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Unearthed comments reveal critic Grace Dent, who is replacing Gregg Wallace after he stood aside over sexual misconduct allegations, has repeatedly poked fun at the BBC programme

New Celebrity MasterChef host Grace Dent served up a feast of criticism of the show – and made jibes about shamed Gregg Wallace.

The critic, replacing Wallace who stood aside over sexual misconduct allegations, this week called the gig “more than a dream to me”. But we can reveal she has repeatedly panned the BBC programme – with co-host John Torode not spared.

In an apparent reference to bald-headed Wallace, Dent once joked about any pencil skirt-wearing girl succeeding on MasterChef by carrying an expression saying “I like older men with no hair”. And in other comments unearthed by the Mirror, she mocked the show by saying someone could set fire to the restaurant and still reach the celeb version semi-finals “if you’re pretty and made something for Gregg Wallace that involves custard and runny toffee”.

John Torode, Grace Dent and Gregg Wallace ( 
Image:
BBC)
Dent, 51, has dished out scathing attacks on the celeb edition – declaring on another occasion: “We are in the dying days for many of these spin-rinsed TV formats”. And she has also commented that MasterChef has “acid reflux staying power”.

Penny Lancaster on Rod Stewart’s post about Gregg Wallace

On Wednesday, Dent was announced as host for the next series of Celebrity MasterChef. She has previously appeared as a guest judge on MasterChef, as well as a contestant on MasterChef: Battle Of The Critics.

In 2011 Dent passed judgment on MasterChef, writing for the Guardian: “For a long while I said any girl could get through round one of MasterChef simply by turning up in a pencil skirt and making a fried Nutella sandwich with condensed milk and an expression that says, ‘I like older men with no hair’.” She did, however, add that her “wholly unfair theory is disproven in episode one”.

In another piece the same year, Dent – who appeared on last year’s I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here – was scathing about the show’s celebrity series, writing: “Celebrity MasterChef has fallen to 2.15pm on weekday BBC1 (with a Friday night half-hour highlights package). Perhaps the BBC sensed that the sight of Tony from Hollyoaks clumsily gutting a sole, splashing guts, brains and skin about, then frying the salvageable detritus was not top-drawer telly.

Dent once mocked the show by saying someone could set fire to the restaurant and still reach the celeb version semi-finals ‘if you’re pretty and made something for Gregg Wallace that involves custard and runny toffee’ ( 
Image:
BBC)
“I’d as much choose to watch people badly gutting, scaling and debraining animals on TV as I would gleefully jump out of a car on to the hard shoulder. And if it’s not bloody, it’s just bloody awful.”

She added: “We are in the dying days for many of these spin-rinsed TV formats. More worrying for British industry than rising fuel prices or depleted fish stocks is our national shortage of “recognisable people to put on telly who the public give a damn about”.

She went on to pan other shows, before adding: “Back on Celebrity MasterChef, they cut my preview tape in the final frames so I can’t spoil which celeb leaves in week one. But seeing as I still haven’t identified half of them, it’s hard to truly care.”

And in 2012, Dent again laid into the programme, writing for the Independent: “Is it my pained imagination or is Masterchef in some manifestation on British screens almost perpetually? The format has now been so hammered and drained of every surprise and twist that I’ve had happier times recovering from norovirus than sitting through 30 minutes watching former Olympic swimmer Steve Parry explain why he can’t fillet a pollock.

“And do we care if Madge Bishop from Neighbours can make her own pasta? Oh and that bit where they’re all sent to work in a restaurant and it’s jolly scary and the big scary chef man is all gruff with them, but the round ultimately counts for bugger all as it’s never mentioned ever again in any judging capacity (in fact one could set fire to the restaurant and calmly stand outside drinking a can of white cider when the fire engines arrive and still go through to the Celebrity Masterchef semi-finals if you’re pretty and made something for Gregg Wallace that involves custard and runny toffee).”

In 2015, Dent wrote for the same publication: “I have written about MasterChef, due to its acid reflux staying power, more times than almost any other show.” She added: “Perhaps the BBC’s intention when commissioning MasterChef – endlessly, tirelessly, one strand blending into another, no change, no deviation – is to shake off TV critics.

“One day, surely, we’ll have nothing left to say? Perhaps the plan is that in order for British citizens to feel the full value of their licence pennies, every living being should have 15 minutes of fame cooking John Torode pasta (which he pronounces “pusta” and enjoys while wearing cowboy boots)?”

