She’s never allowed herself to be strait-jacketed by convention, most obviously in her personal life which has seen her twice married and twice divorced – first to Unilever executive Graham Portas and then to fashion journalist Melanie Rickey.
But that is unlikely to have prepared the fashion industry for its brutal dissection by ‘Mary Queen of Shops’.
In a Smart Works talk at the Mayfair Hotel, west London, Mary Portas has given a withering verdict on the state of the fashion industry, which she believes is being led by homosexual men, who she claims aren’t really in touch with the average-sized woman.
‘Look at the designers. Most are male gay designers,’ notes Portas. ‘They are designing for these iconic women in their heads. We have been sold that for absolutely years. It’s very difficult to eradicate.’ It’s unlikely that Portas will be denounced as homophobic. She and Melanie Rickey had a child together – with Portas’s younger brother Lawrence as biological father.
Since then, Portas has found new love with a woman whose identity she has not disclosed.
But perhaps Portas’s most bracing observation is about Dame Anna Wintour, whom she calls ‘one of the most powerful women in the world of fashion’.
Mary Portas, an English retail consultant and broadcaster, has given a withering verdict on the state of the fashion industry
‘She’s tiny. She’s absolutely tiny,’ says Portas.
Where Wintour leads, all others follow, argues Portas, 65, explaining that distorted thinking has influenced ‘all the catwalks’.
She reflects: ‘They are absolutely tiny young women going down there, and young men.’ Portas adds: ‘I‘ve spoken to people where they’re like: “If I’m thin, I’m seen as I’m together, I’m OK, I’m not lazy, I don’t care about my body.”’
With such scathing remarks, there’s little chance of seeing Portas on the front row next season, but she doesn’t care, and says: ‘The fashion industry – I wouldn’t want to get back to that.’
Megan’s steamy sideline
Actress and writer Megan Prescott has said she feels she is ‘treated better on OnlyFans’ than when she starred in E4 drama Skins
At just 16, Megan Prescott, who starred as promiscuous teen Katie Fitch in Skins, says she was unprepared for the sex scenes she had to do in the controversial E4 drama.
‘I’m treated better on OnlyFans than I was on Skins,’ said Prescott, 34, who turned to stripping on the adult subscription service to make ends meet.
Having chronicled her story in her debut one-woman show, Really Good Exposure, she was delighted to win a Creation award at OffWestEnd Awards this week at the Methodist Central Hall in Westminster.
She tells me: ‘A lot of creative freelancers are doing sex work but the reality is they can’t be open about it, the creative freelance industry is underfunded, [so] people do turn to sex work.’
Will sweetness ever return to relations between the House of Windsor and the Sussexes? The King’s Highgrove website has just started offering Highgrove Harmony Royal Garden Honey – enriched by ‘fragrant linden blossom’ – at £20 a jar, with all proceeds to charity. This may strike a sour note in California, where the As Ever brand boasts Sage Honey with Honeycomb which ‘holds a special place in Meghan’s heart’ – and, at £24 a jar, her bank balance…
(Very) modern manners
Internet personality Hofit Golan attending the 74th annual Cannes Film Festival in 2021
Hofit Golan’s pet dog Yuki was pictured on social media under the spotlight of red light therapy
Biohacking enthusiast Hofit Golan, who uses red light therapy to treat her thyroid problem, has now turned the infrared spotlight on her pet dog, Yuki.
‘Yes, I give Yuki red light therapy for his skin and fur,’ she admits to her followers online.
The tiny pomsky [Pomeranian and a Siberian Husky crossbreed] looks bemused as he gets a full blast of the red stuff, which is widely considered safe for man’s best friend.
Earlier this year Hofit, 40, revealed she’d turned to the popular wellness trend to treat Hashimoto’s disease, an affliction in which the body mistakenly attacks the thyroid, in the neck area.
Brand calls time on pub and sells up for £100k profit
Russell Brand speaking during The Bitcoin Conference held in Nashville in July 2024
The Crown pub, located in Pishill, Oxfordshire, is now being bought for £975,000
His trial has been delayed until October but Russell Brand, who faces seven charges – ranging from rape to indecent assault – all of which he strenuously denies, has now put one sorry chapter behind him.
I refer to his ownership of The Crown Inn, Pishill, Oxfordshire, which he acquired for £870,000 in 2021, promising to keep it open – only to unveil plans to transform it into a recording studio and offices.
