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Loose Women is among ITV’s daytime shows that are facing budget cuts in the coming months as insiders warn the show will be completely stripped back from its usual setup

Loose Women is facing its biggest shake-up in decades, with dramatic changes that have left fans and cast members reeling as insiders fear the ITV favourite could be axed altogether within the next year.

The iconic lunchtime chat show, known for its bold debates and A-list guests, is expected to cut celebrity interviews completely from January as part of sweeping budget cuts across ITV Daytime. The move comes just months after bosses announced the show would only air for 30 weeks of the year rather than its usual 52, slashing production time nearly in half.

Now, with viewing figures predicted to tumble even further, sources claim Loose Women is “on borrowed time” as ITV pivots its focus to sister shows Lorraine and This Morning.

READ MORE: Good Morning Britain host announces break from ITV show and will be off air for weeks

“It’s a real shame. In January, the programme will become a shell of its former self before it is inevitably cancelled altogether,” one TV insider told Mail Online.

No more celebrity guests

Over its 25 year history, Loose Women has welcomed some of the world’s biggest stars to the panel – from Naomi Campbell and Janet Jackson to Dame Joan Collins and even former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

But sources claim the show will no longer feature famous faces promoting their projects because there won’t be enough staff to manage guests behind the scenes.

Instead, those high-profile bookings will now reportedly be prioritised for Lorraine and This Morning, leaving Loose Women to rely solely on its panel discussions of the day’s news and lifestyle topics.

“Not having guests is a big blow for both the presenters and viewers at home,” an insider revealed.

“The celebrity interviews are often one of the highlights of the show and bring a unique energy you don’t get on other programmes. It feels like a strange decision to cut them altogether.”

Behind the scenes, the panel – including long-serving stars like Nadia Sawalha, Ruth Langsford and Coleen Nolan – are said to be “deeply upset” by the changes.

Studio audience scrapped

The cuts don’t stop there. Loose Women has already axed its live studio audience, a move that has left both the panel and crew heartbroken.

Nadia Sawalha admitted she was “totally devastated” at the loss of the audience and spoke out in support of her close friend and warm-up artist Lee Peart, who lost his job as a result.

“The audience is so important for the show,” Nadia said. “What a lot of people don’t realise is that we’re self-employed. Every contract is a new contract – I could be let go tomorrow or in five years. It’s brutal.”

She added: “Hundreds of people are going to be made redundant out of the blue. A lot of my friends and colleagues on this show and at ITV have been there for decades, and I can’t tell you how upsetting it was to see people walking around numb with shock and fear about what they were going to do.”

Reason behind changes

ITV bosses have blamed “insane inflation” and rising costs for the daytime cuts, which have also seen Lorraine halved to 30 minutes and reduced to term-time broadcasts.

In May, ITV confirmed that production of Good Morning Britain will shift to a dedicated team at ITV News, while Loose Women, Lorraine, and This Morning will merge behind-the-scenes teams to save costs.

But industry insiders warn that these measures will likely spell the end for Loose Women.

An ITV spokesperson said: “The Loose Women team is still working on the show and its content for next year.”

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Celebrities are all too familiar with the world of deepfakes, the colloquial term for artificial intelligence-generated videos that depict actors and other Hollywood talent falsely doing or saying things that they never agreed to.

To protect themselves, actors including Steve Harvey, Beverly Hills talent agency WME and studios have enlisted the help of Vermillio, a Chicago-based company that tracks famous people’s digital likenesses and intellectual property online. Depending on what its clients want, it can have the material taken down .

But as AI technology continues to improve and becomes more widely available to the general public, regular people are getting scammed too.

Now, Vermillio says it is offering a version of its service for free to everyone.

The move comes as more and more convincing deepfakes continue to proliferate online, making it difficult for social media sites to police such activity. In 2019, there were about 18,000 deepfakes globally and this year, there have been roughly 2 trillion generative creations, said Vermillio Chief Executive and co-founder Dan Neely.

That leaves average Joes at a growing risk of being impersonated online, with little recourse.

“We can’t wait for governments to solve this problem,” Neely said. “We can’t wait for legislators to solve this problem. We can’t wait for other people to solve this problem. We just said it’s the right thing to do, so we should just be doing it.”

With this move, Vermillo is adopting a classic “freemium” model — offering partial service for no charge and up-selling for additional features.

Here’s how it works.

Using its TraceID technology, the company flags problematic content. For paying clients, Vermillio can send take-down requests to sites such as YouTube or Instagram. Additionally, Vermillio says clients can monetize their data by licensing it.

People who sign up for the free version enter information about themselves such as their name, date of birth and social media handles on sites including Instagram or YouTube.

Then, Vermillio will use that information to build a “likeness model” to scour the Internet for potential red flags involving the user’s identity. Then Vermillio alerts the user to what exists online. For example, if someone has created a fake Instagram account of that user, Vermillio would flag that.

Users are notified of this type of content and can decide for themselves what they would like to allow, or take action to remove. If the user wants Vermillio to request take-downs of the inappropriate content, users would need to upgrade to a paid account, which starts at $10 a month and includes five monthly take down requests.

While many social media platforms give an option to users to flag problematic content, Vermillio said it is faster and more effective than having users go directly to YouTube or Instagram to rectify the situation. It has built a network of partners and can escalate take-downs in as quickly as an hour, the company said.

Vermillio executives said some real life examples of deep fakes include celebrity voices used to raise money for fake charities or terrorist organizations, and high school students creating fake pornography of their classmates.

“It’s affecting regular people in the sense that they’re getting scammed by deep fakes, but it’s also affecting teenagers, so people need to understand where they stand,” said Kathleen Grace, Vermillio’s chief strategy officer. “This is an easy way for them to do that.”

While fake social media profiles have existed for years, “generative AI just poured gasoline on it,” Grace said.

The company said hundreds of people use Vermillio’s services, but didn’t specify numbers. By the end of the year, the company expects to have thousands.

Neely said the company isn’t profitable and declined to share revenue figures. Time magazine reported that revenue from Vermillio’s TraceID has increased tenfold from April 2023 to April 2024. The company makes money through the paid versions of its service and licensing. Vermillio has raised $24 million in funding.

