Stay up-to-date with the latest entertainment news from around the world. Get exclusive insights into celebrity gossip, red carpet events, movie premieres, music releases, and more.Stream TV Online Read more at: https://hotdog.com/tv/stream/
If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.
“Bread of Angels,” Patti Smith’s mesmerizing new memoir, only deepens the mystery of who this iconic artist is and where her singular vision originated. I’ve long been struck by her magnetism on stage, her fearless approach to her craft, and the stark beauty of her words on the page, including the National Book Award-winning “Just Kids.” She has a preternatural belief in her own instincts and a boundless curiosity that, taken together, help explain the extraordinarily rich life and oeuvre she’s constructed. This transcendent — and at times terrifying — account of that evolution enriches that understanding. And yet, Smith’s persona remains veiled — sphinx-like — an ethereal presence whose journey to fame was fueled by her questing spirit and later detoured by tragedy.
Like Jeanette Walls’ classic, “The Glass Castle,” Smith’s saga begins with a hard-scrabble childhood she relates as if narrating a Dickensian fairy tale. In the first four years of her life, her family relocated 11 times, moving in with relatives after evictions, or into rat-infested Philadelphia tenements. Smith’s mother was a waitress who also took in ironing. Her father was a factory worker, a World War II veteran scarred by his experience abroad. They shared their love of poetry, books and classical music with their daughter, who was reading Yeats by kindergarten.
Smith, who was born in 1946, was often bed-ridden as a young girl, afflicted with tuberculosis and scarlet fever, along with all the usual childhood ailments. She writes: “Mine was a Proustian childhood, one of intermittent quarantine and convalescence.” When she contracted Asian flu, the virus paralyzed her with “a vise cluster of migraines.” She credits a boxed set of Puccini’s “Madame Butterfly” recordings her mother bought with tip money for her return to health.
As a 3-year-old, Smith recalls grilling her mother during evening prayers, posing metaphysical questions about Jesus and the soul, immersing herself in Bible study and later joining her mother as a Jehovah’s Witness. She didn’t confine herself to a single religious discipline, though. For example, while still a young child, she saw the movie “Lost Horizons” and became entranced by Tibet and the teachings of Buddhism — “an awareness of the interconnectedness of all things.” While “this seemed beautiful,” she writes, “it nonetheless troubled me.”
There is a romantic quality even to the deprivations Smith chronicles, an effect heightened by what she chooses to highlight or withhold. With little money for toys, she and her siblings entertained themselves using the knobs on a dresser as instruments on a ship, sailing on faraway seas. She and her younger siblings regularly set out with their mother to the nearby railroad tracks, where they harvested leftover lumps of coal to fuel their pot-bellied stove — the apartment’s sole source of heat. Under the floorboards of her closet, Smith conceals “glittering refuse I had scavenged from trash bins, fragments of costume jewelry, rosary beads,” along with a blue toothbrush she’s invested with magical powers.
Their apartment building overlooks a trash-strewn area dubbed “the Patch,” which is bordered by “the Rat House.” There, Smith proclaims herself general of the neighborhood’s Buddy Gang, fearlessly fending off bullies twice her size, while at school, she was viewed as odd by her teachers, “like something out of Hans Christian Andersen.”
Within this urban setting, Smith often paused to marvel at nature. Taking a short cut on the long walk to school, she stumbles on a pond in a wooded area. A snapping turtle emerges and settles a few feet away. “He was massive,” she recalls, “with ancient eyes, surely a king.”
It’s impossible to know if Smith was really this self-possessed and ruminative as a child or if nostalgia has altered her perspective. What’s undeniable, though, is that her extraordinary artist’s eye and soulful nature emerged at an age when the rest of us were still content to simply play in our sandboxes. She recollects fishing Vogue magazines out of trash cans around age 6 and feeling “a deep affinity” with the images on their pages. She’s immersed in Yeats and Irish folk tales while being bored at school reading “Fun With Dick and Jane.” On her first visit to an art museum, viewing Picasso’s work produces an epiphany: She was born to be an artist. A decade later, she boards a bus bound for New York City.
At this point, about a third of the way into the book, we enter the vortex that is Patti Smith’s talent and ambition on fire. The pace of the memoir accelerates. An alchemy infuses each chance encounter. Opportunities abound. Everywhere she turns there are talented photographers, poets, playwrights and musicians encouraging and supporting her. She writes poetry and finds a soulmate in Robert Mapplethorpe. She meets Sam Shepard, who features her poem in a play he’s writing. She meets William Burroughs, performs a reading with Allen Ginsberg. She forms a musical partnership with Lenny Kaye, and begins performing her poetry, with the 19th century French poet Arthur Rimbaud as her spiritual inspiration.
Smith’s story unfolds as a bohemian fairy tale. Luck is with her, bolstered by a fierce conviction in her own bespoke vision. “There was no plan, no design,” she writes of that time, “just an organic upheaval that took me from the written to the spoken word.” Bob Dylan becomes a mentor. Her fame grows enormous with the 1975 release of “Horses” and the international touring that followed, yet she retains the bearing of an ascetic. She writes: “We hadn’t made our record to garner fame and fortune. We made it for the art rats known and unknown, the marginalized, the shunned, the disowned.”
Smith’s rock star trajectory is diverted by her love affair with Fred Sonic Smith, for whom she ditches her career at its height, against the advice of many of those closest to her. But as with every decision she’s ever made, she can’t be dissuaded. In this intimate portion of the book, we receive glimpses of two passionate artists hibernating, in love. They marry, have two children, and cultivate an eccentric version of domestic bliss. But harsh reality intervenes and the losses begin to accumulate. One after the other, Smith loses the men she loves most — Robert, then Fred, then her beloved brother, Todd. These losses haunt the memoir; she grapples with them by returning to the stage with a fierce new hunger.
The book’s final pages reveal Smith continuing to grieve, mourning the loss of other loved ones — her parents, Susan Sontag, Sam Shepard. I wish I could simply reprint those pages here — they moved me deeply. At 78, she reflects on the process of “shedding” — which she describes as one of life’s most difficult tasks. “We plunge back into the abyss we labored to exit and find ourselves within another turn of the wheel,” she writes. “And then having found the fortitude to do so, we begin the excruciating yet exquisite process of letting go.”
“All must fall away,” she concludes. “The precious bits of cloth folded away in a small trunk like an abandoned trousseau, the books of my life, the medals in their cases.” What will she retain? “But I will keep my wedding ring,” she writes, “and my children’s love.”
Haber is a writer, editor and publishing strategist. She was director of Oprah’s Book Club and books editor for O, the Oprah Magazine.
Decades since it’s release fans continue to hail this 90s sci-fi movie as both ‘groundbreaking’ and ‘breathtaking’ and they can watch it once again on ITV tonight
Fans have called the film ‘ground-breaking’ for its visual effects
Film fans have dubbed this 1991 movie as the “best action movie of all time”, scoring it an impressive 91% on the review site Rotten Tomatoes – and it’s on ITV for free tonight.
The classic American science-fiction movie is set to appear on TV tonight,for the perfect slice of nostalgia as you gear up for the Halloween weekend. Terminator 2: Judgement Day is the second instalment in the famed Terminator series, with Arnold Schwarzenegger playing the leading role, in what viewers are calling the best sequel to exist.
In the film, directed by James Cameron, the malevolent artificial intelligence network, known as Skynet, sends a highly advanced killing machine, The Terminator, back in time. It finds itself in 1995, on a mission to kill the future leader of the human resistance while he is still a child in order to protect the future of humanity.
One fan of the film wrote on Rotten Tomatoes: “This is one of those stellar classic action movies, and it was the best action movie of the 1990s. It was significantly ahead of its time! Groundbreaking special effects, a relentless and threateningly powerful villain, humorous and awesome moments, and entertaining action set pieces and sequences that looked convincingly real!”
Another viewer simply says: “In my opinion, this is the greatest action movie of all time. And the greatest movie sequel of all time.” Meanwhile, someone else wrote: “My favourite movie of all time, no notes.”
The film went on to be an instant classic, as a box office boom and critical success, grossing $519–520.9 million. It went on to become the highest-grossing film of 1991 across the globe and the third-highest-grossing film of its time.
Decades later, Terminator 2 is still considered to be one of the best science fiction films ever made, as a trailblazer for visual effects and computer-generated imagery. Not to mention, it has an all-star cast made up of Edward Furlong, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick and Dean Norris.
A viewer praised the cast’s performances in the sequel, writing: “Judgment Day elevates the franchise with groundbreaking visual effects and breathtaking action. Arnold delivers one of his most iconic performances, while Linda Hamilton’s transformation into a fierce and determined Sarah Connor is unforgettable.”
If viewers’ raving reviews aren’t a convincing enough reason to kick back tonight and have a movie night in, the film’s numerous accolades may prove it worthy. Terminator 2 went on to receive an impressive six Academy Awards, as well as a BAFTA Award and four Saturn Awards, honouring its visual effects, hair and makeup and, of course, the best sound effects.
