arrest

FEARNE Cotton has revealed she felt “shamed, stared at and ignored” by colleagues after the arrest of her former boyfriend Ian Watkins.

While she does not mention him by name, the former Radio 1 star discusses a “life-altering” news story connected to her in her new book.

In Likeable, released this week, the former BBC Radio 1 host hints at the difficult period she endured after the Lostprophets frontman admitted to 13 child sex offences.

The now 44-year-old recalls being live on air when “a horrible news story that doesn’t involve me yet has a tenuous and life-altering link to me will be broadcast on my own radio show again that day”.

Fearne briefly dated Lostprophets frontman Watkins in the mid-2000s after the pair met at the Kerrang! Awards.

The relationship is believed to have lasted around a year, and the presenter largely kept it out of the spotlight at the time.

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His offending only came to light years after the pair had split.

Watkins was arrested in 2012 over child sex offences and convicted the following year, during which time Fearne was hosting BBC Radio 1’s weekday mid-morning show.

The radio star wrote: “I feel simultaneously glared at, stared at, yet utterly ignored by those in the office.

“Are they all talking about me behind my back? Or am I a narcissist for thinking that?”

Ian Watkins later pleaded guilty to offences including the attempted rape of a child and was jailed for 29 years in 2013.

In quotes obtained by The Mirror, Fearne writes that she struggled with intense shame and nausea as she tried to keep broadcasting.

Trying to push through, she explained that she “shoved down the anger, the rage, the sorrow and tears” in order to keep going, describing the period as one of “depression and a heaviness”.

However, she said she has since worked through those feelings in therapy and realised the shame was never hers to carry.

Instead, she wrote that it “belongs to others” and mostly the men from her past.

The mother-of-two added: “Men who have shamed me, treated me badly and left me lumbered with it.”

Watkins died from blood loss at HMP Wakefield in October after being stabbed in the neck.

West Yorkshire Police later charged two men, aged 25 and 43, with murder. Their trial is set to begin in May.

Shortly after the news of his death, Fearne shared a reflective post on Instagram in which she spoke about struggling with shame and sleep.

“Here are four things that I learned this week,” she said in the video.

“The first one was from the Happy Place podcast where I spoke to Charlie Mackesy who talked a lot about shame which I greatly appreciated.

“And the one reminder that I had from that episode was that so many of us feel shame but we assume it’s just us because that is what shame does.

“It wants you to believe that it’s just you but it’s not…”

She added in the caption: “Four life lessons from this week. I’m not sleeping well.

My brain is a bit wobbly at the moment but I’m grasping the lessons life is chucking my way.”

Insiders previously told the Mail the presenter is “haunted” and “very, very humiliated” each time his name is mentioned.

A Married at First Sight Australia groom made an unexpected joke during his wedding vows

A Married at First Sight Australia star has been left in floods of tears after her groom’s “arrest” speech.

The popular dating programme has made its comeback to E4 for its 13th series, introducing a new batch of brides and grooms seeking romance.

The show tracks singletons from around Australia as they entrust their romantic futures to experts Mel Schilling, John Aiken, and Alessandra Rampolla. Each couple meets for the very first time at the altar, and following their “I do” moment, they’ll find out whether they’re genuinely compatible as they navigate their new relationship.

Over multiple weeks, the newly married couples will go on their honeymoon, before setting up home together and participating in numerous challenges.

Four ceremonies have taken place already, with lots of explosive moments unfolding in the opening two episodes. The most recent episode aired on Wednesday (March 11), with two more couples getting matched by the experts, reports OK!.

The first pair consisted of 35-year-old account manager Bec, who characterised herself as a social butterfly who’s never afraid of commanding attention.

She had previously been engaged, but called it off four months ahead of the ceremony, describing it as the most difficult decision she’d ever made, though she felt proud for leaving a situation that wasn’t suitable.

Bec was paired with 34-year-old businessman Danny, who has called Australia home for 12 years since relocating from the UK. Danny was searching for his “ride or die” partner, a strong woman who ignites passion within him and never fails to make him laugh.

Upon meeting at the altar, Bec and Danny appeared pleased with their pairing, with Bec even sharing a joke with Danny’s stripper best man, Will. However, the atmosphere quickly shifted as Danny began his vows.

