It was a case of beauty meets the beasts this week as The Hairy Bikers roared into town, and the lovely Denise Van Outen positively glided into the studio like a very graceful , all be it Essex, swan!

So may colourful accents and all round studio merriment commence.

I was obviously very excited at having another Essex gal in the studio but when Denise arrived I felt a tad inadequate standing near this lithe, blond bombshell.

I was further crushed when she declared to myself and Chris that she had been up all night with her baby Betsy who is teething. Well if that is what this talented vixen looks like when she’s had no sleep then I need to shake Betsy’s new front tooth, for had she been on top form, I may have been tempted to lock myself in the bathroom and weep copious non-showbiz tears.

Mind you I guess this is one lass who is used to getting up early in the morning and looking stunning, after her notable role as a presenter on The Big Breakfast.

Denise joined The Big Breakfast on Channel 4 as a weather and travel reporter in 1996 and landed the main co-presenting role in 1997. It proved to be her big breakthrough, with her cheeky “Essex Girl” personality and sexy clothing playing off well against the quick wit of Johnny Vaughan, and together they recovered audience figures to respectable levels. The same cannot be said for the length of Denise’s skirts however!

Denise is also an actress and singer, as well as presenter, and her other significant role was as Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago on both the West End and on Broadway.

In 2007, she joined the panel for BBC One's follow up to How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, Any Dream will Do!, which was casting Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, where she was to meet hubby to be Lee Mead.

Van Outen's personal life has always been subjected to the sharp glare of the British tabloid media. In 1991, aged 17, she had a relationship with popstar Gary Glitter. In 1996, Denise dated Dodgy guitarist Andy Millar. From 1998 to 2001, she dated Jamiroquai lead singer Jay Kay.

They were engaged and reported to be on the verge of marriage, but split up in 2001; his album A Funk Odyssey is mostly about their break-up, with the song "Little L" expressing his fight against cocaine addiction during their break up.

It seems Denise went from pervert, to extrovert and then finally settled on a fellow all singing, all dancing, Essex-ite! She married Lee in April 2009 in the Seychelles. Oh don’t they make a perfick couple.

Denise will next be seen on OK! TV hitting our screens on February 14^th alongside Matt Johnson, best known for presenting This Morning. The show will feature news and gossip about celebrities, music and fashion and takes over from axed programme Live from Studio Five.

Denise, however, seems unwilling to let the channel's previous problems bother her and said she is looking forward to starting filming.

'I have a huge appetite for all things showbiz so this show is right up my street. I'm really looking forward to working with Matt too and we can't wait to show the viewers what we've got in store,' she said.

Johnson added: 'I think Denise and I are going to have a lot of fun together – I've long been an admirer of her presenting style and know we'll get along like a house on fire.'

Well if anyone can, our Den can. So let’s hope this scrummy mummy puts on her usual Essex-tastic charm and manages to pull in the punters. Meanwhile I am off to go and Razzle Dazzle around the living room to the Chicago soundtrack in the hope of obtaining a ‘Denise’ washboard stomach, and all that jazz!

The BBC has come a long way – FACT. For decades, British regional accents were frowned upon by the broadcasting powers-that-be who preferred the supercilious tones of received pronunciation.

Fortunately, strong and character accents now bless the airwaves and nowhere are they more evident than BBC television’s The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook – two motorcyclists, habitual dodgers of scissors and razors, visit exotic locations and investigate and recreate local dishes with an accompaniment of liberal drizzles of extra-virgin wit, daftness and banter. You can’t go wrong.

Biker one is Dave Myers, a native of Barrow-in- Furness (a ‘Barrovian’), the town at the southern tip of Cumbria. His deadpan accent is flatter than a ruined soufflé. Biker two is Si King, from Newcastle-upon-Tyne; his animated Geordie chatter adds spice to the proceedings.

The theme of their TV series' and books is simple – ride motorbikes, cook and eat local food and drink the local drink, especially beer: “We asked the BBC – can we take on the countries’ beer and drinking cultures, they said yes, which is great because you can put the research against expenses.”

These lads were an absolute joy to have in the studio though I have to say that they smelt very strongly of patchouli oil – Odd!

They joked around with myself and Chris and made fun of our ‘Soho Ways’ as they put it. Funny cause when asked if they wanted a brew Dave promptly asked for a proper cafetiere of coffee. So now who has fancy pants ideas and double standards?!

