At the same time as battling throat cancer, comedian Mark Steel was dealing with upheaval in his private life, having swapped one comedienne girlfriend for another.

Previously going out with former I’m A Celebrity star Shappi Khorsandi, who declared that he was ‘the love of my life’, Steel enjoyed a blossoming new relationship last year with another stand-up comic, flame-haired Caroline ‘Cally’ Beaton. She was comforting him as he fought his illness and he called her his ‘partner’.

Now, however, I hear that the complicated merry-go-round of Steel’s love life has taken a new turn.

He and Shappi are ‘blissfully’ reunited and Cally is no longer in his life.

Shappi says: ‘I love Mark with all my heart, and we are very much together.’

I hear that Mark Steel has got back together with I’m a Celebrity star Shappi Khorsandi

Steel, 63, who declared he was cancer-free in May, was reunited with Shappi, 51, over the summer

She explains: ‘Mark and I are blissed-out and rebuilding. It’s so important to both of us to be in the moment. I adore him. He was my loved one on and off for many years, but now we’re fixing it.’

I understand that Steel, 63, who declared he was cancer-free in May, was reunited with Shappi, 51, in the summer.

During his illness, Steel, who is a regular on BBC television and radio programmes, made references to his relationship with Cally.

He said: ‘To add to the jeopardy, I was in the exciting early, slightly hesitant, stages of a new relationship that seemed extremely promising. So one evening I had to say, “By the way I might have cancer”.

‘There are countless books, websites and forums in which detailed advice is given on how to act, what to look out for and what to say in these first months of a potentially lifelong partnership. I doubt if any of them say, “Why not liven up a romantic evening by mentioning that you may have cancer?”’

Steel – who was adopted, then discovered his real father was Joe Dwek, a multi-millionaire Wall Street trader and friend of the royals – later paid tribute to Cally’s care by saying: ‘My partner has been extraordinary.’

Cally, who has two children, performs live stand-up comedy, motivational speaking, and has made several television appearances including Live at the Apollo and runs a podcast, Cally Beaton Namaste Motherf***ers.

Heather’s heading off on her holidays…  

Marriage to Sir Paul McCartney was a balancing act too far for Heather Mills, but she’s determined to prove she’s kept her head above water since.

The businesswoman, 56, who was so infuriated with her £24 million settlement from the former Beatle that she drenched his divorce lawyer with a jug of water, has shared this holiday snap of ­herself. 

‘Let this be a reminder that you can do anything you put your mind to,’ says Mills, whose left leg was amputated from the knee downwards. 

‘Take it from the woman with one leg doing a headstand on a paddleboard.’

Paul McCartney’s ex-wife Heather Mills doing a headstand on a paddleboard on holiday

Amazon effort by Annabel’s

Sir Keir Starmer might be all doom when it comes to the economy, but Annabel’s members are as generous as ever. Annabel’s For The Amazon Gala at the private club in London’s Mayfair raised an astonishing £2.4 million. 

Among lots in the silent auction, which ended yesterday, was a Damien Hirst art work that sold for £620,000 and a tennis lesson with Andre Agassi, which fetched £200,000. The money will go to The Caring Family Foundation’s reforestation and social work plans. 

Richard Caring, Lisa Tchenguiz, Patricia Caring and Steve Varsano attend the Annabel’s For The Amazon 2024 Gala Dinner on September 19, 2024 in London, England

Crouch is in the money after podcast transfer from Beeb 

Leaving the BBC seems to have been a winning move for Peter Crouch.

The 6ft 7in former England footballer’s podcast company, Tall Or Nothing Limited, has amassed £1.7million, according to newly published accounts, up from £454,000 the ­previous year. 

The business, which produces That Peter Crouch Podcast and The Therapy Crouch with his wife, the model Abbey Clancy, was worth just £18,000 in 2021.

In 2022, he split from a deal with the BBC and joined podcast host ­company Acast.

The figures are for the first full year after he left the Corporation.

Former England footballer Peter Crouch’s podcast company has amassed £1.7million

This would make Charles Dickens, who created a cast of chubby characters, turn in his grave: author Plum Sykes says she was asked by her editor to remove the word ‘podgy’ from her latest novel, Wives Like Us. Speaking at the Cliveden Literary Festival, Sykes recalled replying: ‘But she’s fat – that’s part of her character. It’s so silly.’ In the end, she ‘just took it out’. 

A major opera company would be expected to be familiar with the most talented candidates in its field. But the cash-strapped English National Opera has hired a headhunting firm, AEM Recruitment, to find its next music director. Classical music author Norman Lebrecht calls it as a ‘staggering admission of senior ineptitude’.