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Yvie Burnett: From seeing Harry Styles to Hoovering the house

Harry Styles accepts the award for album of the year for "Harry's House" at the 65th annual Grammy Awards. Image: AP Photo/Chris Pizzello.
Harry Styles accepts the award for album of the year for "Harry's House" at the 65th annual Grammy Awards. Image: AP Photo/Chris Pizzello.

It’s been a pretty depressing week hasn’t it, with the tragic loss of so many lives following the earthquake in Southern Turkey and Syria.

It’s hard to watch the news and see the devastation and the sadness for so many families.

When things like that happen it’s hard to switch off from it and go about our day-to- day lives.

For light relief away from the news I watched late-night footage of the Grammy awards and it was wonderful to see Harry Styles win the coveted “album of the year” for his album Harry’s House.

Obviously for me it’s quite unbelievable that the young lad who came to audition for X Factor all those years ago continues to astound us all with his meteoric rise to the top.

I know that Beyoncé and Adele fans won’t be happy that he beat both of those stars to win this Grammy but I honestly believe that Harry’s House gave us something original and special and it was a well-deserved win.

Adele accepts the award for best pop solo performance for “Easy On Me” at the 65th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, February 5, 2023, in Los Angeles. Image: AP Photo/Chris Pizzello.

I will see Harry tonight because I’m going to The Brits where he is also performing. It’s set to be an incredible night so don’t forget to tune in.

So I’ve been at home for a few days and my cats have been cuddled lots, my house has been Hoovered, washings have been done and I’ve loved every minute of normal life.

The last week of Lewis’s UK tour was pretty tiring as we ended up going all the way to an extremely cold Exeter, which I’m sure is a lovely place to visit in the middle of the summer but was pretty bleak in February.

Beyonce accepts the award for best dance/electronic music album for “Renaissance” at the 65th annual Grammy Awards. Image: AP Photo/Chris Pizzello.

As I told you, I was continuing my catching up with friends while touring and my final get together was a visit from Carol Vorderman and her daughter Katie who were so happy to come to watch the show.

I forget just how excited people get to meet Carol and it took us ages to move around as Carol was stopped every few seconds for selfies.

It was all fun though and I loved that both Carol and Katie danced and sang along to every song.

Of course like everything Carol does at the moment, her side of stage antics ended up being tabloid news.

Yvie’s good friend Carol Vorderman.

Recently Carol has been bringing the government to task over corruption and cronyism and she hasn’t minced her words or held back from speaking the truth as she sees it.

One Glasgow newspaper has dubbed her the “real leader of the opposition” and people across social media have been lauding her for her courage in speaking out.

So why have Carol’s words resonated with the public more than many others who have spoken out before?

In my opinion it’s because her intelligent, extremely well researched facts, can’t really be argued with.

Researching the facts

She speaks passionately but concisely about the corruption she is calling out and makes sure that she can answer any questions put to her about her findings. Many politicians could learn from her.

When they are questioned on details they often swerve the answer because they don’t want to be called out on a particular issue but also because they haven’t always researched all the facts.

That’s where Carol is different. We respect her opinions because we know she will have studied every fact in detail before speaking out.

Of course the elephant in the room is that one of the people she has been speaking out about is Michelle Mone.

Carol, Michelle and myself used to spend time together and in fact it was Michelle who introduced me to Carol.

Tory peer Michelle Mone is at the centre of controversy over her alleged links to a firm awarded a PPE contract. Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire.

I’ve been asked for my opinions on Michelle and have chosen up to now, not to comment because she was always kind and lovely to me so it’s very hard to then speak about someone negatively.

But if I’m going to speak anywhere it might as well be here. And even now I will keep it brief.

Of course like everyone else I’ve been appalled that anyone could have profited at a time when thousands in our country were dying and people’s lives and livelihoods were torn apart by the pandemic.

Yvie Burnett with Carol Vorderman and her daughter Katie at the Lewis Capaldi concert.

But I’m not Carol Vorderman. I haven’t investigated the facts. I only know as much as the rest of you do and my information comes from what I read.

My overriding emotion about this whole Michelle Mone debacle is that it makes me very sad. The more money people have, the more they seem to want and maybe they lose themselves along the way. I’d say be careful what you wish for.

Have a good week,

Yvie x

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