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Dawn French hits back at "shameful" weight loss comments

Dawn French has hit back at hurtful comments about her drastic weight loss almost a decade ago, admitting she "never rejected" the size she was. In 2014, the British comedian and actress dropped over 45kg after undergoing a hysterectomy following a terrifying cancer scare. The dramatic weight loss came after French's surgeon said she would heal better from the procedure if she lost weight. At the time, dozens of articles were written about French's transformation, praising her weight loss. Now, the 65-year-old has taken umbrage with the comments, telling <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/id-never-felt-so-ugly-how-dawn-french-learnt-to-love-her-flaws-3z95kc823" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Times</a> how unfair it is that women are in the public eye are often “reduced” to descriptions of their appearance. “I have never rejected the bigger woman I have been. Lots of people do it and say, ‘Oh, you look so much better – now you look well.’ And I think, ‘F*** off! Don’t judge that other person who I loved,’” she said. “[British singer] Alison Moyet is a very good friend and so often she has been reduced to descriptions of her physicality.” “She’s this giant talent, why reduce her to that? I’m not taking any s*** from anyone about any of it,” she said. French went on to reflect on the early days of her career, which began in the late 1980s alongside Jennifer Saunders. Despite the success of their BBC show French and Saunders, they were often described by how they looked, something she says “never” happened to their male colleagues. “For many years Jennifer [Saunders] and I were always described by how we looked, especially me, because I was the bigger one.” “It was always about ‘running to fat’ or ‘plump’, and they never said that about any of the male comedians.” “I absolutely own whatever my size is and I will call myself whatever I want. But if I feel like the intent is to shame me, I will not have it,” French said. Image credits: Getty Images

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"This is terrible": Woman halts TV interview until her name is pronounced correctly

Former editor and commentator Dawn Neesom was put on blast by Shola Mos-Shogbamimu for mispronouncing her name on TV. The exchange happened on Channel 5’s Jeremy Vine show where Ms Neesom was presenting as a host. Dr Shola appeared on the panel to talk about stories and current issues. When the introductions began, there was an error which was quickly highlighted. Dawn said, “I am absolutely thrilled to be joined by lawyer Dr Shola” but then struggled to pronounce her surname and asked her, “How do I pronounce your name Shola?” The lawyer replied, “'Read it my darling, read it.” Dawn made another attempt but appeared to have mispronounced it again. Dr Shola, appearing amused, said, “This is terrible, especially from a presenter.” Dawn was then instructed by her to pronounce it phonetically, saying “Shola Mos Shog Bam Imu.” Dr Shola responded, “Do it again.” Dawn went on to say “Oh come on, I got the Shola right” but Dr Shola said, "Do it again and do it phonetically.” When she again mispronounced it, Dr Shola said “You just missed the B try again” Dawn, proceeded to put her hand on her face said, “'Shola, Shola welcome to the show!” Dr Shola then told her, “No you will say my name and read it phonetically,” Dawn attempted to say her name again, this time nearly correct and Dr Shola said, “It's Shogbamimu but well done.” The exchange was posted online and both parties tweeted about it. Dawn explained, “The most fun with the best panel this morning. That's what three hours sleep does for you.” <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> The most fun with the best panel this morning <a href="https://twitter.com/JeremyVineOn5?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JeremyVineOn5</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Extra?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Extra</a> 😂 That's what three hours sleep does for you🤪 Thanks to <a href="https://twitter.com/thecarolemalone?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@thecarolemalone</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/SholaMos1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SholaMos1</a> for being such great sports & to all the excellent callers today 🙏 Back from more fun & games live tomorrow 9.15 sharp. The… <a href="https://t.co/dSVUvBrN3H">https://t.co/dSVUvBrN3H</a> — Dawn Neesom (@DawnNeesom) <a href="https://twitter.com/DawnNeesom/status/1656286485547737088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 10, 2023</a></blockquote> Dr Shola retweeted the video but added no comment. The lawyer, who recently wrote an anti-racism book called This Is Why I Resist, spoke about Meghan Markle’s decision to not attend the coronation. Speaking to GMD, she said, “I think Meghan's decision to say no to the most powerful family in Britain and to say no to the most talked about party in town is both admirable and inspiring. “What Meghan is doing is exercising the power of no that comes from a place of self-worth, growth, maturity and self preservation.” When asked if it was because Meghan “didn’t feel welcome” in the UK, she responded “I don't think that's the case here. "I think that any wife out there that has bad in-laws like Meghan has with the Royal Family can deduce that she has drawn a line in the sand. She is saying I will attend royal events, but on my own terms. “But what is more powerful is that Meghan is telling the whole world that I am rejecting any notion that because I married into the Royal Family I should be bait for toxicity, rage and abuse. “She is saying to society as a whole: you don't get to tell me who I should be as a woman, as a mother and as a wife." Image credit: Instagram

