SHOW BIZ

EXCLUSIVE: Beyond Paradise returns on March 27 with major cast changes as one beloved character has left Shipton Abbott

Beyond Paradise’s leading man, Kris Marshall, has revealed details about a co-star’s departure from the BBC drama. The Death in Paradise spin-off returns on March 27, with Humphrey and his colleagues tackling fresh mysteries in Shipton Abbott. Yet one familiar face will be conspicuously absent from the fourth series.

Detective Humphrey Goodman confronts a devastating choice in the forthcoming episodes after learning he must dismiss a member of staff from the station. The DI also encounters a new superior following news that his former boss, CS Charlie Woods (played by Jade Harrison), had transferred to a different division.

Discussing his co-star’s departure and the necessity of releasing a team member, Kris told Reach PLC exclusively: “I mean, there always has to be some kind of challenge for Humphrey in terms of, because, like I said, you know, otherwise he just wanders around.

“I mean, it’s that paradox, isn’t it, about TV detectives, they’re sort of fish out of water, they don’t really like rules, and yet they exist in one of the most sort of institutional, authoritarian hierarchies, the police force.

“He hates any kind of authority, he hates rules, he hates being told what he has to do, and so it’s thrust upon him, and it literally comes knocking on his door as it does. You know, he really detests that, really dislikes it, and he doesn’t like the pressure.”

When discussing his new superior and recent arrival, portrayed by Vincent Franklin, the Humphrey Goodman star continued, “And it’s held by the fact that, in terms of the storyline, you know, Vincent Franklin, who is just an absolute genius actor playing his sort of nemesis in this,” reports the Express.

“It just adds to that sort of, and he does it with such beautiful greasiness. It’s sort of wonderful. It sort of adds to the pressure for Humphrey, and so it’s a real stress for Humphrey moving forward because he is a kind of, like, bury your head in the sand kind of guy, when it comes to things like that.

“Solving puzzles or crimes or, you know, he’s like a dog with a bone. But, you know, when it comes to sort of real life, he’s like, well, surely if I put my head over here, that will just go away.”

Sally Bretton, who portrays Martha Lloyd, Kris’s on-screen spouse, also revealed details about Martha and Humphrey’s relationship and where the series resumes. The actress explained that residing on a boat was never part of Martha and Humphrey’s original vision.

She revealed, “Martha starts reflecting on, ‘Was this a bit of an unexpected twist anyway? Going to live on the boat as it wasn’t really the plan originally’.

“And maybe now that they’re married and they want to focus a lot on settling a little bit more, and maybe it’s time to start having a look at a house, and I think they want to focus on each other and have all of the fun and everything that they always have done, but they’ve been knocked off center a lot.”

Beyond Paradise is set to return on 27 March at 8pm on BBC One.

JORDAN Wright’s death has been shrouded in mystery as the Towie star was seen pacing erratically before he was found in a drainage canal.

The beloved TV personality, whose new iPhone was found nearby, also checked in to a luxury hotel alone before his tragic passing.

It also remains unclear how long Wright, who used to date Vicky Pattison, had been missing for – or whether he was under the influence of intoxicants.

Here are the most glaring unanswered questions surrounding his death.

How long had Jordan been missing?

Wright, 33, was found dead in a drainage ditch on the holiday island of Phuket on March 14.

He had moved to Thailand just weeks earlier – with his last Instagram post on March 6 showing a snap of him in a swimming pool captioned: “I’m home.”

‘I’M HOME’

Tragic last posts of Towie star celebrating new life in Thailand before death

TOWIE RIDDLE

Mystery over death of Vicky Pattison’s Towie star ex after he’s found in canal

Wright was due to check out of his room on March 13, according to staff at Hotel COCO Phuket Bangtao where he was believed to have been staying.

But employees told police he never did check out – meaning he could have been missing for days.

It is currently unclear who the last person to see Wright was or how long he had vanished for.

Cops said they were led to Hotel COCO due to the key card inside Wright’s pocket at the time he was found.

He was reportedly seen pacing frantically shortly before his death, but it has not been confirmed whether anyone saw Wright at this time in person.

Why was he pacing around on CCTV?

Despite footage reportedly showing the ITV star looking restless before he was found dead at 12.30pm local time – it is not clear why he was in this alleged frantic state.

Cops said: “CCTV footage showed that he appeared restless and was moving back and forth in front of the hotel before leaving the area.”

An autopsy is currently being carried out to determine his cause of death.

But it will also conclude whether drugs or alcohol were involved.

No signs of physical assault or struggle were found on his body, authorities confirmed.

There were also no signs of forced entry or disturbances at his hotel room.

Police have launched an investigation into the case to probe the full circumstances of Wright’s death.

When did he end up in the canal?

It is also unclear when exactly Wright entered the canal drain.

He was said to have been wearing a grey shirt and black trousers but no shoes on when he was found.

Authorities said Wright had been in the canal for some time, but didn’t elaborate on how long he was in there.

They only said the Brit star was believed to have been dead for no longer than two days.

Police said: “His movements eventually led to the location where his body was later discovered.

“We are still waiting for the autopsy results from Vachira Phuket Hospital to determine whether drugs were present in his system.”

Why was his phone left on a nearby bank?

Police explained that Wright’s new iPhone 17 was found on a nearby bank.

It was not in his trouser pockets, unlike the hotel key card police discovered.

Both Wright and the location of his phone are about a 20-minute walk away from Hotel COCO.

The Towie and Ex On The Beach star had posted photos online of his life in Thailand in the weeks leading up to his tragic death.

His “new life” showed him enjoying beach trips and taking part in martial arts classes.

It is unclear why the popular TV personality, from Basildon, Essex, had left the smartphone behind.

Why did he check into the hotel alone?

Wright had also checked into a hotel room alone before he was found dead on Saturday.

It is not understood why Wright checked into the luxury hotel alone, and what day he checked in.

He was reportedly seen in security camera footage outside the hotel.

But police have said: “CCTV footage related to the incident is part of the case file and cannot be released at this stage.”

They also confirmed: “Hotel records showed that he had checked in alone and was due to check out on March 13, but staff reported that he never checked out.”

Did he have drugs or alcohol in his system?

The star’s autopsy will determine whether or not Wright had any drugs or alcohol in his system.

Wright was seen pacing frantically before his death, but it is unclear what caused him to do this.

Pictures showed police scouring the scene in the aftermath of his death.

Heartbreaking tributes have poured in for the late TV icon – with one pal calling him a “really special soul”.

Several reality TV figures have paid their respects to Jordan online, including his The Only Way is Essex co-stars.

Fellow Towie star Chloe Brockett wrote in an emotional tribute “Rest in peace Jordan” followed by a red heart emoji.

While Love Island star Chloe Crowhurst also took to the comments, penning “Rest in peace Jord” with a white heart and cloud emoji.

Before Wright was named, an FCDO spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who died in Thailand and are in contact with the local authorities”.

Despite the show’s approach to make their actors unrecognisable you might remember some from big series

A Prime Video series that was dubbed ‘best show ever’ is finally returning with a whole new cast and approach, although there are still some faces that you might recognise.

Jury Duty is returning with a second season and a new set up, with the first episodes available to stream from March 20. Part social experiment, part reality series and part sitcom, the show is unlike most of what you’ve seen before.

According to its synopsis, Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat is a comedy series that captures a corporate offsite event at a family-owned hot sauce company from the perspective of Anthony, a recently hired temporary worker.

Unbeknownst to Anthony, the entire experience is staged. Every colleague around him is performing a role and each moment whether in conference rooms or during downtime has been meticulously orchestrated. As the founder prepares to step down, the getaway transforms into a clash between big corproate ambitions and small business values, with control of the company hanging in the balance.

While the premise of the show means that all the actors involved have to be unrecognisable to the one non-actor, there are actually a few faces you may have seen before. But who are they and what have they starred in that you may remember them from? Here’s all you need to know.

Jerry Hauck plays Doug, the CEO of Rockin Grandma’s Hot Sauce. He’s described as “a lovable papa bear with Big Dad Energy who cares deeply about the company he’s built and the people that work for it.” Hauck has had memorable small roles on huge shows including ER, Seinfeld, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Paradise.

Alex Bonifer stars as Doug’s son and heir apparent to the business, Dougie Jr. He is “well-meaning but directionless” who is suddenly handed huge responsibilities. Eagle-eyed viewers will recognise Bonifer from Kevin Can F*** Himself where he played the role of Neil.

Amy, of customer relations is played by Emily Pendergast who has a lot of experience in comedy TV. She starred in multiple episodes of Veep and Netflix sitcom Leanne. Meanwhile the eventually nicknamed Other Anthony, who is he company’s Assistant Sourcing Manager, is played by Rob Lathan who previously appeared in Inside Amy Schumer and has served as a writer on other sketch shows.

Comedian Rachel Kaly plays remote worker and web designer Claire. While her character might be obsessed with the series Bones, she herself has appeared on animated comedy Digman! and High Maintenance.

Straight talking Helen, from accounting who has been at the business from the very beginning alongside Doug, is played by Stephanie Hodge. She is one of the most experienced cast members with past credits including NCIS, Young Sheldon and Scandal. She also had starring roles in the 90s on Nurses and Unhappily Ever After.

Jackie, who works in distribution and logistics when not taking charge of her kids at home, is played by LaNisa Renee Frederick. She’s previously appeared in smaller roles on Brooklyn Nine Nine, The Goldbergs and Mom.

Jim Woods, who was a writer on The Last O.G. starring Tracy Morgan, and starred on Reno 911!. takes on the role of warehouse manager Jimmy. He may have once been the non P.C. employee but he’s working maybe a bit too hard to be a better version of himself.

Erica Hernandez plays Kate from sales and marketing, who often gives the impression she should have a leadership role herself. Hernandez previously starred in the drama series True Lies, based on the 1994 Arnold Schwarzenegger film as well as New Amsterdam.

The other half of Team Skate (Steve & Kate), Steve is a “confident salesman that plays the calmer yin to Kate’s high-strung yang.” He is played by Warren Burke who has appeared in 13 episodes of Family Reunion and eight episodes of Bigger.

Snack obsessed receptionist PJ, is played by Marc-Sully Saint-Fleur who you may have seen before in Steve Carrell starring Netflix comedy Space Force or his brief appearances in Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Good Place. There’s also HR manager Kevin who is the one who seemingly hires Anthony to be his assistant.

He is played by Ryan Perez. Perez is actually a seasoned comedy actor, writer and director. He has written for Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon while he has also directed Funny or Die shorts with Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart.

Ranch manager Marjorie who is looking after the company workers while on retreat is played by Blair Beeken. She most recently appeared in Apple’s hit sci-fi series Pluribus.

Jury Duty Presents Company Retreat is streaming on Prime Video.

For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new ** Everything Gossip ** website

KTLA-owner Nexstar Media Group said it has closed its deal to acquire rival Tegna’s TV stations, despite opposition from eight state attorneys general who filed a lawsuit to block the merger.

The acquisition was approved by the Federal Communications Commission’s Media Bureau and the Justice Department, Irving, Texas-based Nexstar said Thursday.

“This transaction is essential to sustaining strong local journalism in the communities we serve,” Nexstar founder and Chief Executive Perry Sook said in a statement. “By bringing these two outstanding companies together, Nexstar will be a stronger, more dynamic enterprise — better positioned to deliver exceptional journalism and local programming with enhanced assets, capabilities and talent.”

Sook also mentioned President Trump and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr by name in the statement, saying the company was “grateful” they recognized the “dynamic forces shaping the media landscape” and allowed the transaction to move forward. Trump had supported the deal.

