Tom Grennan plots fresh career move which will see him take on the Amazon rainforest after missing out on Xmas No1
TOM GRENNAN is planning a huge feat for next year – taking part in an epic ultra-marathon in the Amazon rainforest.
The Little Bit Of Love singer tells me he is gearing up for the Jungle Ultra, a 143-mile self-sufficient race described as a “race like no other”.
It makes his recent Ironman Challenge — when he cycled, swam and ran a total of 44 miles in six hours and 25 minutes — look like a walk in the park.
The even more arduous quest he hopes to take on in Peru sounds horrendous but Tom clearly likes a challenge.
In an exclusive interview, he said: “I definitely want to do more Ironman.
“There’s a triathlon-marathon thing through the jungle I’d like to do. Weirdly, it’s in the Amazon.
“It’s five days running, trekking around the Amazon. And yeah, I wanna do that.
“I’ve got the London Marathon, I think I’m doing next year. I just need to have things that stimulate my brain.
“And not just music, music, music.
“I need other things to just give me a bit of sense of purpose, too.
“Not only that, I like a challenge, and I like seeing how far my body will go, and how far my body can be pushed.”
But Tom also has exciting music plans for 2025, after missing out on the Christmas No1 with It Can’t Be Christmas, which was released on Amazon Music.
Last month he told me: “The album is done, which I’m really, really excited for.
“This time, I absorbed loads of music. I listened to my own music too and just saw myself going down a little bit of a lane.
“It’s like, nah, I don’t want to do that. I want to try to reinvent myself and my sound, and put out music that I really love.
“I feel like I’ve done that this time, and I’m excited. It’s going to be a big year, hopefully, next year.”
It’s his for the taking.
JENNIFER LOPEZ lives up to her J-Lo moniker in a seriously plunging red dress.
She put on a risque display for fans as she served her Delola cocktails from Christmas baubles.
In a clip for her boozy brand, Jennifer looks stunning as she pours the festive drinks.
The On The Floor singer said: “I love entertaining at this time of year and making everything beautiful, including the drinks.”
It’s been a tough year for Jennifer, both professionally and personally, so she has more than earned herself a drink or two.
I Feltz George was my man
IT must be the hardest time of the year for Vanessa Feltz, given WHAM!’s Last Christmas gets played practically everywhere.
That’s because the unlucky-in-love radio and telly star has claimed that George Michael is the one that got away. Yes, really.
In her recent memoir Vanessa Bares All, she wrote of the I’m Your Man singer: “George was gorgeous.
“If I’d been that kind of girl and George had been that kind of boy, I definitely would have.
“He wasn’t. We didn’t. I wished we had. I still wish we had.”
She claims in the book that she was with George and his bandmate Andrew Ridgeley when they went to No1 with their 1984 single Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.
Vanessa recalled: “The boys – they were boys, both 21 at the time – were electrifying.
“They grabbed me and started dancing – first on the floor, then on the sofa.”
She added: “George was lovely to me whenever our paths collided after that.”
Despite the fact George, who died on Christmas Day in 2016, was gay, she might have had more luck with him than with her most recent partner.
She was with Ben Ofeudo from Phats & Small for 16 years before splitting in early 2023 amid allegations he had cheated – leaving her heartbroken.
You’re better off without him, Vanessa.
DJ Kygo is going for cold
A COLLABORATION with Coldplay is at the top of Kygo’s 2025 bucket list – and it sounds like it could actually happen.
Asked whether a track with Chris Martin and his band could be on the horizon, the top DJ said: “Well, I hope so.
“One of my goals since I started, was to have a song with Coldplay.
“We don’t have any songs right now but hopefully it’ll happen.”
He knows anything is possible, after he reworked Whitney Houston’s cover of Higher Love in 2019 – landing her a posthumous hit seven years after her death.
He said of her estate: “They actually reached out to me.
“They had this version of Higher Love that they never officially released, and they wanted a new version of it.
“I got the stems for it and I made my version of it and they loved it.”
TALK about all your Christmases coming at once.
After releasing a festive album, Britain’s Got Talent winner Sydnie Christmas has been playing Fairy Christmas in Sleeping Beauty at Orchard West theatre in Dartford, Kent, where she sings her version of Franks Sinatra’s My Way.
Enjoy every second, Syd.
Gandy takes a rain check
DAVID GANDY has signed a massive deal to star in a new Burberry campaign to give the brand a boost.
My exclusive shots show the British model in a tracksuit featuring the fashion house’s signature check.
He shielded from the weather in London with a matching brolly and showed life is rosy holding a bunch of blooms.
The brash look wouldn’t appear out of place in Barry Keoghan’s wardrobe.
My insiders told me signing David last month was all part of Burberry’s plans to make the brand cool again.
None of us will forget that incredible snap of Danniella Westbrook in top-to-toe Burberry – with a matching pram – 22 years ago.
But while we found it funny, it put a bit of a downer on the designer brand.
This year the company posted huge losses but my sources say the only way is up for the British fashion house.
As well as putting David into the frame, Burberry put on a very star-studded fashion show in September – with everyone from Jodie Turner-Smith to Anna Wintour sitting on the front row.
I’ve long coveted one of Burberry’s famous trenches, but given they cost almost £2,000, I think that will forever be a pipe dream for me.
It’s New Year Ease for Nick
HE used to be famous for his love of a good celebrity knees-up – but former Radio 1 host Nick Grimshaw says his New Year’s Eve celebrations will be tame.
He is now more likely to be found in his PJs in front of the telly than playing last man standing with his old party pal Harry Styles.
Nick told me: “Last year I stayed in and I did a run on New Year’s Day. I do stay up to midnight but I’m usually now in watching telly.
“I love TV when there is an event like Jools Holland.”
But exercise is off the cards for the start of 2025. With a laugh, he explained: “I don’t think I will be doing the New Year’s run again as it was freezing and my legs didn’t work till the fifth of January.”
Given the amount of boozy celebrity bashes I’ve been at this year, you’ll find me tucked up warm on the night too.
Rising Starr in full swing
AYRA STARR takes it easy in a high-end photoshoot for Wonderland magazine after a stellar 2024.
She became the first Afrobeat artist to play Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage, collaborated with Coldplay and racked up two billion streams.
And she’s about to release sexy new track Gimme Dat.
But she told the mag she has never been in a serious relationship, as she’s not had time.