A review says: “Best Terminator movie, period. This is the one that all others are judged on, and it’s a high bar.” If you’re looking for something to watch tonight, flick over to ITV4 tonight at 9pm to see an all-time classic movie from the comfort of your sofa.
VICK Hope looked incredible as she made a return to work after giving birth to her first child with Calvin Harris.
The TV and radio host, 36, welcomed son Micah with the Scottish DJ in an Ibiza home birth back in July, and returned to the spotlight at the Glamour Women Of The Year Awards last night.
Sign up for the Showbiz newsletter
Thank you!
Vick Hope returned to the red carpet after giving birth to son Micah at her and Calvin Harris’s stunning Ibiza farm residenceCredit: SplashShe looked stunning in a pink satin floor-length gown as she stepped out for the first time since motherhoodCredit: GettyThe TV and radio host shared sweet unseen snaps of her and hubby Calvin with their little one last weekCredit: vickhope/Instagram
The mum-of-one, who looked radiant in a strapless pink satin gown, admitted she was “bricking it” as she stepped out on the red carpet for the first time since giving birth.
She pleaded that the crowd “be gentle” with her as she took to the stage to cheers following her return from maternity leave.
The star said she hadn’t slept for 13 weeks, and admitted that she’d been covered in “bright yellow s**t” since giving birth.
And addressing a graphic snap of her placenta, posted by hubby Calvin, she joked: “‘It was posted by my husband but placentas are amazing. I am keen to celebrate motherhood after what my vagina has done – it’s f***ing majestic.
The post, which included images of Vick in a birthing pool, had snaps of her placenta with capsules, suggesting they had it encapsulated, which is an increasingly popular trend.
He wrote in the caption: ““20th of July our boy arrived. Micah is here! My wife is a superhero and I am in complete awe of her primal wisdom! Just so grateful. We love you so much Micah.”
Last week, Vick posted a series of summer highlights on Instagram, and looked radiant as she cradled the couple’s three-month-old son Micah at the couple’s sprawling Spanish residence.
Vick shared a series of snaps with hubby Calvin, along with close family and friends, as she marked the end of summer.
The Radio 1 host was still pregnant in a large chunk of the pics, before sharing adorable snaps with Micah post-birth.
In the caption, she wrote: “A womb with a view, a summer of love and another trip around the sun [sunshine emoji]”.
In one of the pics, Vick is seen cradling her huge baby bump in the Spanish sunshine, with a number of the snaps showcasing her and Calvin’s life as new parents.
The pair are seen pushing young Micah in a pram on the farm residence, along with Calvin holding their son during a seaside walk.
Vick is then seen beaming as she holds their three-month old, wearing a green and yellow halterneck one-piece bikini.
Calvin Harris shared a sweet image holding son Micah in the birthing pool at the couple’s stunning Ibiza residence, after announcing the birth of their first childCredit: Not known, clear with picture desk
The post received over 40,000 likes as celeb pals and fans showered the new mum-of-one with love in the comments section.
The snaps also reveal a deeper look into Calvin’s huge rural Ibiza property, which he bought after selling his two multi-million pound mansions in Los Angeles.
From haunted house hunters to horror-inspired fashionistas, here are the most sensational Latin content creators taking over the “darks” web.
It’s no surprise that many Latinos are obsessed with all things haunted, deathly and Halloween. From the celebration of the deceased known as Día de los Muertos, to the foreboding thrills and life lessons underpinning Latin America’s fiendish folklore, spooky things are as revered as they are feared.
In the past few decades, the “espooky” community has only been strengthened by a multicultural, multigenerational exposure to the arts, especially music. Many grew up with parents sharing the allure of goth, new wave, punk and metal (as well as their dark aesthetics), all of which became more discoverable thanks to the internet. There’s also been a surge of nostalgia for slasher films and scary movies — and a new crop of entertainment inspired by them, such as the 2025 reboot of “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” This enthusiasm to connect with like-minded film and music freaks online has bred a new dark subculture that simply won’t die.
If Jenna Ortega’s devious dance to the Cramps in Netflix’s “Wednesday” felt like a cultural moment, social media solidified it. Today, Instagram and TikTok are filled with influential figures in the space who also happen to be Hispanic. In Los Angeles, creator access to the entertainment industry has helped many build powerful profiles that brands and entertainment companies want on red carpets, at themed events and at home, unboxing or modeling their products. And it’s not just about tapping into Latin consumer spending power; these black-garbed creatures of the night are having a ball as they build monstrous followings from all walks of life, year-round.
Victoria Venin
With her vixen vibes and campy catchphrases, Victoria Venin, whose real name is Victoria Perez, has built an avid following online that, in the wake of the pandemic, has ballooned to 709,000 followers on Instagram and more than 54,000 followers on TikTok. Aside from conducting on-the-spot interviews at conventions such as Midsummer Scream and Monsterpalooza, and modeling for brands like Hot Topic and Romwe, Venin is best known as the main fashion fiend and model for Kreepsville, the local goth-glam clothing brand with a flagship store, Monster-A-GoGo, in East L.A.
She’s expanded her wicked world into the music scene as of late, hosting ticket giveaways for major bands and music promoters —most recently, Social Distortion and Morrissey at Toyota Arena. The Mexican American actress and model came to L.A. from San Diego to pursue her dreams and tapped into the power of social media after her partner, Danny Morales (of Pomona’s long-running new wave dance party Club Rock It!), got behind the camera to capture her adventures.
“I just started taking pictures, going out every day, and tagging all the brands and it really took off when I met Danny,” says Venin, who first became attracted to the dark side while seeing the film “Bride of Chucky” as a kid. “I remember seeing Tiffany, played by Jennifer Tilly, and thinking she looked so pretty. I thought, ‘I want to be like that when I grow up.’ I’ve always loved horror, all things spooky-cute, so I was able to use that, but make it glamorous.”
Venin’s advice for building a following online? “Work hard, go to all the events, make connections and put yourself out there,” she says. “Be the best version of yourself possible and don’t put yourself in a box. Being Latina is not something I’m trying to be, it’s just something that I am. Victoria Venin the brand isn’t limited to being Latina — she’s for everyone worldwide. I want to inspire everybody.”
Hauntina
Tina Estrella, a.k.a. Hauntina, has been celebrating horror and Halloween-related content online for over a decade, touting the “spooky side of life.” Tellingly, her most viral moments have melded her heritage with her horror sensibilities, such as a recent hit clip in which she cooked albondigas in a cauldron.
“I built a community of like-minded people, especially in Southern California, who feel the same year-round excitement for the spooky season,” says the creator, who counts 67,000 followers on Instagram and more than 109,000 on TikTok. “I think my following grew because I’ve always stayed true to myself and treated horror and Halloween as more than a phase; it’s a lifestyle.”
The Mexican American creator, who was born in Los Angeles and grew up in the Inland Empire, cites her middle school years as formative for her love of alternative music and culture. “It led me into Gothic literature, especially Anne Rice’s ‘Vampire Chronicles,’” she shares. “That opened up a whole new world for me, and soon I was obsessed with horror films, especially slashers like ‘Scream’ and ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street.’”
Today, she says Guillermo del Toro is her biggest inspiration, noting the filmmaker’s fantastical worlds and macabre beauty. “His work made me feel seen and inspired me to embrace my own love for the eerie and the extraordinary,” she says. “I believe that Latinos put so much into alternative spaces like the spooky community and we deserve to be seen and highlighted, so I’m always grateful to attend events where people who look like me aren’t typically invited or celebrated.”
Backstitch Bruja
Social media began as a fun way for South Gate native Yvette Aragon-Herrera to promote her clothing line, Backstitch Bruja. But ultimately, it spawned something bigger — soon she became the brand, building a following of 144,000 on Instagram and more than 142,000 on TikTok.
“It was very organic,” the designer says. “I was posting DIY [tutorials] online as a plus-size creator about seven years ago. There weren’t a lot of spooky plus-size clothes and accessories that were affordable … it started snowballin, so I turned it into an actual side hustle and it ended up being my main business.”
Inspired by her time as a UC Santa Barbara Chicano Studies major and retail jobs at stores like MAC Cosmetics, her gender inclusive and ethically made “Mexi-goth” brand was a hit out the gate. But she soon realized that her followers enjoyed not just her clothes — available via the website she started in 2019 and inside a San Dimas brick-and-mortar store she opened two years later — but her whole witchy aesthetic. As she started sharing more, her numbers grew, which led to invites to a wider array of invites and events.
“When movie studios and PR companies were like, ‘Hey, do you want to come to this movie premiere?’ I was like, ‘I’m not an influencer,’” she reflects. “But they were like, ‘No, you are.’ So now I’m at all these cool things.”
In addition to fashion and movie promo, Aragon-Herrera prioritizes her culture, especially on her Instagram stories. “I think it’s very important to share the Latino experience, current events, things that are affecting us,” she stresses, noting that her most popular posts were from her Halloween wedding in 2022 and out at protests. “We should be politically aware about what’s going on. I know a lot of my customers do enjoy my shop, but they enjoy me as a person, so I just try to keep it very authentic.”
