Let’s face it, the whole of 2020 was one giant WTF? moment. But in amongst all the doom and gloom there was loads of showbiz shenanigans that still managed to raise our weary eyebrows.
From sex-talking pensioners on This Morning and Oscar-winning OAP TikTok sensations (thank you Anthony Hopkins), to Harry Styles and Henry Cavill doing really ordinary things, but somehow making them just a little bit sexy.
Here’s our round-up of the most jaw-dropping, we-still-can’t-believe-that-actually-happened moments from the last 12 months.
80-year-old This Morning guest holds nothing back during discussion about sex with her toyboy
“A whole tube of KY jelly” and “saddle sore” both get a mention in The Greatest TV Moment Of The Year.
Take it away, Iris...
Margot Robbie fangirls over the cast of Love Island
When you’re an A-lister like Margot Robbie – who has worked with the likes of Brad Pitt, Will Smith, Charlize Theron and Leonardo DiCaprio – you’d think your days of getting star struck would be behind you.
Not so, it seems, after the Hollywood star truly had zero chill after bumping into some of the cast of last year’s Love Island at the premiere of her new film back in January.
Viewer brands Jeremy Vine a ‘c***’ on live TV
Jeremy Vine got a nasty shock in February when a caller to his Channel 5 show dropped the C-bomb live on air.
During a phone-in segment about Valentine’s Day, “Tim” revealed he’d not bought his wife a Valentine’s Day card for their entire marriage.
“We’ve been married 28 years and never bought into Valentine’s Day cards,” he insisted, before abruptly adding: “And you’re a c***.”
How rude.
Anthony Hopkins joins TikTok. Dances to Drake’s Toosie Slide
Almost three decades after Anthony Hopkins won an Oscar for playing murderous Hannibal Lecter in Silence Of The Lambs, the actor joined TikTok and immediately made an impression by shaking his tail feather to Drake’s Toosie Slide.
Just give him all the awards.
Cilla Black eating an orange covered in Oxo was somehow even weirder than the actual news
The unearthed clip – taken from a BBC food documentary – showed the late Blind Date presenter discussing her penchant for sprinkling Oxo cubes on an orange, before tucking into the delicacy on camera.
Yum.
Britain’s oldest identical twins (almost) leave Piers Morgan lost for words
Lil and Doris made quite the impression during their appearance on Good Morning Britain in May. The sisters proved their sense of humour was very much intact after Piers asked them what their secret to a long life was.
Lil pointed to her sister and said: “Her secret... plenty of sex!”
Gogglebox’s Lee demonstrates how not to eat toast
To dunk or not to dunk? That is the question. But when it comes to toast in tea, Gogglebox viewers were unanimous.
Jennifer Lopes shares gym selfie, complete with creepy face in the background
After J-Lo posted a snapshot of herself in workout gear on Instagram back in May, much of the buzz around the photo focused on what appeared to be a man’s face in the background, positioned just above the star’s shoulder.
So who was mystery man? Jen shrugged and explained: “It was some real estate guy [partner] Alex was on Zoom with.”
Can you spot him?
Cate Blanchett has a ‘bit of an accident’ with a chainsaw
In June, Cate Blanchett revealed she gave herself a head injury after an accident involving a chainsaw at her home. Even more shocking was how much the two-time Oscar-winner downplayed the whole thing.
“I had a bit of a chainsaw accident yesterday, which sounds very, very exciting, but it wasn’t. Apart from the little nick to the head, I’m fine,” the star insisted.
Nothing to see here, just Henry Cavill building a computer in a vest
During a troubling year, people were seeking out pleasure wherever they could find it — and for a good chunk of the internet, that meant watching Henry Cavill build himself a computer.
Like many of us in lockdown, the Man of Steel took up new hobbies in his own personal fortress of solitude, but he just so happened to do so in a vest top. Thank you Henry.
The Phantom Of The WAPera
If you thought Andrew Lloyd Webber was only about the show tunes, think again. The legendary composer and musical theatre star was just as obsessed with Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s WAP this year as the rest of us.
The 72-year-old shared a video on TikTok of him busting some *checks notes* moves to the ‘I don’t cook, I don’t clean’ part of the song, before mashing up the intro from his 1986 musical Phantom Of The Opera with Cardi and Megan’s hit. Wow.
Gogglebox’s Sophie and Pete’s famous family
In the most random family tree news since it was revealed Danny Dyer was a descendant of royalty, it turns out Gogglebox stars Pete and Sophie Sandiford are related to... the Chuckle Brothers.
In case you were in any doubt, The Rock is very, very strong
We’ve all been there. You’re late for a meeting and the electric gates to your mansion won’t open and the gate technician is 45 minutes away.
The solution? Rip the gates off the wall with your bare hands. Sorted.
Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson did just that when he found himself trapped on his driveway because of a power outage as he tried to head off to film.
State of it.
Lenny Kravitz has still most definitely, 100% got *it*
We’ll just leave this here (*Lenny Kravitz is 56)
The one where Louise almost starred in Friends
To have a guest role in Friends would be on many people’s ultimate bucket lists – but not Louise Redknapp’s it seems.
