Simon Cowell has branded the BBC’s The Voice as being an X Factor “rip off.”

He said that the flailing BBC show is “the same” as his hit show.

He said, “So my first thought is, ‘why isn’t this on radio?’ because what’s the point in looking at them. Then suddenly I’m watching it a week or two weeks ago and it’s the same as X Factor. They’ve got dancers behind them, graphics, lights. Same show.”

He added that he sees many shows trying to emulate The X Factor and that, “if you try and rip somebody off it always looks like a bad copy.”

Seeing as The Voice has started to wane and Britain’s Got Talent peaked with the biggest TV audience this year he added that he relished in winning the ratings war battle, “When The Voice came along it was like, ‘roll your sleeves up, we’re in for a bit of a punch up.’ I’m smiling now.”

The Voice continues this weekend.

It’s no secret that every woman wants long, fluttery eyelashes.

Make up companies make a fortune in mascaras that promise to give you long lashes while false lashes have made a
resurgence lately thanks to the likes of Cheryl Cole and the TOWIE girls. It’s no biggie that eyelash extensions then became available on the market but the latest trend is for real mink eyelash extensions.

The lash extensions are from the fur brushed off live animals and aren’t new over the pond. Celebrity advocates include Jennifer Lopez, Kim Kardashian and Heidi Klum.

Previously a set of mink lashes would cost up to £5,000 however by becoming more mainstream they now cost around £125.

Janette Vince, of Designer Lashes London, offer women 100% Siberian mink eyelashes, said that the fur lashes have been a hit with women looking for a more natural look, “I started offering 100 per cent Siberian mink lashes around 12 months ago and now I have a couple of suppliers in the U.S.”

Mink false eyelashes are also available to buy on Eyelashesdirect.co.uk with a palette containing 12 lines of lashes is priced at £9.95, while a boxed set can be purchased for £44.95.

If you’re hoping that the weather is due to change soon, don’t hold your breath!

Forecasters have warned that the UK will be hit by a cold snap starting this week and due to last for a month.

Many parts will endure night time frost, hail and oh more heavy rain.

The north will be the hardest hit with Cumbria temperatures reaching -6 and the possibility of snow.

Showers are due to hit the country by Thursday this week and will continue into June.

Looks like last weekend’s weather was a short fleeting respite.

Britain’s Got Talent winner Pudsey is now worth an estimated £10 million, has his own Hollywood agent and is heading over the pond for a glittering new film career.

Ashleigh Butler and Pudsey, from Wellingborough, Northamptonshire took home the prize on Saturday night in a ratings winner which saw audience viewings peak at 14.5 million, the highest for any show this year.

Simon Cowell will be pleased especially as ratings for The Voice are in the wane. He has since trademarked Pudsey’s name with his company Syco and already received offers for a dog food advert and a book deal.

As well as the £500,000 prize, Ashleigh and Pudsey will of course need to revive their routine to appear in front of the Queen at the Royal Variety show.

Ashleigh said of Pudsey after his win, “He slept in bed with me and I woke up before him. I was prodding him saying, ‘come on Pudsey, wake up’ – he was so tired!”

The world premiere for The Dictator took place last night at London’s Royal Festival Hall and Sacha Baron Cohen as Admiral General Aladeen showed up in style.

His transport was a bright neon orange Lamborghini which was towed by a truck. Dressed head to toe in character he was flanked, of course, by a number of scantily clad women.

His wife, Isla Fisher, also turned up to support him. She though, looked stunning, dressed in red heels, a lace mini dress and her hair braided in a undone side plait.

The movie opens here next Friday and follows Aladeen who is a military dictator of the fictitious North African Republic of Wadia who hates freedom.

It’s pretty fair to say that this film will no doubt follow the rule of thumb explored in his most recent films, Bruno and Borat and leave viewers wondering again, did he really just say and do that? Of course he did.

Catch The Dictator in cinemas from May 18th.

As if we couldn’t love Kate Middleton anymore, we love her big voluminous shiny hair, her down to earth high street style mixed in with amazing designer pieces, her warm nature and now judging by these pictures, we love her even more.

Granted, they’re probably not pictures she’ll like to see given that they’re a huge invasion of her privacy but seeing her snuggling up to her dog Lupo makes us love her even more.

Kate was on an excursion as part of her volunteer work with the Scout Association which is just one of the organisations she chose to support in her capacity as the Duchess of Cambridge.

We love that she took Lupo along for the ride!

Kate and William adopted Lupo earlier this year and Kate especially has been spotted with him numerous times.

It includes everything from a cup of coffee to a cinema ticket to food.

Greggs, for example, charge customers in the north 66p for a large sausage roll but charge those in the south 85p.

A similar rate increase of almost 30% also exists within chains such as McDonald’s, Domino’s, Cineworld and Odeon cinemas, David Lloyd gyms and Wetherspoons.

These firms allege that their prices differ due to the lower cost of living in the north. This will no doubt add to the Chancellor, George Osborne’s plan to introduce regional wages in the public sector. The idea is that everyone is paid lower where the cost of living is lower.

Official figures make clear than people earn considerably more in the south but the housing costs are also considerably more expensive.

The replica follows the success of the replica of Kate Middleton’s ring which sent sales rocketing last year in the build up to the royal wedding.

The original crown features the world’s second largest cut diamond at 317.4 carats, 2868 diamonds on silver mounts including sapphires, emeralds and pearls. Its replica has 2276 replica stones from QVC’s collection of simulated diamond jewellery.

The replica took 30 days to make and weighs around 0.91kg.

Jewellery buyer at the shopping channel, Vanessa Priest, said, “The Queen’s ‘Imperial State Crown’ is iconic, one of the country’s most prized treasures. In the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year, the Diamonique Jubilee Crown replica will be the ultimate accessory. We are sure the crown will make its new owner feel like they are the Queen of the castle.”

Online shops are being more than accommodating with their various discounts and deals so here’s our Bank Holiday Discount round up just for you:

ASOS have 24% off for 24 hours, use the code EXTRA24 at the checkout.

50% off selected items at H&M until the 9th May

25% off Warehouse enter SUNSHINE at checkout

Lookfantastic have £4 off orders over £35 with code MAY124, if you spend over £45 get £5 off with code MAY125

15% off shoes at SoleTrader with code SOLE15

If you have pets, get up to 83% off at PetPlanet

30% off everything at Laura Ashley today

If you spend £75 or more at Argos, get a £10 voucher to spend on something else!

Notonthehighstreet have 30% off selected Bank Holiday items

The BBC are running scared and have reportedly banned Sacha Baron Cohen from giving interviews as his character from his new movie.

Cohen alleges that he had interest from a number of BBC TV shows including The Graham Norton Show, Newsnight and The One Show and radio shows such as Radio 1 and 4 however the BBC deny that his is banned.

Cohen had wanted to be interviewed in character however the BBC are keen to interview him as himself.

In a statement as his character Admiral General Aladeen, Cohen said, “while I am a huge admirer of state-sponsored censorship, the BBC banning me from their meagre channels is an outrage.”

The BBC responded, “there is no ban but out chat shows thrive on the spontaneous banter between guests and the presenter, something you just font get when people come on as characters.”

The Dictator is out on the 16th May.