Hollywood companies and talent are navigating artificial intelligence in different ways.

Groups such as performers guild SAG-AFTRA are pushing for more state and federal protections against deepfakes. Some celebrities such as Academy Award-winning supporting actor Jamie Lee Curtis struggled to get a fake ad of her on Instagram taken down showing her falsely endorsing a dental product.

WME announced a partnership with Vermillio last year.

“The scale of the issue is extraordinary, so if you’re a rights holder, just trying to understand how much of these AI outputs are based on or utilized my data, my IP in some way, shape or form, is a massive need,” said Chris Jacquemin, WME’s head of digital strategy.

“They’ve obviously proven that TraceID can protect the most important, most high profile public figures in the world,” Jacquemin added. “Opening it up in a much broader application, I think is a huge step forward in really democratizing how anybody can start to police use of their likeness with respect to AI and AI platforms.”

This week’s edition of Saturday Kitchen descended into chaos when a huge name from the culinary world called in

Saturday Kitchen halted its usual proceedings today (Saturday, 5th July) when a major celebrity chef called into the show.

Following a segment with Rick Stein in Lancashire, the show returned to presenter Matt Tebbutt in the studio after rustling up a carbonara with Gennaro Contaldo.

However, before moving onto Matt’s interview with Fleur East, the current star of Tina – The Tina Turner Musical, Gennaro interrupted the show to take a phone call.

He revealed none other than Jamie Oliver was on the phone, causing an eruption of laughter from the rest of the guests.

Jamie, the beloved chef, TV presenter and restaurant owner, exclaimed “Hello everyone!” down the line as the Saturday Kitchen stars all applauded.

The phone call continued with Jamie revealing his Saturday morning plans and promising to tune into the show soon.

“Just come back from the market,” he shared. “I’m going to be home in two minutes and I’m going to turn the TV on.”

Matt’s guests this week, which also included Clare Smyth, wine expert Helen McGinn and chocolatier Paul A. Young, all let out an “Aww”.

BBC presenter Matt then quipped: “Jamie’s just been down the market, he actually lives that life.

“He goes down the market, buys his stuff, then goes home on his little scooter.”

As Gennaro told Jamie, “I love you and miss you!”, Matt swiftly moved on to the next segment to prevent any more disruption.

Italian chef Gennaro is a firm fan-favourite of the show and many viewers took to X (formerly Twitter) to praise him for another classic Saturday Kitchen appearance.

“Gennaro is the GREATEST!!” one user exclaimed. “I had the honour and privilege to get to know him years ago during the opens of all the Jamie’s Italians.

“His passion and love is second to one. Plus his food is always perfection.”

And another fan declared: “27 minutes in and this is already a vintage #SaturdayKitchen. Gennaro putting in an all-timer performance – but you come to expect the best from Matt and co.”

Saturday Kitchen airs Saturdays from 10am on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

EXCLUSIVE: Renowned DJ, Judge Jules, has opened up about his appearance on The Chase’s Celebrity Specia,l which saw a historic victory for him and his co-stars

Judge Jules has revealed that the pressure was eased slightly during his appearance on The Chase Celebrity special, thanks to his connection with the studio. The renowned DJ appeared on the ITV special last year alongside other famous faces, including Lesley Joseph, Jenni Falconer and Patrick Kielty.

The group went up against Shaun ‘The Dark Destroyer’ Wallace in the tense rounds before eventually all four celebs were part of the final chase. It was during the final round that they managed to get one over on Wallace and walked away with a total of £200,000 to split between their chosen charities.

But while some may crumble under the intense pressure of the ITV game show, lawyer and DJ Judge Jules, 58, admits that he didn’t feel too pressured due to a connection with the studios where the show is filmed. “I’m not nervous in my normal activities, before I go on the decks or anything else related to the music business,” he exclusively told the Mirror.

The Londoner went on to add: “It was a little bit nervy because it’s such an unfamiliar environment. The weird thing was, it’s filmed in Elstree Studios where EastEnders is filmed, or it was when I did it anyway. My dad (Shaun O’Riordan) worked there his entire working life, so I’d been to those studios multiple times – my dad was a TV director so I think maybe that eased off the pressure a little bit.”

Jules, who will be DJ’ing across the UK and Balerics this summer, went on to add: “It’s fast moving, you meet three others who you’ve never met before, all of you are there for a common purpose, it’s quite comedial backstage but at the same time, it’s more the alien environment.

“When you’re experienced in one area and suddenly you’re thrust into this alien environment, it makes it more nervous. We earned a chunk of money for charity, which was great. It was £200,00, so it was quite a lot.” This year, fans will see Judge Jules, the nephew of Rick Stein, at Tom Kerridge’s Pub In The Park Festival, Foodies, as well as dates across Ibiza and Sheffield’s 90s Fest at Don Valley Bowl.

“I’ve done quite a few food-oriented festivals,” he said. He went on to add: “I think the core element of the sound stage and DJ’ing is quite similar, it’s more about what’s going on around the edges. It’s one of those that, as a DJ, I might under normal circumstances turn up an hour before, do my set and then probably go reasonably soon afterwards if I’ve got somewhere else to go, whereas I would make a day of it because there’s so much more to do.”

Jules explained that he faced difficulties last year after taking part in a live cooking demonstration on the stage, which was “very comedic”. Last summer, he and his wife were also judges on a cocktail-making stage just before he took to the stage himself. “It’s a unique day out,” he joked.

He said: “It’s the perfect thing for the more senior music business person to go and do. It’s such a varied experience. There is more than just food stalls, there’s comedy, there’s music, it’s an amazing experience.” Reflecting on dance music taking centre stage at festivals this year, with Reading and Leeds Festivals bringing the Chevron Stage back, he said: “It’s a different immersive action at a festival, dance, music. I’m the ultimate salesperson for it, and I don’t really know any different. I’m truly institutionalised by the experience of sort of dance floors.”

Having been in the industry since the Eighties, it’s fair to say that Jules has seen his fair share of odd moments. One memory that sticks out to him during the vinyl era was one clubber running up to the decks and stealing the record, before running back through the crowd, while the record was actually playing.

