The children took a plunge in the pool at Acton, London along with Santa’s little elf helper, six times world champion Mark Foster.

One of the purposes of the Aqua Grotto is to raise the profile of swimming and to make more people aware that after pigging out over Christmas swimming can provide the perfect antidote to over indulgence as well as being a great form of fun and exercise, in a warm indoor environment.

The aqua grotto is also being used to raise awareness for children’s charity, which is working to help children suffering from abuse, poverty, homelessness, disability and illness.

On average Britons consume a staggering 5,551* calories during Christmas Day, nearly three times the amount of calories recommended by the Department of Health (1940 calories per day for women and 2550 for men).
Even a gentle swim can burn over 200 Kcal in half an hour and a fast front crawl can burn 400Kcal, the same as running at 8 miles an hour.

Murray Walker

Murray Walker is about to become a skateboarding star after it was revealed that he will be making his animated appearance on the children’s television programme ‘Roary The Racing Car’.

Murray has been heard regularly on the show as his character Mr Murray but he will now be shown doing a range of skateboarding stunts including back-flips and tail-slides which is scheduled to be shown on the 13th September.

The former F1 commentator said;

“Who would have thought that at 87 years, I could perform a routine including a body jar, tailslide, double backflip and a caballerial – it’s extraordinary!”

Chelsea Clinton

This was obviously the most popular weekend for weddings after three celebrities tied-the-knot on Saturday, each in a different way.

Of course, the biggest wedding celebration took place at the stunning country estate in Rhinebeck, North of New York and was classed as the Americans equivalent of a Royal wedding.

Chelsea Clinton, daughter of the former president of America Bill Clinton and the current US Secretary Of State Hillary, married her childhood pal Marc Mezvinsky.

The pair exchanged vows under a white gazebo set-up at the Astor Cours Estate before and evening of eating, drinking and dancing took place.

The TV Presenter Kirsty Gallacher married her long-term partner the Rugby player Paul Sampson in a romantic ceremony in a small Spanish village.

The couple who have been together for the past nine years have two children together but didn’t feel that a British white wedding was right for them.

The third couple were the heavily pregnant Alicia Keys and her partner Swizz Beatz aka Kaseem Dean who have been together since 2008.

The musical pair married in Corsica where they had arrived several days earlier to prepare for their ceremony and to have time to relax before the event took place.

Alicia is due to give birth to her first child in November which will be the third child for her new husband who has recently divorced.

The party also celebrated the renewal of the partnership between Wimbledon and designer Ralph Lauren. Tennis stars past and present attended the bash which also attracted many celebrities from the world of TV and cinema.

Unhappy Clown

Promoted as the ‘Biggest Fight Of His Life’ , the Alex Reid showdown has now been postponed after Reid injured himself doing a series on the preparation for his fight!

His opponent Tom ‘Kong’ Watson, has apparently said that it’s “a complete joke”, complaining that up to £12,000 worth of tickets have already been sold for the fight which was due to take place on May 15.

A statement issued on behalf of Reid read;

“Alex Reid has sustained an injury during the filming of his Bravo Fight Of His Life programme.

He has seen numerous doctors and specialists, all advising him to not train at the level required in the lead-up to a fight.

Alex is gutted to postpone the fight and is looking forward to taking on his competitor.”

Meanwhile Watson posted a message on his blog which read;

“I am now working with Bamma and my management to bring in a top American opponent last-minute.

I just wish I’d had more time to prepare for whoever that style may be but, hey, this is what real fighters do.”

martina navratilova

The former Queen of Tennis, Martina Navratilova has revealed that she has been diagnosed with breast cancer, she says in the People that the disease was confirmed in February but was caught at the early stages and her prognosis is excellent.

Navratilova says she had skipped four years between mammograms and was lucky that she visited the clinic when she did, “I let it slide. Everyone gets busy, but don’t make excuses. I stay in shape and eat right, and it happened to me. Another year and I could have been in big trouble.”

When the biopsy came back positive in February, the former tennis star says, “I cried. It knocked me on my ass, really. I feel so in control of my life and my body, and then this comes, and it’s completely out of my hands.”

Fortunately for Navratilova she was diagnosed with a non-invasive form of the disease confined to the milk ducts.

Paul Gascoigne

Paul ‘Gazza’ Gascoigne was arrested this morning for being drunk and disorderly after a disturbance near his home in Newcastle.