Danny started by expressing his devotion to his family and promised Bec he would care for her. He then quipped: “I’m looking for a Bonnie and Clyde type of love. With that being said, if I ever get locked up in prison, I’d like you to bail me out.”

Bec immediately pulled back after hearing Danny’s remark, telling cameras: “He seems like a really lovely guy, but I’m a just bit nervous to be honest with you. I think he may have mentioned in his vows if he gets arrested and what not. I know I can be quite wild and fun, but I really want to settle down and it makes me worried.

“I want to be matched with someone that’s serious about being with their forever person, not someone that’s out getting hammered, acting a fool to the point of getting arrested. I’ve given up everything and you’re mentioning getting arrested in your vows. I wanted to come on here to find love and I don’t know whether or not he wants that.”

Bec then broke down in tears, adding: “I just want something serious. I don’t want to be with anyone that gets arrested.”

She later confided in a producer: “I can just feel it, it’s not going to work. He’s not my husband, no way.” After seeing a different side to Danny during the reception, Bec later apologised to her new husband, with the couple sharing a passionate kiss.

Married at First Sight Australia airs Monday to Thursday on E4 at 7.30pm

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

BRITNEY Spears’ manager has slammed her DUI arrest, branding it inexcusable.

Britney, 44, was busted by California Highway Patrol on Wednesday night, with a representative now speaking out, vowing that the singer will “make a long overdue change”.

Britney’s manager Cade Hudson broke his silence hours after the arrest

In a statement to The U.S. Sun, he said: “This was an unfortunate incident that is completely inexcusable.

“Britney is going to take the right steps and comply with the law and hopefully this can be the first step in long overdue change that needs to occur in Britney’s life.

“Hopefully, she can get the help and support she needs during this difficult time.

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“Her boys are going to be spending time with her.

“Her loved ones are going to come up with an overdue needed plan to set her up for success for well being.”

TMZ have since reported Britney spent some time at a hospital early Thursday morning.

She spent time here because California Highway Patrol officers “transported her there to draw her blood”.

The outlet claims she did not sustain any injuries, and the hospital visit was “purely to determine her blood alcohol content”.

The singer was booked into jail at 3am, records indicate. She was later released at 6am.

On the booking documents, the star’s occupation is listed as “celebrity.”

TMZ report that Britney was “very emotional while being processed” at the Sherriff’s Office.

Sources told the outlet she was “crying a lot”.

After her arrest, Britney’s car was taken to a Thousand Oaks towing yard.

She is expected to return to court on the morning of May 4.

Her arrest comes as The California Post exclusively revealed that cops have been called to Britney’s home 14 times in the past two years.

Records obtained by The Post show 14 calls to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department made since Jan 1, 2024.

The most recent call logged was for a “trespassing in progress”, which around midnight on October 23, 2025.

The month prior was for a a wellbeing check, which was reportedly listed as canceled.

The outlet also report several calls made to the cops in August 2025, with one listed as trespassing in progress.

Another wellbeing check was carried out in July 2025, which was the first call to cops since March of that year, which was for a “silent alarm”.

December 2024 saw cops called for an “audible alarm” and in November of that year there were two wellbeing checks logged.

In October 2024, the cops went to Britney’s home for a “suspicious subject” after a “subject disturbing” two months prior.

In recent hours, she also deleted her very active Instagram account.

This isn’t the singer’s first run-in with officials.

Just last year, cops were called about her “dangerous behavior” on a plane.

Britney reportedly caused a scene when she started drinking while flying home on a private jet with her security from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in May 2025, TMZ reported.

Flight attendants were reportedly shocked when she pulled out a cigarette and lit it mid-flight.

Though she put out the cigarette when asked. cops still confronted her when she landed at Los Angeles International Airport.

She was reportedly issued a warning, and then allowed to go free.

Britney was placed under a conservatorship in 2008. Her now-estranged father Jamie was appointed as her conservator, and handled all her personal and financial affairs.

After years of objection and a public legal battle, the #FreeBritney movement exploded onto social media.

Thirteen years after it began, a judge officially terminated her conservatorship on November 12, 2021.

