Brian Dowling: Not Just Married!

Mirror.

Small print: 'The couple's nuptials come just a few months after Ireland voted to legalise same sex marriage and while the couple wed in London a few months ago, we're sure tying the knot in his home country after the historic referendum made the day extra special for Brian.'

You can't get gaymarried in Ireland yet.

The Sun.

Thought For The Day: Jim Davidson

"[Black comic Matt Blaize] said, ‘If you were to cure Aids and feed starving Africa, save the world from malaria, you would still be a homophobic racist to most people.’ ”

Straight after telling me this, he turns to his notorious appearance on the reality show Hell’s Kitchen in 2007, in which he asked fellow contestant Brian Dowling, who is gay: “Why do you shirt lifters all have a certain look?”

“Yes. He seemed to take no offence whatsoever and then later on after we’d had a drink an argument broke out but not about that. It was about money and it was edited to look as if it was about that. ‘Shirt lifter’ is not a nice word I have since found out. Gay friends of mine explained that it conjures up people fiddling about and I didn’t realise that, I really didn’t.

"Words come in and out of fashion. You know, you can’t call women birds. But you can call French people frogs. They are all just words. It gets a bit mad. But I am not an old-style comedian. When I was old-style it was because it was the fashion to be so, but you can’t go through life trying to please Janet Street-Cleaner or whatever her name is.” He waits for me to laugh and I do...

Jim Davidson interviewed by the Daily Telegraph.

Best question: 'What about giving his third wife, Alison Holloway, a black eye?'

PS Jim tells the Daily Record gay marriage is "very good". God, he must get bored with being asked about The Gays every interview. 

The Times: TV Times

Few would contest the notion that Britain over the first decade of this millennium changed. By imperceptible degree, entrenched class prejudice and deference fell away.

The election of new Labour in 1997 played a part, as did the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, later that year. This was the first government whose members were first Government born largely since the Second World War, while the other forced a new settlement between a monarch and her subjects.

Yet a third event three years later arguably had just as much societal impact. That was the beginning of the Channel 4 reality series Big Brother.

If the contention sounds absurd, that only goes to show the extent to which something once so abrasively new has bedded down into the national psyche...

The rise of reality television has had many negative effects, chief among them a cult of celebrity far more vacuous than even that which went before. Yet it is too easy to forget the rigidity which existed in public life beforehand. To put it bluntly, normal people didn’t go on telly.

Some might argue that normal people didn’t go on Big Brother either, but at least they could. Yes, every Big Brother contestant was an exhibitionist, but this was a far more diverse bunch of exhibitionists than Britain had previously known. Just over 13 years ago, the last three contestants in the first series were, respectively, Northern, black and gay. If, today, that sounds like a banal observation, well, that’s rather the point.

The Times' leader.

A point often made.

Though there's some truth to it, it's often-simplified and over-stated.
It's like saying TV (or Hollywood etc) is a fairy's magic wand that's made everything a-okay - as if other factors, cultural, political and social (how we little boring ordinary people engage with friends, family, co-workers, neighbours etc etc) are of little consequence.

Mind you, in 2001, John Pilger had a slightly different take on things...

Last Sunday, Michael Jackson, Channel 4's departing chief executive, told Observer readers that he had, no less, helped bring about "the profound social changes that have occurred in British society." He cited Big Brother as representing "a melting pot for a broader, more understanding and inclusive society... an optimistic glimpse at the ease of presence between a group of people with different ethnicity, sexuality, religion, class and education". He related this to Blair's promised "classless society" and declared, Tony-like, that "we have a more prosperous economy than at any time in our past".

That gays and females, blacks and Asians are capable of moronic behaviour in Big Brother is not "an optimistic glimpse" of anything. Like the pathetic cast of Jerry Springer, they merely provide a glimpse of the media elite's vicarious flirtation with low life for the sake of a buck and high ratings. No one denies that Channel 4 transmits some quite brilliant programmes, as it should, given its extraordinary remit and resources and the film-making talent in Britain; but these are fragments of its potential. 

