Playpennies

I was never a huge Take That fan; my cousin was, she even went to see them in concert, and I will tease her mercilessly about that forever more.

And even though I'm surprised, but not surprised at the same time, about the success of their 20-year reunion, I keep being surprised when I'm reminded that Gary Barlow has three children and Mark Owen, two.

I suppose I still think of them as they were when we were all 16, not as middle-aged men with families!

No fewer than three Take That members are expecting babies in the not too distant future (two, if you don't see Robbie Williams as a Take That boy any more).

Gary Barlow's wife, Dawn - a Take That tour dancer way back in 1995 - is expecting their baby number four, a little girl and Mark's wife, Emma, is expecting their third child later this summer, although as yet, there's no news as to whether a brother or sister will join their older two siblings.

Robbie Williams is also on the path of impending fatherhood as his wife, Ayda, is also expecting a baby in the next couple of months.

As for Howard and Jason, well as far as we know Howard's girlfriend isn't preggars, and there's no news about Jason at all, but if I were their other halves and not remotely interested in motherhood, I certainly wouldn't be drinking the Take That water!

Let's see what you all think about the latest celebrity mummy spat - in the mummy corner we have the mother of cricketer Shane Warne's children - Simone Callahan and in the 'mummy two' corner we have Liz Hurley the step -mother to be.

The threat of alleged potential war between the two is due to Shane's children calling Liz Hurley 'mummy two' and Simone doesn't like it.  I can't say I blame her, I've had direct experience of my teenagers calling another woman 'mummy' - I can't even begin to explain to you just how painful that was, luckily it was relatively short-lived and thinking about it some 12 or more years on still makes my blood simmer gently (it used to BOIL!).

Simone has allegedly warned Liz to 'back off and stop playing mum' to her children, although I can' t find a direct quote of her saying those precise words.  What she has been quoted as saying, in response to Liz Hurley announcing to the world that Simone's children call her 'mummy two', is this...

"I can’t control what people say, but it’s just disrespectful as far as I’m concerned.  She is not their mum and the kids know exactly what the situation is."

I agree, I think it is disrespectful and that the title of Mum is sacrosanct - if they want to call her something other than Liz, then a special name just for her could be thought up, but mum...that's just for mum.

What I can't get worked up about though is the children having a good time with Liz, either on her own or with Shane.  Yes, I'm sure it hurts, but rather that and know your children are happy whilst they're away, than have them hate the 'step mother' and be miserable.

It's got to be tough for the kids - they clearly like Liz and if she's invited them to call her mum, then

a) they might want to and will now feel bad that it's upset their mum or

b) they weren't sure but didn't want to hurt Liz's feelings and will now feel bad because news of it all has upset their mum

Ultimately, if it was instigated by Liz then I think that was wrong, grossly insensitive and selfish; if it was instigated by the children, then a very gentle explanation that it was a 'lovely and touching thought but the name 'mum' is just for their mum, and perhaps coming up with a special name just for her' would have been the kindest and least inflammatory option all round.

What say you?  Mum just for mum?  Or get over it, it's really not that important?

Peaches Geldof's new baby son is now a few weeks old and the obligatory (for some) glossy photo spread of his first pictures have appeared in Hello magazine, along with more details of his arrival.

Astala (yep, Astala) was born via c-section and apparently developed breathing difficulties after his dad, Thomas Cohen, cut the cord.

"It was the most terrifying experience, to have our tiny baby whisked away like that," Peaches is quoted as saying in the mag' interview, "I was yearning for that skin-to-skin contact I’d waited so long for and to not be able to hold him and nurse him and comfort him was so upsetting."

All is now well with baby Astala, other than the fact his grandfather wishes he'd been named Leonard instead!

He appeared on Lorraine Kelly's morning TV show (whatever it's called these days, I used to love watching Lorraine!) and didn't react well when she asked him how Astala should be pronounced, "Shut up, I don't know. I don't know, I haven't said it yet - I can't bring myself to say it! I wanted to call him Leonard - Leonard Cohen. "Have you met my grandson Leonard Cohen?"' 

Despite the lack of love for his grandson's name - which I think is a bit of a cheek bearing in mind the names his daughters have! -  it would appear that he is totally smitten with the new family member.

