There was a huge shock in store at this year’s National Television Awards as Geordie duo Ant and Dec missed out on the Best Presenter award for the first time in years
If you’re eager to mark the holidays this year with a Danish flair but Copenhagen seems a tad too far away, you might find the answer in Solvang. An answer that includes gnomes and a troll.
That city, founded in 1911 by Danish immigrants, celebrates its Julefest — the winter holidays — with an emphasis on visitor-friendly Old World traditions. This year’s schedule includes a series of events and activities from Nov. 28 through Jan. 4 — roaming carolers, European-style night markets, candlelight tours and shops transformed into micro winter wonderlands.
If you’re planning a winter road trip, here are some things to know.
The most quaint hotels in town are tiny, so book early
Solvang, about 130 miles northwest of Los Angeles, has about 20 hotels and most are smallish and independent. The largest is the Corque Hotel (122 rooms), which is affiliated with Marriott but owned by the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.
The most intimate and affordable hotels — often in a vintage motel sort of way — include the Atterdag Inn (8 rooms), New Haven Inn (10 rooms), Hamlet Inn (13 rooms), Mirabelle Inn (13 rooms), the Viking Inn (13 rooms) and the Winston (14 rooms).
The most luxurious is the Alisal Guest Ranch & Resort, whose 73 rooms and cottages routinely rent for $1,500 nightly or more (the property includes a lake and two golf courses).
A tree will rise, amid carols, craft markets and more
Solvang’s holiday celebrations include a tree lighting, like this one in 2023.
(SolvangUSA)
Tree lighting will happen at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5, in Solvang Park, followed by a Julefest Parade the next morning at 11 a.m.
Caroling is scheduled on several Saturdays, Nov. 29, Dec. 6, 13 and 20, from 5 to 8 p.m. in Solvang Park (weather permitting). Art and craft markets will materialize on Wednesdays, Dec. 3, 10 and 17, from 3 to 7 p.m.
There will be European-style markets to peruse.
(SolvangUSA)
Solvang Park will offer hourlong light and music shows nightly from 5 to 10 p.m. Nov. 28 through Jan. 4. There are also evening trolley rides through the San Ynez Valley and meet-and-greet opportunities with Santa (in Solvang Park) are set for noon to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, Nov. 29 and 30, then Dec. 6, 7, 13,14, 20 and 21.
On Dec. 31, attention shifts to Julefest’s Copenhagen Countdown in Solvang Park, ringing in the Danish new year at 3 p.m., Pacific Standard Time. This event, from 2 to 4 p.m., will feature live music from an ’80s tribute band known as the Molly Ringwald Project.
Gnomes and a troll are expected
The seasonal offerings also include candlelight tours (featuring LED candles and hosts in costume), Christmas light tours and daily hunting for nisser (gnomes) throughout downtown Solvang.
The troll — nicknamed Lulu Hyggelig — isn’t really a seasonal addition. It (or she, if you prefer) is a permanent resident of the city’s California Nature Art Museum, added in February. Lulu, made of recycled pallets and wine barrels, is one of many trolls created worldwide by Danish artist and recycling activist Thomas Dambo and his team of veteran builders and volunteers.
Christmas trees will burn — and that’s part of the celebration
Solvang’s holiday Julefest season often ends with a Christmas tree burn. This one happened in 2023.
(Randy De La Pena/SolvangUSA)
The season ends with a Christmas tree burn, billed as a safety demonstration, supervised by the Santa Barbara County Fire Department and scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday, Jan. 9, weather permitting.
Presenting powerhouse Ant McPartlin and Dec Donnelly have reportedly landed a huge £30 million golden handcuffs deal with ITV which will keep them at the network for three years
Ant and Dec land ‘£30million golden handcuffs deal with ITV’(Image: Getty Images)
Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly have reportedly landed a £30 million golden handcuffs deal with ITV after the channel lost This Morning’s Holly Willoughby. The presenting duo, who have won endless awards over the years for their work, are said to be in talks on a three-year agreement for their shows.
