AXE

Actress Roxy Shahidi’s final scenes aired earlier this year with fans heartbroken at the character’s exit, when she bid farewell to Leyla Harding after several years in the role

One Emmerdale star admits she lost her identity following her exit from the soap. Former Emmerdale actress Roxy Shahidi has spoken candidly about the emotional impact of leaving the ITV soap, admitting she struggled with her sense of identity after her character was written out.

Roxy played Leyla Harding, a long-standing and much-loved character on the show, first appearing in 2008 before returning full-time in 2013. After more than a decade on screen, Leyla met a tragic end earlier this year in dramatic scenes that saw several characters plunged into icy water following a limousine crash.

Although Leyla initially survived the accident, viewers later learned she died in an ambulance before reaching hospital, marking the end of Roxy’s 17-year journey on the soap.

Nearly a year on from leaving Emmerdale, Roxy has reflected on the transition and how it affected her personally. In an emotional Instagram post, she admitted stepping away from the role was far more challenging than she anticipated.

“This time last year, I was coming to terms with having to leave this lot behind. Not just colleagues, but friends and family,” she wrote.

She went on to explain how deeply intertwined her character had become with her own sense of self, adding:

“Playing Layla wasn’t just a job; she was a huge part of my identity, and some days I spent more time being her than being myself.

“Losing that sense of identity was hard, but long walks with Mr Cooper [her pet cockapoo] gave me space to breathe, reflect and stay hopeful.”

Since leaving the soap, Roxy has shifted her focus towards wellbeing and has been teaching yoga online. She revealed the practice helped her process the emotional fallout of the change.

“Yoga once again became my anchor on the hardest days, moving my body helped me move through grief, loss and uncertainty,” she continued.

Adding that her yoga platform has helped her build a new chapter in her life, she went on: “Now YogaRox has grown into a new home, a new family, and a new sense of self.

“I don’t know exactly how I’ll get there, but I know where I’m going. Thank you to everyone who’s supported me through a year of challenge, growth, and transformation; here’s to 2026.”

Her post was quickly flooded with supportive messages, including from former Emmerdale co-stars. Laura Norton, who plays Kerry Wyatt, commented: “You’re amazing. You are very missed. Sky is the limit.”

Fellow soap stars Claire Sweeney, Isobel Hodgins and Ross Adams also shared messages of love.

Fans echoed the sentiment, with one writing: “You are still so missed by us Emmerdale fans. But you are smashing it now with your new projects, you are amazing!! Xx”

Another added: “I miss seeing you shine on my screen every night but being able to see you absolutely smashing the yoga is everything, heres to an amazing 2026 and I hope the new year brings you nothing but happiness and big achievements.”

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THE Rolling Stones have called off plans for a UK and European tour next summer.

It would have been their first string of live dates since their huge Hackney Diamonds tour in the US in 2024 – which sold almost one million tickets.

It’s understood the band – who’ve sold over 250 million records worldwide – were looking at plans to play huge stadiums across Europe and the UK after pulling the plug on dates in 2025.

An American music critic said Keith Richards, who turns 82 on Thursday, told his bandmates Mick Jagger, 82, and Ronnie Wood, 78, he couldn’t commit to the trek at this time.

They added: “The Rolling Stones had all the big promoters throwing loads of ideas and dates at them for next summer.

“But when they properly sat down to discuss the tour, Keith said he didn’t think he could commit and wasn’t keen on a big stadium tour for over four months.”

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A spokesperson said at the time: “The band were looking to tour earlier this year but couldn’t make it work either.

“It’s hard for their fans but The Stones will get back onstage when they’re good and ready.”

In September, Ronnie confirmed to The Sun that he was waiting on the nod on the 2026 tour dates.

He also confirmed they had been working on their next album, which was recorded at Metropolis Studios in Chiswick, west London.

Ronnie said: “You will be getting new music from the Rolling Stones with an album next year. It is almost done. ”

Their last album, Hackney Diamonds, came out in 2023 and was their first record of original material in 18 years.

The album went straight to No1 in the album charts and spawned hits including Angry, which had Sydney Sweeney in the official music video.