Pinup Doll Ashley Marie
(Pinup Doll Ashley Marie)
On social media, where niche means everything, successfully melding multiple subcultures into content creation can be tricky, but Ashley Herrera has done it with style. Known as Pinup Doll Ashley Marie, the Mexican American creator’s social media ascent began with vintage hair and fashion tutorials. But soon her love of horror, DIY and storytelling helped her expand her audience. Her content has yielded her 668,000 subscribers on YouTube, more than 190,000 on TikTok and 198,000 on Instagram.
“I love having my hands in multiple passion projects, which is why I mixed my two favorite loves, 1950s glamour and horror,” she says. “The vintage and pinup community was tiny online, so it became this beautiful, supportive space. As I evolved, I brought my followers along for every phase — the fashion, the home projects, the Halloween builds. In my neighborhood, [my house is] the Halloween house, because I create large elaborate decorations that you can’t buy in stores.”
The Santa Ana native’s horror content also includes her AshleysFreakyFriday channel for paranormal tales, inspired by familial storytelling and “La Mano Peluda,” which was her grandfather’s favorite radio show. “People would call in and give their accounts of all the paranormal sightings they would see,” she recalls. “The mix of folklore and fear sort of became comfort for me. It connected me to my roots and my imagination. I was also born on Nov. 1, so my birthday was often celebrated on Halloween day — so it’s naturally been my favorite holiday since I was a child.”
Ghoul Daddies
Chicano couple Matthew Chavana and Paul Silva, who call themselves the Ghoul Daddies, have been covering haunts and scream scenes ever since a very eventful first date at an extreme haunt in Fullerton — now in Buena Park — known as the 17th Door.
“They threw cockroaches in my face, then they tazed us and drowned us,” recalls Chavana of the experience, which requires signed waivers to enter. “Paul filmed it, and the rest is history.”
Silva says that after his post went viral, he realized that “haunts, paranormal investigations and celebrating Halloween year-round wasn’t very common, [but] a lot of people related to it.”
Sharing their dates from the dark side since 2021, the pair both grew up in La Mirada and have built a robust fanbase online from their photos and videos, which explore the eerie side of life (and death) in L.A. and beyond. They have garnered more than 14,000 followers on Instagram and roughly 38,000 on TikTok, many of whom also belong to the LGBTQ+ community.
Chavana says it’s all in the familia. “This is all because of my mom,” explains Chavana, who often brings his mother, Mary Alice, along to outings to help film them. “She would go all out on decorations every Halloween and took me to every haunt in L.A. since I was 5 years old and it really stuck with me.”
From ambassador gigs with Fangoria magazine to podcast appearances talking all things scary, the duo stays busy year-round, but this is obviously their favorite time of year. They’re currently hitting smaller home haunts across the city, but Silva says, if you go to just one this season, make it Reign of Terror. “It just has a special feel to it,” he says. “You can tell how much they love Halloween — like we do.”
Kate Garraway has revealed she was ‘flabbergasted’ after making it to the semi-final of the Celebrity Traitors before she was dramatically banished from the Scottish castle
THE original line-up of Five have finally stepped back on stage for the first time in 25 years.
Eight months since they announced their comeback in Bizarre, fans swarmed to the Utilita Arena in Cardiff.
Sign up for the Showbiz newsletter
Thank you!
Five have finally stepped back on stage for the first time in 25 yearsFive performing on stage during the opening night of their reunion tour at Utilita Arena in CardiffCredit: Ben Birchall/PA Wire
Five hours before kick-off, I joined Abz Love, Jason “J” Brown, Ritchie Neville, Scott Robinson and Sean Conlon as they flitted between agony and ecstasy backstage . . .
Sipping an Asahi 00, Scott says with a laugh: “I’m a nervous wreck,” just as Ritchie brings me a handmade lucky charm from a fan who has flown all the way from China.
He says: “Do you want to have a hold of my ball?”
J adds: “He’s flown over from China. It’s taken him 15 hours. He’s taken two weeks off work and he’s seeing six shows.
“He’s renamed himself J and he gave us all these lovely gifts. He made that ball himself.
“And he’s got silk scarves for us all too. He embroidered them all himself. It’s a really nice touch.”
Telling me the ball is a symbol of good luck, Abz interjects and jokes: “Or he’s cursed them and we’re all f***ed.”
‘Getting shirty’
But they most certainly are not. As Five walk on stage to deafening screams later in the evening, they are slick, solid and on song.
The set begins with a bang, with the lads emerging from a haze of smoke before they burst into Slam Dunk (Da Funk) and Got The Feelin’.
For a band who last performed together two decades ago, they’ve not lost their chemistry.
Recalling the run-up to the first night, Ritchie explains: “The rehearsals had all gone great but two days ago, I was a wreck.
“As it went on, for the first time we had a couple of moments where we were getting shirty with each other.
“We all had to just step back and say, ‘Let’s just really look at the situation with 48 hours to go until the first gig.
“Let’s just acknowledge that whatever level of stress you think you’re at, you’re actually probably a little bit more’.
“We just worked to get through it all.”
The screams of fans — including a woman holding up a message that reads: “Get your tops off” — never subside as they whip through their back catalogue. Their rendition of 1998 track When the Lights Go Out proves emotional.
Fans who were looking forward to seeing the proper Nineties choreography got a treat.
It’s clear the lads have worked hard to get to this point.
“We’ve actually got new routines,” J says with a smile.
Scott adds: “The old moves didn’t come back immediately but there was some muscle memory there.
“Paul Domaine, our choreographer, he’s less spiky than he was in the Nineties.”
Abz jokes: “We’re better behaved now,” before J adds: “We’re better than we were before, but we’re not giving the behaviour of fully grown men with kids at nearly 50 years of age.”
Ritchie adds: “He was dealing with naughty school kids but now at least we’re applying ourselves a bit.”
Sitting in the underbelly of the arena, Five are physically and mentally in the best place they’ve ever been.
“We’ve been saying to everyone that we’re going to do the best tour ever,” Scott tells me.
“We said we would bring it all: the vocals, the dance moves. We weren’t just saying it though. We believed it.”
Sean adds: “It is 100 percent the best show we have ever done. Better than anything in the Nineties.
“It’s like everything’s been delayed to get to this point. It’s been 25 years. It’s meant to be.”
Scott says: “My wife Kerry is here with my twin girls.
“They’ve never seen us perform as a five-piece in their lives.
“On the journey up here, one of my girls sent me a message and I let the boys read it. I couldn’t do it because I kept crying.
“She said how proud she was of me. She’s 11 years old. I thought, ‘This is going to be epic’.
“All I know is that I am going to be crying my eyes out.”
The atmosphere rocks up a notch with Let’s Dance and Everybody Get Up, before Five knock through a medley of House Of Pain’s Jump Around, Place Your Hands by Reef and Daft Punk’s Get Lucky.
A final encore of Keep On Movin’ closes a history-making first night and Five are grinning like Cheshire cats.
On stage, Sean takes a moment to reflect and turns to his bandmates as he says: “We are lucky guys.”
As the band rallies round him, he adds: “I just wanted to say, I did not expect that so many years on it would mean so much to so many people.”
The Sun’s Ellie Henman with the boybandCredit: SuppliedThe band’s Keep On Movin’ 2025 tour posterCredit: Supplied
She was certainly more treat than trick in bright-red lippy and iconic Jean Paul Gaultier-style cone bra, just like the pop superstar on her Blond Ambition tour from 1990.
Ashley Roberts looked the double of Madonna in this Halloween outfitCredit: instagram/ashleyrobertsPopstar Madonna on her Blond Ambition tour from 1990Credit: Getty
It comes as Ashley’s former bandmate Nicole Scherzinger teased “possibilities” for the group, after settling a legal dispute with the group’s founder Robin Antin, which derailed their planned 2020 arena tour.
Nicole told LA Times: “Our lawsuit is settled. That should have never happened. That was an unfortunate mistake on someone’s part – not mine.
“However, time heals things, and grace is always beautiful in life. I’m very positive and, dare I say, excited for the possibilities to come on the horizon.”
The actress, who played Whitney Dean in the soap from 2008 to 2024, has today dropped her debut single Unapologetically Me in a bid to make a name as a powerhouse vocalist.
EastEnders star Shona McGarty is kicking off a music careerCredit: Rex
The track was co-written and produced by hitmaker Steve Anderson.
Shona said: “I wrote Unapologetically Me as a reminder to myself, and to anyone who’s ever felt pressure to be someone they’re not – that it’s OK to simply be who you are.
“Having spent years in the public eye, surrounded by glitz, glam, and expectation, I’ve often felt the need to play a character, to present a polished version of myself that fits what people want to see.
“But beneath all that, I’m just human. I’m silly, sensitive, strong, and imperfect, and that’s OK.”
Freya returns as Wicker Woman
FREYA RIDINGS is pulling no punches on comeback single Wicker Woman – the first taste of her third album that’s coming out in 2026.
The English singer-songwriter, who posed in this striking and spooky black dress, said of the song that is released today: “It’s an unashamed, euphoric celebration of reclaiming primal feminine power, a return to the core of who we are, and an ode to the forgotten women and gods who came before us.”