The surprise announcement came only a day after eight state attorneys general, including California’s Rob Bonta, sued to stop the deal, arguing it would give Nexstar too much control of local TV stations. At the time, Bonta said the combination would cause “irreparable harm to local news and consumers who rely on their reporting as a critical source of information.”

Nexstar is the largest TV station owner in the U.S., with 164 outlets including KTLA in Los Angeles. If the merger with Tegna succeeds, Nexstar would have 265 TV stations reaching 80% of the U.S. and multiple outlets in a number of markets.

The suit also claimed it would give the combined company too much leverage in negotiating fees from pay-TV providers that carry their stations, which could raise costs for consumers.

The plaintiffs in the suit also include state attorneys general in Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Virginia.

FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez said the merger violates the existing national ownership cap of 39% under federal law and said the acquisition did not receive a vote before the entire commission. The FCC approved this deal with waivers, meaning the company can operate in violation of that ownership cap.

“A transaction of this magnitude, which includes new and novel issues before the FCC, demands open deliberation before the full Commission, not a quiet sign-off meant to avoid public scrutiny,” Gomez said in a statement. “Given the increasingly alarming pace of reckless media consolidation, the American public deserves to know how and why this decision was made.”

The FCC did not respond to an immediate request for comment.

Times staff writers Stephen Battaglio and Meg James contributed to this report.

Alex Polizzi made a return to our TV screens and helped a family transform their budget bed and breakfast

The Hotel Inspector’s Alex Polizzi was quick to issue an ultimatum to some hotel owners as she spotted a big problem. During Thursday’s (March 19) episode of the Channel 5 hit show, Alex was in the sprawling commuter town of Horley, to check into Gatwick Turret.

The budget bed and breakfast is run by 62-year-old Ram, 61-year-old Anj and their 37-year-old son, Rai. The 10-bedroomed Victorian guest house is just a mile down the road from Gatwick Airport, where over 250,000 flights carry up to 46 million passengers every year.

It seems like a great location for a hotel as a lot of people will be needing somewhere to stay before or after their getaways. However there is a lot of competition as Gatwick Turret is one of over 100 hotels, including big chain brands, fiercely vying for their business.

As the hotel owners wrestle with high overheads in a highly competitive market, the family have no choice but to run the hotel almost single-handedly to keep staffing costs down.

And Rai has a lot on his hands as the running of the hotel has recently been passed down to him and it’s all on him to turn things around for Mum and Dad and find a way of making a profit.

Alex knew she had a lot to do to help transform the hotel as she found mismatched décor and too many running costs. And before she could even get stuck in she was quick to spot a problem as she discovered that despite their hard work, the business is barely breaking even and the family are struggling to pay themselves.

Alex asked: “Tell me about what it cost you to put on a room?” Rai explained: “Each room costs around £4.20 for the linen. The tea, coffee tray, a bottle of water…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Alex jumped in: “It’s expensive water. I wouldn’t put a very expensive bottle of water in the room. So what does it cost?” Rai continued: “£3.20.”

Alex explained: “Adding to cost per room are roughly £6 on housekeeping, £9 towards the £350,000 pound mortgage, £24 on utilities and taxes and £9 commission for those pesky online booking sites.”

She continued: “So, the grand total of that, my dears, is £56. Lucky lucky you, all this work and all this headache and you’re making a profit of about £4 a night per year – not quite enough for retirement.”

Alex admitted: “There is obviously a problem.” She then asked: “Do you pay yourselves? Rai revealed: “A £1,000 each.” It was clear Alex was stunned as she gasped: “A £1,000 each a month. Gosh darling, I mean, I’m surprised the government allows it, you’re not even making minimum wage.”

Alex gave the owners an ultimatum as she later added: “So we either need to make more money or sell it off.”

After an intense few days of renovations and small changes, Alex managed to help the family turn things around and business seems to be heading in the right direction as Rai revealed that they are now making an extra £140 a week with their breakfast room and they managed to get some positive press.

You can stream The Hotel Inspector on Channel 5

Rylan Clark has had various presenting roles on This Morning since 2013, one year after he came fifth on The X Factor, which for some time was a direct rival to Strictly Come Dancing

This Morning host Rylan Clark is tipped to become one of the new faces of Strictly Come Dancing.

It is believed Rylan, 37, would be “a ratings winner” for the BBC programme, which is looking for two new presenters to replace Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman. The duo left at the end of the last series, following 21-year and 15-year stints respectively, and speculation has swirled about their replacements.

Now, it is thought Rylan is likely to waltz into one of their places, having enjoyed a successful career in presenting since 2013 when he had is first role on This Morning. He first gave gossip from The X Factor on the ITV programme, and then had a relief presenter post before becoming more regular.

An insider said: “He has so many loyal fans. If he gets the job they will most certainly tune in to Strictly. He will be a ratings winner and the BBC know it.”

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Rylan could team up with The One Show host Angela Scanlon, who we reported is also set to have an audition for one of the Strictly vacancies. Insiders believe the pair would have strong chemistry and offer Strictly an exciting revamp.

“Rylan has a long-standing association with the show, and Angela has been a contestant. The main thing is they’d be a totally new pairing – no baggage, no former shows, uniquely Strictly. On top of that, they want to be sure that an all-female presenting line-up isn’t replaced by an old-fashioned male-female duo where the man takes on a dominant role,” one insider told the Daily Mail.

Another source told the outlet: “For Rylan it is his dream job. He loved It Takes Two and the viewers loved him. It would be a no-brainer.”

Rylan, who grew up in Stepney, east London, has already anchored Eurovision coverage for the BBC. The media personality is said to be “very keen” to be paired with Angela, who was a contestant on Strictly in 2023. She was the ninth contestant to be eliminated after dancing with Carlos Gu.

It is believed Rylan still faces screen tests in April so producers can assess his chemistry with any possible co-stars, including Irish broadcaster Angela. Rylan fronted It Takes Two between 2019 and 2023, and he has hosted his own Rylan On Saturday show on Radio 2.

But other names in the frame are One Show host Alex Jones, Zoe Ball and Bradley Walsh, presenter of The Chase. Speculation has already linked the current professional dancer Johannes Radebe to the presenting gig.

A channel spokesperson said: “We have made the decision to not move forward with the new season.”

The new series of reality TV dating show The Bachelorette has been cancelled following domestic violence allegations against one of its stars. A video of Taylor Frankie Paul appearing to assault her ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen had been published by TMZ.

Taylor was announced as the star of the latest series of the show, which is a spin-off from The Bachelor and sees a woman choosing a husband from a large pool of romantic interests. It had been a huge success for US network ABC and Paul was due to be central to its 22nd series.

However, a spokesperson for ABC owner Disney said today it would be pulling the show, which has already been filmed and was due to air on TV in a matter of days.

It said: “In light of the newly released video just surfaced today, we have made the decision to not move forward with the new season of ‘The Bachelorette’ at this time, and our focus is on supporting the family.”

TMZ obtained a video of a 2023 incident with Taylor and her ex, Dakota, where she was arrested for and charged with assault, criminal mischief, and domestic violence in the presence of a child. In the video Dakota can be heard saying: “This is called physical abuse.”

Police bodycam footage of Taylor’s arrest in the 2023 incident was played on the first episode of Hulu’s Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.

A spokesperson for Paul issued a statement to People in response to the video. It said: “It’s sad to see the latest installment of his never-ending, desperate, attention-seeking, destructive campaign to harm Taylor without any regard for the consequences for their child.

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“Releasing an old video, which conveniently omits context, on their son’s birthday is a reprehensible attempt to distract from his own behavior. Thankfully, the public has seen this act before and knows who he is and sadly, many will recognize this pattern of manipulation, both in his actions on the show, and from their own experiences.”

Paul also confirmed that the next series of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, which first aired in 2024, has paused production for its fifth season. Her co-star, Mikayla Matthews said: “It was a decision that all of us girls came up with. We didn’t feel comfortable filming with everything that was happening.”

Paul rose to fame on social media as part of a group of young mothers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who made dance videos and parenting content in Utah.

It has been reported that Salt Lake County District Court records show Mortensen today filed for a protective order against Paul via his attorney, but that the filing was sent back for a correction and an amended petition.

Gemma let the cameras follow her as she and partner Rami had IVF and planned their wedding but she says the results show ‘a real nightmare’ of a year

Gemma Collins’ new series Four Weddings and a Baby will see her breaking down in agony after fearing that her mother Joan was at death’s door last year.

Launching the new show Gemma, 45, said it would give a warts and all look at her life over a year. Speaking to Dermot O’Leary at a Sky event in London, she explained: “During making the show my mum nearly died, my relationship was obviously taking a bit of a hit, I was trying to have a baby – my whole world just fell apart.

“Because I was going through so much trauma and struggles, there was no performative person there. Everyone gets to see the real me – you’re in my home. It’s what people don’t see. I was broken.”

She explained that the reality series would be very different to TOWIE and other programmes she has appeared on. “I’m used to being very performative. The camera goes on, The GC comes out, boomshackalack, that’s really how it is. Hold on to your seats because you never know what’s going to happen!

READ MORE: David Walliams suffers fresh cancellation after being dropped by book publisher

“But this is a show where I’m trying to have a baby, I’m trying to get married and none of it goes smooth. It’s a nightmare. But it’s not a comical nightmare it’s a real nightmare.”

The series is due to launch on Sky Max later this year. In one clip, Gemma is seen weeping while driving as she explains to the camera how Joan is in hospital and in a very bad way, having caught pneumonia and suffering from a “build up of fluid”.

She explains: “My mum has suffered with chronic illness for 10 years. This is not my first rodeo with her. However, this one has to be the worst. It’s making me realise that mum might not have a lot of time left.”

Viewers will also be able to follow Gemma’s attempt to conceive using IVF, with fiancé Rami Hawash, and also their attempt to organise a wedding. But in another clip she sobs: “Having a baby is not easy. You don’t want to be making the wrong decisions in your life. Then I think f*** it – if mum hasn’t got long left – do I just spend my life with my mum, you know? And then just not have a baby, not get married.”

She told Dermot that the aim of the series was to be “a bit more vulnerable and honest”, adding: “It’s me not having any control over my life, any control over the cameras. It’s very raw.

“Family have always been everything to me, which people haven’t seen, but I think it’s OK to show people you are human? Nothing’s perfect, life’s not perfect and maybe that will resonate.”

Asked how Joan, 70, is doing now, Gemma said that she has moved in to her house and has carers who come regularly. “I’m just so grateful for every day I get to spend with her,” Gemma said. Another clip from the upcoming series shows how the Essex favourite tried to prepare for her second stint in I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here.

In a bid to become less fearful, she invites a snake-handler round to her house and admits the thing she is most afraid of is “a snake wrapping itself around my neck” The woman gives assurance that Gemma won’t be given “anything that’s going to hurt you”. But when the snake is placed around her shoulders it flicks its tail into her face, leaving her sweating and saying: “F***, f***, f***.”

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“The best way I can describe it is, it’s an addiction,” says Taylor Frankie Paul.

The star of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” is seated by a window in an empty Starbucks within a downtown Salt Lake City hotel, reflecting on her relationship troubles in an interview Feb. 19. Followers of Paul’s screen life are all too familiar with the drama. Now, others can’t escape knowing about it too.

Days later, a dispute with her on-again, off-again partner would lead to an investigation by police that surfaced in multiple news reports this week, and on Thursday, the release of a video recording of a separate dispute in 2023 would lead to a pause on “The Bachelorette,” her latest starring role on reality TV, three days before it was set to premiere.

