Couple

They left the UK earlier this year with their sons aged six and four

A couple ‘retired’ by 33 and 32 ditched the UK to travel the world with their kids – spending just £60 a day.

Ryan Blackley, 35, and wife Jess, 34, headed out to Chang Mai, Thailand, on February 24, 2026, with sons Noah, six, and Bodhi, four. They had travelled together back in 2016 before having children and say they knew their future would “lie outside the UK”.

By renting out the two flats and family home they still own, the pair class themselves as retired and can fund their new lifestyle with the profits. The original plan to move to Portugal and travel Europe changed when they realised the climate would be warmer in the winter months in Asia, making the jump to move 5,800 miles away.

Leaving with just two suitcases and a backpack each, the couple reckon they spend an average of £1,800 each month compared to their £2,200 per month costs in the UK. They also bring in an estimated £2,500 monthly from their rentals.

They don’t plan to return to live in the UK and have a five-year Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) – which allows them to both live and work remotely there. With plans to continue world-schooling their sons, so far they say they are “thriving” in their new life.

Ryan, originally from Cambridge, said: “We had a plan basically of how to get out of the UK and that was through property. But I think we obviously had a good life in the UK, but it got to a point where I guess we felt that the UK wasn’t the right place for us to live and bring up kids.

“The cost of living is insane. We’ve got two boys and at some point they are going to want to go out on their own and we don’t feel the UK is a safe country anymore because knife crime is massive and I don’t want one of the kids being a statistic of knife crime anymore.

“The school system is a very outdated system. For us, the whole concept of life is backwards because you’ve got to go to school, work and then enjoy life when you’re 68 years old.

“Who knows one, if you’ll be alive then and then two, health-wise what that will be. This way we’re teaching the kids everything.

“They know how to read, write, maths, English etc and then learn the skills they don’t get taught at school. We both class ourselves as retired because the property work requires minimal upkeep and effort.”

Mum Jess said they got caught up in the “monotony” of school runs back in the UK. “Every time I’d pick Noah up from school I’d ask ‘how was your day blah blah blah’,” she said.

“He’d say ‘these kids were naughty today’ or ‘these kids got their names on the board’ and I never heard positive things. I thought ‘what’s the point?’.

“I feel like a lot of the school day is spent controlling the class and troublesome kids. How much is actually spent learning?”

After buying her first flat at 20 for £120,000, Jess rented it out and the couple bought their second flat for £145,000 after they saved up some money while travelling and working abroad for two-and-a-half years – visiting 27 countries. They went ahead and sold it for £183,000, before buying another two-bed flat £190,000 – and finally buying their four-bed family home in 2021.

Renting them all out either through Airbnb or with private tenants, they have been able to retire early after bringing in £2,500 per month.

“Obviously we still have the house in the UK and if this all fails, we’ll simply go back,” Ryan said. “We’ve done nearly six months already and I don’t see us ever returning, not in a living capacity but literally just to visit the family.

“It’s crazy we lived in the house and all we travel with is two large suitcases and a backpack each. It makes you realise you don’t need much in life.”

Flying out in February to Chang Mai, after their 60-day tourist visa expired they crossed the border to Laos and applied for their five-year DTV. Since then, they have travelled around Thailand, including visits to Chang Rai, Bangkok, Udon Thani and Kanchanaburi. Currently in Koh Samui, they plan to visit Malaysia and Singapore next.

“The plan still is to travel the world, but having a base in Asia makes it easier,” Ryan said. “We’ve basically got freedom and don’t have to be anywhere by a certain date or time.

“It’s just the four of us and we pretty much go with the flow. It’s just nice being free”.

The couple have stayed in a mixture of Airbnbs, apartments and hotels and only usually book their next spot a few days in advance. They don’t budget, but Ryan said he made a note of everything they spend and they have been eating out for lunch and dinner since their travels began.

“We’re quite fine with the simple life, like eating Thai food,” he said. “We don’t drink alcohol or go to bars or fancy restaurants.

“The rolling average from the last five months is £1,800 for the month for four of us. We were everyday people, just a normal family who had a dream to get out and travel the world and give our kids a different life.

“I can understand it can be scary because it’s going into the unknown and going away from your family and friends, home comforts and everything. But if you don’t try it out, how do you know you’re not going to like it?”

You can follow Ryan and Jess on Instagram and YouTube @blackleysabroad TikTok @travelwiththeblackleys.

Ryan and Jess’ cost breakdown

UK costs per month

Mortgage – £1,459

Bills – £427

Food – £400

Total: £2,296

Thailand costs in July

Accommodation – £790

Food – £350 a month

Other – Days out, transport, miscellaneous- average per month £420

Total: £1,560

Rolling average per month: £1,800

Sandra Bullock has opened up about her late partner Bryan Randall’s private battle with ALS.

The “Practical Magic 2” star discussed what it was like to care for Randall while honoring his request to keep his amyotrophic lateral sclerosis diagnosis a secret for years during her appearance on the “SmartLess” podcast.

“I wasn’t allowed to speak about it,” Bullock told hosts Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes in a clip of the episode posted by TMZ. “That was the request, and I honored it. … He asked me not to share … and it isolated me in the process.”

She explained that Randall, who died in 2023 at age 57, had been ill for half of their relationship and that his diagnosis came amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bullock and Randall had also kept their relationship fairly private. The couple started dating in 2015 after they reportedly met at Bullock’s son Louis’ fifth birthday party. Randall, a photographer, had been hired to capture images of the celebration. Bullock also has a younger daughter, Laila, whom she adopted in 2015. The couple was also raising Randall’s older daughter, Skylar.

Over the years, Bullock and Randall debunked rumors about their engagement and marriage numerous times.

“I don’t need a paper to be a devoted partner and devoted mother,” Bullock said in 2021.

The “Ocean’s 8” star described Randall’s diagnosis as “traumatic” and that she had started grieving him four years before his death. Bullock’s sister, Gesine Bullock-Prado, had been the only person who had known about Randall’s diagnosis “for a while” although the actor eventually also confided in friends Jennifer Aniston and Bateman’s wife, Amanda Anka, according to People.

“My person left a lot earlier than the body left,” Bullock said in the podcast. “I don’t think I ever dealt with that until after he passed.”

Bullock’s episode of the “SmartLess” podcast will be released on Aug. 24 but is available now to SiriusXM early access subscribers.

They fear replacement flights today may also be grounded

A couple have been trapped in Italy for a week after a volcanic eruption saw their flights cancelled. Barbara Krmelj, 35, and partner Roy Barone, 46, went to Sicily to spend a week’s holiday with his parents. They were due to fly back to their home in Hackney, east London, on August 11 – but when Mount Etna became active that day, their flights were cancelled as a red warning level was issued.

The couple have had to take an extra week’s leave from their jobs and find alternative sitters for their two cats back at home as they remain “trapped” in the seaside town of Marina di Modica. They have alternative flights provided by the airline for August 17 but anticipate having to pay around £700 to rebook with a different airline if those are cancelled too, which they feel is likely.

They remain in a small holiday home owned by Roy’s family but say they “feel like a weight on his parents” to overstay. They checked but said the only hotel available would have cost over £2,000 for five nights because of high demand as it coincides with Ferragosto, a holiday period across Italy which sees people flock to the region.

Sales associate Barbara said: “On the way to the airport to fly back to London we got a message that our flight was cancelled. Eventually we managed to get a flight for the 17th, but the budget we allocated for our holiday is gone now. We have come back to Roy’s parents but the place is small and we feel like a weight on them now. We’ve had to organise for our friends to pop over to our home in London because the cat sitters we booked are done now.

“We’ve been paying for things like food and drinks with credit cards – and if we aren’t able to fly on the 17th we’ll have to book new flights. If we have to book new flights it will have cost us around £1,000 in total. It’s a beautiful city, but the holiday has turned into a frustration now as we want to go back home to our pets now. We can’t enjoy all the beauty around us as we feel trapped on the island.”

Barbara and Roy have been paying elevated prices for taxis to travel around due to high demand due to the Ferragosto festival. They said they have seen a steady flow of ash over the region as well as eruptions in the distance coming from Mount Etna.

