My reaction to most of the show

Boulle's Jewels by Francis Boulle.

Title: Boulle's Jewels
Author: Francis Boulle
Genre: Humour, Business
Publisher: Quercus
Publication Date: 8th November 2012
Synopsis: 'Business is a jungle. But I love animals.' Francis Boulle.
Venture Capitalist and CEO Francis Boulle has set out to conquer the world. Armed with strategies not seen since Sun Tzu, philosophies to rival Aristotle, a business head that makes Alan Sugar look like an amateur and thoughts about life that even Confucius would have found enlightening, Francis is king of the new life-gurus. In this must-have little book of Boulleisms, Francis shares his wry observations and indomitable views on business, love, sport, art, family, politics and even pets. He offers expert guidance to help you live your life the Boulle way, even if you've never set foot in Belgravia. Using clever typography, illustrations and amusing diagrams, this is the perfect gift for every budding entrepreneur.




{ Review }

Boulle's Jewels is a funny guide to 'the business of life' by Made in Chelsea star, Francis Boulle or should I say Francis Maximilien Yvan Christophe Boulle (yes, that is his real name). On the show, Francis is someone a lot of people like laughing at and it's usually quite hard to tell whether he's being serious or joking when he does ridiculous things. Francis is an entrepreneur and heir to a diamond business so he's living the high life, but does lots of work too (I think). He's a bit of an oddball, but he's pretty lovable and definitely one of my favourite characters on the show.

I was under the impression that this entire book was dedicated to tips on business and being an entrepreneur but whilst the book starts out like that, after the midway point this book descends into random tips about random things from a list of Francis' favourite films to 'picnic protocol'. Whilst these sections in the second half were equally interesting to read about, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that there weren't more 'insightful' tips on the wonderful world of business given that this book is actually categorized under 'Business'. That said, one of the great thing about this book is that you have absolutely no idea what's going to be waiting for you when you turn the page. It was quite exciting to read this book because it is so unpredictable and Francis offers his unique perspective on life, dating, even must-have pets.

If you're not a fan of Made In Chelsea or you don't know who Francis Boulle is then don't bother reading this book - you won't enjoy it or find it funny. This book is definitely aimed at people who already have an idea of who Francis is, the type of life he leads and what his personality is like. The voice of Francis really shines through this book and you get his sort of awkward, sometimes (unintentionally) self-deprecating humour as well as some down-right outrageous statements that you're not quite sure what to make of. Several pages are dedicated to quotes from Francis himself and at several moments he jokes about how this book will be a best-seller and how awesome he is, so this book is a mockery of himself in many ways.

What I was really impressed with, was the general design of the book in terms of look, feel, design, layout etc. The presentation of this book is impeccable with brilliant graphics, photos and diagrams to support the text. The book itself is also really well made as the material used for the cover and the pages is quite thick. General presentation isn't something that is usually that striking with a book, but it's probably one of the key features of this book. Without the fancy graphics this book would be considerably less successful and less interesting to read as the funny pictures/quotes/captions etc. all add to the humour. There's even a handy piece of string attached to the spine to use as a bookmark - useful for when you want to mark your favourite passage!

All in all, this is an interesting and funny read that is perfect for any fans of Made In Chelsea and Francis Boulle. If you've never heard of the show or Francis, then I'd steer clear of this book because you probably won't appreciate the humour or the strange tips quite as much. Whilst the advice given in this book is pretty funny at times, some of it is actually useful advice for entrepreneurs once you've stripped away the comedy. There are a few life lessons to be learnt from this book and if you can learn those whilst having a good laugh then this book's done pretty well. You can fly through this book pretty quickly and it's a nice light hearted read. There isn't actually all that much text in this book as a lot of page space is dedicated to fancy fonts, block lettering and pictures or diagrams. If you love Made in Chelsea and/or Francis Boulle, like good looking book and having a laugh, then this is a book I'd definitely recommend.

Confessions of a Chelsea Boy by Spencer Matthews. 