MINNEAPOLIS — A federal judge Friday extended an order protecting refugees in Minnesota who are lawfully in the U.S. from being arrested and deported, saying a Trump administration policy turns the “American Dream into a dystopian nightmare.”

U.S. District Judge John Tunheim granted a motion by advocates for refugees to convert a temporary restraining order that he issued in January into a more permanent preliminary injunction while the case develops.

The order applies only in Minnesota. But the implications of a new national policy on refugees that the Department of Homeland Security announced Feb. 18 were a major part of the discussion at a hearing held by the judge the next day.

“Minnesota refugees can now live their lives without fear that their own government will snatch them off the street and imprison them far from loved ones,” Kimberly Grano, an attorney with the International Refugee Assistance Project, told the Associated Press.

The Trump administration asserts that it has the right to arrest potentially tens of thousands of refugees across the U.S. who entered the country legally but don’t yet have green cards. A new Homeland Security memo interprets immigration law to say that refugees applying for green cards must return to federal custody one year after they were admitted to the U.S. so that their applications can be reviewed.

The judge expressed disbelief in a 66-page opinion.

“This Court will not allow federal authorities to use a new and erroneous statutory interpretation to terrorize refugees who immigrated to this country under the promise that they would be welcomed and allowed to live in peace, far from the persecution they fled,” Tunheim said.

He said the U.S. decades ago promised refugees fleeing persecution that they could build a new life after rigorous background checks.

“We promised them the hope that one day they could achieve the American Dream,” Tunheim wrote. “The Government’s new policy breaks that promise — without congressional authorization — and raises serious constitutional concerns. The new policy turns the refugees’ American Dream into a dystopian nightmare.”

Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said in a statement Friday night that the ruling was “yet another lawless and activist order from a federal judge” and that the Trump administration expected to be “vindicated in court.”

“USCIS is committed to rooting out fraud and protecting the public safety and national security interests of the American people by screening and vetting aliens,” the statement said.

Justice Department attorney Brantley Mayers said during a court hearing last week that the government should have the right to arrest refugees one year after entering the U.S., but he also indicated that would not always happen.

The judge noted that one refugee in the case, identified as D. Doe, was arrested in January after being told that someone had struck his car.

“He was immediately flown to Texas, where he was interrogated about his refugee status. He was kept in ‘shackles and handcuffs’ for sixteen hours. D. Doe was ultimately released on the streets of Texas, left to find his way back to Minnesota,” Tunheim said.

Karnowski and White write for the Associated Press and reported from Minneapolis and Detroit, respectively. AP writer Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, contributed to this report.

Actor Shia LaBeouf’s raucous Mardi Gras episode in New Orleans earlier this month has now earned him court-ordered drug and alcohol treatment.

A New Orleans judge on Thursday ordered the former Disney Channel star, 39, to begin substance abuse treatment and undergo weekly drug testing after he was arrested on suspicion of assaulting two men in the city’s famed French Quarter. He was charged with two counts of simple battery, the Associated Press reported.

“Transformers” and “Honey Boy” actor LaBeouf agreed to the updated terms of his release, including posting bond of $100,000, and underwent a drug test during his court appearance on Thursday. His attorney said the test did not show illegal substances in the actor’s system.

Orleans Parish Criminal Court judge Simone Levine criticized LaBeouf for his behavior during the Mardi Gras celebrations. In addition to striking the two men at a bar, LaBeouf allegedly yelled homophobic slurs. Levine expressed concern for “the safety of this larger community” and said LaBeouf “does not take his alcohol addiction seriously.”

A legal representative for LaBeouf did not immediately respond to a request for comment but said during the actor’s court appearance that “being drunk on Mardi Gras is not a crime.”

The actor has yet to enter a formal plea to the charges.

The New Orleans Police Department said its officers responded to a report of an assault in the 1400 block of Royal Street. The former “Even Stevens” child star was “causing a disturbance” at the business, leading staff to remove him from the premises, police said. The actor allegedly “used his closed fists” on one of the victims “several times.”