Her brush with fame began with #Momtok, as the self-proclaimed founder of the Utah-based group of Mormon moms that spawned the so-called corner of TikTok where they shared choreographed dance videos and light lifestyle content. But in 2022, she rose to notoriety after revealing in a TikTok Live session details about an arrangement she had with her then-husband Tate Paul to pursue intimate relations with other consenting couples (without having extramarital sex); she confessed to violating their agreement by having an emotional affair. The salacious revelation, which became known as the “soft-swinging” scandal, lit up social media and, eventually, led to the creation of Hulu’s breakout hit “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.” Much of Paul’s story across the show’s four seasons has revolved around her rocky relationship with Dakota Mortensen, the man she began dating following her divorce.

Dakota Mortensen and Taylor Frankie Paul in a scene from “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.” The pair share a 2-year-old son.

(Fred Hayes / Disney)

Even as the show documented the lead-up to Paul becoming the new face of “The Bachelorette,” her biggest screen opportunity yet, the pair’s on-again, off-again dynamic remained as turbulent and confusing as ever, down to the “Mormon Wives” season’s final minutes. A despondent Paul nearly upended the start of production on ABC’S dating series when she missed her flight to Los Angeles after sleeping with Mortensen, who is the father of her youngest son, Ever, the night prior. (She took a later one.)

“I was just still stuck in the cycle,” she says, noting she hasn’t watched the “Mormon Wives” finale. “That’s why I knew I had to leave [to do ‘The Bachelorette’], if that makes sense … I can’t help people understand it because my own brain doesn’t understand it. The only thing I can relate it to is, it is a drug; the toxicity is a drug. It’s always a mind game and I fall for it every time, and I cave and it’s just so dumb. I get exhausted saying it to people because I’m like, ‘I don’t blame you guys. I’m mad at me.’”

The hook of a 31-year-old mother of three trying to find love — who unapologetically wears her troubles on her sleeve — was supposed to be what made her a desirable candidate for the latest crossover experiment to hit Disney’s reality TV universe. But in the week leading up to Sunday’s Season 22 premiere of “The Bachelorette,” reports surfaced detailing allegations of domestic violence involving Paul and Mortensen. Utah’s Draper City Police Department confirmed there is an open investigation involving the pair; a spokesperson for the department declined to share more details amid the ongoing investigation. But according to a person familiar with the situation, allegations were made by both parties involving incidents on Feb. 24 and Feb. 25, less than a week after our interview. No charges have been filed in the case.

Taylor Frankie Paul in a promotional still from ABC’s “The Bachelorette,” now on pause.

(Sami Drasin / Disney)

Paul was previously arrested and charged in 2023 for a separate dispute involving Mortensen, eventually pleading guilty to one count of aggravated assault; other charges were dropped. Part of that incident was documented in the first season of “Mormon Wives.” On Thursday, TMZ published a video of the incident, leading Disney Entertainment Television to hit pause on the planned premiere of “The Bachelorette.” “In light of the newly released video just surfaced today, we have made the decision to not move forward with the new season of ‘The Bachelorette’ at this time, and our focus is on supporting the family,” the statement from Disney read. Whether the season will be released at a later time or be re-edited remains to be seen, according to a person familiar with the matter.

“Taylor is very grateful for ABC’s support as she prioritizes her family’s safety and security,” read a portion of a statement provided by a representative for Paul. The statement went on to say Paul suffered “extensive mental and physical abuse as well as threats of retaliation.”

While Season 5 of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” began production in January, cameras were not following Paul during the time of the recent incidents; Paul was focused on publicity commitments for “The Bachelorette.” Hulu and ABC declined to comment on the ongoing investigation. Mortensen could not be reached for comment. Production on “Mormon Wives” is currently on pause and a decision on Paul’s status as a cast member has not been made, according to a person briefed on the situation.

Paul’s chaotic reality now casts a shadow on both shows. The programming experiment aimed at expanding and blending the audiences of ABC’s veteran dating series and Hulu’s budding answer to the “Real Housewives” franchise now becomes an example of too much of a good thing — in this case, overextending a breakout hit early in its run — and how it can backfire. And it puts a spotlight on the discourse surrounding vetting failures and oversights in reality TV, as well as the compulsion or limits by viewers to rubberneck, particularly by savvy viewers of a genre that thrives on sordid personal drama.

How the ‘Mormon Wives’ crossover took shape

At a time when the traditional television landscape faces steep challenges, accelerated by a radical shift in viewing habits spurred by streaming and social media, Disney has been blurring the lines between its linear and streaming properties — ABC and Hulu — to maximize the reach of its unscripted assets. “Mormon Wives,” which has released four seasons in less than two years, has become a key player in that effort. Earlier this year, two of its cast members, Jen Affleck and Whitney Leavitt, competed against each other on “Dancing With the Stars.” And Paul’s casting as “The Bachelorette” makes her the first heroine who was not a contestant on a previous season of “The Bachelor.”

Prior to the reports about Paul, The Times spoke to Robert Mills, who leads Walt Disney Television Alternative, as well as show producers, about collaboration efforts within the company’s broadcasting universe as a way to expand and reward viewer curiosity.

Mills, a veteran ABC unscripted executive, said it was a way the company can distinguish itself from its competitors, particularly as it seeks to build Hulu’s unscripted slate against streaming rivals with deeper benches. And the possibilities on how to apply it to “Mormon Wives” began the summer ahead of its launch. As “Dancing With the Stars” producers were in the final stretch of casting the show’s 33rd season, Mills says there was talk of having one of the women be a contestant on the competition that fall, to coincide with the new show’s arrival.

“I do remember saying, ‘If it’s not this season, I know we’re going to have somebody next season because you can just feel this,” he says, referring to the energy surrounding “Mormon Wives.” “When the show took off, then it became, ‘OK, now we know we’re doing it.’”

And while having a cast member compete on “Dancing With the Stars” may, on its own, create a curiosity factor for audiences of both shows, the added layer of having the journey play out on “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” had the potential to heighten the story and viewing experience. And why not have two “Mormon Wives” cast members in the same season to see how their competitiveness plays out? So they did.

Dancer Jan Ravnik with partner Jennifer Affleck on “Dancing With the Stars.” (Eric McCandless/Disney)

Mark Ballas and Whitney Leavitt, who reached the semi-finals on the dancing competition series. (Eric McCandless/Disney)

The casting process for “DWTS” was documented in the third season of “Mormon Wives,” with Affleck and Leavitt pitching themselves to ABC executives. And their journey on the competition, including moving their families to Los Angeles and their eventual falling out, is featured in Season 4.

Corporate synergy within the Disney portfolio is nothing new, particularly on “Dancing With the Stars.” Disney Night is a recurring themed episode on the competition show, with contestants dancing to Disney, Pixar and Marvel tunes. And the series has featured stars from “Bachelor” nation before. But navigating the ins and outs of stories that intertwine without overstepping has required nimbleness.

“We basically carved out times where they [the ‘Mormon Wives’ crew] could film rehearsals and we always had a producer present just in case something happened that was dramatically important for our show,” says Conrad Green, the showrunner of “Dancing With the Stars.” “It’s like a gentleman’s agreement — we’re borrowing talent off another show so we have to work together and it works for everyone’s benefit.”

Stretching out a successful series typically leads to spin-offs — and yes, Mills says, those conversations are happening with “Mormon Wives” — at least at the time of the interview. In the meantime, the crossover strategy has become its key feature. Its third season featured the fallout from an explosive crossover with Hulu’s “Vanderpump Villa,” which follows Lisa Vanderpump, a former Bravo star, and her staff at various luxury European estates. MomTok stars Demi Engemann and Jessi Ngatikaura were guests on that show’s second season and got embroiled in drama with staff member Marciano Brunette, who alleges he had intimate connections with both women. The recent fourth season of “Mormon Wives” revisits the crossover, with some of the women’s spouses partaking in their own “Villa” getaway that fuels more drama.

Layla Taylor, left, Jessie Ngatikaura, Mikayla Matthews and Demi Engemann of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” at the castle in “Vanderpump Villa.”

(Andrea Miconi / Disney)

Paul’s casting in “The Bachelor” universe continues the long-running franchise’s efforts to revamp as it ages, to mixed results. In 2021, the franchise cast its first Black male lead; last year, it entered the senior citizen dating space with spin-off “Golden Bachelor.”

After Paul posted a TikTok in June 2025 jokingly announcing her “bid” as a single mother looking for love, members of the company’s publicity department took notice and, before long, discussions began. When the idea to bring on a star outside the franchise was presented to”The Bachelorette” showrunner Scott Teti, he did some homework.

“Of course, I had heard of her — it’s hard not to hear of that name,” he says. “But I had to familiarize myself with it because I hadn’t watched her show. Instantly, you realize how honest and truthful she is, almost to a fault. Although she’s unrelatable in a lot of ways, with the attention she gets from media and social media … she has a layered story that I think is very relatable to a lot of people — being a single mother and not having success in past relationships and still really wanting to find love.”

He adds that though she was a “fish out of water” the first night, she found her way. “She made herself vulnerable and she finally let her walls down and made herself open to being in a relationship, finding someone,” he says. “At the same time, because she is used to doing things her own way, and not really caring what anybody thinks, that is what made it interesting. That is why this season is so big, and there are so many pivotal points in the season that will leave you on the edge of your seat.”

At least that was the plan.

Dressed in beige lounge pants and an oversize T-shirt adorned with mushrooms when we meet, Paul is affable despite her sluggish demeanor as she navigates the schedule demands in this window between “Mormon Wives” Season 4 and her debut as “The Bachelorette.” She pulls out her phone to share a series of TikTok videos that capture what she says is her current mental state — one features a man sarcastically talking about how he’d rather be petty than regulate his emotions. No stranger to finding a wide audience with viral videos, Paul sees the crossovers as “genius marketing.” But also acknowledged their potential challenges to #MomTok.

“I think it’s really cool to see all the different opportunities you can venture off into,” she says. “I think the con of that, with #MomTok, is that with all the opportunities, it kind of spreads us apart. We’re doing our own thing. It could break friendships. You’re getting envious. You get competitive.”

As the cast’s fame and opportunities grow, whether across Disney or outside of it — Leavitt, for example, is starring as Roxie Hart in “Chicago” on Broadway — the way to keep the series interesting is to incorporate all those moments into the show rather than pretend they live outside of it.

“We have not shied away from breaking the fourth wall,” says “Mormon Wives” showrunner Andrea Metz. “We have not shied away from talking about what is really happening with them. And I think that people like that. The trajectory of their fame and their stars rising has been very quick, but it’s also been really exciting.”

And the highs and lows are in full view, as this week proves.

Was she ready for ‘The Bachelorette’?

How all this might impact #MomTok — the power of their clique to withstand the various in-fighting and drama has become a perennial concern each season — is already playing out in the headlines.

Before recent allegations against Paul threatened the outcome of “The Bachelorette,” Paul’s entanglement with Mortensen had already cast doubt for some viewers of both franchises about whether she went into the dating series with any seriousness. The break between wrapping “Mormon Wives” and starting filming on “The Bachelorette” was one day. Paul admits she isn’t sure she was ready for the experience.

“I might not have been ready, but ready is a decision — just do it,” she says. “It was like a rehab, almost. It’s full detox. I had no contact — in no world does it happen with the co-parent. Whether or not I was ready, it was what was so needed for me, at the very least to just get away from it. And I wanted to find someone and love.”

“‘The Bachelorette’ is one of the hardest things I ever did,” she continues, “but also the most amazing things I ever did. I have my kids back home. I’m not just here looking for me. The emotional exhaustion was a lot. I’m dating 20-something guys. I am putting my all into one conversation after the other, every single day, all day. Your brain is just kind of fried.”