She also said: “The one no one really loves, but hey, it’s here now for another 24 episodes. Ever-shrinking Gregg – all eyes and teeth these days – doing a good line in ‘I’m still excited about this format.’ I don’t think he is. I think his agent is. There are no more words to say about chicken rolled in parma ham. If a turbot is pan-fried in butter and John Torode doesn’t taste it, does it still exist?”

A representative of Dent was contacted for comment.

The BBC and MasterChef’s production firm Banijay UK declined to comment.

Wallace’s lawyers have said it is false he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature.

Take Me Out star Paddy McGuinness makes his debut as host of Inside the Factory on BBC1 on Sunday, marking his first

Paddy McGuinness has spoken about replacing Gregg Wallace on Inside the Factory, after the former host resigned amid a BBC probe into misconduct.

The Phoenix Nights star landed the job earlier this year, after leaving his BBC shows Top Gear and A Question of Sport. Since he was announced to take over from Gregg, the MasterChef star found himself embroiled in a saga in which various women claimed he had made them feel uncomfortable with his comments and jokes.

The 60-year-old announced he was quitting the show earlier in 2023 after controversy over “inappropriate” comments made to a female factory worker about her appearance. The incident, which happened while filming at a Nestlé factory in York, is said to have contributed to his decision to quit, although he also wants to spend more time with his three-year-old son Sid, who has autism.

Paddy’s first episode as new host of the show airs on Sunday night on the BBC and sees him visit the festive-sounding Saint Niklas in Belgium. He goes behind the scenes in a chocolate factory, where four million chocolate seashells are produced each day.

Gregg left Inside The Factory amid controversy around comments made to a female factory worker about her appearance ( 
Image:
BBC/Voltage TV)

Paddy shows viewers how hazelnuts are roasted with sugar to create the praline filling, before being pumped in to chocolate moulds. While he samples some of the sweet treats, his co-star Cherry Healy learns how the white chocolate in the Guylian seashells is created, and discovers there is a specific formula for perfect Christmas tree decoration. Elsewhere, historian Ruth Goodman explores the European origins of Santa Claus.

Paddy has revealed that working on the show was a kind of full-circle for him, with the next episode following his journey back to the Warburtons factory in Bolton where he worked at as a teen. Speaking to The Sun, he said: “I thought: ‘I got my heavy goods licence doing Top Gear, now I’m driving into the place I used to work at 30-odd years ago, hosting another show for the BBC.

“When I was that 16-year-old kid who used to walk to work with butties my mum had made me, who’d have thought all these years later, I’d have had all these amazing things go on in my life.” Paddy added: “It was one of those moments where I thought: ‘Bloody hell, life eh? It does have its twists and turns.’”

The series, which looks at the secrets of the machines that produce everyday products, is now a firm favourite with viewers. BBC specialist factual boss Jack Bootle said Paddy would bring “new energy” to the show. “Inside the Factory is one of the BBC’s best-loved factual brands. It deserves to have a big star at the helm,” he added. “I’m unbelievably excited that Paddy is putting on his white coat and rising to the challenge. He has a passion for production and engineering that’s impossible to fake.”

Flu cases are soaring in England, with NHS hospitals tackling five times more cases than this time last year.

In only 20 days, hospital admissions have rocketed by two-and-a-half times, with many of those patients receiving care in Manchester and Trafford hospitals. Notably, the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust hospitals are currently tending to 76 adults and five children struck down with flu as of December 15—a stark increase outstripping numbers seen in any recent winter.

Across the region, folks are left scratching their heads, wondering whether they’ve got a severe case of the sniffles or the full-blown flu. Ste from Prestwich told MEN: “I started with a painful sore throat, which is often how I start with a cold, on Sunday. I tried using Vicks First Defence but it did nothing for me, felt really achy and shivering by that night.

“It carried on Monday and Tuesday, and eased off later on Tuesday. I’ve been coughing, sneezing a bit since. I’d say it’s the worst cold I’ve had in years and far worse than any time I’ve had Covid, except the first time pre-vaccine. The worst bit was Sunday to Tuesday. I still have a cough now but I’m past the worst of it.”

English NHS hospitals overall had an average of 2,629 flu patients between December 9 and 15 this year. This time last year, there were five times fewer flu patients, averaging just 566. In 2022, there were an average of 1,657 flu patients and in 2021, there were a mere 31.