Freya Ridings is pulling no punches on comeback single Wicker WomanCredit: Bartek Szmigulski
Mika is also making a return today with his single Modern Times, ahead of an arena tour next spring, and Jessie J releases H.A.P.P.Y.
British boyband ABSNT MIND have put out their latest single Stitch and fresh from winning over a new fanbase on The Celebrity Traitors, Cat Burns has dropped her second album, How To Be Human.
Lily on tour
LILY ALLEN will perform her new album West End Girl in its entirety on a 13-date UK tour next year.
She will hit the road for the first time since 2019, kicking off at Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall on March 2.
Tickets go on sale from 10am next Friday.
KT’s got eye on Prada 2
SOMEHOW it has been 20 years since KT Tunstall broke on to the scene with her debut album Eye To The Telescope.
The record peaked at No3 in the UK charts and spawned a series of hits including Black Horse And The Cherry Tree, Other Side Of The World and Suddenly I See, which featured in 2006’s The Devil Wears Prada.
It has been 20 years since KT Tunstall released debut album Eye To The TelescopeCredit: Supplied
Now with Devil Wears Prada 2 set for release in 2026, KT is back in the studio working on a follow-up track which she hopes film bosses will use in a full-circle moment.
KT told Bizarre: “I would love them to use Suddenly I See, but I think they will want to move it on.
“I am writing a song to pitch to them as it’s the 20th anniversary of that too and they are using the same cast.
“I am coming up with a sequel. Who knows if they will be interested but I am going to give it a shot.”
She has today released a special 20th anniversary edition of Eye To The Telescope featuring a series of new tracks including Anything At All – which sees KT duet with her younger self.
She said: “It was so weird. I’m listening to this young woman who hasn’t had a record out yet.”
The never-before-heard title track is also on there.
She added: “I’d only written the verse and chorus and then I abandoned it.
“But the record label said, ‘Why don’t you finish that song?’ It was difficult as I couldn’t really get myself back to what I was thinking at the time. It’s really cool it has taken 20 years to write the song.”
Promising hint
FLEETWOOD MAC greats Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks have given a promising hint that the band will reunite for the 50th anniversary of their album Rumours.
The former couple had a huge fallout in 2018 but have revealed they are now back in touch after re-releasing their 1973 joint album Buckingham Nicks – so they really could come back together for the band.
The pair were interviewed separately about the making of the record, for the podcast Song Exploder.
But proving they are back in touch, Stevie said on the episode: “Lindsey and I started talking about it last night. This whole thing seems really like yesterday to us.”
More than 10 million YouTube TV customers lost access to ESPN, ABC and other Walt Disney Co. channels after contract talks broke down Thursday night in one of the largest television blackouts in recent years.
The Disney blackout was set to begin by 9 p.m. Thursday, interrupting “SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt” on ESPN and “9-1-1: Nashville” and “Grey’s Anatomy” on ABC.
The two TV giants have been wrangling for weeks over carriage fees for Disney’s channels, including FX, Disney Jr. and National Geographic. YouTube TV — now one of the largest pay-TV services in the U.S. — has balked at Disney’s price demands, fueling the dispute that spilled beyond Thursday’s deadline for a new deal.
Without an agreement, Google-owned YouTube TV no longer had legal rights to distribute Disney’s channels.
“We know this is a frustrating and disappointing outcome for our subscribers,” a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement. “We continue to urge Disney to work with us constructively to reach a fair agreement that restores their networks to YouTube TV.”
Should the outage stretch for “an extended period,” YouTube said it would offer subscribers a $20 credit.
The blackout highlights heightened tensions in the television industry.
Programming companies, including Disney, have sought higher fees for their channels to help offset the increased cost of sports programming, including NFL and NBA contracts.
But pay-TV providers such as YouTube have pushed back, attempting to draw a line as customers grow weary of ever-increasing monthly bills.
They don’t want to lose subscribers to a rival service or have them drop their subscriptions. More than 40 million pay-TV customer homes have cut the cord over the last decade, according to industry data.
Disney becomes the latest TV programmer to allege that Google has been throwing its weight around in contract negotiations.
People close to the Burbank entertainment giant accuse YouTube TV of refusing to pay market rates for Disney’s popular channels or accept terms accepted by other pay-TV distributors. Disney has clinched deals with six other pay-TV companies this year, including the nation’s largest channel distributors, Charter Spectrum and Comcast.
“Unfortunately, Google’s YouTube TV has chosen to deny their subscribers the content they value most by refusing to pay fair rates for our channels, including ESPN and ABC,” Disney said in a statement. “Without a new agreement in place, their subscribers will not have access to our programming, which includes the best lineup in live sports – anchored by the NFL, NBA, and college football, with 13 of the top 25 college teams playing this weekend. With a $3 trillion market cap, Google is using its market dominance to eliminate competition and undercut the industry-standard terms we’ve successfully negotiated with every other distributor.”
Since August, Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corp., Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Spanish-language broadcaster TelevisaUnivision have all complained that YouTube TV was trying to use its clout to squeeze them for concessions now that YouTube TV has become so popular with consumers.
YouTube TV, for its part, has alleged that Disney was the one making unreasonable demands. The San Bruno, Calif.-based platform cited recent agreements it reached with NBCUniversal and Fox..
“Last week Disney used the threat of a blackout on YouTube TV as a negotiating tactic to force deal terms that would raise prices on our customers,” YouTube TV said in a statement. “They’re now following through on that threat. … This decision directly harms our subscribers while benefiting their own live TV products, including Hulu + Live TV and Fubo.”
Both Disney’s Hulu service and Fubo compete with YouTube TV by offering packages of many of the same traditional channels.
YouTube has alleged that Disney is using the blackout to steer disaffected YouTube TV customers to Disney-owned streaming services after the Burbank company lost subscribers who canceled following the late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s brief suspension last month.
The two companies’ fraught dealings extend beyond the negotiations.
Last spring, Disney’s former distribution chief, Justin Connolly, abruptly exited to take a similar position at YouTube TV. Connolly had spent two decades at Disney and ESPN and helped devise the company’s distribution strategy. Disney sued to block the move, but a judge allowed Connolly to take his new position — putting him on the opposite side of the negotiation table.
News and sports fans might quickly notice the absence of their favorite channels.
They could miss college football on ESPN and ABC as well as a “Monday Night Football” game between the Arizona Cardinals and Dallas Cowboys.
ESPN is scheduled to televise a University of Miami-SMU football game on Saturday.
(Jason Allen / Associated Press)
Disney’s ABC stations, including KABC-TV in Los Angeles, and the network’s affiliate stations around the country also will be unavailable on YouTube TV.
That means viewers could miss local newscasts, “Jeopardy,” “Wheel of Fortune,” “Good Morning America” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”
YouTube TV launched in April 2017 for $35 a month. The package of channels now costs $82.99.
Celebrity Traitors viewers have taken to social media to point out that the show accidentally spoiled a huge detail about the final five mid-way through the penultimate episode
22:44, 30 Oct 2025Updated 22:55, 30 Oct 2025
Celebrity Traitors fans have spotted a massive editing error that gives away huge final detail
The final five of the Celebrity Traitors has been confirmed, with tonight’s penultimate episode revealing that Alan Carr, Cat Burns, Joe Marler, Nick Mohammed and David Olusoga have made it to next week’s finale. However, fans have spotted that the show already spoilt that detail mid-way through the episode.
Tonight’s episode saw the Traitors murder Celia Imrie in plain sight before the group banished Kate Garraway, leaving just five of them remaining. In between the exits, the final five plus Kate headed to their latest challenge, where they were tasked with dodging lasers to add money to the prize pot.
However, one eagle-eyed fan has spotted that the final five was actually spoiled in one shot mid-way through the episode. “Spoiler in the middle of episode 8,” they wrote on Reddit, alongside of a shot of Nick, Alan, Cat, Joe and David getting out of cars while back at the castle.
Just before, six of them had been seen travelling back in the classic black Celebrity Traitors cars – each of them wearing their own athleisure clothes. However, when the cars pull up outside the house, we see just the final five leaving the cars and they are all wearing long-sleeved green tops and black gilets.
It’s likely that the shot will have been taken from next week’s final episode – with the last five contestants taking part in one more challenge, which would explain the matching outfits and why only five of them are present.
During her exit, star Kate opened up about how life-changing Celebrity Traitors proved to be. She told her fellow castmates before leaving the show: “I’ve had a lot of years of being serious and very sad and you have all allowed me to play the most amazing game.
“But also you have allowed me to play and be silly and have fun. Every single one of you, I am going to take away an idea and a new kind of life.”
She then added: “I have and always have been totally myself. A Faithful.”
After the show, Kate said that she had “so much fun”. She added: “We were really into it and obviously we’re raising money for charity.
“Personally, I just felt genuinely lucky to be involved. Because, you know, it’s the first one. There’s been so much chat about it, and I never thought that I’d be included, so I was just like a wide-eyed kid in a candy shop for at least three days.”