Then she considers a question that didn’t feel as prescient then: Does she feel like it broke the cycle she’s had with Mortensen?

“Yeah, I feel like it helped,” she says. “Obviously things — [we’re] within the process of the show, I can’t speak on it yet. But you’ll see it all unravel.”

Argentina’s spunkiest duo Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso have checked themselves into a wellness center for their latest album, “Free Spirits.”

Out Thursday, the LP pushes the limits of the duo’s experimentation, combining unpredictable blends of trap, rock and pop while still maintaining their raunchy sense of humor and musicianship. The 12-track project features collaborations with British musicians Sting and Fred Again, as well as California’s very own Anderson .Paak and Jack Black.

It’s been a busy year for the avant-garde pair, who won their first Grammy in February for their nine-track EP, “Papota.”

At the ceremony, they hinted at a rebrand for the upcoming album; both appearing on the red carpet wearing matching tan robes — a look far less flashy than the custom Versace outfits they wore at the Latin Grammys in November.

“We are trying to heal that velocity that we had in the past year. If you go so fast, you’re going to crash,” Paco Amoroso told Billboard in February. “We are healing ourselves now.”

Following their Tiny Desk performance in Oct. 2024 — which has reached over 27 million views to date — the Buenos Aires singers have etched an unpredictable, kooky path in the crazed music industry, often by criticizing it.

First, their 2025 EP “Papota” humorized their rapid ascent to stardom and poked fun at how artists must dilute their image to fit the mainstream.

Now through their LP “Free Spirits,” they continue to comment on the trope of the burned-out, exhausted artist who through a soul-stripping retreat can find renewal once again.

That purported healing is taking place at “Free Spirits Wellness Center,” a mock-up clinic led by Sting dedicated to advance physiological and cognitive expansion for people working under intense pressure.

In a music video released Wednesday, Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso checked themselves in after taking home five gramophone trophies at the 26th Latin Grammys.

Among the 12-step treatments are skin-changing artotherapy, where patients endure a painful micro-needling session combined with a non-goal-oriented painting session; cryo cerebral rebirth, where the brain regresses to its early developmental stages; and temperature contrast celibation, where they receive an ice bath combined with sexual arousal restrain.

None of these treatments make clear sense — mainly because they aren’t real — but that’s exactly Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso’s point: Fame is all make-believe pandemonium and there is no real recovery from it.

SCREEN star Sydney Sweeney is rolling in dollar frills — after her new lingerie line helped to quadruple her fortune. 

The American actress is now worth $40million, up from $10million just two years ago. 

The news came as Sydney, 28, showed off a range of sexy pink and white underwear from her Syrn brand. 

The Seductress line launches next week after her original designs sold out in the US. 

Sydney launched the business on the back of becoming one of Hollywood’s most in-demand stars. 

She was worth some $10million in 2024 thanks to roles in black comedy The White Lotus, teen drama Euphoria and the rom-com movie Anyone But You. 

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Lucrative deals with Armani Beauty, Ford and Samsung followed — while controversial adverts for clothing brand American Eagle saw sales shoot up, along with Sydney’s profile and potential earnings. 

Last year she raked in $7.5millon for her role in hit psychological thriller The Housemaid. 

Sydney launched Syrn in January in a bid to take on fellow celebs Rihanna and Kim Kardashian — who have become billionaires through their clothing brands Savage x Fenty and Skims. 

The star’s racy photo shoots have seen her criticised for not being a “girl’s girl”. But hitting back, Sydney said: “People will say, ‘Oh, she’s doing this for guys’. 

“I’m like, ‘What’s more ‘girl’s girl’ than owning your body and doing it for yourself?’.” 

Coronation Street’s Megan Walsh was interviewed by police on Thursday’s episode of the world’s longest-running TV soap and things are not looking good for the predatory teacher

Coronation Street aired a series of dark scenes on Thursday night as various truths about Megan Walsh began to emerge.

For months, the teacher, played by Beth Nixon, has been at the heart of a controversial storyline in which she has been carrying out an illicit relationship with her student Will Driscoll.

While all this has been going on, Megan, who was introduced as the teenager’s private athletics coach, has started up a fake relationship with Daniel Osbourne (Rob Mallard) although she is pregnant with Will’s baby. Will’s schoolmate Sam, who is in the year below, was the only one to have worked it out but when Megan started threatening him about, he turned to pills to cope and then experienced an overdose. Things were only made worse when Megan became a flatmate of Sam’s stepmum Leanne, worming her way into their lives further.

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Once Sam confessed all to Leanne (Jane Danson) the whole situation sent shockwaves around the entire family and Will’s dad Ben (Aaron McCusker) as well as his own stepmum Eva, Leanne’s sister, have tried to take action. The furious family informed the police immediately and as the world’s longest-running TV soap continued, Megan was in a police interview, once again pleading her innocence.

Coming out with the same old story, she said: “He is a teenage boy who has a crush on me. Probably not the first, probably not the last. Believe me, I haven’t done anything wrong. This is every teacher’s worst nightmare. I’m in complete shock, to be honest. Maybe I overstepped by getting too close to them.

“But that doesn’t mean that I’m grooming their son. I… I became a teacher to give something back, not to… I can’t even say it. It makes me feel sick….” Megan and her lawyer Adam Barlow pointed out that there was no evidence as yet, but DC Kit Green revealed that they had some footage of her and Will together in her flat. This was all a result of Sam’s ill-fated attempt to catch them on camera, only for Megan to realise and stage a performance to cover things up.

Kit warned: ” It’s not looking good, is it, Megan? I think the CPS will agree!” Later on, it became apparent that Megan had been released and she returned home only to find Leanne throwing her possessions out of the upstairs window. A furious Leanne yelled: “I’m putting the rubbish out!” But Megan pleaded: “Oh, Leanne, please, I don’t need this after the day I’ve just had. I’ve already been suspended from work.”

Leanne shot back: “Well, if it was to me, I’d suspend you from that lamppost!” She launched a suitcase out the window and Megan was left with no choice but to pack up her belongings after it bust open and its contents spilled out across the cobbles and Leanne slammed the window shut, effectively making her homeless.

That afternoon, Eva (Catherine Tyldesley) and Ben, who had worked out that Megan and Will had spent his sixteenth birthday together in bed at the Chariot Square, raced to the hotel to see if they could get CCTV footage of that date but, conveniently, the footage had been wiped at midnight, owing to an automatic 90-day setting.

It was then that Eva brought up she something she had been holding back – that Megan had supposedly had an abortion some months ago.

But Megan herself never confirmed this, and Leanne had just happened to come across some pregnancy vitamins in a bedside drawer, prompting the distraught family to realise that she could still be expecting. Realising they could be onto something, Eva said: “If she has lied, then all the evidence we need is growing right there in her belly.”

Coronation Street airs weeknights at 8:30pm on ITV1 and ITV X.

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In the New Year episode, Max Branning was revealed to be marrying a mystery woman in 2027, and EastEnders fans think the soap has subtly ‘confirmed’ who that bride will be – along with her unorthodox reason for marriage

EastEnders aired the start of a love story in their most recent episode, and fans think this confirms one woman as his bride for 2027, but she won’t be marrying him for love. Instead, she’s out for revenge.

Cindy Beale (Michelle Collins) has been one of the potential brides since Max Branning‘s (Jake Wood) fifth marriage was first teased. The two had already hooked up whilst unaware of each other’s identities, leading to an explosive punch up at their shared grandson Jimmy’s christening as Cindy realised she’d slept with her son’s killer. But after scenes airing on 19 March, fans are sure this enemies to lovers arc will end with a trip down the aisle.

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During Thursday’s episode, Cindy and Max were having a chat in the Prince Albert as she closed up shop. The two quickly started eyeing each other up and Max leaned in for a kiss. When Cindy initially rejected him – on the grounds that he had killed her beloved Steven (Aaron Sidwell) – he apologised for Steven’s death. This was enough for Cindy to give in and start kissing Max, as a jealous Linda Carter (Kellie Bright), who was also a teased bride, looked on.

Fans are now more certain than ever that this means Cindy will marry Max, but they’re not convinced that she loves him. Rather, could Cindy be marrying Max as part of a revenge plan?

“If Cindy marries Max, it’s 100% for revenge,” said one fan. “She HATED Max for what happened to Steven and she’s way too smart to fall for Max’s greasy little lines.”

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They added that the bride mystery might not be the only part of the New Year flashforward that Cindy is part of. The fan predicted that Cindy would be the gunman who will hold Lauren and Oscar Branning (Jacqueline Jossa and Pierre Counihan-Moullier) hostage, forcing their father to pick one to save.

“I reckon, Max is marrying Cindy in 2027, but Linda is getting ready to crash the wedding because she knows Cindy is planning something horrible for Max,” the fan said. “What is that horrible thing? She’s the gunman. An eye for an eye, a child for a child you know?”

Another fan agreed that scenes from tonight’s episode pointed more towards a vengeful Cindy than a loved-up one. “OMG yeah you could be right! That look she gave him when he said he was sorry for Steven’s death wasn’t giving attraction for me, it was giving revenge!”

A third said they hoped this was the case: “Cindy has hated Max with a passion for years and I know they say there’s a thin line between love and hate, but her just falling for his chat yet again just doesn’t add up. I actually hope she’s playing him for some sort of revenge for Steven further down the line.”

Cindy’s hatred of Max dates back to 2017. Then, he manipulated her son into a sweeping revenge plot against the Square, particularly Jane Beale (Laurie Brett), who had let Max go to prison for the murder of Lucy Beale (Hetti Bywater) even though she knew it was really her young son Bobby (Eliot Carrington).

After setting fire to a restaurant, Steven tried to save Jane, but Max, desperate to stop him, pushed Steven into a countertop. This caused fatal internal injuries, eventually leading to a cardiac arrest and his death.

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Huw Edwards touted himself as a bastion of righteousness and good but behind closed doors he led a depraved double life that destroyed the lives of those around him

Huw Edwards presented himself as the trusted voice of the nation, but off-screen he lived a secret life of depravity.

Married for 31 years, the Welsh BBC newsreader was welcomed into homes each night and anchored some of the country’s most seismic events – including the death of the late Queen Elizabeth. He reported on downfalls, scandals and abuses of power. But little did viewers know that he, too, was guilty of his own trangressions.

It started with a report in The Sun alleging he had paid a you for sexual pictures. The Met Police investigated but found no evidence of crime. Then came accusations that he inappropriately messaged a freelance journalist, a sixth-form student and other staff at the BBC. Finally, he was arrested after police learned indecent images of children had been sent to his phone by convicted sex offender, Alex Williams. He pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children and was given just six months imprisonment, suspended for two years, with a requirement to complete a sex offender programme.

Slowly, a picture began to emerge of a middle-aged man who became obsessed with social media and its ability to bring him both adoration and sexual connection with men and women. As his wife Vicky Flind struggled to care for her ailing mother, Edwards – who was described as a ‘volatile’ man with a ‘history of agitation’ – instead looked to his phone for cheap thrills.

In a report, Dr Appleyard, a Forensic Psychosexual therapist, told a September 2024 court hearing: “His social media engagement presented as an easy way to manage his low mood and provided him with a number of men and women who were motivated to be sexual with him which not only boosted his fragile self esteem but allowed him to re-engage with his sexual interest in men which had been managed since 1994.