But like so many other people, Ste said: “I’m never really sure what counts as flu.” Doctor of pharmacy at the Universal Drugstore, Dr Jamie Winn, answered the most common questions about cold and flu season, in a bid to help people get to know the signs and symptoms. Dr Wynn said: “Viruses that cause flu and the common cold thrive in cold temperatures, meaning cases are more likely to rise as we head into the winter months.

“Studies show viruses, especially flu, travel better in dry air, and colder temperatures mean dryer air. Alongside this temperature change, less sunlight means people get less Vitamin D which can help to protect the immune system and protect from respiratory viruses.

“With the festive season, we also see an increase in travel which can help to spread any cold and flu viruses around the country. People also tend to increase their alcohol consumption at this time of year, something which can lower the immune system and make us more susceptible to catching viruses.

“There are many different strains of the flu virus and these are constantly evolving, that’s why it’s important to stay on top of flu vaccinations as they update each year.” Some strains of flu and the common cold can be worse than others and this can be based on lots of different factors such as if you’ve had that strain before and if your immune system is used to it, some strains mutate more rapidly than others, outsmarting vaccines and treatments, and some strains may transmit more easily.

“Both the common cold and flu are contagious and are transmitted through tiny droplets in the air, usually passed on through coughs, sneezes, and talking. These viruses can actually survive on surfaces, with flu lasting for up to 48 hours on hard surfaces.

“People will be most contagious with the flu three to four days after their symptoms begin, but you can transmit it before you even feel sick. In order to help prevent the spread, it’s important to practice good hygiene such as hand washing and using tissues, avoid close contact with others if you have symptoms, and ensure the space you’re in is well ventilated.”

Each virus usually presents with slightly different symptoms with typical flu symptoms including a high fever, body aches, and chills. Alternatively, the common cold usually causes a productive cough, sore throat, and nasal congestion. Dr Winn added: “Flu vaccinations are incredibly important, not just for yourself but also for community protection. A regular flu jab will stop you from getting sick and can prevent further complications- it also carries the benefit of keeping your immunity high against new strains.”

To treat symptoms you can look at using common over-the-counter medications. Acetaminophen or ibuprofen can help with headaches, muscle aches, and fever. Guaifenesin can loosen mucus to clear your airways. Pseudoephedrine can help with a stuffy nose while an antihistamine such as chlorpheniramine can stop a runny nose.

And if you are coughing, look for products with dextromethorphan. With either the flu or a cold, consider visiting a doctor if your symptoms persist for over a week or if you have a high temperature, difficulty breathing, or other signs of infection. “.

Cadbury has lost its Royal warrant after 170 years as the healthy eating fan King scrapped it.

Queen Victoria had awarded the British favourite the mark and it was a favourite of the late Queen who had a sweet tooth. However it is set to lose its warrant – granted as a mark of recognition to firms who regularly supplied goods or services to the Royal Household as the King has opted not to renew it.

The sale of Cadbury products to the Royal household is said to have diminished in recent years as the monarch prefers eating the likes of fruit and seeds over chocolate. More than 100 warrants were not awarded, the Mail on Sunday reported.

Cadbury’s said it was “disappointed” by the decision ( 
Image:
Newscast/Universal Images Group via Getty Images))
A Cadbury spokesman said: “Ours is a much-loved brand which has been a part of British life for generations and remains the nation’s favourite chocolate. While we are disappointed to be one of hundreds of other businesses and brands in the UK not to have a new warrant awarded, we are proud to have previously held one and we fully respect the decision.”

Unsuccessful firms were informed of the monarch’s decision by letter. Firms awarded the warrant include Moet, Bacardi, Green & Bloom and John Lewis.

The Royal Warrant Holders Association said in a statement: “In December 2024 HM The King and HM The Queen granted their second set of Royal Warrants of Appointment of the new reign. The grants were made to 386 companies drawn from those previously holding a single Royal Warrant of Appointment to Queen Elizabeth II, together with seven companies that have an established and ongoing trading relationship with HM Queen Camilla.

“These grants follow 152 Royal Warrants granted by Their Majesties in May, to companies drawn from those previously holding a Royal Warrant of Appointment to His Majesty as Prince of Wales, who began granting Warrants in 1980.”

Royal warrants date back to medieval times when the ruling monarch had the pick of the pick of the country’s best tradespeople. By the 15th century, the Lord Chamberlain appointed tradespeople with a Royal Warrant of Appointment, which continues today. The Royal Warrant Holders Association was formed in 1840.