The couple did not purchase travel insurance ahead of the trip. Barbara said: “We have had a chat with a few other tourists, people are definitely frustrated. People have been sleeping at the airport – when we went, people were sleeping or sitting in every hallway. There was no space even to sit and organise ourselves when we were trying to rebook flights.

“We were given a hotel for one night when our flights were cancelled, and thank God we have Roy’s parents here. I don’t know what people are doing when they don’t know other people living here.

“When we tried to go and stay at a hotel, there was nothing we could book, the prices had skyrocketed, it was around £2,000 for five days and there were only one or two options.”

The couple are going to the beach each day and trying to make the best of their situation but say they are no longer enjoying the once-relaxing trip. Barbara added: “We’ll have spent over our budget by about £1,000 if we end up having to rebook flights.

“We’ve been using credit cards because you do what you have to do in this situation, but we have to be careful, we don’t have a lot of money left because we didn’t expect this. Ordinarily, the holiday was lovely, and I’d recommend the area to everyone. But now the holiday has turned into a frustration.”

ROMANTIC David and Victoria Beckham returned to the hotel where they sealed their love on a first holiday in 1997.

The couple went back this weekend to the retreat where they holidayed in secret 29 years ago before making their relationship public.

Posh and Becks shared a photo of themselves on a balcony overlooking the Med at the Splendido hotel in Portofino on the Italian Riviera.

Mum-of-four Victoria, 52, wrote next to the image: “Back in Portofino where we began in 1997.”

David, 51, also shared a video of his wife walking into the £2,000-a-night hotel and wrote: “29 years ago we came to Portofino to this hotel before anyone knew we were dating and here we are back again.”

In a Netflix documentary, Victoria revealed a never-before-seen picture from the 1997 trip, saying it was the first time they had met away from a car park where they secretly dated.

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She said: “I know, it makes it sound like we’re really dodgy. We’d already fallen in love before then, but it was definitely the first time that we’d been somewhere so romantic and so private.”

They got engaged the next year.

On their current trip, the pair stopped for a drink before returning to their yacht moored at Portofino.

They are holidaying with son Cruz, 21, and daughter, Harper, 15.

People look for love wherever their heart takes them, but for Assn. of Volleyball Professionals players Chaim Schalk and Toni Rodriguez, they didn’t have to look far to find it.

“I said ‘I love you’ first,” Schalk said.

The beach volleyball power couple is competing in the AVP Manhattan Beach Open this weekend, continuing to focus on the competitive volleyball circuit that first brought them together.

The couple met briefly while playing at various beach volleyball events, but they really got to know each other and clicked while spending three weeks together during tournaments in China, India and the Philippines. Schalk told Rodriguez he would take her out to dinner at her favorite restaurant, but there was a catch. Rodriguez had to win her upcoming tournament in order to go out with Schalk.

American Chaim Schalk digs the ball during a match against Cubans Nosien Diaz Amaro and Jorge Luis Alayo Moliner during the 2025 Beach Volleyball World Championships at on Nov. 20 in Adelaide, Australia.

(Mark Brake / Getty Images)

Rodriguez made Schalk live up to his promise. The couple went to their favorite fast-food joint, Cafe Rio, because it was something they bonded over during their overseas trip.

“She texted me, ‘Cafe Rio on you?’ after winning,” Schalk said. “And then she flew back [to California] the next day, and we went there.”

Rodriguez didn’t need any motivation to win gold to go out with her future fiancé, but it didn’t hurt. She said that Schalk keeps her level-headed when it comes to playing on the beach.

Schalk has played on the biggest beach volleyball stages. He represented Canada at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. One of his proudest moments was defeating a Brazil team on its home soil.

Chaim Schalk and Ben Saxton of Canada play beach volleyball against Pedro Solberg and Evandro Goncalves Oliveira Junior of Brazil during the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

(Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)

“Beating Brazil in front of 15,000 fans is something that I’ll never forget,” Schalk said.

He called playing in the Olympics the pinnacle of any sport and making Team Canada has been the highlight of his career.

Schalk has had dual-citizenship since birth and has switched his affiliation to Team USA. He hopes to qualify for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles and play alongside Rodriguez. He is a two-time AVP League Champion and three-time winner on the AVP Tour.

His love for volleyball dates back to his time in Canada as a young boy playing with his brothers in their massive grassy backyard.

“I personally love volleyball. I love competing and love trying to win,” Schalk said.

Rodriguez grew up in St. Amant, La., and was focused on volleyball from a young age before playing the sport in high school and at Louisiana State.

American Toni Rodriguez plays a shot against Reika Murakami and Suzuka Hashimoto of Japan during a Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour match in 2022.

(Matt Roberts / Getty Images)

The LSU graduate wanted to play indoor volleyball in college, but she couldn’t because of injuries and instead joined the beach volleyball team.

“Once I got to the LSU beach team and started learning the game and actually playing, I just came to find a new love for the sport,” Rodriguez said. “Once I started playing, there were a lot of opportunities to leave Louisiana and potentially play professionally.”

After three seasons at LSU, Rodriguez moved to California to begin her beach volleyball career. Schalk also left Alberta, Canada, to focus on his beach volleyball career.

“I moved in 2013 to California to train full time and play beach volleyball full time,” Schalk said, who along with Rodriguez lives in Gardena. “I didn’t know I would be here for this long, so it’s definitely different. I love California, and I think it’s a beautiful place to live and we’re lucky to live close to L.A.”

Rodriguez has won two FIVB gold medals. In 2024, she was part of the the first AVP League championship team and joined Molly Shaw winning silver, bronze and gold medals during three consecutive Challenger events in three different countries during a three-week span.

Schalk and Rodriguez have great affection for a sport that took them around the world before they met each other. Schalk said competing in Switzerland near the Swiss Alps was special.

“I have been there about eight times, but that place, for me, is my favorite place I’ve ever played at,” Schalk said.

While they chase AVP and Olympic wins, the couple also are planning a wedding after Schalk surprised Rodriguez with a bold question early in their relationship.

After only officially dating for two days following Rodriguez’s tournament, Schalk invited Rodriguez to Kauai, Hawaii, in January.

Rodriguez had a hunch he might propose because they had formed such a tight bond during their overseas trip.

They went on a hike with Schalk’s brother and kids to a spot with a beautiful jungle view and large swing.

Schalk’s family set up the proposal spot while everyone was walking to the site. Once they arrived, Schalk turned to Rodriguez, got down on one knee and asked her to marry him.

“I blacked out. It was perfect,” Rodriguez recalled.

The couple is set to get married this fall in El Segundo.

A couple appearing on Escape To The Country were forced to leave their dream home after a major setback

A couple desperate for a fresh start were left facing a heart-breaking wait.

The duo wanted to start a new chapter and move to the countryside following a devastating accident that changed their lives forever. But their plans were put on hold because their current property is yet to sell so they couldn’t put an offer on their dream property.

Sarah and Matt appeared on a previous episode of the Escape to the Country as they searched for a fresh start in the Herefordshire countryside following a devastating cycling accident.

The couple had been happily settled in Berkshire when tragedy struck in 2019. Matt was involved in a horrific cycling accident which left him needing to have his arm amputated. He was airlifted to hospital and spent a month in a coma following the crash.

Years on from the life-changing accident, the couple were hoping a move to the countryside could mark the beginning of a brighter chapter.

With a budget of £650,000, they were looking for a modern or new-build property with at least three bedrooms, bathrooms on more than one floor, room to park their camper van and, importantly, a strong sense of community.

Presenter Sonali Shah joined them in their search — but before the property hunt got under way, Matt opened up about the accident which had turned his world upside down.

He recalled cycling downhill in wet conditions when his bike suddenly lost grip. “I was coming down a hill, but it was raining, then it was dry, then it was raining. The roads were very greasy,” he explained.

Matt said a cyclist behind him later told him that as he went around a bend, his bike “just went straight on”, sending him into an oncoming car.

Incredibly, the car was being driven by a doctor, who was travelling with her daughter and son-in-law, who were also doctors.