There is no single figure in television history whose longevity and influence match Barbara Walters’.

She became a star on NBC’s “Today” in the early 1960s, raising the stature of the morning franchise. She opened doors for women as a network anchor and turned newsmaker interviews into major television events — 74 million tuned into her 1999 sit-down with Monica Lewinsky. She created one of daytime TV’s longest-running hits with “The View,” which evolved into a major forum for the country’s political discourse.

“The audience size that Barbara was able to capture and harness is unmatched in today’s world,” said Jackie Jesko, director of the new documentary “Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything,” debuting Monday on Hulu after its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this month. “Everything she did sort of made a difference.”

Jesko’s feature — produced by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Documentaries and ABC News Studios — is the first in-depth look into Walters’ storied career. The film also serves as a sweeping historical review of the decades-long dominance of network news that made figures such as Walters a gatekeeper of the culture, as Jesko describes her.

Before the advent of social media and podcasts that allowed celebrities to control their messages, going through the X-ray machine of a Barbara Walters interview delivered exposure on a massive scale. David Sloan, a longtime ABC News producer who worked with Walters, recalls how the screen images of her specials flickered through the windows of Manhattan apartment towers.

“Tell Me Everything” came together not long after Walters died at the age of 93 in 2022. Sara Bernstein, president of Imagine Documentaries, approached Betsy West, executive producer and co-director of the Julia Child documentary “Julia,” about taking on a Walters project. Sloan, who oversaw an Emmy-winning tribute after Walters’ death, also wanted a deeper exploration into the impact of her career. West, also a former Walters colleague, and Sloan became executive producers on the film. “Tell Me Everything” taps deeply into the ABC News archives, which contain thousands of hours of interviews Walters conducted over her 40 years at the network.

Former President Richard M. Nixon during an interview with Barbara Walters in 1980 for ABC.

(Ray Stubblebine / AP)

Imagine not only gained access to program content but also outtakes that give parts of the film a cinema vérité-like look at Walters on the job. The newly unearthed footage provides some surreal moments, such as Walters — in a pink Chanel suit — exploring the damaged palace of Libya’s deposed leader Moammar Kadafi.

“The archive gave us a the perfect canvas to relive her scenes and her moments,” Bernstein said.

Walters’ story also gives a guided tour of the obstacle-ridden path women faced in the early days of TV news when it was dominated by patriarchy and self-importance. Female reporters were relegated to writing soft features and kept at a distance from hard news. But Walters shattered those barriers through her grit and wits. She toiled as a writer in local TV and a failed CBS morning program before landing at NBC’s “Today” in 1961. (“They needed someone they could hire cheap,” she said.)

Walters went from churning out copy for the program’s “Today Girl” to doing her own on-air segments, including a famously beguiling report on a Paris fashion show and a day-in-the-life look at being a Playboy bunny. More serious assignments came her way.

The morning viewing audience loved Walters even though she didn’t believe she was attractive enough to be on camera. Her career trajectory was slowed down only by male executives unwilling to embrace the idea that a woman could be the face of a network news operation.

Harry Reasoner with Barbara Walters during her first broadcast as co-anchor of ABC Evening News on Oct. 4, 1976.

(Associated Press)

By 1971, Walters was the main attraction on “Today” when she sat alongside host Frank McGee every morning. But she was denied equal status.

A respected journalist with the demeanor of an undertaker, McGee insisted to management that he ask the first three questions of any hard news subject who appeared on “Today” before Walters could have a chance.

The restriction led to Walters going outside the NBC studios to conduct interviews where her subjects lived or worked. The approach not only gave her control of the conversations but added a level of intimacy that audiences were not getting elsewhere on television.

Walters also had written into her contract that if McGee ever left “Today,” she would be promoted to the title of co-host. NBC brass agreed to the provision, believing McGee was not going anywhere.

But McGee was suffering from bone cancer, which he had kept secret. He died in 1974 and Walters was elevated to co-host, making her the first woman to lead a daily network news program. (Or as Katie Couric candidly puts it in the film, “She got it literally over Frank McGee’s dead body.”)

Walters made history again when she was poached by ABC News in 1976. She was given a record-high $1-million annual salary to be the first woman co-anchor of a network evening newscast, paired with Harry Reasoner, a crusty and unwelcoming veteran. Walters was mistreated by her colleague and roasted by critics and competitors such as CBS News commentator Eric Sevareid, who, with disgust in his voice, described her as “a lady reading the news.”

The evening news experiment with Reasoner was a short-lived disaster, but Walters found a supporter in Roone Arledge, the ABC Sports impresario who took over the news division and had an appreciation for showmanship. He recognized Walters’ strengths and made her a roving correspondent.

Barbara Walters arranged a joint interview with Egypt’s President Anwar Sadat and Israel’s Prime Minister Menachem Begin in 1977.

(ABC Photo Archives / Disney General Entertainment Con)

Walters scored a major coup in 1977 when she was the first TV journalist to speak jointly with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin during Sadat’s historic visit to Jerusalem.

“She was a household name in the Mideast,” Sloan said.

Over time, Walters would become known for her prime-time specials, where lengthy interviews with world leaders aired adjacent to conversations with movie stars. She could be a blunt questioner in both realms, asking Barbra Streisand why she chose not to get her nose fixed and former President Richard M. Nixon if he wished he had burned the White House tapes that undid his presidency (“I probably should have”).

News purists clutched their pearls, but the audience welcomed it. “She had a vision back then that celebrities are news,” said Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger in the film. “She was practicing the art of journalism when she was interviewing them.”

The film explains how Walters developed an understanding of celebrities after growing up around her father’s nightclub, the Latin Quarter, a hot spot in Boston. Sitting in the rafters above the floor show, she observed how audiences responded as well.

Barbara Walters with Barbra Streisand, whom the journalist interviewed for a special in 1976.

(ABC Photo Archives / Disney General Entertainment Con)

Even though Walters’ programs earned significant revenue for ABC News, she still had detractors, including the network’s star anchor Peter Jennings. A clip from the network’s political convention coverage in 1992 shows Jennings surreptitiously flipping his middle finger at her following an on-air exchange.