Bit patronising and snobby, John.
Maybe he's still angry about making such a fool of himself with Su Pollard on Celebrity Big Brother.

Jim Davidson: The Ladyboy Defence

CELEBRITY Big Brother star Jim Davidson plans to win over viewers who think he is homophobic by admitting he once had sex with a fella.

The comic was kicked out of TV’s Hell’s Kitchen in 2007 when he called Big Brother host Brian Dowling “a shirtlifter” during a heated argument.Davidson has always denied being anti-gay and claims he had never meant to cause offence.
However, now he has signed to Channel 5’s new series of Celebrity Big Brother, sparks have been flying behind the scenes.
The joker will not only come face to face once again with Brian, 34.
He will also be locked up in the house with gay The X Factor singer Rylan Clark, 24...
However, Davidson has a big secret up his sleeve which he plans to reveal to silence any claims from them that he is homophobic...

The comedian, 59, recalled: “I was in Berlin with my bodyguard and we pulled a couple of girls in a bar.“I sneaked out the back of this bar and she gave me oral sex.
“Afterwards my minder asked me if I’d noticed anything funny about her.
“I said: ‘Big feet.’ And he said: ‘Adam’s apple, too.’ It was a fella!”

Top racist, right-wing wife-beating comedy legend Jim Davidson in the Daily Star there.

Fagburn calls this "the ladyboy defence" (formerly known as "the Lola defence".

This has never actually happened to any straight man ever, it's just an "hilarious" shaggy dog story they tell down the pub to try and show their man of the world credentials to their mates. 

"Beautiful bird, she was... anyway, turns out she was a bloke!"

Great stuff guys!

Piss off, Jim. 

Thought For The Day: Brian Dowling

"I've never been successful with men. People say to me, 'You're famous and gay, you must get lots of sex.'
"But that never happened. I get into clubs, I get freebies, but the men, no. I started in kids' telly, so they don't see me in a sexy way."

OK! magazine.
I seem to remember you started out on Big Brother, Brian, but your secret's safe with me.

Celebrity Big Brother: Now With Added Shagging!

Now I don't care about you, but Fagburn is RIPPED about the other big news story today - the return of (Celebrity) Big Brother TONIGHT!
Even though I don't own a telly and can't even be arsed to see if you can watch anything on Channel 5 on the internet, I am so fucking excited about this.
The new series also sees another welcome return to our screens - that of Brian Dowling; star of ITV Play's late night interactive gambling-based phone-in show, The Mint.
Leading CBB fanzine The Daily Star spoke for many when they squawked;
"WHAT a coup it was getting Brian Dowling to present the new Big Brother.
"Who better to host the revamped version of everyone’s favourite show?"
Apart from Davina McCall, obviously?
Brian was on the tellybox as recently as last year, when he won the last Celebrity Big Brother.
Then it was cancelled cause no-one was watching and it had started to look even shitter and sadder than before.
And - AND - it's ten years almost to the year since Brian won Big Brother.
Ah, god bless the bubbly/camp/outrageous/gay/Irish/fat/former air steward, 32.
As I type, the Twittersphere is LITERALLY ABLAZE with rumours about who will be the celebrities on Celebrity Big Brother?
Jedward? Sally Bercow?? Bobby Brown??? Pippa Middleton??? Gore Vidal????
It's gonna be one heck of a show - especially now it's being brought to the nation by wank-enabler-in-chief Richard Desmond.
If the pre-publicity is to be believed we are guaranteed to get to see some of these C-List celebs fucking like wild drunken dogs - LIVE ON TV!!!
So we've moved on from Orwell's 1984, and into The Year Of The Sex Olympics.
And that - my friends - is called fucking progress!

The Sun: When Celebs Attack!!!

