Newly single Charlize Theron looks radiant on first night out since splitting with boyfriend of nine years

Charlize Theron gave little sign of hearatche as she ventured out for a dinner with celebrity friends looking as dazzling as ever.
Theron was enjoying a night as a single girl for the first time in nine years after her split from her long-term boyfriend, the Irish actor Stuart Townsend, last month.
The Oscar-winning South African last night joined a posse of Hollywood stars at celebrated Beverley Hills haunt Mr Chow's hosted by Inglourious Basterds director Quentin Tarantino.

Weathering the split: Charlize Theron joined host Quentin Tarrantino for a meal at Mr Chow's in Beverly Hills

Black mood: Charlize Theron covers her head with a bag as she makes her way to the restaurant in the rain wearing leggings, a vest top and knitted jacket

Townsend is said to be devastated after Theron recently called an end to the relationship after nine years together.
But 5ft 11in Theron looked radiant last night as she joined Ray Liotta, Oliver Stone and Larry David for the £13,000 dinner. Tarantino is reported to have paid the bill.
Sources revealed that Theron and Townsend split after a Christmas trip to Mexico. The South African beauty is believed to have felt the romance had run its course and the pair had grown to be more like 'brothers and sisters'.
Rumours surfaced of the end of one of Hollywood's most long-standing love affairs when Theron since stopped wearing the antique ‘commitment ring’ that Townsend gave her as a symbol of their relationship.
She previously described it as ‘very, very precious’, adding: ‘Stuart gave it to me as a sign of our commitment to each other. I never take it off.’
Poignantly, Townsend recently said in an interview: ‘I’m married. I didn’t do a church wedding or anything but we consider ourselves husband and wife.
'We love each other and we want to spend our lives together. I don’t need a certificate or the state or the church to say otherwise.’
He added of the ring : ‘I found this old Victorian ring with little forget-me-nots. I gave it to her as a sign of our commitment to each other. She’s never taken it off.’
Theron and Townsend's relationship is believed to have come under increasing strain as her career took off since they met on the set of Trapped in 2001.
While Ms Theron can command more than £8million a movie, 27-year-old Townsend’s career has been less successful.

Charlize - whose latest film The Road opened in the UK this month - once said: ‘Living with another actor, you always feel guilty if things are going your way and it’s not going that way for the other person.’

The way they were: Charlize with Stuart at the basketball in October last year

The pair is now living separately with Theron residing in their main home in the Hollywood Hills, and Townsend living in their Malibu beach home.
‘They are sorting out their finances at the moment, as they have been together for so long that many of their financial affairs are intertwined,' a source said.
‘Charlize has never made a big deal of it, but the truth of the matter is that she has been the major breadwinner. She truly loved Stuart but the relationship ran its course. He is heartbroken but she is insisting it is all over.'

Dinner's on me: Quentin Tarantino leaves Mr Chow's in Beverley Hills after picking up a £13,000 bill for a meal enjoyed by the likes of Charlize Theron and Ray Liotta

Boozer, love cheat and drug-test dodger. Meet the NEW England captain Rio Ferdinand

A chump? Certainly. A drugs cheat? Well, we will probably never know for sure. England's new football captain Rio Ferdinand hardly represents a return to the Corinthian ideals; an eight-month ban for missing a drugs test in 2003 will forever blight his record.
Perhaps the most persuasive argument for the Manchester United defender's promotion is that he has belatedly matured, to become the least worst of potential Terry replacements.

Lad among the WAGs: Rio Ferdinand at the 2006 World Cup with women including Wayne Bridge's partner Vanessa Perroncel, ringed

Like Terry, Ferdinand emerged from a tough London council estate. Like his predecessor, a brilliant early career was often accompanied by off-field excess.
When the West Ham teenager was called up to the England squad in 1997, it gave him the chance of becoming his country's youngest player since Duncan Edwards, 40 years before.