But Walters was unstoppable, and as the 1980s and 1990s progressed, she became a mother confessor for perpetrators and victims of scandal. During a memorable jailhouse meeting with the Menendez brothers in which Eric describes himself and Lyle as “normal kids,” a stunned Walters replies, “Eric, you’re a normal kid who murdered his parents!”

As always, she was speaking for the person watching at home.

“She always wanted to ask the question that was percolating in the brain of someone who didn’t have the opportunity or was too afraid to ask,” said Meredith Kaulfers, an executive vice president at Imagine Documentaries.

Walters became a pioneer for women broadcasters out of necessity. While in her 20s, her father’s nightclub business collapsed and she became the sole source of financial support for her family, which included her mentally disabled older sister. The terror of the insecurity she felt during that period never left.

President Barack Obama speaks to Barbara Walters during his guest appearance on ABC’s “The View” in 2010.

(Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press)

“There was a survival instinct in her that drove her,” said Marcella Steingart, a producer on the film. “Not necessarily on purpose, but in her wake, she opened doors for people.”

“Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything” is not a hagiography. The film explores her fraught relationship with her adopted daughter Jacqueline, who did not sit for an interview. Walters’ unhealthy obsession with colleague and rival Diane Sawyer is covered, too, as is her willingness to use the social connections she developed through her career, and not just to land big interviews.

Walters had a friendship with unsavory lawyer Roy Cohn, who pulled strings to make her father’s tax problems go away. She carried on a secret romance in the 1970s with a married U.S. senator — Edward Brooke — while she was a fixture in national political coverage.

While the film draws on interviews where Walters laments not being able to have both a successful career and a family life, Jesko sensed no regrets. “I think if she could live her life over again, she wouldn’t change anything,” Jesko said.

Celebrity Gogglebox’s cast is set to become even more star studded as a string of new names have been added to the upcoming series line-up including popstar Rag’n’Bone Man

A popstar is due to appear on the most recent series of Celebrity Gogglebox in his first ever reality TV appearance. Rag’n’Bone Man has had a successful music career so far but is now giving TV a go.

The singer, whose real name is Rory Graham, is appearing on the Channel 4 programme alongside another famous face. The 40-year-old will be sitting alongside TV star and comedian Romesh Ranganathan on the sofa as they watch and review the top television offerings of the week.

Romesh, 47, is a well-known face in the world of showbiz and has plenty of TV experience, hosting The Weakest Link as well as A League Of Their Own, The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan, The Ranganation and much more.

Meanwhile, Rag’n’Bone Man’s TV experience is slightly more limited – but the Human singer has acting credits in EastEnders, making a cameo appearance when he performed for The Queen Vic’s pub-goers. Now, the duo will be appearing on Celebrity Gogglebox together and shared a clip where they confirmed the news.

Romesh can be heard saying: “Hello I’m Romesh and this is Rory [Rag’n’Bone Man]. We are gonna be on Celebrity Gogglebox, aren’t we?” Rag’n’Bone Man then added: “Yes we are, this Friday at 9pm.”

Rag’n’Bone Man tied the knot with his long-term partner, Zoe, last year after a difficult road in their relationship. Zoe and the singer got married on Saturday 9 November 2024 in front of their closest friends and family members.

Ahead of the big day, a source said: “Rory is really down to earth and he and Zoe love their quiet life out of the spotlight. But the wedding won’t be low-key, as they’re having all their friends and family involved for a massive celebration, with a huge party afterwards.”

Zoe and Rag’n’Bone man first got together back in 2020 but split for a time in 2021 due to the star’s busy schedule. A source said at the time: “Things have been full-on for Rory around the release of his album and everything, so it has been difficult to spend a lot of time together. It hasn’t worked out between them and they have called things off.”

However, the split only lasted a few months as they rekindled their romance and by June 2024 they were engaged. This is the singer’s second marriage as his first didn’t work out.

The chart topping star was married before his now-wife but it was a short-lived relationship. He was first married to Beth Rouy in 2019 after they were in a relationship with each other for 10 years beforehand.

The former couple share a son together but their marriage broke down soon after they said their vows. Just six months after their wedding day was reported, the couple split and went their separate ways.

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In the summer of 2021, Priscilla Presley seemed to be riding high.

The ex-wife of the King of Rock ’n’ Roll had appeared at Graceland during the annual Elvis Week celebration and later hosted a three-day festival at the famous manse extolling the virtues of elegant southern living. Then there were the highly anticipated upcoming biopics: director Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” and Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla” based on her 1985 memoir, for which she served as an executive producer.

Privately, however, it was a difficult time for the actress. Priscilla was mourning the passing of her mother, just a year after her grandson, Benjamin Keough, the only son of her daughter Lisa Marie Presley, had committed suicide at 27. Adding to her personal woes, Elvis’ former bride was in a serious financial hole, as court filings would later claim.

Then she met Brigitte Kruse, a flamboyant, fifth-generation auctioneer and self-styled philanthropist who specialized in high-profile celebrity memorabilia, royal objects, estates and fine jewelry sales. In 2017, Kruse gained a measure of renown when she sold an abandoned private plane known as the “lost jet” once owned by Elvis for $498,000.

After the pair were introduced, they launched a joint venture that would cash in on Priscilla’s famous name, image and likeness through her paid public appearances and other projects.

Within months of their initial meeting, Priscilla began lending her name to some of Kruse’s online Elvis memorabilia auctions with GWS Auctions Inc., based in Agoura Hills.

Priscilla Presley at a 2014 event held at Graceland in Memphis.

(Lance Murphey / Associated Press)

Less than two years later, their partnership was in tatters, with the two women trading bitter allegations in dueling lawsuits.

Priscilla, 80, called Kruse, who was half her age, a “con-artist and pathological liar” who had forced her into a “form of indentured servitude,” leading her into signing away 80% of her income and conning her out of more than $1 million, according to the fraud and elder abuse lawsuit she filed against Kruse and her business associates in Los Angeles last year.

Kruse, who did not respond to requests for comment, has disputed Priscilla Presley’s claims, depicting herself in court filings as her financial savior who faced retaliation after she sued Priscilla for breach of contract a year earlier.