Authorities said LaBeouf left the business but returned, “acting even more aggressive.” According to the incident report, an unspecified number of people tried to subdue him and eventually let him go “in hope that he would leave.” Instead, police said, LaBeouf began assaulting the same man as before, hitting his upper body with closed fists. The actor is accused of punching the second man in the nose.

People held down LaBeouf until officials arrived. He was transported to a hospital and treated for unknown injuries and was arrested and charged upon his release.

An additional police report identified a local entertainer as one of LaBeouf’s alleged victims. The “Megalopolis” actor, whose history of violent behavior has led to previous arrests and other legal troubles, allegedly threatened the man’s life and shouted homophobic slurs.

Levine ordered that LaBeouf refrain from contacting the two victims and visiting the bar at the center of the brawl. She also denied his travel requests.

Hours after news of the brawl and his arrest spread, LaBeouf issued a brief statement on social media.

He posted to X: “Free me.”

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor remains under investigation, which means he has neither been charged nor exonerated by police.

British police are searching the former home of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor for a second day after questioning him on suspicion of misconduct in public office linked to his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.

The search of the disgraced royal’s former Royal Lodge home on the Windsor estate continued on Friday, one day after the 66-year-old was released under investigation after being held by police for 11 hours over allegations that he sent confidential government documents to the late convicted sex offender Epstein.

During his time in custody, police had raided Wood Farm on the sprawling grounds of the King’s Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, where he is currently living, and his former home, the 30-room Royal Lodge residence in the parkland near Windsor Castle, west of London.

Unmarked vans, believed to be police vehicles, were seen entering the grounds in Windsor throughout Friday morning.

Mountbatten-Windsor remains under investigation, which means he has neither been charged nor exonerated by Thames Valley Police, the force responsible for areas west of London.

The king issued a rare, personally signed statement Thursday, insisting “the law must take its course”, seeking to project a business-as-usual air on one of the most tumultuous days in the modern history of the United Kingdom’s royal family.

Mountbatten-Windsor has always denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein, but the release of millions of documents by the United States government showed the friendship continued long after the financier was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008.

Those files suggested Mountbatten-Windsor had shared British government reports with the financier while serving as the government’s special representative for trade and investment. The reports related to investment opportunities in Afghanistan and assessments of Vietnam, Singapore and other places he had visited.

Thames Valley’s Assistant Chief Constable Oliver Wright said in a statement on Thursday that officers had now opened a full investigation into the offence of misconduct in public office.

A conviction for misconduct in a public office carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, and cases must be dealt with in a Crown Court, which handle the most serious criminal offences.

Thames Valley Police has previously said it was also reviewing allegations that a woman was trafficked to the UK by Epstein to have a sexual encounter with Andrew. Thursday’s arrest was not related to that allegation.

In 2022, the king’s brother settled a civil lawsuit brought in the US by the late Virginia Giuffre, who accused him of sexually abusing her when she was a teenager at properties owned by Epstein or his associates.

Other police forces are also conducting their own investigations into Epstein’s links to the UK, including the assessment of flight logs at airports. They are coordinating their work within a national group.

On Friday, London’s Metropolitan Police said it was assessing, with the help of US counterparts, whether the capital’s airports, which include Heathrow, “may have been used to facilitate human trafficking and sexual exploitation”.

It also said that it is asking past and present officers who protected Mountbatten-Windsor to “consider carefully” whether they saw or heard anything that may be relevant to the investigations.

As of now, it said no new criminal allegations have been made regarding sexual offences within its jurisdiction.

The arrest of the senior royal, eighth in line to the throne, is unprecedented in modern times. The last member of the royal family to be arrested in the UK was Charles I, who was beheaded in 1649 after being found guilty of treason.

SACRAMENTO — The head of California’s High-Speed Rail Authority took a voluntary leave Tuesday after news reports circulated about his recent arrest on suspicion of domestic battery against a spouse.

Ian Choudri was arrested Feb. 4 at his Folsom home in the 500 block of Borges Court.

The rail authority said in a statement Tuesday that Choudri agreed to take a temporary leave to allow its board of directors and the California State Transportation Agency to review and assess the situation.

Choudri’s attorney said Monday that the Sacramento County district attorney’s office declined to file charges in the case. Police were called to Choudri’s home by a third party, Choudri’s attorney told The Times.