Engagingly daft humour is a key ingredient of the Hairy Bikers’ presentation and so we wondered how this would go down with Prince Charles’ wife the Duchess of Cornwall, as after talking at A1 they were off to cook for royalty nonetheless.

Sure enough the next day their escapades at Clarence House had been well documented as The Hairy Bikers and a group of young chefs prepared a special lunch for Camilla and her son.

The secondary school pupils were invited into the kitchens of Clarence House to prepare a three-course meal, assisted by the TV cooks.

The teens had won a competition to devise a menu fit for a duchess, and her guests - including her food writer son Tom Parker-Bowles - as part of British Food Fortnight. No pressure then.

Spotting one of the television chefs in the hot kitchen, the duchess added: "Ah, I see a Hairy Biker! Very nice to see you. You all look very organised down here. I was expecting chaos."

Dave praised the pupils for their culinary skills and thanked the duchess for allowing them all into her home.

He said: "The dining room looks so beautiful. The Duchess of Cornwall has supported 'British Food Fortnight' from the beginning and it's very generous for her to throw open her house and let us two hooligans into her kitchen."

Camilla had previously spoken to Mr Myers about her love of food, saying that traditional British steamed puddings are among her favourites. He added: "She is famous for her roast chicken - we know that from Tom." So even the royals like nothing more than a classic bird and a nice bit of stuffing!

A little known fact is that Dave suffered from alopecia for most of his life.

His ‘Mam’ was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when she was 50; he was eight. Within two years, she was in a wheelchair.

Dave’s hair began falling out then, and when he was 14, he developed alopecia.

His biggest fear was that he was never going to get a girlfriend like the other boys in his class at Barrow Grammar School. Luckily, he had some great mates, so bullying wasn't an issue.

Strangely, his hair grew back when he was 40, following an emergency operation to remove a cyst on his brain. The medical profession will never admit that it was the pressure of that which stopped his hair growth, but he’s utterly convinced that it was.

So the irony is not lost on Dave that he’s made his name as a Hairy Biker. He says joking of his now infamous mane:

“All of my mates, who are experiencing baldness for the first time, don't find it quite so amusing”.

So if you ever open your door to see Dave Lee Travis and the Honey Monster asking for their Cornflakes/Sugar Puffs back then it could actually be Dave and Si researching recipes for their next tour. Just follow the patchouli oil trail.....

So we have had the beauty and the beasts so what about an ambassador of the arts?

John Woodvine is an English stage and screen actor who has appeared in more than 70 theatre productions, as well as a similar number of television and film roles. They are some stats people!

John trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked with the Old Vic company in the 1950s.

Woodvine frequently played police officers from early on in his career, including in the seminal British drama series Z Cars in the 1960s and Softly, Softly in the 1970s.

His film roles include the 1981 John Landis film An American Werewolf in London (he later re-created his film role for the BBC Radio One adaptation of the film). He also appeared in the Oscar-nominated 1972 Richard Attenborough film Young Winston.

In 2008 John was seen as Joe Jacobs in the ITV1 soap Emmerdale but he wasn't the first choice funnily enough.

Blimey O'Reilly - it was only going to be Blessed who was scheduled to play the role!

An Emmerdale spokesperson said: “Unfortunately Brian was unable to film his scenes due to a last minute clash of schedules. However, we’re thrilled to confirm that the part of Joe will now be played by John Woodvine.”

So the doctor, more famous than even Dr Karl Kennedy of Neighbours fame, was thrown an Emmerdale life buoy by none other than big man Blessed.

London News:

If you are out and about in London this weekend then why not welcome in the Chinese New Year.

The major celebrations in Central London are the largest outside Asia!

Chinese New Year 2011, the Year of the Rabbit, falls on 3rd February. And London's main celebrations will be held on Sunday 6th February.

Trafalgar Square hosts traditional and contemporary Chinese entertainment such as dance, music and acrobatics as well as firecrackers, Chinese dragons and lions.

Meanwhile, Chinatown will be bustling with special decorations, stalls, food and lion dance displays. Shaftesbury Avenue hosts a local performance stage featuring performances by Chinese artists.

So get yourself down down there to join in the free street parties that are sure to go off with a hop, skip and a jump - Rabbit Stylee of course!

Catch you next week folks............