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By: Claire Hill Claire.Hill@Wme.Co.Uk, The
Western Mail - The National Newspaper Of Wales
FROM cover girl to quiz show host, it has
been a great week for Charlotte Church.
The singing sensation last night
successfully took on comedians Paul Merton and Ian Hislop as she
hosted news quiz Have I Got News For You.
Looking relaxed in jeans and a smart black
blouse, Charlotte became the youngest person to guest host the
show, after the departure of former presenter Angus Deayton.
Guest and award-winning comedian Jimmy Carr
praised the Welsh star backstage and said she was good enough to
be a presenter.
During the recording, Charlotte joked that
being a presenter was not the future for her career.
She said, "This has been too hard, although
it was really fun. I do not like being in charge."
Charlotte played along with regulars Hislop
and Merton and kept a tight rein on Carr and former Royal
correspondent Jennie Bond.
A spokesperson for the show said, "There
was a great banter between them all. Charlotte was playing the
stroppy teenager and Ian pretended to be the old person who knew
little about youth culture."
The teams also joked about Charlotte's
choice of men.
After a news story about Prince William,
Jimmy Carr asked if he was Charlotte's type in men but she said
"no".
He joked, "Why? Do you prefer a bit of
rough?
Ian Hislop then asked the first-time host
if she wanted someone with money to rival hers, such as Prince
Philip.
Typically, the guests and the host all have
to accept jokes at their expense and the show's producers said
Charlotte handled the situation very well.
The former child star was asked what she
would like to do when she grew up and jokes were made about her
trust fund and her Rear of the Year award.
Producers for Have I Got
News For You praised the young star and
were impressed by her ability, despite her lack of presenting
experience.
The show followed up a much publicised
interview in style magazine The Face.
Draped in clothes designed by John Galliano,
she graced the pages of the style bible, discussing life, love
and her future.
The in-depth interview sees Charlotte, for
the first time, denying that she is engaged to her boyfriend
Steven and telling touching stories about how she never felt she
fitted in at Cathedral School, Llandaff, where she won a
scholarship.
Travelling to school in a car where the
doors did not open meant she got noticed.
"Every morning I had to climb out of the
boot. And open the door for my mum.
"I got bullied, just 'cos I was poor. I had
a Cardiff accent and I'd tohk like thaaat, and they all tawked
like theht.
"I used to have blue-stripe Tesco's
everything. Crisps. And they all had Walkers." Discussing her
future career, it seems her stint at presenting has not
detracted from her love of singing.
On last night's show she said she would
continue singing for as long as possible.
However, it seems a move away from opera is
assured.
The star wants to work with hip hop legends
The Neptunes, who worked extensively with current pop hero
Justin Timberlake, Missy Elliott and Timbaland.
While these are her choices for her next
musical challenge she does not want to get her hopes up.
Speaking to The Face she said, "If I don't
get excited, I don't get disappointed."
Her A&R man for Sony, Nick Raphael, is a
bit more confident.
He said that they were talking to producers
of the same type and calibre and were impressed that people were
willing to "drop things and move things to make a record with
her".
Regardless of the recent media backlash
against Charlotte's smoking, (she is to quit soon) her
rebellious outfits and her supposed bad boy boyfriend, her star
seems in the ascendant.
*Did you get the headline? Like the show's
"missing words" round, you have to guess the missing word. And
the missing word is "miss-ing".
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