Kylie Minogue and Cheryl Cole are among the stars lined up for guest appearances on BBC1's The Voice as the show battles a ratings slide.

Another week, another scandal in Simon Cowell's empire. Whenever you think it might be losing its lustre, up comes something that catapaults it back into the national conversation.

Outlook Amazing what you can do with Japanese managers. Thanks to the small matter of an £8m bung from the Government, more than 1,000 desperately needed jobs are going to be created in the North-east, where Nissan will build some new cars.

There is nothing wrong with Glaswegian men having a good cry

The hair

Strictly Come Dancing's Alesha Dixon is leaving the show to join the judging panel of hit ITV show Britain's Got Talent, the singer announced today.

Amanda Holden is expecting another child.

Singing star Susan Boyle is to see the story of her incredible rise to worldwide success brought to life in a new stage musical.

Domino's Pizza UK has ended its sponsorship of ITV's Britain's Got Talent series after what it described as "outrageous" price demands.

The actress Amanda Holden is expected to undergo a series of tests to try to determine what caused the stillbirth of her baby seven months into her pregnancy.

Ladies, meet John Courtney. Unmarried, cripplingly lacking in self-awareness, all he wants in life is a nice wife to make him happy. Is that so much to ask? He's talented (an accomplished musician, he sends compositions to the young women who take his fancy), he's kind – constantly distributing sweetmeats to young ladies – and he's got the perfect marital home.

The Diary has nothing against the man personally – he's terribly charming in fact – but here's a little warning to Footsie bosses concerning Andrew Gowers. The former Financial Times editor is in need of a new job, so it's very likely his CV will be passing across your desk shortly. Just bear in mind that after leaving the FT he went to Lehman Brothers as head of European communications, only for it to go bust. And that he then moved on to BP, only to see it suffer the catastrophic Gulf of Mexico spill. Now he's quit there too. Where will he pop up next? They say accidents run in threes.