Their medical knowledge proved crucial in the immediate aftermath. As Matt tried to describe what happened, he became overcome with emotion.

“And her son-in-law held my head up for an…” he began, before Sarah stepped in. “An hour,” she explained. “So he turned down and Matt had stopped breathing and they knew. So most people would say don’t touch someone, but he turned Matt straight away.”

Matt later said the man had held his head for what could have been “an hour and a half” after realising he had stopped breathing. The couple’s devastating experience made their search for a new home particularly poignant.

And after viewing several properties arranged by Sonali, one house appeared to offer exactly the kind of new beginning they had been hoping for.

The Victorian property had double-aspect sitting rooms, four bedrooms and a garden stretching across half an acre. It also featured an annex extension which could be used for the couple’s business. Priced at £650,000, it was within their budget — and the house appeared to capture their imagination immediately.

For Matt, however, it represented far more than simply another property. Standing in the garden, he reflected on how dramatically his life had changed since the accident. “If I hadn’t had the accident, we wouldn’t be standing here in this garden, looking at this beautiful property,” he said.

Visibly emotional, Matt added: “It’s almost like however negative you feel, there is always a great positive to come and that’s how it feels to me. From a bad, dark place I’ve been in, this is the brightest I’ve felt in a very long time.”

But despite falling for the property and seeing it as a potential new beginning, the couple faced a frustrating obstacle. Their dream of escaping to the countryside was effectively on hold because they were still waiting to find a buyer for their existing Berkshire home.

You can stream Escape to the Country on BBC iPlayer

The company advised them to leave the apartment immediately

A couple were forced to flee their Airbnb after they found hidden cameras pointed directly at their bed. Donna and Raymond Nunn had travelled to Madrid, Spain on a “bucket-list” trip to celebrate their 39th wedding anniversary this month.

When they first arrived at the apartment in Lavapies, a central suburb of Madrid, on August 3, 2026 they noticed a motion sensor in the living room pointed towards the front door. There were no flashing lights so they decided to not worry.

The following day while Donna, 62, was out sightseeing Raymond, 87, noticed a camera in the bedroom facing the bed with a green light flashing. The couple reached out to Airbnb for advice and were told to leave the apartment immediately, but it was 8pm so they were forced to stay overnight until they could safely find another place to stay the following day.

Donna and Raymond, who was in the Royal Artillery for 25 years, left in the morning for an apartment two hours south of Madrid. Donna, a pensioner originally from Kent, said: “We live in Spain but we were going to Madrid as a bucket-list trip that we’ve wanted to do for ages and to celebrate our 39th wedding anniversary this month.

“We booked in March and had a typical conversation with the host who planned to meet us there. When we first arrived, the host was nowhere to be found but instructed us via webchat as to how to get into the property.

“When we finally made it inside the apartment, we noticed the camera in the living room as it was facing us as we walked in, but there were no lights on it so we presumed it was off. However we didn’t notice the camera in the bedroom until the next day after we had already slept in the bed.

“I was out sightseeing but my husband is less mobile so stayed at home and he noticed the light in the camera was flickering. The light wasn’t on the day before so I think it was one that can be remotely turned on and off when the host wants. We were extremely frightened by the discovery.

“The camera was about four inches in length and tucked in the corner, but pointed directly towards the bed. It can’t have been there for security reasons. It felt like we were being watched inside what should have been a safe and private space.”

Donna said the couple were terrified and contacted Airbnb straight away on August 4. She said: “We were both shaking when we realised, and reached out to Airbnb. They told us to leave immediately which made us even more worried.

“It was about 8 o’clock at night by that point so it was too late for us to move and we couldn’t find another place close by. Raymond took the camera off the wall and turned it around but it was horrifying. We managed to book another place a couple of hours away, which was nice but meant that we couldn’t finish the sightseeing.

“It’s a shame because we will never go back to Madrid now because of this.”

The couple left the Airbnb on August 5, 2026 just two days after they arrived for the anniversary trip. In 2024, Airbnb introduced a worldwide ban on the use of security cameras inside rental properties following a consultation with guests, hosts and privacy experts.

The rules allow the use of doorbell cameras and noise monitors in common areas, but these have to be disclosed on the property’s listing page. Airbnb have taken the listing off of the website and Donna and Raymond have received a full refund for the trip and the rebooking.

An Airbnb spokesperson said: “We have issued a full refund to the guest and have suspended the listing while we conduct a further investigation into this matter. In 2024, we banned all indoor security cameras in listings regardless of where they are placed, or whether they are deactivated during guest stays. In the rare event of a violation of our policy on security cameras we take appropriate action, which can include removing listings and users from Airbnb.

“Stays reserved through Airbnb are overwhelmingly defined by positive experiences, and we take any reports of issues made to us seriously.”

Jeff and Debb Knapp met, fell in love and got married on a cruise ship – but the cramped conditions do produce arguements

Jeff and Debb Knapp uprooted their life on land, trading it for permanent living on cruise ships. They have not been on land for a single night in more than two years and are fully booked to continue living like this until April 2028.

Despite the monthly £7,500 cost for their tiny 28 square-meter suit, the couple claim their unique lifestyle is cheaper than owning a home. Now in their mid-50s, the couple don’t stay on one ship but rather switch between different Celebrity Cruises ships with back-to-back itineraries and hopes to keep their lifestyle like this “forever”.

“Instead of cramped quarters, we see it as living in a luxury suite where our living room expands to include the entire ship, the ocean, and a new destination outside our balcony almost every single morning,” Jeff told http://creatorzine.com

“When you cross off a mortgage, rent, utilities, car payments, auto insurance, property taxes, vehicle repairs, and grocery bills, the math works out heavily in our favour. Right now, we are fully booked all the way until April 2028, and our plan is to keep doing this forever.”

In their cramped living quarters, Jeff assures no arguments get too out of hand: “Our minor disagreements usually come down to someone’s tone of voice when they are tired or hungry. A few hours of rest or a good meal quickly fixes everything.”

While their monthly costs hit an eye-watering £7,500, the couple do save some money by living on cruise ships through avoiding everyday purchases like groceries. They use the onboard doctors for day-to-day medical needs and arrange routine appointments for during port stops or breaks on land.

Travel visas and entry requirements are also tracked around their constantly changing itineraries.

Jeff said: “People constantly ask if we ever get bored but honestly, there is not even enough time in the day to do everything available to us. We have not been bored a single day since we met.”

Jeff and Debb first met by chance on the Celebrity Ascent in February 2024. They were both travelling solo when they happened to strike up a conversation at the ship’s cafe.

They discovered they both shared one vital common interest: cruises. At that time, 52-year-old Jess and 53-year-old Debb had a combined total of 90 cruises booked and many of their future itineraries were identical.

After spending numerous cruises together, Jeff decided he wanted to make their life at sea permanent and proposed on the Celebrity Beyond in April 2025. The couple legally got married in Miami that June and held a second wedding on the same ship in November.

Permanently living at sea had been Debb’s dream for decades after stepping on her first ever cruise ship in 1995. She spent nearly three decades hard at work for the Washington State government and flipping properties to achieve her dream.

Jeff, on the other hand, had avoided cruises for much of his life due to having seasickness on local ferries. The former craftsman was eventually persuaded to try a cruise and when he discovered the larger, modern ships didn’t make him ill, he was hooked on a life at sea.

Both Jeff and Debb had been teenage parents before their chance meeting, and together they have six adult children and five grandchildren. Despite their globe-trotting lifestyle, they make family time a priority with video chats and live streams, or even getting their family members to join a cruise.

The couple has also built a following online through their The Ship Show content brand, sharing the realities, costs and tips of living aboard cruise ships. But despite their unconventional home, they say the lifestyle has given them the freedom they wanted.

Peter Wiles and his wife Rogelyn Caresosa had been planning to go on a holiday to Cappadocia in Turkey, but their holiday ended at Manchester Airport where Turkish Airlines stopped them from boarding

A man was left ‘questioning his sanity’ after he and his wife missed a Turkish Airlines flight.

Peter Wiles and Rogelyn Caresosa had been looking forward to a romantic getaway in Cappadocia, a region of Turkey famous for its colourful hot air balloons and multi-level subterranean cities carved out of soft volcanic ash stone over thousands of years.