"Dad was incredibly gentle with Astala; he took him aside and was so quiet, which isn’t something he’s renowned for.  He’s besotted with Astala because he’s his first grandchild but especially, I think, because he’s the first boy in the family," Peaches revealed.

And as far as Sir Bob is concerned?  Well when he was talking to Lorraine, he said, "He’s a fantastic little chap. He is cute and they’re really good parents so it’s great. They’re really happy."

Sounds to me as though everyone's happy; long may that continue - we like happy!

We wait for ages for some celebrity babies to put in an appearance and then three of them turn up in one month - Jessica Simpson's daughter, Maxwell (still can't believe she's been named that!), and Jack Osbourne's daughter, Pearl.  Now we have Stacey Solomon's new son to add to the list too.

He arrived on 5 May and his arrival in the world was announced on Twitter by...Max Clifford!  He's Stacey's representative and there's just something about that man that makes me want to run at a hundred million miles in the opposite direction of him - I maybe doing him a disservice but the words 'liar' and 'scumbag' always spring to mind.

Anyway, back to the baby news.  Stacey is already mum to four-year-old Zachary and has named her new son, Leighton.

What do we think of that?  At least it's a boys name and has been given to a BOY (Jessica Simpson!) but I have a rather horrible feeling it's going to get shortened to 'lay' which, in my opinion, just sounds naff.

Back in March Stacey was caught smoking cigarettes 'out the back' which triggered a whole lot of controversy in the media but it would seem, at least from the outside and in the immediate term, that Leighton is non the worse for being subjected to cigarette smoke.

It still makes me cross to think about it, it's just irresponsible and selfish and whilst it's all blown over as quickly as her cigarette smoke blew away, I sincerely hope there won't be any repercussions arising from it that surface later on.

All of that said, I'm thrilled for the family and wish nothing but a happy future for them all.

Celebrity babies are like buses, it seems; we wait for a-g-e-s for some new arrivals and then two come along at the same time.

Jack Osbourne and his fiancee, Lisa Stelly, have welcomed a daughter into the world - they've named her Pearl.  I don't know why, but some celeb' pregnancies seem to fly by and others go so slowly you start to wonder whether you missed the birth announcement!  Jack and Lisa's was one of the latter, for me at least.

I remember Sharon Osbourne telling how she was really looking forward to be a grandmother, looking forward to enjoying all the nice bits, not having to be the disciplinarian and handing her grandchild back when it was time for them to go home.

Then we heard practically nothing; Pearl was actually born two weeks ago on 24 April weighing 8lb 6oz and Hello! magazine appear to be heavily involved with the release of news and pictures - her arrival was announced by the mag' on Twitter and her first public pictures are the ones that grace their cover.

Jack's utterly in love with his new daughter, "People say when you have a kid it's like instant love, but unless you've experienced it, it's impossible to comprehend. The moment I saw her I felt more love than I'd ever felt for anything.  It was the weirdest, most overwhelming thing."

Sharon has taken to Twitter too, to share her granddaughter joy, "Today I witnessed my first grandchild being born, life changing experience. She is an angel."

Congrats to all the family!

After the endless stories, tweets and tales about Jessica Simpson's pregnancy and new arrival, I think it's rather fun that Drew Barrymore is still saying nothing in response to the pregnancy 'rumours' that have been flying around for the last month or so.

Don't you think it's refreshing that she's just carrying on with her daily life, going about her normal business without pandering to the demands of anyone else who WANT. TO. KNOW!

It's getting pretty obvious that she is expecting, either that or she's been eating vast quantities of cakes and ice cream to start looking as round around the middle as she does.  I'm rather hoping she doesn't say anything at all, that appeals to my sense of privacy humour.

Another star who kept his baby excitement as under the radar as he could, is Robert Downey Jnr.

A few months ago it was announced that he and his wife were expecting; a while later Mr D Jnr let it slip that their impending arrival was a little boy - he jokingly said that he was in big trouble after that faux pas.

His wife Susan, later, said, "I could never really stay mad at him, but I can tell you it genuinely wasn’t something we planned to reveal." OOOPS!

