BBC's Marr lands Blair interview, while Leslie eyes jungle comeback

As the slow summer, which is traditionally something of a graveyard in terms of decent TV shows, comes to an end, the upcoming autumn season is already looking promising.

Indeed, the start of September is set to see what many will view to be the UK TV listings highlight of the year as the BBC's political guru Andrew Marr conducts the first major televised interview with Tony Blair since he stepped down as prime minister.

Coming as the former Labour leader attempts to enhance his post-office reputation with the launch of his memoirs, the BBC has confirmed that it has secured the rights for a one-hour grilling of Blair, which will be shown on BBC2 on Wednesday September 1st.

Celebrating the news, morning talk-show host Marr has stated that the show is likely to form part of the historical record when future generations look back on the years of Labour government.

"Having the chance to speak to the former PM for an hour is a remarkable opportunity to learn more about what he was trying to achieve in office and how with hindsight he now regards his record," he said.

In comparison to the news that the BBC has snapped up Blair for an era-defining interview, rumours that John Leslie is being lined up to re-launch his TV career in the Australian jungle seems pretty insignificant.

But, to fans of I'm A Celebrity, the former Blue Peter and This Morning presenter is likely to be a welcome addition to the 2010 edition of the show and, given his colourful past, it seems fair to say he would be a little more interesting to watch than some of the 'stars' of recent series.

According to the Daily Record, the 45-year-old is already in talks with ITV bosses, with the Scot keen to use the reality show to get him back in favour with the public and move back into primetime.

Meanwhile, one star who will definitely be back in the UK TV listings the next few weeks - though in this case with her star in the ascendency - is Cheryl Cole, who has said that she will be back for the "judges' houses" phase of this year's X-Factor competition.

Having missed the first few weeks, including some of the last audition rounds as well as the Boot Camp stage, the Geordie singer has released a statement through ITV to say that, while she was "gutted" at having missed work through her bout of malaria, she "can't wait to get [her] category and get [her] teeth stuck into the judges' houses".