The clubber: Ferdinand out at 4am before a drugs hearing

He celebrated by going out drinking with friends and was stopped by police as he drove home. Ferdinand's subsequent drink driving conviction saw him dropped by the then England manager Glenn Hoddle.
Unfortunately, he was slow to learn from such mistakes. Having failed to make the England party for Euro 2000, he accompanied several other young players on holiday to the Cypriot resort of Ayia Napa.
In their five-star hotel they drank heavily, picked up girls and filmed each other having sex. A Sunday newspaper was given the footage; Ferdinand was in the doghouse again.
There was no doubting his talent. In November 2000 he was transferred to Leeds United for a British record £18million. But a change of scene brought but no apparent change of character.
In October 2001, only days before England's crucial World Cup qualifying-game with Greece, he broke curfew to visit strip clubs and bars in London with fellow England defender Ashley 'Cashley' Cole, of Arsenal, and Arsenal reserve team player Paolo Vernazza. No one would have known if Vernazza had not returned home to surprise and be stabbed by a burglar.
Ferdinand would not give a statement to police, no doubt worried that it would be another admission of professional indiscipline.
Two years later he was summoned to appear in court twice in one day. In the first case he was banned from driving for a speeding offence.
Very shortly afterwards he appeared as a witness in a case involving an attempted rape, indecent assault and kidnap.

Party boy: Rio Ferdinand enjoys a night out in the Clara club, in Tel Aviv last summer

The court heard that Ferdinand had been on a drinking binge in Leeds during which he had jumped on the roof of a car, pestered female clubbers and been in the company of a 'serious criminal'.

He told the court: 'I am well aware of my behaviour in the public eye.' It was hard to believe.
And his worst transgression  -  one which threatened his entire career  -  was yet to come.
In the summer of 2002 Ferdinand joined Manchester United for a then world-record fee for a defender of £30million.

Keen sense of style: Rio Ferdinand scored a disastrous own goal with his choice of kit in Tel Aviv

The following season the club regained the Premiership title. But in September 2003 Ferdinand failed to attend a routine drugs test after training. He claimed that he had simply forgotten; preoccupied by those twin pursuits of wealthy footballers: shopping and moving house.
The veracity of his excuse can never been proved, of course. In January 2004 he was banned from all competitions for eight months.
Picking up a huge salary during his self-enforced absence, while his team struggled, Ferdinand lost the support and affection of many United fans.

Ferdinand married Rebecca Ellison, with whom he has two children, last year

That has taken several years to win back. He has done so by playing well and participating in a number of good causes, notably with underprivileged children.
His home life is settled, it seems. Last year he married his long-time girlfriend and mother of his two children, Rebecca Ellison, in a ceremony which was not sold to a celebrity magazine.
Miss Ellison had shown considerable forbearance in previous years as the footballer was linked with a number of models, including the then ubiquitous Abi Titmuss.
Now aged 31 and articulate in interview, Ferdinand seems to have put his wilder days behind him. Time will tell.

Support role: Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand, currently suspended for violently elbowing an opponent in a Premier League match, watches his team from the Old Trafford stands

Sex scenes? They're just horrendous, says St Trinian's star Tamsin Egerton

Whatever would Miss Fritton say? One of her St Trinian's schoolgirls has done her first naked sex scene.
But Tamsin Egerton, Chelsea in the boarding-school comedies where Miss Fritton is the headmistress, admits she found it a 'horrendous' experience.
Not that she was deterred, as she filmed her second sex scene soon afterwards.

Headache, dear? Tamsin Egerton, pictured for online magazine Outre

'My first proper sex scene was horrendous. I hated it,' the 21-year-old told luxury online magazine outremagazine.com.
'It was the unsexiest thing I have done. I don't know how they could have made it sexy.'
It was for the forthcoming movie 4.3.2.1. - and Tamsin followed it up with another intimate moment with Nick Frost, the well-upholstered star of Shaun Of The Dead, for the BBC's new adaptation of the Martin Amis novel Money.
'He was sweet,' she said, 'but you can only get through the horror by giggling.'

Giggling through the horror: Nick Frost and Tamsin Egerton had to perform sex scenes for the new movie 4.3.2.1

Goripalayam Movie Gallery

Vikranth is doing Goripalayam after a samll break. The Goripalayam film casts Harish of ‘Mathiyosi’ fame, Ramakrishnan of ‘Kungumum Poovum Konji Puravum’ fame, Prakash, Raghuvannan, son of actor Manivannan. Goripalayam mvoie is directed by Rasu Madhurava. The movie is all about four youths who are succumbed to various negatives aspects in society. Goripalayam movie feature a fresh face called Poongodi as the female lead and apart from her the film will have 3 more fresh faces as heroines.

