As new Albert Square resident Bea Pollard in EastEnders, Ronni Ancona knocked a shoplifter to the floor and gave him a beating.

In a more unfortunate real-life episode in London's West End, the TV impressionist fell victim to a more competently executed act of theft.

I can reveal that the Bafta-winning creator of The Big Impression had her phone snatched after she left the Leicester Square premiere of Twiggy, Sadie Frost's documentary about the iconic model she co-produced with Bridget Jones star Sally Phillips.

'I was taking some investors and people involved in the film from the Vue Cinema to the afterparty in Soho,' she tells me, safely indoors at Goldsboro Books in Covent Garden, where her friend Kathy Lette launched her book, The Sisterhood Rules.

'The theft was by someone on foot, someone very deft of hand – I was absolutely devastated,' despairs Ronni, 57.

'I tracked my phone, it went everywhere and ended up in the Middle East.'

The Sketch Show star is, alas, far from the first celebrity to have their phone snatched in Labour mayor Sadiq Khan's increasingly lawless London.

Last year, I reported that TV star and socialite Amanda Cronin had her phone stolen while out in Belgravia.

And the Bridgerton actress Genevieve Chenneour was left with severe anxiety after she was assaulted while bravely fending off a thug who attempted to rob her at a cafe in Kensington High Street, West London.

Ronni admits she, too, was left anxious by her brush with the criminal class.

'It's worrying because I've got lots of famous contacts on my phone, though their names are under code.

'Luckily, I got a young person to help me wipe the data.'

Ooh la la! Kimberley reveals name of her mystery French beau 

Kimberley Garner has broken her silence around her dashing 'mystery man', as she finally reveals his identity.

The former Made In Chelsea Star is enjoying the first flush of romance, dividing her time between his home in St Tropez and hers in London.

His name is Raphael Nataf.

'It's been five months, we're living between St Tropez and London, so I can work on my swimwear. He owns a chain of restaurants but we both work for ourselves. His name is Raphael, he's French,' she tells me.

Garner, 35, who owns a luxury swimwear business, Sunday Swimwear, has also renovated a property in London's Belgravia, which is now on the market for £1.9 million. It must be love.

Petra husband's e-scooter smash 

Formula 1 heiress Petra Ecclestone, 37, and husband Sam Palmer left California for Dubai in January, only for the Gulf city to be caught up in the US-Iran war.

But a holiday in France has proved more hazardous for Palmer, 42, after he was flung from an out-of-control electric scooter.

'I was having fun in the park with my boys, riding e-scooters, and I'm looking at them going, 'You're getting a bit quick on those'.

'Then I realise they've taken off the [speed] limiter – I've gone up in the air,' the real estate agent reveals. 'I think it was [going] 70mph. I'm so bust up. I've got a hole in my hand, I've cut my knee to pieces and broken my foot.'

Life's a tongue twister for Love Island's Ekin-Su 

Many envy the multilingual among us, but Love Island winner Ekin-Su Culculoglu, who won the ITV dating series in 2022, admits there are 'challenges' to having two languages at her disposal.

'I grew up speaking Turkish at home with my parents and English at school. Sometimes I'll think in Turkish and speak in English and it comes out a bit off or unusual,' explains the Islington-born model, left.

'I've caught myself translating Turkish phrases directly into English so many times, which can sound strange to others,' Ekin-Su, 31, writes online, adding: 'I wish people understood that more.'

More than 100 private schools have shut since Labour loaded VAT onto fees.

But the demise of £41,000-a-year Horris Hill may bring a smile to singer Will Young, 47, who summarised it as 'five years amongst abusive adults'. 

Recalling that the phone which would have allowed distressed pupils to call home was 'ripped out twice' by masters, Young has also spoken of drunken teachers 'rolling around dormitories', 'kids thrown against radiators' and 'things I can't talk about'. 

In 2024, seven former pupils received compensation from the trust which owned Horris Hill in Hampshire until 2021.

It takes an iron will to reach the top of the BBC, and its recently resigned director-general Tim Davie is keen to prove his mettle in the fitness stakes, too. 

'He [Davie] is writing a book about running,' broadcaster John Kampfner tells me at the launch of his book, Braver New World, at Daunt Books in Marylebone.

Davie, who attended, won't discuss his future projects.

Also at the launch was BBC News' Ben Brown, who says of his former boss: 'He's an amazing runner, he does iron man challenges and ultra marathons.'

Edited by Harry Dougherty