Footballing legend Wayne Rooney returns to uncover more of the nation’s best street footballers in ‘Coke Zero Presents: Wayne Rooney’s Street Striker’ – on Sky1 from Sunday 8th November at 6pm.

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Cash strapped BBC bosses may have to fork out in the region of £3 million, in order to send their sports staff to cover the 2012 Olympics in London.

The TV channel are moving 1,500 workers from its London headquarters to its MediaCity base in Salford in 2011 but just a year later will have to pay to move a large portion of those staff back down to the capital to cover the huge sporting event.

One Beeb insider told The Sun: “This is the most ridiculous piece of planning.

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Red Bull X-Fighters is a high-energy spectacle in which riders on motorbikes combine power, skill, showmanship and bravery to excite fans. The World Tour has garnered a huge international following since its conception in 2001 with jumps and tricks getting harder, higher and longer every year – often reaching heights of 40 feet.

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The gorgeous Georgie Thompson has joined the panel of a Sky One sports quizz based on BBC’s ‘They Think It’s All Over’.

Never heard of her? Well that’s not surprising as all she’s really famous for is being the girlfriend of the vertically challenged Declan Donnelly.

An insider told The Sun: “Georgie’s profile has rocketed since she started seeing Dec. But it has only highlighted what her fans have known all along – she has the looks and the talent to move away from sports into the big time.”

Veteran sports presenter, Ray Stubbs, has left the BBC for a lucrative new contract with ESPN.

ESPN recently landed a deal allowing them to air 46 top-flight matches this coming season after Setanta collapsed. It seems this new action was too much for Stubbs to pass up.

Stubbs will make his first ESPN appearance on the Everton v Arsenal match on August 15.

He said: “This was a difficult decision. I would like to thank all my BBC colleagues for their support and friendship over the years.”

On Monday in the 7:30pm show, Becky’s nursing the mother of all hangovers and can remember very little from the previous day – including the wedding ceremony – and Steve’s in a quandary over it; he knows he has to tell her what really happened but can’t bring himself to do it! Torn about what to do, he heads out leaving Becky at the pub, and once he’s gone, she starts searching desperately for her wedding ring when she realises it’s not on her finger.

Meanwhile, in the bar, news of what happened at the wedding is spreading and when it reaches Michelle’s ears, she wastes no time in telling a stunned Becky all the gory details… Read more & comment »

Actually, I already know the answer in part because I was forced to watch it last night when my husband insisted upon it. He loves fishing, not that he ever catches anything but nonetheless, he loves it. And as he rarely gets bleeper control, I felt it was probably about time I made an exception and let him… besides, I’d had a few glasses of wine so I didn’t really care, but truly, what is it that anyone finds interesting about watching someone else fish??

I can barely comprehend why anyone likes fishing when they’re actually doing it themselves, but to watch someone else?? I don’t get it. I hate to be sexist – and I’m sure there are millions of lady anglers out there – but maybe it’s partly a ‘chick thing’. The same ‘chick thing’ that means I can’t stand football, but there again, my daughter loves it. Ditto Grand Prix and cricket… she watches them all, and snooker too… Read more & comment »

Martin Green and Stephen Powell

Last night’s first episode on BBC2 of this three-part documentary series began charting the ‘journey’ towards the much longed for – by some anyway – London 2012 Olympics.

This first film followed the activities of the ‘Ceremonies Team’ as they prepared for an eight-minute show to mark the official handover of responsibility for the Olympic Games from Beijing to London… and let’s face it, Beijing’s going to be a hard act to follow! Especially given that the economic climate in this country is on its knees, I don’t see how we’re going to pull it off in anything like the style of Beijing… Read more & comment »

Now, I have to say, ordinarily, whenever there’s anything football related on TV, I’m offski. I’ll go and do something infinitely more interesting such as watching wood warp or maybe even cleaning out the kitchen cupboards and finding rice that’s been there since 1970… you get the gist; I’m not digging football at all. Imagine my surprise then when I stumbled upon Maradona: In the Hands of the Gods on BBC4 last night and actually enjoyed it!

