It’s been another jam-packed year in the world of Entertainment, but there have been some moments that we still can’t quite believe actually happened.
Here’s our round-up of the most jaw-dropping, WTF-is-happening? moments from the last 12 months. And yes, John Travolta features.
And the award for Best Actress goes to... Lorraine Kelly
Lorraine Kelly won a £1.2 million tax battle with HMRC in March, after a tribunal judge ruled she does not appear as herself on breakfast TV. Yep, the friendly face who helps wake us up with her beaming smile and chatty presenting style, is not actually Lorraine Kelly at all, but someone acting like Lorraine Kelly, according to Judge Jennifer Dean at least.
In her ruling, the judge said: “We did not accept that Ms Kelly simply appeared as herself – we were satisfied that Ms Kelly presents a persona of herself, she presents herself as a brand and that is the brand ITV sought when engaging her. All parts of the show are a performance, the act being to perform the role of a friendly, chatty and fun personality.”
Give her the Oscar already.
Paul Gascoigne’s and Snoop Dogg’s unlikely celeb beef
In June Paul ‘Gazza’ Gascoigne hit back at Snoop Dogg after the US rapper used images of the retired footballer in an attempt to illustrate the effects of alcohol abuse vs marijuana abuse.
Snoop had posted pictures of Gazza – who has had a public battle with alcohol addiction – at the ages 20 and 47 on Instagram, showing the difference in his appearance under the words “alcohol abuse”.
Gazza responded by posting a picture of a dog, featuring Snoop style braids and a gold chain, which he captioned: “Morning @SnoopDogg get your lazy arse out of bed it’s walkies time woof woof you ugly twat LOVE GAZZA xxx.”
Just days later, Gazza challenged Snoop to a boxing match, but he’s still waiting on a response.
Lorraine Kelly lays into Esther McVey and Jennifer Arcuri
The actress Lorraine Kelly delivered not one, but two TV gold moments this year. First up was her incredible snub to her former daytime TV colleague and ex-work and pensions secretary Esther McVey.
When Piers Morgan asked Lorraine if she remembered her former colleague during a link-up, Lorraine awkwardly responded: “Yep. Yes I do” before quickly moving on to introduce her upcoming guests and schedule. “So you got on with Esther, then, Lorraine?” Piers pressed. “I don’t remember love, I don’t remember at all,” Lorraine lied diplomatically answered.
Fast forward five months and Lorraine was tearing into Jennifer Arcuri, accusing her of “not answering any questions” that were put to her about her relationship with Boris Johnson during another interview on Good Morning Britain.
“What was the point of you coming on TV to clear the air and then you don’t say anything?” she asked her. “You didn’t answer any of the questions that were put to you. I just don’t see the point of you coming on, to be honest.” Scenes.
Simon Pegg gets shredded
No one could accuse Simon Pegg of not taking his work seriously after the actor showed off the results of an intense exercise and diet regime for his role in the upcoming thriller Inheritance. The Shaun Of the Dead star’s remarkable body transformation had everybody talking - something he later admitted he found “weird”.
“The response from that picture was so weird,” he said. “Some people said, ‘you look ill’, which is what my wife thought. Others were saying, ‘well done’. And the thing is, it wasn’t meant to be an aspirational thing. It was a snapshot that my trainer took and I really didn’t expect the furore that followed.”
Gemma Collins redefines ’oversharing (and makes us all barf in the process)
Gemma Collins has gifted us many memeable moments from her ITV2 show Diva Forever, but there was one particular unsavoury scene that left us all gagging.
The former TOWIE star left viewers horrified when, concerned she was suffering from an apparent yeast infection, scratched her nether regions before making her stylist sniff her hand. “It stinks doesn’t it? It just smells of bread,” she asks poor Lucas. Remaining remarkably calm for someone who’d just had their nasal cavities violated, he responded: “It’s the yeast, we need some Canesten.” And new nostrils for Lucas please.
John Travolta continued to be the gift that keeps on giving
John Travolta cemented his position as The World’s Greatest Celebrity back in August when he made another epic on-stage blunder. The Hollywood star was tasked with handing out the Video Of The Year award to Taylor Swift at the MTV VMAs, but things didn’t go quite to plan.
