EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Nigel Farage's got his Diamond candidate for local elections

Anne Diamond is one of the biggest stars on GB News, but her ex-husband has been inspired to enter politics by another of the channel's leading presenters – Nigel Farage.

I hear that veteran TV executive and talent agent Mike Hollingsworth – who has four adult sons with Anne – will stand as a candidate for Reform UK, of which Farage is leader.

Hollingsworth is seeking to win a council seat in Labour-controlled Westminster in next month's local elections.

'The country is in an appalling state and Westminster Council is in a similar mess,' he tells me. 'They're spending money like it's going out of fashion – something new needs to be done.'

Hollingsworth, 80, who was married to Anne, 71, for ten years after they met while working on TV-am, says of Farage: 'I've known Nigel for many years and admired him... he's a bit Marmite, but we need that colour in our politics. A lot of what he says is what people think.' He adds: 'Anne is behind me.'

The couple lost their third son, Sebastian, to sudden infant death syndrome when he was a baby. He admits that their four sons, Oliver, James, Jake and Connor, have mixed feelings towards his new political career.

'It's a subject that's off limits around the meal table,' he says. 'We're in danger of coming to blows. My boys are split down the middle as supporting me or wishing I'd do something else in my retirement.'

Hollingsworth later married Kimberley Stewart-Mole, a student 33 years his junior, but they separated after just 12 weeks – leaving him with a £100,500 bill.

He also lost his Oxfordshire cottage and a Jack Russell, Dashwood. He reflected: 'As I said to the judge in the divorce court, there's no fool like an old fool... I am a bit of a sucker for a pretty woman – but what man isn't?'

'Minister of sound' retires

Nightclub tycoon James Palumbo – the Liberal Democrat peer – has quit the House of Lords after a 12-year stay in which he made just eight speeches.

Lord Palumbo of Southwark had a bad falling-out with his property developer father Peter, who was also a member of the upper house. Some wondered if Old Etonian James merely wanted to become a lord to have equal rank with him.

James clinched his peerage after becoming matey with the then Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, who sometimes used his Ministry of Sound nightclub in South London for political events. Now 62, he has retired early from politics. But his title remains, so he will likely consider it to have been worthwhile.

My legacy shall pass from memory, McKellen insists

As he prepares to turn  87 next month, Sir Ian McKellen insists he doesn't expect to be remembered in decades to come.

Asked about hopes for his 'legacy', the Lord Of The Rings star replies: 'I can talk to actors who are 20, 30 years younger than me who have never heard of Laurence Olivier or Noel Coward or John Gielgud or Peggy Ashcroft or these giants of my youth – gone. Particularly theatre actors – over and done with.'

Sir Ian, who is to play Gandalf again in 2027 film The Hunt For Gollum, adds: 'That's fine. And I don't have children. That's most people's legacy, isn't it? I don't think there's any life after death... so you better enjoy it while you're here.'

He's one of pop music's biggest names, but Elvis Costello no longer has a record deal. It has left him trying to make the best of his position. 'I don't have a current record contract,' admits the Oliver's Army singer, 71, who won two Grammy awards. 'Maybe that's a good thing. There's a lot more freedom without expectations [and] deadlines.'

Maisie's Stark profits

Turning 29 yesterday, Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams could certainly afford a lavish party.

The actress, who started playing Arya Stark in the sex-and-dragons drama aged 14, has amassed a fortune of £4.2million. New figures for the firm channelling her earnings, Wobbly Carrot Entertainment Ltd, show the actress, right, paid herself £210,000 in dividends – which is a significant pay cut on the previous year's £1.36million.

Jack Whitehall is due to get married to model Roxy Horner this weekend, but the comedian's mother is not amused by his directions. 'When I asked Jack what the dress code was several weeks ago... he gave me the wrong dress code,' despairs actress Hilary. 'I got the wrong dress, [then] the wedding invitation arrived with a completely different dress code on it. [Jack] said, 'Sorry about that, Mumsy'.'

Caroline hops with joy after 'Froggy' pops the question

Her first marriage, to Sotheby's chairman Harry Dalmeny – the 8th Earl of Rosebery since succeeding his father in 2024 – yielded five children, including triplets, which might exhaust almost anyone. But not Caroline Dalmeny.

Still brimming with passion 12 years since she and Harry parted, she is, I can disclose, celebrating her engagement to 'The Frog' or 'Froggy', former Gurkha officer Jules Irens, 58.'

Froggy' – so nicknamed in acknowledgement of his late, French-speaking mother – proposed this week in Paris.

'One of the greatest pleasures and honours of my life,' says vivacious Caroline, 57, who remains on the best of terms with Harry and his new wife, Harriet Clapham – but not with the Londoners who, back in 2022, alerted her that 'The Frog' couldn't accompany her to a party which was for 'married couples'.

Caroline took to social media to denounce her former friends: 'They are dead to me,' she declared. 'Vipers.'