Essex whirl

LIKE Kerry Katona and Josie Gibson before her, Amy Childs has cottoned on to the fact that a follow-up reality show keeping tabs on her whereabouts might just be the way to go in ensuring her 15 minutes of fame will last well into next year.

You either know everything there is to know about Ms Childs, or you’ve absolutely no idea who she is, what she does, or why she’s on your telly. Well, for those who have managed to avoid every tabloid paper and gossip show over the past 12 months, a former star of The Only Way is Essex, Amy is a very big deal.

Life after TOWIE for this reality star begins in It’s All About Amy.

Some would say this redhead was the best thing about the garish Essex-based show and so why shouldn’t it be all about her now?

While her brash counterparts were photographed every other night bursting out of their too-tight dresses and making sure they were seen quaffing champagne and wrapped tightly around the nearest high-paid footballer, Amy always seemed to remain dignified in front of the cameras and has made no secret of the fact that she wants more from life than reality telly and the odd free boob-tube dress.

The Channel 5 series picks up from the moment she leaves the Celebrity Big Brother house. First up on 21-year-old Amy’s to-do list is unveiling the plans for her new beauty salon. Next up, she’s posing for her new calendar, and preparing for a guest slot on OK!TV which sees her reunited with her former Celebrity Big Brother housemate Kerry Katona.

Amy also visits a dog boutique to get her canine buddy some new clothes, and then enrols her misbehaving pug in some dog behavioural classes.

“The cameras have been following me since I left the [Big Brother] house, and I’ve been doing all sorts of different things like going on shoots, having horseriding lessons and things like that,” she explained to OK! TV.

“My mum, dad and brother Billy are in it too, so you’ll meet them. It’s a big thing having your own show and you want it to do well. But you know what, I have a lot of Twitter fans, and everyone who watched TOWIE, so I know I have a lot of support.”

HOW, in these cash-strapped times, are we going to be able to pay for all the extras that Christmas demands?

Hopefully, The Ultimate Guide to Penny-Pinching has all the answers with tips from those who’ve taken saving the pounds to new extremes.

For instance, midwife Judith, 38, has always had an eye for a deal. By the time she was 15, she’d opened 170 bank and building society accounts to take advantage of the free gifts being offered to young savers.

Now, she uses money-off vouchers to reduce her weekly supermarket spend from £50 to only £5, and heats her family’s water using solar panels, which results in smaller bills, not least because they sometimes have to go without showers in bad weather.

WHEN Life, a weekly magazine specialising in vivid photo-journalism, was launched in 1936, its creators hoped it would do well but had no idea it would become one of the most acclaimed publications of the past century.

During the Forties, Fifties and Sixties the magazine’s influence on US people was astonishing, especially as it was read by more than half the population. Life allowed the pictures, not the words, to do the talking.

In Tv documentary America in Pictures: The Story of Life Magazine, leading UK fashion photographer Rankin scrutinises the work of legendary photographers.

These include Bill Eppridge, John Shearer, John Loengard, Burk Uzzle and Harry Benson.

Between them they captured the most important moments in US history, from the assassination of Robert F Kennedy, the Civil Rights struggle and Vietnam, to behind the scenes at the Playboy mansion and the greatest names of Hollywood.

As we see here, these lens men pioneered new forms of photo-journalism, like the photo essay.