Outgoing Celebrity MasterChef presenter John Torode and his wife Lisa Faulkner have issued a career update

Celebrity chefs John Torode and Lisa Faulkner have revealed exciting news for their devoted followers, announcing the launch of their very own YouTube channel straight from their home kitchen.

In an introduction filmed at their residence, John – who can currently be seen in his final-ever series of Celebrity MasterChef – welcomed viewers: “Welcome to our new YouTube channel, and to our home kitchen.”

Lisa added: “This is in our home, we are cooking all our recipes from home, in our kitchen – which is great, because we know where everything is – and we really hope you’re going to join us to see our family favourites.”

He teased a diverse menu, promising “celebratory food, food from all round the world, whether it be spaghetti with a tomato sauce, Korean fried chicken and a sticky sauce to go with it, all the way through to scones and jam and cream.”

His ITV presenter wife continued: “Yes, lovely puddings. You will get proper family favourites, old-fashioned things that just remind us of our childhood, and new and exciting food.”

Offering reassurance to aspiring home cooks, the couple guaranteed: “We promise you that every single recipe we make, if you follow it, it will work every single time.”

John clarified: “You know that because we test them, we try them and we cook them at home. If they don’t work, they don’t make the channel,” reports the Express.

Lisa confirmed their commitment, revealing: “We’ll be dropping new recipes every single week and we’ll be cooking them here so you can see that they work.”

In a heartwarming moment between the couple, John celebrated Lisa’s contribution to their culinary venture “as a mum cook”, whilst she returned the compliment with equal enthusiasm.

Lisa beamed: “We’ve got the old monsieur chef here who’s so brilliant at what he does.

“You’ve been a chef for years and years, you’ve had restaurants, there is nothing you don’t know about food and nothing you don’t like about food. All of your knowledge is coming to this channel.”

The duo wrapped up their message with an appeal to viewers, urging them: “Please subscribe and don’t forget to hit the bell icon – that’s it!”

Celebrity MasterChef is on BBC One and BBC iPlayer

RYANAIR is scrapping more flights across Europe, with more than one million passengers affected.

The budget airline confirmed that routes to and from Belgium will be the latest to be hit by their cancellations.

The one million seats will be scrapped to and from Brussels from the 2026/27 winter schedule next year, a reduction of 22 per cent.

This affects 20 flights routes with five aircraft based at the airport removed.

The airline said the cuts were due to the rise in air passenger tax being introduced in Belgium.

From 2027, the tax on all passenger flight will increase to €10 (£8.70).

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Not only that, but they have slammed Charleroi city council who is set introduce a a €3 (£2.60) passenger tax on all departures.

Ryanair said in a statement: “Ryanair calls again on Prime Minister (Bart) De Wever and his Govt to abolish the aviation tax or Belgian traffic will collapse and fares will soar.

“Should the Charleroi city council proceed with its ill-judged proposal to introduce further taxes on passengers departing from Charleroi next year, these cuts will deepen as Ryanair will be forced to reduce flights, routes and based aircraft at Charleroi from as early as April 2026 with thousands of local jobs at risk.

“These repeated increases to this harmful aviation tax make Belgium completely uncompetitive compared to the many other EU countries, like Sweden, Hungary, Italy, and Slovakia, where Govts are abolishing aviation taxes to drive traffic, tourism, and jobs.”

Ryanair has already axed millions of seats across Europe in recent months.

Back in September, the airline confirmed that they would cancel all flights to three Spanish airports – Tenerife North, Vigo and Santiago.

This affected two million passengers.

Just a month later, another 1.2million seats were scrapped across Spain, affecting summer 2026 travel.

Rising airport tariffs were cited for the cancellations, with Michael O’Leary claiming he would “fly elsewhere […] if the costs in regional Spain are too high”.

He added: “We are better off flying at the same cost to places such as Palma [on the island of Majorca] than flying to Jerez.”

French airports Bergerac, Brive, and Strasbourg have also lost their Ryanair flights while airports in Germany including Dortmund, Dresden and Leipzig won’t open for winter.

And next year, Ryanair will stop all its flights to and from the Azores, citing high ATC fares in Portugal.

We’ve rounded up all of the destination losing their Ryanair flights.