“The feelings of being desirable and unseen alongside Mr. Edwards’ unresolved sexual orientation created a perfect storm where he engaged in sexual infidelities”

Now, the sordid saga is being retold in Channel 5 drama, Power: The Downfall Of Huw Edwards. Martin Clunes stars as Edwards, and executive producer Sam Anstiss has compared reading the raft of text messages sent by Edwards to “going into the heart of darkness.”

“Because here in these messages was, in the most visceral, disturbing way, a very imbalanced relationship of power. They were so disturbing. It was, ‘I love you, but you kill me’,” she told The Sun.

Here, the Mirror explores the damning texts Edwards allegedly sent…

‘Payments to young man’

Known in the drama as Ryan Davies, the young man says he was highly vulnerable when Edwards allegedly first asked him for explicit photos and messages.

The scandal erupted in the summer of 2023 when it emerged the man’s mum and stepdad had claimed that Edwards paid £35,000 in return for ‘sordid’ pictures. He later told the Mirror he feels the newsreader took advantage of him. “I want to tell the truth about what happened… I’ve stayed silent for so long to protect Huw, but I feel sick at what has happened,” he said.

The young man, now aged 23 and who wishes to remain anonymous, says he feels like Edwards, 64, ‘groomed’ him after they first connected in 2020. At first, Edwards was not named publicly, but within days his identity was revealed by his wife and he was admitted to hospital due to serious mental health concerns.

The man said he was in a very troubled state of mind when he first contacted the television newsreader. Having fallen out with his mother and step-father, he was sleeping on friends’ sofas and had spent a few nights at a homeless shelter, which he described as ‘scary’. He began sending messages to famous people asking for help. He was in a burger bar in Cardiff when he happened to see Edwards on the TV, so decided to message him on social media.

Edwards was the only person to reply to any of the messages. The man said he didn’t ask for money, but Edwards deposited £500 into his PayPal account, which went towards hotel costs for a few days. The man told the Mirror: “Although it was a friendship at the beginning, it did change. He would say things like, ‘Are you going to do something for me then?’ I needed help, so I did. I feel like he sort of fed on my vulnerability… as he knew I needed the money. I felt like I was being groomed.”

Messages seen by The Sun and shared in its documentary, Huw Edwards: Unmasked, are harrowing reading. In one, he allegedly says, “I want a pic of you totally naked head to toe.” After transferring the fan £2,000, he then rages after receiving only a picture of the young man’s naked top half.

“F*** that. F*** that. Really not impressed by you. I believed you were serious. But you’re not. You chase me for cash. But you then ‘forget’ to deliver. F*** that,” he wrote, according to the publication.

After paying for the young man’s train ticket to London, he allegedly teased: “Then you really would owe me.” But the texts take a dark turn. On New Year’s Eve 2022, the documentary states that he sent a string of abuse to the man. “Stop being a kn*b and talk to me tomorrow when you’re sober.”

“Now listen to me. If you want help in future stop this cr*p OK,” he is said to have raged. “You’ve disappointed me… I regret helping you so much… I should have known… You should know better.”

In the February, the film claims that Edwards unleashed another tirade on the young man after worrying that his payments for sexual images could be exposed. “You’re a disaster area,” he is said to have raged. “Why does this happen all the time??!??… Im with family stop being a pain… I’m sick of you getting into a mess all the time… Don’t be stupid… My Monzo is easily traceable. I can do PayPal nothing else.”

“You are really really really trying my patience,” he allegedly continued. “I don’t need this f***ing sh*t… Delete these messages if it’s not your phone OK???… Send me your Monzo details you idiot… You make me so angry… WTF you talking about you f***ing disaster… Go f**k yourself. Get f***ing real. Tell you what. I’ll stop helping you then you can see what no care is. F**k you. You’re an ungrateful t**t.”

Edwards then seemingly softens, apparently adding: “I f***ing love you…but you kill me x” and “I love you seriously x… I will never end you. You idiot. You know that. X… Next time in Cardiff you need to see me x… Good boy… Don’t forget. I love you x”

But there was yet another alleged outburst after the young man called him in the night. “I can’t trust you to respect my situation,” the News at 10 anchor reportedly fumed. “Now leave me alone. Actually calling me at 2am? F**k that. Calling me at 2am even when I told you to stop ?????? You’re so f***ing out of order. Grow up. Just grow up. And when someone helps you – show respect.”

The man told The Mirror how Edwards messaged on an unknown number In October just one month before he was arrested – but was left “staggered” by his reaction. The man said: “I think it was about two weeks before he got arrested. The message said ‘guess who’ or something like that.

“The message said ‘don’t say my name on here… just call me’. So I phoned him and he said download the messaging app Signal. And he said we can catch up on there.” The man said he was staggered by Edwards’ demeanour on the call, adding: “He said, ‘What’s been going on? I really care about you’. He had no remorse for anything at all.”

It was the final time they spoke. A month later Edwards was arrested over the indecent images on his phone in an unrelated case. He stood down from the BBC in April 2024.

‘Strange messages to journalist’

The Express’ assistant politics editor Sam Stevenson has shared his experience of a message exchange with Edwards.

When Sam started his journalism career five years ago, he was keen to make contacts and keep up-to-date with the rolling news cycle. His first port of call was to follow as many “leading industry figures” as he could on Twitter, now X. He said he wanted to follow those he “respected” and “hoped to one day emulate”.

Sam claimed that within minutes of following Edwards, he was followed back “much to his delight”. He stated that he “couldn’t have been more thrilled” to have “perhaps the most famous news anchor in Britain” acknowledge him. Edwards is said to have sent Sam a message just “seconds later”.

It reportedly read: “Latecomers are welcome, Sam” followed by a praying hands and a yellow smirking face emoji. Sam recalled being on holiday at the time and excitedly sharing the news that Edwards had sent him a direct message to his family. He admitted to wondering why “a high-profile celebrity 32 years my senior, with almost 200,000 followers versus my measly 1,000, want to speak to me”.

Sam replied: “Haha, thanks for the follow, Huw! Big fan of your work” alongside a thumbs up emoji. Edwards is said to have reacted to Sam’s message with a thumbs up emoji and added: “Thanks, Sam. Keep in touch. H.”

Writing in the Express, Sam said: “At that moment, I was not sure what to make of it. My immediate thought was what an excellent new contact I had just made. But, knowing what we do now, perhaps the reality was something more sinister. On reflection later that day, it was clear from his playful and casual manner, the coquettish nature of his initial message, the liberal emoji use, the over-familiarity coming seemingly at random, and the plea to ‘keep in touch’, that something was off.”

Sam admitted to feeling “somewhat uneasy” that the “playful tone” had “came from somebody who was so well-respected”. He said: “It did not feel right. Then, the penny dropped. Huw Edwards, the Huw Edwards, was privately flirting with me. Looking back, it makes my blood run cold.” The journalist ended by writing: “For my part, I am relieved I managed to avoid him. Others were not so lucky.”

Sixth-form student ‘exchange’

Welsh TV channel SC4 launched its own investigation into the scandal and interviewed a young man who said he met Edwards while he was performing in a concert. He was an 18-year-old sixth-form pupil and Edwards was the compere.

“I was in my school uniform. He came up to me at the end of the concert and said hello, that the performance was really good. He told me I was very talented. He was interested to have some sort of contact with me,” the student claimed. “He told me if I wanted to come to London to meet him, he could give me a tour of the BBC and maybe meet a couple of musical contacts.”

The pair connected on Instagram and the teen travelled to the London to visit the BBC but began to suspect that Edwards’ intentions were not admirable. In messages shown by the channel, Edwards signed off messages with a kiss or a heart. In one, Edwards wrote: “Yeah, OK big boy, we believe you.”

“I think it’s clear he was trying to groom me, trying to pull me in,” the young man said. After a few months, however, Huw stopped answering his messages and stopped following him. “He just lost interest in me, I wasn’t giving him what he was looking for,” the student added.

Junior BBC employee ‘sickened’

Victoria Derbyshire shared details about how an ex junior staffer – whose story featured on Newsnight – “felt sick” upon hearing Edwards had child sexual abuse images on WhatsApp. According to Derbyshire, the former employee was in their mid 20s when Edwards allegedly messaged then on Instagram.

Posting on her X account, Derbyshire wrote: “Here’s what they told me IN FULL today: Huw Edwards messaged me on social media several times, despite us having never met and not knowing each other. Many of these messages were clearly inappropriate, including telling me unprompted what he was doing in the early hours of the morning, asking that I take him for food, and including several kisses at the end of his messages. I was quite junior in the BBC at the time, so just tried to play them off and not pay too much attention to them.

“At the time I was confused as to why he was sending such messages to me, but I had heard stories of other younger employees in the BBC having similar experiences with him. That is why I first got in touch with Newsnight: when the original Sun story came out, I felt like the extent of this inappropriate behaviour was likely more widespread than I knew. I didn’t contribute to the subsequent internal BBC inquiry, mostly as I felt I had already come forward and told the important parts of my story to Newsnight and was very busy at the time. It was not because of a lack of trust in the BBC.

“I didn’t report the inappropriate messages at the time when I was working at the BBC, mostly because I had other important things going on in my life that year, not because of a lack of confidence over the efficacy of raising such concerns.”

Freelance reporter ‘bedroom invite’

He was in Windsor at the height of lockdown restrictions to report on the funeral of Prince Philip when Edwards allegedly tried to get a freelance BBC reporter to his hotel room.

The anonymous employee claims he had initially connected with Edwards on Instagram before switching to WhatsApp, where he says they sent hundreds of messages between April 2021 and August 2022.

The reporter claimed that when told he lived in a house-share, Edwards said: “So I could pop in to have some tea?” and a few days after the funeral, he tried again, suggesting, “‘Or I can come to yours.”

On the eve of the funeral – where the late Queen was forced to mourn her husband alone because of Covid restrictions – Edwards allegedly sent him a picture of his hotel room, featuring just one bed, with the caption: “Missed a good night. You could have stayed here.”

The BBC worker told the Daily Mail: “He sent me a picture of his hotel room. I felt it was very suggestive. There were lockdown restrictions at the time. The Covid rules about households not mixing were still in force, the Queen was all alone on the pews at Philip’s funeral, and then Boris [Johnson] got a hammering for the parties in No.10 – and that was the same night Huw Edwards suggested I stay in his hotel room.

“Afterwards he said I had missed a good night.”

Most of the nation either loves or hates this year’s song, and these former winners know which side they fall on

The UK’s Eurovision Song Contest hopeful Look Mum No Computer has had the thumbs-up from ex-champions Bucks Fizz to do well in this year’s competition.

Our entrant – whose real name is Sam Battle – has divided fans with his new wave electro number called Eins Zwei Drei – which means one, two, three in German. Some have praised the performer and inventor, who once created a Furby organ, for his “bonkers but original feel good song”.

But some harsh critics have branded the act as “a millennial cos-player with no talent”, “a 1980s synth reject” and “another dud who’ll end up Look Mum No Points”.

READ MORE: Huw Edwards TV drama set to disturb viewers with grotesque scenesREAD MORE: BAFTA TV Memorable Moments shortlist revealed but one huge Traitors scene is missing

Now former Eurovision winners Bucks Fizz – known these days as simply The Fizz – have backed Look Mum No Computer to do well in the 70 ^th annual contest being held in May in Vienna. Singer Cheryl Baker, 72, told The Mirror: “I think the 2026 UK entry is absolutely brilliant. I love it. I think we have a really good chance this year of being in the top five.”

Bucks Fizz triumphed at Eurovision in 1981 with their song Making Your Mind Up. Over the decades, the group has undergone some member changes. Following a legal wrangle in the 1990s, Bobby Gee now performs under the original name Bucks Fizz along with three other singers.

