Straight Up

Dolly Alderton’s second novel Good Material came out last week huns, so as promised we give you our verdict, and deepdive on the fabulous career of our millennial literary queen.  We analyse everything from the savvy personal brand building she began as young as her teens to why, after her memoir, she stepped away from the first-person writing that had made her famous.  Plus, our candid thoughts o...

Made in Chelsea and I'm a Celeb star Georgia Toffolo was all set to study law until she appeared on the reality TV show as an extra, becoming such a beloved cast member that she didn't end up leaving for years. The show helped her launch a VERY successful career (she's won I'm a Celeb, written four novels and launched three businesses) and so we went for a cuppa at the Standard hot...

We come armed with BTS goss on a huge range of pop culture talking points this week gang, from the newly announced Harry Potter documentary about Daniel Radcliffe’s paralysed stunt-double (with juicy tangents on Emma Watson, Rita Skeeter and more) to the hilarious, hard-to-believe celebrity stories from James Blunt’s new memoir – including the time he ate his own poo at Jamie Foxx’s house, on Bear...

A forensic analysis of Britney’s memoir is top of the agenda this week, as The Woman In Me’s many bombshell revelations make headlines everywhere.  From childhood she was constantly sexualised by the media and after releasing her hit single Baby One More Time in 1998, aged just 16, the world was divided over what she represented: good American role model or dangerously bad influence? We look at ho...

Do we have a right to tell our stories if they involve the private lives of others? It’s the ethical conundrum we’re discussing this week following the explosive revelations in Jada Pinkett Smith’s memoir about her 'husband' Will Smith. And, on the same theme, the very dark stories ‘Kanye’s muse’ Julia Fox has revealed in her brilliant memoir Down the Drain. And for all the huns wondering,...

This week there’s only one pop culture topic on everyone’s lips: the Beckhams. The four-part Beckham documentary dropped on Netflix to rave reviews, but what were the juiciest revelations and what did brand Beckham conveniently leave out? We get stuck into everything from the tabloid shaming of Victoria’s weight and the disturbing quotes about Beckham’s dad, to those Rebecca Loos allegations (incl...

Hiii huns, we had such a fun afternoon catching up about everything from the latest celeb divorce (it never ends!) to Anya Taylor-Joy's beige wedding dress, featuring some reminiscing from Ellie on the time she had brunch with Anya and left her "devastated" (whoops). Then, Kathleen gives the latest on the never-ending Kim and Kourtney fallout, including the "Not Kourtney" w...

This week we are so excited to welcome Emma Gannon on the pod, ahead of her speaking at the fantastic Wimbledon Bookfest , which runs 12-22 October. Emma is the author of six books and creator of hit Substack newsletter, The Hyphen. Having published The Success Myth earlier this year, which explains why our obsession with achievement is a trap and how to break free, Emma was diagnosed with chronic...

Hi everyone, we’re all aware of the horrific rape and sexual assault allegations against Russell Brand  - which he vehemently denies, maintaining all sexual relations have been consensual - so in this episode we analyse what this means for the media (TW). Why is it that so many Brand supporters think this is a media conspiracy? What does ‘the media establishment’  - Brand and his supporters’ enemy...

We’ve said it before huns, this is the year of the chaotic celebrity divorce, but the Joe Jonas vs Sophie Turner divorce drama has left us REELING. From Joe’s PR team playing what appears to many as a misogynistic smear-campaign against Sophie — who he married in 2019, when she was just 23 — to wild rumours involving partying and ‘ring cameras’, this might be the messiest celeb divorce we’ve witne...

Poor Els got mugged last week huns, so today’s episode starts with the download on her enforced digital detox, before taking a sunnier towards perhaps the best news we’ve heard all year  – Maya Jama and Stormzy are back together!! – and our slightly tragic obsession with this ultimate modern day love story.  Then, more summer reading recommendations, including Imogen Crimp’s A Very Nice Girl, the...

All the celebs are on holiday this week, angels, so we’ve got another jam-packed pop culture debrief for you, starting with Coleen Rooney’s fabulous – but divisive – Vogue cover for the September issue, the most important of the year! We get into all her explosive Wagatha Christie revelations and backstory with Wayne, as well as the criticisms of the cover. Are the suggestions that Coleen is not a...

