1million

DECEASED Friends actor Matthew Perry has sold two original Banksy artworks for nearly £1million – including the iconic Girl with Balloon.

The star tragically died in October 2023 after accidentally drowning in a jacuzzi while high on ketamine, with 127 items from his estate having now been sold at auction.

A pair of iconic Banksy artworks, Girl with Balloon and Nola, that Perry owned have been sold for £975,000.

The Hollywood actor, best known for his role as Chandler Bing on the hit TV sitcom Friends, died at the age of 54.

His estate has since been put up for auction with the money going to the Matthew Perry Foundation which helps substance users to recover.

The Girl with Balloon 2005 includes two spray-painted stencils on separate canvases of a child reaching for a red heart-shaped balloon.

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Following an intense bidding war, it sold for a massive £709,674.

After including the 25 per cent buyers premium, it sold for £887,093.

The other iconic artwork, Nola 2008, is a screen print in colours on wove paper of a young girl holding an umbrella while sheltering from the rain.

It was the first Banksy Perry ever bought, according to Heritage Auctions.

The monochrome picture fetched £70,967.

Including the 25 per cent buyers premium, it sold for £88,709.

Both artworks have Banksy’s signature on them.

Other items sold at the auction included signed Friends episode scripts, TV guide displays, and a custom Chandler bobble head.

It also sold Batman memorabilia like a custom ping pong table and The Dark Knight Rises watch.

Perry’s cause of death was determined to be the acute effects of ketamine with drowning as a contributing factor. 

A year after the celeb’s tragic passing, the street dealer who supplied the ketamine, Erik Fleming, was jailed for two years.

Perry’s assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, was also jailed for more than three years after injecting the actor with the drug.

Both pleaded guilty to the charges during their court appearances.

STONEHENGE is considered one of the most well-known historical sites in the UK – and it’s getting a new addition.

Next to the stone circle – which was nearly named one of the seven Wonders – will be a replica Kusuma Neolithic Hall that will open in the next few months to visitors.

The Kusuma Neolithic Hall has been under construction for the last nine months.

It’s based on an ‘archaeological footprint’ that was found just two miles away – it was first excavated in 1928.

The original remains are thought to date back 4,500 years and are being reconstructed as part of a £1million project.

It’s in its final stages and has been built by volunteers who are using authentic tools of the time, like axes, along with materials like thatch and timber.

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As for what the structure was used for, that is unclear but animal bones and pottery remains were also discovered at the site.

Experts suggests it could have been used as a place for winter feasts, rituals, an animal barn or even as simple as storage.

The pre-historic building replica will be open throughout summer for tourists, although no opening date has been announced yet.

Then in September, it will become a dedicated and immersive learning space for students.

You’ll be able to see the new hall and Stonehenge for free from its surrounding footpaths, if you don’t mind being at a distance.

If you want to get closer, buy a ticket with English Heritage and if you book in advance it’s 15 per cent off.

Online adult tickets start from £31.80, children from £15.80 – those under five go free.

A UK HOLIDAY park that’s been compared to Portugal has reopened for the season – along with a £1million upgrade.

Ladram Bay Holiday Park in Budleigh Salterton, Devon is now open with some big new changes.

Onsite are now 13 new modern holiday homes, which will all have three bedrooms.

Dubbed the Lobster Lodges, they are the most spacious lodges onsite and feature luxury interiors with a double bedroom, a bedroom with two single beds and also a sofa bed.

The best part though is that each lodge has a hot tub on the decking with amazing views of the coastline.

The children’s outdoor play area, which features a pirate ship dubbed ‘NaNa of Ladram’ has been rebuilt and the indoor soft play has been updated as well.

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The Beach Shack is being upgraded too, with a typical seaside feel inside including an ice cream counter and is set to open by the summer.

Those who like to boogie will be happy to hear the park has also launched silent discos.

And as the summer approaches, there will be new outdoor furniture and speakers at the Pebbles restaurant for events and the splash park will reopen.

The family-run holiday park sits on the top of a cliff and is home to around 140 caravans as well as three apartments, safari tents and glamping pods and a renovated former fisherman’s cottage.

The Sun’s Executive Daily News Editor, Emma Glanfield, recently visited Ladram Bay Holiday Park.

She said: “With a glass of wine in hand, watching the sun set over the sea as clear waters lap the shore, I could have been in the Algarve.

“But no, rather than basking in Portugal, I was holidaying with the family at a caravan park on east Devon’s Jurassic Coast.”

Emma added: “Ladram overlooks a gorgeous section of the coast and even has its own private beach — accessible only to guests, via a slipway at the bottom of the park.”

