Shrinking Ariana must get help, says model Charli Howard

Published: 01:00, 4 August 2026 | Updated: 01:06, 4 August 2026 Model and author Charli Howard battled crippling eating disorders for a decade. Now, she’s calling for ‘an immediate intervention’ in the case of pop star Ariana Grande, who decided to ‘step back’ from public life amid relentless scrutiny over her appearance and dramatic weight loss. London-born Charli, 35, who suffered from both bulimia and anorexia, says of the American singer and Wicked star: ‘I obviously see comments from worried fans, but I also see other people convincing others that she looks “healthy”, or that she has simply “lost puppy fat”. Some even make jokes about it. ‘What I see is someone in desperate need of hospitalisation and care, and while I know it’s often impossible to help someone at this stage of anorexia, there has to be an immediate intervention.’ At the darkest moment of her own illness, Charli survived on just a square of dark chocolate, an apple and water each day. She says: ‘I’ve tried everything because when you’re engrossed in an eating disorder, there’s this voice in your head that tells you that you can never be thin enough. I had this idea in my head that I had to be a UK size 6.’ Now confident in her own skin, Charli says the imagery of Ariana in her latest pop video Petal, which shows her shrinking frame, should be taken off the internet to stop it influencing her young fans.  Charli Howard says Ariana Grande is 'in desperate need of hospitalisation and care' Ms Grande has decided to ‘step back’ from public life amid relentless scrutiny over her appearance and dramatic weight loss ‘It is absolutely appalling, from both a moral and capitalistic standpoint, to have released these videos and an album when this person needs psychiatric help and hospitalisation.’ She adds: ‘The teams involved should be absolutely ashamed. What’s disappointing is that it takes teams – often hundreds – of people to approve videos like these and get them over the line. ‘Each and every one of you, including her family and management, are enabling this person and encouraging her illness when she needs help. ‘I truly, truly hope she gets the help that she so desperately needs.’ Prince William and Catherine have an open invitation to join Alex Jones on The One Show sofa to celebrate the show’s 20th anniversary. ‘It would be amazing to have the Prince and Princess of Wales on the show,’ the presenter, 49, says. ‘That would be phenomenal. Our viewers would love that. I think we’d get a really lovely insight into them and we would make them nice and relaxed.’ The One Show’s longest-serving host, who joined in 2010, Alex hopes the programme, broadcast every weekday, will escape the BBC axe which last week fell on Celebrity Mastermind and Blankety Blank. She said: ‘It has withstood so many changes in trends, changes in the way people watch TV or whatever, it still stands and stays relevant. ‘It’s still really strong in the ratings and I think it would be really missed if it wasn’t there at 7pm.’ Read all about it! Donna Air chose an eye-catching way to celebrate turning 47. ‘It’s my birthday, so I thought I’d celebrate... in my birthday suit, of course,’ says the presenter, who wore only heels and sunglasses – plus a newspaper to protect her modesty.  Donna, who shot to fame alongside Ant and Dec on Byker Grove in the early 1990s, is a former girlfriend of the Princess of Wales’s brother, James Middleton. She has a daughter, Freya, 22, with casino and wild life park owner Damian Aspinall.  Recalling landing an acting agent before embarking on his culinary career, celebrity chef Tom Kerridge admits to being typecast in his burly youth. ‘Literally, two weeks after [being signed by an agent], I was filming a Christmas Special of Miss Marple,’ recalls Tom, 53. ‘But this is where it all unravels. I played a borstal boy in Miss Marple; then I played a thief in After Henry; I played a school bully in two different productions; then I played “Thug One” in London’s Burning.’ Kerridge, who has shed the pounds in recent years, chuckles: ‘So I recognised that maybe it wasn’t for my acting ability – it was perhaps for what I looked like!’ Anais Gallagher has hit out at e-bike riders for their reckless behaviour Noel Gallagher’s daughter Anais appears to have inherited the Oasis star’s foul-mouthed way with words. The model and photographer, 26, launched an expletive-laden rant at riders on hired e-bikes while she was driving through London the other day, accusing them of behaving dangerously on the road. ‘Can I just tell you, people riding Lime Bikes – they think that they’re immune,’ she fumed from behind the steering wheel in her latest vlog. ‘I don’t see anybody in a f***ing helmet. I don’t see anybody covering any skin. What if they come off and shred their arm to pieces? Then they drive around as if they’re immune from death by vehicle!’ Despite a war of words on social media between Restore Britain leader Rupert Lowe and Nigel Farage, the pair appear to have healed their rift behind the scenes. Lowe and Reform UK leader Farage were seen laughing and joking together at entrepreneur Ben Delo’s summer party at the National Gallery last month, despite months of public squabbling. The former foes shared 20 minutes of friendly banter at the London bash, where they were even observed posing for selfies together. ‘There was no tension at all – they were both very friendly and even shared a few laughs, like old mates,’ says a fellow guest. ‘They’ve been trying to unite the Right for some time.’ Livia Firth has defended the thousands of Africans who stormed Spanish territory Ceuta and claimed the response lacked ‘humanity’. The ex-wife of Oscar winner Colin Firth says: ‘Lots of the migrants have just arrived out of desperation. ‘I’m not actually surprised that the extreme Right, the ignorant people, the fascists, are now using this to fuel the hatred against others. But where is our humanity?’