The couple married in 2024, paving the way for Rogelyn to move to the UK on a spouse visa and live with her factory worker husband. Having saved up the cash for the May 2025 getaway, Peter splashed out £973.30 for flights from Manchester Airport.

Both Peter and Rogelyn were distraught when their dream getaway ended at the airport.

“My wife was devastated, we had to get a taxi home as it was late on a Sunday and the trains had finished,” Peter told the Mirror. “This whole debacle has honestly had me questioning my sanity at times!”

Peter had booked and paid for two Turkish Airlines return flights to Turkey for himself and his Filipino wife, as part of a single booking in his name, using his Tesco Bank credit card.

They encountered a small difficulty in booking. Because Rogelyn holds a UK spouse visa, her old Biometric Residence Permit (BRP) card had technically expired at the end of 2024 under the UK’s switch to digital eVisas, although her actual immigration status remains valid until 2027.

Before applying for Turkey’s eVisa, Rogelyn called the Turkish Consulate, which advised her to use her BRP number rather than her UK “share code” as the “additional visa number” on the form.

However, once at Manchester Airport, a Turkish Airlines gate agent rejected this, insisting the share code should have been used instead. This is despite the eVisa printout they presented, which stated that “eVisas of other countries are NOT accepted as supporting documents.”

Ultimately, Rogelyn was denied boarding and so the couple were left at the airport, their plane leaving without them.

Peter has now been left fighting to get his money back, attempting to claim it back via his bank and Turkish Airlines. So far, he has been unsuccessful. He claims that Turkish Airlines refused to give a clear written explanation for the refusal, at various points citing a vague “issue” with the visa, then claiming the couple were a “no show”.

Following a request from Peter, Tesco Bank raised a chargeback, which the airline contested twice, before Tesco Bank ultimately dropped it. The bank accepted the airline’s “flight operated as scheduled” explanation, despite that not addressing why boarding was denied.

Peter would go on to report the incident to the Ombudsman, but she ruled against him on technical grounds: no valid Debtor-Creditor-Supplier agreement existed for the wife’s ticket because she, not Peter, was the one denied boarding.

The lengthy and frustrating process has left Peter doubting himself. “I’ve developed a complex about being misunderstood and feel I have to explain everything in detail,” he added.

A Tesco Bank spokesperson said: “We were sorry to hear about the experience Mr Wiles had when attempting to travel with his wife. After careful consideration, we concluded that his case didn’t meet the criteria for a successful Section 75 claim. He referred his claim to the Financial Ombudsman Service, which upheld our decision.”

Turkish Airlines did not respond to a request for comment.

Comedian and podcaster Christina Pazsitzky just dropped the “divorce episode” of “Your Mom’s House” and addressed her split from Tom Segura after 20 years as a couple: “Mom’s drinkin’ and smokin’ on this episode.”

Pazsitzky told guest host Duncan Trussell that she wanted to formally address the news after word got out that the comedy power couple had separated this year. “Yes, Tom and I are divorcing, and it is extremely sad,” she said, beginning to cry.

“Sorry, I didn’t want to cry this soon. It is very sad. That being said, we have tried to work it out for several years for the sake of our children and our family, and we gave it all we could, but we just couldn’t work things out. We are no longer a couple.”

Pazsitzky said the former couple were trying to make their two children a priority as they navigated the split.

“Look, we had 20 amazing years together, and that’s a really good run, I think, in a marriage,” she said, noting that the two had built their comedy careers, podcasting empire and a family over the course of their relationship.

“I wanted to address the audience specifically because we’ve been through a lot together — for those of you that have listened to us since the very beginning — we’ve been through Tom and I getting married and living in Silver Lake and being two broke comics. We’ve been through births and deaths, tragic accidents, cancer, COVID, all the things, and I want you to know that I’m still your mom, and I’m still here, and we will survive.”

The comedian reassured listeners that she and Segura were amicable and that there was no need to take sides. “This is not an ugly divorce,” she continued. “Like, we’re cool, dude.”

The two became a couple in their 20s while working as stand-ups on the Los Angeles comedy scene. Pazsitzky said the two were “kids” and that people change over the course of multiple decades. She looked back on the “wild ride” of being poor together, living in Silver Lake and getting married with $200 between the two of them.

“Cancer couldn’t kill me, you think a dude’s gonna f— take me out?”

Jelly Roll is taking a break from performing after a highly publicized split from Bunnie XO.

Last week, the “Save Me” singer paused his Salt Lake City concert to announce the hiatus. “This has truly been a lifetime experience for me,” Jelly Roll told the crowd at the Rice-Eccles Stadium, per Country Now. “And in a couple of nights, I go to Colorado Springs and do my last show for a year or two. I’m fixing to take some time off and heal. Thank you for the opportunity.”

The Grammy Award-winning country star (born Jason DeFord) and “Dumb Blonde” podcaster (Alisa DeFord) finalized their divorce last month after nearly 10 years of marriage.

The country music star filed for divorce from his wife in Tennessee’s Williamson County on May 18, citing irreconcilable differences. The announcement shocked country fans who had followed the couple through podcast appearances and acceptance speeches that painted a rosy picture of the pair’s relationship.

Jelly Roll’s the Little Ass Shed Tour concluded last week in Colorado after two months of shows; he also co-headlined several stadium concerts with Post Malone. The musician released his latest single, “Hands Up,” on June 24, followed by the music video on July 17, which was filmed at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center and incorporated inmates from the facility. Details on a forthcoming album have yet to be released.

Jelly Roll and Bunnie XO were regulars on the podcast circuit and spoke candidly about the ups and downs of their relationship. In Bunnie’s 2026 memoir, “Stripped Down: Unfiltered and Unapologetic,” she wrote about Jelly Roll’s 10-month affair in 2018 and her subsequent emotional unraveling.

The couple also has been open about their struggle with IVF in recent years. In a since-deleted podcast episode, Bunnie XO said the pair still planned to get pregnant post-split.

SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his wife, documentary filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom, have earned at least $11 million since he took office, with most of their income coming from wineries, restaurants and other investments, according to tax returns from 2019 through their most recent filings for 2024.

The tax records show the couple has earned between $1.4 million and $3.5 million per year, putting them in the upper echelon of Americans when it comes to annual income.

Newsom allowed reporters on Thursday to view four years of the couple’s jointly filed tax returns after receiving criticism for not disclosing his filings since he last released the information for the tax year 2020.

The release of the tax records comes just weeks after Newsom accused the Department of Justice of launching — at President Trump’s request — a baseless and politically motivated investigation into him and his wife, including her business interests and charity work. The governor said the probes, which federal officials have not confirmed, were a personal vendetta launched because he’s considering a run for president in 2028.

Siebel Newsom leads the Representation Project, a nonprofit that advocates for gender equity through film and education programs, and Girls Club Entertainment, a for-profit production company she owns that holds the copyrights to her documentaries. The nonprofit has faced criticism for accepting donations from companies that lobby the governor, including Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and AT&T.

The tax records released Thursday showed that her salary from the Representation Project was $145,000 to $150,000 annually from 2021 though 2024, similar to prior years. While Girls Club paid her $100,000 in 2021, and $11,700 in 2022, she did not report any income from the production company in the two years that followed.

The governor’s office, in a summary of the tax returns provided to reporters, stated that financial documents contradict “the FALSE right-wing claims that the Newsoms ‘enriched themselves’ through new ventures and nonprofit organizations.”

The memo stated that their income has declined since Newsom became governor. The tax records also show that Girls Club Entertainment has been losing money in recent years.

The governor signed a law during his first year in office to require presidential and gubernatorial candidates to release five years of tax returns to appear on the primary ballot. Democrats passed the law in response to Trump’s refusal to make the information public.

Less than six months later, the California Supreme Court struck down the portion that required presidential candidates to comply with the law. Gubernatorial candidates are still required to disclose their tax filings during election season.

Though tax returns became a flash point in the California vs. Trump political saga, Democrats have for decades demanded that candidates for governor and president release their income tax filings.