Dieter Brummer's mum opens up about her tragic loss

Dawn Brummer, is living through a difficult time since losing her son to suicide two weeks ago. But, she admits, she is finding comfort in reading all the stories about him. "I'm reading all the stories about him and I'm finding them so beautiful," Dawn, 84, tells 9Honey. "I feel happy to have read them, because there are such wonderful things being said about him." Dieter died aged 45 and news of his death was sent all around the world and particularly here in Australia, where he was born and became famous playing Shane Parrish on Home and Away from the age of 16. Dawn has said: "He was a very humble person. I think you've probably read about his life, about how he loved abseiling because he felt he didn't have to deal with people recognising him all the time." Dieter grew up with his mum in The Hills district in Sydney's north-west. Dawn remembers trying to pick her son up from the local shopping centre after he started appearing on the popular Australian show. "I couldn't see him,” says Dawn. “But I could see about 20 girls in a group outside the shops and I thought, 'That's where he is,'" she remembers. Dieter learnt to deal with being famous He became so well-known he wasn’t able to go to a restaurant without people coming up to him. It would have been a lot of attention for a teenager to have thrust on him. He dealt with the fame but later, he struggled to find steady acting work, as many Australian actors do. After appearing on Home and Away from 1992 until 1996, for which he was nominated for a Gold and Silver Logie Award, he went on to star in a number of other shows throughout the nineties. In the 2000s he joined the cast of Underbelly, Neighbours and Winners & Losers. But due to the irregular nature of acting jobs, Dieter trained as an industrial rope access technician and started his own business which saw him abseiling between high-rise buildings in the city. Dawn says he loved it. Dieter’s father died four years ago and Dieter moved back to the family's Glenhaven home. It proved to be a perfect escape from what was proving to be a difficult time for him, especially when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and work for his business dried up. "I think people with depression don't talk about it, it's just their little secret," Dawn says. "We're just assuming that's what he suffered, and he made an awful mistake." Since news of Dieter’s death has been in the media, Dawn has been contacted by "hundreds" of his fans, sharing their condolences. Dawn hopes other realise suicide is not an answer Dawn says she hopes people will learn from the tragedy of Dieter’s death and realise that suicide is not an answer: "Maybe some of those people who are grieving for him will think about the hole they would leave behind," she adds. "He ended his pain, but the rest of the world who 'knew' him are now in pain. If one person is contemplating suicide just a little, maybe now they will think about how it will affect their mum, their brothers and sisters, partner and friends and the wider range of people who know them." Dawn has been writing her thoughts down since her son's death as a form of "therapy", hoping they will eventually form part of a book and perhaps save even more lives. "In the book, I draw an analogy that his death is like a stone being thrown into a pond and ripples are getting wider and wider and the effects are never ending," she says. "I have friends whose children have taken their own lives. One friend said to me it happened 20 years ago and they are still not over it." Dieter “seemed so happy” Shortly before his death, Dawn says Dieter "seemed so happy". "An old mate had given him a job, which he had just started. He was so excited,” said Dawn. “That was only a couple of days before we were locked down. It was hard to look to the future. Initially we were told it was for two weeks, and then four weeks, and then six weeks." Dawn is at a loss as to the exact circumstances of her son's death. "I said to someone today he made a mistake he couldn't undo," she said. Dieter has since been laid to rest. Dawn says on the day of her son's funeral, Lifeline reported the highest number of calls they’d received in 58 years, a sure sign of just how much some Australians are struggling now. "Maybe sharing my story might help one person or two people," she hopes. The funeral was difficult due to current restrictions which state there can only be 10 attendees at funerals in NSW now. "We had to pick and choose and there were so many who wanted to attend," Dawn says. "His friends were not celebrities." In memory of her son and to help others who may be suffering from depression, Dawn has set up a <a href="https://au.gofundme.com/f/dieter-brummer-for-beyond-blue?qid=2ec87b78cc8f9006a4394eea64e9924c">GoFundMe page to raise money for Beyond Blue</a>. "I haven't got a specific figure in mind," she explains. "I'm just thinking that if there can be a positive out of such a huge negative, maybe this is it.". If you or someone you know is in need of support, contact <a href="https://www.lifeline.org.au/">Lifeline on 13 11 14</a> or <a href="https://www.beyondblue.org.au/">Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636</a>. Image: Getty Images