The litigation is the latest in a string of legal battles that Priscilla and the Presley heirs have been involved in since Elvis died nearly 50 years ago, leaving a financial legacy as messy and fraught as the King’s life.

While the storied Presley family has forever been enshrined in celebrity as America’s reigning pop culture icons, Elvis’ estate has long been the spigot of his heirs’ fortunes and misfortunes, spilling out from the gates of Graceland.

As Joel Weinshanker, managing partner of Elvis Presley Enterprises once said about another dispute involving the estate:

“People have been trying to take from Elvis since Elvis was Elvis.”

Inheriting a messy estate

When 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu met Elvis Presley in 1959, he was already Elvis. She was the stepdaughter of an U.S. Air Force officer, living in West Germany where the rocker, then 24, was stationed during his military service.

Four years later, Priscilla moved to Memphis and stepped inside the gilded cage of Elvis’ fame. In 1967, the couple married in Las Vegas. With the birth of their daughter Lisa Marie nine months later, a rock ‘n’ roll dynasty was born.

Lisa Marie was born in 1968, nine months after Elvis and Priscilla married in Las Vegas.

(Associated Press)

But life inside of the irresistible mythology of Elvis proved stifling. He was mostly on tour and in a haze of drugs and affairs. At 28, Priscilla divorced the rocker, but not his stardom.

She built an agile career out of the ashes of their romance. Priscilla went on to become an actress with a recurring role in the 1980s CBS hit series “Dallas,” starred in several of the “Naked Gun” movies and appeared in other television shows; she also authored books and launched a fragrance.

But she never strayed far from the buzzy afterlife of Elvis’ orbit.

When Elvis died in 1977, their daughter Lisa Marie was just nine and his father, Vernon Presley, took the reins as executor of his estate. After Vernon died in 1979, Priscilla, a successor trustee, assumed the role of primary manager.

Despite the celebrated influence and global popularity of Elvis, who was estimated to have earned anywhere between $100 million to $1 billion, his estate was in shambles — worth only about $5 million. Graceland’s costly maintenance and massive IRS bills were fast depleting Lisa Marie’s inheritance.

The poor state of affairs was due in part to Elvis’ profligate spending. He was known to lavish Cadillacs and jewelry on friends, many of whom were also on his payroll. But his fortune’s wane was exacerbated by the abusive control that his longtime manager Col. Tom Parker exerted over his business affairs.

Elvis performing in Honolulu in 1973.

(Pål Grandlund)

The cigar-chomping Parker, who died in 1997, was a former carnival barker and a compulsive gambler. He wasn’t, however, a colonel — the Dutch-born “Parker’s” real name was Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk.

During his time as Elvis’ manager, Parker took commissions as high as 50%, and frequently cut deals that enriched himself at the rocker’s expense.

Four years before Elvis died, Parker sold off his back catalog to RCA for $5.4 million (with Parker taking $2.6 million and Elvis $2.8 million), depriving the estate of untold millions in royalties.

In 1981, the co-executors of Elvis’ estate (an attorney separately represented Lisa Marie), sued Parker for massive fraud and mismanagement, claiming he received the “lion’s share” of Elvis’ income, even after his death. The parties eventually reached an out-of-court settlement.

Reviving Graceland

But the years of profound missteps and mismanagement left Elvis’ estate facing the prospect of bankruptcy and worse, having to sell Graceland. Priscilla brought in a team of financial advisors and lawyers who engineered a stunning financial turnaround.

In 1981, the Elvis Presley Trust created Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc. to conduct business and manage the trust’s assets, including Graceland, which was opened to the public the following year. Now a National Historic Landmark, the tourist shrine generates an estimated $10 million annually.

By the time Lisa Marie inherited her father’s estate upon her 25th birthday in 1993, the estate had rebounded. Two decades later, Graceland, along with the merchandising of Elvis’ image and managing his music royalties, was worth upward of $500 million.

Elvis on the grounds of his Graceland estate circa 1957.

(Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Then, in 2005, Elvis’ estate changed hands. Lisa Marie agreed to sell 85% of EPE’s assets, including her father’s likeness rights, to music entrepreneur Robert F.X. Sillerman and his company CKX Inc. for $114 million.

Under the deal, Lisa Marie retained 15% of the trust and received $50 million in cash as well as $26 million in CKX common and preferred stock. She also retained sole ownership of Graceland and her father’s personal items. Priscilla received $6.5 million for the use of the family name, Fortune reported.

But in 2013, CKX Inc. sold its majority interest in the estate to the intellectual property firm Authenic Brands Group for a reported $145 million.

The problems that had long trailed the estate surfaced again five years later.

This time it was Lisa Marie who alleged she had been duped. Then 50 and in the middle of divorcing her fourth husband Michael Lockwood, the father of her twin girls, she sued her business manager Barry Siegel. She claimed that as a result of his “reckless and negligent mismanagement” the trust had dwindled to just $14,000 and was left with $500,000 in credit card debt.

Lisa Marie Presley in her childhood bedroom at Graceland in 2012.

(Lance Murphey/AP)

Siegel denied the allegations and countersued, claiming that she had “squandered” her fortune as a result of her “excessive spending.” At the time, court filings related to her divorce from Lockwood, revealed that she was $16.7 million in debt.

A mother, daughter feud

When Lisa Marie died suddenly in January 2023 at the age of 54, another tense legal battle erupted over the estate and the trust Lisa Marie had set up.

Within weeks of her death, Priscilla went to court to challenge an amendment that removed her as a trustee, making her granddaughter, the actress Riley Keough, sole trustee. Priscilla’s lawyers argued that the signature was “inconsistent” with Lisa Marie’s handwriting.

The matter was settled five months later. Keough was named sole trustee. In exchange for stepping down, Priscilla received a $1-million lump sum payment paid out of Lisa Marie’s $25-million life insurance policy and was made a special advisor for a trust relating to EPE, for which she would receive $100,000 annually for 10 years or until her death.

Priscilla was also granted permission to be buried in the Meditation Garden at Graceland near Elvis’ gravesite and to be given a memorial service on the property.

‘Dame’ Kruse

By spring 2023, as Priscilla resolved her dispute with her daughter’s estate, Kruse’s presence and influence in her personal and business affairs deepened.

