PAs in the news

PAs in the US are putting the ‘business’ into show business and have signed up to take part in a reality TV programme where former Brady Brunch star Barry Williams and Saturday Night Live regular Joe Piscopo will swap personal assistants rather than spouses in the American version of Celebrity Wife Swap.

Joe lives near New York City with two of his children and his assistant Jessica helps run his home, but doesn’t get involved with the childcare, according to theatre news site Broadway World. Meanwhile, Barry’s PA, Marie takes no part in his personal life, which is said to be mainly managed by his young son, Brandon.

Network ABC says the two women will “learn what it’s like living in someone else’s shoes” and promises dramatic viewing when “tensions flare… resulting in a shocking and unpredictable moment when one couple’s [professional] relationship changes for good.”

Staying on the celebrity scene, it appears that the stars often like to keep their friends close when they hit the big time by hiring them as their assistants. Gossip site suggest.com reports that Miley Cyrus, Rhianna, Beyoncé, Lindsay Lohan, Lady Gaga and Jay Z are among the line-up of famous faces who have taken on as their PAs people they knew from way back before they were famous – with some of them hailing from their hometowns.

Another celebrity who obviously enjoys a close relationship with her assistant is Geordie songstress Cheryl Cole. At her recent nuptials to boyfriend of just three months French restaurateur Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini, Cheryl’s PA Lily England was one of a very select few guests to be invited.

Ms Cole’s namesake has also been in the news recently: Cheryl Carter, the former PA to News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brooks was found not guilty in the News of the World hacking trial at the Old Bailey. Cheryl, from Chelmsford in Essex, was described in court as an “amazing friend” but someone who could on occasion be “scatty and forgetful”.

Apparently, in one memorable instance, when she was asked to tell chairman Rupert Murdoch that Rebekah could not come to the phone because she was in a meeting with security agency MI5, Cheryl instead relayed the message that Ms Brooks was unavailable because she had gone shopping at furniture store MFI.