Caring

Willy Wonka star reveals Gene Wilder’s “favourite brat”

A child star who had the opportunity to work alongside the infamous Gene Wilder has spoken out on the experience, 50 years since its first premier date. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory hit movie screens 50 years ago on June 30, 1971 and achieved rapid success almost overnight. The film went on to become a phenomenon that was registered in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being deemed “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant”. The child actors Peter Ostrum, Julie Dawn Cole, Michael Bollner, Paris Themmen and Denise Nickerson – who played Charlie Bucket, Veruca Salt, Augustus Gloop, Mike Teavee and Violet Beauregarde – all came together for a virtual reunion in honour of the film’s anniversary. <img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7842239/willy-wonka.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/b9da36eca8c24fbeb170655d6cf92150" /> Image: Yahoo The actors all had the opportunity to co-star together, and even got to explore the imagined Wonka Chocolate Factory. The cast recounted such fond memories of exploring the film sets in Bavarian Germany and working with Gene Wilder. Themmen admitted that he was indeed a “notorious troublemaker on the set.” So much so that even Wilder called him “a handful”. “I can corroborate that,” the actor, who played the television-obsessed rascal Mike Teavee, admitted. “I was younger than the others. I was 11, they were 13 and was naturally just sort of more high-spirited and rambunctious.” <img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7842237/willy-wonka-1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/a8d501bcedd64f7b97dd573169a7717a" /> Image: Yahoo The now-62-year-old opened up about one brief moment he shared with Wilder, in 1976 during a fundraiser screening for the film Silver Streak at the Avon Theatre in Stamford, Connecticut. “I sat at the back of the room and he gave his commentary and then I went up to the front of the room afterwards with my poster in hand,” Themmen relived with a smile. “I said, ‘Hi, Gene, how you doing? I’m Paris Themmen, I was Mike Teavee in Willy Wonka.” “And he said, ‘Oh you were a brat!’ And I flashed all the way back 50 years, or 40 years at that time, and said, ‘Well, I’m 50-something now and maybe not as much of a brat.’ And he signed my poster, ‘To my favourite brat.’” Wilder died in 2016 at the age of 83 after a long vibrant career. Cole, who played Veruca Salt, said: “I think people kind of want us to tell you that he was like Willy Wonka offset, but he wasn’t. “He was such a lovely, kind man, very unassuming,” she said. “He was just down to earth, not pretentious, he was just a wonderful person to be around and to work with,” said Ostrum, who played Charlie Bucket.

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When I attended the Gallipoli Dawn Service

