SHOW BIZ

COMIC Michael McIntyre has admitted turning to fat jabs after his doctor told him he was obese.

The 5ft 5ins star said wife Kitty ordered him to start after the medic ticked him off for being 100kg (15st 10lbs).

McIntyre, 49, said he first used Ozempic before switching to ­Mounjaro and the weight dropped off in only three weeks of injections.

The dad of two, who has long struggled with his weight, made the admission to an audience in London.

He joked: “Have you noticed how tiny I am? I have lost weight.

“Don’t applaud it because there is a little bit of cheating that has gone on.”

McIntyre who once lost 7kg (14lbs) at a £2,000-a-week clinic, confessed that he did not want to use appetite suppressants but Kitty insisted.

He also blamed his problem on eating his kids’ leftovers.

On his trip to the GP, he told fans: “The ­doctor told me I weighed 100kg.

“He told me I was ‘obese’. How rude. He said, ‘It’s a medical term’.”

McIntyre, whose new series of The Wheel started last night on BBC One, also declared that his weight-loss success will “fall apart” if he ever eats something sweet again.

Other stars who have admitted taking fat jabs include Jeremy Clarkson, 65, James Corden, 47, and US model Chrissy Teigen, 39.

On the night of September 24, 2025, Hollis Frazier-Herndon performed an acoustic rendition of his song “Eldest Child” for a sold-out crowd at USC’s Shrine Auditorium. During his croon of the lyrics, “Eldest child, eldest child, I know your momma and your daddy so goddamn proud. They don’t know me, no. They don’t know me now,” the artist known as 2hollis went from a fractured growl to a sweet silky falsetto to a full collapse into tears.

It was a moment of raw catharsis as well as a culmination. During a pre-show interview backstage, Hollis revealed the hidden meaning behind the lyrics. He said the figurative “momma and daddy” are actually his fans, whose expectations he’s glad he’s fulfilled, even though they “don’t actually know each other” in real life. Thus, a sold-out crowd enthusiastically singing back at him evoked an emotional release. In tandem with that though, is the fact that this was 2hollis’ first show in his hometown since his Altadena childhood house burned down in the January 2025 fires. The embrace from his extended community after he persevered through that tragedy and continued to ascend to musical stardom was palpable.

“I’m at a place now where I feel like, in a way, it’s sort of a phoenix situation,” Hollis said about his post-fire rise from the ashes. “The whole town burned down. It was terrible and insane. But it weirdly felt like that needed to happen [to make the new album what it is]. I don’t know, it’s hard seeing somewhere you grew up just be a deserted place.”

On the day before the release of his fourth album, “star,” in April, 2hollis posted a picture of a burnt-edged tarot card with the same title. He added a message explaining that the star card was the only thing he and his mother found intact when they returned to Altadena to assess the damage. It was also later reported by 032c Magazine that atop a tall hill behind Hollis’ family property existed a wooden and metal star statue filled with lightbulbs that would glow at night. That star, which Hollis and his childhood friends would hike up to, also burned. The album “star,” 2hollis’ best version of his signature crystalline hardstyle EDM, meets grimy rage trap, meets velvet emo pop punk, emerged directly and impactfully from the remains of the roaring flames.

At the end of the full throttle album opener “flash,” Hollis said he added recorded sounds of the wind chimes from his Altadena home porch, triggered by the Santa Ana winds in the lead up to the fire. You can also hear faint gusts and flame sounds emerge sparsely throughout the project. He let the weather itself dictate the type of immersive experience the album could be, even as it also chronicles his layered chase for notoriety and glory.

“There are a lot of self-reflective moments, and it is very personal and emotional, but it’s also like one big party,” he explained. “I feel like, in a f—ed up kind of way, that’s what a fire is, too. It’s so big and full of visceral anger and emotion and almost a sad kind of wave. But then, also, it’s lit.”

2hollis is a visual thinker, thus he envisions scenes and uses optical inspiration to craft his imaginative rave-like soundscapes. Grammy-winning producer Finneas, during a recent interview with Spotify, recalled a time in the studio with 2hollis when he described a sound he was trying to capture as “a crystal with a pretty face on it.” This is a regular practice. Backstage, he described the process of juxtaposing an RL Grime-esque intense trap drop with a synth piano inspired by the movement and presence of a porcelain Chinese lucky cat he kept in his bedroom studio at the Altadena house. This was for his song “burn” from “star,” a scorcher which also happened to be the last song recorded in his home before the flames hit.

For 2hollis’ most openly psyche’d song on the album, “tell me,” where he professes lyrics like, “Everybody I don’t know tryna know me these days I don’t even know who I am,” his mental visual for the ending electro drop is illuminating. “I always imagined heavy rain there and lightning shining on someone’s face,” Hollis said about a perhaps heroic moment linked to the fire. “And it’s also like a face-off. Maybe me versus my ego on a rainy war field at the end of ‘Squid Game.’”

2hollis often creates outlandish alternate worlds he hopes to thrust his listening audience into. “I think there’s become this thing with a lot of artists where they feel the need to be relatable,” he proclaimed questioningly. “That’s cool, but I want [to present] the fantasy of, ‘Let me listen and pretend I’m not me for a few minutes.” In a time of constantly looming shaky ground, Hollis presents escapism as mindful.

2hollis, at times, appears in tandem with a white tiger. The animal bears the name of his first album and appears on stage at his shows as a large figurine that roars vehemently behind him during song transitions. As much as it feels a part of his fantastical sonic world, it is also deeply tied to his personal story.

On a follow-up call from backstage at a later show in Detroit, Hollis recalled a period of debilitating psychosis he experienced at 18 years old. He mediated and prayed to Archangels as an attempt to pull himself back together. When he invoked the spirit of the Angel Metatron, he would picture a white tiger destroying all the darkness and “demonic shit” around him. “It was wild and sounds insane, but it really helped me come out of it,” he said.

The more one speaks to Hollis, the more one realizes he embodies the Shakespearean line “All the world’s a stage.” Even in the most wholesome times in his life, as a little league baseball player and school theater kid, he would get a similar “butterfly in the stomach feeling” from the performance of it all. But by that same token, he is also someone who values solitude and garnered his appreciation for it from Altadena itself.

Hollis describes it as a place of “untouched, unscathed innocence.” A place where he could walk his dog up to the star behind his home, meditate, and look at the city of LA in the distance. “I go back there all the time even though there’s nothing there anymore,” Hollis said from Detroit about his home’s unending pull. “It’s just comforting to be there by myself. The energy that was there before didn’t die.”

That far-gone youthful time alone is where Hollis dreamed of the world he’s in now. He said, if he could, he’d say to that wide-eyed yet apprehensive kid, “Dude, you’re doing it, you were right, you knew. Now it’s beautifully harmoniously coming together.” On “tell me” 2hollis raps that he’s equal parts scared of “press,” “death,” and “judgment.” But now, with overwhelming chaos in his rearview, he proclaims, “I’m running headfirst into everything. I’m not dying. I’m not scared of sh—.”

2hollis performs at Shrine Auditorium on Monday.

EastEnders star Balvinder Sopal, who plays Suki Panesar, has paid tribute to Strictly Come Dancing presenters Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman

Strictly matriarchs Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly will be sorely missed, says EastEnders star Balvinder Sopal. This week the presenting duo shocked everyone when they announced they would be departing the show at the end of the current series. Balvinder, 46, paid tribute to the “caring” and “supportive” pair.

