What's hot...

GLAMOUR PUSSES: If the TV is anything to go by, little girls will no longer want to be nurses or hairdressers but will instead be dreaming of life as a footballer's wife. The new ITV show Footballers' Wives lifts the lid on the so-called glamorous world of footballers' other halves. You may not have to have a very high IQ to marry a footballer but, if this show is anything to go by, you could end up with huge riches and a very nice life indeed - posh clothes, posh house, posh car and a swimming pool to boot. Famous wives like Posh Spice and Louise Redknapp add to the myth that it's the most glamorous and sexy thing in the world to be part of the footballing industry. Whatever the truth of standing on the cold sidelines, being hated by fans and fighting to keep your man - as long as the image looks glossy it seems being married to a footballer will remain a bona fide ambition for little girls.

A GIRL'S BEST FRIEND: Sarong-wearing David Beckham may get it a bit wrong in the style stakes sometimes, but he has hit the nail right on the head with his latest gift for wife Victoria. For a special New Year present he bought Posh a fantastic gold necklace which teamed diamonds with the latest fashion trend, black pearls. The £2,000 star-shaped necklace was bought in top posh shop Miki Moto in New Bond Street, London after David searched jewellers throughout the West End for the perfect gift.

So not only is David a brilliant footballer, he has an eye for a fashion; black pearls are all the rage in America.

CUT THE KNIFE: Good old Robert Redford has stood up for crumblies around the world and denounced plastic surgery. The chiselled actor, who still looks sexy at 64, has condemned Hollywood's obsession with facelifts and chin tucks. He has vowed never to go under the knife and said those who do are vain and insecure and even "lose some of their soul". As more and more stars succumb to the surgeon's knife, we are left with cloned performers' who are incapable of showing emotion because they can't move their facial muscles. At least with Redford, what you see is what you get, and for most people that is good enough.

What's not...

POLITICAL MISGIVINGS: Programme makers could be forgiven for having some serious doubts about IT girl Tara Palmer-Tompkinson's latest career move. The woman famous for being famous claims to be about to star in her own chat show. Refusing to give away details of when and where it will be shown, all Tara will say is that it will involve "serious political" guests who can have high-brow discussions. This sounds fine - until you see the list of people Tara considers fit this very serious bill. Alongside William Hague, Michael Parkinson and David Frost she wants to see tennis player Goran Ivanisevic and Jane Asher because "I love her cakes!" Jane Asher's varied career as an author, actress and cake designer may qualify her to comment on a wide range of issues, but it hardly makes her serious political fodder. You have to feel sorry for Tara desperately trying to reinvent herself after kicking her drug habit, but swinging from good-time party girl to serious interviewer could just be too much of a tall order.

NO PARADISE: We've had Survivor and Shipwrecked - now look out for Eden. Despite the relative failure of the first two shows to capture the collective imagination, we are set to be subjected to another reality TV show set in the middle of nowhere. Eden, which starts in a few weeks, will be Big Brother in a rainforest. A group of British daredevils will be forced to trek for 24 hours to an idyllic location and then left, with basic supplies, to fend for themselves. Naturally, there is a group of men and women already clamouring to join the trip and make complete fools of themselves on national television. The chances that any group of no-marks from suburbia could survive in the rainforest are slim, but somehow you know all the contestants will come home. If reality TV was really about survival, it would be a lot more fun and would involve real adventurers rather than those wanting a step up into the world of television.

FAT CHANCE: Former Pop Idol hopeful Rik Waller has already put himself on the bottom of the celebrity B list. Having been thrown off the show for having a sore throat, Rik promised to return with his great singing voice and wow record buyers across the country. Instead, his next TV performance will be as a judge on a TV search for a star chef show.

The only qualification Rik has to judge such a competition is his huge size, which he spent the whole of his time on Pop Idols asking us to ignore. When he was trying to make it big as a singer he wanted us to appreciate his voice and nothing else, but now his voice has failed him he is falling back on his figure. Rik may be a celebrity novelty for a few weeks, but unless he can prove himself as a serious performer he will soon be a nobody again.