Goripalayam is the director Rasu Madhuravan’s next after his ‘Maayandi Kudumbathaar.

Tennis star Andy Roddick's wife unveiled as new body of La Senza

Brooklyn Decker, the wife of US tennis star Andy Roddick, has been unveiled as the new face – and body – of La Senza’s Valentine lingerie.
The curvy blonde donned a red and black bra with stockings and suspenders from the new range. 
Swimsuit model Brooklyn met her husband after he caught sight of her while skimming through a copy of US magazine Sports Illustrated’s swimwear edition in 2006.

Valentine treat: Brooklyn Decker models underwear from the new La Senza range

Swimsuit model: Brooklyn met her husband after he caught sight of her while skimming through a copy of US magazine Sports Illustrated’s swimwear edition

Lucky in love: Andy Roddick

Andy asked his agent to contact Brooklyn and ask her for a date and the couple have been inseparable since, tying the knot in April last year at their home in Austin, Texas.
Rumour has it that Mrs Roddick is being lined up for the prestigious place of 2010 cover girl for the magazine which made her a star.
But if she knows anything about it, she’s keeping mum, telling reporters: ‘We’re actually the last ones to find out.
‘They usually announce it on [The Late Show with David Letterman] the night before the swimsuit issue comes out.
‘That’s when all of us find out. So I’ll be watching with the rest of you to see out who got it. None of us have a clue – it’s the biggest kept secret in all of the fashion world.’
The 22-year-old first appeared in Sports Illustrated in 2006.

Sarah Harding takes to beach in cut-away swimsuit (and gets a drenching while reading book)

A week into her Barbados break and Sarah Harding is still pulling some stunning beachwear out the bag.
And yesterday was no exception as she showed off her amazing figure in a sexy cut-away silver swimsuit.
The Girls Aloud star, who is holidaying with boyfriend Tom Crane and a group of friends, took to the beach for a spot of sunbathing and frolics in the sea.

Curvy: Sarah Harding put her stunning figure on show in a sexy cutaway swimsuit while on her holiday in Barbados yesterday

That's cold: The singer goes for a dip in the sea but finds it a little cold

At one point, however, the 28-year-old was taken by surprise when she was drenched by a wave while she lay on the sand reading a book.
The singer swiftly rolled onto her front and attempted to hoist herself up whilst trying to keep her already dog-eared book from getting soaked.
Her DJ lover Tom also found time to get to grips with Sarah and was spotted cheekily twanging the strap attaching the two parts of her swimsuit.

Bookworm: So she decided to lye on the sand and do some reading instead

Splash: But she was caught off guard when a wave soaked her

Brrr: The star attempts to get up after her peaceful slumber was disturbed

Later, the love-struck pair ventured into the sea together after Sarah had rubbed sun cream into his back.
They arrived in the Caribbean last weekend, with Sarah bringing plenty of swimsuits and bikinis with her to wear throughout the break.
Earlier in the week she was spotted looking a little sunburnt - but yesterday the star made sure she applied plenty of high factor sun cream.

Coupling up: Later she braved the water again with boyfriend Tom Crane

Cheeky: Tom twangs the strap attaching the two parts of her swimsuit

Reema Sen is fond of commercial films

Reema Sen said that she is interested in commercial films and does not like to act in art films. While speaking about this, she said,” I have been acting in cinema for a long time.
It is really challenging to act for so many years. The reason for this is that I am talented. At the same time I am very calm. I will not get myself involved in controversies. I have got some good friends in cinema field.I have not thought about my marriage. I have to act in many more films. I don’t like to act in art films. I like to act in commercial films where I cn sing and dance with the heroes. I am acting in such films only”

Leona Lewis: It hurt. I'm frightened. I don't know where the next attack will come from

No one told her it would be like this: villa in LA, outselling Coldplay... and set upon in a London bookshop. With a security man suitably close by, Leona Lewis tells Live whether it's all been worth the bother