Well, after appearing on the Jay Leno show, Robert may be in trouble with Susan once again.  Their son arrived very quietly (it completely passed me by!) and young Exton Elias is already eight weeks old!

Asked if he had any photographs to show, Robert said, "I would get in huge trouble.  I have to exercise just a little restraint. I'm sorry. I mean... if you want me to, I will."

The photograph was shown, to which Robert commented, "He's so darn cute, isn't he?! 'You get one, that's it. Unless of course you want to see the other one!" 

I have to admit to having a bit of a crush on Robert Downey Jnr, he's good looking, he's hauled himself out of the gutter and, I think, is just an all round FAB guy; it's lovely to see him happy and back on the top of his game.

Jessica Simpson's daughter has finally graced the world with her presence!  She was born on Tuesday and weighed in at an ENORMOUS 9lbs 13oz and measured 21.75 inches.

She's been named Maxwell Drew Johnson...yes, you read that right, Jessica and Eric have named their baby GIRL 'Maxwell'.  I'm all for unisex names - Ashley, Robin etc but Maxwell...?

It's Eric's middle name (which still doesn't make it okay) and Drew is Jessica's mother's maiden name.  MAXWELL?!!  I can't get over that.

Jessica's due date was 21 April, shortly after that there were rumours that she was going to opt for a c-section rather than giving birth naturally as she was scared of the impending pain.

There's no news yet as to whether Jessica did have that c-section in the end - I'm sure we'll find out all the nitty-gritty details before too long.  Let's face it, we weren't spared any details during this epic pregnancy so I can't imagine it's going to be any different now that Maxwell has arrived! - but at almost 10lbs I rather hope so, otherwise...OUCH!!!

So now we wait and see whether the rumours that Jessica is going to be the new face of Weight Watchers are true; this has been attributed to her apparent complete lack of regard for watching what she ate whilst preggars and proclaiming she was just going to give into her cravings.

Congrats to the new family and I'm sure no one is more relieved that this pregnancy has finally come to an end than Jessica herself!

Just when I thought we were going to be in for a good preggars celebrity scrap, it all calms down again!

The long and even longer of Jessica Simpson's pregnancy is causing various comment among the celeb' world - Katy Perry is supposedly 'anxious' for the now overdue by 10 days Jessica and Chelsea Handler (whoever she is) has also questioned why on earth the unborn Miss Simpson hasn't arrived yet.

BUT, things looked as though they might get interesting when 'Snooki' of Jersey Shore 'fame' (you'll have to forgive me if I get these things slightly wrong, I don't 'do' TV like Jersey Shore and have no real clue who this Snooki person is other than she's pregnant and very short) said she'd, and I quote, "DIE if I were her size!" and told how she was avoiding eating anything fattening to make sure she never gets to be either.

So we sat back and waited for a Simpson response, but none came.  Instead, Snooki is now saying that she LOVES Jessica's, and again I quote, "hot ass bump!" and took to Twitter to set the record straight...

"I NEVER dissed Jessica Simpson you weirdo tabloids, get over it with your 'pregnant war' articles, I love the girl and her hot ass bump."

So that's cleared that up then - Jessica's still pregnant, the baby doesn't seem to want to put in an appearance any time soon and Snooki didn't say anything horrible at all *yawn*

Sophie Ellis-Bextor has given birth to another boy, bringing her grand total of boys to three.

Her new little lad weighed in at 7lb 13oz and has been named Ray Holiday Jones (an interesting combination of names I'm sure you'll agree!) and joins older brothers Sonny (8) and Kit (3).

There had been concerns for Sophie's health during the latter stages of her pregnancy as Sonny was born eight weeks early, and Kit nine weeks early, as a result of Sophie suffering from pre-eclampsia.

An interview was posted on Sophie's website which told how her medical team had been keeping a very close eye on her...

"It's been phenomenal. The people at the hospital have been absolutely brilliant. I do really appreciate it. 'They've had to keep an eye on me in case I started to get ill again, but I didn't. It's all good."

Ray's arrival was broadcast to the world by his dad, Richard, bass player for The Feeling, who wrote...

"It's a boy! Ray Holiday Jones was born today at 12:35 weighing 7Ib 15. Mother and baby doing great. We are truly smitten. Love to u all. Rx"

Congrats to them all; hurrah!