“People are sad to lose them and their iconic presence on Strictly,” said the actress, who plays Suki Panesar. “They’re so brilliant. They’re powerful, they’re funny, they’re sexy. They’re sassy, they look amazing, they’re of a certain age and they still power through. They’re engaging, they draw audiences in, people tune in sometimes for them. It’s incredible what they’ve done for the show and for us.”

“They’re the best of friends and they come across like that. How lucky are we to be able to absorb that energy and be taken care of? They’re the matriarchs of the show, they really have taken care of Strictly Come Dancing in the best possible way. And what an inspiration for us as well, to be looking up to such women like that.”

Soap star Balvinder – who danced the quickstep to Texas Hold ‘Em by Beyoncé last night with partner Julian Caillon – described is an “end of an era” and said it’s a privilege to dance in their final season.

“They are of the old school of Strictly, the time of Len Goodman and Bruce Forsyth. They bring all of that legacy. So now when they depart, we’re going to have two new people that are going to provide the show with a different direction. Things come to an end and we just have to reinvent and move on. Let’s see what happens. They’re big boots to fill.”

Tess and Claudia announced their departure from the show on Thursday (23 October) in a joint video, where they said: “After 21 wonderfully joyful years on Strictly, we have decided that the time is right to step aside.”

They added that they have a pact to leave together. In a separate statement, Tess referred to Strictly as her “third child” and “second family” and promised she wasn’t going to stop watching Strictly but felt it was time to “hand over the reins”.

“We were always going to leave together and now feels like the right time. We will have the greatest rest of this amazing series and we just want to say an enormous thank you to the BBC and to every single person who works on the show. They’re the most brilliant team and we’ll miss them every day. We will cry when we say the last ‘keep dancing’ but we will continue to say it to each other. Just possibly in tracksuit bottoms at home while holding some pizza.”

Sources close to the pair, who always had a pact to leave together at the same time, suggested they had told the top show execs of their plan some weeks ago, but their video on social media caught many of the Strictly cast and crew off guard. Insiders said privately Tess and Claudia have been discussing the idea of leaving for around a year.

A TV source said: “The feeling is Tess and Claudia wanted to go out at the top and whilst the show is still huge and shortly after they received MBEs. Announcing it mid series also gives them a bit of a swansong and doesn’t take the spotlight away from the winner.

“Claudia is right at her career peak with The Traitors and other TV offers flooding in. Tess has been hosting the show for more than two decades and like that idea of more weekends with her family and her friends.

“The recent scandals around the show have also impacted the ratings a little bit and there might be more around the corner, so they weighed it up and feel it is the right time to quit.”

Another source close to the duo said: “They always said they would go together when they felt right and it just feels right this year.”

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HOLLYWOOD star Reese Witherspoon is shaken and stirred by James Bond films — saying they objectify women in bikinis.

The Oscar winner, 49, blasted Bond Girls such as Halle Berry and Ursula Andress.

She said: “Women deserve better stories because women save the day all the time.

“We are not wearing bikinis while we do it.”

Reese was in London to plug her co-written novel Gone Before Goodbye.

Reese Witherspoon is best known for her roles in Legally Blonde, critically-acclaimed Walk the Line, and the dark comedy Cruel Intentions.

She’s been taking home awards since 2006 including Academy Awards, BAFTAs, Teen Choice Awards, and Golden Globes.

She’s set to feature on a new series of The Morning Show alongside Jennifer Aniston.

Her first break came when she appeared in several local TV adverts at just age seven.

She was soon securing major movie roles as a teenager and throughout the 1990s. 

Few recent films have had quite the reversal of reputation as Karyn Kusama’s 2009 supernatural high-school thriller, which can now clearly be seen for the wise, witty gem it has always been. Overwhelmed at the time by the cultural backlash that swarmed both its star Megan Fox (fresh from the media firestorm of the “Transformers” franchise) and screenwriter Diablo Cody, after her meteoric ascent with the Oscar-winning “Juno,” initial audiences were unprepared for a savage horror-comedy about the traumas of navigating the world as a teenage girl. The bond of two best friends (Fox, Amanda Seyfried) is put to the test when, after a ritual sacrifice goes awry, one of them becomes a possessed succubus who must feed on human flesh. Kusama’s finely modulated direction keeps all the plates of the story spinning as the film moves between being funny, scary and surprisingly tender toward its characters. A conversation with Kusama, Fox and professor Tananarive Due, who specializes in horror, should make this a special evening.

“Jennifer’s Body” is playing Oct. 25 at the Academy Museum. Tickets here.

POP icon Nelly Furtado has announced at she’s no longer going to be performing her music after a huge comeback last year.

It comes after she hit back at a flood of cruel comments about her figure after returning to the spotlight.

Nelly proudly embraced her natural curves while headlining Manchester Pride earlier this year.

Taking to Instagram, the Grammy winner made an emotional post expressing gratitude for all her career gave her and that she feels it’s now time for her to “step down”.

She celebrated 25 years in the industry, before adding: “I have decided to step away from performance for the foreseeable future and pursue some other creative and personal endeavours that I feel would better suit this next phase of my life.

“I have enjoyed my career immensely, and I still love writing music as I have always seen it as a hobby I was lucky enough to make into a career. I’ll identify as a songwriter forever.”

The star, 46, took over radio stations throughout the 2000s, well-known for her song Promiscuous as well as her feature on James Morrison’s ‘Broken Strings’.

June Lockhart, the perennial TV mom who consoled her son Timmy and his faithful pet collie in “Lassie” and explained the unfolding galaxy to her children in the kitschy prime-time sci-fi show “Lost in Space,” has died.

Active in Hollywood well into her 90s, Lockhart died Thursday in Santa Monica of natural causes, with daughter June Elizabeth and granddaughter Christianna by her side, said her publicist, Harlan Boll.

She was 100.

Upbeat and bubbly, Lockhart happily accepted playing second-fiddle to children, animals and even a robot. In “Lassie,” she was most often seen teaching her son small life lessons extracted from his misadventures, often saved from peril by his faithful dog. In “Lost in Space,” she was a biochemist who seemed to spend most of her time prepping meals in the galley or tending to the children as the “Swiss Family Robinson”-like clan drifted randomly in space.

“Motherhood has been a pretty good dodge for me,” Lockhart told The Times, years after the shows went off the air. “I seem to have outlasted most of my colleagues because of it.”

June Kathleen Lockhart was born on June 25, 1925, in New York City and grew up in a family steeped in the arts. Her father was a Broadway actor and her mother a singer. For years the family staged a seasonal production of “A Christmas Carol” in their home, inviting neighbors, friends and relatives to attend.

In 1938, the family went a step further and took their by now well-polished version of the Charles Dickens classic to film with a young Lockhart cast as Belinda Cratchit. The movie was all of one hour and nine minutes long.

Lockhart attended the Westlake School for Girls after the family moved to Los Angeles, where her father hoped to find a career as a film actor. But it was Lockhart who cracked Hollywood by landing modest but frequent roles on popular television shows such as “Wagon Train,” “Gunsmoke” and “Rawhide.”

In 1958, she was cast as Ruth Martin, the patient and good-natured mother on “Lassie,” a role that earned her an Emmy nomination. The show ran for 17 seasons, making it one of the longest-running prime-time shows on television. Lockhart left the series in 1964 to pursue other opportunities.

Lockhart realized the show had its limitations. “It was a fairy tale about people on a farm in which the dog solves all the problems in 22 minutes, just in time for the last commercial,” she told The Times.