Presidential candidates dating back to the Nixon administration routinely shared their filings, with only President Ford and Trump refusing to do so. Former Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown and his Republican opponents also declined to share their tax returns before the 2010 and 2014 California gubernatorial elections.

Newsom released his tax returns during his campaigns for governor in 2018 and 2022, again in 2020 and before he beat a recall election in 2021. California candidates, elected officials, judges and some public employees also file annual economic interest statements.

“In the interest of transparency, he’s now voluntarily making all remaining filed tax returns available — going beyond what the law requires — as part of his longstanding commitment to transparency,” said Izzy Gardon, a spokesperson for the governor, in a statement.

The governor and his wife put their investments in a blind trust when he took office. Their earnings, which have totaled more than $1 million per year since at least 2011, stem from investments in wineries, restaurants, bars, hotels and hospitality management companies based in San Francisco, Napa Valley, and Lake Tahoe, according to economic interest disclosures filed with the state.

The latest batch of tax returns covers 2021 through 2024. Reporters were allowed to view, but not copy, more than 700 pages of tax records at the governor’s office in Sacramento on Thursday. Their 2025 tax returns were not available because, as he has done most years, the governor filed for an extension with the Internal Revenue Service and he doesn’t expect to file until October.

The couple’s reported income was the highest in 2021, when they sold their home in Kentfield, a wealthy enclave in Marin County, for $5.9 million. The Newsoms reported receiving more than $55,000 in rent for leasing out the home that same year, but declared an overall loss for tax purposes of $70,000 due to their mortgage payments, taxes, legal fees and depreciation.

The family previously moved to a mansion in Fair Oaks that they purchased for $3.7 million in 2019 following a brief residence at the Governor’s Mansion in downtown Sacramento.

The family kept the Fair Oaks home and purchased another $9.1-million estate in Marin County in 2024, where they primarily live and their four children attend school. Newsom and his wife also spend time in Fair Oaks while working at the state Capitol.

During those four years, Newsom and Siebel Newsom paid a high of $1,253,187 in federal income taxes in 2021, and a low of $488,821 in 2023. Their state tax income bill ranged from $34,307 to $213,331 during that time. The annual property tax bills hovered between $48,000 and $64,300 over that span.

The governor’s income included his government salary, which ranged from $167,647 in 2021 to $192,087 in 2024.

Newsom also was paid more than $150,000 during that period as an author. In recent years, Newsom has published a book for children with dyslexia and a memoir, “Young Man in a Hurry.”

The tax returns showed the family paid from $154,000 to almost $200,000 each year for household employees from 2021 through 2024. The returns showed that they paid for Social Security coverage, Medicare and the state’s unemployment benefits fund as part of those expenses.

The governor and his family donated more than $200,000 to charity from 2021 to 2024. While most of those donations were in cash, they also gave $4,900 in “Armani Business Wear” to the Oakland nonprofit organization Restorative Justice, and toys, furniture, appliances, books and other goods to Goodwill in Sacramento.

Among their listed expenses in 2021 was $3,542 in storage costs for silver and platinum holdings. Previously, the couple made nearly a half-million dollars trading silver bars in 2011 alone.

Do you think the Rams have a tracker at their headquarters for how many days it’s been since Puka Nacua’s last embarrassing incident?

They might. Because we all remember how frequently the self-inflicted damages were occurring during that bizarre and jarring stretch starting late last year.

We had the biting incident and alleged antisemitic comments on New Year’s Eve. Before that, we had the Rams’ star receiver making antisemitic gestures on a livestream with a couple of controversial streamers.

We also had him publicly calling out NFL officials on a stream and in a social media post sent from the locker room, and getting fined $25,000 by the league for that. We had his weird post on X — a laughing emoji and “sam darnold” — after the Seattle Seahawks’ quarterback led his team to the Super Bowl LX championship on Feb. 9, when Nacua also was recorded stumbling and dancing in a San Francisco street after the game.

We had this all within just a couple of months. So we had to replace the image we previously had of Nacua as a jolly, smiling football star with a new one: a picture of teeth marks on a woman’s skin.

Ick.

Rams receiver Puka Nacua signs autographs during training camp at Loyola Marymount University on Sunday.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

Nacua said Wednesday that he’s trying to be better, to do better.

“Definitely trying to take accountability for the things that I know that I can continue to change,” the 25-year-old said at Rams’ training camp at Loyola Marymount.

We should all hope so.

There’s enough at stake, don’t you think?

For Nacua, there’s the proverbial bag to secure. For the Rams, there’s the Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium, which everyone believes should be theirs for the taking. And there’s what winning will mean for the franchise’s stature in L.A., a city that’s impressed by little that’s short of championships.

Don’t mess this up, Puka.

No one wants the distraction of bizarre and disturbing behavior, of internet idiocy or civil lawsuits. (Nacua’s attorney, Levi McCathern, said the alleged bite was the result of “horseplay” and the Los Angeles city attorney’s office indicated last week that the matter was on track to be resolved through a program that allows eligible defendants to avoid criminal prosecution and jail time.)

No one wants to wonder what could have been if it turns out quarterback Matthew Stafford can’t count on Nacua getting open and punishing defenders downfield.

And no one should want to see the Rams’ sure-handed wide receiver let generational wealth slip through his fingers.

Nacua is one of those athletes who you trust on the field to make the play, but all his off-field shenanigans gave the Rams reason to doubt him, to make him skip his turn at the big payday.

He was up for a contract extension that could have paid him as much as $160 million over four years, instead he’ll be earning $5.8 million this season. He’ll have to prove himself to the Rams as a reliable investment.

But that’s OK, Nacua said. He’s happy to be back at work.

Rams receiver Puka Nacua tries to slip past defensive back Trent McDuffie during training camp at Loyola Marymount University on Sunday.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

“There have been things outside of my control that I think have impacted the way I’ve been able to kind of focus and enjoy this game of football,” he said. “But coming out here and seeing that jersey No. 12 hung up in my locker is something that I don’t take for granted … the level of connection that I feel like I have with all the guys out there, [it] has never crossed my mind that I don’t want to be out here.”

One of the Rams’ primary weapons on offense, a barefooted Nacua went on the charm offensive after practice Wednesday, opening his media scrum by joking with reporters, asking how his hair looked and whether he had any boogers visible in his nose.

He looked fit, like he’s been taking care of himself. He said he was mostly laying off McDonald’s, seeing a therapist and appreciating football as a safe space. The dad of a baby boy, he spoke about that too.

He said he’s closed his “circle of trust” and expressed regret for actions that, he said, “haven’t been the truest reflection of the person I feel like I am, and how my mother raised me.”

“There’s definitely been conversations with her to apologize, but also for her to say that she supports me,” Nacua said of his mom, Penina, who brought up Puka and his five siblings as a single parent after her husband, Lionel, died in 2012.

“And also my brothers are, I think, my biggest critics as well,” Nacua said. “So there were some intense conversations, but loving conversations, in order to see improvement.”

Nacua is one of the Rams’ best players and absolutely their most popular. The loudest roar at Wednesday’s practice was when he showed up on the sideline with fellow receiver Davante Adams. When it was over, the sound of children shrieking “Puka!” reverberated off the bleachers.

The Rams are fans, too. Nacua isn’t tolerated for his talent; he’s adored for his spirit.

Coach Sean McVay loves the guy, a fifth-round draft pick out of BYU who broke a 63-year-old record for the most receiving yards by a rookie in NFL history: “You know how much I love him and the heart that he has,” McVay said Wednesday. “And I’ve been really proud of what he’s been doing and how he’s taking accountability for some of the things that we can learn from.”

Nacua said he was buoyed by messages from teammates during this turbulent offseason, in which he checked himself into a Malibu rehab facility to, as attorney McCathern said, “focus on his health, personal growth and overall development.”

We all know how valuable Nacua is on the field, but now we’re going to find out how much he values this opportunity, getting to take another rep to repair his reputation.

We’re going to find out if this man of many routes can run straight-and-narrow. Whether the slow-moving train wreck can get back on track. Whether he can keep stacking incident-free days.

Nacua says he can. “I feel,” he said, “very confident about that.”