When they met, Priscilla was in her mid-70s and her main source of income derived from her paid personal appearances. Kruse’s suit described Presley’s celebrity as “a mere shadow of what it once was, and her earning potential was only a fraction of what it previously was.”

Moreover, she claimed that Priscilla was 60 days away from financial disaster, and drowning under $700,000 in outstanding tax debts.

Then 39, Kruse was publicly portrayed as a success, active in the worlds of celebrity and philanthropy and who spoke multiple languages. She highlighted her advocacy for children with autism and AIDS research; donating money to related causes and delivering toys to orphans in global conflict zones with her husband, Vahe Sislyan.

On social media and in news releases, Kruse showcased her activities and accolades, posting images alongside various marquee names such as the pop star Gwen Stefani and President Trump and his wife Melania.

In 2016, seven years after Kruse and her husband founded GWS, she was the first female auctioneer to make it into the Guinness Book of World Records (for selling the largest abandoned world property). Kruse formally added the honorific title “Dame” to her name after a member of the royal Italian Medici family conferred the title of Cavaliere, a kind of knighthood, on her.

In media interviews, Kruse liked to say that the sale of Elvis’ “lost jet” had seared her reputation as the rocker’s memorabilia dealer. Over the years she was prolific, selling a number of his items, including the Smith & Wesson that he was said to have purchased in 1973 after he was attacked onstage in Las Vegas.

According to Priscilla, she first met Kruse in June 2021 after the auctioneer texted her saying she’d like to meet for lunch.

They dined at Gucci Osteria in Beverly Hills followed by numerous other get-togethers in Los Angeles. Kruse introduced her to her “business partner,” Kevin Fialko, “an investor, experienced businessman, and financial expert,” who “would help Kruse get my financial affairs in order,” according to a declaration submitted by Priscilla.

Dame Brigitte Kruse and Priscilla Presley at an event in Orlando in 2023.

(Gerardo Mora/Getty Images)

“When I first met Brigitte Kruse, she wanted to involve me in her auction business,” she wrote in her March declaration.

From there, Kruse “quickly immersed herself” in Priscilla’s life, “often sending her multiple text messages a day, and “telling her how much she loved her and admired her,” according to her elder abuse complaint. She also talked up her credentials, lineage and expertise in the auction business as well as her “connections to celebrities.”

In September 2021, Priscilla participated in one of GWS’ online auctions that featured a private lunch with her and Kruse, with a portion of the proceeds going to a charity. A number of Elvis items were also auctioned off, such as the white eyelet jumpsuit cape he wore during his 1972 performances at Madison Square Garden and a jar of his hair.

“She’s just such a wealth of experience and knowledge. You don’t study and learn about Elvis without learning about Priscilla as well. Their names are synonymous,” Kruse told People.

The following year, Kruse’s GWS conducted an online auction billed as “The Lost Jewelry Collection of Elvis Presley and Colonel Tom Parker,” including watches, rings and cuff links that Elvis had bought or commissioned for his manager.

Although she didn’t own any of the items, Priscilla provided “letters of recollection” vouching for her personal historical memories of many of them, according to the auction’s online catalog notes.

“There is so much product out there that is not authentic at all and that worries me,” she said in a video with Reuters after viewing the collection. “I want to know for sure that that is going to go to someone who is going to care for it, love it.”

By January 2023, Priscilla and Kruse agreed to set up several companies to exploit Priscilla’s name and image and to bolster Kruse’s Elvis memorabilia auctions through Priscilla’s written “recollections.”

The terms of their agreement gave Kruse 51% and Presley 49% of Priscilla Presley Partners LLC, according to court filings.

Soon after, however, Priscilla alleged Kruse and Fialko “expanded the scope of their interest in my affairs, seeking to inject themselves into every area of my life.”

They gained her trust and isolated her from key advisors, setting the stage for “a meticulously planned and abhorrent scheme,” intended “to drain her of every last penny she had,” Presley alleged in her lawsuit.

Presley says that she was “fraudulently induced” to sign documents without the opportunity to review them in advance or “advised as to the nature of the paperwork.”

The contracts gave Kruse a controlling interest in her name, image and likeness in perpetuity. They also granted her power of attorney over Priscilla’s affairs and healthcare and named Kruse a trustee on her personal and family trusts, according to Priscilla’s declaration.

Along with Fialko, Kruse closed Priscilla’s bank accounts and opened new ones “in an effort to transfer the funds of Presley’s various personal, business and trust accounts.”

Priscilla claims she also signed a five-year lease on a house in Orlando, Fla., owned by Sislyan, that she never asked for or wanted.

Further, Priscilla alleges in a declaration that Kruse and Fialko leaned on Coppola to get a credit on the biopic and diverted $120,000 of money Presley earned from the film into their own accounts.

When Lisa Marie died, Priscilla contended that Kruse and Fialko improperly inserted themselves into her legal dispute over her daughter’s trust, she said in her complaint. They also had the “audacity” to demand that they were allowed “ to attend any memorial service for Presley in the future,” she added.

By August 2023, Priscilla severed ties with Kruse.

A lawyer representing Kruse and Fialko did not respond to a request for comment.

A few months later, Kruse, through Priscilla Presley Partners, sued for breach of contract, saying Priscilla asked Kruse to take over her business affairs, requiring her to “devote her attention full-time to managing Priscilla’s life” in order to “monetize various aspects of her [Presley’s] life.”

Kruse and Fialko maintained they worked tirelessly to keep Priscilla from “financial ruin and public embarrassment,” and that she fully understood the agreements she was signing.

Meanwhile, others began to question the authenticity around some of GWS’s Elvis sales.

When GWS held another online auction of Elvis memorabilia in January 2023 that included a one-of-a-kind grommet jacket that Elvis wore in 1972, it drew the attention of Elvis Presley Enterprises.

“We know there was only one made, and guess what? We have it in our archives,” Weinshanker, EPE’s managing partner, told NBC News, last July.

GWS said the claims were unsubstantiated: “GWS stands behind everything that it sells, and categorically denies tracking in fake or inauthentic items attributed to Elvis Presley, or otherwise.”

The tensions escalated last November, after GWS announced another “lost” collection auction of Elvis and Col. Parker memorabilia, comprising 400 items.