The scripts were only slightly more challenging in “Lost in Space,” which followed the adventures of a family aboard a saucer-shaped spaceship headed to an Earth-like planet circling a faraway star. She left the show after three years and joined the cast of “Petticoat Junction” as a medical doctor who sets up practice in a worse-for-wear hotel in the middle of nowhere.

Earlier in life, Lockhart had been a regular on the news quiz show “Who Said That?” in which contestants were read a quote and asked to guess who said it. Lockhart had been absorbed by journalism and newsmakers since childhood, when she started a neighborhood newspaper. As an adult she subscribed to the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times, reading them from beginning to end.

To prep for the show, she began cutting out quotes from the newspapers and memorizing them. One of the panelists on the show, a White House reporter for United Press International, was so impressed with Lockhart‘s grasp of politics that he invited her to a White House briefing.

Lockhart went on to become an unofficial member of the White House press corps, attending briefings, traveling with the Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy entourages during their presidential showdown and hitting the campaign trail with Ronald Reagan.

During her years as an informal White House correspondent, she was called on only once to ask a question during a presidential briefing, asking President George W. Bush for the name of the veterinarian who cared for the first family’s dog, Barney. Bush chuckled and said it was top secret.

Though she never had another prime-time role as big as in “Lassie” or “Lost in Space,” her career was remarkably long. She was the kindergarten teacher on “Full House,” James Caan’s mother on “Las Vegas,” a mother once again on “The Drew Carey Show” and a hospice worker on “Grey’s Anatomy.” For years she hosted coverage of the Rose Parade on CBS.

Her final credit arrived in 2018, when she voiced a radio communications officer in the “Lost in Space” reboot on Netflix. Twice married and divorced, Lockhart is survived by daughters June Elizabeth and Anne, as well as four grandchildren, said longtime family friend, Lyle Gregory.

The service will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Actors Fund, ProPublica and International Hearing Dog Inc.

Times staff writer David Zahniser contributed to this report.

Strictly Come Dancing star Vicky Pattison was left in tears as she spoke openly about her experience on the show, which she says is helping her become a ‘better version’ of herself

Vicky Pattison’s emotions poured out during Strictly Come Dancing’s icons week. The former Geordie Shore star, 37, reflected on the person she used to be and who she is now before she transformed into Cheryl Tweedy for an impressive routine.

As the pre-dance video rolled, Vicky said: “I first started out in this industry at about 21 and I made some bad decisions. I just don’t think at that age I had the tools to navigate that space I was in. Now I do my best to be a better version of myself – someone I can look in the mirror and feel alright about.”

She went on: “What I’ve learnt about myself is that with determination and a little bit of self-belief, you can achieve stuff.” As she opened up on her song choice for the week, Fight for this Love by the Girls Aloud star, Vicky tearfully added: “Apart from being a banger is a very important song to me. The whole idea that the comeback is greater than the setback.

“You can have the life you want. You can change the narrative. You can be who you want to be, not letting the past define you. I think that’s really powerful. I worked on myself and now I’m here in a place that makes us really happy and I’m finally becoming a woman I’m proud of.”

Following her dance, Vicky was left gobsmacked after her icon sent her a personal message. As Cheryl appeared on screen, the reality TV star couldn’t help but gasp and jump around as she was told she had been following her progress.

Cheryl congratulated her fellow Geordie before saying she was “honoured and humbled” to be her choice of icon. Cheryl added: “I know you’ve got it in you because you’re a Geordie.

“So go on, get out there. Fight for your place and I’m sending you loads of love. I’ll be rooting for you from home.” An elated Vicky joked it was amazing that Cheryl even knew who she was as she continued to showcase her disbelief at the message.

Earlier in the show, Ellie Goldstein also received a personal message of her own. After dancing a salsa to a Spice Girls medley dressed as Baby Spice, Emma Bunton surprised her with a touching message.

And fans spotted the sweet moment Ellie’s dance partner Vito Coppola moved to make sure she was okay. After staring down at the star, Vito appeared to wipe away a tear from her eye as the judges gave the duo positive feedback following their routine.

Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, one user gushed: “Vito checking on Ellie and dabbing away a tear. #Strictly #StrictlyComeDancing” They also added crying emoji faces to their comment.

Alex Kingston also transformed into Dolly Parton for an impressive routine alongside Johannes Radebe. And she too was treated to a personal message from her icon.

However, her moment came in private during training. It came about thanks to fellow celebrity dancer La Voix.

READ MORE: Suitcase packing cubes save so much space there’s ‘room for gifts’ now 45% off

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KATIE Price showed off some worrying bumps on her forehead after revealing concerns about her health and weight loss.

The 47-year-old mum-of-five took to Snapchat to share a close-up selfie of her forehead where she pointed to the series of “humps” that protruded from her skin.

“I’ve got HUMPS on my forehead,” Katie captioned the post.

The selfie, which she also shared to her Instagram Stories, showed several bumps from her eyebrows up to the middle part of her forehead, with the biggest bump in the centre.

On her Snapchat, Katie posted a video of her ‘before’ getting the botox, where there was a number of black marker dots on her forehead, presumably injection points for the botox.

“I’ve gone from this,” she said in the first video and it quickly changed to the next Snapchat where she spoke about the bumps on her skin.

“At the moment, it looks like I’ve got humps on my face, my ‘lovely lady lumps’,” Katie said referring to the Black Eyed Peas song, My Humps, which she had playing over the video.

Bumps are a common reaction to Botox and could occur because of a reaction to the needle or allergic reaction to the Botox itself.

It comes weeks after she started going to the doctors over her unexplained weight loss and months after undergoing a £10,000 facelift in August.

Katie revealed she was in hospital last month after drastically losing weight over the past 12 months.

The Celebrity Big Brother winner told her fans on Snapchat at the time: “I’ve been up early at the doctors so she could do some bloods and because my veins are so s*** they had three attempts.

“They could only fill two tubes up, so I’ve got to go back in two weeks.

“And I’ve got to have my stitches out then because they looked at my little stab wound that I did.”

Her boyfriend, JJ Slater, worried that Katie might be running herself into the ground.

 MAFS alum JJ, 32,  was “terrified of her [Katie] losing any more weight,” according to a source published in the Daily Mail.

“It’s not an easy thing to sit back and watch your partner running themselves into the ground health-wise.”

They added this concern was a consensus among the star’s wider family and said: “JJ and Katie’s family think she is putting way too much pressure on herself.

“She’s been constantly on the move with tour shows, but isn’t right mentally or physically – something she knows deep down.”

Katie’s health woes come amid more personal drama as her ex-husband Kieran Hayler was charged with raping and sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl.

The former stripper will appear at Crawley Magistrates Court on November 19.

Hayler, 38, has been charged with three counts of rape and one count of sexual assault on a 13-year-old girl and is under police investigation.

The alleged offences occurred between June and October in 2016, when Katie was still married to Hayler.

In Megha Majumdar’s new novel “A Guardian and a Thief,” a cataclysmic climate event in the Bengali city of Kolkata has wiped out shelter and food supplies, leaving its citizens desperate and scrambling for survival. Among the families beset by the tragedy are Ma, her young daughter Mishti and Ma’s father Dadu. They are some of the fortunate ones, with approved passports to travel to the U.S., where Ma’s husband awaits them in Ann Arbor, Mich. But a brazen theft threatens their very existence.

“A Guardian and a Thief” is Majumdar’s follow-up to her critically acclaimed bestselling debut “A Burning.” We chatted with the author about white lies, the pleasures of anthropology and teaching as a form of learning.

(Please note: The Times may earn a commission through links to Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.)