ICE deported a married couple back to Guatemala who had sought safety in the US. Their bodies have been found tied up and shot, with their 14-month-old daughter left alive beside them.

Cyprus continues to draw British holidaymakers and expats, helped by flights from £34 and a flight time of around 4hrs 43mins – and one couple are glad they “took the leap”

A British couple who uprooted from the UK and moved to a cheaper country less than five hours away have spotted two problems. With flights for as little as £34 and a 4-hour, 43-minute flight time, Cyprus is a firm favourite among British holidaymakers and expats alike; Donna Curley and husband Nick were similarly drawn to the eastern Mediterranean nation.

After building a life in Derbyshire, Donna Curley and her second husband, Nick, realised their future might be in Cyprus.

The turning point came in 2013, when they bought a one-bedroom holiday home in Kapparis. They returned two or three times a year and, each trip, the island’s slower pace — and the “tranquillity” they felt there — made quite the impression.

Donna, 49, worked as a fitness instructor, including roles at a Derby gym and as a Weight Watchers coach, before switching to online teaching during the Covid pandemic. Nick, who was born at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, served as an Army reservist.

When Nick’s children from his first marriage reached their twenties, the couple decided the time was right to start again. They sold their home in Holbrook, bought a base in Avgorou and began laying plans for a wellness retreat — although they admit the move hasn’t been without its challenges.

Donna told The Times: “A lot of the expats here have well-established friendship groups so it’s harder to make new friends than I thought, though there are a lot of British people moving out here now for the tax benefits as well as the lifestyle.”

She went on to say: “Our move to Cyprus was designed so we could spend more time together, which has happened but not quite as much as we hoped – yet.

“I think with any big move you have to adapt and accept that there might be a few hurdles – along with the Greek ‘siga siga’ [slowly slowly]. I am glad that we took the leap.”

The couple’s new base is a two-bedroom bungalow with a swimming pool and 3,000sqm of land. But while they lay the foundations for their wellness business, Nick and Donna have also been juggling other jobs to keep money coming in.

Donna says the cost of everyday life is usually lower in Cyprus, even if food can be surprisingly expensive. They’ve also cut out some major overheads by relying on solar power and using water from their own well, rather than paying standard utility bills.

The colder months are the main exception. When winter sets in, they turn to a wood-burner for heat and sometimes have to fire up a back-up generator.

Their experience follows another British family who recently spoke about relocating to Cyprus. Former educator Sarah and IT specialist James said they moved after becoming fed up with long working weeks, soaring bills and concerns about crime.

Sarah said: “In the UK schools, there is so much pressure on the kids and they were both unhappy. And James and I were working such long hours but life is so expensive in the UK. James applied for a job in Cyprus almost on a whim.

“We thought if it didn’t work out, we’d call it an adventure and then move back home. But everything is amazing and the place is absolutely beautiful. It’s a dream I never thought would be possible.”

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie‘s youngest daughter, Vivienne, is seeking to drop “Pitt” from her name, according to People.

The 18-year-old filed a petition in Los Angeles County Superior Court to remove her father’s surname from her legal name, Vivienne Marcheline Jolie-Pitt. The reason for her request was listed as “personal.”

The request is a common theme among the Jolie-Pitt siblings since the couple’s marriage was formally dissolved in 2019 and divorce became finalized in 2024 after a long legal battle.

In August 2024, the court granted Shiloh’s request to drop the surname. Zahara and Maddox have both asked for the same, but their petitions are pending hearings.

Before her request, Vivienne had already informally dropped the last name. In May 2024, the youngest of six was credited as “Vivienne Jolie” on the Playbill for “The Outsiders,” a play she co-produced with her mom.

The couple wed on Aug. 14, 2014, nine years after they met while filming their movie “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.” Jolie filed for divorce in September 2016 after the couple allegedly had a physical altercation aboard a private plane, which also involved several of their children.

The Los Angeles County’s Department of Children and Family Services and the FBI investigated the alleged physical altercation between Pitt and his son Maddox. No charges were filed against Pitt.

The court has scheduled a hearing for Vivienne’s request for Nov. 2.

It began as a whimsical idea that occurred to Daniel Leigh after an idyllic trip to the United States: Sell his family’s five-bedroom home in England and travel the world with his wife, Lauren Vaknine, and their two children.

So he was surprised when, a few months later, Vaknine and their children, Braxton, 10, and Viva, 7, agreed to go along with the plan.

“We’re not really travelers,” Leigh said. “We’ve always watched others travel.”

When they got back from their trip to America in March, they noticed that others had successfully raffled their homes on the British website Raffall. The online platform raffles everything from cars to homes, including one man who promoted his house to Americans last year as a “safe haven from Trump.” The couple decided to try it too.

The home is located just 20 minutes outside of London in Elstree.

(Lux Visuals Ltd.)

In June, they put their house in Elstree, about 20 minutes from London, up as a sweepstakes prize online and began selling tickets for five British pounds each, or $6.75.

“While someone new makes memories in our home, we get to go and make some of our own,” said Leigh, who has worked in educational recruitment in London for more than 20 years.

Leigh got the idea after reading a New York Times article about Imelda Collins, who raised about $1.4 million last year by raffling her two-bedroom cottage in Ireland. She sold 206,815 tickets at $6.70 each, and in October, Collins sold her cottage to Kathleen Spangler, a 29-year-old U.S. Marine Corps officer from Dayton, Ohio, who had bought three tickets on a whim and promptly forgot about them.

Leigh and Vaknine, both 42, grew up in the same village and went to high school together.

But after their family trip to New Orleans; Asheville, N.C.; and South Carolina spots Charleston, Folly Beach and Lake Keowee, they began to wonder if they wanted to stay in the same town forever. Kayaking and seeing the beauty of the Appalachian Mountains made them rethink their life.

The couple’s open kitchen was renovated in 2021.

(Lux Visuals Ltd.)

The living room.

(Lux Visuals Ltd.)

“Living on a lake was the most peaceful life I’ve ever had,” Leigh said. “It was perfect. In England, the kids spend most of their time indoors because of the weather, and we have to keep them busy with things like trampolines or indoor parks. Every family outing costs about $300. You can’t just go to the lake, the beach or hike in the mountains.”

Leigh said they have worked hard to build the life they thought they wanted, with two kids, their dog and a home. But after achieving professional success, they realized it was not the future they hoped for.

“We keep chasing goals that always seem just out of reach, simply because we feel we have to keep going,” he said. “There’s so much life to live. We’re seeing many of our parents and our friends’ parents pass away, and it makes you realize that life can feel like a conveyor belt. You either live or you just keep moving along.”

For Vaknine, a holistic wellness coach who was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at age 2, selling their home and traveling the world carries even deeper meaning.

“I have been on a long journey,” said Vaknine, who has been in remission for the past decade. “From being head-to-toe disabled to being fully able-bodied, you don’t come through that without realizing that there is so much more to life than working, taking the kids to school and making dinner in the same house every day. For me, the extraordinary life isn’t about mansions, yachts or extravagance. It’s about experiencing life fully, finding deep inner joy, and I can’t do that if I stay within the same four walls in the same town I grew up in.”

Her husband added, “She lives a life of gratitude for everything. That’s what this is about: Let’s live life in the moment and do what we can when we are fully able.”

Their five-bedroom home, which is estimated at about $2 million, is on a quiet cul-de-sac with just five other houses in Hertfordshire, England. It has 2,226 square feet of living space, a south-facing garden, an open-plan kitchen, a dining and living room renovated in 2021, plus a home office and gym.

Leigh said they are not trying to make a profit, but they need to sell 550,000 tickets to cover the property’s costs, legal fees, taxes, prize money and raffle expenses.

“The ticket target has been set to cover all of the associated costs, so it’s unlikely there will be much left over,” he said. “If ticket sales exceed the target, then certainly, but that’s not the goal.”

If they don’t reach the ticket target, a winner will still be chosen and will get 50% of the money raised. They hope the winner gets the house.

One of the home’s bathrooms.

(Lux Visuals Ltd.)

One of the five bedrooms in the couple’s home.