'It could have been worse. I am still alive. It made me realise it's important to always be vigilant and aware of your surroundings,' said Leona Lewis on being punched in the face at a book signing by a deranged 'fan'

The room I’m sharing with Leona Lewis is a very private space. Or at least it would be, if not for the big, strong man in a pinstripe suit with an open-necked shirt who’s staring at me intently. He goes everywhere with her now. They’ve even had to increase the security at her home in Los Angeles, because of what was reported as a stalker.
‘There was a paparazzo who kept following me around,’ she says. ‘I didn’t want to change the house.’
Then came the ‘gun siege’ last month, when Leona was waiting in a parked car outside Starbucks on the way to LA airport. Men waving guns ran towards her as they fled from the police; her manager was knocked to the ground.
‘We were caught up in the tail end of a high-speed police chase. It was all so quick we didn’t really know what was happening. It was scary, but we were all fine – very shaken but so grateful we were OK.’

'There is definitely a pressure to be a stick insect. Generally, in life, there is. All of the magazines have tiny stick insects on their covers. But no one has ever said (I should be like) that to me, and if they did...'

Most dramatically, a deranged ‘fan’ punched her in the face at a book signing in London in October.
‘For a while afterwards that had a big effect on me,’ she says. ‘It was very shocking. He attacked me out of the blue. He was very unwell. It was really random, something that was done by a very ill person. It wasn’t fun – I was extremely hurt and upset.
‘It could have been worse, though. I am still alive. It made me realise it’s important to always be vigilant and aware of your surroundings – but I don’t want to make myself too closed off.
'I’m a positive person, I don’t like to dwell on negatives and I love what I’m doing. I was sorry for those who I wasn’t able to meet at the signing because of what happened, and grateful for all the lovely messages of support I got.’

Leona turned down a £1 million gig opening the Harrods summer sale in 2008 because the store stocked animal skins and furs

The attacker was later detained under the Mental Health Act. Leona’s witness statement read, ‘I feel completely devastated by this attack. Now I am very frightened about going out in public and I don’t know where the next attack will come from and if this will be more serious than what has just happened.’
Now, though, she says, ‘I just see it as a one-off thing, very isolated and something that I’m moving on from. I’ve still got the same people around me who I’ve always had looking out for me, but I think they’re much more vigilant now.
‘I put myself out there in front of people every single day of my life. I’m always in situations where there are a lot of people around me. I’m in the public eye, and with that comes a certain amount of risk, but if you think about it all too much then you’d never leave the house.’
In May she’ll kick off her world tour at The O2: ‘I’m not nervous yet, but I will be.’
I’m glad we’re beyond the well-coached platitudes with which she parried all my early questions. There’s only so many times you can hear answers like ‘It’s all about the music. I always give 100 per cent.’
Now I can ask what I really want to know. ‘Leona, who are you?’
It’s a fair question. Is she Leona Lewis the shy secretary from Hackney who won The X Factor in 2006? Or the glacial soul diva who’s become a huge star in America, and who seems to think smiles and sweet nothings will get us through our time together? She laughs, and offers her manic schedule as an excuse for – initially, at least – barely being in the room.
‘I just got in from Canada, I did a Radio 2 live show this morning, then I went to Somerset House for a photo shoot, then I came here for another one, then you, then two hours of Australian interviews. Then tomorrow, in the morning, I fly to Monaco. That night, I fly to Germany. So much travelling. I love it. To see things I never thought I would.’
Out of the car window?
‘Yeah. Exactly. As you’re going past.’
And as if she weren’t busy enough, she’s just taken part in the recording of a cover of REM’s Everybody Hurts alongside Cheryl Cole and Susan Boyle. The single will raise money for earthquake victims in Haiti.
‘I’m so proud to be involved. I found recording it quite upsetting, but I feel very hopeful about the good it will bring and hope that people get behind it and support it.’
She sits there on the sofa, one leg tucked up, in her tight pale jeans, black plastic leather-look jacket and a studded leather bracelet. Her thick, tumbling hair is tied up simply on one side. Those huge eyes are framed by Cleopatra make-up and massive lashes. She looks like what she has become so quickly – an immaculately groomed global superstar.
Have we lost her to America forever? Hasn’t it been bewildering, this rapid shift into extreme fame?