Cheryl and original members Jay Aston and Mike Nolan carried on performing as The Fizz. However Mike – who had a miracle recovery after suffering a brain haemorrhage following a tour bus crash in 1984 – left in 2024. The two female singers put out a nationwide call for two men to join them as The Fizz. They ended up hiring Nikk Mager from boyband Phixx and Matthew Pateman from Bad Boys Inc and Let Loose.

To mark the 45 ^th anniversary of the group winning Eurovision, The Fizz has been back in the studio to record a special new song. They have been working with the legendary pop hitmaker Mike Stock. He was part of the famous 1980s Stock, Aitken and Waterman team who produced chart toppers for Kylie Minogue, Jason Donovan, Rick Astley, Sinitta, Donna Summer and Bananarama.

Mike told fans: “The Fizz were back in the studio recording a new track for the Bucks Fizz 45th anniversary. This is the first time recording with the new guys and they are all sounding great.”

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A deadly Coronation Street blaze will reportedly tear through Roy’s Rolls soon, causing the iconic set to burn down with the stunt apparently leaving a beloved character in danger

There could be a shocking blaze on Coronation Street very soon, with a famous part of the set thought to be destroyed.

Reports claim Roy’s Rolls, the iconic café owned by Roy Cropper, will be burned down in a cruel arson attack in upcoming scenes. Not only that but as the blaze spreads, it could leave poor Roy in serious danger.

It’s claimed Roy will be left fighting for his life in the incident. with the building said to be be burnt down. As the battle to save Roy commences, the legend will apparently be rushed to hospital.

But who would want to target Roy or his business, and will Roy be okay? According to sources, Roy will be seen trapped in the blaze in scenes that will air onscreen in April.

READ MORE: Emmerdale Tracy’s secret exposed as Vanessa confronts her ahead of exitREAD MORE: EastEnders ‘reveals’ who will join Mark’s stolen cars scheme – but it’s not Lauren

According to The Sun, it sparks questions about whether Roy was targeted and why the café was set alight. A source told the publication: “Roy’s Rolls is targeted by a mystery fires tarter who breaks in and douses the cafe with petrol whilst Roy sleeps upstairs in his flat.

“When residents spot smoke coming out of the windows, emergency services are called. As the fire rages and people realise Roy is trapped inside the race is on to get him out alive.

“Will Roy be rescued in time, and what about his precious collection of railway memorabilia and memories of Hayley? Is this the end of Roy’s Rolls as we know it, and who wanted to burn down the iconic cafe?”

The Mirror has reached out to an ITV spokesperson for comment. It comes ahead of a murder plot taking place in April that sees one of five villains killed off. Jodie Ramsey, Megan Walsh, Carl Webster, Theo Silverton and Maggie Driscoll are all at risk.

The death plot will then spark a whodunnit before fans find out who has killed them and why. Some fans already think they have worked out who the killer is and who the victim will be.

It’s left fans fearing a popular character is about to depart the show in the plot. They think Eva Price, who only came back to the show in October last year, could bow out in a killer twist.

With teacher Megan exposed for grooming young student Will for sex, Will’s stepmother Eva Price vowed she would pay for her crimes. Now, fans have wondered if Eva will kill Megan as she takes revenge, but would Eva really turn killer?

Coronation Street airs weeknights at 8:30pm on ITV1 and ITV X. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

This year marks a veritable museum-palooza as Los Angeles debuts four new major arts complexes, with three in the wings likely to open in advance of the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Immerse yourself in a psychedelic explosion at Meow Wolf, plan an afternoon liaison with Van Gogh at LACMA’s new David Geffen Galleries, inhale the scent of nature inside Refik Anadol’s AI arts museum, Dataland, or simply geek out over George Lucas’ jaw-dropping collection of “Star Wars” memorabilia.

Whatever your arts craving may be, this astoundingly rich new lineup of new local museums has you covered.

LACMA’s David Geffen Galleries

The new David Geffen Galleries, opening in 2026, are composed entirely of Brutalist concrete.

(Christopher Knight / Los Angeles Times)

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s David Geffen Galleries are set to debut this April to members, before opening for general admission at the beginning of May. The $720-million Geffen Galleries will display 2,500-3,000 objects from LACMA’s collection.

The building, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Peter Zumthor, is described by supporters as a “concrete sculpture” and will host 90 exhibition galleries across 110,000 square feet. The Wilshire Boulevard museum’s inaugural exhibition will organize artwork by the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans and the Mediterranean Sea instead of by medium or period.

“The idea is for you to make your own path — not to speak at you, but to let you wander like you would through a park or a place,” LACMA Director and Chief Executive Michael Govan said in an interview with The Times. “That change in attitude, and how the building is built, is really exciting.”

Some of the most-anticipated works on display include Georges de La Tour’s “The Magdalen With the Smoking Flame” (1640), Henri Matisse’s “La Gerbe” (1953) and Vincent Van Gogh’s “Tarascon Stagecoach” (1888).

Lucas Museum of Narrative Art

The gardens at the Lucas Museum, designed by Studio-MLA, on Monday, May 19, 2025.

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

After more than 10 years of anticipation, George Lucas and Mellody Hobson’s museum will open in Exposition Park this September. With over 10,000 square feet of galleries, the museum will feature a wide array of artwork and pop culture ephemera, including Lucas’ personal trove of “Star Wars” film franchise treasures, “Peanuts” comic strips, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” illustrations, a Richard Sargent painting and covers of the Saturday Evening Post.

Lucas donated his collection to curate the Lucas Archives, which, in addition to “Star Wars,” will encompass props and production art from Lucasfilm projects, such as the “Indiana Jones” franchise.

One of the museum’s defining features is its massive green-roof garden designed by Mia Lehrer and her landscape architecture firm Studio-MLA.

“This brings everything together,” Lehrer said in an interview with The Times. “Design, ecology, storytelling, infrastructure, community. It’s the fullest expression of what landscape can be.”

Meow Wolf

A work-in-progress piece set to be featured in Meow Wolf L.A. as seen during a walk through at the group’s warehouse in Santa Fe on Oct. 15, 2025.

(Gabriela Campos/For The Times)

Meow Wolf’s L.A. location will reimagine a ’90s movie theater with its takeover of the Cinemark at West L.A.’s Howard Hughes entertainment complex outside Culver City. Meow Wolf’s sixth permanent exhibition comes on the heels of the immersive art creator’s 52,000-square-foot psychedelic art installation in Las Vegas, which was disguised as a dystopian grocery store called Omega Mart and promptly went viral on TikTok.

Complete with sci-fi elements, a meditative space and a 30-foot-tall mushroom tower, Meow Wolf’s new location will open at the end of 2026. Although organizers have kept much of the exhibition under wraps, visitors can expect to be transfixed by a thoroughly Los Angeles tale.

“It’s cool that we’re creating a story about a pilgrimage, because L.A. is that for so many artists, especially people involved in storytelling,” Shakti Howeth, Meow Wolf‘s creative director, told The Times. “It’s one of those places that’s built on layers and layers of dreams, and we’re really exploring that here. Not only dreams but broken dreams — the compost that can happen when you digest broken dreams.”

Refik Anadol’s Dataland

Refik Anadol’s Infinity Room is meant to be a multisensory experience.

(Dataland)

Opening this spring at the Frank Gehry-designed Grand L.A., Dataland dubs itself the world’s first museum of AI arts. Turkish American artist Refik Anadol designed his own AI model, named the Large Nature Model, which only sources material with permission from original creators, making it what Anadol calls “ethical” AI. Partners include the Smithsonian and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

“I’m calling this new art form not AR, not VR, not XR — so we are still finding a name for it. The best name so far, and people love it, is generative reality,” Anadol told The Times.

Dataland will feature five galleries, including the Infinity Room, which Anadol first created in 2014 as a student at UCLA. In another exhibit, he trained an AI model on half a million scents and built a machine to push those scents into the gallery to create a totally immersive viewing experience.

Opening Later

The Armenian American Museum and Cultural Center of California

Slated to complete construction in downtown Glendale in late 2026, the 51,000-square-foot Armenian American Museum has been in the works for more than a decade. With a $67-million budget, the museum will include permanent and temporary exhibitions, as well as an auditorium, learning center, archives collection and a demonstration kitchen.

The museum is an initiative of the Armenian Genocide Centennial Committee Western US, and planning began as the group prepared to mark the the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in 2015. The museum is adorned with the 36 letters of the Armenian alphabet and a glass hazarashen skylight, inspired by traditional roofs in homes across the Armenian Highlands.

“The Armenian American Museum was once an idea, then a vision, and today is rising before our eyes,” museum Executive Chairman Berdj Karapetian said in a statement. “This progress is the result of an extraordinary collective effort by Armenians and non-Armenians here in California, across the United States and around the world.”

The Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center

The Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center in Los Angeles is a major expansion of the California Science Center.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

A solid opening date has not yet been announced, but the $400-million Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center at the California Science Center in Exposition Park is busily preparing for liftoff. Construction on the building began in 2022. The shiny new building will be home to the Korean Air Aviation Gallery, Kent Kresa Space Gallery and the Samuel Oschin Shuttle Gallery, which will host the Space Shuttle Endeavour.

Endeavour will be displayed in launch position, making it the tallest authentic spacecraft displayed vertically in the world, with a height of 20 stories. One of three surviving space shuttles, Endeavour made 25 successful missions into space.

The center is also expected to have 20 planes and jets, including a Boeing 747, a mock flight deck and a pair of introductory films produced by J.J. Abrams’ company Bad Robot, one of which will end with a simulated launch.

“It is an amazing experience, and we want to really build it up,” Jeffrey N. Rudolph, president and chief executive of the California Science Center, told The Times. “It’s not just about the hardware but about the people and the educational aspects.”

The Broad Expansion

Exterior rendering of the future Broad expansion from Hope Street.

(The Broad. © Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R))

Opening in 2028, the Broad expansion will contain 70% more gallery space, two outdoor courtyards, a live programming space and views of the museum’s art storage vault. First announced in 2024, the $100-million addition is slated for completion before the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Located in downtown L.A., the expansion was deemed necessary after the museum significantly exceeded visitor projections. The new building will invert the existing Broad museum’s architectural design, with a smooth, gray structure attached to the original construction.

“The idea is that it adds new facets to the visitor’s journey through the expanded Broad,” said Joanne Heyler, founding director and president of the Broad, in an interview with The Times. “In a way, the existing building is always sort of talking to you. And there will be a similar thing happening with the expansion, but just a slightly different conversation, like you’re listening to its sibling.”

TOWIE star Jordan Wright has died at the age of 33 after being found in a drainage canal in Thailand and his friends and co-stars have started to speak out on the tragedy

TOWIE star Jordan Wright has died at the age of 33 after being found in a drainage canal in Thailand. The reality star, best known for appearing on The Only Way is Essex after initially finding fame on Ex on the Beach, had relocated to the had moved the luxury holiday destination just months ago in the hopes of a “fresh start” before tragedy struck.

His death was confirmed on Thursday by the local police and the Foreign Office. Police chief Sutthirak Chuthong of Choeng Thale district station said: “The guest was identified as Mr Jordan Wright, a British national, whom the hotel had been unable to contact. A search of the room revealed no signs of forced entry or other irregularities.

Shortly after the news broke, several of Jordan’s fellow celebs broke their silence on the matter as they paid tribute to the TV star, who had returned to his roots as a fireman in the years after finding fame.