Celebrity Traitors continues on Thursday at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Selena Gomez stunned in satin at the 2025 Rare Impact Fund BenefitCredit: GettyThe singer draped in purple at the LA eventCredit: Getty
The former Disney star, who recently celebrated one month of marriage to music producer and songwritter Benny Blanco, launched the Rare Impact Fund in 2020 to raise funds and awareness for youth mental health globally.
According to Vogue, the event, hosted by US talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, raised more than $600,000.
Earlier in the week, Selena’s ‘unnecessarily cruel’ comments landed her in hot water.
The star came under fire for boasting that herbillion-dollar branddoesn’t “use real models” for its beauty campaigns.
While Selena, was attempting to deliver a positive message about how Rare Beauty highlights real, natural features, many took offence to the comments.
The company had used hundreds of different models since it launched in September 2020 – making many feel Selena’s comments disregard their talents and professions.
Her remarks caught the eye of one Rare Beauty model who spoke exclusively to The U.S. Sun about hearing Selena’s comments.
The model, who did not wish to be named due to fear of not being hired for future campaigns, has been working with the brand since 2024.
“I actually cried when I heard Selena’s comments,” the model claimed, who then added: “I was already having a bad day and was feeling really sensitive and emotional.”
She continued: “I was feeling nervous about some career stuff, and then I saw that video of her saying I’m not even a real model.
“It hit me at the worst time because now I’m like… ‘what am I even doing?’
“I thought this would be a big break for me, and to be told by the founder of the company that I look up to that I am not ‘real’ at my job?
“It’s degrading and embarrassing. The number of family and friends who sent me that clip after was mortifying.”
The global star launched the Rare Impact Fund in 2020 to raise funds and awareness for youth mental health globallyCredit: GettyThe event, hosted by US talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, raised more than $600,000Credit: GettySelena looked like one of the popular Quality Street treatsCredit: Alamy
Five alleged drug dealers are facing felony charges for their involvement in the death of Leandro De Niro-Rodriguez, the grandson of acting legend Robert De Niro.
A federal grand jury in New York indicted the quintet on Tuesday, each on a single felony count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances resulting in death, according to court documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Prosecutors allege the men were “members of a criminal network that distributed thousands of counterfeit prescription pills laced with fentanyl, among other drugs” to young adults and teenagers living in New York City.
The men arrested by New York officials this week — identified as Grant McIver, Bruce Epperson, Eddie Barreto, John Nicolas and Roy Nicolas — allegedly used social media to sell the drugs. Prosecutors underscored that the men’s “drug dealing had deadly consequences: over a three-month span in the summer of 2023,” alleging their drugs led to the deaths of three 19-year-olds.
Though the indictment did not disclose the victims’ identities, law enforcement confirmed the deaths include De Niro-Rodriguez’s in July 2023, according to severalreports. At the time of her son’s death, actor-producer Drena De Niro — the Oscar winner’s eldest daughter with ex-wife Diahnne Abbott — said “someone sold [Leandro] fentanyl-laced pills that they knew were laced yet still sold them to him.”
A month after the young “A Star Is Born” actor’s death, the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed De Niro-Rodriguez died of an accidental drug overdose, noting he succumbed to the toxic effects of fentanyl, bromazolam, alprazolam, 7-aminoclonazepam, ketamine and cocaine.
Akira Stein, daughter of Blondie co-founder Chris Stein, was also an alleged victim. Stein announced his daughter’s death in July 2023, months after she died “at the end of May to an overdose.”
“The DEA and US Attorney folks from the NYC Southern District have been really very sympathetic and respectful all through this process and I can’t thank them enough for this hope of some justice for her,” Stein wrote in reaction to news of the arrests Thursday. “Please be careful.”
Shortly after De Niro-Rodriguez’s death, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York confirmed that law enforcement had arrested a woman, an alleged drug dealer known as the “Percocet Princess,” for her suspected connection with his death. She was arrested on charges of selling drugs to De Niro-Rodriguez.
In a July 2023 statement, “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Raging Bull” star De Niro said, “I’m deeply distressed by the passing of my beloved grandson Leo.”
“We’re greatly appreciative of the condolences from everyone,” he said. “We ask that we please be given privacy to grieve our loss of Leo.”
Question Time host Fiona Bruce was forced to apologise after making a huge blunder about Andrew during Thursday’s live broadcast, following the ex royal’s title removal
23:32, 30 Oct 2025Updated 01:38, 31 Oct 2025
Fiona Bruce apologised after making a blunder about Prince Andrew
The error occurred while the panel discussed the King’s decision to officially strip his brother of his remaining Royal privileges, prompting immediate corrections from guests and chuckles from the studio audience. She said: “I should remind everyone that Prince Andrew has, of course, always protested his innocence and denied the allegations.”
Matthew Goodwin and other panellists quickly jumped in to correct her, emphasising “it’s just Andrew” before she raised her hands and admitted: “Of course, it’s Andrew. Forgive me, force of habit,” reports the Express.
She continued: “Andrew Mountbatten Windsor has always denied the allegations against him and the King has said are deemed necessary notwithstanding the fact that he has continued to deny the allegations against him.”
The blunder came just hours after Buckingham Palace announced that King Charles had officially removed Andrew’s titles and honours, completing the final stage in his brother’s withdrawal from Royal duties.
In a statement, the Palace revealed a formal notice had been issued to Andrew requiring him to give up his lease at the Royal Lodge in Windsor, where he has resided for over two decades. The monarch’s decision comes after growing calls to remove the Duke from the property following continued public outrage over his connections to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and claims made by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, which Andrew steadfastly refutes.
Officials confirmed the 64 year old will relocate to accommodation on the Sandringham Estate, with his future housing costs met privately by the King. The Palace stated that “Their Majesties’ thoughts and utmost sympathies remain with the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.
“Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease and he will move to alternative private accommodation.”
Meanwhile, Fiona was compelled to intervene and halt a heated clash between writer Matthew Goodwin and Labour’s Lisa Nandy.
The duo clashed during a heated debate about illegal immigration and crime, with Goodwin contending that increasing migration figures had led to “shocking cases” of violence nationwide and asserting the system was “broken and in urgent need of reform.”
Nandy immediately fired back, labelling his remarks “outrageous” and claiming he was “trying to create distrust, division and fear.” The row rapidly escalated, prompting Bruce to intervene with raised hands, calling out over the commotion: “Matt, wait one second – both of you wait one second! If you talk at the same time, no one can hear anything.”
IT’S album release day when I connect with Brandi Carlile at her Seattle home, by video call.
The US folk-country singer’s ninth album, Returning To Myself, has just been released globally and the smile across her face says it all.
Sign up for the Showbiz newsletter
Thank you!
Brandi Carlile is embracing renewal in her fortiesCredit: Collier SchorrWorking with Sir Elton John has raised Carlile’s profile internationallyCredit: Refer to source
It’s already been a great year for Carlile, who in April celebrated her first UK No1 album with Who Believes In Angels? — the collaboration with her idol, Sir Elton John.
She says: “I’m lucky to have new chapters — not everyone gets to have a renewal in their forties.
“And I’m really excited about it. I want to keep going. I like getting older — that’s my favourite bit of life so far.”
The singer believes that authenticity has come with age, and that confidence shines through her new music.
She says: “I’m astounded by Elton’s generosity. He could have made an album with anyone — and choosing to make it with me was such a compliment.
“He’s the most iconic living artist on the planet but what that did for me emotionally is something I try not to put on his shoulders, so that he can exist independent of my expectations of him.
“But it did a lot for me, because he is my hero and we have a special chemistry as friends.“
Returning To Myself is a record that allows Carlile to reconnect with her own emotions and finds her in an introspective mood — and there’s even a solo version of You Without Me, previously a collaboration with Elton John.
She says: “It’s a song that’s pertinent to my life and age and there’s been a lot of reflection.
“My career reminds me of what happened in Bonnie Raitt’s career.
“She’d been making music for a long time, living in vans, in and out of clubs and theatres and playing with all these different bands. Then one thing changed, and suddenly it was on.
“When it happens to you, you remember how long it took for the phone to ring.
“Suddenly it’s ringing and you’re just answering and saying yes and wanting to do everything, understanding that it won’t ring one day.
“I stayed in a cycle of that mentality for many years, just attaching to everyone that ever inspired me.
“I wanted everything all at once. Then I just hit a wall. My mind and body give me no warnings. They just shut down one day. It meant I should take time off.
“But what do you do when the songs are coming? You have to listen to that and then take action.”
The songs were coming like a tap was on, and I can’t turn it off once that happens. I just don’t function — I don’t change my clothes, I don’t sleep, I forget to eat, I’m just a dysfunctional person
Brandi Carlile
On Returning To Me, Carlile teamed up with producer Aaron Dessner of The National — who worked with Taylor Swift.
She also brought in producers Andrew Watt, who she worked with on the Elton John album, and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon who helped produce the track Human.
The title track began with a poem Carlile wrote when she was dealing with loneliness while staying at the barn-house guest room at Aaron Dessner’s remote home in upstate New York.
She says: “It came from a place of contemplation, and my discomfort with aloneness. It’s me asking some existential questions.