✍️ Author Chat

Your novel takes place in Kolkata, which is your hometown. Why?

It’s one of the cities in the world which is most severely affected by climate change. I was reading about all of these grim predictions. Kolkata has grown significantly hotter and is predicted to endure more storms in the coming decades. Reading all of that was really sad, and it was really alarming. The book really grew out of these predictions about the future of the city.

Your character Boomba makes life very difficult for your family, yet he is really a victim of circumstance, right? Calamities can make good people do bad things.

This is the kind of question that got me into this book, which is, are there good people and monsters or do we contain elements of both in us? And is this revealed in a circumstance of scarcity and crisis? That’s the kind of question that I was very interested in. Boomba came to me initially as the thief of the title, but as I started writing more about him, I realized that it wouldn’t be truthful or interesting to simply make him the thief. He was more complex and I needed to write him with all of his complicated motivations and wishes and worries and regrets.

Everyone in the novel lies to some extent, whether it’s for self-preservation, or to protect their loved ones from being hurt.

I think it’s coming from love, actually, the loving function of lies and falsehoods. Anybody who has lived far away from home might find that this resonates with them: This feeling that when you are really far away from your loved ones, you need to assure them that you are OK, that things are all right. It’s a kind of love that you can offer them, because they cannot do anything to help you from so far away. So offering them falsehoods about how your circumstances are fine and they have nothing to worry about is an expression of love for them.

You studied anthropology in college. How did you move into fiction?

Anthropology is about the effort to understand [other people] while acknowledging that you can never fully know, that there are limits to how much any of us can understand another person’s life. That training, in listening for complexity in somebody else’s life story, and honoring the contradictions and intricacies of their life, and maintaining the humility to acknowledge that there are things about other people which will always remain mysterious to us — that space is so rich for a fiction writer.

You teach writing in the MFA program at Hunter College in New York. How does that feed into your work?

It’s what I loved about working as a book editor. Teaching feels beautifully related to editorial work, because, once again, I am close to other writers. I’m close to their text, I am thinking with them through the questions of what this text is accomplishing. And I love having the opportunity to think through failures of prose with other incredibly smart and creative and ambitious writers. When I say failure, there’s nothing bad or stressful about it. I fail in my writing all the time. Failure is part of the process. Being able to look at those failures and ask, what is happening here is very useful.

📰 The Week(s) in Books

Valorie Castellanos Clark writes that “The Radical Fund,” John Fabian Witt’s book about a Jazz Age millionaire who gave his money away is a “meticulous” story of “the ways a modest fund endowed by a reluctant heir managed to reshape American civil rights in less than 20 years.”

Nine years after “Go Set a Watchman” published, Robert Allen Papinchak reviews Harper Lee’s latest, “The Land of Sweet Forever,” a collection of stories and essays from the late author, calling it “a rewarding addition and resource to the slim canon of her literary legacy.”

Leigh Haber is entranced with Gish Jen’s new novel “Bad Bad Girl,” about a fraught mother-daughter relationship, calling the book “suffused with love and a desire to finally understand.”

Finally, Mikael Wood chatted with filmmaker Cameron Crowe about his new memoir, “The Uncool.” Says Crowe of his journalism days, “I did an interview with Bob Dylan for Los Angeles magazine, and I got it so wrong that they didn’t publish it.”

📖 Bookstore Faves

Nine months after the Eaton fire, Vroman’s Bookstore continues to be a cherished haven for local residents. The store still vibrates with bookish energy as it continues its ambitious fundraising outreach campaigns for fire victims. We chatted with the store’s chief executive, Julia Cowlishaw, about how things are going at the beloved Pasadena institution.

Nine months after the fire, how is business?

Business has been steady this year and we’re pleased with that, given all the variables in the world.

What books are selling right now?

The new releases this fall are fabulous, and we are seeing a broad range of interests. In nonfiction there’s a lot of interest in trying to understand current events from historical perspectives and Jill Lepore’s “We the People” is one example on our bestseller list. Since it is fall, the list of cookbooks is amazing and Samin Nosrat’s new cookbook “Good Things” along with her older book “Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat” make great gifts. In fiction, Ian McEwan, Kiran Desai, Thomas Pynchon and Lily King’s new novels are popular, so literary fiction is alive and well.

How important has the store been for the community in such a challenging year?

Bookstores, including Vroman’s, have long been recognized as a third place in their communities. A third place gives people a space to come together with friends and family over a shared interest and a fine sense of community. That sense of community became even more important after the fires, and it was so important for us to be more than a bookstore and give back to our community in every way we could. Our community really responded by helping us raise money for several community foundations, and collect books and supplies for people impacted by the fires.

Vroman’s Bookstore is at 695 E. Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena.

Strictly Come Dancing fans will be faced with watching new hosts from next series and they have made their thoughts heard about who they would like to replace Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly

Strictly Come Dancing fans were stunned this week by the news that Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman will be stepping down from hosting duties. However, they’ve wasted little time in sharing who they want to replace the dynamic duo.

Tess and Claudia have been the long-time faces of the hit BBC show. But their joint statement revealed this is to be their last series fronting the contest.

Now, a surprise pairing has been called out by fans to take over the baton. Commenting on a behind-the-scenes video from this year’s Pride of Britain Awards, fans have expressed their desire for the couple behind LadBaby to take centre stage on the contest.

READ MORE: Strictly star opens up on Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman ‘shock’ bombshell announcementREAD MORE: Strictly Come Dancing star shares true thoughts on show after ‘crying uncontrollably’

LadBaby, whose real name is Mark Hoyle, and his wife, Roxanne, were suited and booted for the ceremony, and as they showed their unique personality in the sneak peek, fans were loving their energy.

One user gushed: “These two beautiful people are my pick for the new hosts to replace Tess and Rylan to replace Claudia on strictly.” A second agreed, saying: “Wow this was brilliant you two are amazing you presented this like real professionals , you both need to be grabbed up for your own show.”

Others didn’t specifically name Strictly, but insisted the pair deserved more time on the small screen. “You two are absolute naturals you should have your own morning show,” another penned.

And a fourth said: “You both make such fabulous hosts. So natural. Hopefully we will get to see you presenting more!” Claudia and Tess’ announcement sees the duo leave their roles after over a decade together. While the decision was a shock to some, it has long been hinted by the pair.

Tess recently revealed she wanted more weekends to herself. On the Happy Mum Happy Baby podcast she revealed how she would miss her children – Phoebe, 20, and Amber 16 – when they move away but it also would have its benefits.

And it was then that she spoke about the fact that in recent years she had missed out on lots of weekends away with pals due to being a mum as well as her Strictly commitments.

She said: “I’m not someone who goes for a day to the spa. I’m thinking, what do my kids need me to do today? Do you know what I mean?

“So I’m always making up for that. If I’ve worked for a day or two, then I’m like, now this time I need to do more for them because I was absent here. So I’m always trying to make up for that. So if I, you know, remove them from that picture.

“Yeah, I don’t know. I mean, it could be quite lovely. Could be really great. I could be on weekend breaks with my girlfriends to Ibiza. How about that? I might be back dancing on podiums.”

READ MORE: Suitcase packing cubes save so much space there’s ‘room for gifts’ now 45% off

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MARTIN Kemp has given his followers an update on his health after his horror chainsaw accident, as he reveals whether his gigs will be still taking place.

The iconic singer, 65, worried fans when his radio star son Roman Kemp revealed his famous father had been rushed to hospital.

