ROD STEWART JOINS HOST OF FOOTBALL STARS TO PAY TRIBUTE TO GLASGOW MUM

ROD Stewart paid tribute to a very special member of Celtic Park - and serenaded her before telling her he loved her.
In an exclusive video to honour Glasgow's Angela Thomson who celebrated thirty years of working behind the scenes at Parkhead, Rod gave a tour of his Celtic themed home gym.
Standing by a Celtic flagpole, he welcomed her to his gym decked out with Hoops scarves and placques and said: "Angie its Rod. It's raining. Come into the gym. Come quickly. Come on in. This is my gym. Angie, I just wanted to thank you for your thirty years to the best football team - not always the best football team but certainly the best club in the world. You've been absolutely wonderful. What would we have done without you? I wish I could have been there for you but I'm away tonight to the south of France for a rest but I love you and I'll see you soon. I'm going to bring you up a present and I'm going to sing a song as well."
After singing the opening verse of 'Have I told you lately that I love you?' Rod added: "See you soon Angie. Take care darling. Love you"
The brilliant video and night was organised by Made In Scotland and Celtic Former Players Association with Spirit Aid and was one of the largest events in Celtic Park's function rooms with a whopping five hundred and fifty guests.
Rod wasn't the only celebrity to pay his respects to Angie who has kept the players strips clean and smart over the years.
It was like a Who's Who of the clubs history as over 100 past and present names and four ex managers turned up to honour Her.
John Hartson, Henrik Larson, Jackie McNamara, Neil Lennon, Frank McAvennie, Gordon Strachan and Martin O Neill were amongst those who paid tribute to Angie in the flesh alongside the current squad and Brendan Rodgers. Pierre van Hooijdonk, Peter Lawwell and Lubo Moravcik also sent special video messages to Angie as she is affectionately known.
The 59 year old started off in catering before moving to the clubs laundrette.
Angie's daughter said: "It was amazing for us to see how well respected Angela is and to see how many people love her. She is so special to us.
"She thought she was going to a Celine Dione tribute night and was in shock when she saw a big picture of herself on screen. I was blown away too. She's been with the club for 30 years and she started with catering and then went to work in laundry."
Ex player Joe Miller who heads up the Former Celtic Players Association said: "It was a great event and pretty touching as well. Angie started at the club the same time as I started at Celtic and used to help Neil Mochan who was kit manager at the time. She's a great character and has looked after everyone. She's an important part of the club and has played a huge part in the players lives and made an impression. You could rely on her if you needed anything signed - even once you left the club. A lot of people who work at the club are unsung heroes and Angie comes under that category. She is at the heart of the club.
Players flew in from around the world to be with her."
Jacqueline Doherty from Made In Scotland who put together the videos for the event said: "Getting Rod was the icing on the cake and we compiled a potted thirty year history for this lady. It was wonderful."
Excerpts of this article have since appeared in the Scottish Sun
From Scotland with Love - The Showbiz Lion.