“The songs were coming like a tap was on, and I can’t turn it off once that happens. I just don’t function — I don’t change my clothes, I don’t sleep, I forget to eat, I’m just a dysfunctional person.
“I wrote one or two out there with Aaron that were really deep and meaningful to me.”
She adds: “I was at Aaron’s the day after Joni Mitchell played the Hollywood Bowl and I was moved by her triumph there and deep in thought about the journey it took us to get there.”
Carlile had helped with the esteemed singer’s six-year journey to return to the live stage — her Hollywood Bowl performance was Mitchell’s first full show in 24 years — following a brain aneurysm in 2015 that had left the singer unable to play.
Carlile had first met the legendary singer at her 75th birthday tribute concert in 2018, then began organising monthly music evenings, called Joni Jams, at her Bel-Air house.
Carlile helped folk legend Joni Mitchell get back to performing live following a brain aneurysm in 2015Credit: Getty
She says: “It wasn’t getting through to her about how much she was loved and it bothered me. It nagged at me. If only she knew what Lana Del Rey says about you. If she knew that Gracie Abrams had her lyrics tattooed on her arm.
“She is so important to multiple generations of not just women, but all people, and so I got to have the passenger seat to watching that reality wash over Joni as she pulled herself into recovery from her aneurysm.
“I get too much credit for what happened with Joni as she got herself back on stage and retaught herself how to use those instruments.
On Returning To Myself, Joni is one of the standout songs, which pays homage to her heroine.
She says: “Writing a song about her, I couldn’t be sappy because she’s not going to like that.
“Joni has got a great sense of humour. She’s wildly intelligent but I wanted to point out the most profound things about her. I also wanted to show how wild she is and how much she loves a party because she is fun.
“She’s such a reverential character and people have so much respect for that. Some people see her as stern, and I wanted to address that in a tongue-in-cheek way in the song in a way that she would understand, yeah, and she really did understand.”
Carlile believes her work with both Elton John and Joni Mitchell has been life-changing. She says: “It’s everything when you’re growing up and when you get to meet the people that you’ve had on your bedroom walls.
“It’s more than music. I get how important it is to work with these people because I am a f***ing fan. That’s why I champion women in music. When young musicians come up to me and say I inspire them too, I get that as I am still a fan.”
Returning To Myself is a different sound for Carlile — it’s stripped back and self-assured.
She says with a laugh: “When I was younger, I would scream all the time. I was yelling and singing open-chested and I’d tell myself that when I got older, I was never going to be quiet — I was going to stay punk-rock.
‘Oppressive ideology’
“And to a certain extent, I stand by that, but sometimes the lyrics you write don’t ask that. They asked for it on the song Church And State, and at the end of Human, but they don’t ask for it anywhere else on the album.
“It just wouldn’t do justice to the poetry, so I just didn’t do it. That’s not to say I won’t do it again.”
Evangeline, our oldest, asked could we move to Canada if the United States overturned gay marriage. But Elijah, our youngest, is worried she won’t have a Mommy or a Mama — which we are called
The politically inspired Church And State is a powerful song born out of frustration and anger about US President Donald Trump and his challenges to American institutions.
She says: “Activism is important to me and important enough to never dilute it.
“That song is about the separation of the church and state and how important that is to me and my family.
“We are not living in a theocracy. There’s no wisdom creating laws and building walls based on a subjective interpretation of someone else’s faith.
“You can’t use so-called Christian values to enable an oppressive ideology. As a person of faith myself, I can tell you I feel as protective of my faith against the state as I do a quasi-secular person living in the United States.”
A mother of two daughters with her wife, Catherine, Carlile admits recent events have scared her kids.
She says: “I read this morning that the Supreme Court in the US is going to consider a case which would overturn marriage equality in November.
“It’s something I’ve been afraid of for a long time, since [former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court] Ruth Bader Ginsburg died [in 2020].
“I’ve been afraid of us going backward on that sentiment.
“It’s not me and my life that it concerns. I’ve been talking to my wife about this for a long time — and our kids listen to like everything.
“Evangeline, our oldest, asked could we move to Canada if the United States overturned gay marriage. But Elijah, our youngest, is worried she won’t have a Mommy or a Mama — which we are called. She’s worried she won’t have parents — and it made me so angry.”
Carlile also joined forces with Elton John for a joint HIV/Aids campaign earlier this year to try to offset the Trump administration’s cuts to HIV/Aids- related funding.
She says: “It’s desperately important to Elton and [husband] David [Furnish] that it’s not pushed from the sphere of public awareness and we’re able to continue to educate and alleviate the suffering of people.
“And that’s how I found Elton John as an 11-year-old, as I wrote a book report on a young boy who had died of Aids.
“I had already canonised the man as a saint, but because of this report I went to the library and checked out a CD with his song Skyline Pigeon on it because this man had played at this kid’s funeral.
“It was a full-circle moment that later I was able to lend my activism to the person who inspired me to start it.”
The US folk-country singer’s ninth album, Returning To Myself, has just been released globallyCredit: SuppliedBrandi Carlile celebrated her first UK No1 this year with Elton John collaboration, Who Believes In Angels?Credit: Getty
Carlile will have a small break for Christmas before kicking off her tour early next year.
She says with a laugh: “I hope the tickets sell. I don’t know how to switch off. I want to be cool and say, ‘I don’t read reviews, I don’t watch the tickets’. But no, I’m going to be sitting there digesting my stomach lining.
“I just want to get out and play. I love this album and am going to play it from start to finish, and I’ve got all these ideas for covers.
It’s time to resume your island getaway — and possibly incur more virtual debt. (We see you, Tom Nook.)
Nintendo announced Thursday that its cozy social sim “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” is getting a Switch 2 upgrade. “Animal Crossing: New Horizons — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition,” which will offer improved visuals, mouse controls, an in-game megaphone that uses the console’s built-in microphone and multiplayer enhancements, will be released Jan. 15.
In addition to allowing players to experience the game in 4K when playing on their TV, the upgraded edition of “New Horizons” will enable them to utilize the mouse controls on the Joy-Con 2 controller when redecorating their homes, creating custom designs and writing messages on the bulletin board.
The megaphone, which will be available at Nook’s Cranny, can be used to locate fellow villagers by calling out their names. “New Horizons” players also will be able to play online with up to 12 other Switch 2 edition players and use a webcam.
A free update for all “Animal Crossings: New Horizons” players, regardless of console, will also be available Jan. 15. This will include access to a new resort opening on the pier, which will allow players to decorate guest rooms and purchase new items at a souvenir shop. The update will also see the “Animal Crossing” world’s familiar grumpy mole, Resetti, offering a “reset service” to clean up a player’s island.
Other offerings include the option for players to upgrade their home storage to hold up to 9,000 items — including trees, shrubs and flowers — and the ability for Nintendo Switch Online members to design and save up to three islands that they can collaborate on with friends online. New Nintendo-themed goods, including playable classic Nintendo console games, and Lego items also will be available within the game through the update.
Released in 2020 for the Nintendo Switch console, “Animal Crossing: New Horizon” became a balm during the COVID-19 pandemic by offering players a way to connect and be social during quarantine and uncertain times. The fifth main installment of the “Animal Crossing” franchise would go on to become one of the best-selling Switch games ever.
An Oscar-winning actress has been revealed as the narrator for a documentary about King Charles III titled Finding Harmony: A King’s Vision, which is due for release in early 2026
Jamie Roberts and Hannah Roberts PA Senior Entertainment Reporter
22:53, 30 Oct 2025
King Charles speaks to Kate Winslet (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)
A BAFTA-winning actress is set to lend her voice to a Prime Video documentary that explores King Charles‘s dedication to aligning nature and humanity. The documentary, titled ‘Finding Harmony: A King’s Vision’, is slated for release in early 2026.
Narrated by Titanic’s Kate Winslet, it will spotlight the work of The King’s Foundation, a charity established by Charles in 1990. Oscar-winning actress Winslet expressed her excitement about the project, stating: “It is a both pleasure and a privilege to be a part of this film, which is a fascinating insight into the King’s work as an environmentalist.”
She added: “I share His Majesty’s passion for protecting our planet and building sustainable communities, so it’s been really rewarding to work with The King’s Foundation on this exciting project.
“I know audiences will learn, laugh and feel inspired by what’s featured in the film, and I hope the impact of Harmony will be felt in years to come.”
Earlier this year, the Titanic star, who is now 50, became an ambassador for The King’s Foundation. She was also present at the foundation’s awards ceremony at St James’s Palace in June.
Known for her roles in films such as The Holiday (2006), The Reader (2008) and Revolutionary Road (2008), Winslet is also set to appear in the upcoming Avatar sequel, Fire And Ash.
The documentary following the monarch will delve into the King’s “harmony” philosophy, which views everything in nature as interconnected, including ourselves, as per The King’s Foundation. It will reveal how The King’s Foundation, based at Dumfries House in Ayrshire, Scotland, has championed this philosophy through initiatives centred on community regeneration, sustainable textiles and traditional crafts.