Zachary Furnish-John has recently had his first birthday and OH MY GOODNESS he's such a little dude! How model 'pouty' and every inch a celeb' child does he look in the above photo; I think he looks like a very young Leo DiCaprio, what do you think?

And, wow, his genetic mother (I don't know how else to describe her, sorry) must be stunning!

So, Elton and David have spoken out about their desire for Zach to have a brother or sister.  Apparently they've been talking about it for ages and are set to make a final decision in the summer when they're on holiday in the South of France.

David has spoken about approaching Zachary's mother again...

"We could go back to the same egg donor, so biologically there would certainly be a connection between brother and brother or brother and sister. But she has a life of her own and her own family.

"It’s a big commitment to make, nine months of their life that doesn’t just affect them but their children, their husband, their partner. If we found a surrogate who is half as beautiful as our first, we would be very lucky."

I'd be surprised if there wasn't another Furnish-John baby and despite the backlash that their family set-up causes, I think young Zachary and any brothers or sisters are in safe and good hands.

Elton and David consulted with counsellors and asked for advice on how to approach raising a child within their dynamic...

"We’ve taken advice from counsellors. We’ve put a whole scrapbook together about his creation, the people who were involved in the process and how the intent was about love," David reveals, "We’re going to raise him to be proud of who he is."

BRAVO, I say and let everyone on the opposite side of the fence say what they like.

There's nothing major going on in Celebaby land at the moment; Jessica Simpson's still preggars, Drew Barrymore is still keeping mum as to whether or not she's expecting and new dad Ben Foden, has landed himself in hot water with fiancee Una Healy after a video of him dancing nude in a Spanish strip club during his stag party found its way into the public domain.

I'm looking forward to Jessica Simpson having her baby - then we might actually get some column inches devoted to other celeb' baby news because the latest Jessica Simpson 'this and that' is getting tedious.

However, if you're a Jessica fan then you'll be wanting to know that it's been reported Jessica has decided to have a c-section due to being utterly terrified of the pain of childbirth.

According to one of those loose-tongued sources, "The thought of going into labour scared her. She was so anxious, she was even breaking into cold sweats at night, Jessica has no tolerance for pain.

She even turned to hypnotherapy to calm her fears about it, but nothing was working. She desperately wanted to experience the joy of a natural birth, but decided to go with what made the most sense for her."

In a world where glamourous and glitzy celeb' wedding are king (you know what I mean) Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have always kicked against going down that particular aisle.

Despite both being married before (once for Brad, to Jennifer Anniston, and twice for Angelina) they both famously said they'd not get married to each other until the legalisation of same-sex marriage in the US.

In recent interviews though, it's become apparent that both Brad and Ang' have been coming under increasing pressure for their children to tie the knot.

"It seems to mean more and more to our kids," he revealed back at the beginning of the year, "We made this declaration some time ago that we weren't going to [get married] till everyone can. But I don't think we'll be able to hold out … it means something to me, too, to make that kind of commitment."

Angelina also told how the kids had been asking why they weren't married like Shrek and Fiona, "We've explained to them that our commitment, when we decided to start a family, was the greatest commitment you could possibly have.  Once you have six children, you're committed."

A tough call, hey - choosing between your high-profile moral posturing and the wishes of your kids!

The engagement has been confirmed by Brad's 'people' and described as a 'promise for the future' with no date for the wedding having been set. However, there are massive building works going in on at the sprawling Pitt-Jolie estate in Provence.

There's a little chapel on the £35 million estate and there's a large white, rumoured to be, reception hall being built behind it with a view to being completed by September...in time for a wedding perhaps?

For those who want to know about the ring - Brad designed it, in collaboration, with Angelina's private jeweller Robert Procop and is reported to be worth a $250,000.

"Brad had a specific vision for this ring, which he realised over a yearlong collaboration. He wanted every aspect of  it to be perfect, so I was able to locate a diamond of the finest quality and cut it to an exact custom size and shape to suite Angelina's hand," is the official word from the jeweller.

"Brad was always heavily involved, overseeing every aspect of the creative design evolution.  The side diamonds are specially cut to encircle her finger. Each diamond is of the highest gem quality."