CON DINE WITH ME SAYS SUZIE

RADIO DJ Suzie McGuire ended up making a real dogs dinner of things after announcing on social media that she was going to appear on Come Dine With Me - and got over 480 messages of congratulations.
The former Clyde 1 presenter's news received hundreds of replies on Facebook and beyond after she announced "Whoop whoop I've just been accepted on Come Dine With Me."
Suzie's post was so popular that a Glasgow evening paper even covered it as a legitimate story.
She also received messages from as far afield as South Africa and Florida asking her when the transmission date was.
But the announcement was a fake - and Suzie has now revealed to The Showbiz Lion that she was just doing her bit for an autism charity - and shared the post in a bid to raise awareness for the cause.
Suzie said: "I don't normally entertain or agree these chainmail messages but a friend of mine who has a wee boy with autism sent it after I commented on his post and I felt I couldn't ignore it.
"The message I received back said I had to 'pick from one of the sentences below and post it as your status. This is the 2017 Autism Awareness game. Don't be a spoil sport. Pick your poison from one of these and post it as your status.'
Suzie had options to choose sentences like 'Just found a squirrel in my car!', 'Just agreed to a sexual favour to get out of a speeding ticket.', 'I've no clean pants for tomorrow, so just going to turn them inside out!' and 'My haemorrhoids are playing up like crazy tonight!'
She said: "I wasn't going to tell people that I was pregnant or that I'd p**d myself which were other options so I thought I'd put up the status about being chosen to go on come dine with me which was the last option in the list, but I never expected all this carry on."
As soon as she posted the status, Suzie's timeline was flooded with messages of congratulations from people like Stephen Hamilton who said: "Brilliant, Suzie. I've never seen toast and beans washed doon wi a boattle of Scotmid's special offer on TV before.xxx"
Nadine Hawkins said: "Better get the Indian on standby!"
Other suggestions of food included bangers and mash, Fray bentos pies, and boxed cheesy pasta.
A hopeful Graham Ray added: "Well done. What's for dinner then? Let's us know when you are due to be on. Two people I know have won this."
Naked Butler Paul Lawlor even volunteered to strip for the occasion.
He offered: "Brilliant! If you would like someone to greet your guests i'd be happy to come along and surprise them. Obviously at no expense.x"
Suzie said: "Everyone got so involved and came up with ideas of the menu including Buckfast and Fray Bentos. When I went to a pub quiz that night people were congratulating me and asking when I was going to be on telly and I got numerous or page messages from people too."
When Suzie saw her announcement had been picked up by a local rag she knew she had to private message people to come clean.
She said: "When it turned up as an article in the evening paper I was speechless. It was only meant to be a giggle and now I have repetitive strain injury in my hand from sending private messages to people telling them it was for autism awareness."
The reaction to her post has however made Suzie think about doing the show for real and she says she'd be game for a laugh next time the telly show is looking for Scots contestants.
She said: "It might actually maybe lead to me being on Come Dine With Me.
"I am a good cook and have become a domestic goddess while I've taken a break with the kids. I really enjoy cooking now and there's six of us and a slow cooker. I love to make a curry or a nice fillet of steak and I love a wee dinner party so I'd be up for going on the show for real. Nigella and Jamie eat your heart out."
This article has since appeared in the Scottish Sun.
From Scotland with Love - theshowbizlion.com

SCOTS COMEDIAN BILLY CONNOLLY HAD TO HIDE UNDER A TABLE

BILLY Connolly once had to hide under a table during the troubles in Northern Ireland according to broadcaster Gloria Hunniford.

Gloria, and her Rip Off Britain golden girls Angela Rippon and Julia Somerville can't wait to come to Scotland this week to host a week of live episodes of the BBC one consumer show. 

She recalled meeting her first ever big name Scot - in the form of Billy. 

She revealed: "Billy Connolly was probably the first big famous Scot I met. When I was in Northern Ireland he was a great friend of Phil Coulter who is a great composer and pianist and performer. They still are really good mates. Phil lived in Derry and during the bombings Billy would literally bite the bullet and come across.  

Gloria who regularly reported on the bombs, bullets and barricades long before she was sent to London to work for Radio 2 said: "Phil wanted Billy to come over this one time and Billy wasn't keen. 

He said: "I don't want to come over." Phil said: "You'll be safe as houses. They don't ever attack anyone in sport or entertainment." 

Anyway Billy was in St Columbs Hall in Derry and there was a bomb scare. So he was hiding under the table during this bomb scare and shouted to Coulter 'Wait till I get my hands on you." 

At the same time there was somebody crawling commando style in his chest and hands and knees and said to Billy 'Hey Billy could I have your autograph."

Gloria also revealed her young son couldn't get round the idea of historic Scottish ruins when they first came on holiday to Scotland. 

She said: I remember the first time we came to visit Scotland when we were living in Northern Ireland. We could go round Stranraer very easily for a holiday and we went when my kids were small and I do recall going to the Rose Abbey when my son Paul was seven or eight at the time and he said: "Oh mum. Who blew it up?" He couldn't understand it was a ruin air everything he'd seen in Northern Ireland had been blown up."

