The silent benefactor that was Jeremy Beadle

Last Wednesday night, one of my oldest friends died at the young age of 59.

I knew Jeremy Beadle for almost 28 years and the last time I saw him - Saturday afternoon - he was lying in a hospital bed unconscious and attached to various machines that were keeping him alive.

Four days later, he died leaving Sue, his adored wife, and four beloved children Leo, Clare, Cassie and Bonnie.

His death made the front page of the Daily Mirror and The Sun and also garnered large obituaries in The Times, The Guardian, Daily Express and The Independent for whom he wrote a fiendishly difficult quiz for the past four years.

As well as being a television genius (he thought up Surprise Surprise among many other shows), he was a general knowledge guru, very funny, kind and very thoughtful. His friends miss him more than they can say.

Jeremy also raised a staggering £100million for charity. He never asked for a reward for this - he did it for his own (he said selfish, his friends think selfless) reasons but the "establishment" saw fit to award him only an MBE, the lowest of the orders available.

Compare this to a certain other television star who has faded from our screens. He works for charity - and boy does he let everyone know about it - but he also charges a minimum of £10,000 per appearance. Jeremy didn't even ask for expenses. Jeremy got a paltry MBE - this other celebrity got a knighthood. Jeremy probably wouldn't have wanted a "K" but, by golly, was he ever deserving of one!

Liz is Fuller herself

If you are an insomniac or an avid reader of gossip magazines you may have heard of Liz Fuller - she is the stunning blonde who hosts one of those late-night shows on Channel4 in which people ring in to solve some bizarre puzzle at 75p a minute.

She made the news on 2 June 2004 when hosting Auction World (no, me neither) and dumped Paul McKenna live on air. (The hypnotist says that the relationship was already over. "It's the funniest end to a fling I've ever had," he said. "We only went out for a couple of months and the break-up has been more significant than the relationship.")

Anyway, Liz, 32 this month, has grandly announced that she and two friends will be sleeping rough to highlight the charity Crisis.

She says: "We are always seen at fabulous parties. (Are you?) I want people to see us experiencing the rough and tough. (Why?) I come from a farming background in Wales, so it shouldn't be too much of a shock. If you have a celebrity profile you have an obligation to give something back. Not everybody has a good time over Christmas. My mother is a committee member of Save The Children, so charity is in my blood."

They say that they are looking for a TV crew to film the event. Wouldn't it be much simpler and less pretentious just to give a night's pay to Crisis rather than going through all this rigmarole? Ah, but then you wouldn't get all that lovely publicity and more invites to "fabulous parties"?