Giving fans an update on how he was doing following the accident. which saw him injure his fingers, Martin said: “Addressing Hey guys, just a little message.

“You might have seen in the paper that I had a terrible accident with a chainsaw, which I did, but it was last week.

“I’m a lot better now.”

Reassuring fans he wasn’t cancelling any gigs, Martin said: “And just to let you know, if you were worried and you are going to Lincoln Cathedral tonight for the DJ gig, right, it is still on.

“Yeah, but I appreciate your concerns and listen, it’s getting better by the minute, but I will explain how it happened another time, but just to reassure you, I am alright.

“Alright, lots of love. Bye.”

Yesterday, his son Roman shared the news about his dad’s hospital dash.

He explained on the You About podcast with Tom Grennan that his dad had had an accident with a chainsaw. 

The star said it was lucky that his dad wasn’t “fingerless” after the incident, which saw Martin pick the chainsaw up by the blade, to cut down a piece of wood.

The chat began with music star Tom saying to Roman: “What the hell has happened to your dad’s fingers?”

“Oh God,” Roman said, and then added: “It’s scary. Friday night I’d just finished work and looked at my phone, and dad sent a picture of his hand with all fingers heavily strapped up.

“And all he writes underneath in the family WhatsApp group is ‘yep… chainsaw.’”

Roman continued: “I was texting him saying ‘what?!’ but got no reply, and then Harley my sister is like ‘what’s happened?’ but again, no reply.

“So he said ‘Oh there was a bit of the branch that we wanted chopping down so I went and got a chainsaw.”

Roman said his first issue with what had happened was that his dad was handling a chainsaw in the first place.

“He’s 65. He’s got more than enough dough. Get a professional in, you can’t be doing that,” Roman said.

He then added: “My dad said ‘Oh yeah I picked it up by the blade.”

Tom then joked that Roman’s mum wouldn’t be very happy if his dad lost his fingers, leaving Roman visibly shocked.

Roman then quipped: “Yeah because he wouldn’t be able to play guitar, exactly.”

Comedian Becky Robinson’s life has turned into the most insanely fun reality show. One minute she’s screaming into a closet mirror, feeling defeated back in her parents’ house, and a few viral moments later, she’s on The Members Only tour, zipping around country clubs in Oakleys with her tricked-out Streetrod Golf Cart, “sauvi B,” and a sun visor clamped on her blond bob like it’s couture. Her bestie Trish is one call away, her kids Macabee and Dashiell are wrecking the house, her husband Scott isn’t listening (shocker), but her fans-turned-friends, the “Gieurlz,” are. Welcome to the world of the Entitled Housewife. No fancy membership required here because none of it is real, but it’s all so real.

Every story, and character, has a beginning and before she was taking rides on custom carts, she was riding an emotional roller coaster during the pandemic. “So during the pandemic I was with my sister, and she was working at an ER,” says Robinson. “She was in the trenches trying to help people and coming home and you know, might die, and I was terrified because she was coming home from work every day and — who knows? I grew up around Portland, so I had packed up my wigs to go there in case I was going to have a proper ‘Menty-B’ [mental breakdown]. Then even she was like, why don’t you go to mom and dad’s and try to find some form of happiness. So many people were depressed during that time, but I didn’t realize how much I needed to perform.”

While she was stuck at a low point, her parents were somehow in peak vacation mode. “My dad was like, ‘Golf is all we have! You know, we’re golfing all day,’” Becky says, impersonating her father. “He was wearing a golf glove on both hands, kind of like COVID protection, and he’s like, ‘Yeah, I’m doing my part, you know, I’m not wearing a mask, but I got a golf glove on both hands!’”

Her mom shared the same sentiment — not for double-fisting gloves — but she too needed to live. “My mom has kind of been through it health-wise, and so she was like, ‘I don’t want to be locked down. I want to go to happy hour with the gieurlz.’ I just sat there and watched them like, you guys are out of your f— minds. Then one day they left the house, and I just felt inspired. So I put a wig on.”

Robinson went into her parents’ closet and dressed herself in a polo, a skort and a visor. “I put on the Oakleys and the Air Pods and the second I looked in the mirror, I just started improvising. She was like, SCOTT! DASHIELL! MACABEE! [My character] had this element of, she could get frustrated very fast.”

That day, in her parents’ closet, Robinson turned lemons into hard lemonade, and with a visor high on her head like a regal crown, a new version of herself emerged — an entitled one. “I improvised for, like, five hours in character. It might have been a manic episode, I don’t know, but I just remember when the whole thing was assembled that day and I started filming, it was making me laugh and I was like, maybe it’ll make someone else laugh too.”

Initially, she hadn’t planned on posting videos of her in character on TikTok but considering how much she was making herself laugh, it was only a matter of time.

“When I made the first , I was like, ‘I can’t post this. It’s dark times and I’m going to look like such a fool for trying to be funny.’ But then I took an edible and showed my sister to see if it made her laugh because I figured she’s experiencing it every day, in the middle of it, and she told me to post it.”

The debut video of Entitled Housewife got millions of views on social media. As it would turn out, other people needed to laugh at the exact same time. “All these celebrities started messaging me and then Chris Pratt DM’d me and is like, ‘If you make a movie with these characters, I have to be Scott!’”

Robinson’s parents weren’t quite as enthusiastic when she showed them her content for the first time. “I think my dad walked out and my mom was like, ‘You know, Beck, this hits a little close to home.’ She was actually pissed at first because I used the real name of my dad’s country club, and it was so vulgar, so she was worried about him getting kicked out.”

Fast forward to now, and many of these types of golf clubs have booked her for shows and actually pay for her to be vulgar. “So they love it now!,” Robinson said. “People come up to my dad in the store like, ‘Are you Entitled’s dad?!’ He definitely loves the perks because he’s a huge golfer.”

With her family on board and fans worldwide cheering her on, she’s taking off the wig and going back to her stand-up, but with a touch of Entitlement. Shot at the Wilbur Theatre in Boston, her debut comedy special, “Becky Robinson: Entitled,” comes out Friday exclusively on her website and shines a massive spotlight on the fact that Robinson has never needed to lean on props to be funny.

“We’re definitely excited to be releasing on our own platform with entire creative control. The team I work with is so bad ass and they’re really the reason it was all brought to life. I wanted something to give to the fans, and I wanted them to be able to watch it without ads. I want them to see how much they lift me up, so I’m excited to get to release this exactly the way we want it. You know, it’s a little longer than an hour, which streamers don’t like, but the Gieurlz will.”

Robinson has been doing stand-up for 13 years, and that experience shows the second she hits any stage (or bar top). In “Entitled,” you see her stand-up carries the same raw, fearless charge that made her Entitled Housewife sketches a phenomenon. Similar, yet clearly distinct, the two share a flair for the dramatic and an energy that feels almost superhuman. “People are always asking, is it drugs? IS IT?,” Robinson laughs. “In the last couple of years, I got this trainer who is like, ‘You gotta treat this like you’re a professional athlete, OK, because that’s what you’re doing up there!’ For a while, I never listened because we were having fun and it’s just stand-up! And for the first couple of years of touring I would have some drinks and stuff, but now, we’re playing at a level where there are acrobatics involved and cues and high kicks and all these things where injury is very possible. Still, though, when I go out there, I just can’t give them anything less than 200%. Then when I get home, I sleep for 24 hours and then, I’m a person again.”

