Enders' Kara set for underwear ads
EastEnders star Kara Tointon is set to pocket a six figure sum modelling for lingerie firm Ultimo, according to the papers. The Sun reports Tointon - who plays Dawn Swann on the BBC1 soap - will make £100,000 appearing in ads for the firm's new range for supermarket chain Asda. And Ultimo boss Michelle Mone, who signed the 25-year-old, thinks she has the potential to become a huge star. "Michelle has big plans for Kara," a source close to the businesswoman told the paper. "She thinks she's every bit as pretty as X Factor judge Cheryl Cole and has huge potential." Tointon is said to be lining up projects to ensure she has a successful career when she leaves EastEnders in the summer. She is also tipped to appear on this year's series of Strictly Come Dancing. She is the latest in a string of high-profile stars to model for Ultimo. Others have included former Dancing On Ice champion Suzanne Shaw, Spice Girl Mel B, Girls Aloud star Sarah Harding and model Penny Lancaster.
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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.
An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.