Friday, March 29, 2024

Star appeal

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Barbados seems to be an increasingly popular hot spot for celebrities and has cultivated a reputation as a playground for the rich and famous, and it’s a reputation that is wholly deserved. With calm, azure seas, sandy beaches, a delicious climate and even yummier food, the island seems to top everyone’s holiday wish list.
But is the Barbados Tourism Authority cashing in on this? Since December, these sandy beaches have seen a variety of celebrity powerhouses.
On the island now is American singer, rapper, actress Dana Owens, known as Queen Latifah, who is in for some rest and relaxation and Coleen Rooney, wife of Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney.
United States actor Lamman Rucker, who has Bajan heritage, left the island Monday. Yesterday saw the departure of noted fashion photographer Bryan Taylor Johnson, actor and model Andre King (brother to United States music producer Swizz Beats) and songwriter Steph Jones.
The list of celebrity visitors to Barbados also includes fashion chain Topshop heiress Chole Green, Scottish actor Gerald Butler, Hugh Grant and his former girlfriend Jemima Khan, Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Mick Jagger.
Tiger Woods chose the island for his 2004 wedding to Elin Nordegren, from whom he is now divorced. Last August a pregnant Beyoncé and husband Jay-Z stopped in for a brief visit.
More recently several celebrities have wet their feet in our blue waters and run along our sandy beaches.
Actress Gwyneth Paltrow filmed a TV series for NBC’s Who Do You Think You Are programme, searching for her Bajan roots in the form of her great-great-great-grandmother Rosamund Stoute.
In 2009, Alexandra Burke the X Factor 2008 winner flew to Barbados on Boxing Day.
The 21-year-old seemed comfortable soaking up the sun with her new-found friends. Writing on her Twitter micro-blogging page, the singer said: “Arrived at my destination safe and sound. It’s beautiful here! PARADISE!! – Wish I had my sister with me.”
Former Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm (Mel C or Sporty Spice) took a well deserved break from acting in musicals and working on her fifth British album to swim in the warm Caribbean waters with 23-month-old daughter Scarlett and partner Thomas Starr.
Just last month the Little Mix Band, which won the British X Factor, was enjoying a break on the beaches of Barbados, ahead of the group headlining the X Factor tour, which began Monday.
And there are celebrities who own – or have owned – property on the island, including Sir Cliff Richard, Oprah Winfrey, Gary Lineker and golfer Ian Woosnam. Waking The Dead actor Trevor Eve owns a home and visits each Christmas. Eve is joined by his actress wife Sharon Maughan and adult children Alice and Jack.
Former boxing champion Joe Calzaghe, Rooney’s teammate Rio Ferdinand, Gary Lineker, and cricketer Freddie Flintoff already own homes here, as do the Rooneys.
Why is Barbados such a hot spot, even beating out Jamaica? The best indication of Barbados’ quality as a destination is the food. The standard of the island’s restaurants has seen a boom in world-class dining – offering everything from sushi bars to internationally acclaimed restaurants . . . and for those who like to mingle with the locals there are the local pubs that offer macaroni pie and flying fish – and the delicacy called pudding and souse.
But let’s be frank – you don’t really go to the Caribbean to charge around sightseeing. The best way to enjoy Barbados is to lie on the beach with an ice-cold rum punch or local beer and lap up the easy Caribbean pace of life.
And don’t worry too much about the friends you will lose when you return to reality – there are always more waiting in Barbados when you return.
One thing heard from the many celebrities interviewed over the past year is that the locals are so friendly and welcoming that they feel like they have known them for years. And for such a small island, Barbados has no shortage of activities to keep you busy. From enormous caves and flower forests to deep-sea fishing and shopping, there is something to suit every taste.
Yes, Barbados has four coasts – the South Coast, which includes Oistins and St Lawrence Gap, the East Coast with the scenic Bathsheba and the Soup Bowl, the little known North Coast, which has Cove Bay, and the very popular West Coast, where you can watch Prince William and Prince Harry playing polo.
The most popular spot for celeb watching is the West Coast, where you can stumble over Mick Jagger, Joan Collins and Simon Cowell sipping rum punches in its opulent surroundings.
Cowell jets off to Barbados for Christmas every year and is always joined by his ex-girlfriend Sinitta. During his stay into January this year, the 52-year-old music mogul was spotted posing for photographs with some female admirers as he spent the day on the beach.
TV presenter and model Lizzie Cundy found time to relax on the beach with her two sons Josh and James, from her marriage to former footballer Jason Cundy, whom she split from last year. She also joined Cowell at a charity fund raiser for The Hope Sanctuary – an organization which saves abused, abandoned and neglected dogs in Barbados.
British TV presenter Emma Forbes, her husband Graham Clempson and their two children Lily, 14, and Sam, 11, have spent the Christmas and New Year period at the exclusive Sandy Lane Hotel for the past four years. After arriving in Barbados, Emma wrote on her Twitter page: “Landed! Love ba and the captain who chatted to me when I was scared of turbulence!!!”
Boy band The Wanted visited, with three members bringing along their girlfriends. The band played at the exclusive Sandy Lane Resort’s New Year’s Eve concert.
Singer Myleene Klass was spotted on the beach with husband Graham Quinn and their two gorgeous daughters, Ava, four, and Hero, nine months during christmas. Also spending some family time was Contraband actor Mark Wahlberg, wife Rhea Durham and their brood of four spent New Year’s here.
There are some celebs who head to discreet Caribbean hideaways such as St Barts, Mustique and even St Lucia. Former model and BabyPhat label owner Kimora Lee Simmons and her family were spotted spending their Christmas in St Barts. Kimora and husband Djimon, children Kenzo, Aoki and Ming took to the beach to have a great time. Also in St Barts was rocker Jon Bon Jovi, along with his wife Dorothea and their children.
Demi Moore enjoyed some mother-daughter bonding with Rumer in the Turks and Caicos Island at the Parrot Cay resort. Other celebrities in Parrot Cay for the holidays included Charlize Theron, with her mother, and Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol producer J.J. Abrams and his wife Katie McGrath.
Shaquille O’Neal made the biggest splash in Anguilla this year. A Viceroy Anguilla guest, he hosted the five-star resort’s 2012 New Year’s Eve bash. He was extremely gracious, stopping to take many photos with fans.
This year, Michael Jordan opted for greater privacy and stayed in a yacht offshore.

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