I know, I can’t believe it either. But yes, I did Celebrity Mastermind and it airs on BBC1 this Saturday. My specialist subject is Jackie Collins (natch) and no spoilers but remember it’s all about the taking part! And despite it being one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever done it was also one of the most fun. I got to have a night away in a lovely hotel in Belfast (where the series is filmed) and loved meeting my brilliant fellow contenders – not to mention Clive Myrie.  Best of all my charity of choice Art Against Knives received a generous donation and for that reason alone it w ..read more

Happy New Year to you! A bit late but I had a busy start to the year hanging out (literally) in my swimwear doing a wine tasting in a hot tub halfway up a Swiss mountain ON NATIONAL TELEVISION. I know, I can’t believe it either but if you missed it and want to see what on earth I’m on about click here. Or check out my Instagram page (and just so you know, those hot tub jets were spouting ice cold water hence the shrieking). In other news, my Celebrity Mastermind episode is due to air in a few weeks’ time. My specialist subject is Jackie Collins (natch) and all I can say is you might not want ..read more

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve done drinks with Luke Evans, WineTime with Kat (and a church full of brilliant women!) and sung carols with Cliff Richard. Honestly, I couldn’t feel more Christmassy if I rolled myself in glitter. However, I haven’t done anything to make me feel even remotely organised on the home front. I’ve bought a few presents and ordered the turkey but that’s pretty much it. Still, my drinks cupboard is sorted so really it’s all gravy (well, not actual gravy, that’s still on the to-do list). This week’s wine recommendations are things I can’t do without over the Christm ..read more

I love a bargain, I really do. But if we’re talking wine there are a few things worth bearing in mind. For a start, whatever you pay for your bottle, £2.23 goes on tax. And that’s before VAT. Factor in the cost of making it, packaging it, shipping it and selling it and we’re talking pennies rather than pounds when it comes to what’s inside the bottle. So if I recommend a wine under £5 it’s because a) what’s inside tastes good and b) it’s made by a big producer who can afford to sell wine cheaply. I’ve tasted hundreds of wines from various retailers over the last few months including plenty un ..read more

It’s here! After months of planning, my first ever online wine course is ready for you to download and watch as and when you please. Broken down into 25 bite-size lessons it covers everything from how to read a wine label, what to drink with different foods, how to host your own wine tasting with friends and how to navigate your way around the supermarket wine section (very important, that one). The course costs £79 (so just over £3 a lesson) supported by downloadable workbooks and you can watch it however many times you like as and when you want to. Huge thanks to the brilliant team at Creat ..read more

I’m back! And I’m 50! We celebrated with a (very) long lunch in the garden just a few weeks ago and honestly, my fifties feel like I’ve arrived at a party I’ve been wanting to go to for ages. Even the dress code feels more relaxed. Anyway, I’ve got lots to tell you so I’ll start with book news. My third novel, This Is Us, came out just before my birthday. Set in Florence and Mull, it tells the story of Stella and her book club (and there’s a fair bit of wine involved, natch). I won’t give too much away but it’s about friends, sisters, marriage, motherhood and starting again. Thank you so much ..read more

Looks like we’re in for another hot spell which means one thing. Well, apart from having to shave my legs (that’s about as beach body ready as I’ll get). No, I’m talking summer drinks and so this week I thought I’d share the punch & pitchers I did on This Morning recently given that some of you have asked for the recipes. The idea is that you can make these up in batches so that you’re not having to faff around making individual cocktails for everyone, leaving you more time to sit, chat and be fabulous. In other news, my new novel This Is Us is out next month! It’s set in London, Florence ..read more

Last Saturday saw the start of English Wine Week and to celebrate we shared a selection of some of my current favourites on Saturday Kitchen. Sadly the Sparkling we had from Terlingham in Kent has since sold out but I’ve popped another one of their wines (a rosé!) in this week’s recommendations below. Then on Sunday I went to my first book festival of the year, the Borders Book Festival in Melrose – an old favourite – and hosted a big wine tasting with a fabulous bunch of wines/people. I also took part in the festival’s version of Celebrity Mastermind hosted by ACTUAL Clive Myrie and got to s ..read more

It’s the Easter Holidays! Or as I like to call it, that time when I spend the mornings trying to get my teenagers out of bed, the afternoon driving them around and any time in between checking they haven’t discovered this year’s hiding place for the Easter eggs. Actually, I posted a picture of a bag of Mini Eggs on Instagram last week asking if it was too early to go in. The responses were priceless. Unsurprisingly, the answer was a hard no and so to make up for it I made a huge chocolate cake at the weekend and covered it with Mini Eggs. It got the teenagers out of bed, at least. In other ne ..read more

It’s been a while. How are you? Yes, me too. Always tired. Could be my age, kids, work, hormones – take your pick. Anyway, it’s been a busy few weeks so I thought I’d share some highlights. First one, I’ve finished writing fiction book number three! Well, the first draft so there’s more work to be done but the bones are down on paper. This one takes a book club to Florence, then one of them to Mull and it’s been a joy to write. I’ll let you know as soon as I have a cover and a publishing date to share. In other news I nearly (virtually) met Dave Grohl. He was booked as a guest for Saturday Ki ..read more