Well there you go then!  I wonder who's going to design the dress, whether it'll have a huge split up the front and whether Angelina will strike 'that' leg pose when standing in it...

The big question still remains - WHEN will Jessica Simpson's daughter make her grand entrance into the world?!

Jessica's exact due date has always been a bit of a mystery but she got SO big, SO fast we all thought she was ready to pop four weeks ago! So we're still waiting and Jessica's still getting bigger and various other famous people have chosen to make it their business to have a pop at her for being so big, causing other famous people (if you can call the slightly terrifying Sarah Palin, famous) to charge to Jessica's defence.

Jessica's explanation for her gargantuan bump?  No, not secret twins - she's just retaining a lot of amniotic fluid.

The rumour mill are slowly working themselves up into a tizzy as to whether or not Drew Barrymore is expecting or not.

She was seen leaving a doctor's clinic a month, or so, ago clutching what looked to be scan photos; she was papped out and about a week ago sporting, what definitely looks like the beginnings of, a baby bump but as yet there's been no official word, either way, from the Barrymore camp.  So we're just going to have to wait and see on this one: maybe Drew is preggars and maybe she's not.

It's a sporty Celebaby today with baby news from Ben Foden - Northampton Saints rugby hero - and Bubba Watson who won the biggest tournament in Golf, the Masters, on Sunday.

Ben Foden

I'm a sucker for new baby photos, especially when they're dressed up in cute little costumes.

Ben Foden tweeted a picture of his new daughter, Aoife Belle, dressed up as the Easter Bunny, on Sunday saying, "Easter is over kids, as I've managed to capture the Easter Bunny!"

What a little sweetie she looks in her pink bunny outfit, definitely one for the 'Cute Snapshots of Aoife' family album.

Una has been telling how Aoife's Saturdays aunties have been spoiling her rotten (Aofie that is, not Una.  Isn't it always the way! You're the one who had the baby and the baby is the one who gets all the pressies - I think it should be the other way round!).

"Frankie presented us with three big bags full of baby stuff she'd been collecting, including a Swarovski crystal-encrusted dummy.  'I don't know how safe it is to put in Aoife's mouth, but it will look lovely on display in her nursery," she revealed. "Rochelle and Vanessa bought her some gorgeous outfits by Dolce & Gabbana and Mollie, who's quite preppy, got her some lovely clothes from Ralph Lauren."

Bubba Watson

If you're not into golf then you won't have a CLUE who Bubba Watson is. Well he's a 33-year-old guy who's just won the most coveted of all golf prizes, the Green Jacket. Apart from a vast cash prize, winners of the Masters win a green jacket and it's the thing they all want the most.

South Africans are very passionate about sport and most of the country would have been on the edge of their sofas on Sunday night (my husband was!) as Bubba Watson and SA golf hero Louis Oosthuizen went head-to-head in a play off!

Bubba beat Louis on the second hole to be crowned the Masters champion 2012; after being presented with his green jacket he said he was looking forward to going home to see his boy and admitted that he hadn't changed a nappy yet.

His 'boy' is now six weeks old, his name is Caleb and was adopted by Bubba and his wife, Angie, two weeks ago because Angie cannot have children.

Bubba's real name is Gerry and was taught to play by his dad (he's never had a formal golf lesson in his life!), who died a couple of years ago after losing his battle to cancer.  As you can imagine winning the Masters proved to be an emotional event and tears freely flowed - for his father and for his new son.

This morning I read that Tori Spelling was shocked to discover she was pregnant with baby number four just ONE MONTH after giving birth to baby number three, daughter Hatti.

That made me laugh! Methinks perhaps Ms Spelling needs a Bird and the Bees refresher course as apparently she wasn't expecting to fall pregnant so soon after Hatti's arrival - erm...it doesn't just happen Tori, a certain activity needs to be indulged in for babies to be on their way.

"It was the second biggest shock of my life," she's been reported as saying, "the first was when they said Hattie was a girl when she was born, because we thought she was going to be a boy. And the second was that I was pregnant after my newborn had just turned one month old. We were shocked!"

