EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Bridgerton's lothario Luke Thompson tells us why he stays off social media

Bridgerton star Luke Thompson has opened up for the first time about the real reason he avoids using social media.

Thompson, who plays free-spirited Benedict Bridgerton in the Netflix show, is a bit of an outlier among his social media savvy co-stars.

Indeed, actress Nicola Coughlan (Penelope Featherington) is an Instagram heavyweight with 6.3 million followers and season two romantic lead and Wicked star Jonathan Bailey (Anthony Bridgerton) boasts a 6.6 million strong fanbase.

But now Rada-trained Thompson, 37, has confessed that his avoidance of social media is in fact a form of self-preservation.

He says: 'I've always felt a bit outside myself and feeling that life is something that's happening elsewhere and so social media would be like catnip for me. I'd be on it 24/7 if I had an account, because it would be too mesmerising and it would feed that outsider sense and it would be a disaster. It's doing stuff to our attention spans and there are massive downsides.'

But despite living in an era where an actor's commercial value can be judged by the size of their social media following, Thompson, who carefully guards his private life, insists he has no desire to offer the public a front-row seat.

Speaking in London at a Theatrical Guild event at the Leicester Square Theatre, he said: 'Avoiding social media is not cleverness, it's very specific to me, I am saying that's what makes sense to me and what I enjoy about being an actor. Social media is something we all have to deal with; we have to learn to manage our phones and I am just as bad at managing my phone as everyone else is.

'Social media gives you the illusion that people either love you or hate you, and doesn't show you the billions of people who couldn't care less about you, so it gives you a false sense of importance either way.'

Luke Thompson plays the free-spirited second-born Bridgerton, who is a romantic lead in the fourth series

Ooh la la! Katya Jones turned the London Coliseum into her own Paris runway as she sizzled at the Kinky Boots The Musical gala at the weekend.

The Russian ballroom dancer, 36, turned heads in knee high boots (naturally), a red beret, white blouse and pleated denim skirt as she stepped out to support her Strictly co-star Johannes Radebe, who is starring in the show. 

'It's definitely giving Parisian chic,' she tells me of her outfit. The high-energy performance, in support of WaterAid, saw Radebe reprise the role of drag queen Lola in the hit musical.

After the electrifying two hour and 20-minute performance, he told me: 'I needed a glass of prosecco to cool down.

'To perform on this iconic stage, living my dream as the irrepressible Lola, while helping raise money so others can one day follow theirs, has been a privilege.'

(L-R) Matt Cardle, Strictly's Johannes Radebe and Courtney Bowman step forward for the curtain call after performing in Kinky Boots The Musical

Former Strictly judge Dame Arlene Phillips has shared her sympathy for the recent slew of axed dancers.

Dame Arlene, 82, who was controversially replaced by 30-year-old Alesha Dixon in 2009, says: 'It's always sad when you have been loyal to a show like Strictly and this happens. It's devastating. I went through it and in this industry, you just need to have steel inside you.'

Doctor Who producer Russell T Davies dismisses those who accuse him of 'wokeness', declaring piously: 'Woke just means being inclusive, progressive, and that you care about people.' 

But the screenwriter does wonder if young people today are as caring as he is. Discussing the role of online influencers in Lille, France, and where he finds a sense of optimism in these dark times, he says: 'The next generation always gives you hope – I used to give that answer, but now they've all been radicalised into b******s. 

'I used to think children are the future. Now you see what those forces are doing to them, I'm not particularly full of hope.'

She was the first non-royal to appear on a first-class stamp in 2001 and has been celebrated in the fashion world for projecting an 'aristocratic' ideal of beauty.

But Birmingham-born supermodel Erin O'Connor says that she'd rather not be called working class.

Speaking at the National Portrait Gallery, the 48-year-old described reaction to her success: 'It's like, let's celebrate you, but let's slightly reduce you at the same time because it's all about trying to put certain people into categories to make others comfortable.'

Supermodel Erin O'Connor at the British Museum Ball in October 2025

Sir Elton John sang for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex at their Windsor Castle wedding reception and flew them by private jet to his villa in the South of France.

But Boy George has no time for such extravagance. The Culture Club singer says: 'I was on the bus the other day, and this woman said, 'Excuse me, are you who I think you are?' And I said, 'I am.' She asked me what I was doing on the bus, and I told her, 'Going to where I live'.

'When I'm sitting on the bus, I think Elton John couldn't do this, but I can,' explains the singer, 64, adding: 'I need to be out in the world. I can't live in the bubble.'

Theatre impresario Sir Cameron Mackintosh is known for turning up unannounced at his eight West End venues. At a recent performance of Oliver! at the Gielgud Theatre, the 79-year-old became quite animated during the show's flagship, Consider Yourself.

 'Sir Cameron was in the audience, and he was dancing and clapping in his seat, and it wasn't even the curtain call,' an insider tells me.