Here's a bit of a whinge. Have you seen that programme on British television called Room 101 ... very George Orwell but the idea is that a "celebrity" goes on the telly and moans about his or her pet likes and dislikes. These objects of hatred are then consigned to a dustbin and we all live happily ever after. Well, here are my four items, people in fact. Dale Winton Graham Norton Charles Ingram Chris Tarrant Dale Winton has been reviled on this blog before: I find him odious and talentless yet he adorns the television screen ad nauseam. He appeared on prime time Christmas Day television on BBC1 and again later that day; but he came in the top three of a poll recently as one of the three people that viewers most want to be thrown off the telly. I would have voted for him to be thrown off too. Sorry to be so negative but I don't like his lack of personality wafting across my screen. Moreover, he published an autobiography a while ago in which he came out as Gay. Then beggar me, two or three months later he married a young lady. @rse! Graham Norton is one of those wild people whose real persona is probably 180 degrees removed from their public persona. I don't like his antics, his effeminacy, his loud jackets. He was also in the top three of the poll that wanted rid of Winton. @rse! Michael Barrymore was the other top three candidate for being chucked off the telly but I am indifferent to him as he as almost sunk for the moment. If he came back I would still be indifferent. Major Charles Ingram is the man who was found guilty of having cheated on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?: having taken along a knowledgeable man to sit in the audience and who coughed at the right and wrong answers. As Ingram thought about his answers, his friend would cough to say yes or no ... absolutely blatant and absolutely bang to rights. They were taken to court and lost. Ingram maintains his innocence. Then he was found guilty of attempting to defraud an insurance company ... all told a bad lot. Then lo and behold I saw that he was on the telly as a "celebrity" taking part in some kind of poxy reality TV programme. Needless to say I didn't watch it but if reminded me of Christine and Neil Hamilton, that reviled couple who are making a very handsome living out of being both bankrupt and odious. @rses! Chris Tarrant hosts Who wants to be a Millionaire? and had I been writing this rant last year or the year before or the year before ... he would have been on my list of get rids. For what it's worth, he got onto children's television in the 1970s I think it was on the strength of his having applied and having been a school teacher. I always felt he had no depth to his character, his sense of humour is immature and his ability to carry on a decent dialogue is woeful. I heard a review of his morning radio programme on Capital Radio recently and he was generally slated for that by all and sundry: ratings and quality couldn't go much lower than he has taken them was the general concensus. Still, three out of four of these men are doing very well for themselves and the fourth one probably will become a millionaire now that he has become a "celebrity". The word celebrity has become a misnomer now. In the old days we had stars then we needed a superlative, superstar, then we needed megastar ... now they are all celebrities. To be a celebrity means that one is celebrated, surely. Who celbrates the people discussed here I wonder? DW