When it comes to the tabloids, Hugh Grant almost shares the National Secular Society’s fanatical zeal. The actor, still best known for Four Weddings and a Funeral, is seriously worked up about our unregulated press, and routinely pops up on serious programmes to state his case. He proved disarmingly humble on the Today programme recently: far from being a virtuous citizen sitting in judgment of hacks, he was “the guy who got caught with the hooker”. Self-deprecating charm has always been Grant’s appeal, but he was underestimating our ability to forgive. Celebrities may fall low, but they can redeem themselves quickly. Moreover, if everyone advertised their past indiscretions (“I was the MP who got caught in his underpants on Gaydar” or “I was the celebrity chef who got caught shoplifting”) on serious programmes such as Today, what on earth would be left for daytime TV chat shows?