'I do believe in destiny. If I had continued to do my music, I would be doing what I'm doing now': Leona insists she could have found all her present success on her own, even without The X Factor

‘At first I was swept up in it; it was all a bit “Wooh!” A big rush. Now, I feel like I have more of a grasp on it. More control. I’m just trying to make the most of every opportunity. I don’t feel as bewildered by it all now.’
One element of her mega-makeover Leona seems to be resisting with all her might: the pressure to dump Lou Al-Chamaa, an electrician she has known since she was ten.
‘I don’t really talk about it any more,’ she says, but then annoyance gets the better of her and she does just that, veering away from the script.
‘I can’t deal with people constantly scrutinising the relationship and having an opinion about it when they don’t really know me. It’s like I’ve become a different species. I’m supposed to go out with Brad Pitt or something. It’s so bizarre to me, because I’m so not in that world.’
Ah, but she is, whether she likes it or not. And she appears to be learning to enjoy it. The couple spent Christmas Day together with family in London, but were photographed arriving in LA on Boxing Day and visited Las Vegas for New Year’s Eve.
‘I went for fun. A load of my friends came with me and we all hung out, and I saw the Cirque du Soleil show while I was in Vegas, which was very inspiring. Incredible.’
What she doesn’t mention – and she was careful to ensure no one could see in any of the paparazzi snaps of her there – is that she was on crutches.
‘I had a little accident. I was riding a big Swedish Warmblood horse, a jumper, and, I don’t know, I just came off. Accidents happen. I’ve come off so many times that it’s not really a big deal to me, but when everybody else hears about it they go, “Oh no!”’
Maybe that’s because millions have been spent on her spectacular tour and it would have been a disaster if she’d been unable to appear after falling off her horse, which she keeps in stables near her Hollywood home.
She is passionate about animals. She turned down a £1 million gig opening the Harrods summer sale in 2008 because the store stocked animal skins and furs.
‘I think animals are treated really poorly,’ she says. ‘When I see people wearing fur it makes me so sick. Especially when I see young singers doing it. That sickens me. When I rocked up to my first photo shoot they had feathers and fur there and everything I despise. I had to make it so clear I just do not go there.’
She usually gets her way. It’s less clear, though, if she’s winning the battle over body image.
‘There is definitely a pressure to be a stick insect. Generally, in life, there is. All of the magazines have tiny stick insects on their covers. But no one has ever said (I should be like) that to me, and if they did...’ She’d resist, she says.

'I can't deal with people constantly scrutinising the relationship and having an opinion about it when they don't really know me': Leona above with boyfriend Lou Al-Chamaa

