Hollywood hardman Jason Statham faces battle on home turf

Published: 00:33, 5 August 2026 | Updated: 00:46, 5 August 2026 He's the bullet-headed Hollywood hardman whose hapless on-screen foes invariably end up in a bloodied heap on the floor. However, Jason Statham appears to have finally met his match – in the shape of local planning officials. I hear that the Fast & Furious star and his fiancée, former Victoria's Secret model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, 39, pictured, have landed in hot water over plans to splash out on a new summerhouse at their £20million beachfront mansion. The couple's six-bed house, in the south of England, has its own private beach, boating lake, wild swimming pond, yoga studio and a large tree house. It also features an existing three-bedroom summerhouse complete with a kitchen, dining room and lounge which the couple have used to put up their guests. But it has emerged that planning permission was originally granted to a previous owner only for a swimming pool pavilion without accommodation. Jason Statham with his fiancée Rosie Huntington-Whiteley Statham, 59, who paid £20million for the coastal retreat in 2024, has now applied to the local council for a certificate of lawful development for the summerhouse as 'ancillary residential accommodation' so that he can build another one. He says it has been used as a guest house for more than ten years, rendering it immune from any enforcement action that might require him to tear it down, and has cited evidence from the former owners. But a planning officer told him: 'Whilst it may be able to be demonstrated that this use is lawful due to the length of time that it has been in place... it would still be unauthorised. 'Even if a lawful development certificate were obtained to confirm that the building is capable of continued use as ancillary accommodation, I'm afraid that without any other overriding justification, this is unlikely to justify its replacement with a new building that would be contrary to our policies.' Planners are expected to make a decision on Statham's scheme later this month. Phil Collins abhors the grubby campaigning that surrounds Oscars season. The pop star says: 'When I got nominated for an Oscar, first time, for Against All Odds, I didn't vote. If you're nominated, you can vote. I didn't vote because I would never know if I only won by one vote.' Speaking to the BBC about the hit, which was nominated as best original song in 1984, Phil, 75, adds: 'That wouldn't have felt right. So I didn't encourage people to vote for it because it's like, if I deserve it, I'm going to get it. If I don't deserve it, I'm not.' Was Stevie Wonder, who edged the award for his cheesy chart-topper I Just Called To Say I Love You, a little less reticent? Lady Eliza Spencer in a swimsuit with the words 'Future Mrs M' written on the back of her swimsuit Eliza with her fiancé Channing Millerd. The couple have yet to choose a venue for their wedding The Duke of Sussex was so keen to shed the Royal Family's surname, Mountbatten-Windsor, that he discussed replacing it with that of his uncle, Earl Spencer, as I revealed in The Mail on Sunday last year. By contrast, Prince Harry's cousin Lady Eliza Spencer can't wait to ditch the Spencer name. The earl's daughter, 34, is engaged to tech executive Channing Millerd, 35, and she posed in a swimsuit with the words 'Future Mrs M' emblazoned across her back. The picture was taken at Palazzo Avino, a five-star hotel on the Amalfi coast in Italy, which the couple, pictured below, are considering as a possible location for their marriage ceremony. 'Wedding venue hunting begins,' Lady Eliza says. It will be fascinating to see if Eliza, whose mother is the earl's first wife, Victoria Lockwood, invites her father to the wedding. He was absent from those of her sisters – Lady Kitty in 2021 and Lady Amelia in 2023. It has a devoted listener in Queen Camilla, but Archers star Tim Bentinck awkwardly confesses he doesn't listen to the Radio 4 show. Having played farmer David Archer for 44 years, the actor, who is also the 12th Earl of Portland, admits cheekily: 'I never know what's going on. There are all these lines and I say, 'What does that mean?' They say, 'Don't you listen to it?' And I say, 'No!' Touring with fellow Archers stars to mark its 75th anniversary, he adds: 'I've had to swot up to sound as though I know what I'm talking about.'  Despite her commitment to keeping fit, Suki Waterhouse has confessed she struggles to put down the vape Suki Waterhouse's vaping habit appears to be getting out of hand. The singer and actress, 34, admits she can't resist puffing away even while exercising. 'My trainer was absolutely horrified with me because I was vaping during training, and he was just, like, 'What is going on?',' Suki says. 'He's a professional athlete. He's absolutely horrified.' Yet the Burberry model, who has a two-year-old daughter with her Hollywood star fiancé, Robert Pattinson, insists she's otherwise devoted to keeping fit. 'I don't like the feeling if I haven't worked out in three or four days,' she adds. 'My muscles don't feel as strong. I just can't run... It makes me feel very sick.' He recently bought a £14million waterside mansion in the Buckinghamshire town where two of his closest friends live: The chef Tom Kerridge and entrepreneur Peter Jones. Now, DJ and petrolhead Chris Evans is going into business with them. I can disclose that they have set up a firm called Marlow Car Club, an exhibition and fair organisers' business. Evans, 60, created CarFest, which raises money for children's charities, and his pals share his love of motors. Dragons' Den star Jones, 60, has several classic cars, while Kerridge, 53, who owns the Hand and Flowers pub in Marlow, tells me he has begun car racing in a souped-up Renault Clio, adding: 'Last year was my first proper season.'