The rest of the interview was all a bit 'TMI' for first thing on a Saturday morning over toast - let's just say that apparently Tori's hubby didn't want to wait the recommended six weeks and Tori didn't want him to think 'that' side of their relationship was going down the drain.

Honestly, the pair of them must be at it like rabbits!

In other news...

In other Celebaby news, Billie Piper and Laurence Fox have welcomed their second son into the world.  He doesn't have a name yet, or at least it's not been released to the press but, by all accounts, mum and baby are doing well.

Yesterday, Laurence tweeted, "One born every minute. We had our minute today. Couldn't be happier. Beautiful boy. Everything fine."

Ahhhh, that's lovely - congrats to them.

My eldest boy is nearing the completion of his second week as a junior soldier in the British Army, there's something rather special about being an army mum and I'm very proud of him - so, today's Celebaby is about two mamas who are proud of their little lads too; hurrah for the boys!

Miranda and Flynn

Flynn Bloom is just the most adorable little chap on the planet (apart my own youngest little chap, of course!), he is just properly cute and gorgeous and clearly destined to grace many a teenage girl's bedroom wall, in poster form, when he's older.

Miranda has recently spoken about how Flynn has made her life complete, "I was working 18-hour days," she says, "Now that pace has slowed so I can spend the majority of my time with Flynn.  I'm first a wife and a mother, then comes work," she concludes.

I think Flynn is the absolute spitting image of his dad; Miranda says he has a cheeky glint in his eyes that's just like her, "He’s a really charming, lovely boy. He has that look in his eye like, 'What trouble am I going to get into next?' But I like that, it's like me."

If I had to put together a favourite celeb' family list, the Blooms would be pretty close to the top.

Hilary and Luca

Hilary Duff gave birth to her son, Luca, just two weeks ago and seems to have been getting to grips with things okay.

She's been tweeting about early morning feeds and surviving first outings without any tears (her presumably) - "1st outing complete with no tears! Made it home early...just in time to feed Luca. figuring this motherhood thing out! Yay!" -  but until yesterday there hadn't been any pictures posted of her young son.

Hilary, at last, posted a picture of Luca on her website, titled 'Luca - two weeks old' which was swiftly followed by another and an accompanying tweet, saying, "Oh no! The flood gates have opened! Proud mamma on the loose! I can't help myself."

Hilary has also admited to finding the journey back to pre-motherhood shape somewhat tough, tweeting, "20 minutes on the elliptical seems like an eternity!!! What the hell..."  

ANY time on the elliptical is sheer hell, I'd rather clean the kitchen floor with my tongue than spend time on one of those machines - give me a swift 3-mile walk in the fields with the dogs (even in the rain) any day!

I'm rather in love with this little family at the moment - it's the rugby connection with my beloved Northampton Saints mainly, but also because Una Healy has (to my knowledge) been nothing but elegant and dignified in her public life; gorgeous without being slutty (to be frank) and she and Ben have given their new daughter a beautiful name that's different without being weird or a bit 'OTT celebrity'.

The official word on Aoife's arrival proclaimed that mum and baby were doing well and gave no hint of the drama that had occurred in the delivery suite, which has been revealed in an interview with Hello magazine.

Shortly after Aoife arrived, she started choking - choking is one of my biggest fears and a little six-year-old girly has died from choking on something at school in the last seven days.

"I was screaming," said Una, "it was the worst moment of my life! There’s this precious little person who you would die for and you just can’t bear to think of anything happening to her."

Ben went on to reveal, "We went into panic and pushed the emergency button and the next thing we knew, our baby was whisked away and there were alarm bells ringing and staff running around."

Una is completely smitten with her baby daughter and has admitted to sneaking peeks at her when she's asleep, "During the night, I’ll wake up, even when she’s sound asleep, and sneak a peek. She’ll be lying there, with her tiny hands up by her face - she’s so ladylike - and my heart could burst with love for her."

Ben and Una are going to get married later this year and live in Bedfordshire, just down the road from me; Una was spotted out and about enjoying the amazing sunshine we had late last week, with baby Aoife and her own mother and she looked absolutely stunning - a proper yummy mummy, I can't wait to see the wedding photos.