It's all been kicking off in Sunland again!
'DALE 'gay hater' in rant at student'
"EMMERDALE'S Adam Thomas apologised yesterday for making a "queer" jibe at a gay student."
I have no idea who he is either, but judging from his photo "gay hater" Dale looks a bit "gay".
Anyway... "Thomas, 23, snapped after Ricky Platts, 22, approached him in a McDonald's.
Ricky - who is openly gay - went up to say hello after he spotted the actor having a meal there."
"But he says he was stunned when Thomas replied: "Yeah, what about it gay boy?"
Ricky claimed Thomas then started "hopping up and down like a madman" and calling him and a pal - who was in drag - "queers".
Ricky was so shit scared he took out his mobile phone and filmed all this, his misery having been compounded by the fact that Adam Thomas plays a friend of that gay in Emmerdale!
Anyway, Adam Thomas has said he's sorry, so I hope we'll hear no more of this.
'Fan sobs at Boy George's foul rant'
"FOUL-MOUTHED Boy George left a woman in tears after tipping a drink over her because she was chatting during his act at a charity gig."
Luckily someone filmed that on their mobile, too - don't you just love the modern world?
There's a link to a shaky video of it on The Sun's site - and I have to say I can't say I blame George.
And finally... Jim Davidson is interviewed about his next panto.
Although thankfully this reactionary shitbag's celebrity ranking is so low they only put it in The Scottish Sun.
'COMIC Jim Davidson has been branded a right-wing, homophobic racist - surely he can't be that bigoted?''
All together now: Oh yes he is!
Poor Jim hasn't been on the tellybox since 2007 when he called Brian Dowling a "shirtlifter" on Hell's Kitchen.
The case for the defence, Jim? "And anyway, I've been out for dinner with Brian Dowling since that incident.
"Would I have done that if I REALLY was homophobic?"
He's also put famousgaycouple "Colin and Justin" in his new panto.
So there'll obviously be no jokes about them being poofs, there then.
I - literally - cannot fucking wait.

Big Brother: Orwellian Nightmare Cancelled Due To Falling Ratings

So farewell then, Big Brother.
It seemed fitting that the Ultimate Big Brother grand finale was won last night by Brian Dowling.
Or - as The Sun summarises him today - "Gay Brian, 32 - who shot to fame after winning Big Brother 2 in 2001".
Well, shot to late night TV phone-in quizzes and panto anyway.
Since Channel 4's first series in 2000, Big Brother has brought into the nation's living rooms a broad cross-section of youngish Britain, with queers in there as a matter of course; a lesbian nun, a tranny from Madeira, a bisexual with Tourette's, various hairdressers, Pete Burns...
All human life was here?
Maybe not.
The end of Big Brother was marked with a laudatory leader in The Times today, 'Day 3711':
"...Taboos, once they are broken, can swiftly appear incomprehensible. Big Brother, which Channel 4 finally evicted last night, broke plenty. Celebrity, only a short decade ago, usually involved at least a pretence of talent. The voluntary surrender of privacy, now widespread through the internet, was fascinating ten years ago in a way that future generations may never understand.
"This much, many may regret. But Big Brother, in its early years, broke progressive ground, too. While exhibitionist, promiscuous and at times startlingly ignorant, housemates also invariably espoused an instinctive tolerance to which Britain had not, hitherto, managed to give voice.
"The welcome triviality of homosexuality in Britain today could perhaps be traced, in part, to the regular appearance of gay housemates on our screens, behaving no more outrageously than anybody else. Races, too, mixed on Big Brother in a manner almost unremarked upon, save for a few confected rows.
"Fans will remember the fights, the punch-ups and the MP for Bethnal Green & Bow pretending to be a cat. Not everything about the legacy of reality television, however, is trivial. In today’s X-Factor Britain, where races and sexualities intermingle on our screens in the mistaken belief that they have talent, very little of what Big Brother taught us may now seem surprising. But it was."
It would be easy to overstate the case for Big Brother, and its role in changing and shaping the nation's social attitudes over the last decade - just as it is easy to dismiss it as a trivial distraction - but Fagburn thinks there is much truth in what The Times is saying.