The Gallipoli Dawn Service is a solemn pilgrimage that gives us an opportunity to pay tribute to our fallen soldiers. When we asked the Over60 Community to share some of their memories from the service, we were overwhelmed by the response. Jim Ritchie looks back on an emotional experience at Anzac Cove, “Attended the dawn service at Anzac Cove on Anzac Day 2013 while on tour in Turkey. Probably one of the more moving experiences of my life. As the hills over Gallipoli (Gelabolu) became light with the dawn sun the thousands of people were so quiet you could almost hear a pin drop. My imagination could practically see the ghosts of those long ago soldiers wading ashore. It is a pilgrimage for Australians that is akin to Mecca for the Muslim religion. Australians should try to go at least once in their lives. Since going to Gallipoli I have now made myself a promise that, after never attending a dawn service at home, I will try to go to my local dawn service every year for the rest of my life as long as I am able.” Kelly Badrick describes a visit 10 years ago, “It was the most surreal feeling ever waking up to the Last Post, as the sun rose on the banks of Gallipoli (Canakkale). I felt so welcome and everyone was so helpful and friendly. It should be on everyone's bucket list and I will never forget the experience.” Rhonda Weston found the commemoration extremely rewarding, “We were at Gallipoli Anzac Day 2005. The long walk in, the dawn service, the walk up the hill to Lone Pine, the service held in the Australian Cemetery are memories that will never leave us. The day before a fellow traveller stepped off our bus, walked into the water and played ‘Amazing Grace’ on his bagpipes. I get goosebumps every time I think of it. My husband’s Grandfather fought at Gallipoli.” Megan Holleran says, “I've been to the dawn service in Gallipoli, one of the most moving experiences of my life, even wore my dad’s medal. The walk to lone pine afterwards was bloody hard work, can't believe those brave boys did it in lousy weather and carrying a lot more weight.” Jim Hare went a few years ago, “Spent the night on the beach before attending the dawn service and other services for the 75th anniversary in 1990. A very moving experience.” Anne Henderson hasn’t been to the service, but found a great alternative, “I was in Ypres, Belgium in 2012. Dawn service in Polygon Wood at the Anzac War memorial, and later 11am service at the Menin Gate, followed by a battlefield tour, which included Hill 60. Brendan Nelson was Ambassador to Belgium at the time and met him at breakfast in a school hall, along with Ben Roberts Smith and David Hurley. A very emotional day and a great alternative to Gallipoli or Villers Breteneux.” Nina Elloy has been and plans to go again, “Yes I have, it was on my bucket list so my daughter took me but promised I would not kick the bucket for many years! I think I'll go again is year (10 years later). To Kings Park dawn service, it was beautiful, so many people, but pin drop silence.” Have you ever attended the Gallipoli Dawn Service?

International Travel

Our guide to the Gallipoli dawn service

On the 25th of April, 1915, soldiers from Australia and New Zealand landed on a remote beach on the Turkish peninsula of Gallipoli. It was hoped they would defeat the Turkish army swiftly and change the course of the First World War. But, after a bloody and fruitless eight months, the troops were evacuated and the campaign deemed a failure. Though the Gallipoli campaign itself achieved little, it was responsible for one of the most enduring elements of Australian culture, the Anzac legend. April 25 was declared Anzac Day in 1916 and every year since, thousands of people have come to that same beach to commemorate their sacrifice. The Anzac Day service at Gallipoli is a once in a lifetime experience. <img width="498" height="245" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/35661/image__498x245.jpg" alt="Image_ (209)"/> Anzac Military Cemetery in Gallipoli. Gallipoli is around five hours from the Turkish capital of Istanbul and almost all attendees for the service come as part of an organised tour as there is almost no public transport available. As space is limited, tours book out very quickly so it is a good idea to plan your trip up to 12 months in advance. It is essentially impossible to simply arrive on the day and attend. To be in place in time for the dawn service, most tours will arrive the night before and guests will sleep under the stars. In previous years, some attendees have chosen to drink heavily and have failed to treat the site with the proper respect. Authorities have cracked down on this and alcohol is now prohibited on the site. The crowds are kept entertained overnight by the Australian Army and Navy Band as well as choirs. <img width="498" height="245" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/35662/image__498x245.jpg" alt="Image_ (210)"/> Anzac Memorial in Gallipoli. The services begin as the sun rises over the battlefield. There is a minute’s silence and the Last Post is played, as well as the national anthems of Australia, New Zealand and Turkey. Once the wreaths have been laid, guests can attend the individual country services held around the site. Spend the rest of the day exploring the many cemeteries and memorials around the site. Have you ever attended the Gallipoli dawn service? Share your experience with us in the comments below.

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