Not looking too sickly Amanda! Britain's Got Talent judge bounces back from tummy bug

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By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Feeling better: Amanda Holden met up with a friend on London's South Bank yesterday after spending Thursday ill at home


Just 24 hours earlier, Amanda Holden was ill at home with a tummy bug.
But as she was spotted out in London yesterday, it looked like the Britain's Got Talent judge had made an amazing recovery.

The 39-year-old looked super stylish in a brown cape over her patterned black and white animal-print dress and studded shoe boots as she met a friend on the South Bank.

After chatting to a friend, she soon headed indoors for a glass of champagne, claiming it was making her feel better already.

On Thursday, the mother-of-one complained she had been struck down with the 'lurgy' and was resting at home.

She wrote on her Twitter page: 'Not feeling well today, poor me.'

But after a day of taking it easy, the busy star was up and out again, determined not to let her ill health get the better of her.


Stage role: Amanda recently announced she will play Princess Fiona in a new London production of Shrek


Writing on Twitter yesterday, she said: 'Had a blinkin lurgy yesterday! Feel like I've been two rounds with Tyson but bit better today! Horrid.

'Ooo just had a glass of bubbles! That sorted my tummy.'

Recently, Holden was officially announced as the star of the new West End production of Shrek: The Musical.

The former Cutting It star will play Princess Fiona alongside Nigel Lindsay as Shrek in the stage adaptation of the hit Dreamworks film franchise.


Talking point: Amanda chatted to a male friend as she walked near the ITV Studios on the South Bank


The stage show will preview in May next year at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London and open officially in the first half of June.

Meanwhile, Holden has vowed to return for the 2011 series of Britain's Got Talent - despite Piers Morgan's recent decision to quit and uncertainty over Simon Cowell's return to the panel.

She said: 'The rumours I'm leaving are rubbish - I can't wait to be a judge on Britain's Got Talent next year.

'I've spoken to Simon and the producers and they definitely want me back.

'It'll be scary without my two favourite boys but I'm sure they'll find some feisty replacements. The new line-up hasn't been confirmed - James Corden isn't a definite. Britain's Got Talent is taking over the X Factor slot in the summer.'




source: dailymail
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Partially deaf male Madonna impersonator sues Simon Cowell over 'hard of hearing' jibes on Britain's Got Talent

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By Daily Mail Reporter

Legal action: Madonna impersonator Philip Grimmer is suing Britain's Got Talent


Britain's Got Talent is being sued for£250,000 by a Madonna impersonator claiming Simon Cowell's jibes have ruined his life.

Philip Grimmer, who reached the semi-finals this year, accuses the show of discrimination over a disability and the fact that he was introduced as a drag queen.

The 57-year-old gyrated to Madonna's dance track Hung Up in a purple leotard, knee-high boots and blonde wig.

Cowell called him a 'hard of hearing and short-sighted Madonna'. Mr Grimmer is partially deaf and short sighted. Cowell also said the act was 'monstrous' and ' horrendous' , adding: 'Madonna at 95 would look better and dance better than you.'

Mr Grimmer, a married father-of-one, claims hosts Ant and Dec introduced him as a 'successful drag queen' and a 'man who likes dressing up as women', when he is simply a Madonna impersonator.

He claims that some family and friends could now mistake him for a gay cross-dresser.

Mr Grimmer is suing the ITV show on the grounds of disability, sexual orientation, age and sex bias.

He is demanding £250,000 for lost earnings and injury to feelings.

By contrast, Lady Gaga impersonator Max Oliver - a 21-year-old, gay cross-dresser - received no jibes about his sexuality on the show, Mr Grimmer says.


Cowell branded Mr Grimmer's tribute act 'monstrous' and 'horrendous'


Mr Grimmer, who crashed out of this year's contest in the semi-final, says that he was deprived of the chance of winning £100,000 in the final.

He says that he also missed out on going on the post-final BGT tour and landing lucrative showbiz deals.

In legal papers submitted to Central London Employment tribunal, Mr Grimmer says that his disability discrimination claim mirrors that of fellow BGT reject Emma Amelia Pearl Czikai.

Miss Czikai, 54, is suing for £2.5 million, alleging that she was ridiculed by Cowell even though she told producers her medical condition had affected her audition.

The former nurse complains that Cowell told her she had a 'horrible singing voice' In the legal papers, Mr Grimmer accuses show chiefs, Cowell and Ant and Dec of 'prejudice'.

He says: 'I was discriminated against by Simon Cowell and the two presenters Ant and Dec and by one of the assistant producers.

'I was singled out by these persons and received unfair and worse treatment and comments on the live TV show than other contestants based on abusive and possibly defamatory remarks.

'The comments have damaged my good reputation and have stopped me obtaining employment.' Mr Grimmer alleges that Cowell discriminated against him by poking fun at his disability.

He complains that Cowell insulted him on the live show by saying 'I have no idea whatsoever what he is going to do but I know it will be monstrous'.

Mr Grimmer says he made it clear on his application form that he was a 'female impressionist' only to be portrayed as a transvestite on the show.

He says: 'I am therefore claiming that I was discriminated against by Simon Cowell and the persons mentioned.'