Should there still be any confusion about Robinson versus Entitled Housewife, in addition to her special, she also released a 30-minute documentary that goes behind the scenes of “Becky Robinson: Entitled.” Also available on her website, Robinson couldn’t be more grateful for her Gieurlz who make this world of hers possible, even if some of them think she’s a bit “seasoned.”

“It took me a while to realize that people see videos and just buy tickets, and that they didn’t even know I was this person who’s done stand-up for 13 years,” says Robinson. “Some people really think I’m this 50-year-old golf lady with kids, and I think a lot of people think that I started when my character started. I feel my funniest when I’m doing characters, and I love that people come out dressed like Entitled, but now more and more people are saying they came for the character, and now they like my stand-up too. You love to hear that so that’s been really great!”

In no way does that signal the end of the fun with Entitled. This fall, Robinson is taking her skort-wearing alter ego global with her very own golf tournament. From Nov. 6 to Nov. 9, “She Gone Golfing: The Entitled Housewife Tulum Classic” hits the PGA Riviera Maya, Mexico’s No.1-ranked course, with PXG backing the madness. It’s a full-blown Gieurlz escape with golf by day, and karaoke-fueled chaos by night in Mexico’s Riviera Maya.

“This trip is probably gonna take years off my life, but we’re gonna turn it up in Mexico, baby! Let’s get international! We’re gonna get that tequila flowing!” Though the idea of being a golfer may have started out as a joke for Robinson, she’s now become fully addicted to the sport.

“It’s such a fun game and it can relax you when you’re just out there waxing those balls! I really want to introduce more people to it so this will be a fun way to do that. The only reason I’m able to do all of these things is because of the fans coming to see the show, buying the merch, and showing up in the visors. They really are the best!”

Strictly Come Dancing star Tess Daly has been part of the BBC show since it began back in 2004 when she fronted the programme with Bruce Forsyth.

For the past 21 years, BBC viewers have seen presenter Tess Daly welcome a range of well-known celebrities onto the dancefloor as they try to raise the Glitterball on Strictly Come Dancing.

Although the current series is in full swing, with Stefan Dennis being forced to withdraw in the week, the beloved programme first began back in 2004, when Tess became pregnant with her first child.

However, Tess confessed that she didn’t tell bosses about her pregnancy over fears they wouldn’t want her fronting the show, although once they knew Tess shared that no one minded and all was fine.

Tess and husband Vernon Kay share two daughters together, Phoebe and Amber, with Phoebe recently reaching a huge milestone which was celebrated by her parents.

However, the 56-year-old sadly never got to introduce her children to her father, Vivian, as he sadly died the year before of emphysema, 18 days after her wedding to Vernon.

In the past, she’s opened up about losing her father and the one thing she regrets following his death.

Back in 2010, the Strictly star told The Guardian how much she misses him, as he was a strong role model in her life.

She said: “The man by whom I judged all others, really, because he was such an honourable and moral person who would never harm another being.

“Just a positive, outgoing… a great guy really and a brilliant father and I do really wish he could have met his grandchildren. That’s my greatest regret, that he never met his grandchildren.”

Similarly, five years ago when speaking to the Daily Mail, she emphasised her regret over her dad not meeting her children, along with him not getting the chance to see her role on Strictly.

She commented: “He would have been so proud. He loved Bruce Forsyth. He adored ballroom, all of it.”

BBC viewers saw Tess and Bruce front the show for a decade before he stepped down from the show in 2014, admitting it was the ‘right time’. Bruce tragically passed away in 2017 aged 89.

Claudia Winkleman was announced as his replacement after hosting the spin-off show It Takes Two.

She’s been part of the show ever since, often seen speaking to the celebrities after their routines in the ‘Clauditorium’

Strictly Come Dancing is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

FORMER Sugababes star Amelle Berrabah has confirmed she’ll “reveal secrets” about the band after being ousted from the reunion.

The popstar, now 41, joined the girl group in December 2005 as a replacement for Mutya Buena and stayed with the band until they went on hiatus at the end of 2011.

When the Sugababes came to end, Amelle was singing alongside Heidi Range, who joined the group in 2001, and last recruit Jade Ewen, who came on board in 2009.

Whilst with Heidi and Jade, Amelle released the Suagbabes seventh album Sweet 7 before the band “fizzled out”.

At the same time, the band’s original line-up, Mutya, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhan Donaghy began performing together again and by 2019 won a legal battle to re-gain the band name Sugababes – essentially preventing the other three from ever reuniting.

Now Amelle is getting her own back on being ousted from the band’s reunion.

She is set to spill “secrets” in an explosive new BBC documentary called Girlbands Forever.

Posting about the doc on Instagram, she wrote: “Had such a wonderful time chatting all things girlbands for the BBC show ‘Girlbands Forever’.

“It brought back so many amazing memories — from my time in the Sugababes to the incredible era of pop that shaped so many of us.

“So grateful to have been part of it all, and to share a few laughs (and maybe a few secrets 😜) along the way!

“Sending love to all the girlbands who paved the way and to all the music lovers who still keep the music alive!

“Girlbands Forever promises a nostalgic trip through that time in pop music history.”

It comes as The Sun asked Amelle last year if she ever saw any of the Sugababes stars anymore.

She admitted she hadn’t heard from any of the original three and revealed that there has been virtually no contact with them ever.

The star, who is the only Sugababe to achieve a solo number one away from the group, said: “I’ve never met Siobhan, I’ve heard great things, though.

“Mutya, the only day I’ve ever met her was to wish me luck for CDUK and we had a little chat and a cuddle.

“That’s literally the only time I’ve ever met her.

“And then Keisha, we haven’t spoken in a few years to be honest.”

Girlbands Forever airs on BBC Two and the BBC iPlayer on November 1 at 9,20pm

The image of a grieving parent is not an uncommon sight on the dramatic stage. Euripides, whom Aristotle called “the most tragic of the poets,” returns to the figure of the grief-stricken parent in “Hecuba,” “Hippolytus” and “The Bacchae,” to cite just a few disparate examples of characters brought to their knees by the death of their child.

Shakespeare offers what has become the defining portrait of this inconsolable experience in “King Lear.” Cradling the lifeless body of his murdered daughter, Lear can do nothing but repeat the word “never” five times, the repetition driving home the irrevocable nature of loss.

In tragedy, the protagonist is often plagued by guilt for his own role, however inadvertent or inescapable, in the catastrophe that befell his loved one. Theseus in “Hippolytus” and Agave in “The Bacchae” both have reason to feel that they have blood on their hands. Lear, though “more sinned against than sinning,” recognizes only after it’s too late the error in judgment that led to the devastation from which there can be no return.

The difference with “Guac,” the one-man performance work at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, is that Manuel Oliver isn’t just playing a bereaved father. He is one.

Oliver’s 17-year-old son, Joaquín, known as Guac to family and friends, was one of the 17 lives lost in 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. The production, written and performed by Oliver, turns a parent’s grief into a theatrical work of activism.

Co-written by James Clements and directed by Michael Cotey, “Guac” has been sharing the story of Joaquín’s short but vividly lived life with audiences around the country. Oliver didn’t just love his son. He liked him. Guac was his best friend. He was also his trusted guide to American culture.

Immigrants from Venezuela, the family had made a new start in a country that Guac helped them feel was their home. To convey the meaning of Guac’s life, Oliver introduces his family members through a series of photo images he has crafted into artworks.

The last picture, and the one that remains staring at us throughout the performance, is of Guac. Oliver continues to enhance the portrait. While adding flourishes to the background and making adjustments to what his son is wearing, he tells us about the life they shared before it was tragically stolen.