Director Nicolas Brown said: “Working with Kate Winslet on this film has been transformational. She has the perfect blend of intellect and star power to tell this story like no one else could.
“His Majesty King Charles III has lived such an incredible life, striving to bring humankind into harmony with the natural world for over half a century. It’s an epic tale, full of drama, and Kate has turned it into a story that any one of us will relate to. We are so fortunate to have an artist of her calibre on the team.”
Kristina Murrin, chief executive of The King’s Foundation, added: “Through the film we hope that viewers will gain a better understanding of His Majesty’s Philosophy of Harmony, which is so central to our work at The King’s Foundation.
“We are thrilled that Kate is a part of this journey with us and look forward to sharing the film with the world next year.”
Produced by Passion Planet, the documentary will stream exclusively on Prime Video across more than 240 countries and territories worldwide early next year. Last year, Amazon released A Very Royal Scandal – a dramatised account of Prince Andrew’s infamous Newsnight interview.
PIXIE Lott has given birth to her second child with Oliver Cheshire.
The All About Tonight singer, 34, announced the happy news on her Instagram on Thursday.
Sign up for the Showbiz newsletter
Thank you!
Pixie Lott has given birth to her second childCredit: Refer to sourcePixie and husband Oliver Cheshire shared the exiting news with their fans on ThursdayCredit: InstagramThe singer shared a sweet clip of her newborn’s fingers and toesCredit: Instagram
Pixie posted a sweet video of her newborn baby boy and wrote: “He’s here,” with a blue heart emoji.
The clip showed her newborn’s little feet and hands for the first time.
Pixie’s close celebrity pals were quick to congratulate the star.
Gaby Roslin wrote: “Ahhh huge congratulations to you beautiful and your whole family. Big love.”
Kim Kardashian, long at the center of a few conspiracy theories herself, has cosigned one that’s a fan favorite — and also thoroughly debunked.
During the most recent episode of Hulu’s “The Kardashians,” the fashion and beauty mogul professed her belief that the 1969 moon landing, a watershed moment of great American pride, never really happened. She also tried to get her “All’s Fair” co-star Sarah Paulson to drink the Kool-Aid.
“I’m sending you, like, so far a million interviews with both Buzz Aldrin and the other one [Neil Armstrong],” Kardashian told Paulson on the show.
“Yes, do it,” Paulson told the Skims founder, promising to go on her own “massive deep dive.”
Kardashian then went on to cite an interview that’s made the rounds on TikTok wherein she alleged that Buzz Aldrin — who completed the Apollo 11 mission alongside Armstrong and capsule communicator Michael Collins — gave the hoax away. (The going theory, of course, is that famous footage of the mission was actually filmed on a sound stage.)
“So I think it didn’t happen,” Kardashian concluded, adding that Aldrin, 95, has “gotten old and now he, like, slurs.”
Hours after the episode dropped, NASA Acting Administrator Sean Duffy fact-checked the socialite.
“Yes, @KimKardashian, we’ve been to the Moon before… 6 times!” Duffy wrote Thursday on X. “And even better: @NASAArtemis is going back under the leadership of @POTUS.”
“We won the last space race and we will win this one too,” Duffy wrote.
As for Aldrin’s takes on the matter, a 2022 Reuters article debunked one of the most popular clips used to implicate the former astronaut, which was was taken out of very critical context.
In a shortened version of the clip, Conan O’Brien recounts to Aldrin a childhood memory of his family watching the astronauts walk on the moon.
“No, you didn’t,” Aldrin responds, seemingly contradicting O’Brien’s account. Later in the interview, however, Aldrin clarified that the moon landing itself was authentic, but the animated footage broadcast by TV stations at the time was not.
The National Air and Space Museum has explained that there was a $2.3-million camera on board to capture the real-life images that were sent back to Earth.
Nonetheless, Kardashian doubled down on her opinion when a producer on “The Kardashians” probed further.
“For the record, you think that we didn’t walk on the moon?” the producer asked.
“I don’t think we did. I think it was fake,” Kardashian said, adding that she’s seen several videos of Aldrin allegedly disputing the event.
“Why does Buzz Aldrin say it didn’t happen?” she said. “There’s no gravity on the moon. Why is the flag blowing? The shoes that they have in the museum that they wore on the moon is a different print in the photos. Why are there no stars?”
For what it’s worth, there is gravity on the moon, albeit about a sixth of what it is on Earth, give or take. Hence the footage of astronauts bouncing across the lunar surface but not flying off into space. As far as there being no breeze, NASA planned for the lack of one — a rod can be seen holding up the top of flag, because scientists knew the stars and stripes wouldn’t fly without one. And did we mention that Aldrin did not say it didn’t happen? Yes, we did. We did mention that.
To her credit, Kardashian was self-aware enough to add that people were “gonna say I’m crazy no matter what.”
She also encouraged viewers to look for themselves on Tiktok. Keep in mind, though, the accounts that regularly promote the moon-landing conspiracy theory are also fond of other mistaken notions, like saying the Earth is flat and aliens built the pyramids.
Emmerdale may have aired a brutal and unexpected death on Thursday night, as one teen committed a violent act in self-defence as the County Lines plot escalated
Emmerdale may have aired a brutal and unexpected death on Thursday night(Image: ITV)
Another death could be looming on Emmerdale, months on from multiple characters facing grim demises.
Thursday’s episode hinted a character had been killed off without warning, while another villager could face a grim fate too. A character was attacked with a glass bottle, and left lifeless and bleeding in dramatic scenes.
There was also concern for missing teenager Dylan Penders who had not been seen since another run-in with villain Ray Walters. As for the possible death victim, newcomer Callum was attacked in self-defence by teenager April Windsor.
She was left shaken when she saw Callum slumped on the bed after she hit him, with blood pouring from his head. He looked dead if not seriously injured, while fans will have to tune in on Friday to find out his fate.
He had just forced himself on April, attempting to rape her after she tried to flee the room they were in. She’d been sent there by Ray and evil Celia, who are heading up a dangerous drugs scheme which April and Dylan have been drugged into.
Convincing April and Dylan they are in serious debt, Ray and Celia have made it clear that they expect 16-year-old April to have sex with their clients to pay the money back, and to keep their clients returning. The grim storyline has also seen the pair getting closer to other villagers linked to April to put on the pressure.
April is terrified, and reluctantly agreed to meet with client Callum knowing he was paying Ray and Celia to sleep with her. As the episode went on, a scared April decided she didn’t want to go through with it.
Callum turned on her though, claiming he didn’t care what she did or didn’t want and he was “gonna do it anyway”. He then warned her there was no escape as he’d locked them both in.
As he began to undress the teenager, April freaked out and pushed him away only for him to grab her. As she managed to get him off, she picked up the vodka bottle and slammed it over his head.
Callum landed on the bed lifeless, with blood pouring out from his head. April gasped as she watched on terrified, but has she killed him? If she has, how will Celia and Ray react?
It comes as Mark Charnock, who plays April’s father Marlon Dingle, teased a massive twist is on the way. He said something that happens in a special episode with April and Marlon left him “thrown”.
HOLLYWOOD star Jesse Eisenberg has revealed he’s donating his kidney to a stranger.
The Oscar nominated actor, 42, is set to have the operation in just six weeks in a bid to save a person with advanced kidney disease.
Sign up for the Showbiz newsletter
Thank you!
Jesse Eisenberg has revealed he’s donating his KIDNEY to a strangerCredit: TodayThe A-lister opened up about the selfless actCredit: Today
He appeared on theTODAY showon Thursday morning and shared: “I’m actually donating my kidney in six weeks. I really am.“
The Social Network actor was then asked what made him want to donate his organ in such a selfless act.
He replied: “I don’t know why. I got bitten by the blood donation bug. I’m doing an altruistic donation (in) mid-December. I’m so excited to do it.”
An altruistic or non-directed kidney donor is a person who wishes to donate a kidney to a person with advanced kidney disease, who he or she does not know.
Many non-directed donors do not know anyone personally who is in need of a kidney transplant.
Jesse went on to explain why other people should consider becoming organ donors, saying: “It’s essentially risk-free and so needed.
“I think people will realize that it’s a no-brainer, if you have the time and the inclination.”
The Zombieland actor spoke about the benefits of being an altruistic donor.
He explained: “Let’s say person X needs a kidney in Kansas City, (and) their child or whoever was going to donate to them is, for whatever set of reasons, not a match, but somehow I am.
“That person can still get my kidney and hopefully that child of that person still donates their kidney, right? But it goes to a bank where that person can find a match recipient, but it only works if there is basically an altruistic donor.”
Jesse said he first had the idea about donating his kidney nearly a decade ago.
He reached out to an organization at the time but never heard back.
But now Jesse is set to go ahead with the procedure in December.
“I was in the hospital the next day and went through a battery of tests, and I’m now scheduled in mid-December,” he shared.
Jesse also discussed the National Kidney Foundation’s family voucher program, where allows a living donor to donate a kidney to a stranger now and receive vouchers for up to five healthy family members to use in the future, if one of them needs a transplant.
He said: “The way it works now is you can put a list of whoever you would like to be the first to be at the top of the list.
