logo
Countdown star Susie Dent to appear at Monmouth theatre

Countdown star Susie Dent to appear at Monmouth theatre

The best-selling author will appear at The Blake Theatre on Sunday, September 28, with her show Word Perfect.
She will unravel the mysteries of the English language, including why owls form a parliament and which orange came first, the fruit or the colour.
This follows her successful 74-date tour, The Secret Life Of Words, which ran from 2018 to 2024.
Speaking about her new tour, Ms Dent said: "The English language will never stop surprising and delighting me: it is as wayward as it is majestic, while the dictionary is as full of magic, drama, and adventure as you will find anywhere.
"I can't wait to walk down some more of its secret alleyways with the Word Perfect audiences, and to hear their own questions about our curious mother tongue."
Ms Dent has spent more than three decades in Dictionary Corner on Countdown and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.
She was appointed an MBE in 2024, the same year her debut novel, Guilty by Definition, was published.
She will have two new books, Words For Life, and The Roots We Share: 100 Words That Bring Us Together, released this autumn.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Meghan Markle's rosé-tinted reality
Meghan Markle's rosé-tinted reality

Spectator

timean hour ago

  • Spectator

Meghan Markle's rosé-tinted reality

Rosé, like a lot of wine, is not much good. And yet people love it, for the simple fact that it is pink. This reminds them of all nice things – and especially of warm summer evenings somewhere non-grotty. Like the south of France. Or… the Napa Valley. That is where the new branded rosé of Meghan Markle comes from – the latest in a carousel of celebrity rosés. The output of 'As Ever', her lifestyle brand, the wine is a 'thoughtfully curated' vintage. The former Suits star is pleased to offer 'a roundness and depth of flavour' that 'invites you to celebrate warm summer moments with the ones you love'. It sold out immediately – something that usually happens to a new iPhone or sports bra, not bottles of probably quite plonky plonk. (Most rosé is plonk and we all know it.) The magnetism of rosé for business-curious celebs bears examining. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt started the trend by buying the vineyard Château Miraval in Provence in 2006 (and fighting like cats over it long after their divorce). Miraval felt on-brand for them at the time. But then came Snoop Dogg, Cameron Diaz ('all about clean ingredients'), Jon Bon Jovi, Sarah Jessica Parker, Drew Barrymore, Graham Norton, Gordon Ramsay and, of course, Kylie Minogue – who has nine types, including an alcohol-free variety. Kylie Rosé, simply called Kylie, is the UK's best-selling rosé. Its label looks like a pre-teen has been let loose in a Claire's Accessories. And yet off the shelves it flies – perhaps justifiably, given its sub-£10 price tag. Rosé is cheap, but I can't say that I find it all that cheerful. Still, it must be the pinkness and indeterminateness of the wine that makes dollar signs flash in the eyes of all those celebrity vendors. Nobody seems much bothered by what rosé actually is: not-quite-red wine served at white-wine temperatures. It is made from red grapes and tinged by contact with the grape skins. We all think that dark red rosés – a suspect, magenta-adjacent lipstick hue – are inherently worse than the famous straw-tinted paler pinks. But the colour just comes down to maceration time, which is always short in rosé-world. That's rosé for you: skin-deep. This tart of wines barely macerates, and spends next to no time crouching boringly in cellars, which costs producers in space and time but gives wine depth and structure. Out it pops – cheap as chips – and we all love it. Rosé sales are soaring around the world. It's not just Provence or Napa that is wanted: English and Welsh rosés is up 200 per cent at Majestic Wines, and 160 per cent at Aldi. But the romance of wine – and especially rosé – is basically France. In France, people sit in heat and eat duck confit and baguette and get in the mood for love. The imagery is as far removed from the neon lights of mass production as possible. Meghan wants a world where everything is hand-picked and bespoke, and who has publicised her own detailed involvement in tasting and testing, using her own handwriting on the label. Yet even she is hawking a rosé made from Fairwinds Estate grapes, which is anything but a romantic producer. Devastated by wildfires, Meghan chose them as a show of support – but they are huge and dreary. They make wine for Barry Manilow, the TV show Yellowstone, and sports teams – and their website has a section devoted to work specifically with college fraternities. I get it. When you substitute out red or white and replace it with the colour pink and the promise of sunsets in the south of France, of course it'll be popular – even though it's more likely to be drunk at a barbecue in Greater Manchester or suburban New Jersey. What I will never cease to find surprising is that the girly scrawl of Kylie or Meghan turns people on, not off. Still, there is nothing wrong with this utter vulgarisation of a dubious-at-worst, sphinx-like-at-best type of wine. Good business is good business. And if celebrity rosés entrench the escapist appeal of rosé to a nation that goes mad when the temperature gets to what retailers now call the 'rosé tipping point' (20 degrees, when sales jump by 150 per cent), then fine by me. But a word about rosés that aren't stamped with Meghan's macabre, perpetual invitation to take flight into love and light through her products. I've tried only a few rosés that ask for the glass to be finished. One was from Chêne Bleu – the winery run by Nicole Rolet, wife of Xavier Rolet, former head of the London Stock Exchange – and the other, oddly, is Whispering Angel, the (vulgar-looking) £25 stuff available at Waitrose from Château d'Esclans, which is now owned by LVMH, who is credited with reviving interest in rosé at a luxury level. Both are not only that straw-salmon colour; they also hold back their strawberry notes, while the mouth fills with something more tart and buttery. Still, if both of these were on offer, I'd go for a good fizz – boring old white, boring old bubbles, but genuinely effervescent. Not just pretty.

Lewis Capaldi poses with music legend Dolly Parton
Lewis Capaldi poses with music legend Dolly Parton

Glasgow Times

time10 hours ago

  • Glasgow Times

Lewis Capaldi poses with music legend Dolly Parton

Lewis Capaldi recently posed for a photo with US country star Dolly Parton. The snap, which shows the pair beaming, was shared on Instagram with the caption 'Good golly, miss Dolly'. Fans expressed their excitement in the comments. READ NEXT: Former Rangers star engaged after popping the question on holiday One person said: 'I don't know whether I am more jealous of Lewis or Dolly.' A second added: 'The crossover I didn't know I needed.' Meanwhile, a third commented: 'Iconic.' READ NEXT: Popular English rock band announce show in Glasgow Lewis, who was born in Glasgow, also shared an image of his name on the door of a dressing room at The Tonight Show. The 28-year-old captioned the snap, 'tonight'. (Image: Lewis Capaldi/Instagram) The Tonight Show is a TV talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon and broadcast live from the Rockefeller Center in New York.

Popular English rock band announce show in Glasgow
Popular English rock band announce show in Glasgow

Glasgow Times

time12 hours ago

  • Glasgow Times

Popular English rock band announce show in Glasgow

The Charlatans will take to the stage at the Barrowland Ballroom in the city's East End on December 12. Tickets for the gig will be available for pre-sale from 10am on July 17 and general sale from 10am on July 18. READ NEXT: I visited a hidden Glasgow gem - it was a European summer dream JUST ANNOUNCED🚨» The Charlatans@TheBarrowlands | 12th December 2025 MORE INFO ⇾ — Gigs in Scotland (@gigsinscotland) July 14, 2025 The announcement comes as the English rockers prepare to release a new album titled We Are Love on October 31. For further information, visit Gigs in Scotland's website HERE.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store