Best

Yes, Long Lost Family is back

LOOK FAB FOR LESS!

Remember pop duo The Cheeky Girls? First seen on Popstars: The Rivals in 2002? They later hit the headlines with their song, ‘The Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum)’. Well, they are now 43 years old and they still look like they did back in 2002. ‘I think the...

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£1,834 in prizes & puzzle money*

So... a brandnew year!

That’s small, achievable steps that will have long-lasting results. No giant resolutions here that will see you with your head in your hands in despair on Quitter’s Day – traditionally the second Friday in January, so the 9th this year. Just gentle,...

RING IN THE NEW YEAR!

Dress to impress in plush velvet Go faux fabulous Cocktails & canapés Two weeks of Xmas TV guide PLUS, pets, puzzles & prizes!

Time to party!

Christmas and New Year’s Eve – the most wonderful times of the year, a time most of us will attend at least one party. Be it the o ce Christmas bash, a night out with girlfriends, or the Big One, the New Year’s Eve extravaganza. Obviously, I’ve...

EDITOR IN CHIEF

It’s not just kids that write a letter to Santa at Christmas (or a least drop a few hints to family and friends) with their gift ‘wish list’, so the magic lives on in its own way. I love a new perfume and these three are no exception, so if you are...

MOST MAGICAL TIME OF YEAR

✔ Naughty but nice Christmas recipes ✔ Prezzies for pets ✔ Deck your halls from £5 ✔ Traditional treats under £10 ✔ PLUS, 7 days of must-see TV

THE ENTIRE WISE WOMEN OF CHRISTMAS

XMAS PUPS? ADOPT ONE FOR DOGS’ SAKE!

HAVE A PENNY PINCHING CHRISTMAS

What a week it was!

It was wall-to-wall stars at the Waldorf hotel in London last Thursday, when they turned out in force – Christine Lampard, Gloria Hunniford, Dr Hilary Jones and comedian Richard Blackwood were among the names that attended – turn the page for more and...

WIN! A HOLIDAY IN CORFU, WORTH £1,400*

‘School bullies called me Fat Nat’

EASTENDERS, CORRIE, EMMERDALE…

FABULOUS DRAMA!

Dust o your sequins… Strictly Come Dancing went live at the weekend! For me, the show means the countdown to Winter (and yes, I know it’s too early to mention, but... Christmas). As the evenings get darker, the costumes and tans shine even...

Dressed to impress

We love TV at best and, let’s face it, the NTAs are the small-screen industry’s equivalent of Christmas. From soap stars to national treasures, the very best of British were out in their finery. I know everyone is talking about the well-deserving...

THE MAGIC OF MEG...

Well, it’s official, we have finally found the specialist subject for the Duchess of Sussex (see page 8), unintentionally making me laugh. If you want to escape reality for a few hours, tune in. With Love, Meghan, Season Two, is better than Season...

SECOND HAND SEPTEMBER

TIPS & TRICKS ON HOW TO BUY YEAR! NOTHING NEW FOR A WHOLE

Thursday murders…

Cosy crime – not the reallife awful murders we see on TV and in the papers, but ctional Agatha Christie-style murders, set in small communities (usually the countryside), with amateur sleuths who stumble on a murder that needs solving have long been...

A year without my darling Stevie

DOES INSTAGRAM MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE A FAILURE?

THE DUKE OF OAFISHNESS

Heavy metal hearts

That was in 1970. They began dating nine years later, when he was fired from Black Sabbath for drug-taking, and she became his manager. They married in Hawaii in 1982 – a marriage that was, at times, far from perfect, but it didn’t matter. At the end...

PLUS! £1,445 in prizes & puzzle money money*

PLUS! £1,445 ininprizesprizes &puzzle money money*

Fawlt-less play

Last week, I was lucky to see our Absolutely Fawt-less columnist Helen Lederer star in her debut as Mrs Richards in Fawlty Towers at the West End Apollo Theatre. You remember, the guest who complains constantly about everything – including the view of...

On the farm with Kate’s sister…

Summer lovin’…

‘Now?’ I questioned when he suggested it. ‘It’s still light,’ he shrugged. It was. Right now, those long days and warm nights are in full swing, so best has been turning its mind to how we make the best of that weather and so this week’s issue is full...

