TELEVISION / Tabloid TV

Shannen Doherty, star of Beverly Hills 90210 and recipient of a less than glowing media profile, fought back for the first time in the British press saying that, actually, she is not a bitch, demanding that viewers give her a second chance and even explaining the truth behind a much-publicised nightclub fight.

Breakfast television rivalry continued when ITV employees were barred from appearing as guests on The Big Breakfast unless they had already appeared on GMTV; The Big Breakfast team was meanwhile enjoying its comparative success until Chris Evans was vomited on by a cameraman when broadcasting live from a helicopter.

There were changes in stars' shapes: Esther Rantzen confessed that she was overweight as a teenager, Robbie Coltrane revealed that he has lost six stone since Christmas, and Burt Reynolds was reported to be shrinking by an inch a year due to injuries received when playing American football when he was younger.

Elsewhere, the BBC rescued This Is Your Life, the show ditched by ITV, and signed Michael Aspel to front three successive series.

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