The Way They Were

This week on The Way They Were, we’re unlocking one of our most popular Patreon episodes of the year and sharing it on the free feed.

We’re doing something a little different today. Chantal swaps her mic for a magnifying glass and Gráinne pulls her fedora low as they step away from the usual romantic nostalgia and into the glittering golden age of Hollywood. This time, our sleuthing duo turn their attention ...

This week on The Way They Were, Gráinne and Chantal hang the tinsel, spike the mulled wine, and take a sleigh ride through Christmas past, present and future via Crimbo movies. From Judy Garland’s golden-age yearning, through Jimmy Stewart’s moral reckonings, to Cate Blanchett’s ice-cool elegance and Alicia Silverstone teaching us that even Netflix makes mistakes .

Along the way, Chantal reveals herself to be a Guardian Ang...

This week on The Way They Were, we do the unthinkable: we go back to Love Actually. Gráinne and Chantal rank the couples from least offensive to “maybe we should call the police”, asking the big questions Richard Curtis never did. Who do we hate the most? Are half these characters quietly unhinged? What exactly is going on with Keira Knightley’s extremely youthful bride? And is the secretary secretly a feminist i...

Back in the early 2010s, few celebrity romances burned brighter (or faster) than Khloé Kardashian and Lamar Odom. She was the breakout star of reality TV’s royal family; he was the NBA hero. One month in, they were married. Soon after, their love life was a franchise. For a moment, it looked like reality TV had actually delivered a fairy tale but it was not meant to be.

This week on The Way They Were, Kardashian super fan a...

Effie Gray and John Ruskin looked like the perfect Victorian power couple: she, bright and brilliant; he, the era’s leading art critic. But behind the portraits was one of history’s strangest age-gap marriages. Unconsummated, uncomfortable, and the sort of story that would make Gen Z turn away in horror.

This week on The Way They Were, Gráinne and Chantal team up with one of Britain’s best stand-ups, Ian Smith, to look at t...

Now this is a right royal mess. Before it all went spectacularly wrong. Before Epstein, before the exile, before the Palace decided Prince Andrew should probably just be Andrew: there was “Randy Andy” and Fergie. The cheeky, chaotic couple who briefly made the monarchy look like a Jilly Cooper book. From their whirlwind courtship and tabloid scandals to the toe-sucking! This was a love story that had it all. In fact maybe ...

This week on The Way They Were, we’re catching up on all the heartbreak, hair dye, and high drama of the celebrity world. Lily Allen’s West End Girl has landed, a sharp, funny, furious record that lays her split from David Harbour bare. We talk through the fallout, the shock, and the pussy palace.

Elsewhere, Ariana Grande’s got 'new' hair but no ponytail. What does it mean? Finally we’re checking in on a few of our favourit...

This week on The Way They Were, we’re diving into the breakup that everyone’s talking about: Pop Princess Lily Allen and Stranger Things star David Harbour. It was the lockdown love story that looked like a rom-com London girl meets Hollywood nice-guy, until it all went a little bit strange. 

Now Lily has a new album out which is going to set the record straight about the hottest romance to come out of the global pandemic. ...

This week we step back in time to the 1940s to meet the literary it-couple: Truman Capote and Jack Dunphy. Truman was the sharp-tongued genius and Jack existed in his shadow. So how did the socialite and the introverted novelist make it work for so long?

This week, Chantal and Gráinne are joined by the brilliant Jen Ives to unpack the devotion, destruction and divine madness of Capote and Dunphy’s decades together. Expect p...

Sometimes the gossip gods hand you something so big you have to drop everything and run straight to the mics. . . Several days after the event (sorry we had a busy week)

Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman. Over. Finished. Kaput. Was it the hair? The cowboy boots? The fact she's constantly working? This week, Gráinne and Chantal react to the breakup of Australia's greatest love.

For our special Taylor Swift edition, ad-free e...

She was Hollywood’s “most agreeable” girl, he was cinema’s golden boy genius. Rita Hayworth and Orson Welles looked like the dream couple – but behind the glamour it was all drama, long distance, and the inability to separate work from pleasure. This love story from the golden age of Hollywood even features brilliant cameos from Hedda Hopper, Gloria Vanderbilt, and Judy Garland herself.

Gráinne and Chantal take a trip to 19...

A whirlwind romance that burned bright, fizzled fast, and left the tabloids confused as to what just happened. Ashton and Brittany gave us chaos, comedy, and a very short-lived love story. This week, Gráinne and Chantal are joined by Chris De Rosa, cohost of Fixing Famous People, to relive the highs, the lows, and the red-carpet PDA of one of the naughty's best celebrity pairings. We may even get some special insights from...

She was the Vicar of Dibley and he the king of Comic Relief. Together, they were the King and Queen of British comedy. Dawn French and Lenny Henry were the nation’s funniest couple but behind the gags and the glitter, their marriage had ups, downs and an unforgettable night out with John Sessions.

This week on The Way They Were, Chantal and Gráinne are joined by broadcaster, campaigner and author Natasha Devon to unravel t...

Oh baby baby, how was she supposed to know that something wasn’t right? Britney Spears thought Kevin Federline was her happily-ever-after but soon turned into a one of the biggest breakups of the 00s.

This week on The Way They Were, Chantal and Gráinne are joined by guest of honour Claire Parker, co-host of Celebrity Memoir Book Club, to dig into the heady highs, the very public lows, and the sombre truths behind one of ce...

Before the Frasier reboot, before the Tony Awards, before the dinner party from hell - there was just Kelsey and Camille.

This week, comedian, agony aunt and Attitudes! host Bryan Safi joins us to revisit the unforgettable union of sitcom royalty and a dancer on club MTV who would go on to become "the most hated housewife in America".

Was it true romance or simply a love bomb that blew up on national television? Bryan help...

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By popular demand, Gráinne and Chantal dive into the unlikely, unbelievable, and utterly adorable romance between Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson.

With both stars carrying enough tragic backstory to write a series of novels, could this be the rare beam of romantic sunshine in an otherwise awful summer? Or is it...

She’s the Queen of Pop. He’s the matinee idol who didn’t want to be filmed feeling things. This week on The Way They Were, Chantal and Gráinne are joined by comedian and lifelong Madonna fanatic Dane Buckley to relive the high-camp, high-conflict love affair between Madonna and Warren Beatty.

From the set of Dick Tracy to the iconic Truth or Dare documentary, the pair’s romance was equal parts glamour, ego, and deeply awkw...

This week on a very special The Way They Were, we’re lighting a black candle and cranking up the Sabbath, because Ozzy Osbourne has taken his final bow.

In honour of the man, the myth, the prince of Darkness, Gráinne and Chantal dive into his decades-long, chaotic, and somewhat violent marriage to Sharon Osbourne.

Was it true love or the ultimate power couple? We look at one of the longest rock 'n' roll romances of all tim...

Welcome to the very first edition of THE GOSSIP — where Chantal and Gráinne crack their knuckles, flip open the tabloids, and say the quiet bits out loud. You asked for it. And by asked, we mean demanded in the DMs.

This week: Katy and Orlando’s break-up comes under the microscope as our cupids try to figure out what has gone wrong between the interstellar popstar and the former elf/pirate.

Plus we announce the return d...