Princess Beatrice will be joining the Royal Family at Sandringham this Christmas in a last-minute change of plans.

Beatrice and husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi are expecting their second child due in early spring, and were initially planning on spending the festive period overseas with the princess’ in-laws. But the 36-year-old, who is in her third trimester, has recently been given medical advice instructing her not to travel long distances – and so is opting for the huge royal gathering in Norfolk on December 25 instead.

The forthcoming royal baby will be a little brother or sister for the couple’s three-year-old daughter Sienna, and Mr Mapelli Mozzi’s son Wolfie, both of whom will also be at Sandringham this year.

King Charles is hosting a bumper Christmas Day celebration at Sandringham this year with as many as 45 guests invited ( 
Image:
POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
A large number of royals will be guests of King Charles and Queen Camilla on Christmas Day this year, with Prince William recently revealing that 45 people will be “all in one room” at the royal residence. However, Beatrice’s father Prince Andrew will not be among them, as he is staying away amid the ongoing controversy surrounding his links to an alleged Chinese spy. He will instead spend Christmas with his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. Beatrice’s sister Princess Eugenie and her family are planning on spending Christmas with her in-laws.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are expected to remain in California with their two children and Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland. They are not thought to have been invited to Sandringham, having last spent Christmas with the Royal Family in 2018.

One new face at the gathering this year will be King Charles’ stepson, Tom Parker Bowles, who is set to attend for the very first time. Food critic Tom, 50, revealed in a recent interview with the Telegraph that mum Queen Camilla personally requested his presence at the royal gathering this year. He shared: “My mum said, ‘I’d love you to come, I haven’t had Christmas with you for a long time.’”

According to a top royal expert, this year’s festive celebration will focus on providing activities for the growing number of younger royals, as well as showing support for the King and Kate, Princess of Wales after their health struggles this year. Former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond told OK!: “After the year they’ve had, I’m sure it’s going to mean the world to the King and Queen to have as many of their family as possible joining them for Christmas. And, as the number of youngsters increases, so the celebrations become more and more child oriented. Which is exactly what Christmas should be all about.”

Proud parents William and Kate were pictured sitting either side of George, 11, Charlotte, nine and Louis, six, in a newly released snap from the Princess of Wales’ Christmas beautiful carol concert earlier this month.

The royals were joined at Westminster Abbey in London by 1600 guests including celebrities GMB ’s Ben Shephard, actress and author Giovanna Fletcher and McFly star husband Tom, Saturdays singer Mollie King and cricketer Stuart Broad.

Kate’s parents Carole and Michael Middleton were also in attendance, alongside younger sister Pippa. Survivors of the horrific Southport stabbings earlier this year were also invited to the special festive event.

Kate’s sister Pippa ( 
Image:
PA)

Paloma Faith ( 
Image:
PA)
In October, during her first official engagement since chemotherapy treatment ended in the summer, Princess Kate and William met some of the victims, families and emergency workers.

Ben Shephard, Giovanna Fletcher, Tom Fletcher, Mollie King and Stuart Broad ( 
Image:
PA)

It was understood it had been planned as a solo visit for William but Kate decided to join her husband in order to show her support and empathy.

Tulisa Contostavlos has told how she became hooked on prescription drugs during the covid lockdown – and felt like “she was going to die” when she tried to kick the habit.

In one of her most revealing interviews ever, the singer and former X Factor judge, laid bare the problems she had for several Yeats until January this year and also revealed what really happened to her in the I’m A Celebrity jungle.

But before she entered the ITV show she has been fighting a secret dependency which threatened to take over her life. Tulisa said: “I was dependent without realising… I just went cold turkey for five days and I ended up in hospital because I didn’t know, but my body had become dependent on it. I felt like I was having a heart attack. I had pains in my chest…. I just literally felt like I was going to die.”

The 36-year-old decided to speak out about the issue with podcaster Paul C Brunson for an in-depth discussion where she is given time to put her ups and downs in context.

Tulisa opens up to Paul C Brunson in his We Need To Talk podcast

In the second part of the conversation which listeners can hear tomorrow, Tulisa says: “Sometimes you don’t want to draw attention to things that people don’t know about, but one thing I’ve found off the back of coming off of I’m A Celeb, that I’m sure about, is maybe so much the showbiz world isn’t for me in the commercial sense, and the tits and teeth.