He says of Ant and Dec referring to him as a cross-dresser: 'It could imply it is something I normally do, not just for my act, which is detrimental to my character.'

He adds: 'Most drag queens are considered to be gay and I am not gay at all.'

He says: 'I feel I was singled out and received unfair and detrimental comments that did not portray me as who I really am, so damaging my reputation with people that know me personally.'

Speaking today, Mr Grimmer vowed: 'This is David against Goliath. Madonna against Simon Cowell.

'I will take this all the way and Simon Cowell will long remember the day I was on the show.

'I just went on to do a fun act and he was brutal.' Syco TV denies all Mr Grimmer's claims of discrimination and is vigorously defending his case, which is due to be heard later this year.

Syco spokeswoman Ann-Marie Thomson declined to comment on the case.

But a show source said they were 'surprised' by Philip's fury.

They said: 'He never said anything at the time and enjoyed being on the show. He even asked for his costume to take home with him.

The case comes after Emma Amelia Pearl Czikai, 54, launched action against the show, claiming she was 'humiliated and degraded'.



source :dailymail

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Britain's got sued: Singer wants £2.5m from Cowell after 'humiliation' before 20m

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By Emily Andrews

Tribunal: Emma Amelia Pearl Czikai claims she was left humiliated after judges on Britain's got Talent criticised her performance


A Britain's Got Talent contestant is suing Simon Cowell for £2.5million, claiming she was 'humiliated and degraded' on the hit ITV show.

Emma Amelia Pearl Czikai, 54, says she was mocked by judges Cowell, Amanda Holden and Piers Morgan when they buzzed her off saying she could not sing.

Cowell said she had a 'horrible singing voice' while Miss Holden added: 'I just can't see how she can't see that she can't sing.'

The former nurse claims she was ridiculed in front of 20million viewers and the trio took away her 'self respect and dignity' in order to boost the programme's ratings and profit.

Miss Czikai is attempting to have her claims heard at an employment tribunal but is being fought by BGT lawyers.

She says her performance, screened in May last year, suffered as a result of numerous medical complaints which left her with constant pain and meant she could not sing in noisy raucous environments.

On the show, a clip of which was subsequently posted on YouTube, a smirking Cowell asked Miss Czikai if she thought she had the talent to win.

Dressed in an intricately embroidered red ball gown, she replied: 'Oh Simon, I'm wonderful. You will go home and think I'm so glad that I met that woman.'

But after only a few notes of Westlife's power ballad You Raise Me Up, Morgan was the first judge to buzz her off, quickly followed by the other two.

Against a backdrop of loud booing, Cowell then said: 'Emma, this is a beautiful song when you're not singing it and I think I speak on behalf of everyone that you have a horrible singing voice.'

When Miss Czikai tried to protest that the backing track was too loud and she wasn't used to the microphone, he snapped: 'It's not loud enough. Emma, Emma, reality check here. It's not the music, it's not the microphone, it's you.'

Miss Czikai also lifted the lid on the way contestants were treated on the show and said it was like 'modern day slavery'.


Not impressed: Judge Simon Cowell looks uninterested by the contestant's display and has had to employ a QC to fight employment tribunal claims as a result


She said contestants were routinely humiliated, bullied into saying things they didn't mean and goaded to become angry and frustrated to make good television.
Meanwhile she saw 'servants' walking through with platters of lobster, seafood and caviar which she was told was for Miss Holden, Morgan and Cowell.

Yesterday at an employment tribunal hearing Miss Czikai, claimed she was the victim of disability discrimination because the talent show had not made adjustments for her such as lowering the music and microphone levels.

Miss Czikai, who is representing herself, also claimed she had suffered 'ongoing harassment' because a later improved performance on spin-off show Britain's Got More Talent was not linked to the original clip on YouTube to prove she could sing.

The pre-tribunal review, which will decide if a full hearing will go ahead, was told that Miss Czikai was seeking £300,000 for her injured feelings, compensation of £1million and loss of earnings of £1.25million - although she said if she were awarded any money it would go to charity.

She told the hearing in central London yesterday: 'I haven't got a horrible singing voice when I sing in a fair environment that meets the needs of my particular disabilities as I proved when I performed live on Britian's Got More Talent.


Attack: Miss Czikai claims her performance was impeded by medical conditions - and that she can actually sing


'Britain's Got Talent have sought to accrue profit to themselves through exploitation of a film clip that they know perpetrates a lie that I cannot sing.'

Breaking down in tears she added: 'This programme makes a select number of rich people very very rich on the backs of the ordinary man and woman in the street through exploitation, humiliation, degradation and a re-emergence of modern-day barbarism with all its inherent cruelty.'

Thomas Linden QC, representing Cowell's TV company Simco, opposed Miss Czikai's right to have a full hearing on the basis that BGT was not an employer and that the staff had no prior knowledge of her disabilities. He also questioned whether posting a clip on the web constituted on-going harassment.

Miss Czikai suffers from fibromyalgia, which is characterised by widespread pain and fatigue, but is not recognised by some doctors. The hearing continues.


Unimpressed: Simon Cowell reacts to Miss Czikai's performance which took place in May last year


It's a no from them: All three judges buzzed the contestant out before she had completed her song

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