HAZEL is a stunning, dark-haired Irish teenager with an amazing voice. She appeared on ITV's Popstars: the Rivals this week, auditioning for a place in an all-girl pop band.

Although the judges - record producers Pete Waterman and Louis Walsh and former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell - agreed she had amazing talent, they were divided over whether to let her through to the next round. Why? Because Hazel is seven-and-a-half months pregnant.

Waterman argued that Hazel couldn't possibly cope because the baby was due around the time the finals would be filmed. And if she did get through, there would be a hectic recording and promotional schedule including lots of travel and arduous dance routines.

But the others pointed out it was Hazel's life and Hazel's baby, that it should be left up to her to make the choice. Hazel herself argued: "I'm pregnant, not ill. This is my career." To Geri, this was what girl power was all about.

As the mother of a two-week-old boy, I can see both points of view. These first weeks are exhausting. It is also an important time for bonding with the baby. Singing and performing in a girl band is much more demanding than the average office job.

Yet pregnancy isn't an illness. Young girls do bounce back incredibly quickly after giving birth. And most women cope admirably with pressures of work and other children on top of everything else.

Hazel should be able to juggle the roles of pop star and mother. After all, more and more females - the latest being Natasha of Atomic Kitten - have managed it.

In the end, if she is chosen, the final decision must lie with Hazel. But I can't help wondering if, once she holds her newborn baby in her arms, her priorities may change. Perhaps then the heady pursuit of fame won't seem half as appealing. Or, that it can wait just a few more months.

LIZ Hurley was pictured in the papers this week looking toned and slim in a revealing PVC swimsuit just five months after giving birth. Well, bully for you Liz. This may have cheered up a lot of men over their cornflakes, but it will have left most new mums feeling even worse about the wobbly bits most of us just can't shift in these early months when all we have time to concentrate on is our babies. In fairness, I should point out Liz had a whole make-up team at her disposal and, of course, if we spent several months living in Elton John's luxury villa with a chef, nutritionist and personal trainer, not to mention a nanny, to hand, we too could lose 53lb and would all look just like Liz Hurley. Wouldn't we?

IF a woman had been found dead, floating face down in a swimming pool, after suffering serious internal injuries in a sexual attack at a party, I cannot believe we would be happy to accept no one could be blamed because everyone there that night said they didn't know or couldn't remember what happened. Stuart Lubbock's family are right to feel angry because it looks as if the facts surrounding their son's death have been far too easily brushed under Michael Barrymore's thick pile carpet.