“But authenticity is and if I’m going to be in this industry and remain in it, I want to be really authentic and I want to speak words and do things that will make some kind of a difference. So I will tell you that running up to I’m A Celeb, during lockdown, I unfortunately became dependent on benzodiazepine. So we’re talking zopiclones and diazepam(pills which help with sleep and anxiety).

“I had a backlog of them for flying, for sleeping issues from the trial, tons of them. I was alone during lockdown. I found out my dog had cancer. I got very depressed and I began self medicating. Now, as lockdown finished, for me it was time to get back to reality. I was like, ‘I can’t numb myself every day and this anxiety, I can’t get to sleep with a sleeper every night. I can’t have a diazepam when it hits 9pm to calm me down. So it’s time to stop’.

“But by this point, what I hadn’t realised was, when you’re taking something every day to knock yourself out, you don’t realise if I skip two days and I start feeling anxiety and withdrawals because I was dependent without realising.” Tulisa says she felt like she had “gone crazy” because of the dependency. She would try to go without it but after two days would be “shaking and having anxiety attacks”.

She added: “Anyway, I came to the point where I was like, ‘Enough is enough. I don’t care how bad it feels when I don’t take it, I’m gonna stop taking it’. So I just went cold turkey for five days and I ended up in hospital because I didn’t know, but my body had become dependent on it. I felt like I was having a heart attack. I had pains in my chest. Obviously, your body can have convulsions, muscle spasms, so what was happening was my heart was spasming, so to speak. It was clenching and it was this constant feeling of my chest closing up. I just literally felt like I was going to die. I remember waking up one morning. I had a dream that I was in a stadium and I was in the middle of this stadium and it was empty, and a lightning bolt came and hit the ground. If you can imagine the ricochet of a lightning bolt in an empty stadium and it was hitting the ground. I could feel it through my whole body. I woke up. That was my heartbeat. This is how my mind was translating what I was experiencing. Thank God, eventually, something clicked in me. I said, ‘What am I doing different? There must be something going on. I can’t be sat here feeling like I’m dying’ I’m going to the hospital.”

Tulisa then visited a psychologist and he advised her to go to rehab but she didn’t want to do that because of previous incorrect and untrue allegations about her dealing cocaine. So instead she chose to slowly taper herself off the drugs, which she managed to do over two years and was ‘clean’ of the prescription drugs in January. But it was a challenging time.

She said: “Once I overcame that in January, I didn’t realise how much I had been affected by it and I started to feel alive again. I started to feel me, as a human. I was like, ‘Oh my god, this is reality’. I couldn’t determine anymore what was real and what wasn’t in terms of my anxiety, my depression. I didn’t know what was what. Then it takes so long for your body to get back to normal again and for your nervous system to recover.”

Despite being threatened with prison in the past over untrue media allegations, having had a leaked sex tape and been sexually assaulted when young, Tulisa says the dependence on prescription drugs was “one of the toughest experiences actually in my life”. In some ways she says coming through this period in her life gave her the confidence to then take part in I’m A Celebrity. But once in the Australian camp she did suffer with some of the anxiety, a feeling she had encountered when coming off the sleeping pills.

Tulisa said: “I definitely had an anxiety attack off-camera, because I went to the smoking area to do it and even then, I didn’t want them to know that I was having an anxiety attack, so I was trying to bring down my heart rate, literally through my nose, while I was like, ‘Okay, get the heart rate down. Get the heart rate down’. I wanted to leave that day. I was like, ‘I can’t do this but it’s not what I came here for. I came here to stick it out and do whatever I have to do’.

“And there were lots of amazing moments, really joyful moments, thanks to the people. The people made those moments.”

Defeated fighter Tyson Fury was comforted by his wife Paris after he stormed out of the ring following his bout with Oleksandr Usyk.

The Gypsy King fell to a unanimous decision loss against his Ukrainian opponent, with each judge scoring the fight 116-112. Fury wasted little time making his exit following the announcement of the result and left the ring without comment.

The 36-year-old, from Wythenshawe, captured headlines during fight week after claiming he had not seen or spoken to his wife or children in three months as he prepared his bid to gain revenge on Usyk following his first loss. It was to be for naught as his opponent once again had his hand raised, but Paris quickly joined her husband on his journey from the ring.

Paris walked with Fury as he cut a frustrated figure, after meeting him after his exit from the squared circle. The couple share seven children together.

