TV presenter Mary Portas, who has been married to both a man and a woman, claims that bringing up children is better with a lesbian.

‘I have to say that sharing motherhood with a female makes it doubly wonderful,’ gushes Portas, 54, whose wife, 41-year-old fashion journalist Melanie Rickey, gave birth to their son Horatio in 2012.

‘Women are so capable — they are able to do an awful lot of things.’

TV presenter Mary Portas, 54, says she does not have to 'sit and talk' to wife Melanie, 41, about how she wants to bring up their son

Portas disclosed last month that Horatio was conceived artificially using sperm donated by her brother Lawrence Newton.

‘Melanie and I don’t even have to sit and talk about how we want to bring Horatio up,’ she adds. ‘We just agree.’

The presenter, who was David Cameron’s ‘High Street tsar’, has a teenage son, Mylo, and daughter, Verity, with her ex-husband, Unilever executive Graham Portas. She says watching Melanie bear a child has helped her empathise with fathers.

‘Not being the birth mother this time has given me a tiny bit more understanding of men,’ she says.

‘There is something extraordinarily visceral about giving birth. You are “The One”!' With Horatio, I feel much more chilled and relaxed.’

Modern family: Portas disclosed last month that Horatio was conceived artificially using sperm donated by her brother Lawrence Newton

Does Radio 1’s Ben Cooper regret banning Madonna from the playlist? ‘I love Madonna,’ the 44-year-old controller of the BBC’s teen station now pleads.

‘I had a signed Madonna Face magazine front cover on my wall. It’s nothing personal . . . She could come back.’

Cooper says he spends his spare time playing Clash Of Clans, a game in which players train troops and attack others to earn gold, which is used to build defences. It sounds the perfect training ground for a BBC executive.

After ISIS, it's 'no dogs allowed' at Downton

Bye Isis: Hugh Bonneville as Earl Grantham and the dog playing Isis

After Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes bumped off Isis in the last series, he promised he would replace the labrador with another canine companion for Lord Grantham.

‘The first was Pharaoh, the second Isis, the third one will be Tutankhamun or something,’ he joked.

Alas it is not to be. For Lord Grantham, played by Hugh Bonneville, will be dogless in the sixth series, which is due to air later this year.

The death of Isis prompted speculation the pooch was ‘disappeared’ because she shared her name with Islamic State.

‘Anyone who genuinely believes the series five storyline involving the animal was a reaction to recent world news is a complete berk,’ said Bonneville.

No word yet on whether the opening credits which feature Isis’s generous rump will be changed.

Fancy dining like a duke? For most people a 19th-century Nantgarw bone china dessert service would be the pinnacle of any porcelain collection, but for the Duchess of Richmond it’s merely surplus to requirements.