From the outrageous 'dirty' celeb dating story that has blown up our WhatsApp chats to the Harry Styles rumour that sent the internet spinning, it's safe to say we have been SHOCKED by the world of celebrity gossip this week huns!! And of course we are here to share all of our uncensored thoughts. In more serious news, we also look at the claims that Lyme disease is a 'celebrity&#3...

It's a dark and sordid week in the world of fame and celebrity huns, with pop stars Lizzo and Ariana Grande both getting flack from all directions. Lizzo is at the centre of wild allegations from three former dancers – all of which she denies – while Ariana Grande has been accused of living a little close to her lyrics by finding herself at the centre of yet another cheating drama. We get into...

We are SO excited to share this fascinating chat with our favourite chef and cookery writer Gizzi Erskine with you all this week, getting into everything from naked dinner parties to psychedelics, via public shaming, misogyny and body image.  Author of killer books from Gizzi’s Healthy Appetite to Slow and Restore, you might recognise Gizzi from her various TV appearances over the years, or perhap...

The headline speaks for itself huns, this episode is spicy!! After seeing Barbie together last week (dressed in pink, obv) we couldn’t wait to discuss our verdicts and debate the VERY polarised online conversation, including Barbie-burning Republicans and some very cross incels.  Plus, we deepdive into Barbie’s salacious origin story and the woman who created her, and reveal why Ken’s crotch becam...

We are SO excited to introduce you to this week’s utterly fascinating and highly controversial guest: Caroline Calloway, one of the very first internet celebrities, a self- anointed ‘scammer’ and perhaps our first guest who has been publicly shamed.  If you haven’t heard of her before, don’t worry, we give you the complete lowdown in our intro, but in a nutshell: Caroline moved from New York to th...

No interview this week angels, instead, we're covering the hottest celeb talking points from the past few days. First, we get into the topic that's currently ruling the internet, actor Jonah Hill's toxic 'boundaries', which came to light when his ex Sarah Brady shared their private messages on her Instagram. We debate the dangers of therapy speak and at which point it becomes a...

Right huns, gets ready for an episode full of drama, because this week we're debriefing on America’s sweetheart Blake Lively getting her first taste of cancellation, and why celebs are in their peak chaotic divorce era (and we secretly love it).  Plus, is it at all possible to escape the insane multi-million pound marketing campaign for Margot Robbie’s new Barbie blockbuster, encompassing ever...

Today’s guest is the best-selling author Caroline O’Donoghue, the GENIUS behind one of our favourite podcasts, Sentimental Garbage, for a pop cultural deep dive on everything from And Just Like That and Desperate Housewives, to Fleishman in Trouble, the career vs kids conundrum and why fame is less like being the most important in the room, and more like being the entire public’s PA. Plus, Carolin...

Gang, we have waited SO long to debrief about HBO’s new “torture porn” show The Idol, starring Lily-Rose Depp and The Weeknd that is already the most talked about TV show of 2023, and since three episodes have passed we think we’re finally ready to give our verdict. We get stuck into its grotesque flaws and surprisingly more promising moments, debating everything from whether Lily-Rose Depp is any...

Hi huns, we’ve got someone a little different from the usual celeb on the pod this week: Tony Blair’s former spin doctor Alastair Campbell, who is currently having a second wind of fame thanks to his top-charting podcast The Rest is Politics, of which both of us are HUGE fans.  This month he also released a brilliant new book called But What Can I Do? which is all about motivating young, capable p...

This week’s mad developments in celebrity culture has aligned perfectly with Straight Up’s USP, to deconstruct ‘fame’ in all its surreal highs and horrible lows, so we’re talking about everything from Matty Healey’s controversial performative fame and the online outpouring of outrage from Taylor Swift fans, to the the surreal This Morning saga and Phil Schofield's fall from grace, as well John...

Hello huns, we were SO excited to go round for tea at Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s gorgeous London home the other week to chat all about her extraordinary experience of fame, from her initial “failed” start in a band as a teenager, who were dropped by their label before their second album, to the incredible success of her iconic hit Murder on the Dancefloor just a few years later (Europe’s biggest song o...

Welcome back to another cultural debrief gang! This week, Ellie interviewed the icon that is Kesha for the Telegraph ahead of her brilliant new her album Gag Order, out now, and gave us all the behind-the-scenes gossip and juicy talking points, specifically: did Kesha really have a vaginal ghost exorcism?  Plus we both reveal our own experiences with the paranormal, featuring Kathleen’s mum’s run-...