(Lux Visuals Ltd.)

One reason homes aren’t auctioned often on the site, he said, is that you have to promote them yourself. Leigh estimates they’ve spent about $17,000 so far and are about to spend another $15,000 on Meta advertising. They also have to pay for their own legal advice.

The raffle has become a family project, and their children have helped with promotion. In one video, Braxton asks what might be the most important question about their move: “Are we bringing the dog?”

“We may have to leave him with family for a while,” Leigh said of their dog Story. “He’s the size of a small pony, so traveling with him could be a challenge. He’d definitely be missed, though.”

Working together to promote their home has been a valuable lesson for their children, Leigh said, showing them “that if you put your mind to something, you can do it. I want them to see hard work. It’s not just fun to do videos. It’s staying up till midnight, getting up early, running two jobs and making sure you don’t miss an interview. And in the end, the kids will see that life can change, and there’s a world out there if you make it happen.”

The family recently spent time in North Carolina, South Carolina and Louisiana. “We’re huge fans of America,” Leigh said. The couple hope to visit all 50 states after their home is raffled on Dec. 7.

(Daniel Leigh)

The kids aren’t worried about losing their home, Leigh said. “They are excited about going on a holiday, which we hope will include Australia, India and every state in America.”

With a record number of Americans applying for British citizenship, the couple’s raffle may be well-timed. The winner, chosen randomly by Raffall on Dec. 7, will get a mortgage-free home with all legal fees and taxes paid, plus $45,000 for household bills. The property transfer may take up to 60 days or longer according to Raffall’s terms and conditions.

Part of every ticket sale will go to Solace Women’s Aid, a British charity supporting women and children affected by domestic violence. Leigh notes that not every state can take part in Raffall competitions because of different state gambling, lottery and consumer protection laws.

At a time when many people are trying to choose between traveling or saving for a house, the couple is offering raffle entrants a chance to do both.

That’s the point, Leigh said: “If not now, when? That question changed everything.”

By December of 2023, Paul Preston realized that his girlfriend Susan Huckle was a big fan of road trips and lists. So for Christmas, he gave her L.A. Times’ ”101 Best California Experiences” zine, a traveler’s bucket list highlighting my top destinations throughout my four decades of traveling the state.

The gift, I’m delighted to hear, was a hit.

Preston and Huckle went through it and checked off locations they’d seen already. Then they hit the road.

And now, after two and a half years of roaming the state between work assignments, they’re back to report that they’ve covered all 101 locations on that list. Though the two have also traveled beyond state lines, the quest to cover California “totally informed our lives for the last two or three years,” said Huckle, who sent me a note of thanks after ticking the last box.

After the note arrived, I was eager to call them and learn more. I caught the couple, of course, in the middle of a day trip.

Susan Huckle and Paul Preston set out to visit every spot on the L.A. Times’ 2023 list of “101 Best California Experiences.” Along the way, they got married in Yosemite Valley.

(Nick Wuthrich)

“We’re out exploring,” Preston said. “So you’re getting what we’re about.”

They’re also now married. That happened last July in Yosemite Valley, which, yes, was on the list.

Huckle, 41, an actress, a host on “L.A. This Week” on Channel 35, a Universal Studios performer and an author, grew up in Santa Maria on California’s Central Coast.

Preston, 56, is also an actor. He leads movie location tours and hosts podcasts, movie trivia nights and special events. He grew up and went to college on the East Coast, so he had fewer California miles under his belt when the couple met in 2020.

Their California 101 travels began in early 2024 with a trip to Paso Robles, where they saw the green slopes along Highway 46, Morro Rock and the elephant seals at Piedras Blancas near Hearst Castle.

“And then,” Preston said, “we just kept going.”

Some of their most satisfying stops, the two agreed, were places they hadn’t heard of, such as Orange Works in the Central Valley town of Strathmore and Angel Island State Park, sometimes known as the Ellis Island of the West. Huckle called Angel Island “a marriage of natural beauty with great, powerful, historic information.”

By early this year, there were only a few destinations left to check.

In April, they did the Indian Canyons and Sunnylands estate near Palm Springs, the Integratron near Joshua Tree and the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture in Riverside. In June, they rafted the South Fork of the American River, along with stops in Old Sacramento and, last of all, Columbia State Historic Park. Then they made their own favorites lists.

Susan Huckle’s top 10:

Yosemite Valley
Badwater Basin
Mammoth Mountain
Angel Island State Park
Cheech Marin Center
Joshua Tree National Park
American River South Fork
The Marshall Store on Tomales Bay
Santa Cruz Island
Sunnylands

Paul Preston’s top 10:

Yosemite Valley
Hollywood Bowl
Griffith Observatory
Catalina
Mammoth Mountain
American River South Fork
Erick Schats’ Bakery in Bishop
Huntington Library and Gardens
Palm Springs Aerial Tramway
Balboa Park, San Diego

Now that they’ve seen so much of the state, I had questions. For one, which spots not on the list would they have included?

Alcatraz, they agreed. Also, as an admirer of redwoods, Preston liked Calaveras Big Trees State Park. As an avid cyclist, Huckle liked the 22-mile Marvin Braude Bike Trail from Torrance to Pacific Palisades.

And was anything on the list a disappointment?

“The Carmel Mission,” Huckle said quickly. “It’s beautiful and the missions are an important part of California history.” But she said the mission’s account of its own history seemed “whitewashed,” saying little about the Native loss and trauma that historians are increasingly recognizing in accounts of the missions.

Said Huckle: “I was like, ‘C’mon guys, nobody really thinks this any more, right?’”

Now that they’re done with the Times’ “101 Best California Experiences,” what what will shape their next trips?

They have a list for that. Huckle picked up an L.A. guide, Danny Jensen’s “Secret Los Angeles,” and the couple plans to start where the book does, with the Triforium, a many-colored sculpture that went up outside City Hall in 1975 (and once featured music).

After that? Maybe the Faces of Elysian Valley, a traffic circle sculpture that Huckle said “looks like Easter Island in the middle of Cypress Park.”

That will leave only about 138 more destinations in the book to cover.

If anybody can do it, it’s these two.

Tom Segura and Christina Pazsitzky have reportedly split.

The comedy power couple are calling it quits after 18 years of marriage, according to TMZ. A source told the outlet that the pair separated a couple of months ago but remain amicable and plan to continue co-hosting their podcast, “Your Mom’s House.”

Reps for Segura and Pazsitzky did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment.

Segura, 47, and Pazsitzky, 50, tied the knot in November 2008. Segura told “TigerBelly” podcast in 2018 that he met Pazsitzky while they were both doing open mic nights around Los Angeles. She was in a relationship with someone else (whom she lived with), so Segura and Pazsitzky were just friends. According to Segura, there was no flirtation in the early days, and he treated her with the respect he did any other fellow comic.

“I always thought she was attractive, but she was taken,” he said. “And then I got the call from one of my spies. … They broke up. And I was like, ‘I’m gonna swing in there, see what’s up.’”

According to Segura, he tried to ask Pazsitzky on what he thought was an L.A.-appropriate date — a hike — and she said no. He thought that meant she wasn’t interested in him, when, really, she just wasn’t interested in hiking.

“I called her the next time, and she’s like, ‘Hey, I know this bar you can still smoke at. Do you want to go there?’ And I was like, ‘OK. This is why she doesn’t want to go on a hike.’ So then, yeah, we went on dates and it just continued.”

Both comedians have used their marriage as source material for their comedy routines over the years and discuss their relationship on various podcast appearances, but especially on their own podcast, “Your Mom’s House,” which debuted in 2012.

In 2024, Pazsitzky told The Times that when they launched the podcast “we lived in a crummy two-bedroom apartment, we were newlyweds and we had no money. We got a mixing board, two mics and a computer, and at that point, we slept in one room and used the other room as an office. It bordered this other house where this lady would cook the smelliest food and have aggressive sex.”

“Oh, yeah, she was newly divorced and very performative with orgasms too,” Segura added.

The couple, who have two children, also spoke about their relocation from Los Angeles to Austin, Texas, in search of a slower pace and easier travel while touring. “Our lives are very normal, and we’re grounded family people. At the end of the day, we come home, our kids fart on Tom’s head, and I make dinner.”