Title: Confessions of a Chelsea Boy
Author: Spencer Matthews
Genre: Autobiography
Publisher: Sidgwick & Jackson
Publication Date: 26th September 2013
Synopsis: Charming, funny, a good friend, a less than perfect boyfriend, Spencer Matthews is one of the most talked-about stars of E4's Made in Chelsea. But what lies behind his sometimes controversial behaviour? In Chelsea Boy, his honest and revealing autobiography, Spencer opens up about life before the cameras,including growing up on the beautiful island of St Barths where his parents own the exclusive Eden Rock hotel. He also writes movingly about the devastating loss of his brother on Everest, and the close family ties that ground him. Spencer describes his antics at Eton, where the masters declared they'd never met a boy like him before (this was not entirely a compliment), and introduces us to his friends Proudlock, Jamie, Hugo and Caggie. He takes us from his first kiss to his many romantic adventures (and misadventures) and describes the four loves of his life so far and why things didn't work out. From St Barths to St Tropez, from London to New York, Spencer also gives us glimpses into his world as he gambles with Hollywood stars, runs away from an enraged Middle-Eastern despot, and narrowly avoids death in a powerboat crash. Sensational, entertaining, full of laughter, this is the real Spenny as you've never seen him before.

{ Review }


Confessions of a Chelsea Boy is the autobiography of Made in Chelsea star, Spencer Matthews. As one of the most popular characters on the show, he is always at the centre of the drama, usually involving girls, and he is particularly known for cheating on his girlfriends. Whether or not you love or hate Spenny, watchers of MIC cannot deny that the show wouldn't be the same without him, and this book gives you a brief glimpse into his life up til now.

This book is written in chronological order and documents the key moments in Spencer's life from his birth until 2013. It documents what it was like moving from England to France to St Barths and then finally back to England with the creation of the famous Eden Rock hotel, owned by his father, on the Caribbean island, St Barthelemy, along the way. It includes anecdotes from his Eton days in terms of education and social life as well as his brief time at USC in America where he studied for a bachelor of arts degree in cinema and television. Of course, it includes lots of details about the parties he's thrown, the parties he's been invited to and the parties he's promoted, as well as how Made in Chelsea came into being. He talks about pretty much every relationship that he's ever been in right from his first kiss, to his relationship with Stephanie Pratt (yep, it's that up to date) including things about him and Funda, Louise and Lucy, fellow MIC stars. The one thing that I wish this book included more of, is his relationship with his MIC 'boys', Jamie, Proudlock and even Hugo. They are, of course, mentioned numerous times, but not as much as I would like.

One of the most common questions when it comes to reality TV shows, such as Made in Chelsea, is: is it real? Spencer's autobiography gives you a good look at what his life has been like both before and after the creation of Made in Chelsea and it allows you to understand his playboy character a lot better. According to Spencer, the action on the show is real, but I believe he once said in an interview that he 'plays to his dark side'. Having read Confessions of a Chelsea Boy, I feel that the Spencer on and off screen are pretty similar, but perhaps the MIC Spencer is slightly exaggerated. But what about those awkward silences, you ask? Well of course there are awkward silences, no one wants to air their dirty laundry out in public! At least not at first...

What's good about this book is that Spencer doesn't preach about what he has learnt in life, instead he tells you straight up what happened and how it affected him. He's had a hell of a lot of life experiences considering how young he is, a lot of them involving him making some not-so-clever decisions, but I admire that Spencer takes full credit for his own actions. The other good thing is that he doesn't try to glamorise his life. He doesn't really encourage the life that he leads, acknowledging that it's not for everyone and it's certainly not normal, but nor does he discourage it. Spencer's writing is really informal and it feels like you're just having a chat as he tells you his life story. Some details are really quite personal which makes you feel like you're getting a bit closer to the real Spencer Matthews as who he is behind the mask of reality television.

So, if you're a fan of Made in Chelsea and you want to know things like how Spencer met Caggie, Hugo, Jamie, Proudlock and the rest of the MIC cast as well as lots of amusing (well, some not so amusing), anecdotes about his youth and what made him the man he is today - then this is the book for you. I'd highly recommend this to fans of MIC and Spencer Matthews because this book is full of interesting and surprising things about his life that I never knew and that you can't find out by stalking him on the internet. He has actually led a far more interesting life that you would imagine and if you want a concise and fascinating insight into his life then this book is what you need. If you don't watch Made in Chelsea you'll probably have very little interest in this book, in which case, the first thing you need to do, is start watching MIC - because, trust me, it's good. The second the you need to do, is buy this book - because, trust me, it's good.