We've got another two bumps to add to the list for 2012 and both of them happen to belong to Take That band members.  Robbie Williams and his wife, Ayda Field, are expecting their first child together and Gary Barlow and wife, Dawn, are also expecting.

Robbie posted an announcement on his website which promptly crashed when thousands of fans went to read it.  It said...

Hey friendlies, I've been keeping a secret from you all. Me and Ayda are going to be a Mummy and Daddy this year!!!!!!!!

We had sex! It works!

We've seen scans and cried... looked at babies in commercials and teared up... the nursery is already planned.

Basically I'm in love with a little person growing in mummy's belly... and can't wait to be a daddy. Crying now.

Much love, much joy. Roberto, Mum and Little Bump. xxx

Robbie and Ayda don't appear to be planning to move back to the UK anytime soon and have, apparently, been seen looking around the mansion that Michael Jackson died in, which is currently on the market for a cool £15 million.

Robbie also said, a few years ago, that he wouldn't have any problem bringing up any children he had in the United States...

"I am English through and through, but I can put up with American accents with our kids when they come. It’ll be something I get my head round."

I must confess to having been a bit of a Robbie fan in the past - I particularly like his Swing When You're Winning big band album - and it's rather nice to see him settled and far less 'troubled' than in the past.

Talk about buying into your own press and celebrity status - Jessica Simpson (not due apparently until the middle of April now!) has reportedly spent a whopping $2M on her impending birth!

Even Beyonce, with her epic delivery production, only managed to spend $1.3M; so how's she done it?

Well, Jessica has spent $500,000 on a private maternity wing (not just a room, but an entire wing) and has, apparently, turned it into a fortress to rival that of Fort Knox.  The rest has been spent on hiring 30 armed security guards to guard her and the baby 24 hours a day, seven days a week because she's (supposedly) absolutely terrified of kidnapping!

I can also tell you the name of the yet-to-be-born Miss Simpson (or most likely Miss Johnson, actually) - she's going to be called Maxwell...*cue the tumbleweed and blank stares*

Yep, Maxwell - although she'll be referred to as Maxi.  Maxwell is Jessica's fiance's  middle name and also his grandmother's maiden name - at least she's not been named after the only style of dress her mother can fit into now, I suppose that's something.

Megan Fox

There are unconfirmed reports that Megan Fox is expecting, although at this stage we only have the words from one of those 'sources' to go on.

"They just found out and are incredibly excited," said the source. "It's still early, so they are only telling close friends and family members."

How nice of one, or more maybe, of those close friends and family members to be shouting their mouths off to the press - I bet Megan's thrilled, she doesn't need much of an excuse to look moody as it is!

We'll watch this space and let you know.

There's nothing major happening in the world of Celebrity babies - just the odd little snippet of 'stuff' here and there.

Sharon Osbourne will be tweeting like crazy in a few of weeks, I'm sure, as son, Jack's, baby is due to arrive soon.  She's very excited about becoming a grandmother and has already admitted she's going to spoil her grandson or granddaughter something rotten - I think it would be rather cool to have Sharen and Ozzie as your grandparents.

I have two teenagers, as many of you already know, and so far I've got away scott free with the teenage years - neither of them smoke, neither of them drink and they have no interest in minlessly hanging 'around town' (one big advantage of living in the middle of nowhere).

Madonna's daughter Lourdes (15) has been snapped smoking and the pictures printed in various national papers - there'll be no trying to con her parents that 'it was my mates who were smoking and the wind blew it onto my clothes from them! HONEST!' for her; Lourdes, you've been BUSTED!

We're still waiting for Jessica Simpson; who was it last year who seemed to be pregnant FOREVER...?  PINK! That's who it was!  And, I tell you, if Jessica's baby stays put much longer she may well end up having to be rolled into the delivery suite - in the latest JS pictures she's looking rounder than I've seen a pregnant woman look for a long time.

Apparently, by her own admission, she's put on 40lbs - that's 18kgs or the best part of three stone.  That's not so bad in the grand scheme of things - I used to be able to do that between Christmas and the beginning of April every year without being preggars, there was no need to ask 'who ate all the mince pies and just didn't stop'!

So what do we think - will Jessica have her baby this week or will she have an April baby?