Fury explained his dismay as he approached his dressing room. The former world champion, who lost his first fight against Usyk by split decision, believed he had earned a clear victory.

“I swear to God, I thought I won by three rounds!” he told Sky Sports.

”I thought I won the fight again, I was Larry Holmesed again,” he added to ESPN. “I was on the front foot the entire time. When you don’t get the knockout, this is what can happen.”

Tyson Fury thought he had won the rematch ( 
Image:
Getty Images)

Tyson Fury leaves the ring following the WBA, WBC, WBO, IBO World Heavyweight championship contest against Oleksandr Usyk ( 
Image:
PA)
Fury’s anger at the decision continued in the post-fight press conference. “The judges gave him a Christmas gift,” he said.

“I feel like I won both fights. I know I had to knock him out but it’s boxing and this happens. There is no doubt in my mind I won this fight. Frank [Warren] had me three or four rounds up and a lot of people had me up by at least two.”

“I’m not going to cry over spilt milk, it’s over now.” he added, “I’ve been in boxing my whole life but I’ll always feel a little bit hard done by – not a little bit, a lot.”

Queensberry chief Frank Warren made his case for a Fury win public too. The promoter was aghast at the scorecards for the night.

“It’s nuts,” said Warren. “Did you only give him four rounds out of eight? I don’t get it. I’m really disappointed. We’ll have to see what happens in the future for Tyson. I thought he was in control, boxed really well and had Usyk on his back foot.”

“How come Tyson only got four rounds in this fight? It’s impossible,” he continued.

The official scorecards from the bout in Riyadh ( 
Image:
queensberrypromotions/Instagram)

“He’s very disappointed as I am as well. Everyone along the front [of the ring] thought it was all the same way.”

Usyk was unafraid to poke fun at his defeated and despondent opponent however. After extending his record to 23 fights unbeaten, Usyk responded to criticism of the decision.

The UK’s longest-serving prisoner, dubbed Hannibal the Cannibal, is to spend his 51st Christmas behind bars.

Quadruple killer Robert Maudsley, 71, is feared so dangerous he has been given his own special cell and kept apart from other inmates for almost 17,000 days, or 46 years.

Maudsley, born Robert Mawdsley on Merseyside in 1953, was first sent to Broadmoor secure hospital in 1974 after garrotting John Farrell, who had picked him up for sex.

He earned his frightening nickname after killing three men being detained with him: a fellow Broadmoor patient in 1977, followed by two prisoners in 1978 when he went on the rampage at HMP Wakefield, West Yorkshire, after he was transferred there.

One of his victims was found with a blade fashioned from a plastic spoon in his ear, which led to the moniker Hannibal the Cannibal, amid claims – proven false by a postmortem – that Maudsley had eaten his brain. At Wakefield, he was said to have told other inmates that he wanted to kill seven men, and to have informed a guard: “There’ll be two short on the roll call.”

As a lad on Merseyside ( 
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Liverpool Echo WS)
His purpose-built, super-secure cell has been compared to the one housing Dr Hannibal Lecter in the film The Silence of the Lambs.

Maudsley once wrote: “The prison authorities see me as a problem, and their solution has been to put me into solitary confinement and throw away the key, to bury me alive in a concrete coffin. It does not matter to them whether I am mad or bad. They do not know the answer and they do not care just so long as I am kept out of sight and out of mind.”

The murderer made a failed bid to be moved out of solitary in 2000, and sent letters to The Times requesting a cyanide suicide pill.

He is said to have a high IQ and to love ­classical music, poetry and art, and those who have visited him inside describe him as gentle, kind and highly intelligent. Former detective Paul Harrison said in 2018 of Maudsley
after meeting him: “If you didn’t know him and what he’d done, and you saw him, he’s a really intelligent, clever guy, who made you smile.”

US prisoner Albert Woodfox held the world record for solitary confinement at 43 years before his release in 2016.

The Ministry of Justice insisted there was “no such thing as solitary confinement in our prison system”. A Prison Service spokesman said: “Some offenders will be segregated if they pose a risk to others.

“They are allowed time in the open air every day, visits, phone calls, and access to legal advice and medical care like everyone else.” Segregation of prisoners is “reviewed regularly”, the spokesman added.