SIZE OF A MONTHLY, PRICE OF A WEEKLY

Follow your dreams!

With our new regular soap updates and seven-day TV listings, we’ve got all your viewing covered! We especially love a bargain here at best (think Champagne lifestyle, Prosecco budget!) so I think you’ll like beauty expert Elsa McAlonan’s five mighty...

That’s all he’s sayin’...

Three questions: Firstly, were you a Dempsey & Makepeace fan? Secondly, what are your plans for 17 June? And finally, how easily can you get to Waterstones in Chelsea? Michael Brandon (oh yes, the American idol himself ) will be signing copies of his...

Welcome to our new look best magazine

From this issue, we will be 32 pages bigger every week. And what that means is your greatvalue best has even more to offer. You won’t need to splash out on a separate TV magazine as now you can get your listings in best. We have extra puzzles, more...

Best is getting BIGGER and better!

And it seems you love it so much, we are now going to bring you a NEW bigger best EVERY week from next week. To thank you for your loyalty to the biggest and best weekly on the market, you will find a £1 off coupon opposite, so the first NEW LOOK mag...

Face and fortune

Here at best we believe age is just a number, right? This week our outspoken columnist Carol McGiffin laments the passing of time, and at 65, wonders where the years have gone. And we celebrate with former Queen of Mean, Anne Robinson, 80, who thinks...

London calling!

It’s sung by girl band Remember Monday (above) and there’s something very Bucks Fizz in Geri Halliwell Union Jack outfits about them! You go girls! And fly that flag. They’re purely Nineties feelgood pop. They may lose out to political solidarity...

FARMER WANTS A WIFE…

The funniest hunt for a spouse ever? FARMER WANTS A WIFE…

Time for a good laugh!

Laughter for one. Nothing brings your stress levels down quicker than a giggle with a girlfriend – it’s good for the heart as well as your health. Over and above that, I start most mornings by watching yet another rerun of Everybody Loves Raymond –...

Cruel joke

She’s fabulously fierce, so who would ever have guessed Janet Street Porter is secretly insecure about her looks?! Yet, just last week, she revealed how upset she was when she was the butt of the joke in a seventies TV sketch by the hilarious Kenny...

GORGEOUS EASTER IDEAS

Why wasn’t Cat at her mother-in-law’s funeral?

Happy Mother’s Day!

You can’t imagine them ever growing up when they’re little, (yes, that’s me above when my now 28-year-old daughter Danielle was small) but they do! Sunday is Mother’s Day, so as a mum myself, I acknowledge that it’s a tough job. In fact, on page 14,...

To tweak or not to tweak…

Regular readers will already know Carol McGiffin is a great friend of mine and, it turns out, Sherrie Hewson (who will be on an upcoming episode of Suddenly Single – keep your eye out for that one). If I say so myself, she’s hilarious and one of our...

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IN PRIZES & PUZZLE MONEY*

Life in a fragile world

I was so sad to read that 39-year-old Michelle Trachtenberg, the star of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Gossip Girl, died last Wednesday – the reason has still not been confirmed in the press, but I believe that it might have been her body rejecting her...

Yummy mummies & big knickers…

Personally, I love the tummy control ones but as celebrity stylist Lucas Armitage advised, go for black to look sexy, never beige. That’s a top tip and one that both Davina McCall , 57, and I would agree on – remember Davina looking fab in that sheer...

THE KITCHEN DANCE PARTY

There was something wonderfully liberating about putting on my Walkman or cranking up the radio for an after-school shake off. Years later, it would put me in the mood for a dinner party. Chopping veggies to Abba’s Dancing Queen, Her Name was Lola by...

TOYBOYS & TEARS…

Sunday As a shy 20-year-old, I found her beautiful – flowing dark hair, huge brown eyes, soft voice. From dating to divorce, bankruptcy to veganism, nothing was off limits for Liz. Reading her column for the last 20 years, I discovered she thought of...

A best CRIME SERIES BY NICK FERRARI

best – 92 PACKED PAGES!