The tragedy is overwhelmingly real. Oliver bears the weight of it by transforming his grief into fuel for activism. The performance makes the case for stricter gun law in America with the heartbreaking eloquence of a father whose life changed permanently after dropping his son off at school on a Valentine’s Day that started so promisingly.

What happened to Joaquín could happen to any of us, anytime, anywhere, in a country that has allowed its elected officials to deflect responsibility for their repeated failure to pass common sense gun legislation. While taking money from the NRA, these cynical politicians offer empty “thoughts and prayers” in place of meaningful reform. The result is that no one can go anywhere in public without eyeing the emergency exits and scanning the crowd for trouble.

Oliver isn’t a polished theatrical professional. He’s a dad, first and foremost. But it’s his comfortable ordinariness that allows him to make such a powerful connection with the audience. He’s onstage but could very well be exchanging a few neighborly words with us on our street.

Oliver summons his son by joyfully remembering his virtuosity on air guitar. Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” resounds throughout the Douglas while he enlivens the portrait with impassioned strokes. The words “I wish I was here” are added to Guac’s T-shirt, and it’s a sentiment we all devoutly, agonizingly share as Oliver brings his wife, Patricia, onto a stage that has urgently become an extension of our national reality.

In honor of Joaquín, the couple formed Change the Ref, an organization dedicated to raising awareness about mass shootings and empowering the next generation of activists through “creativity, activism, disruption and education.” “Guac” is a potent example of what can be done in the wake of a tragedy that can no longer be described as unthinkable.

Line of Duty actor Mark Bonner was banished on Thursday’s (October 23) episode of Celebrity Traitors.

Celebrity Traitors star Mark Bonnar has revealed who he reckons will triumph as he declared two contestants’ “days are numbered”.

The Line of Duty actor was booted out on Thursday’s (October 23) episode of the BBC smash hit after his destiny was sealed through the Chest Of Chance following a voting stalemate between himself and David Olusoga.

He fell under scrutiny after his fellow contestants branded him of being excessively theatrical.

At the time, Rugby player Joe Marler said his performing abilities would enable him to ‘slip into the role of a traitor’ with ease.

Traitor Alan Carr also set his sights on the 56 year old actor after spotting a chance to eliminate another faithful, reports Wales Online.

After his departure from the Celebrity spin-off, the actor featured on Saturday’s (October 25) episode of BBC breakfast with presenters Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty.

It wasn’t long before the hosts grilled the star on some programme spoilers as Naga questioned: “Who do you think is going to win?”

Mark declared: “I don’t know but I think at this stage I would say probably.. I’ll choose one from each camp and it’s either Nick or Cat.”

Naga pressed on: “So Cat is a Traitor and Nick is Faithful.” Mark responded: “Yes. I think they’re both playing a really brilliant game.”

Charlie interjected: “It’s kind of a tricky one now, you know what you’re allowed to say and what you’re not allowed to say.”

Naga was eager for the star to reveal some programme secrets as she questioned: “So do you know because you said you generally don’t know.”

Mark kept his cards close to his chest, stating: “I generally don’t know.” Naga pressed on: “So you only know up to your involvement.”

The TV host continued: “As you were watching you said Cat and not Jonathan or Alan.”

Mark speculated: “I think Jonathan’s days are numbered because Joe has been kind of gunning for him. Even though he goes for him and says ‘Jonathan, Jonathan’ but ends up voting for something else.”

He added: “I still think his days are numbered and he knows it as well. Alan has really grown into it, he started off really sweaty but now he is just accusing people left right and centre.

“But I think his days might be numbered too because if they don’t get him next week, they’ll come back to that forgetting he had a shield and that is a big thing. He has forgotten because he doesn’t care.”

You can catch up on Celebrity Traitors on BBC iPlayer

KATHERINE Ryan has melted hearts after she shared adorable photos of her newborn baby after giving birth a week ago.

The comedian, 42, revealed she had welcomed her fourth child last Saturday in just 45 minutes.

Katherine, 42, already has three children including son Fred, three, and daughter Fenna, two, with husband Bobby Koostra, and she is mum to her 15-year-old Violet from a previous relationship.

Now a week into welcoming her fourth child, the comedian has given a sweet update into life with another baby.

She shared a slew of adorable snaps on Instagram which included a pic of baby Holland just after she had been born.

Another sweet snap saw the baby all wrapped up in pink knitwear.

The proud mum wrote next to the adorable pictures: “One week of easy breezy Holland.”

Fans rushed to compliment her on the sweet snaps, with one saying: “Just beautiful!”

Another joked: “Stop it Katherine, you’re making me broody!”

This fan said: “Congrats! What a beautiful little girl.”

BABY JOY

Katherine announced she was adding to her brood earlier this year.

The star then revealed on October 18 that she had given birth.

Katherine shared a slew of sweet snaps to mark the occasion.

Her husband Bobby paid an emotional tribute to his “great” wife.

He said: “Holland Juliette Kootstra has arrived:)

“The ‘Patrick Mahomes’ of child birth pulled out another MVP performance!

“Amazing to witness the greatness of @kathbum #blessed”

One follower commented: “Congratulations and love the name.. a welcome addition to your amazing family… sending love.”

Another chimed in: “Yay!! Gorgeous name and post-birth line up.”

Katherine’s husband also told fans that Katherine had achieved a ’45 minute PB’ when it came to giving birth to the baby.

Sharing a photo of her in the hospital bed, Bobby penned: “45 min PB,” alongside an emoji of a girl running.

Welcome to Screen Gab, the newsletter for everyone who wore out their remote’s fast-forward button while watching the Season 9 finale of “Love Is Blind.”

In the wake of the news that Lauren Speed-Hamilton and Cameron Hamilton, the inaugural couple to get engaged on “Love is Blind,” welcomed their first child earlier this month (raising the already high bar their rom-com coded relationship had set), the latest season of Netflix’s addictive and maddening social experiment concluded with a dramatic first in the reality franchise’s history. And while the “Sparkle Megan” nickname reveal early in the season still feels like the biggest shock to our system, the outcomes of this season’s weddings will hopefully make next week’s reunion special interesting to watch. But maybe our “Love Is Blind” correspondent Kaitlyn Huamani was onto something when she chose to add some intrigue to her binge of the show. She leaned into the mystery the singles experience in the pods by obscuring her screen and strictly listening to the participants during that critical phase of the experiment to test her assessment of the matches.

But don’t fret, lovers of love. “Nobody Wants This” is back for its second season to help maintain Adam Brody’s grip on GIF-able kisses. For the uninitiated, the L.A.-set series revolves around the will-they/won’t-they relationship between Joanne (Kristen Bell), a woman who often regales about her single life on a podcast, who falls in love with Noah (Brody), a progressive rabbi. But can their relationship make it past hurdles that include their careers, family and religion? The new season takes us on their ongoing journey to figure that out. But there’s another complicated relationship coming into focus too. Joanne’s sister and podcast co-host, Morgan (Justine Lupe), has a boundary-pushing friendship with Noah’s married brother, Sasha (Timothy Simons), that continues to cause tension with his longtime wife, Esther (Jackie Tohn) — and unlocks some other issues about their union in process. Simons stopped by Guest Spot to discuss his character’s approach to marriage and platonic friendships.

Also in this week’s Screen Gab, our recommendations are a light comedy caper that’s a spinoff of the long-running British crime series “Death in Paradise,” and a documentary that gives an intimate look at the life and career of award-winning Deaf actor Marlee Matlin.