Quadruple killer Robert Maudsley, 71, is feared so dangerous he has been given his own special cell ( 
Image:
Unknown)
A former prison officer who guarded some of the country’s most notorious criminals for more than a decade has argued that Maudsley should be taken out of his underground cell. Neil Samworth told the Daily Mail: “I think it’s wrong the way he has been treated. He is in total isolation and is not fair. I think his crimes are historic now and he represents no real danger to others. It’s a bit like Charlie Bronson. Yes, he has had lots of fights in the past but he is an old man now.’”

The cell, which reportedly measures 18ft by 15ft – slightly bigger than average – has a concrete slab for a bed. It has large bulletproof windows and a table and chair made of compressed cardboard. The lavatory and sink are also bolted to the floor. Maudsley is passed food through a small slot in the steel door which is encased in thick Perspex.

It is said to bear an uncanny likeness to the cell of cannibal killer Hannibal Lecter, played by Anthony Hopkins in the 1991 film Silence of the Lambs. Maudsley got his ‘Han­­nibal the Cannibal’ nickname amid claims he dug a spoon into the brain of one of his victims – an allegation he always denied.

He is allowed one hour of exercise per day while surrounded by six burly guards and is forbidden from having contact with any other prisoners. In a letter more than two decades ago, he penned: “I am left to stagnate, vegetate and to regress”, adding: “My life in solitary is one long period of unbroken depression.”

Quadruple killer Robert Maudsley, 71, is feared so dangerous he has been given his own special cell ( 
Image:
BBC)Jailed 50 years ago in 1974, he is believed to be Britain’s longest-serving prisoner after Moors murderer Ian Brady, who died in 2017 after serving 51 years. But even life behind bars hasn’t stopped the violent killer from lashing out, and he has murdered another three men since he has been locked up.

Maudsley garrotted Farrel in 1974 after he showed him photographs of children he had sexually abused. The murder was so violent police nicknamed the victim “blue” because of the colour of his face. Maudsley was jailed for life with the recommendation that he should never be released.

He was sent to Broadmoor Hospital, which housed some of the country’s most dangerous prisoners. For several years, Maudsley kept himself out of trouble, but in 1977 he and fellow prisoner, David Cheeseman, barricaded themselves in a cell with convicted child molester, David Francis. For nine hours, they tortured Francis in the most brutal way.

Prince Edward and his wife Sophie were set for an “unhappy” Christmas thanks to disgraced brother Andrew, before a change in his plans.

The couple were initially planned to be placed with the Duke of York in Sandringham for the festive period, much to their chagrin. However their festive plans took a turn for the better, as far as they were concerned, when Andrew decided not to attend after becoming embroiled in yet another scandal – this time over a Chinese spy.

Prince Edward and Sophie were said to have been “less than pleased” when initially told the plans at being “cheek by jowl with the Yorks”, reported the Sun. Instead, Andrew will spend a lonely Christmas in Royal Lodge, with only ex wife Sarah for company, while the rest of the family enjoy themselves at Sandringham.

The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh were said to have been less than impressed at the original plan ( 
Image:
Getty Images)
This week a Royal expert suggested the Duke of York is likely to be “extremely upset” he won’t be joining the rest of the Royal Family for their traditional Christmas festivities at Sandringham. Speaking to OK! Magazine , former BBC Royal correspondent Jennie Bond said: “Andrew would have had to be living on another planet to be unaware of the furore surrounding his association with an alleged spy.

“Just as the year is set to end on a high for the Royal Family – with the King and Princess of Wales greeting the crowds on Christmas Day – along comes another embarrassing row involving the Duke of York. The King is a kind soul and Andrew is his brother: he would have hated to be put in the position of having to un-invite him or ban him from what promises to be a big family get together.

“It seems quite likely Andrew sat down with Fergie, and possibly his daughters, to discuss the best solution. Thankfully, wise heads have prevailed and he obviously realised that his presence at Sandringham would be an embarrassing distraction on a day which – this year of all years – should be all about the King and Catherine.”

Andrew’s decision comes amid links to an alleged Chinese spy. The Duke of York is currently scrutiny over his relationship with the businessman, known as H6, who has been banned from the UK over spying concerns.

Andrew said he “ceased all contact” with the accused businessman when concerns were first raised about him in a statement from his office. Royals are claimed to be furious after he became involved in the fresh scandal.

H6, a 50-year-old businessman is alleged to have used his links with Andrew to secure invites to high-profile events and royal residences . According to The Sunday Times he visited Buckingham Palace twice as the Duke’s guest, as well as attending events at St James’s Palace and Windsor Palace.