Minnie Driver to write 'abnormal" Hollywood memoir The former Labour prime minister was paid £125,000 by Sberbank, the largest bank in the former Soviet Union, for a speech he gave to the Russia Forum in Moscow last month. The talk, which involved four hours work, gave him his biggest pay cheque since he was forced out of 10 Downing Street in 2010. Last year, he was paid almost £75,000 for a speech he gave in Nigeria. As usual, Brown insists that he is "not receiving any money from this engagement personally." Lord of Essex Julian Fellowes, the creator of Downton Abbey, has a secret passion. "I love The Only Way is Essex," he says of the "scripted reality" television programme. You might call it trashy, but I couldn't disagree more. Speaking at a party to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Orion Publishing Group, Lord Fellowes adds: "They are striving, they have a voracious determination. In a way, they're not too dissimilar from the characters in Downton Abbey. Don't look back in anger Noel Gallagher's performance at the Brit awards failed to make an impression on his former wife, Meg Mathews. She says of the Oasis star, who sang a duet with Chris Martin, of Coldplay: "I wasn't tempted to see how he did." Speaking at the launch of her new collection for the furniture chain Dwell, she adds: "I stayed in and watched Prisoners" Wives instead - it was much more entertaining."