ICYMI

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How the men of ‘Task’ see the show’s troubled fathers and the damage they’ve caused: Creator Brad Ingelsby and co-stars Mark Ruffalo and Tom Pelphrey reflect on the HBO crime drama and how Ingelsby considered connecting it with ‘Mare of Easttown.’

‘Iron Man’ to ‘Fargo’: Behind-the-scenes photos and stories from major movie sets: ‘Moving Still: A Cinematic Life Frame-by-Frame’ features behind-the-scenes photos set decorator Lauri Gaffin shot while working on high-profile movies.

For retired TV weatherman Fritz Coleman, it’s been a sunny return to the stage: A popular local TV news personality for almost four decades on NBC4, Fritz Coleman is celebrating the second anniversary of his comedy residency about aging and sex after 70.

Turn on

Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times

“Beyond Paradise” (BritBox)

The third season of this spinoff from the island-set “Death in Paradise” has arrived. Following tall, awkward detective inspector Humphrey Goodman (Kris Marshall), transplanted from the Caribbean back to a small seaside town in Devon, England, trading blue skies for gray, it’s the coziest of cozy mysteries. Comedy and romance thread their way among its apparently impossible murders, always solved with a sudden inspiration in the final minutes of an episode. Sally Bretton plays Martha, Humphrey’s possibly permanent fiancee, who has moved her cafe to larger quarters; they’re still hoping to foster a child. Meanwhile, Martha’s previous fiance, Archie (Jamie Bamber), a well-heeled wine merchant, has crept back into the story, projecting a vibe of “I’m not your rival, rival” toward Humphrey. (I don’t trust him.) At the police station, in an old church, we find Zahra Ahmadi as Sgt. Esther Williams (not awkward), Dylan Llewellyn as PC Kelby Hartford (a puppy dog), and the great Felicity Montagu (known for playing Alan Partridge’s long-suffering assistant Lynne) as office manager Margo, uninhibited. Watch with a cup of something warm, with a shot of something stronger. — Robert Lloyd

“Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore” (PBS.org)

She didn’t set out to be a groundbreaker or an activist, but Matlin became both. This intimate documentary directed by Shoshannah Stern (who is Deaf like Matlin) that premiered at Sundance earlier this year provides a showcase for a talented woman whose star rose quickly, thanks to a breakout performance in 1986’s “Children of a Lesser God.” The role won her an Oscar, making her the youngest person to receive the actress award at 21 — a distinction she still holds — and the first Deaf performer to win an Academy Award. (Her “CODA” co-star Troy Kotsur would become the second, 35 years later.) The film examines her upbringing in a hearing family; how a meeting with Henry Winkler led to a lifelong friendship and a path to Hollywood; and how she became a spokesperson and activist for the Deaf community after her Oscar win. (Matlin lobbied Congress for closed captioning on televisions; the first time she watched “The Wizard of Oz” with captions, she says, was a “revelation.”) While she garnered success, she struggled to get more acting roles despite her Oscar win, but more came over time, including parts in “Picket Fences,” “Seinfeld” and, later, “The West Wing.” The film also details her battle with addiction and leaving an abusive relationship with actor William Hurt, her “Children” co-star. However, what makes the film unique is how it places its Deaf subject first, largely using sign language and captions to communicate to viewers. It’s an inclusive look at one of America’s most inspiring actors. — Maira Garcia

Guest spot

A weekly chat with actors, writers, directors and more about what they’re working on — and what they’re watching

Can men and women be just friends? It’s a question that has long been dissected, debated and downplayed by couples and friends — and in plenty of movies and TV shows. “Nobody Wants This,” the Netflix romantic comedy, offers its own complex and controversial portrayal of such a dynamic. While the show swirls around the hurdles in the love journey of its main characters — Joanne (Bell) and Noah (Brody) — the relationship triangle that’s been brewing between its supporting players comes more sharply into focus in Season 2, now streaming. As Sasha, Noah’s brother who is played by Timothy Simons, tries to place better boundaries with Joanne’s sister, Morgan (Lupe), their friendship places a strain on his marriage to wife Esther (Tohn), leading to more hard truths. Simons stopped by Guest Spot to discuss what interests him about exploring a lived-in marriage at a breaking point, his go-to L.A. spots for a perfect day and the unconventional movie picks on his comfort-watch roster. — Yvonne Villarreal

The season dives into the tough decisions or sacrifices people make when being part of a relationship, and the potential long-term resentments or buried feelings that may resurface later. In this challenging time in Sasha and Esther’s marriage, we get more insight into what those issues are for them. What intrigues you about exploring the rough patches of a lived-in relationship?

I think there’s something interesting about examining those challenges for both actor and audience because it reflects broadly what a lot of people go through as they age in a relationship. People grow and change and can learn to grow and change together, and it’s hard to ask a question like, “Would I choose this person or this life if I met them now,” because what if the answer is no? That’s a rough one to face. Falling in love is somewhat easy, but staying in love is hard. Specific answers to Esther and Sasha aside, I think it’s interesting for an audience to grapple with that question, cause they’ve probably asked some form of it in their real lives.

The bond between Sasha and Morgan has been controversial from the start, with viewers wondering if it was going to evolve into an affair or remain a questionable approach to a platonic relationship. What do you think is going on there and what has it revealed to you about Sasha and what he’s seeking or lacking at this stage in his life? Are there things Sasha and Morgan do or discuss that would be a hard no for you as a married person?

I think that there is a kinship with Morgan and Sasha that, despite very different upbringings, is based on a similar worldview and station in their respective families. I think they get each other in a lot of ways despite not fitting in with most of the world. They are misfits and I think they connect in that. As long as the communication is good and boundaries aren’t crossed, finding someone to discuss issues or seek advice from, I don’t think is a betrayal.

The show is set in L.A. What are three go-to spots you’d recommend to an out-of-towner for the perfect day in L.A.?

Oh man. A lot of ways to go here, but taking a hike in Elysian Park and then going to Jitlada and Jumbo’s Clown Room would be a fun day for everyone. I think with those three you get a wonderful cross-section about what makes the city so rad to live in day-to-day.

You appeared in the final season of “The Handmaid’s Tale” as loathsome Commander Bell. When I spoke with the showrunners, they said when they conceived that character, they used your “Veep” character, the incompetent and insufferable Jonah Ryan, as a model. What’s it like to be synonymous with a character like Jonah and to see how his name gets invoked in discussions of both fictional and real life matters of governance?

Hopefully I can convince people that I’m not as big of a scumbag in real life as those characters, and I love that I got to be a part of something that people hold as fondly in their hearts as I do. That was an incredible experience and a wonderful ensemble of writers, actors and crew all working together. It’s wild, though, to live in a world where Jonah Ryan seems somewhat aspirational.

What have you watched recently that you are recommending to everyone you know?

It’s horror movie season, so I’ve been recommending everyone watch “Pieces”(1982) [AMC+], which is my favorite slasher. A truly wild film with the best ending to any horror movie I’ve ever seen (and that includes “Sleepaway Camp” [Peacock, Prime Video, Tubi]). Also, no surprise here that I’m quite high on “One Battle After Another,” which I’ve seen three times and will go back for a fourth cause I haven’t been able to see it in VistaVision yet.

What’s your go-to “comfort watch,” the movie or TV show you go back to again and again?

Comfort films are an odd thing for me because I find myself rewatching movies like “Sicario” [Peacock] and “Zero Dark Thirty” [Paramount+], which you can’t argue are comforting in their subject matter. But they are so perfectly constructed, shot and performed that it’s comforting to watch them.