When Taylor was announced as the winner for her You Need To Calm Down clip, she was joined on stage by an array of names from the LGBTQ community, who feature in the video. One of those luminaries included RuPaul’s Drag Race star Jade Jolie who portrayed Taylor in the Snatch Game Challenge. So this might explain why John attempted to hand over the award to a bemused Jade instead of you know, the biggest pop star on the planet.
BBC newsreaders ’ave it large together in Ibiza
In one of the most unexpected tweets of the year, BBC News presenters Simon McCoy and Carrie Gracie revealed they had taken a break from reading the headlines and jetted off to the White Isle.
They kept us all updated while they were there with a string of unbelievable tweets. Our favourite though was this gem from Simon: “Poor @BBCCarrie got told off today by someone relaxing on the beach. She woke him up shouting ‘Simon, if you want to go clubbing - we need to go now!’.. #Ibizalife.”
The Sawalha sisters air their dirty laundry in public
Absolutely Fabulous star Julia Sawalha didn’t hold back when she very publicly slammed her sister Nadia in August, accusing the Loose Woman of “talking lies and rubbish” about their relationship on the ITV daytime show.
Julia, who played Saffy in Ab Fab, took to Twitter to rant: “So tired of #nadiasawalha talking about our ‘stormy’ relationship which she created. I’ve kept my privacy for 6 years to protect my family, whilst she talks lies & rubbish. You have destroyed our family so don’t sit on TV with your fake tears to gain sympathy & attention.”
Even Nadia’s former agent, Melanie Blake got in on the act, calling her ex-client a “the fakest woman in the world”. Ouch.
Piers Morgan makes ridiculous claim about GMB co-host Susanna Reid
Firstly, a warning: if you are of a nervous disposition then look away now.
Piers Morgan had rather a lot of grovelling to do after he claimed that him and his Good Morning Britain co-host Susanna Reid would be “at it like stoats in a sack” if they were single. He did add a “with other people, of course...” line to his initial statement, but the damage was done.
The nation - including Piers’ wife - could not unsee the mental image he had conjured up, and Celia Walden, who has been married to the GMB host for nine years, quickly responded. “The headline every wife wants to read on a Sunday morning #mythoughtsarewithsusanna,” she wrote. And ours were too.
Wagatha Christie
For a few blissful hours in October, the entire country stopped arguing about Brexit to focus on a far more pressing issue: did or didn’t Rebekah Vardy leak fake stories about fellow WAG Coleen Rooney to the press?
Coleen was labelled ‘Wagtha Christie’ after she revealed that a process of elimination led to her working out who she believed had been feeding The Sun with fabricated tales. Rebekah denied she had anything to do with it. TV debates were held. The story went global. And a thousand memes were born.
Simon Cowell’s face tries to run away from girlfriend Lauren Silverman
Much has been said about Simon Cowell’s new face this year (including by the man himself), but we got to see a whole new side of the music mogul on the America’s Got Talent red carpet in September. Or rather, sides. Playing a key role in Simon’s brilliantly animated mug was his girlfriend, Lauren Silverman, who couldn’t get enough of her other half. Simon… less so.
Joaquin Phoenix has a tantrum midway through an interview
Joaquin Phoenix didn’t take kindly to the suggestion that the Joker could inspire “exactly the kind of people it’s about, with potentially tragic results” in an interview with The Telegraph. In fact, Joaquin was so miffed by the question that he walked out of the interview. Eventually things resumed, but only after an hour of what is described as “peace-brokering with a seriously stressed PR to get things back on track.
Len Goodman has a case of the don’t-you-know-who-I-ams
Len Goodman might not be judging Strictly Come Dancing any more, but he’s still living up to his grumpy reputation over on the US version of the show. The Head Judge shocked viewers with his response to former Fifth Harmony singer Ally Brooke on Dancing With The Stars when she ran over to the judges’ desk to give him a high five.
But despite praising her performance, Len was in no mood for her excitement, saying: “Don’t get overwhelmed.” He then pointed at her and sternly warned her: “Don’t touch me again.” Blimey, someone needs a chill pill.
Courtney Cox gets hands on with David Beckham in a hot tub
It didn’t take David Beckham long to relax into things on the set of Modern Family. So much so that the footballer stripped off and jumped into a hot tub with none other than Courteney Cox, who he’s set to co-star with. The former Friends star shared a pic of the moment, joking the pair were “too hot in the hot tub”. And some eagle-eyed fans agreed when they saw where Courteney had placed her hand.