For more than a decade it looked as though pop star Paloma Faith had it all.
But with her brutally raw honesty I’ve become accustomed to over the years, the singer has given her fans a warts-and-all insight into her life with her new book Milf: Motherhood, Identity Love and F***ery.
The autobiography, Paloma’s first, reveals how she coped with the breakdown of her 13-year relationship with artist Leyman Lehcine and built herself back up again.
And without the usual sugar-coating PR spin you’d expect from most big stars, Paloma opened up about how difficult their relationship became following the birth of their first daughter in 2016.
Sharing an exclusive extract from the book, which is out on Thursday, with me, Paloma wrote: “Nothing for me has been as painful as the first time I had sex postpartum.
“I felt guilty because it was by now seven months since I had given birth so thought I should have an obligatory try.
“I would say it took nearly two years for me not to feel any pain during sex. That’s a hell of a long time. It wasn’t erotic at all.
“In the end I decided to wince through it. I wanted to reconnect with my partner again. If I am honest I resigned myself to living a life of painful sex for the rest of my days.” In February 2021, Paloma had her second daughter, and the same symptoms came back.
Paloma added: “It was not enjoyable or fun or pretty. I felt s***. I also felt like a woman who had been cut off from herself.
“No wonder I was off sex. I resigned myself to a sex life of not the most painless sex I had ever had once a fortnight.”
Following the couple’s break-up in 2022, Paloma went on to write her candid new record The Glorification of Sadness.
The album was based on the breakdown and in her book, as well as going into detail about her heartbreak, Paloma also writes about her struggles with fame and her hatred of celebrity parties.
She writes: “Some of those events actually fill me with self doubt and anxiety.
“I might be dressed up and away from the kids for a night but quite often I’m hiding in the toilets texting my real friends about how I really feel.”
But rather than being a sob story, Paloma’s autobiography is more about how she has learned to love herself than wanting to tear down any man who has wronged her.
Paloma writes: “I have never been alone. I had my first relationship at age 13 and that lasted three years. The longest I have spent single was nine months, and even then I had people I was flirting with.
“Now I am single and the mother of two children with a failed relationship with their father and two subsequent failed attempts at relationships after that.
“I have realised something about myself. I was convinced I was terrified of loneliness. I was convinced I would not feel whole unless I attached myself to a couple, a team, a unit.
“But I realise today that I am too tired to do that at this moment in my life.
“My children are still so small and require so much. I may change my mind of course but for the first time in my life I relish the silences alone after the children go to bed, the prospect of eating in bed, of sleeping without another body waking me,
“For the first time in my life I enjoy my own company. I don’t fear the future, however, it may turn out”.
I have huge respect for Paloma for her honesty. Not many stars are this candid.
Jared’s surprise Piccadilly gig
Ahead of 30 Seconds to Mars’ opening night of their UK tour Jared Leto staged an impromptu set in London.
The American rocker stunned fans in Piccadilly Circus by performing a handful of tracks by the statue of Eros.
Jared announced he would be doing the surprise gig on X, telling fans: “We’re going to come, say hello, maybe play a couple of songs.”
Followers turned up in their hundreds to watch.
The band started their Seasons tour in Nottingham last night and are back in the capital tonight at the O2 arena.
Jared is known for his wacky stunts. He announced this tour by climbing up the outside of the Empire State Building.
At least his feet were firmly on the ground for this surprise.
James Arthur – who triumphed on The X Factor in 2012 – will be in good company when he headlines A Perfect Day Festival.
Britain’s Got Talent choir Northants Sings Out will be doing a homecoming gig at the event at Delapré Park, Northants, on June 16. They narrowly lost out to singer Sydnie Christmas in Sunday night’s final despite being loved by the judging panel. Tickets are available now from aperfectdayfestival.com.
No excuse now, Noel
Noel Gallagher is keeping his 2025 diary nice and free . . . just in case that much-hoped-for Oasis reunion does come about.
The High Flying Birds frontman said he has been busy working on the band’s follow-up to their album of last year, Council Skies.
But after finishing his tour he wants to take some time out before releasing the next LP.
Noel, below, said: “This year is earmarked for demos, next year will be, ‘Right, what kind of record are we going to do?’.
“Then 2026, it’ll probably be out, but that’s all very tentative.
“I want to take a bit of time off.
“If I make one album every five years I’m alright.
“I like to amass a load of songs first. I work every day.
“The tours are so long now I definitely wouldn’t want anything out next year.” Speak- ing on the Paul Weller Fan podcast, Noel went on to gell about the success of Council Skies: “I’m wise enough now to know that with that record I reached a certain level of perfection with it, with the sound and the way that it is and the songs and all that.
“The mistake that I made when I did that with Morning Glory was to go back into the studio and just carry on. I need to let that record land, for me. Once it stops selling, whatever, but for me I need to let it land.
“I don’t give a f*** what anyone else thinks about it. For me, personally, it’s like, ‘How do I do something that’s different to that but better than that?’
“What I’m not going to do is rush into mak- ing an-other record go out on the, road and see what happens.”
This will no doubt be music to Liam’s ears.
We’ve had country records from Miley Cyrus and Beyonce – now Kylie Minogue fancies a turn in a cowboy hat.
The Aussie, above, revealed her yet-to-be-released country-inspired song Midnight Ride at the Outloud Music Festival in Nashville, in the US, with her collaborators Diplo and Orville Peck.
Kylie has been working with producer Lostboy, the mastermind behind her 2023 mega hit Padam Padam.
Her 2018 album Golden was dedicated to her love of country music, so we can’t wait for Midnight Ride.