The singer revealed she once turned down the role of Ross Geller’s second wife Emily (eventually played by Cold Feet star Helen Baxendale) on the US sitcom... so she could appear on Top Of The Pops.
Priorities.
Katie Price and her bf get tattoos of each other’s faces because who wants another ring?
Katie Price and her new boyfriend Carl Woods showed just how serious they were about each other by getting rather large tattoos on their arms.
Of each other’s faces.
The Haunting Of Peppa Pig
Netflix’s horror series The Haunting of Bly Manor is full of twists and turns, but one real-life revelation shocked fans more than anything in the show.
In the televisual crossover that precisely no one saw coming, the series’ young character Flora is also the voice of Peppa Pig, which was all very disconcerting.
Colin? Is that you?
Colin Farrell was left unreognisable thanks to a dramatic transformation for the forthcoming Batman reboot.
The Irish actor donned heavy prosthetics to transform himself into Oswald Cobblepot – otherwise known as the classic comic book villain The Penguin (below).
Honestly, it really is him under there.
James Bond bosses spent £55K on Coca-Cola and didn’t drink a drop of it
James Bond bosses splurged £55,000 on Coca-Cola... and then poured it all away. The fizzy drink was used for a stunt on the forthcoming - and much delayed - No Time To Die when over 8000 gallons of it was poured all over a cobbled street in Matera in Italy.
Why? You may ask.
Well, once dried, the sugary beverage provided the perfect sticky residue on the stones, which allowed Daniel Craig’s stunt double to perform a spectacular stunt without slipping all over the place. Kinda genius, really.
Not exactly Family-friendly Fortunes
Family Fortunes took an uncharacteristically un-family friendly turn back in October when a contestant gave a very X-rated answer to one of the questions.
In what we think must be a first for the long-running game show, the answer was so rude that it had to be bleeped out. Even host Gino d’Acampo was left speechless after he asked: “Name something you put in your mouth but don’t swallow?”
We’ll let you fill in the blanks...
That time Harry Styles popped round and fed a fan’s goldfish
In October, a Harry Styles fan got the shock of her life when she found out her idol had been at her home – and she missed the whole thing.
Theodora, a young fan of the singer, recounted the story on her Instagram page, revealing that while she was out, Harry’s car had broken down outside of her home, and her dad had let him in to use the phone. Whilst he was there, Harry fed Theodora’s goldfish (she has the snap to prove it), wrote her a note and signed her copy of his album.
We really don’t deserve him.
Pond Pudding, anyone? Thought not.
During the 10 years it’s been on the air, the Great British Bake Off has been hailed as the pinnacle of food porn, with the contestants serving up mouth-watering cakes, biscuits and desserts every week.
However, a certain pudding featured in this year’s series had the complete opposite effect, as Prue Leith tasked the bakers with a dessert challenge that took them back to the 18th century.
A Sussex pond pudding, comprises an entire, unpeeled lemon being encased in suet pastry, which is filled with butter and sugar and then steamed for a couple of hours.
If 2020 did puddings, then this was most definitely it.
Ryan Reynolds buys fifth division Wrexham AFC
As well as being The Nicest Guy In Hollywood, this year Ryan Reynolds also became the co-owner of fifth division football team Wrexham AFC.
He and fellow actor Rob McElhenney – of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia fame – had their bid to take over the club approved by more than 90% of Wrexham Supporters Trust members after saying they wanted to turn the small team into a “global force”.
Caroline Quentin’s slip of the tongue
We’re used to seeing plenty of armography on Strictly Come Dancing, but Caroline Quentin treated us all to some erm, tongue-ography during her short time on this year’s series.
It all got a little Woman Behaving Badly during the actor’s Cha Cha, with Caroline playing the role of a naughty housewife whose cat gets stuck up a tree and calls on a fireman - her professional dance partner Johannes Radebe - to come to the rescue.
There was a lot of comedic face-pulling throughout, and then this happened...
Clintgate
Fans of The Chase were left squinting their eyes at the name board after a certain contestant appeared on the show in November.
Due to a combination of the font used and very unfortunate spacing, some viewers of the ITV quiz show thought Clint was called something else entirely.
John Barrowman’s Scottish accent
John Barrowman had viewers of Lorraine confused when he made an appearance on the ITV morning show in November to wish the host a happy birthday.
The actor, who grew up in the States and speaks with a yankee twang, spoke in a broad Scottish accent throughout his appearance, because... well, he is actually originally from Scotland.
‘Megashag’
Beverley Callard left I’m A Celebrity... Get me Out Of Here! viewers - and fellow contestants - stunned after a rather rude admission about her husband, Jon McEwan. Chatting to her fellow campmates about her husband of 10 years, Beverley confessed: “Jon’s very handsome... he’s a megashag.”
With a bit of encouragement from presenters Ant and Dec, “#megashag” racked up thousands of tweets, eventually becoming the top trending topic in the UK.
Well, there are worse things to be known as.