Excerpts of this article have since appeared in in the Scottish Sun.

From Scotland with Love - The Showbiz Lion

THE SEX PISTOLS THOUGHT DUNDEE WAS MORE PUNK THAN THEM

ON the fortieth anniversary month of Sex Pistol's Never Mind The Bollocks, original band member Glen Matlock has recalled the bands first ever Scots gig in Dundee - and the unexpected carnage of the night.

Glen who was the band's bass guitarist and man who cowrote ten out of the twelve tracks on Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols is currently on tour and plays Aberdeen's Lemon Tree tonight (Sunday).
Despite the band's rebellious reputation Glen admits the Dundee gig was full on and he says he'll never forget the welcome he and the young punks received there in October 1976.
He said: "I played here with the Sex Pistols in 1976 and we played at a teacher training college in Dundee. It's not really on the radar this gig and we got bottled off.
The gig was at the Dundee College of Technology’s Union, more commonly known as the Bowling Alley by the locals and Glen recalled:
"There weren't that many people there but they must have drunk a lot cause there were lots of bottles of Tennent's and Newcastle Brown.
"People just began throwing bottles at us and we had to go off stage. The door was just behind the drum riser and it was going bang bang bang bang bang from the sound of the bottles for about fifteen minutes.
"Eventually they ran out of ammunition and we opened the door and the place had cleared and we went to the bar to get a drink.
These two blokes were there and they said to us 'Why didn't you come out and play any more numbers?' and we said 'Because you were throwing bottles at us and they replied: "But we read that you liked that.'
The young band were meant to return to Dundee following their debut that same year at Caird Hall but had to quickly re-arrange their plans at the last minute to enable them to appear on the "Today" tv programme that was broadcast live on December 1 1976.
 Their appearance with Bill Grundy was full of profanities and as a consequence of all this publicity, the Pistols were "banned" from most of the Anarchy tour venues, including Dundee - so they never returned.
Glen who will soon been touring in Australia and New Zealand as well as playing Glastonbury and nostalgia festivals like Rewind this year parted ways with the Pistols in 1977 said: "Life hasn't been that bad. It's a bit up and down being a musician but I've been doing lots of things."
"I'd tell my teen self to get a good lawyer. There's always something going on and always somebody who will try and take you for a charlie."
He added: "I've always loved Scotland and I had a song called Ghost of Princes In Towers which I did with a fellow Scot of yours Midge Ure. We got on well and I’m proud of our project the Rich Kids. We were a bit before our time.”
For his gig tonight Glen who has already played Paisley and Edinburgh this week says he's ready to rock n roll.
He said: "I just need plenty of Silk Cut and some coffee when I play. It keeps you on your toes. Then I strap up my guitar and off I go."
Excerpts of this story have since appeared in the Sunday Post.
From Scotland with Love - theshowbizlion.com

VEGGIE AWARENESS MONTH SEES GLASGOW DHABBA CREATE EXCITING DISHES

OCTOBER is Vegetarian Awareness Month and veggies as well as those who fancy giving it a shot will be in their element as restaurants and bars around Glasgow offer some of the best quality dishes. 

 Amongst them is The Dhabba North Indian restaurant in Merchant City who have decided to share the recipe for one of their classic vegetarian dishes with theshowbizlion.com. 

The restaurant, which recently launched a new menu and even makes its own bread and cheese on the premises, is passionate about the quality of ingredients it uses.

Owner Navdeep Basi said: "Nowhere in the world is vegetarianism so strongly associated with, than India. It has its origins in the sixth century with the introduction of

Buddhism. For a lot of Indians today, vegetarianism is the way things should

be, according to the natural law of the universe. Mahatma Gandhi, perhaps

India's most famous advocate of vegetarianism, proposed vegetarianism as a

path to the observance of non-violence. To him it was not only a means of

rejecting chaos and confusion but also a healthy positive outlook that led

to good for all man and womankind."