But that flies in the face of the photos that suggest she has done something to her body over the past year to bring it more in line with the showbiz ideal. In real life she looks fit, not freaky, but still far skinnier than most.
‘Everyone says I’ve lost weight. I don’t see it. It’s getting back on the wheel, I suppose. Eating healthily. When I’m at home I eat worse than when I’m travelling.’
Naturally, she’s a vegetarian. Today her management has insisted on ‘well-grilled tofu, grilled asparagus, steamed broccoli and a side of soy sauce’, but she doesn’t appear to have touched it, so is this really the sort of stuff she eats at home?
She laughs and covers her mouth with her hand, as if about to confess a guilty secret.
‘I get takeaways for tea, or beans on toast. I don’t like bread that much. I get Chinese – it’s so much effort to cook. My mum always cooks; she babies me. That’s why I live around the corner.’
That’s just not true any more, though, is it? For most of the past two years she has been in America, recording and working the circuit.
So, can she honestly say that Hackney is still home?
‘Yes,’ she says, eyes flashing with irritation. ‘I don’t understand why people keep saying I’ve left.’
Could it be because we’ve all seen pictures of her massive villa in Hollywood?
‘I rent somewhere in LA for while I’m recording there; I live in London, but when I’m travelling so much in America and recording out there it’s nice to have a place that’s a base instead of a hotel. And it’s to save money as well.’
Leona does still have the Hackney flat she bought with her X Factor winnings, close to her mother and father. Joe Lewis is a youth offending officer of Guyanese descent, and her mother Maria is a Welsh social worker.
‘My mum and dad help me out loads, but they still work part-time. I know the Beckhams have members of their family working full-time with them, but they’ve been doing it for ages. I’m only just starting.’
There’s still just a faint trace of the thought that it might all end tomorrow, despite the hit singles and albums and the fact that she has been aiming at stardom for most of her life. Her parents sent her to stage school until they couldn’t afford it, and for a while she was at the Brit School for Performing Arts in Croydon, where Katie Melua and Amy Winehouse were once also students. Leona had already recorded a demo album when she went in for The X Factor – her boyfriend Lou had to persuade her to audition.
‘He was like, “Come on, do it.” I was unsure. I didn’t know if it was the right avenue to go down. Obviously it was.’
The trouble is that everyone knows where she comes from now, and when she goes back to her old neighbourhood it’s impossible to walk down the street unbothered. After the attacks, that really matters. The local council hasn’t helped by making her the face of
Hackney, and putting big posters of her up in the streets, even on dustbins.
‘It’s really sweet that they feel proud of me, but it does make me embarrassed. It’s weird. I do still live in the area. If you’re walking around and people see your posters it does draw attention to you, like an arrow pointing at you.’
That must make her quite afraid, but she insists that she does still have warm feelings for the place.
‘Hackney is so multicultural, and I love Britain. To me, apart from Cuba, it’s the most accepting country ever. There are parts of America and Europe that still have a bit of a stigma.’
Has she never had any racial abuse in Britain?
‘No. Never.’
Actually, though, Hackney can’t contain her now. It seems inevitable that she’ll move on. She knows some people will see that as selling out, and it makes her angry.
‘I really don’t understand why people keep saying that. It’s really weird. I still live in the same place; I just travel loads. But if I did decide to move one day, I will always remember where my roots are. My family is there. To me, home is where the heart is. But I’m still young, and when you’re young you have to see the world and travel and not be stuck in one place.’
She will do that from a limo and a jet on her new tour, the look of which has been based on her favourite film, Labyrinth. Yes, the bizarre Eighties fantasy directed by Muppets creator Jim Henson, starring David Bowie in a fright wig.
‘It’s the film I grew up with. I was obsessed with it, and still am. I love fantasy. Just getting into something a bit mystical, a bit mythical, getting lost and having an adventure.’
But hang on, isn’t Labyrinth a lot like her real life?
‘Yeah… I guess you could compare the two. I’m certainly doing something different now. It’s quite surreal.’
She’s thinking of the mad whirl of recording studios, airport lounges and red carpets, and comparing all that to the way the heroine of Labyrinth gets swept up into a thrilling but frightening fantasy world. But I’m thinking of the character played by Bowie, the mysterious Goblin King who is secretly making everything happen. Leona’s dark lord is Simon Cowell, who invented The X Factor, saw her pure talent as the answer to all its critics, and is still her manager. He is worth an estimated £123 million, some of it earned from the remodelling of Leona.
She’s not about to bad-mouth him, obviously, but she wants me to know she’s strong, autonomous and absolutely in control.
‘Every part of what I do, I’m very involved in. I’m making the decisions, especially with the live show. It’s representing me. I want it to be spectacular and the best it can be. I want people to get a sense of me. I’m very direct and very hands-on with everything I’m doing.’
Leona is so keen not to be seen as a kind of puppet that she even insists she could have found all her present success on her own, even without The X Factor.
‘I do believe in destiny,’ she says. ‘If I had continued to do my music, I would be doing what I’m doing now.’
Perhaps that self-belief is keeping her sane in the strange, faraway world of superstar divadom she now inhabits. Every now and then, there’s still a glimpse of the tough, shy but determined East End girl people fell in love with when she won The X Factor. Would our heroine have made it as far as this without her Goblin King? Sounds like a fairy tale to me, but there’s no denying, for her millions of fans and all those X Factor dreamers, the life Leona is living now seems to offer proof that fairy tales can come true.

The single ‘I Got You’ is out on February 21. The album ‘Echo’ is out now