Nicolas Maduro’s unexpected removal from his presidential quarters by U.S. forces isn’t the only startling incident to emerge from Venezuela recently.
Television adventurer Levison Wood also faced a harrowing ordeal when the SUV he was in veered off a narrow jungle road at night, leaving the vehicle overturned.
At 43, the former Parachute Regiment officer sustained significant injuries. “I was with a local driver,” he recounts, “and as we approached a low bridge, the car flipped onto its side. I ended up with a fractured elbow.”
Levison Wood’s overturned SUV after hurtling 150ft through the jungle
Levison is no stranger to challenging expeditions, having traversed the Arabian Peninsula and trekked the lengths of the Nile and the Himalayas. His South American trip included his girlfriend, Ana Protasio, a model and yoga instructor from Brazil. The couple, pictured below, welcomed their first child, Maya, in Plymouth, Devon, last summer.
Fortunately, Ana and Maya weren’t with him at the time of the accident, which occurred just before Christmas. Levison was filming a new documentary in Venezuela, and this wasn’t his first brush with danger in a passenger seat.
Levison Wood with girlfriend Ana Protasio
Back in 2015, during his Himalayan expedition in Nepal, a taxi carrying Levison and his brother Pete plummeted 150 feet off a mountain cliff, landing in a jungle. Astonishingly, all aboard, including the driver, survived with only minor injuries.
The adventurer, who’s travelled across at least 120 countries, contending with tigers, crocodiles and – so far – one cannibal, says of his latest narrow escape: ‘Thankfully everyone was OK.
‘We managed to get some cars to winch us out of the dry riverbed and carry on,’ he adds.
Suki and Lily head the new tiara set
Once reserved for royalty and brides, tiaras are being reimagined as an evening accessory, thanks to Suki Waterhouse and Lily Allen.
They could be seen donning their diamanté tiaras and flanking designer of the jewellery Julia Hobbs, who wrote alongside this online snap: ‘2026 is the year of the tiara.’
Suki, who turned 34 this week and has a one-year-old daughter with Twilight star Robert Pattinson, says motherhood has changed the way she dresses. ‘When I get the chance to feel presentable again, I think I might actually be a better dresser in some ways.’
Pop royalty: Suki Waterhouse (left) and Lily Allen (right) with tiara designer Julia Hobbs
TV chef Tom Kerridge has accused Labour of killing trade. He owns four pubs and faces a huge increase in costs from April after Chancellor Rachel Reeves removed relief on business rates. Kerridge says of The Hand and Flowers, in Marlow, Bucks: ‘Its rateable value is £50,000 a year and it goes up to £124,000. We also have The Coach [in Marlow] and again that’s at £50,000 and that goes up to £106,000. It is just non-sustainable. ‘The current policies that are coming from the Government are very, very unhelpful.’
Carrie’s Hard Rock carry on
West End star Carrie Hope Fletcher has had an unexpectedly dramatic start to the year.
She’s on holiday in Florida with her husband, actor Joel Montague, and their 22-month-old daughter, Mabel, but was horrified when hotel security came pounding on their door during the night. ‘Hard Rock Hotel, Orlando is not a family resort,’ Carrie, 33, fumed online. ‘When Mabel woke up jet-lagged and a bit confused (and still a bit unwell) and started crying… they sent a security guard to knock on our door and issue us with a ‘first warning’.’
Carrie, whose older brother is McFly star Tom Fletcher, added: ‘Luckily Mabel calmed down very quickly afterwards. Not the best start to our trip… Also, not very ‘hard rock’ to issue a noise complaint to a toddler.’
Olivia Colman’s children are unlikely to be following her into showbusiness. ‘My big boy wants to be a physicist,’ says the Oscar-winning star, 51. ‘Why can’t he be a rock star? He can also play the guitar. He says, ‘Mum, no one says, Why can’t you be a rock star?’ Well, I do. They are all so sensible.’ Referring to the sitcom Absolutely Fabulous, in which Jennifer Saunders’s chaotic character has a much more sensible daughter, Olivia adds of her children: ‘They laugh at me because it is a bit Ab Fab.’
David Tennant changes name to who?
Doctor Who and Harry Potter star David Tennant’s real surname is McDonald, but the actor has taken steps to change that.
I can disclose that he and his wife, Georgia Moffett, have now formally adopted his stage name, on New Year’s Day, almost 14 years since they were married.
The couple both recorded changes of their surname on Companies House for their business Sandyboy Ltd. And Georgia has also ditched Ms for the more conventional Mrs.
David, 54, and Georgia, 41, who have five children, met on Doctor Who when she was playing the part of Jenny – the Doctor’s daughter. Her real-life father, Peter Davison, played the fifth doctor.
David Tennant and his wife Georgia Moffett. The pair met on Doctor Who when she was playing the part of Jenny – the Doctor’s daughter