Made in Chelsea returns to our television screens on Monday the 14th Oct 2013 - don't miss it.

Waiting on Wednesday #22. 

Don't forget to enter my giveaway to win a paperback copy of Earth Star by Janet Edwards! See review HERE. 

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Made In Chelsea.



After a dramatic finish to season two, Made in Chelsea has finally returned to our television screens. Just to recap, at the end of the last series Millie found out that Hugo had cheated on her with Rosie and it looked like Jamie and Louise were going to become the next most beloved couple of the show, but the most climatic and most anticipated moment, was when we found out that Caggie and Spencer had finally got together.
I was expecting Made in Chelsea to come back with a bang but I was definitely not prepared for all the changes that had taken place over such a short space of time. There are new relationships, broken relationships, new characters, new personalities, new cars, new houses and new jobs. Caggie and Proudlock come back from their long adventure to Australia and it's clear that Caggie/Spencer drama is not over and they won't be living happily ever after - especially since she's got someone else's name tattooed on her arm. Millie and Rosie's relationship is completely stalemate and it doesn't look like that'll be changing anytime soon. Hugo's completely smitten with his new girlfriend which causes tension with the rest of the gang. Jamie and Spencer are planning on moving in with each other, but it's not long before they're arguing. New character, Kimberly, is introduced and the boys fight it out over who gets to ask her out. Looks like Louise is also about to be in the middle of a fight between two boys. Cesca's introduced to a new man, Rich, by her new housemate Ollie, but his past with Gaby bothers her. We haven't heard much about Binky or Ollie so far but hopefully they'll come back into greater prominence soon.

Personally I feel that Made In Chelsea is losing it's buzz. Every single character has changed since the show's premiere and not all for the good. I read an article in the Independent about these new reality tv stars and whilst they have been revolutionary in the world of celebrity, the article was right - these stars are made to be destroyed. At first I thought that it would be the press destroying them, but now I realise that the characters seem to be doing a pretty good job of destroying each other. This is Gossip Girl, but real. We'll be losing one of the main characters this series as she's chosen to focus on her career and this will probably send the number of viewers spirally down so hopefully they'll up the ante to make up for this loss.

Made in Chelsea.



So, the followers of my blog will probably know that not so long ago, I spent eight hours straight watching series 1 of Made in Chelsea. I only started this series because my best friend insisted that I watch this 'amazing' programme. I wasn't expecting much. I thought this was going to be like real life Gossip Girl in London, but I found that this programme was actually highly entertaining and funny to watch. Since then, Made in Chelsea and other reality TV shows have become my guilty pleasure. Yes, you can tell that some bits are scripted because of the long pauses in dialogue but who cares? Everyone's got something going on i their life that they just want to forget about, so why not take a break and step into theirs? They lead wildly glamorous lives full of polo matches, night clubs and excessive spending along with love triangles, heart-break and naughty thoughts about people who aren't your girlfriend *cough* Spencer *cough*. If you haven't watches series 1, don't worry, you'll be able to pick up straight away from series 2, and if you're thinking about watching any sort of reality TV, I think Made in Chelsea is your best pick.

In case you've forgotten what happened at the end of the last series, here's a quick catchup. Caggie left on a plane for New York, leaving Spencer standing at the airport; Millie and Hugo's relationship is blossoming whilst Rosie is in the corner fuming; has Agnes really forgiven Francis and what happened on their date? Ollie's realised that he is in fact bisexual, but then who was the new girl dangling on his arm at the Made in Chelsea after party?! There are SO many more questions that need to be answered, and there's not long to go! (six minutes in fact). For more details about the last season check out this post: Made in Chelsea - Series 1. 

Made In Chelsea.

There's something very 'Gossip Girl' about this picture, don't you think?

I finally decided to step into the realms of reality TV and so I spent an entire day watching series 1 of Made In Chelsea (MIC). My reasons for picking Made in Chelsea over The Only Way Is Essex (TOWIE) isn't exactly sensical (yes, I'm making sensical a word) but oh well. Firstly I picked Made In Chelsea because it is considerably shorter than The Only Way Is Essex with only eight episodes as opposed to  twenty five. My second reason is because I saw Ollie from Made In Chelsea walk down the red carpet at the Harry Potter premiere in a Union Jack suit, which I thought was incredibly cool and snazzy. Thirdly (also Harry Potter related, as most of my life is) I saw a character from The Only Way Is Essex being interviewed on '50 Greatest Moments of Harry Potter' and I thought that it was quite insulting to use a character from a reality TV show in a programme supposedly honouring Harry Potter.

