be.
But behold...
Seriously, is it Christmas yet?
8. Macaulay Culkin’s face mask is all kinds of distressing
From the extremely camp to the borderling terrifying, now.
Former child star Macaulay Culkin took to Twitter this week to encourage his fans to wear face masks, revealing he’s got one that’s inspired by his most iconic film role.
What we weren’t ready for, though, was what a distressing image that would be...
*shudders*
9. Good Morning Britain presenter Laura Tobin gets the giggles and can barely make it through her weather report
We never did get to the bottom of quite what was making Laura Tobin laugh on Good Morning Britain this week, but it certainly did make it difficult for her to present the usual weather forecast.
Well, it was a welcome distraction from the weather itself, we suppose.
Laura later admitted she’d been told a hilarious joke during the break prior to her going on camera, and struggled to hold things together as she spoke.
Didn’t you want to share what was so funny with the class, Laura...?
10. The thought of Laurence Llewellyn Bowen back in action is enough to keep us all motivated, right?
On Friday, Channel 4 confirmed the news that we’ve all been waiting for... there’s a Changing Rooms reboot in the works.
And while Davina McCall will be taking over presenting duties (despite Carol Smilie previously expressing interest in a revival), we’re happy to see that Laurence Llewellyn Bowen won’t be going anywhere.
And neither will his unique fashion sense, apparently: