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Who’d live in a circulation area like this?
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| SHE'S LOCAL: Singer Madonna |
JOHNNY Depp, Noel Gallagher, Madonna and Posh. Who's the odd one out?
Congratulations if you picked Madonna.
Unlike the others, who were all falsely rumoured to have bought homes in this area, Madonna is rumoured to be selling her country estate at Ashcombe near Shaftesbury.
News of the alleged deal broke in The Sun earlier this week, with the red-top claiming Madge was quitting the eight-bedroomed mansion because she didn't spend enough time there.
At least she WAS there. Unlike the other celebs - and a host of others - whose appearance among us has been eagerly anticipated. But never actually materialised. They're not the ones who got away - they're the ones who never got here in the first place.
Who can forget the excitement last Spring, when word raced round that Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp was moving to Lymington? Depp was reported to have been seen in pubs and restaurants in the area and to have already booked his two children, Lily-Rose and Jack into a "£15,000 a year private school on the outskirts of the New Forest". A source at the school said: "There has definitely been contact made by Mr Depp." However, come last September, there was no sign of Depp or his wife Vanessa Paradis on the school-run. Or anywhere else, for that matter.
Ditto a certain Mr and Mrs Beckham. In March 2002 the Daily Echo started getting calls that Victoria Beckham had been seen in a red sports car "being driven round the Sandbanks area". One developer - who refused to be named - "confirmed" that a "top footballer" and his celebrity wife "had been viewing properties" in Branksome and were taken with one called Magic.
But not so taken that they ever bought it.
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| THUNDERBIRD THEORY: Liam Gallagher of Oasis |
And, talking of sports legends, while Geoff Boycott is reported to have a Sandbanks pad by everyone from the Independent on Sunday, to the Daily Telegraph and even the South West Trains' brochure, how come no one seems ever to have seen him?
The area is riven with phantom home-buyers, from Liam Gallagher "buying the Thunderbird house" in 2006 - he didn't - to Sir Elton John and even the Microsoft supremo, Bill Gates.
So where does it all come from? Well, Francis Payne of Sandbanks-based estate agency Tailor Made offered one theory. On the company website he stated: "Celebrity visitors are occasionally spotted on Sandbanks which often starts the rumour they are buying locally."
So how many celebrities DO live on Sandbanks?
According to Tailor Made there is: "Harry Redknapp and there's Harry Redknapp". But remember, Max Bygraves used to live round the corner
And, of course, Jonathan Ross does have a home near Swanage.
7:01pm Sunday 11th May 2008
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CommentPosted by: Tim M, usa on 4:57pm Mon 12 May 08
Can't imagine why this is even remotely interesting.
Can't imagine why this is even remotely interesting.
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