Yes, Made In Chelsea is exactly what it looks like, a useless show that follows the lives of London's young 'elite'. That's not to say it isn't entertaining though, because it is. There is a reason that Big Brother carried on for 22 series (including spin-offs) and that reality TV shows are being produced. For some unfathomable reason, the British public love watching the lives of complete and utter strangers. There had been quite a lot of rivalry between The Only Way Is Essex and Made In Chelsea because essentially they are the same show, except the kids (okay, I probably shouldn't call them kids, so 'adults') in Made In Chelsea are a lot richer, are a lot less orange and dress a lot better. A lot of people say that The Only Way Is Essex is the better of the two, I wouldn't know because I haven't watched it yet, but if that is the case, The Only Way Is Essex must be bloody brilliant (quote Ron Weasley) because Made In Chelsea kept my bottom glued to my seat and my eyes glued to the screen for an entire eight hours straight.

The Boys.

I have to say for the first few episodes I literally had to keep pressing pause every 5 seconds so I could laugh it all out before continuing. Some of the things that these people is hilarious. Okay maybe it's not hilarious, but I couldn't believe how dumb some of the things they say are. Some of my favourite quotes are: 'Who wrote Winnie The Pooh? Was it Jane Austen?', 'I sometimes enjoy the smell of cow s***' and 'Do I look like Jesus?'. I don't really know how to continue without sounding like a pretentious twit but I was genuinely shocked by the stupidity of some of the characters. Each and every character is different and offers something different to the group. Some of them are extremely well educated and although they were clearly born into rich families they still have (very well paid) jobs, cough, Francis, the diamond entrepreneur, cough. Actually what surprised me was that all the characters had jobs that they're all very good at and all earn a lot of money doing them.

Cast member	Age	Job	Series(s)
Catherine 'Caggie' Dunlop	21	Singer/songwriter	1
Spencer Matthews	22	Broker	1
Hugo Taylor	24	Head of PR	1
Camilla 'Millie' Macintosh	24	Make-up artist	1
Amber Atherton	19	Jewellery boutique owner	1
Rosie Fortescue	21	Student	1
Ollie Locke	24	'Whiskey Mist' VIP host	1
Gabriella Ellis	24	Musician	1
Alexandra 'Binky' Felstead	20	Investment front of house	1
Francesca 'Cheska' Hull	25	Blog author	1
Francis Maximilien Yvan Christophe Boulle	22	Diamond entrepreneur	1
Fredrik Ferrier	21	Model	1

I guess one of the most important thing about shows like this is whether or not the show actually looks real. There has been much speculation as to whether the producers of reality TV shows tell certain characters to do certain things to increase the ratings and even though the production companies all deny it, I cannot believe that every single moment of this shows is real. For one, there are some extremely long pauses in the middle of conversations, which are really odd, as if someone is waiting for someone else to speak. Here's an interesting article from the Made In Chelsea wrap party that suggests that a lot of the 'screenplay' is fake (SPOILER ALERT): Metro: MIC wrap party.

Made in Chelsea mainly revolves around Caggie and Spencer who have been friends for a very long time but seem to have feelings for each other that neither have acted upon. Things start to get interesting when Spencer's girlfriend asks to meet Caggie, I guess from then on, all hell breaks loose. It's interesting to see the different relationships between characters grow and change. Expect plenty of bitching from the girls and boys, fabulous dresses to exclusive events, fast cars, rocky relationships, love triangles, you know, the usual.

The Girls.

If you're a fan of The Only Way Is Essex, then I think this is something that you'd definitely like, if you've never watched reality TV because you think it is pointless and tacky, I think you'll still find this entertaining, it can be your one guilty pleasure. If you're looking for an escape from the drama of your life, step into theirs, and watch Made In Chelsea.

And finally I'll leave you with Caggie's opening words:



Perhaps I'll do a Made In Chelsea vs. The Only Way Is Essex post in the future ... let me know if you'd like this :)