At one point in time, Brad Pitt might well have been considered the most eligible bachelor on Earth. But no more.
Fans have known for some time now about his romance with Ines de Ramon; the pair are said to have planned to celebrated his milestone 60th birthday with a low-key week.
According to PEOPLE, Pitt wasn’t of a mind to go overboard with the celebrations after ushering in his sixth decade on Monday. It surely says quite a bit about his commitment to De Ramon, then, that he wanted to spend his time with her.
Last month, a source is said to have spoken to PEOPLE and described De Ramon, ex-wife of actor Paul Wesley, as “Brad’s first proper relationship since the divorce” from Angelina Jolie.
Indeed, the Troy star is said to have started introducing the 32-year-old as his girlfriend.
“He introduces [Ines] as his girlfriend,” an insider PEOPLE. “It’s great to see him in a good place. Ines makes him very happy.”
It’s been a rocky road back to happiness for Pitt, whose marriage to Angelina Jolie ended in a tumultuous separation, the wounds of which still don’t appear to have fully healed.
Famously dubbed ‘Brangelina’ in the media, the A-listers fell in love on the set of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, embarking on a romance that stole headlines all over the world.
In 2016, however, Jolie filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. She also moved to request sole custody of the pairs six children, Maddox, Pax, Shiloh, Zahara, Vivienne and Knox.
On January 21, 2021, Angelina Jolie emailed Brad Pitt, an email which has since then made public. In the email, she mentions that she writes “with a heavy heart” to inform Pitt of her decision to sell Miraval, “a business that is centered around alcohol.” This is perhaps a reference to the now infamous plane event where an intoxicated Pitt “choked” one of their children and then “struck another in the face” before he poured alcohol on her and the kids.
As recently as October did Brad find his name in the headlines for a less than savory reason, after an old Instagram story surfaced wherein his adopted son Pax had labeled him a “f****ing awful human being”.
Pax, who was 16 at the time, expressed his displeasure with his father and warned him “the truth will come to light someday.”
“You time and time and again prove yourself to be a terrible and despicable person,” Pax wrote over an image of his father accepting the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
“You have no consideration or empathy toward your four youngest children who tremble in fear when in your presence.
“You will never understand the damage you have done to my family because you’re incapable of doing so.
Australia’s adopted popstar son Leo Sayer reflects on his career
“I look at my role as being a friend of Canberra Hospital, I can bring some pleasure and happiness sometimes to people who are really in difficult times in their lives.”
With backing music from a Bluetooth speaker, Sayer croons his way around the cancer wards, making a human connection with everyone he comes across.
Canberra Region Cancer Centre Operations Manager Caroline McIntyre says Sayer’s visits are typically kept a surprise for patients and staff.
“He’s always come in so discreetly,” she says.
“Normally it’s just very quiet, he comes up in the back lift and says hello to literally everybody.
“Some of them are doing it tough, and to have a little bit of joy and light – it really gives them a lift.
“What makes me happy is to see people getting chemo on their feet dancing.”
Jamming with Jimi Hendrix, Countdown and the Troubadour
Originally a graphic designer by trade, English-born Leo Sayer rose to pop prominence in London in the late 1960s, as a singer-songwriter – and was soon adopted by Australia as an honorary son after his first tour here in 1974.
He went on to become an Australian citizen in 2009.
Sayer was a regular on ABC TV’s Countdown during the 70s and 80s, performing chart-toppers like “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing”, “When I Need You”, “More Than I Could Say” and “Orchard Road”.
He blushingly admits they were wild days – when he didn’t always live up to his “good-guy” public persona.
“It was mad, I mean, Top of the Pops in England, Countdown over here,” he says.
“You were mobbed by the fans, I remember being dragged out of a limousine the first tour that I came here, and then speaking to crazy people like Molly Meldrum on TV and trying to sort of like take it all in.”
It seems hard to believe – the petite, well-spoken singer, with a mane of curly hair that inspired changing his name from Gerard to Leo – beating off mobs of screaming fangirls.
Sayer circulated in superstar company, becoming close friends with former Beatles George Harrison and Paul McCartney, collaborating with Roger Daltrey of The Who, and even sharing a sly cigarette or two with John Lennon and Yoko Ono who had a flat above his design studio.
“I met Jimi Hendrix right at the start of his career. I actually jammed with him, playing the harmonica, and him playing the guitar,” he says.
Recalling his 1975 opening night at the famous Troubadour Club in Los Angeles, he looked up to see an intimidating line-up of fans in the front row.
“It was David Bowie, Elton John, and ‘The Fonz’ [Henry Winkler].”
Alongside them: John Cleese, Mick Jagger, Bernie Taupin, and comedian Marty Feldman.
“We never thought it would last, we were adapting to things around us, writing songs about things that are around us,” he says.
“And we thought they were only for our generation — so the amazing thing is my music’s become like a fine wine, where you lay it down and years later, it becomes a collector’s item.
“We’re in an age where the music that I make, young kids are actually latching onto it now, and they’re finding that that generation and that style of music we made is as current now as anything.”
Sayer’s health battles, still spreading hope at 76
Leo Sayer says his hospital charity work caps off a career dedicated to providing joy through music.
“It’s a nice piece of synchronicity really, because I was born in the grounds of a hospital in Shoreham by Sea in Sussex, near Brighton in England,” Mr Sayer said.
“I suppose I’ve always felt comfortable in hospitals and being around hospitals.
“Growing up, my dad was a hospital engineer, Mum was a nurse, my sister was a matron.”
Sayer has health struggles of his own, including three stents in his heart, which help him have a genuine connection to the hospital patients he entertains.
“[My music] is providing something that isn’t taking away from any of the treatment that’s going on. It’s providing something that’s just putting a smile on peoples’ faces.
“Music is communication and that’s what this is all about, we’re communicating, we’re making people feel better.
“We’re not healing people with music, but we are making them feel better about their healing.
“To sell out Canberra Hospital will do me fine.”
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