The Week UK 01Feb2020

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THEWEEK1February 2020

Walliams’famousfriends

Havinghadhugesuccessasa

comedianandwriter,with 37

millionbooksalestohisname,

DavidWalliamsmovesin

glamorouscircles,saysCole

MoretoninTheMailon

Sunday.Butthatdoesn’tmean

heisalwaysateasearound

celebrities.SimonCowell(his

fellowjudgeonBritain’sGot

Talent)isafriend–buthestill

feelsstar-struckinhis

company.“Ihavetotellmyself

tostopandjustrelax,”hesays,

“butthenSimoncreatesan

auraoffamearoundhim.”

And onset,Cowellcanbe

tricky.Walliams’roleonBGT

istomaketeasingjokes,butif

Cowellisinthewrongmood,

theydon’tgodownwell.

“Sometimeshe’llsay:‘That’s

notfunny.Shutup.’”Walliams

frowns.“Isay:‘I’mjusttrying

tomakeyourshowbetter.I

cansithere and saynothing

if you want.’”But notall

A-listersarelike that. Elton

John,withwhomhe hasbeen

on holiday,may haveoncehad

adiva-ishreputation, butheis

“alotmore normalthanSimon

Cowell.He’sveryblokeishin

alotofways.I’mnotinto

football,butif you areyou’ll

neverbeshort ofsomethingto

talktohimabout.”

Britain’s youngestMP

On12 December,23-year-old

NadiaWhittome’slifechanged

overnight, whenshe wentfrom

livingat home withher mother

in Nottinghamtobeing

Britain’s youngestMP.It has

beenawhirlwind, shetold

GabyHinsliffin TheGuardian.

“It does feelreallyoddthat,

notverylongago, Iwas

lookingforChristmastemp

workandnowI’maMember

ofParliament.”Having

droppedoutofuniversity,she

wasworkingasacarerwhen

shedecidedtorunasaLabour

candidate.“Whenareyou

goingtogetaproperjob?”she

recallsbeingasked.“I’dsay:

‘I’vegotaproperjob;I’ma

careworker.’”Andthoughshe

isyoung,shereckonsithasleft

herwithmore“lifeexperience”

thanmanyolderMPs.“Jacob

Rees-Moggisinhis 5 0sand

he’sneverchangedanappy.”

LarryDavidonLarryDavid

LarryDavidco-createdthehit

TVsitcomSeinfeld,butnowhe

isbetterknownforplayingan

exaggeratedversionofhimself

onCurbYourEnthusiasm.The

fictionalLarryissotactless,he

offendspeoplewhereverhe

goes–yet Davidwasshocked

whenpeoplesaidthe show

madethemcringe. “Itnever

occurred tome,” hetoldGQ.

Farfromfindinghison-screen

personamortifying,he rather

admires himasatruth-teller.

“Whenyou think oftheway

we conductourselvesin life,

how muchbullshit wehaveto

endure,and howmuch bullshit

comesoutofus justtoavoid

hurtingsomeone’s feelings...I

don’tthink I’mabadguy.I’m

honest.” Inonefamous scene

on theshow, Larryinterruptsa

younggirlas she sings(badly)

at afriend’s party.“WouldI

everstopagirlfromsingingin

my life?No. WouldIstand

therethinking,‘Boy,Iwish I

could stopher’?Yes! That’s

whythere’sashow.”

When Siya Kolisi lifted the Rugby World Cup in November, it was

hailed asadefining moment in his country’s history. The first black

player to captain South Africa’s rugby team–asymbol of white

supremacy during apartheid–had now led his side to victory over

England. “Since I’ve been aliveIhave never seen South Africa like

this,” he said on the pitch afterwards. Born in 1991, Kolisi grew up

in Zwide,atownship outside Port Elizabeth, and slept on the floor

of the two-bedroom house he shared with five other relatives. “It

was difficult, in the sense that we couldn’t eat and didn’t havealot

of resources,” he told David Walsh in The Sunday Times.

“Sometimes there would be no food in our house and, though it

was embarrassing,Iwould hang out at neighbours and ask for

food. Every time they would give something.” His life changed

when he wonafull scholarship to Grey High School–aprestigious

boys’ school where his talent blossomed. “At firstIwas just OK at

rugby.Iwas very small. Missingalot of meals over the years hadn’t

helped. At Grey, they had to stop me from eating too much.Iwas

onmy third plate while the other boys were still eating their first

plate.” Only at 16 did he grow into his frame; he now stands at 6ft

2in and is over 16 stone. “I don’t thinkIwould have grown unless

my nutrition had improved. No kid should be in that situation.”

Viewpoint:

Praise the imperfect body

“Five years ago,anAmerican

psychology studentcoined thephrase

‘dadbod’. The dadbod,she wrote in a

blogpost in praise that went viral, is ‘a

nice balance betweenabeergutand

working out’. It says,‘Igotothe gym

occasionally but also enjoy eatingeight

slices of pizza atatime.’With the fifth

anniversaryof thiscoinagecomingup,

Ihaveaquestion. Men!Whyhaveyou

notreturned the favour?In2020, there

is still no termforwomen whoare

fairlyfitbut still haveabit ofjiggle in

the middle, andhavenever knowingly

passedupacheesesandwich.Ilookin

vain for blogs by youngmalestudents

affectionately andlustfullyhymning

the mumbod. Chivalry has failed.”

Caitlin MoraninTheTimes

Farewell

Kobe Bryant,basketball

star andwinnerof two

Olympic golds (see page

22 ), died 26 January,

aged 41.

Seamus Mallon,

advocate forpeace and

former deputyfirst

minister ofNorthern

Ireland,died24January,

aged 83.

Viscount Montgomery

of Alamein,gregarious

son ofwarheroMonty,

died8January, aged91.

Nicholas Parsons,

broadcasting legend,

actor,radioandTV

presenter, died 28

January, aged 96.

Book:In Search of Lost TimebyMarcelProust

Luxury:high-thread-countcotton sheets

*Choice if allowed only one record

Castaway of the week

This week’s edition of Radio 4’sDesert Island Discs

featured the Booker Prize-winning writer Anne Enright

1 Intermezzos:Op. 117, No.1by Brahms, performed by

GlennGould

2 Jersey Girl,written and performed by Tom Waits

3 ACase Of You,written and performed by Joni Mitchell

4 Then You’ll Remember Meby Michael WilliamBalfe,performed

by De Dannan

5 TheMan Comes Around,writtenandperformed by Johnny Cash

6 Hiawathaby Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Laurie Anderson,

performed by LaurieAnderson

7 TowerofSong,written and performed by Leonard Cohen

8*Soavesia il ventofromCosìfan tutteby Mozart,conducted by

Karl Böhm, performedbyElisabeth Schwarzkopf, WalterBerry,

Christa Ludwigand the Philharmonia Orchestra