Priscilla Presley, her daughter Lisa Marie and grandaughters: Riley Keough, Harper Lockwood and Finley Lockwood at an event honoring the Presley family at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles in 2022.

(Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

The cache of documents included telegrams Elvis and Parker sent to Frank Sinatra, the Beatles and others, handwritten notes and Elvis’ signed 1956 contract with the New Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas, included in the auction, that rang alarm bells.

The estate’s lawyers in December sent a cease and desist letter to GWS, claiming the listed auction items were the property of Graceland and demanded their immediate return. Nonetheless, GWS went forward with the sale, contending in a letter it had acted appropriately.
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On Dec. 24, the estate sued GWS, Kruse and two others, claiming the items belonged to Graceland and were “improperly and illegally offered for sale at auction.” They sought to recover at least 74 “irreplaceable documents,” and alleged that the defendants were in “possession of perhaps thousands more such items.”

According to the suit, the allegedly “stolen” items were part of an enormous trove that the estate acquired from Parker in 1990 for $1.25 million. GWS has denied that it had engaged in “any wrongdoing whatsoever.”

Elvis’ estate alleges that a former Parker employee named Greg McDonald “took possession” of the documents that should have been turned over to Graceland after Parker died.

Instead, when McDonald died in 2024, his widow Sherry and son Thomas McDonald, who are named as defendants, “took possession of the Property and then delivered it to Brigitte Kruse for sale at GWS,” the lawsuit states.

The suit further asserted that Kruse was aware of the circumstances in which Greg McDonald obtained the items before putting them up for sale. In an email thread between Kruse and Graceland’s longtime archivist in 2021, included in the filings, Kruse wrote that she had a video of her in conversation with McDonald in which he “admits to knowing of the theft,” in regards to the documents.

Over 600,000 visitors go to Graceland each year, earning the estate an estimated $10 million annually.

(Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)

An attorney for Kruse disputed the claim, saying in a statement that when she had informed the Elvis estate of the existence of McDonald’s collection in 2021, “they did not make a claim to Mr. McDonald alleging that the collection was not rightfully his.”

GWS “never maintained care, custody or control of any of the items” that were auctioned,” the statement read. “We will continue to respect the judicial process and the outcome of the ongoing litigation.”

In a statement to The Times on behalf of himself and his mother, Thomas McDonald said: “The property in which Graceland and Elvis Presley Enterprises are asserting ownership has been in my family’s possession for over forty years as gifts from the Colonel. I am committed to resolving this dispute and vindicating my family’s rights as expediently and fairly as possible.”

Lawyers for EPE and Graceland Holdings did not respond to a request for comment.

As the various lawsuits were unfolding, last April, GWS Auctions was suspended by the Franchise Tax board in California, effectively losing its standing to operate legally due to noncompliance with tax requirements.

In court filings, Kruse and her co-defendants are cited as saying that GWS is “defunct.” However, GWS’ website remains active and currently lists the results of its most recent auction: the Artifacts of Hollywood and Music sale held on June 7 (that included the racing helmet Elvis wore in “Viva Las Vegas,” that sold for $6,500).

Last month, Elvis’ former wife scored a legal win when a Los Angeles Superior Court judge denied a motion by Kruse and her business associates to temporarily put a hold on the elder abuse lawsuit in an effort to move the litigation to Florida.

In his ruling, Judge Mark H. Epstein expressed frustration with the defendants’ “never-ending series of motions,” underscoring that this was not a a contract-based case. Presley “is suing these defendants for fraud and elder abuse, an aspect of which was allegedly bamboozling her into signing those agreements in the first place.”

The ongoing clash with Kruse has left Priscilla “devastated,” said her attorney, Wayne Harman. “We look forward to the court holding defendants fully accountable for their actions,” he said in a statement.

Amid the fallout with Kruse, the estate faced another controversy.

A mysterious company, Naussany Investments & Private Lending, presented documents claiming that Lisa Marie had borrowed $3.8 million and put up Graceland as collateral but had failed to repay the loan before she died.

But it was an elaborate scam, according to federal authorities, who in August arrested a Missouri woman, Lisa Jeanine Findley, alleging she used fake documents to “steal the family’s ownership interest in Graceland” and attemped to put it up for sale.

In February, Findley pleaded guilty to mail fraud for her role in the scheme and is scheduled to be sentenced this week. She faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Kim Woodburn has sadly died at the age of 83, but her iconic Celebrity Big Brother moments will always be remembered by fans

Kim Woodburn was an icon but she has sadly died at the age of 83. As well as her role on Channel 4’s How Clean Is Your House, she was one of the most iconic Celebrity Big Brother contestants.

A statement released by her family confirmed she had died after a short illness. They said: “It is with immense sadness that we let you know our beloved Kim Woodburn passed away yesterday following a short illness.

“Kim was an incredibly kind, caring, charismatic and strong person. Her husband Peter is heartbroken at the loss of his soulmate. We are so proud of the amazing things Kim achieved in her life and career. We kindly ask that Kim’s husband and close friends are given the time and privacy they need to grieve. We will not be releasing any further details.”

Adulterer spat with Jamie

Kim found herself temporarily removed from the Celebrity Big Brother house as a row broke out over who had the toughest life to date. Nicola and Kim already didn’t see eye to eye and as the discussions continued, tensions rose.

“You are the most two-faced people!” Kim shouted at them, with Nicola then responding: “When I’m your age and when I’m a grandmother, I will be so disappointed if I ever behave like you! Go to the Diary Room and don’t ever come back!'”

Kim did go to the diary room when she said: “I haven’t got a clue what this is all about. She [Nicola] is the mafia! The mafia won’t break me dear. They’re being nasty for no reason and they’re picking on me.”

Later, she headed back out to the house where the fight broke out again. She told Nicola and Bianca Gascoigne: “I’ll cross you so badly and you’ll regret it for the rest of your life! You want trouble and you’ll get it!

“You will never get the better of me! Give up, you horrible horrible girl!” Jamie then got involved and that was when she told them all: “You’re an absolute disgrace! You’re a bunch of chinless wonders!”