Navdeep and his team made a video of the detailed process that goes into making Sheetal Kachori, a delicious appetiser of bean sprouts, pomegranate, and crispy bread, drizzled with cool yogurt.

Navdeep said: "Here at The Dhabba we are proud of our Indian heritage. Our chefs are

classically trained and respect the cultural roots of Indian cuisine. Our

menu has a great selection of healthy, wholesome vegetarian food. Using only

the freshest and finest ingredients our chefs create and present unique

delicacies to our patrons. On the occasion of Vegetarian Awareness Month celebrate by trying some of our vegetarian fare here at The Dhabba - we think you will like it."

THE OSMONDS TALK BAY CITY ROLLERS AS THEY VISIT GLASGOW'S SSE HYDRO

THE Osmonds play the SSE Hydro in Glasgow tonight - and they have reassured fans they are the real deal after someone thought they were an 'amazing tribute band'. 

Brothers Merrill, Jimmy and Jay appear alongside David Essex, Suzie Quatro and Hot Chocolate for the David Essex Legends Show at the Glasgow venue and hope people know how what they are coming to.

Relaxing in Glasgow's Crown Plaza hotel Jay explained: "We were doing the show last time round and were signing autographs at the end and this person came back and said 'You guys were amazing. I've never seen anything so wonderful' and we said 'Well Thankyou' and she replied: "You're the greatest tribute Osmond band I've ever seen in my life."

We just played along with it. I thought it was funny anyway."

The talented trio love visiting Scotland and admit they're now really friendly with one of their former pop rivals - The Bay City Rollers. 

Jay enthused: "We love the Bay City Rollersand are friends. In fact Si our bass player is from the Bay City Rollers. We have been good friends since the seventies."

Merille added: "Jay and I recently did a carpool karaoke covering Saturday Nightand the Rollers have done one too. We once sang Crazy horses together."

Jimmy laughed: "Everybody used to think there was competition between the Osmonds and Jackson's and The Rollers but we all got along great and had the same type of experiences so it's fun to share those memories - although I have better hair." 

STILL GAME'S lSA STARTS PUMPING FITNESS REGIME IN GLASGOW

STILL Game's Isa Drennan might need to wear extra padding on TV after actress Jane McCarry has shed the pounds with a new fitness regime. 

And fans of the top Scots BBC comedy have admitted they have begun to fancy her.

Craiglang pensioner Isa might be partial to the odd Greg's pastry or sweetie and chocolate treat from Naveeds corner shop, and but Jane, 46, admits she's started working out. 

And while Isa's dutiful exercise regime might consist of hoovering the odd floor, the real life star who plays her is positively glowing with her new look.

Jane who has recently had to care for her 89 year old mum as well as her own family in between heavy filming schedules said: "I've been at the body pump actually. Mark Cox who plays Tam Mullen has been at a different type of body pump in his personal life with his partner. 

Mark who co presented with Jane at the recent charity Les Hoey Dreammaker Ball added: "Jane has been working out as you can see. She's half the women she was. She's been doing it four of five months."

Jane laughed: "There is no diet. I've not actually done a diet. I've just exercised a bit that's all - and laid off the grub a wee bit. It's Bodypump maybe a few times a week. Not a lot. I'm embarrassed. I'm just a bit stronger. Playing it down, she continued: "Well maybe I've lost a wee pounds or two. It's not the LA diet. I'm affronted. I think Isas probably got type 2 diabetes so that's probably how the weight is falling off her."

Jane recently posted new pictures up of herself on social media and friends and fans were quick to notice her new look.

Scot Squad star Jordan Young said: "Isa is proper tidy likes!!!"

Denise from Glasgow added: "That’s what I was thinking! Mad to think it’s really isa!"

Debs added: "Holy s***. Jane! Ooooooft. Ooooooft!"

And Tom added: "Isa is a babe."

Andrew Erroch echoed: "Wow! Isa never looked so good!"

While Alan Brown added: "Has Isa been on the Pete the jakey diet."

Excerpts of this article have since appeared in The Scottish Sun.

From Scotland with Love - theshowbizlion.com