The 42-year-old was taken to a police station after his arrest around 2.15am before being given a fixed penalty fine and released.

Twiggy is the latest celebrity to come under fire concerning airbrushing after it was revealed that her photograph for the Olay campaign had been heavily altered.

The advert is being criticised by watchdogs leading to calls to ban all airbrushing as it gives consumers a misleading impression.  The 60-year-old, was shown without a wrinkle in the Olay advertisement which differed from other photographs taken of the model around the same time.

The sister-in-law of Eddie Murphy,  Tisha Taylor Murphy, has died at the age of just 44 after a two-year battle with cancer.

The comedian/actor brother of Eddie, Charlie Murphy, married Tisha in 1997 and the couple had two children, a daughter Eva and a son Xavier.

Maggie Jones RIP

The Coronation Street actress Maggie Jones who played the part of Blanche Hunt, mother of Deidre, has died this morning.

The 75-year-old actress was rushed to hospital early last month for life-saving surgery and was said to be in a critical condition, however, she had since improved but passed away this morning in hospital.

Tiger Woods has today offered an apology to his fans, friends and family on his website following the allegations of affairs which came to light after his recent car accident.

The golfer said that he apologised for not being  “true to my values and the behaviour my family deserves”.  Many printed articles have referred to his alleged affair with New York Nightclub hostess but since then at least two other women have come forward claiming to have been in a relationship with Woods.

David Beckham has been left devastated after his beloved grandfather has died just hours after the footballer arrived in South Africa where he is helping England to secure the 2018 World Cup.

Joe West, 83, was claimed to be the person behind the inspiration for Beckham’s footballing career and the two were said to be extremely close.

I'm A Celebrity

Katie Price is leaving the Jungle after being selected by the public to take part in her seventh Bushtucker trial and Twittered “Hey thankyou for all your support !!  I tried my best xxxxxxxxxxx.

The 31-year-old model and business woman was chosen to do the next trial alongside former boxer Joe Bugner, but refused and told her fellow campers that someone else would have to do the challenge as she had enough.

At long last, Jedward are out of the competition after being voted out of  X Factor last night when they were put up for eviction alongside Olly Murs.

The 18-year-old twins, James and Edward Grimes, received only one vote after their sing-off on Sunday evening, coming of course from their mentor Louis Walsh, who has no contestants left in the show.

The Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, has married her long-term partner Raj Kundra in her native country of India this weekend.

I'm A Celebrity

The lavish Hindu ceremony took place near Mumbai and the couple are intending to travel between London and Mumbai after their honeymoon.

The rhinestone studded glove belonging to the late Michael Jackson has been sold at auction for a staggering $350,000, purchased by a Hong Kong businessman.

The actual glove is the one worn by the ‘King Of Pop’ in 1983 when he first performed his famous moonwalk routine on the Motown 25 TV special.

I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here

The full line-up for the ninth edition of ‘I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here’ has now been released with the highest paid earner being reported as Katie Price, who is the first celebrity to have entered the jungle twice.

Ms. Price will be joined by the American actor George Hamilton, former Eastenders actress Lucy Benjamin, Stictly dancer Camilla Dallerup, former glamour model Samantha Fox, Mis-teeq singer Sabrina Washington, Kim Woodburn, from ‘How Clean Is Your House, Hollyoaks actor Stuart Manning, Snooker player Jimmy White, Celebrity chef Gino D’Acampo and the gay interior design couple Colin McAllister and Justin Ryan.

Actress Ashley Jensen, star of ‘Ugly Betty’ and also known for her role opposite Ricky Gervais in ‘Extras’, has given birth to her first child.

The Scottish actress and her husband Terence Beesley, welcomed their new son Francis Jonathan Beesley on the 20th October.

X Factor judge and singer Dannii Minogue, was presented with the award for ‘Ultimate TV Personality of 2009′ last night at the Cosmopolitan Woman Of The Year Awards.

The GMTV weather girl Clare Nasir, has given birth to her longed for first child after being told that she may never become pregnant due to suffering with fibroid growths in her uterus.

Her daughter arrived seven-weeks premature and is currently in the special care baby unit of a London hospital.  Sienna Clare Nasir Hawkins, weighed in at 4lb 1oz and has been described by her parents as their miracle baby.