Lifestyle

A mum has quit her £250,000-a-year porn star career to become a church minister. Crystal Bassette, 33, featured in over 100 adult films and pocketed around £25,000 a month which she splashed out on sports cars and a mansion. But after 10 years in the porn industry the mum-of-three decided to call it quits to devote herself to God. Now, she has founded her own church in New York with her new husband, also a minister. Crystal fell pregnant at 16 and moved to Hollywood from North Carolina determined to give her son a good life. She spent a few years modelling and pole dancing before an adult film agent told her she could make $30,000 (£25,000) a month by starring in porn films. Remembering her first scene at a house in Malibu, she said: "I sat in the shower for about two hours crying. Then I stopped after that shoot and didn't go back for about one month. "I ended up going back to it again and that's when I was numbing myself through taking pain medicine and drinking … [Read more...] about Mum quits £250,000-a-year porn star career and lavish Hollywood lifestyle to become church minister after finding God

Bong Joon-ho has returned to Cannes with a luxuriously watchable and satirical suspense drama. It runs as purringly smooth as the Mercedes driven by the lead character, played by Korean star Song Kang-ho. Parasite is a bizarre black comedy about social status, aspiration, materialism and the patriarchal family unit, and people who accept the idea of having (or leasing) a servant class.Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden, an adaptation of the novel Fingersmith by Sarah Walters; and also Im Sang-son’s 2010 Cannes entry The Housemaid, a remake of Kim Ki-Young’s classic Korean thriller from 1960. Also notable is the film’s focus on poverty, desperation and the phenomenon of those in debt having to vanish to escape creditors (also a theme in Lee Chang-dong’s 2018 film Burning). Topics Cannes 2019 Cannes film festival Bong Joon-ho South Korea Thrillers (film) Asia Pacific Festivals reviews Share on Facebook Share on … [Read more...] about Parasite review – creepy invasion of the lifestyle snatchers

Simon Cowell's dramatic weight loss was the key talking point as he made his latest public appearance in London on Monday morning. The X Factor head judge, 60, looked slimmer than ever while greeting onlookers ahead of his appearance at Heart Radio studios in Leicester Square.  Sporting a fitted black sweater and matching jeans, Cowell - who has lost more than 20Ibs in weight thanks to a fastidious vegan diet - was in high spirits as he made his way inside.  Slim: Simon Cowell's dramatic weight loss was the key talking point as he made his latest public appearance in London on Monday morning The music mogul added to his look with a pair of pointed Derby shoes, while trademark heavily tinted sunglasses rounded things off.  RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next Kim Kardashian West embraces her curves in slinky snakeskin... Zayn Malik is reunited with his family as he returns to the... Best dressed stars at People's Choice Awards 2019: Gwen... Jennifer … [Read more...] about Is Simon overdoing it? Cowell looks slimmer than ever at Heart Radio studios as he continues to display the dramatic results of his new vegan lifestyle

Supermarkets’ year-round tomato options aren’t always the most inspiring. But now tomatoes have come into season. We eat a lot of cherry tomatoes, either from the garden – if the possums have spared us a few – or from our local fruit and veg shop. We are always selecting new colours and shapes as they become available through the season. Caprese salad can be a standby staple with some bocconcini or pesto at hand, or a special treat with well-seasoned tomatoes, excellent Australian mozzarella, olive oil and torn basil. Using the classic salad as the basis for a frittata turns it into a full meal. Caprese salad frittata with prosciutto I make frittata from a ratio-based recipe, using one egg to one-third volume of cream, so 16g of cream for every 50g of egg (yolk and white). It sounds complicated in theory, but once you have the hang of it, it makes the process more flexible and streamlined. Once you’re across this way of thinking, you can make this for a … [Read more...] about Jackie Middleton’s quick and easy caprese-inspired frittata recipe

Food is at the heart of Spanish culture. From social life to business deals, everything revolves around food – above all, lunch. How did Mariano Rajoy, then prime minister, react last year when faced with an unprecedented vote of no confidence? He went to lunch. For eight hours. The three-course menú del día has been the cornerstone of Spanish cuisine and social life for generations. Consequently, the restaurants serving these menús – generally low on aesthetics and high on value for money – have been a feature of the urban landscape. Now, though, their existence is threatened by a combination of rising rents, changing tastes and working hours, tourism and gentrification. The fixed-price menú del día (menu of the day) as we know it was introduced in the mid-1960s as the menú turístico (tourist menu) to ensure an affordable meal was within reach of all Spaniards. All of these restaurants had to offer one until the law changed in 2010. … [Read more...] about No more two-hour lunch breaks: the slow death of Spain’s menú del día