IT has been a while since Sam Fender dropped his chart-topping album Seventeen Going Under but don’t expect to hear the follow-up any time soon.
The Geordie rocker has admitted he feels like he rushed the release of that record in 2021 and wants to take his time with his third album – so it surpasses all expectations.

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Sam said: “We have been recording and recording and making loads of stuff but it got to the point where I thought, ‘We don’t need to get this out yet. We need to get it right’.
“For the second one we rushed to get that out and the third one we started rushing and I thought, ‘No, we have got to take the time’.
“I want to do the best I possibly can. I’d rather it be late and great than early and s**te.”
But he added: “What we have got so far I am absolutely over the moon with but I want to give it that bit more time and more thought.”
During an interview on Johnson And Knopfler’s Music Legends,on Sky Arts, 10pm tomorrow, he revealed being bullied at school gave him the drive to succeed.
Sam said: “Schoolyard bullying is what makes a rock star. It is either going to put you down or it is going to make you work harder for it.”
Girls are red-dy for reunion
GIRLS ALOUD have their glad rags on, ready to kick off their reunion tour this month.
Nicola Roberts, Cheryl Tweedy, Kimberley Walsh and Nadine Coyle have been locked in rehearsals for weeks ahead of opening night in Dublin on May 17.

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It will be the first time they have toured since 2013 and comes 22 years after they were put together on TV talent show Popstars: The Rivals, so it’s been a long time coming.
They posed in red and pink gowns as they announced Shark Beauty as the official hair sponsor of their tour.
It means the brand’s tools will be used for all 30 dates across the UK and Ireland, but luckily they still have a glam squad on hand, so they won’t have to sort their barnets themselves.
The girls are looking better than ever though, so I am expecting big things from this comeback.
Blue Ivy hopes for roaring success
BEYONCE and Jay-Z’s eldest daughter Blue Ivy is striking out on her own after landing her first movie role.
Just 12, she will voice the character of Kiara in upcoming live action movie Mufasa: The Lion King.

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It’s not her first foray into showbiz, as Blue Ivy earned a Guinness World Record in 2012 for the youngest person to have made the US Billboard chart when her baby coos featured on Jay-Z’s song Glory.
Then she won a Grammy for featuring on Bey’s 2020 song Brown Skin Girl and in 2023 joined mum on stage.
Beats going to school like the rest of us had to.
Insta slip up leaves fans in Mel-t down
WE all know someone who has made slip-ups on social media or sent messages to the wrong people.
So spare a thought for superstar Barbra Streisand, who did just that in front of millions of people – and left Melissa McCarthy mortified in the process.

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The Bridesmaids actress, who is noticeably slimmer, shared the snap below on Instagram on Monday of herself attending a gala for artistic director Matthew Bourne with director pal Adam Shankman.
Babs commented on the snap with what was clearly supposed to be a private message, writing: “Give him my regards, did you take Ozempic?”
Fans were gobsmacked by the remark about the weight loss jab and Barbra later deleted it, but not before thousands of people had “liked” it and taken screenshots.
Neither Babs or Melissa have said anything about the faux pas, but it is pretty embarrassing for them both.
I doubt Babs will be making that mix-up again.
But good on her for being able to use social media aged 82.
Not everyone is that clued up.
Time to get her on TikTok doing some dances.
Perhaps Melissa can join her to bury the hatchet.