BRIT HUMOUR…

We’re more than okay with sending ourselves up: Got the sack? Got dumped? Made a bad decision? Get down the pub or round your mates, drown your sorrows and have a bloody good laugh over a bottle of wine, a pint, or a cocktail with double umbrella, as...

The last goodbye

Her humour was infectious and is the thing I will remember most about her – plus our shared love of Donny Osmond… When he came to the UK back in 2023, they met up and – thanks to her new curly blonde hair – she told him she was identifying as a sheep....

GO WITH THE FLOW…

Firstly, our hilarious writer Wendy (above) is taking a literal leap into 2025 on page 18. I’d want a wetsuit, a swim hat and a snorkel given the potential health benefits being outweighed by possible pollution in some rivers… I think I’d rather go...

‘BRING IT ON!’

Seeing Red PLUS Eamonn’s surprise pledge

My paw-fect pension plan to see the world on a shoestring!

Time for a new year!

Even if I’m just dancing around the kitchen (which is a distinct possibility this year!) I’m NOT one of those people who goes to bed before midnight. There’s no denying 2024 has been tough for some – not least the Royals (see page 8) – so I understand...

CHRISTMAS: TIME TO SPARK LE

SEQUINNED SWEATERS, FROM £16 GLITTERING NAILS, FROM £1 SET THE SCENE, FROM £1.50 SELF-GIFTING, FROM £4.50

Go retro this xmas

Quality Street, trifle, Bagpuss, a real tree… This week, we bring you a whole seven pages of amazing ways to rewind to Christmas past (see page 51), so here are some of my own memories and other ideas to help you to have a very Happy...

best heroes: A breakable heart of gold

Ispotted my daughter, Melissa Kinsella, struggling up the path, pushing a buggy, a little girl skipping along on either side. ‘Let me help you,’ I smiled at the front door. She was with my granddaughters, Chloe, now nine, Beau, four and Romi,...

COUNTDOWN FOR CHRISTMAS

BOOZY BAKES NEW TREES & DECS BLACK FRIDAY BARGAINS

HOUSE OF GONKS

Welcome to our first Christmas issue of 2024. As is the best tradition, each week until the Big Day, I’ll be telling you about the three things I love in my letter that will bring a smile to your face without breaking the bank! First off, why not...

WHY DON’T WE EVER TALK ABOUT MONEY?

PRE CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN ✔ Clean up in time for Christmas ✔ Magical melt off the lbs diet ✔ More treats under £10 ✔ 6 speedy party face solutions ✔ Spa breaks to help you stay calm

The body beautiful

Maybe younger smarter women than me point out attributes to their daughters, nieces and grandchildren that aren’t about looks. Instead, they tell them how smart they are or say how brilliant it is that they’re assertive (not bossy as it would have been...

Single… & loving it

So, this week’s guest on our Suddenly Single podcast (see page 21) is Tamzin Outhwaite, who has turned out to be a bit of a Gwyneth Paltrow in my eyes – what I mean by that is she has managed something most of us don’t… She has ‘consciously uncoupled’...

IT’S SPOOKTACULAR!

Ghostly lollies Frightful crafts Shockingly good buys from 99p PLUS wickedly tasty cakes

TO CATCH A THIEF…

Set in eighties London, the series introduces Joan (played by Sophie Turner, above) as a loving mum to four-yearold Debbie, but following a disastrous marriage (where her hubby goes to prison and her daughter ends up in care), she embarks on a...

Time for great TV!

Obviously, being a co-presenter on best’s new pod/ vodcast Suddenly Single: ( youtube.com/@best_magazine_ uk,) one of my go-to shows is My Mum,Your Dad. Turn to page 12, where we have Clare’s take on fashion. I’m on the JD William’s website already!...

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DINNER FOR AT FAULTY TOWERS & HOTEL STAY, WORTH ! * * T&Cs APPLY

My Mum, Your Dad

This time last year, when we rst heard of a new show that was billed as ‘the middle-age Love Island’ I really wasn’t sure it was for me. Despite being middle-aged and single, I quite liked tuning in to the next generation on Made in Chelsea or TOWIE....