Jamie told her: “You’ve come in here and you’ve picked on young girls! I wouldn’t p**s on you if you were on fire!” to which she replied: “Well I wouldn’t s**t on you, if you were on fire! You’re an adulterer… you two-timed your wife and she’s got three kids!”

Nicola McClean row

It was always fireworks between the pair during their joint time in the house. During one argument, Kim did try and apologise to Nicola, saying she was “one of these people” who will say if something annoys her but Nicola was unconvinced and said that Kim had come to argue and called her deluded as their bitter war of words continued.

In one huge row, Kim called Nicola “Miss Insecure”. She fumed at her: “Shut up big gob! Miss Insecure. Don’t start with me… You’re a vile creature, who is jealous of everything and everybody.”

Speaking a few years later, Nicola was asked if she had ever made up with Kim and she said: “No absolutely not. It shouldn’t have been allowed the way she treated me in there… I swear I’ve still got Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from hearing her stomping around.”

Kim’s own words

Speaking of her experience on the show, Kim described her housemates as “filthy dirty scum”.

“If I were told I was going on a show with any of them, I’d refuse to go. I don’t care how much they’d pay me. If any of them were on there, I couldn’t sit in the same room as them. They know who they are filthy, dirty scum. Sorry, no,” she said.

“I may have been shouting and mouthy because I was terribly upset. They were horrible to me; six or seven of them were nasty people. I don’t know why they did it. They’ve got nothing to be proud of.”

She added: “You see these celebrities saying, ‘I’ve come in here for the experience’ – absolutely not, they’re not in there for the experience, what to get filthy, stinking and dirty in the jungle? No, no. I wish one of them… would just turn around and say, ‘I’m here for the money!’ other than me. What’s the shame in it? You work for the money!”

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The Voice UK reportedly won’t be returning to TV screens until 2026, with the ITV show having also welcomed a new judge in a huge shake-up

Fans of The Voice are going to have to wait much longer for the new series to air, it’s been revealed.

The hit talent show usually airs during the autumn months on ITV, but according to reports, The Voice won’t be back on TV screens until 2026.

The Sun has reported that the programme will be back in January and will air during the weekend, with TV bosses in the midst of switching up the schedule.

That’s not the only big change happening, as The Voice is also due to welcome a new judge, who will make their TV debut during the upcoming series.

American singer Kelly Rowland will be joining The Voice as a new mentor, following the exit of LeAnn Rimes, who left to focus on her career in the US and has now joined the American edition of The Voice.

Kelly will join will.i.am and Sir Tom Jones on the red chairs, as well as McFly stars Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones, who joined the show last year.

Destiny’s Child singer Kelly has previously judge on The X Factor and also been a coach on The Voice Australia in the past.

Speaking about her latest career venture, Kelly said: “I am excited to join The Voice UK as a coach, and am looking forward to working with the excellent and passionate coaches the show is known for.

“I can’t wait to hear all the new talent and to go to battle for my team. Let’s go!”

Emma Willis will be back on hosting duties, as she helps the mentors to search for their next winner, who will take home a £50,000 cash prize and be awarded a record deal with Universal Music.

Emma said of the upcoming series: “I’m so excited to be back for another series of The Voice UK. It’s one of the most joyful shows to work on – full of passion, talent and of course those unforgettable moments when the chairs turn.

“With our brilliant coaches returning and the utterly fabulous Kelly Rowland joining the panel, I know this series is going to be something really special.”

The Voice UK is due to begin filming again during the summer. The show is produced by Lifted Entertainment, a part of ITV Studios, and airs on ITV1 and ITVX.

The Voice UK is available to watch on ITVX.

Celebrities definitely know how to party but now a new destination is proving more popular than Ibiza. Famous stars like Dua Lipa and Chloe Sims from The Only Way is Essex have all holidayed there and it’s less pricey too

While Ibiza in Spain is still the top celebrity vacation spot, leading in both celebrity visits and 20million Instagram tags, it’s not the only party destination attracting the ‘in crowd’.

A recent study by Otherworld has identified the top celebrity-approved holiday spots of 2025 based on confirmed celebrity sightings from 2023 to 2025. These destinations were ranked using Instagram hashtag counts, Google searches, number of fine dining venues, and average cost per night at a 5-star hotel.

And while the Dominican Republic came in second, you may be surprised by which destination slipped into third.

Tulum in Mexico has a spectacular coastline, overlooks the Caribbean Sea and has welcomed famous holidaymakers including Lottie Moss and Austin Butler to name just a few. It’s slightly more popular on Instagram than the Dominican Republic, with 9.4 million tags.

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But what really sets it apart is the cost, at $251 per night – or £186 – for a five-star hotel, making it the most budget-friendly luxury spot on this list.

However, some visitors warn this magical paradise is losing its appeal because it’s becoming overrun with tourists.

Tulum attracts close to two million visitors every year – a number expected to rise sharply following the opening of Tulum International Airport.

Travel experts over at Lonely Planet still hail the destination for its ‘cobalt water’, stunning beaches, and close proximity to ancient Mayan ruins as well as the underground world of cenotes.

Often dubbed ‘the new Dubai’ by the flock of influencers flying out there to impress their fans. You can fly to Tulum, Mexico from London, Manchester and Birmingham – with most routes including a stopover in New York.

A spokesperson from Otherworld commented on the study: “Some places attract stars because they’re remote and private, others because they’re easy to post about. What’s interesting is how much that mix varies.

“You’ve got destinations where everything’s built around luxury, and others where it’s about vibe and visibility. That difference is shaping how people, celebrity or not, think about where they want to go next.”

Meanwhile, Ibiza, Spain is one of the top celebrity-approved vacation spots of 2025, with stars like Leonardo DiCaprio and Kendall Jenner spotted there in the last two years.

The spot has over 20million Instagram tags, and offers the most fine dining options (136). Five-star hotels average $695 a night, which is less than many other luxury destinations.

The Dominican Republic stands out for its number of luxury stays, with over 3,200 resorts and villas, more than any other place here.

It may not be as Instagram-famous as Ibiza, but it still pulls strong celebrity interest, including Jennifer Lopez and Shakira. At $359 per night, it also offers some of the lowest five-star rates.

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