“As well as an on-site gym, huge outdoor adventure playground, indoor soft-play centre and enormous amusement arcade, the park also boasts pottery and art classes in its new studio.

“The indoor pool is magnificent — one of the cleanest I’ve ever known — and offers free family playtimes as well as exercise classes.

“The adjoining outdoor splash park is brilliant, too, for cooling off on a hot day, while the indoor fun slide kept us all entertained — even the grandparents.

“That’s before you even start on the evening entertainment in Waves Bar — with bingo, a pool table, darts, kids’ disco, singers and the Ladram Stars Showtime.

“And when we visited Portugal just a few weeks later, I looked out at the coastline, from our accommodation, and realised it didn’t look too different at all from that special view back at Ladram.”

Currently, you can get 20 per cent off stays at the park by using the code ‘DEVON20’.

In the local area, there are a number of attractions guests can visit.

For example, the holiday park sits on the South West Coast Path which featured in the recent Salt Path film and is ideal for breezy walks with views of the coast.

Then just down the road is Crealy Theme Park, which is great for kids who aren’t ready for big rollercoasters – like those found at Thorpe Park or Alton Towers – quite yet.

There are over 60 attractions to explore at the park, including the Maximus train rollercoaster and the Tidal Wave log flume.

Travel reporter Cyann Fielding visited the park many times growing up.

She said: “Crealy Theme Park is great no matter the weather as it has an even amount of indoor and outdoor attractions.

“Outside, the Maximus rollercoaster is a great introduction to rides for children – it is slick and smooth, but not too jolty or fast.

“The Tidal Wave log flume is a bit more of a thrill – but definitely leave it until last as you will get soaked (though the park has drying machines you stand in that you can pay for).”

If you want to explore more of the Devonshire coastline, then a short drive away from Ladram Bay is also the seaside town of Sidmouth, which has a large pebble beach.

Another beach to head to in Sidmouth that is the more secluded Jacob’s Ladder Beach which has red sand, rock pools and dramatic cliffs.

And nine miles down the road at the park’s sister site – Castle Brake, near Woodbury – there are also £300,000 improvements.

The park now has a new static caravan area with two holiday lodges.

The park also has new roads and hard-standing bases making it suitable for a mix of two-bed and three-bed static caravans.

In other holiday park news, these are the nine most popular Hols From £9.50 holiday parks of last year – as booking opens for 2026.

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Gregg Wallace, who was sacked from Masterchef last year following an investigation into 83 historical allegations of workplace misconduct, has confirmed his “new chapter”

Former Masterchef host Gregg Wallace is leaving the UK for Italy after being forced to sell his “enormous” £1million home.

The TV chef, 61, was axed from the popular BBC programme last year after he was accused of “inappropriate behaviour”, including allegations of touching an assistant’s bum on the show. An investigation into 83 historical allegations of workplace misconduct, with 45 accusations against him subsequently upheld.

Reports emerged in October Gregg was claiming up to £10,000 in damages from the BBC and one of its subsidiaries following his axe from MasterChef. The TV presenter claimed they allegedly caused him “distress and harassment” by failing to disclose to him his personal data.

But now the presenter has confirmed his “new chapter”, telling his Instagram following he will leave the UK for Italy by the end of the month. Gregg added he will homeschool his autistic son there.

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Gregg’s wife, Anne-Marie Sterpini, whom he met on Twitter, is Italian. They tied the knot in 2016, four years after Gregg’s divorce to his third wife Heidi Brown.

Speaking in his social media video, Gregg said: “I’ve always loved Italy and we plan to move around and rent in different places which is quite an adventure and with the help of my autism specialist mates, I am going to homeschool Sid as well. It is a new chapter for us. It is a life that should be full of travel and adventure and I’m very very much looking forward too it.”

But the entrepreneur, who also hosted Saturday Kitchen, is also planning to buy a “much more modest”house in Yorkshire — close to where his daughter lives. He will then divide his time between Italy and Yorkshire, it is thought.

It comes after Gregg revealed earlier this month that he is selling his £1million Kent home after being left “unable to live the life he used to have”. The chef has not had a TV job since the BBC sacked him from Masterchef, a role he had held for nearly two decades.

The ex BBC star plans to sell the “enormous” home which sits on five acres of land along with its stables and pond. Gregg, who bought the home back in 2017, said he was making the move not only for a slower pace of life but also to ensure financial security for Anne-Marie, 38, and son Sid, six.

He said: “I can’t have the life I used to have but whether you chose to believe it or not, I really wanted to come out of that anyway, but obviously not in the dramatic way that I did.

“I want to ease off a little bit, I want to relax a little bit. but that also comes with wanting financial security for me and my family because I’ve got a wife that is much younger than me and a special needs little boy, Sid.”