When those failed under a volley of objections, Brand proposed putting it to ‘mixed use’, with offices, media studio and function room co-existing alongside the pub. That speedily antagonised Lord Camoys, who, from his family seat, Stonor Park, a mile away, pointed out that, following lockdown, Brand had ‘made no attempt’ to re-open The Crown, which was shrouded in brambles and ivy.
But, I can disclose, salvation is at hand: The Crown has been bought for £975,000 by John Bloomer, 45, a businessman with a qualification in psychometric assessment. Handy, perhaps, when negotiating with Russell Brand…
Why ‘free spirit’ Christine still lives with comic ex McGuinness
Christine McGuiness attending the British Diversity Awards on March 25, 2026 in London
It’s business as usual this Easter for TV comedian and presenter Paddy McGuinness and his ex-wife Christine.
Despite Christine, 38, who describes herself as a ‘free spirit’ rather than identifying as bisexual or lesbian, being in a new romantic ‘situationship’ with a woman, she insists nothing is changing on the home front.
The pair, who divorced in 2024 after 13 years of marriage, continue to live under the same roof in their £6.5 million Cheshire home, raising their three children.
‘We’re still sharing the family home together, there’s no rush for that to change,’ she tells me at a party in London. Christine explains: ‘I want my children to know where their home is.’
Sir Richard Branson and his family were heartbroken when his wife Joan died last year aged 80. But they have found some solace in a new arrival. Sir Richard’s son Sam has adopted a puppy he has named ‘Lucky’ in the British Virgin Islands, where he spends much of the year with wife Isabella Calthorpe and their two children. ‘I drove past a very unwell street puppy,’ wrote Sam, online. ‘He looked at me as I drove past and I was compelled to stop and take a closer look. He’s so sweet, super bright, and super loving.’
Kimono is a no-no for tea-lover Leah
Leah Wood, daughter of Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood, recently attended a Japanese tea ceremony in Notting Hill with tea master Keiko Uchida
In less complicated times, Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood posed in a kimono for a photoshoot by Pattie Boyd, but his daughter Leah Wood wasn’t about to follow suit for fear of cultural appropriation.
The artist, whose mother is Jo Wood, hosted a Japanese tea ceremony in Notting Hill with tea master Keiko Uchida for a private view of her Cherry Blossoms artwork collection, and considered wearing a kimono until her husband Jack MacDonald stepped in.
‘My mum gave me a few [kimonos] to try on and I was going to wear a really lovely purple short one but my husband said:
“You can’t do that, there’s a whole like backstory with the kimono. It would be like me going into the shop wearing a samurai outfit.” ’
Lady Jean Campbell may be in a relationship with artist Orfeo Tagiuri, but there’s another man she holds dear in her heart. The 7th Earl Cawdor’s daughter, 28, who has suffered from chronic pain since a ski accident aged 12, reveals: ‘I loved my physio so much. He was called Jeremy, he made it [recovery] feel possible. He was also really good looking.’
Singer Lily Allen has turned selling pictures of her feet into a surprisingly lucrative sideline, charging £8 a month for fans to subscribe for exclusive close-up snaps.
It’s not a path A Place In The Sun star Laura Hamilton wants to walk down, despite persistent requests for her to join WikiFeet, a site where users browse and rate photos of celebrities’ trotters. She tells me at an awards show in Mayfair: ‘It’s the people that comment on my feet online that I find disturbing. I post a lot of pictures around my house without any shoes on, and they’ll say like, “Wow, you know you have a really good WikiFeet?”’
The TV presenter 43, insists: ‘I would never sell pictures of my feet, it’s hard enough creating content for social media platforms.’
Ore’s smart phone advice for kids
Strictly star Ore Oduba’s estranged wife Portia Jett has been an open book on social media about their messy split, even revealing the sale of their marital home has left their two young children ‘devastated’.
Yet Oduba, 40, who will be running the London Marathon for Smartphone Free Childhood, is trying to steer their children away from devices. He tells me: ‘The most important thing is helping them understand why it is not just a phone, there is harm that comes with it.’
The star, who last year opened up about his porn addiction, adds: ‘I try to model the kind of behaviour that I would hope for them. There’s so many things that even we as adults are not prepared for effectively.’
I’m sure Portia will have plenty to say about that – online, of course.
- Edited by Stephanie Takyi
