Eating With... Sadie Frost (BBC2): A FOOD programme isn't where you expect to hear all about actor Jude Law's bit on the side.
But here was ex-wife Sadie Frost telling how he betrayed her - with a sausage.
The actress and model is a life-long vegetarian and both her husbands, Spandau Ballet's Gary Kemp and then Law, gave up meat and fish when they met. But she revealed she'd heard that Law used to tuck into bacon and sausage when she wasn't around. "At least he tried," she said in his defence.
She should have known she couldn't trust him because, when they first met, he couldn't see the point of vegetarianism. He was a reluctant convert. On holiday in Bali, he ordered chicken. "It arrived with the beak and feet and everything," she recalled. "But he ate it to show off and got very, very sick - and then didn't eat meat or fish for the duration of our relationship."
If her marriages haven't lasted, her commitment to being a vegetarian has. She really enjoys her food as we saw as she cooked breakfast (baked eggs with goats cheese and chilli), tucked into a South Indian feast, made a sandwich of chips and mushy peas on bread spread with vinegar, and served chocolate mousse made with avocado for a dinner party.
The great thing about the Eating With... series is that it not only offers a mini-biography of the featured celebrity, but also takes you on a journey through changing tastes and fads in food. Frost's contribution involved a potted history of vegetarianism in this country, from people turning up their nose at veggie fare through gradual acceptance to celebration of not eating flesh, fowl or fish.
As a child, young Sadie refused to eat meat. If someone tried to slip meat into a pureed dish, she would "just spit it back at you", said her mother.
One day, walking past a butcher's shop, she asked her mother what the carcass hanging up was. "Baa-lamb," she was told. At which Sadie marched into the shop, picked up a knife and told the meat man, "I'm going to do to you what you did to that baa-lamb".
Law can count himself lucky she didn't discover his sneaky meat feasts until after they split, goodness knows what she might have done to his meat and two veg with a knife.
These programmes always involve a trip down memory lane. Here, we were reminded of Cranks vegetarian restaurants, condescendingly praised by Delia Smith in one of her TV food programmes.
Frost revisited the sweet stall in Ashton-under-Lyme market where she went as a child. She tasted Coltsfood Rock (made for a root vegetable) and seemingly every other sweet on sale. "Don't tell my kids I'm eating so many sweets," she pleaded.
The Streets,
Carling Academy, Newcastle
IHAVEN'T been to Newcastle before, but two bras on stage already is a very good sign" were Mike Skinner's first words as he bounced on to the stage and it set the tone for what was easily one of the best gigs the Academy will ever stage.
This was a frenetic journey through all three of The Streets' albums, with all the big hits thrown in. Let's Push Things Forward, Don't Mug Yourself and Has It Come To This? all sounded truly fantastic in the packed venue, as Skinner, along with the superb Theo The Lion, whipped the crowd into an absolute frenzy.
They sampled tracks by Arctic Monkeys and Sugarbabes as they flirted with the female members of the crowd and made sure the men weren't left out by handing out brandy at one point.
The biggest receptions were reserved for When You Wasn't Famous and the tear jerking Dry Your Eyes Mate, both displaying a varied style in Skinner's ability and showing that he is quickly becoming the voice for the modern generation.
After returning to perform a stunning rendition of Fit But You Know It, Skinner left the stage to roof-raising applause. This may have been his first gig in Newcastle but it certainly won't be his last.
Keir Waugh
Billy Bragg,
The Sage, Gateshead
SOME 1,700 people packed into Hall One of the Sage on Saturday night to see music icon Billy Bragg perform on his latest tour, which is to promote stopping the BNP winning any seats in today's local elections.
After opening with The World Turned Upside Down, Bragg tore through tracks from his entire back catalogue, including All You Fascists, Great Leap Forward and the sublime Power in a Union.
Halfway through he was joined on stage by Ian McGlagan of the legendary Small Faces, and they proceeded to treat the crowd to re-workings of old Bragg tracks like Price of Oil as well as Small Faces' B side Debris and a sampling of Itchycoo Park during I Keep the Faith.
For two hours Bragg entertained the crowd, with jokes about the England manager situation, his age and trying to remember chords for his songs. But there was obviously a serious side to his concert and he talked throughout about stopping the BNP.
He finished this memorable evening with his version of New England, and Bragg left the stage to a rapturous standing ovation.
Keir Waugh
Published: 04/05/2006
