Caught and social: The celebrity winners and losers

Yesterday we brought you some of the key parties and events from the UK this year, today here are some of big events of the celebrity world in 2011.

Singer Cheryl Cole (Rex Features)

Yesterday we brought you some of the key parties and events from the UK this year, today here are some of big events of the celebrity world in 2011.

The writing was on the wall when Cheryl Cole arrived to the US X-Factor dressed like a sweet. Still, the nation reacted in shock when it discovered that the US didn't love our northern national treasure as much as we did, and fired her from the talent show.

Kate Winslet, however, went from strength to strength. She got to play the role of real life action hero during a stay on Sir Richard Branson's Necker Island, when a fire broke out at the house. Not even having time to throw on a bra, Winslet, her children in tow, picked up Branson's redoubtable mother Eve, and carried her to safety. On the trip she was also supposed to have grown close to Branson's "zany" nephew Ned RocknRoll, who became her new gentleman caller.

Those reading yesterday should know that over-the-top weddings weren't simply confined to the UK. When Petra Ecclestone, the daughter of Formula 1 boss Bernie, married businessman James Stunt in Rome, the party (in a castle and featuring performances from Eric Clapton and the Black Eyed Peas) was so extravagant that even her billionaire father expressed surprise at the cost – a mere £12m. Meanwhile, reality star Kim Kardashian's marriage to basketball player Kris Humphries became one of the biggest media events in the US, as did its ending which came a little over two months later.

Slightly more surprising was the separation between Charlie Sheen and normal behaviour. In March, he was sacked from Two and A Half Men after a spectacular meltdown, which saw him claim to be both a "total bitchin' rock star from Mars" and a "Vatican assassin", who had "tiger blood" coursing through his veins. He also adopted the motto: "winning", which proved to be quite apt when he sued the producers of the sitcom and received a pay-off of more than $100m.

Lindsay Lohan's rewards were more modest this year, after she pocketed $1m for posing naked in Playboy magazine. This followed a spell where she had been accused of stealing a necklace, not sufficiently carrying out her community service and enjoying another (brief) spell in prison, all while trying to convince the world that she is a credible actress.

This was the year that Suri Cruise, the daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, cemented her place in the celebrity world. Despite being only five she has been labelled variously a future star and fashion icon, and is a favourite among the paparazzi, particularly for her eye for a photo opportunity, such as when she grabbed a box of penis-shaped Gummy Bears while out for dinner with her mother. But Suri will have some competition in 2012 in the fashionable child stakes from Harper Seven, the Beckhams' new daughter.