READ MORE: Pregnant Sophie Kasaei ‘prays’ for hospitalised boyfriend after agonising illnessREAD MORE: Jordan Wright dead: TOWIE star, 33, dies in Thailand as tributes pour in

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In comments section of his final Instagram post, Chloe Brockett, who joined TOWIE in 2019, wrote: “Rest in Peace,” and emblazoned her comment with a heart emoji. Following that, Chloe Crowhurst, who found fame on Love Island, wrote: “Rest in peace Jord” alongside a white heart and cloud emoji.

Rykard Jenkins, another Love Islander, didn’t leave any words but chose to pay tribute in the form of a while love heart emoji and a symbol of hands in prayer.

Model Georgia Mercer wrote: “RIP Jord. You had the most infectious energy. Thank you for the laughs,” whilst influencer Scarlett Ellis saidL: “Such a lovely person gone too soon. Rest peacefully Jordan”

Tragic Jordan was discovered lying face down in the canal in a grey shirt and black trousers without any shoes on. A keycard for the Coco Phuket Bangtao Hotel was found in his pocket, police have said, with his phone nearby on the canal bank. Investigators have said there were no signs of physical assault or a struggle. His body has since been taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital for an autopsy.

It’s understood his body was found by a Burmese worker close to Bang Tao Beach on Saturday afternoon – roughly around 12.30pm. The Foreign Office also shared a statement on Jordan’s death.

A Foreign and Commonwealth and Development Office spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Thailand and are in contact with the local authorities,” they told the Daily Mail.

Meanwhile tributes from shocked friends have poured in online, with many taking to Jordan’s last post shared on Instagram – which he posted just last week. The post features a photo of Jordan smiling while holding a glass of wine and sat in an infinity pool.

Meanwhile tributes from shocked friends have been made online, with many commenting on Jordan’s last post shared on Instagram – which he posted just last week. The post features a photo of Jordan in an infinity pool, smiling while holding a glass of wine.

“I’m home,” he declared in the Instagram post, alongside an emoji of the flag of Thailand. He continued: “FT The best bath I’ve ever taken”. One heartbroken pal wrote: “Oh Jord, gone way too soon. Rest in peace darling”. Another added: “Can’t believe what I’m hearing. Lots of fun times and good memories with you mate. Rest easy.”

In a post shared in December, he posed with pals at The Big Buddah in Phucket and gushed in the comments: “A very exiting year ahead”.

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Almost exactly 10 years ago, Leonardo DiCaprio won a Best Actor Oscar (his first) for his performance in “The Revenant” as an early 19th century fur trapper who is injured in a bear attack, then by turns grudgingly kept alive, abandoned and left for dead by the avaricious hunting party he had been hired to lead.

In his acceptance speech at those 88th Academy Awards, DiCaprio first thanked the film’s cast and crew. He then pivoted quickly and forcefully to the environment. “The Revenant,” he said, was … “about man’s relationship to the natural world that we collectively felt in 2015, as the hottest year in recorded history.”

The rest of what he said is worth a big block quote; to read it today, the week after the 98th Academy, during which politics and policy both receded, is bracing.

“Our production needed to move to the southern tip of this planet just to find snow. Climate change is real, it is happening right now, it is the most urgent threat facing our entire species, and we need to work together and stop procrastinating. We need to support leaders around the world who do not speak for the big polluters, the big corporations, but who speak for all humanity, for the Indigenous people of the world, for the billions and billions of underprivileged people who will be most affected by this, for our children’s children, and for those people whose voices have been drowned out by the politics of greed. I thank you all for this award tonight. Let us not take this planet for granted. I do not take this award for granted.”

That year was something of a heady time for environmentalists. Barack Obama was in the middle of his second term as president of the U.S and though his climate and environmental policies were not especially progressive, in 2015 he did enact the Clean Power Plan, which had the stated goal of reducing carbon emissions locally, and “leading global efforts to address climate change” outside U.S. borders.

Further, just a couple of months after the 88th Academy Awards, the U.S. would become one the 196 parties to sign onto the Paris Agreement, an international treaty to reduce the rise of global temperatures, whose terms had been negotiated the previous fall.

Fast forward 10 years. Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement in 2020. Joe Biden rejoined in 2021. Trump withdrew again just a few months ago. And in this second go at the White House, the Trump Administration has done everything in its power to tighten the knots tethering the U.S. to fossil fuels. It has literally forced owners of coal plants in Colorado and Washington State that want to shut them down to keep them open. Trump has fought tooth and nail in court to suspend wind energy projects that are fully permitted, under contract and under construction across the eastern seaboard. And his administration has rolled backed numerous efforts to keep climate change in check, like the allowance of state-specific fuel economy standards and the landmark fossil-fuel endangerment finding of 2009.

Meanwhile, that global temperature record that DiCaprio mentioned in his acceptance speech in 2016 seems almost trifling compared to what has happened since. It’s been surpassed six times. According to data from the National Centers for Environmental Information, the three hottest years on record are 2024, 2023 and 2025.

At the 98th Academy Awards, DiCaprio was nominated again for Best Actor — his sixth in that category — this time for “One Battle After Another.” The film, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, won Best Picture. DiCaprio lost in his category to Michael B. Jordan, the lead of Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners,” so he didn’t have a chance to say anything about climate change.

But not a single one of the Oscar winners this year mentioned it.

Both “One Battle After Another” and “Sinners” were produced by Warner Brothers, which is about to be acquired by Paramount Skydance, which in turn is owned by David Ellison, the son of Larry Ellison, one the world’s wealthiest individuals and noted Trump supporter. Ellison the younger has already made decisions that have significantly defanged the climate coverage at CBS News — Paramount’s flagship news network — and it would not be shocking if CNN — part of the WB — is next.

Indeed, one of the defining characteristics of this show was its dearth of any language at the awards that could be considered political.

Instead of the fire we got from, say, Michael Moore in 2003, what we got was a sort of mea culpa from P.T. Anderson — who might be the definitional American Gen X director — in his acceptance speech for Best Adapted Screenplay:

“I wrote this movie for my kids to say sorry for the housekeeping mess that we left in this world we’re handing off to them. But also, with the encouragement that they will be the generation that hopefully brings us some common sense and decency.”

I harbor the same hopes, but it might require at least acknowledging the problems first.

More culture & enviro news

One thing that does give me some optimism is that the feted films themselves did a pretty good job acknowledging climate change. According to Good Energy, a consultancy group, of the 16 scripted features that were nominated for an Oscar and met the eligibility criteria, five passed the “climate reality check.” That’s pretty good!

Relevant especially for those facing the heat wave right now in L.A. and the rest of the southwest: a study published earlier this week in Lancet attempted to quantify how rising global temperatures will impact physical inactivity in different parts of the world. Chloé Farand summed it up for the Guardian, noting the researchers’ projection of 500,000 additional annual deaths due to inactivity by 2050.

Meanwhile, Libby Rainey at LAist wrote about how the city is preparing for the inevitable heat challenges that will accompany the World Cup games this coming summer.

This isn’t brand new — in fact, it references the reporting of my former colleague Sammy Roth — but Alexandra Tey over at the Nation has a nice roundup of sports fans protesting their teams’ financial ties to fossil fuel companies. It focuses on one of the most visible of these partnerships: Citi Field, where the New York Mets play, is named for Citi group, the world’s biggest lender to oil and gas companies.

A few last things in climate news this week

With gas prices skyrocketing due to the war in Iran, some Californians have been wondering why oil companies in the state can’t just start drilling more. My colleague Blanca Begert explains why it isn’t that simple.

The related big question is will the turmoil in the middle east push countries around the world to double down on renewable energy. In the New Yorker, Bill McKibben makes the case that this could be the moment that small clean tech — think solar panels, heat pumps, induction cooktops, etc — really takes off.

Finally, somehow, some 10 million tons of manure produced at California factory farms is unaccounted for. Seth Millstein, writing for Sentient, explains how lax regulation let farms dispose of 200 Titanics’ worth of animal waste without telling anyone where or how they did it.

This is the latest edition of Boiling Point, a newsletter about climate change and the environment in the American West. Sign up here to get it in your inbox. And listen to our Boiling Point podcast here.

Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, the author of “Dangerous Liaisons,” is often credited with “Revenge is a dish best served cold.” Given our aggrieved times, it’s not surprising how many of this year’s new mysteries explore revenge, but these four recent releases are especially notable.

Author Jose Ando

(Yuka Fujisawa)

Jackson Alone
By Jose Ando
Soho Press; 160 pages; $29

While English translations of Japanese crime novels have increased in the last 20 years, most still focus on a culturally homogeneous, straight, Japanese society. Now comes Jose Ando’s “Jackson Alone,” published in Japan in 2022 and translated into English by Kalau Almony, which centers on a mysterious African Japanese massage therapist whose life is upended after his clients and colleagues at a fictional sports conglomerate discover a violent revenge porn featuring someone who looks like him. Despite having no memory of the incident, Jackson joins three other outraged, queer men like him in switching identities to seek out and confront their abusers, who can’t seem to tell them apart.

As the quartet’s scheme plays out, this slim novel becomes less a revenge thriller and more a satiric unmasking of Japanese racism and homophobia which spurs “the four Jacksons” to claim their right to exist authentically without the judgment and stereotyping of the hetero, “pure Japanese” gaze. This bold debut earned “Jackson Alone” wide praise and Japan’s Bungei Prize, awarded to first-time novelists, and makes Ando, now in his early 30s, a writer to watch. (The author’s answers to the following questions were translated by Almony.)

Why was it important for you to tell the stories of queer African Japanese men in your novel?

The primary reason was that those characters never really showed up in Japanese literature, and even when they did, they’d be reshaped into something that was easily digestible for the majority. Before I became an author, I would get irritated whenever I encountered that sort of representation. I wrote “Jackson Alone” to submit to a competition for new writers. In my head, it felt like Jackson and the other characters were there the whole time hollering, “Hurry up and get us out there!”

While there are some frank sex scenes in the novel, what shocked me was how dehumanizing encounters with many “pure Japanese” were for Jackson and his friends. Why were those scenes important to the story?

Living as a minority, you often get questions along the lines of, “What kind of painful things have you experienced?” Right? When you’re asked something like that, don’t you always want to shoot back, “Before you ask me about my experience, why don’t you tell me what you’ve done?” Victimization doesn’t just happen because a person from a minority group is standing around, there’s almost always a perpetrator. The different kinds of dehumanization I wrote about in this book are based on the sorts of things I experience almost every day.

Your novel reminded me of classic American crime fiction like James M. Cain’s “The Postman Always Rings Twice,” or more recent, revenge-themed novels like Alison Gaylin’s “The Collective” or S.A. Cosby’s “Razorblade Tears.” What fiction do you find inspiring?

In terms of novels I’ve read, there’s “Out” by Natsuo Kirino and the works of Mieko Kawakami. My direct inspiration though comes mostly from my own life.

Author Caroline Glenn

(William Morrow)

Cruelty Free
By Caroline Glenn
William Morrow; 320 pages; $30

In Glenn’s fiction debut, Lila Devlin, once one of the most famous actresses on the planet, returns to Los Angeles 10 years after the kidnapping and death of her daughter, Josie. The kidnapping caused a media frenzy, which precipitated Devlin’s meme-worthy downward spiral and the end of her marriage to a rising young Hollywood actor. After an “Eat Pray Love” retreat from the spotlight, Devlin is back with Glob, a line of ethical skincare products with a higher purpose: “A way for Josie to live on by applying the principles of self-actualization and inner peace that she learned in India. She wanted to help people heal just as she had.”