Jesse is best known for films such as The Social Network, Zombieland, and Now You See Me.
He is also recognized for his roles in Adventureland, The Squid and the Whale, and the DC Extended Universe as Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League.
Jesse said he first had the idea about donating his kidney nearly a decade agoCredit: Getty
If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.
What is there left to know about Paul McCartney in 2025? Actually, quite a bit. The octogenarian megastar is seemingly ever-present, popping up on social media feeds with his affable avuncularity, his relentlessly sunny, two thumbs up ‘tude. Yet despite the steady trickle of Beatles scholarship that continues to be published, including Ian Leslie’s insightful book, “John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs,” earlier this year, McCartney is a cipher, a blank page. He has masterfully created the illusion of transparency, yet his life remains stubbornly opaque. Does the man ever lose his temper? Has he ever cheated on his taxes? If there is a chink in McCartney’s armor, we are still looking for it.
Denny Laine, Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney and Denny Seiwell in Osterley Park, London, in 1971.
(Barry Lategan / MPL Communications )
Yet according to this new book, an oral history of McCartney’s band Wings, there is still much to be excavated from what is the most examined life in pop music history, especially when it comes from the horse’s mouth. The book is ostensibly “authored” by McCartney even though it is an oral history that has been edited by Ted Widmer, an estimable historian and a former speechwriter for Bill Clinton. Widmer has also written third-person interstitial information to guide the reader through the story.
Stitching together interviews with McCartney, his wife Linda, erstwhile Beatles, and the various musicians and other key players who found themselves pulled into the Wings orbit across the nearly decadelong tenure of the band, “Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run” is a smooth, frictionless ride across the arc of McCartney’s ’70s career, when he continued to mint more hits, and secured a lock on a massive career that is presently in its 55th year.
Joe English, Jimmy McCulloch, Linda McCartney, Paul McCartney and Denny Laine in 1976.
(Clive Arrowsmith / MPL Communications)
Hard as it is to fathom, McCartney has had pangs of doubt concerning his art and career, never more so than in the immediate aftermath of the Beatles’ breakup in 1970, when he found himself at loose ends, unsure of how to follow up the most spectacular first act in show business history. In the immediate aftermath of that epochal event, McCartney retreated to a 183-acre sheep farm on the Kintyre Peninsula in Argyllshire, Scotland, with his wife Linda and their young family. According to the book, there was uncertainty about his ability to write songs that could stand alongside his Beatles work. Hence, his first solo offering, “McCartney,” was mostly tentative, half-baked notions for songs, interlaced with a few fully realized compositions like “Maybe I’m Amazed,” all recorded by McCartney in his home studio.
Home recording sessions for the McCartney album in London, 1970.
But the gentleman farmer couldn’t stay down on the farm for long. Eventually, the old impulse to be in a band and to perform became McCartney’s new imperative, but he would go about it in an entirely different way. No more camping out in Abbey Road studios, the Beatles’ favorite laboratory, hiring out string sections and horn sections, ruminating over tracks for as long as it took. McCartney would instead take an incremental DIY approach, starting modestly and progressing accordingly. Instead of meticulously recording tracks, records would be dashed off spontaneously. Bob Dylan became a kind of North Star for how to approach a record: “Bob Dylan had done an album in a week,” says McCartney in the book. “I thought, ‘That’s a good idea.’’’
Paul McCartney, Wings Over the World tour, Philadelphia, 1976.
(Robert Ellis / MPL Communications)
It was around this time that McCartney hired Denny Laine, who became (aside from wife Linda) the only full-time member of Wings for the duration of the band’s life. The two had met years earlier, when the Beatles were partying in Birmingham with Laine and his band the Diplomats. “Truth be told, I needed a John,” McCartney admits in the book. The first Wings album, “Wild Life,” recorded in a barn on McCartney’s Scotland farm, was critically savaged, but listening to it now, it retains a certain homespun charm, the amiable slumming of a master musician tinkering with various approaches because he can and because it’s fun. A short tour of universities around the U.K. further contributed to the low-key vibe that McCartney was intent on maintaining; he was waiting for the right time to pounce on the American market, specifically, and reclaim his mantle as the King of Pop.
1973’s “Band on the Run” would be the album that cracked it wide open again for McCartney, but he was still in a rambling mood, this time eager to try one of EMI’s studios in Lagos, Nigeria. “It wasn’t the sort of paradise we thought it would be,” McCartney is quoted in the book, “but it didn’t matter, because we were basically spending a lot of time in the studio.” Once in Africa, Paul, Linda and Denny Laine were mugged, their tapes stolen. Another night, they were guests of the master afrobeat musician Fela Kuti, who invited the three to his Afrika Shrine club for an indelible performance: “It hit me so hard,” says Paul. “It was like boom, and I’ve never heard anything as good, ever, before or since.”
McCartney II recording sessions, Lower Gate Farm, Sussex, 1979.
“Band on the Run” became an international smash and McCartney once again found himself playing arenas and stadiums with yet another iteration of Wings. It is also at this point that the story of Wings settles into a more of an “album-tour-album” narrative, save for a harrowing drug bust for pot in Japan on the eve of a Wings tour in January 1980, when McCartney spent nine days in jail. “I had all this really good grass, excellent stuff,” explains McCartney, who had cavalierly packed it in his suitcase. Once in jail he had to “share a bath with a bloke who was in for murder,” organizing “singsongs with other prisoners” until his lawyers arranged for his release. The bust would presage the dissolution of Wings; McCartney would release a solo album, “McCartney II,” in May.
Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney, Denny Seiwell and Denny Laine. Promotional photo shoot for “Wild Life,” 1971.
How you feel about the albums that Wings made after 1975’s excellent “Venus and Mars” will perhaps affect your judgment of the back half of “Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run.” But even a charitable fan will have a hard time making a strong claim for the albums that followed 1975’s “Venus and Mars,” which includes “London Town,” “At the Speed of Sound” and “Back to the Egg.” The book’s best stuff is to be found at the start, when the superstar was making his first baby steps toward renewed relevance, and then found it.
Weingarten is the author of “Thirsty: William Mulholland, California Water, and the Real Chinatown.”
Nadia Sawalha explains her swollen appearance as she details her painful health condition after a discussion with Dr Zoe which has left her face feeling ‘bruised’
Jessica Clarke Digital Reporter
16:41, 30 Oct 2025
During the show on Thursday, 30 October, Jane Moore asked Nadia the reason she had her glasses on(Image: Ken McKay/ITV/REX)
Loose Women star Nadia Sawalha is suffering from a painful health condition as she opens up about her appearance and her experience chatting to Dr Zoe Williams.
During the show on Thursday, 30 October, Jane Moore asked Nadia the reason she had her glasses on and opted for a no-makeup look. Nadia joked that in the past, if she wore her glasses, then people would think she was hungover, before she explained that her face felt ‘bruised’ due to her stress levels.
She discussed how she thought it was an allergy at first before explaining: “It just feels a bit bruised, but lovely doctor Zoe came and saw me, I had my own session with her in my dressing room, and I said to her ‘honestly Zoe I think it’s stress’ and she agreed.”
Nadia explained how Zoe suggested taking deep breaths and taking a bit of ‘time out’. Nadia went on to say that she hadn’t cried properly in about ‘two or three years’, saying: “I cry a little bit and then I stop. I honestly think it is that. When we get stressed, why do we think it doesn’t impact our body?” She went on to thank Zoe and said she was a ‘special woman’.
The Loose Women panellist also shared a video on her Instagram page where she revealed her sister couldn’t believe she was going on live TV ‘looking like that’. Nadia revealed her sister said she looked like she ‘had three bottles of sauvignon blanc’ and had ‘fallen asleep in a hedge’.
Fans rushed to send their well wishes as one person wrote: “Bless you Nadia I hope it clears up soon it looks uncomfortable”, while another added: “Ohhh Nadia I love how strong and humble you are. You’re beautiful inside out even with puffy eyes. Hope they get better”.
It follows after Nadia recently opened up on her 23-year marriage, revealing that it nearly ended over her husband’s intense jealousy. The 60-year-old married husband Mark Adderley in 2002 and has previously opened up about hurdles in their relationship.
Nadia spoke in the past about her husband achieving sobriety after struggling with alcohol for many years and being diagnosed with Bipolar II disorder and depression back in 2021. Now, the TV personality has revealed that after quitting alcohol, Mark began to suffer with jealousy.
Nadia told the ITV show: “My kids hate it what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger but I think that it probably has with Mark and I. I think about when things have been really tough in our marriage and we’ve thought, ‘God we’re not going to get through this’ but then we do.
“For him, it definitely would have been points through my menopause when I was a screaming banshee nutter. I was very difficult, I was awful.”
As for his behaviour that she struggled him, Nadia said: “He’s been brilliant with his sobriety and then after the sobriety, after he got sober, he cross-addicted a lot to jealousy and the jealousy was just awful. It was so bad.
“When we went to couples’ counselling, I said that unless you do some work on this, we’re not going to survive it. It’s something that’s made me love him even more that he’s done work on that.”