James Bond legend signs up to star as trainer of British boxing ace Prince Naseem in huge new drama
PIERCE Brosnan has joined the cast of the delayed biopic film about showman former world boxing champ “Prince” Naseem Hamed.
I can reveal the 007 legend will star in Giant as featherweight fighter Naz’s trainer Brendan Ingle.
Paddy Considine had been the man to play the part but the movie was stalled last year by industry strikes.
Paddy then quit after becoming busy with Game of Thrones spin-off House Of The Dragon which starts a second run this summer.
A TV insider said of the revised casting for Giant: “Signing a former Bond will be a great boost for the production, which was last year slapped on ice just before filming began.
“A walkout by the writers’ and actors’ unions saw work grind to a halt last May but thankfully the wheels are now back in motion again and all the parties involved have been able to return to the project, except for Paddy of course.”
Boxing fan Pierce was in the audience when the then 21-year-old Naz captured his first world title, taking the WBO belt from Welshman Steve Robinson in September 1995.
Naturally, the actor probably had the best seats in the house as it was the same year he made his debut as Bond in GoldenEye — before going on to star in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), The World Is Not Enough (1999), and Die Another Day (2002).
The Prince Naseem movie will chart his rags to-riches story as the son of Yemeni immigrants who was born and raised in Sheffield.
Naz went on to win 36 out of his 37 fights between 1992 and 2002 and held multiple featherweight belts.
The cocksure slugger, now 50 and long-since retired, is rated one of the greatest British boxers of all time.
He once entered the ring on a flying carpet and also re-enacted the famous Michael Jackson Thriller video.
And key to his all-conquering success was the man in his corner, former steelworker Ingle.
But he will never be able to upstage a Bond leading man.
1% CLUB IS AT TOP OF GAME
IT’S official – The 1% Club has become the biggest game-show on UK telly.
The current series enjoyed bumper ratings last year, latest figures reveal.
Around 5.8million people tuned in, either on a Saturday night or on catch-up.
That makes the quiz programme, hosted by funnyman Lee Mack since its launch in 2022, ITV’s biggest original gameshow in a decade.
The 1% Club’s popularity has steadily grown to its now heady heights.
Last year, it won the National Television Award for Best Quiz Game Show.
Now I will throw down the gauntlet to Lee and his team – go find 100 celebrities willing to take part in an all-star special.
A FRESCO painting that looks like an ancient pizza will be uncovered on a BBC Two show tomorrow night.
The story behind the painting, which dates back 2,000 years and could depict the world’s first pizza, will be told in the first episode of Pompeii: The New Dig, which airs at 9pm.
A SUITE LIFE ONLY FOR ROB
ROB Rinder is jetting off to the Sahara Desert to run the world’s most difficult race – over seven days and 150 miles in sweltering heat.
But the running will not be the hard part for TV judge Rob as he tackles the Marathon de Sables for charity, alongside British Army soldiers.
Instead, it will be the lack of five-star luxury he has got used while co-hosting BBC series Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond The Lobby with MasterChef judge Monica Galetti.
Rob said: “It’s not the running that troubles me as much as the sleeping in tents and cooking our own food.
“It’s the biggest challenge – these army guys I’m with are used to ploughing up the earth with the a*** bone of a giraffe – so for them a night in a bivouac is a bit like how I feel in a four-star hotel, a bit of an inconvenience.”
KATH HAS A HOOT ON HOL
COMICS Katherine Ryan and Joe Wilkinson have travelled the UK and beyond, from Bulgaria to Latvia, for their new Channel 4 series on budget getaways.
But episode one of Joe and Katherine’s Bargain Holidays, on April 25, sees them in Norfolk having a go at “champing” – camping in a church.
The church, redundant St Michael the Archangel, in the village of Booton, is nicknamed Cathedral of the Fields for its majestic looks.
They also take in an owl sanctuary at Fritton Plant Centre, an alternative spa and a paddleboard yoga class.
But Canadian-Irish Katherine finds the going tough.
She said: “I agreed to become Joe’s travel buddy and bargain student as I’m ashamed of my luxury taste and need to learn how to budget – but he takes the piss.
“I hate being hot, and travel delays, so was livid when Joe made us fly on a budget airline which was 12 hours late on the sweltering Tarmac.
“A passenger soiled himself and everyone rushed to the front of the plane to get away from the smell.”
Happy holidays, Katherine.
RUFUS A ROYAL RINGER
RUFUS Sewell was such a dead ringer for Prince Andrew on Scoop one of his co-stars thought the real Prince was on set.
Alex Waldmann, who played the royal’s PR manager Jason Stein, hoped a make-up mishap would help him prove it was Rufus.
He said: “It was disconcerting, so I’d get face to face with him and just desperately look for the make-up joins.
“I was sort of waiting for the take where it be hot and sweaty and would all start melting off… But it didn’t.”
Instead, the only major disaster on the set of the Netflix series was Moody the beloved pooch of interviewer Emily Maitlis played by Gillian Anderson.
He added: “It was the worst behaved dog in the world – it was the biggest diva on the whole set and was a total nightmare.
“The wonders of cinema are how they made it look really obedient.”
BRIDGERTON writer Shonda Rhimes hopes her series spells the end of online dating.
Asked if the romance show was the antidote to apps like Tinder, she told the ST Mag: “Exactly. There are no rules of engagement any more, but people love when the rules of love are so clear.”
ACCENTS ARE JAN’S TURN-OFF
WATCH what you say to veteran newsreader Jan Leeming – or rather, watch HOW you say it.
The former BBC broadcaster has taken to social media to slate fellow presenters who have accents she doesn’t approve of.
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Jan said: “Totally accept accents unless they are so pronounced the speaker is unintelligible to the masses outside their region.
“A newish reporter on ITV News last night drove me to turn off.”
She continued: “The PC brigade have made it totally acceptable. I am tired of the PC and lack of professionalism in all areas. We have lost the battle.”
I’m not sure she speaks for everyone.