But Hollywood has a short memory and most of the people who benefited from Devlin’s meteoric rise and the kidnapping can’t be bothered to help her now. After a meeting with one of them goes horribly wrong, Devlin and her publicist Sylvie, another a victim of Hollywood’s censure, find revenge offers a unique albeit gruesome ingredient for Glob’s products. Although the novel’s flashbacks seem to digress at times, it all clicks into place once Lila starts exacting her increasingly unhinged revenge. “Cruelty-Free” is an edgy journey with razor-sharp observations about fame and revenge. Readers will be looking forward to what comes next for this talented creator.

What inspired your novel?

I love Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd.” So much. And the core of that story, a man falsely imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit and eventually driving him insane, is unfortunately pretty evergreen. Other inspirations: the Lindbergh baby, how much I hate true crime media, NYC publicist Lizzie Grubman, cash grab celebrity beauty brands, rich white women going on “Eat Pray Love” trips to Asia, the city of Los Angeles (go Dodgers).

Lila Devlin makes a journey from being a grieving mother to being a villain. How do you keep the reader’s sympathies?

I don’t think the reader’s sympathies are supposed to necessarily stay with Lila. The core of this book, stripping away the weird digressions, is about how society makes monsters. Lila’s career, her body, her entire life was consumed by the world until she was left with nothing, and now she’s holding a mirror back up to it. You can understand where she’s coming from, but after a certain point … she’s gonna hit diminishing returns.

In your thinking, is revenge ever justified?

The point isn’t whether or not it’s justified. It’s whether or not it’ll make you feel better. And it can’t, it’s hollow. Nothing will ever undo the original sin, and devoting your life to ruining someone else’s is a loss for both of you.

Author Leodora Darlington

(YellowBelly Photo)

The Exes
By Leodora Darlington
William Morrow; 384 pages; $29

This UK fiction editor’s debut centers on Natalie, driven into therapy to get to the root of her blackouts and the murderous impulses toward former boyfriends they may be hiding. But then Natalie meets “the one” — James, her boyishly handsome boss at a London start-up — and becomes even more terrified that the monster inside her may strike again.

In carefully interwoven flashbacks and letters to her exes, readers learn why: Natalie’s disastrous dating histories — and the deaths of her abusive boyfriends — are detailed as well as her early relationship with James and the family trauma she and her younger sister suffered at the hands of a father who they saw abuse, and almost kill, their mother.

But, empathy aside, does any amount of family or romantic trauma justify revenge, even murder? By the time Darlington builds her case for and against Natalie, James and the other characters in this tightly drawn circle, readers will be taken through a number of sometimes shocking reveals that suggest that the family ties that bind can also cut off opportunities for forgiveness. Darlington has crafted a dark, edgy thriller whose engaging protagonist and intriguing psychological insights linger in the mind long after the memory of that last, jaw-dropping twist fades away.

What inspired your novel?
“The Exes” began with a title that just popped into my head: “To All the Boys I Killed Before.” I adore the romance genre — I’m a huge fan of tropes, from enemies-to-lovers to fake dating. But that love for romance exists alongside a growing frustration with the rollback of women’s rights globally. That convergence of feelings made me wonder: What kind of girl would write letters to former flames, not out of love, but out of despair?

For much of the novel, readers can’t be sure whether Natalie has murdered her exes in a fit of rage or if something else is at play. How did you draw on this uncertainty to build the reader’s sympathies for the character?

What felt important in drawing readers close to Natalie was letting them see through a window into her past and why she is the way she is. Understanding her as a vulnerable child or anxious teen feels crucial to making sure we’re invested in all of the twists that slam through the second half of the novel. I really do think a great twist requires deep character empathy as much as it does clever plotting.

In your thinking, is revenge ever justified?
Yes. Ha! Well, in all seriousness, quite a few characters in this story are pursuing their own revenge plots. I do think it is possible to justify revenge to a jury, but never to oneself. Not in a soul-deep way. The pursuit of revenge takes a spiritual tax on a person that can sometimes cost more than they’ve bargained for, and we see the unraveling effects of that in “The Exes.”

Author W. M. Akers

(Gianna Smorto)

To Kill a Cook
By W.M. Akers
G.P. Putnam’s Sons; 384 pages; $30

After so much revenge, W.M. Akers has just the palate cleanser in “To Kill a Cook”, a homage to 1970s Manhattan and its fine dining temples. Bernice Black, a sharp-tongued restaurant critic for the Sentinel, a struggling newspaper, is meeting chef Laurent Tirel, her culinary mentor and friend, at his restaurant to plan her fiancé’s birthday party. But Tirel, once lauded as “King of the Butter Boys,” is struggling too. Caviar and truffle prices are skyrocketing, forcing Tirel to cut corners while clinging to his restaurant’s former glory. When Bernie finds the restaurant empty and a veal stock reduced to the consistency of “cold blood,” she thinks Tirel is making an aspic for the party. Instead, she finds Tirel’s head in the refrigerator, suspended in the aspic along with the decorative veggies.

Thus begins an intense romp through New York’s finest restaurants when Bernice — who realizes the NYPD doesn’t know their aspics from a hole in the ground — decides to get the scoop of the decade by finding Tirel’s killer herself. Akers nails 1970s New York’s glitz and grime as Bernie interviews an assortment of renowned chefs, fellow critics, criminals as well as Tirel’s business associates and son, Henri, who also happens to be an old flame. But the pièce de résistance of this delectable mystery is Bernice herself — a bold, brash feminist who’s trying to figure out her sexuality while being honest with the ones she loves. Here’s Bernice replying to an NYPD detective’s accusation that she’s not a lady: “I guess that was supposed to hurt my feelings, but I quit trying to be ladylike sometime around the first grade.” “To Kill a Cook” is a decadent treat, with enough loose ends in Bernice Black’s life and career to leave readers hungry for more.

Why did you decide to set your novel in 1970s Manhattan?

1972 was a key turning point in the history of American fine dining. It’s the moment when old-school French — think white tablecloths, heavy sauces and snooty maitre’d’s — faded into the background, allowing nouvelle cuisine and what we now call New American to take its place. It’s also a moment when exceptional, modern cooking would share a menu with “parsleyed ham in aspic” or something else that today’s diners would consider repulsive. That tension between old and new, and the question of what fine dining would become, drives a lot of the conflict in the book.

How did you research the restaurants you describe so well in the book? Did any of those chefs/restaurateurs inspire Laurent Tirel, the murder victim?

I have a big pile of old cookbooks that inspired a lot of the specific dishes in the book, but the best resource was the New York magazine archives, particularly Gael Greene’s old columns. Bernice Black’s name is a little nod to Greene. And Tirel is very much inspired by Henri Soulé, whose Le Pavillon was the definitive New York restaurant for a generation, and whom Greene wrote about beautifully.

Bernice spends a lot of time trying to perfect a Charlotte Russe for her fiancé. Why that particular dish?

The Charlotte Russe is a specialty of my mother, a former caterer who helped run New York’s Hard Rock Café in the ’70s. It’s the kind of lavish, creamy, boozy party dessert that you don’t see often anymore, and it’s involved enough to offer Bernice a challenge. Julia Child’s got a good recipe in “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” but I relied on my mom’s recipe, which readers can find on my Patreon, and which my mom once cooked for Jacques Pépin!

Woods is a book critic, editor and author of several anthologies and crime novels.

KEVIN Spacey has settled with three men who accused him of sexual assault over a 13-year period.

The Oscar-winning actor was due to go on trial at the High Court later this year after the complainants brought a civil case against him.

But Spacey has now reached an out-of-court settlement with the men, which has now frozen the legal proceedings.

It comes after the Usual Suspects star was cleared of nine sexual offence charges at a criminal trial in 2023.

Spacey has always denied any wrongdoing – claiming the accusations against him were motivated by “money, money and then money”.

Two of the men who accused the Hollywood actor during the star-studded trial then filed civil cases at the High Court.

One man, known only as LNP, claimed that Spacey “deliberately assaulted” him on around 12 occasions between 2000 and 2005.

The second – referred to as GHI – alleged he “suffered psychiatric damage and financial loss” as a result of an assault in 2008.

He claimed he met Spacey through a workshop at London’s Old Vic theatre, where the star was artistic director of the Old Vic between 2004 and 2013.

The third man, Ruari Cannon, who has waived his right to anonymity, claimed Spacey groped him in 2013 during a party at the theatre.

Spacey said the allegation was “ridiculous and it never happened”.

The court was told previously Cannon had reached a settlement with the Old Vic.

Spacey – who won Oscars for The Usual Suspects and American Beauty – was one of the most high-profile scalps during the Me Too movement.

The allegations caused his Oscar-winning career to crumble around him as he faced claims from multiple men in the UK and US.

He was stripped of an International Emmy Award in the wake of the claims and was edited out of Sir Ridley Scott film All The Money In The World.

His central character in acclaimed Netflix series House of Cards was also killed off after he was axed from the show.

Speaking in November, Spacey claimed he lost his house due to the financial fallout caused by the expensive lawsuits.

He said he put all his belongings in storage facilities – and has been forced to live in hotels and Airbnbs.

A CLIP of a ‘baby’ Louis Tomlinson on Waterloo Road, long before he was a global superstar, has tickled fans.

The BBC soap dug through the archives to unearth a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo from former One Direction star Louis.

As the school drama celebrates its 20th anniversary, the official social media site posted the vintage footage and asked: “Do you think he was scared of Janeece?”

The clip shows a baby-faced Louis playing an extra during the show’s very first series in 2006.

In the footage, a concerned-looking Louis can be seen in the background of the school playground as fan-favourites Janeece Bryant (Chelsee Healey) and Donte Charles (Adam Thomas) get into a heated row.

To help fans catch the four-second appearance, the clip has been given the slow-motion treatment, asking: “Can you spot One Direction’s Louis Tomlinson in Waterloo Road?”

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Fans commented: “Baby Louis Tomlinson.”

“He was so young,” noted a second.

“What a babbyyyyyy,” cooed a third.

Before his X Factor audition in 2010, Louis was a budding actor with a string of background roles.

Along with his stint at the fictional Greater Manchester school, he also popped up in Kay Mellor’s Fat Friends and the drama film If I Had You.

Louis, 34, recently opened up about one of his pre-fame jobs.

Speaking to Radio 2’s Scott Mills, he shared: “I did work at Toys R US. It was one of my favourite jobs.

“I absolutely loved it. I loved it. Honestly. I was just on the tech.

“I had to just do the tech basically, giving tech demos to people. 

“Do you remember Guitar Hero? Well, they’d just released DJ Hero. 

“I just spent hours on my working day demonstrating to other customers.

“I loved that job though, I loved it.”

Fans commented: “He came from a working class and despite his global success he keeps being so down to earth.”

A second added: “Love that he did all these jobs. And he’s still so humble.”

A third penned: “The cutest role mode.”

The singer has recently dropped his third solo album, How Did I Get Here?.

The Lemonade and Sunflowers star has spoken about his ‘terrifying’ world tour which lands in the UK for a run of dates throughout April and May.

Louis got his big break on The X Factor but he recently said the show is unethical and “could do better” for its contestants.

The singer was put into One Direction by the show’s judges and rocketed to superstardom – then returned as a judge in 2018.

Recently, Louis paid a heartfelt tribute to tragic bandmate Liam Payne with a song on his new album.

Louis sings about loss on the track Dark to Light and asks if he could have done more to help someone in need.

Liam was just 31 when he died in October 2024 after falling from his hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Louis has been dating Zara McDermott since last March and they recently spent their first Valentine’s Day together.

This comes after the loved-up pair celebrated their first Christmas together at his home in Hertfordshire.

The Sun were the first to reveal at the start of the year that Zara and Louis had begun dating each other just weeks after she split from long-term partner, reality star Sam Thompson.