Rarely would Sam Neill, who died Monday, carry a film on his own, but what he did in several of them, modestly and dependably, was equally as important. His nuanced supporting work allowed some of the greatest actresses of their moment attain their first fireworks. And even though he starred in one of Hollywood’s hugest blockbusters, it takes a certain kind of confidence to share the spotlight with a dinosaur. Here are Neill’s highlights, all worth rewatching for the sake of better appreciating a sophisticated presence often on the sidelines.

‘My Brilliant Career’ (1979)

Sam Neill and Judy Davis in the movie “My Brilliant Career.”

(Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images)

Gillian Armstrong’s first feature is a landmark of the Australian New Wave and feminist cinema, signaling the arrival of the great Judy Davis and containing the most erotically charged (and quite possibly the longest) pillow fight in movie history. It works splendidly for countless reasons, not the least of which is Neill’s presence as the charming suitor of Davis’ headstrong heroine. Set in 1897 in rural Australia, the film follows Davis’ Sybylla, who dreams of becoming a writer, an unconventional aspiration given her family’s poverty and societal norms. Then she meets a wealthy charmer, played by Neill, and he proposes. It should be an easy decision, particularly since Sybylla loves him and Neill makes him so irresistible. That Sybylla does, in fact, resist, choosing independence over love and the possibility of perennial pillow fights, makes “My Brilliant Career” so daring and thrilling. — Glenn Whipp

‘Possession’ (1981)

Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill in the movie “Possession.”

(Metrograph Pictures)

It’s being remade with Margaret Qualley and the main reason for the movie’s notoriety remains Isabelle Adjani’s unhinged, incantatory performance, a collection of freak-outs that’s still unmatched. But one can argue that Adjani couldn’t have gotten there without the slightly milquetoast banality of her character’s husband, played by Neill as one of the least exciting on-screen spies of the 1980s. (She’s already cheating on him when the movie begins.) He doesn’t seem cut out to be a family man either, but Neill’s cuckolded complaining, hard to pull off this confidently, may be what’s driving her to self-harm in the first place. — Joshua Rothkopf

‘The Final Conflict’ (1981)

More than a decade before his “Jurassic Park” role, Neill delivered a chilling turn as the Antichrist in “The Final Conflict,” better known as the third film in “The Omen” franchise, about a couple that unwittingly adopts the son of Satan. In this second sequel, Neill plays an adult Damien Thorn, now a U.S ambassador to the United Kingdom who is determined to stop the second coming of Christ. With sinister smiles and steely glares, Neill makes Damien his own, waging a murderous campaign against a group of priests, his voice dripping with contempt as he vows to slay “the Nazarene” when he is born. — Greg Braxton

‘Dead Calm’ (1989)

Sam Neill and Nicole Kidman on the set of the movie “Dead Calm.”

(Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images)

We remember Philip Noyce’s claustrophobic cat-and-mouse thriller primarily as Nicole Kidman’s big-screen breakthrough. But, and you may be noticing a theme here, the movie would not work without Neill, who had a gift for playing opposite strong-minded women. Kidman and Neill are a married couple embarking on an ocean adventure to work through the loss of their child. They happen upon a crazy-eyed stranger (Billy Zane) on a sinking schooner, take him aboard and things go south from there. Part Cary Grant, part MacGyver, Neill gives a great physical performance, which he parlayed into well-paying Hollywood action roles for the rest of his career. None came close, though, to his flare-gun theatrics here. — Glenn Whipp

‘Jurassic Park’ (1993)

You go for the dinosaurs and there’s no shame in that. But credit Neill for both understanding the assignment and not quite settling for those awed stares of Spielbergian wonder. His Alan Grant is distinct enough to register as prickly and a little inside himself. He absolutely hates children, even as the whole plot, somewhat obviously, steers him in the opposite direction. He’s not Jeff Goldblum-level rascally, but he’s confident enough to go his own way and make a killer joke at a high-voltage fence. Acting-wise, Neill has already held his own opposite several forces of nature (see above). Raptors were nothing. — Joshua Rothkopf

‘The Piano’ (1993)

Sam Neill in the move “The Piano.”

(The Criterion Collection)

So many of Neill’s most memorable movies feature him supporting the singular vision of great directors, as is the case with Jane Campion’s 1993 landmark. Neill plays the awkward, ignorant Scottish farmer who arranges for a mail-order marriage with Holly Hunter’s mute pianist and then becomes possessive and driven to jealous despair. We hate him. Which was fine by Neill, as he wrote in his 2023 memoir: “There is honour to be found in the second fiddle. Or fourth. No one notices you much, you don’t get nominated for things. But you served. I was there in an important feminist film. It’s a work of art. And look, that tiny little figure in the fabric — see down there on the right — that’s me. It’s a film that will always have a place in cinema history. And I served in it.” — Glenn Whipp

‘In the Mouth of Madness’ (1994)

Finally, a leading role. Granted it’s one in which Neill, strapped in a straitjacket, screams things like “I’m not insane!” But if you’re a fan of his brand of slightly unconvinced heroism, John Carpenter’s horror movie — about an insurance investigator on the hunt for a missing Stephen King-like author — is an enjoyable watch. Carpenter was never one to overexplain things to his actors (it’s why you find so many rich, self-directed performances in his movies) and Neill’s snoop definitely goes through the looking glass, from disbelieving cynic to true believer. Genre movies thrive on his kind of total commitment. — Joshua Rothkopf

Love Island fans have taken to social media with celebratory posts as original couple Lola and Sean chose to self-dump after a public vote and a feud with Julia

Love Island fans have decided shared their shock after Lola and Sean, who have been together since the beginning, dumped themselves from the villa. Fans, who had been pushing for the couple to leave amid a feud with Julia, were excited to see them head out of the villa.

Taking to social media after the couple volunteered to leave, one fan said: “SEAN AND LOLA TAPPING OUT I DID NOT EXPECT THIS #loveisland #loveislanduk.”

“Wait they actually dumped Sean and Lola?? wtf oh my goddddd #loveislanduk,” said another.

Many felt that it was time for the couple to leave with one viewer sharing: “It was honestly their time to leave.” Others were a bit more ecstatic, with another saying: “War is over, Lola and Sean are gone.”

A third said they were “so happy” Lola had left the villa and hoped she would look back at her feud with Julia and how her behaviour, which included telling Julia to “be scared” to talk to her and refusing to join a peace chat amongst the girls, could be seen as “nasty”.

A fourth jokingly said “Pack those bags angel”, referring to the nickname Lola gave everyone. Meanwhile, several mentioned the England World Cup win from Saturday and implied Lola and Sean leaving was on the same level. “What a time to be British,” said one fan.

But some were on Lola and Sean’s side, respecting them for taking the decision to leave. As one fan said: “Fair play to Lola and Sean they weren’t actually playing a game and left. The other couples would NEVER.”

A second said that “no one deserves to be done dirty” the way Lola and Sean had been and that they hoped Lola really had found love, as she thought she had. A third said they respected the couple for leaving when the point was to get to the end as a couple and win the prize money.

The exit comes after a public vote. At the end of Friday’s episode, Julia and Lorenzo were voted the favourite couple. This came after several episodes of strife between Julia and Lola – Casa girl Julia had briefly hit it off with Sean, and when Lola found out she was livid.

Fans slammed Lola for her reaction to Julia, with many saying it was overly harsh and even Sean telling her not to be “petty” when she wanted to say Julia was only in the villa for “air time”.

So when a vote came up for fans to pick their favourite couple, they rallied behind Julia and voted her couple the best. The bottom three were Lola and Sean, Mica and Samraj and Martha and Jordan.

In Sunday’s episode, Julia and Lorenzo were told to pick a couple to send home, but before they could, Lola and Sean stepped forward to volunteer to go home. They said they’d found what they wanted and were happy to head home.

Lorenzo teared up as he agreed to send Lola and Sean home. Sean later said that it would’ve felt “selfish” for him and Lola to stay when they’d been together since the start and were already exclusive.

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