The countdown to season four is well underway. And while Game Of Thrones fans will have to wait a little longer for the premiere, for now they can feast their eyes on the new edition of Vanity Fair. Emila Clarke, Kit Harington and Peter Dinklage join their castmates on the cover of the glossy magazine, which features a series of photos of the stars by the photographer Annie Leibovitz. Based on George R R Martin’s fantasy novels A Song Of Fire And Ice, the HBO show is the latest TV sensation.

From a core band of fans excitement has spread through word of mouth, leading ratings to jump from three million for the pilot to 5.4 million for the third season finale. Millions more are watching on catch-up TV and DVD, and the show even has the dubious distinction of being the most illegally downloaded in history. Co-creators David Benioff and Dan Weiss tell Vanity Fair that one of their most powerful fans — Barack Obama — gets to see episodes before they are screened on TV.

The author of the series which spawned the show, Martin admits to the magazine that the epic saga is in danger of catching up with his books — he has so far written five of a planned series of seven. Martin also writes one episode of each season of the hit show, with Benioff and Weiss co-writing seven of the nine others and overseeing the rest. The pair reveal that they do foresee the show coming to an end. “It doesn’t just keep on going because it can,” Weiss says. “I think the desire to milk more out of it is what would eventually kill it.” But for now Game Of Thrones is making stars out of its cast, with Peter Dinklage even winning a Golden Globe.

And THAT’S what you call a bikini body!

There’s no need for the paparazzi to pursue Nicki Minaj. For the selfie-lover took to Twitter to share a series of bikini shots on her romantic holiday to Mexico. First posing in a white two-piece and trainers, she knelt on one leg beside the beach. Then in a series of shots taken in a polka-dot bikini, she peered over the edge of a balcony at the ocean, before squatting down to show off her curves. It wasn’t all pouting — in one shot the pop star fell over as her posing got out of hand. “I was falling n @grizzleemusic just kept on shooting. Lol,” she wrote.

Nicki was on vacation in Mexico with her boyfriend Safaree Samuels, celebrating their ten-year anniversary. The two were seen together on Monday, shortly before their flight home, in Cabo San Lucas. Nicki wore what appeared to be a diamond band on her left hand — sparking rumours that the pair may have plans to wed.

Ooh la la!

When it comes to promoting her music career she certainly knows how to cause a stir. And with Kylie Minogue’s 12th studio album Kiss Me Once just around the corner, the diminutive Aussie superstar opted to publicise the record’s online streaming a week ahead of its release by lying on a bed holding up a copy of the striking vinyl cover. The singer, 45, tweeted the cheeky shot along with the caption ‘Lie Down’ along with a close-up of the artwork on her Instagram account, much to the delight of her loyal fans.

In between her hectic shooting schedule Down Under, for Nine Network’s The Voice Australia — in which she has joined will.i.am, Joel Madden and Ricky Martin on the judging panel — she also managed to squeeze in a secret show at The Beresford Hotel pub in Sydney last month where she performed the album’s first single Into The Blue. The singer’s latest LP was he

r first collection recorded under Jay Z’s Roc Nation management, which has seen her team up with the likes of Pharrell Williams on a track called I Was Gonna Cancel. The record, which also contains collaborations with Sia, MNEK and Stargate, includes racy song titles like Les Sex and Sexercise. The album will be officially released on March 18.