Had it not been for the fact that – just as the programme began – my remote chose that moment to finally stop giving me warnings about needing to replace my batteries and actually died, I would’ve whizzed on past it. But die it did so while it stubbornly refused to flick channels, I sent my beloved on a hunt for a battery to two which may not have been drained by our kids’ MP3 players, and slowly but surely got sucked into the story… Read more & comment »

ITV today announced that it has signed an exclusive deal with O2 to broadcast a new rugby show: ‘The Big Tackle with Austin Healey’.

The new show, featuring 6 hour long episodes, will see former England star Healey attempting to change the fortunes of five struggling rugby clubs. Austin will work with the clubs, who include students, a women’s team and a team trying to regain former glories, on and off the pitch and will be calling on members of the current England team to help him with his task. Each programme will premiere on ITV4 on Sunday evenings after the Guinness Premiership Rugby highlights programme, and will be repeated midweek on ITV1.

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The Telegraph have reported that the mysterious Top Gear test driver The Stig has been ‘outed’ as professional stuntman and Le Mans racing driver Ben Collins.

The Stig has been an integral part of the BBC’s Top Gear for years and the identity of of the white suited driver has been a closely guarded secret, but it appears that Collins let the cat out of the bag to staff at a gallery in Bristol.

Ben, who’s previously competed in many prestigious races such as Formula Three, Le Mans, NASCAR and GT, made the slip up when he asked staff to help him with a limited-edition print of The Stig. Read more & comment »

I think the Discovery Channel and all its offshoot channels are very much underrated. They show some brilliant programmes and all of human and animal life is there, just waiting to be Discover-ed.

For instance, the awesome show My Shocking Story features stuff you just wouldn’t find anywhere else; Freak Show Family and Half Man Half Tree… epic stuff.

And on the Home & Health channel all of humanity goes through the doors of the various hospitals that feature in the many medical shows from Family Fat Surgeons to The Real ER, nothing is taboo and nothing is too gory or weird.

I absolutely love medical shows and am not at all squeamish so it’s a twisted bonus to watch my squeamish family gag as I blithely watch someone extracting a tumour the size of a football from someone else while eating dinner. Read more & comment »

Well, Christmas is well and truly over now but on the big day, Wallace and Gromit was the most watched show achieving viewing figures of 14.3 million with Doctor Who coming second and watched by 11.7 million viewers.

But what else made ‘most watched’ in 2008? Read more & comment »

Chris Fountain, Graham Le Saux and Gethin Jones have signed up to this years Soccer Aid at Wembley Stadium on September 7th.

Ex Chelsea and England ace Le Saux replaces England legend Tony Adams who has broken a toe in pre-season training.

Hollyoaks actor Fountain, playing for England, says:

“I had a dream last night that me and Gordon Ramsay actually had a fight on the pitch! That’s how excited I am about the game, I’m even dreaming about it! In my dream Gordon kicked me and the ref was in the middle trying to break it up. I’m hoping this is not a premonition!
“I’m not match fit yet but I’ve been going to the gym every day doing sprinting. I’ve even bought a football and have been doing kick ups in the back garden to get my footballing skills up to scratch!” Read more & comment »

Singer Craig David, TV personality Angus Deayton, McFly’s Danny Jones, Harry Potter actor Tom Felton and actor Hugo Speer have just signed for team England in Soccer Aid 2008.

With Ant and Dec hosting, this year’s event, with England taking on the Rest of the World, takes place live on the hallowed turf of Wembley Stadium. Eleven celebrities and five legends make up each team, and all want to make it into the starting line up.

Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp will manage England and his squad includes football legends Jamie Redknapp, Alan Shearer and David Seaman, as well as celebrities including rugby and Dancing on Ice star Kyran Bracken, singer Craig David, TV presenter Angus Deayton, singer Gareth Gates, Mcfly singer Danny Jones, GMTV presenter Ben Shephard, actor Hugo Speer, TV and radio presenterJamie Theakston, and TV personality Jonathan Wilkes. Read more & comment »