“This matter is over and no further action will be taken,” said Allen Sawyer, who is representing Choudri.

The district attorney’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

Choudri is among the highest-paid state employees in California, having earned $563,000 last year, according to payroll records obtained by The Times from the state controller’s office.

The High-Speed Rail Authority did not answer a question about whether Choudri would receive pay during his absence.

The board of directors is scheduled to meet next on March 4.

The day before his arrest, Choudri had appeared with Gov. Gavin Newsom in Kern County to announce the completion of a 150-acre facility that would serve as a hub for construction of the high-speed rail project in the San Joaquin Valley.

California’s grand vision for a bullet train, originally to connect San Francisco to Los Angeles, has become a flash point in national politics.

President Trump and Republicans have seized on the billions of dollars in cost overruns and slow progress to cast the project as a Democratic boondoggle and waste of taxpayer money.

Newsom, eager to show some advancement before he leaves office, has refocused construction on building a segment from Merced to Bakersfield. His office said earlier this month that 119 miles were under construction and 58 structures, including bridges, overpasses and viaducts, have been completed.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority’s Board of Directors approved Choudri as chief executive in August 2024. Newsom praised the decision and commended his more than 30 years of experience in the transportation sector.

Choudri replaced former CEO Brian Kelly, who retired. Choudri joined the agency from HNTB Corp., an infrastructure design firm where he previously held the position of senior vice president.

Choudri did not respond to requests for comment. Newsom’s office directed questions to the High-Speed Rail Authority.

Feb. 17 (UPI) — The Venezuelan government on Tuesday released Evanan Romero, a Venezuelan-American oil consultant detained four days earlier at the Maracaibo airport, without a judicial warrant or formal charges publicly announced.

Romero, 86, a Venezuelan with U.S. citizenship, was detained by authorities under Delcy Rodríguez’s government while attempting to travel from Maracaibo to Caracas, where he had scheduled a series of meetings with companies in the oil sector.

After an initial detention, Romero spent the first night at Interpol facilities at the airport. The next day, due to his advanced age and medical condition, authorities authorized his transfer to a private clinic in Maracaibo, where he remained under guard, local outlet Efecto Cocuyo reported.

The release occurred without official statements from the government. Local journalists and media outlets, such as Spain’s ABC, reported Romero’s detention.

“I’ve been here since Friday,” the expert said from a private clinic, while guards remained in an adjacent room.

Romero had planned to meet with the local management of Repsol and to participate in a videoconference with Reliance’s leadership in India to discuss a possible return to oil blocks in the Orinoco Belt.

He also had meetings scheduled with investors interested in the energy stabilization phase that would reportedly be coordinated from Washington after the capture of President Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. military operation Jan. 3.

The consultant had arrived in Venezuela from Panama, with a stop in Colombia, intending to visit a relative before traveling to the capital.

In statements to ABC, Romero said his detention could be linked to a past administrative dispute related to a family investment, which he said was resolved in his favor by the Supreme Court of Justice.

No Venezuelan authority has publicly confirmed that or provided details about the case.

Romero is part of a committee of about 400 former state-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela technicians and executives dedicated to developing proposals for rebuilding the energy sector under a future government, Infobae reported.

He has maintained contacts with U.S. oil companies such as Exxon and ConocoPhillips, and his name has appeared in discussions about compensation for expropriated assets and the opening of new blocks, the publication added.

Romero is considered a veteran expert in Venezuela’s oil sector, with more than six decades of experience. He served on the board of PDVSA, since the 1960s, with responsibilities in operational oversight, capital projects and maritime operations.

He later served as president and chief executive officer of Grupo Asesor Petrolero Venezolano LLC, a firm specializing in reservoir performance studies, reserves evaluation, thermal recovery of heavy crude and basin master development plans.

He has also been affiliated with the Harvard Electricity Policy Group at Harvard University.

The detention occurred just days after the visit to Caracas by U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright at a time when the White House has intensified pressure for the release of political prisoners and reiterated that reconstruction of the oil sector will depend on clear legal and political guarantees.

President Donald Trump has publicly argued that major U.S. companies should invest billions of dollars to repair deteriorated infrastructure and restore production.