The huge deal would see them continue hosting I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, Britain’s Got Talent, and Limitless Win. An insider claimed the deal with Ant and Dec is a “worthwhile investment” for ITV as they’re widely loved by the public and host “some of the channel’s most successful shows”.
With their 50th birthdays coming up soon, the duo have “double the reason to celebrate”.
Ant and Dec are reportedly wrapping up talks for a £30m deal(Image: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publis)
Speaking to The Sun, a source claimed: “From the ITV execs’ point of view, it also ensures that there aren’t any counter-bids from the streaming giants who are increasingly moving into the light entertainment arena.”
The Mirror have reached out to ITV for comment. It comes after it was reported ITV has been in talks to extend fan-favourite series, I’m A Celeb, until at least 2030.
A TV source recently claimed the broadcaster has plans to secure the series’ Australian jungle location for another five years and if successful, the deal would take the hit reality show up to its landmark 30th series.
The duo host some of ITV’s biggest shows
The discussions would mark a shift in strategy for ITV, which has previously only signed three-year agreements to use the Murwillumbah site in New South Wales.
Negotiations are now reportedly underway with Australian authorities and the Tweed Shire Council, which must approve any extended filming permits.
A source said to The Sun: “The production team are planning five years in advance, which is a long-term approach they haven’t adopted before. But this is not a done deal with the local authorities, and the negotiations have just started to secure the site.
“They’re not taking anything for granted but are hopeful all parties involved will be able to reach some kind of agreement.”
A spokesperson for Tweed Shire Council confirmed talks are ongoing. She revealed: “They will need to seek permission again – we can’t give open-ended filming permissions to anyone.:
I’m A Celeb, which was won by Danny Jones last year, drew in an average audience of 9.1 million in the previous series, making it 2024’s most-watched entertainment programme.
A woman will umpire a major league game for the first time Saturday when Jen Pawol works the bases during Saturday’s doubleheader between the Atlanta Braves and visiting Miami Marlins at Truist Park.
For Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, that announcement Wednesday brought one response: It’s about time.
“That’s great. I’ll be watching,” he said of Pawol, who will work behind the plate Sunday. “It’s good for the game. It’s fantastic.”
The NHL is the only major U.S. professional sport that hasn’t used female officials. The NBA was the first league to break the gender barrier, with Violet Palmer and Dee Kantner calling games in 1997. MLS followed a year later with Sandra Hunter and Nancy Lay-McCormick refereeing separate games on the same day.
The NFL’s first woman official was line judge Shannon Eastin, who made her debut in 2012.
Pawol, 48, was an all-state soccer and softball player in high school in New Jersey. She went on to play Division I softball at Hofstra, then played for the women’s national baseball team. She began umpiring NCAA softball games in 2010 and five years later enrolled in the minor league umpire training academy in Vero Beach, Fla., the first step toward a career in professional baseball.
That earned her a job in the rookie-level Gulf Coast League. By 2023, she had worked her way up to triple A, the highest rung on the minor league ladder. Last year she became the third woman, after Pam Postema, in 1988, and Ria Cortesio, in 2007, to umpire major league spring training games.
The careers of both women were later blocked by senior male umpires who, according to colleagues, colluded against them. Postema later filed a federal discrimination suit against the National and American leagues, triple A clubs and the office of umpire development, claiming sexual harassment and gender discrimination. The suit was settled out of court.
Pawol, conversely, said she has received nothing but support, saying the coaches and players have gone out of their way to acknowledge her example as a trailblazer for their daughters.
On Wednesday, Roberts added his name to that list.
“Congratulations to her,” he said. “Baseball has done a great job of being completely inclusive. “
Gameshow host on The Accidental Tourist getting emotional, his love for Celebrity Catchphrase and how Holly Willoughby told him she was quitting You Bet!
Ant and Dec think viewers will love seeing self-confessed “unworldly” Stephen getting out and trying new things(Image: WireImage)
Stephen Mulhern says viewers will see a very different side to him in The Accidental Tourist, in which pals Ant and Dec send him on a journey of discovery to Korea. The much-loved gameshow host, whose ITV shows include Celebrity Catchphrase, Deal or No Deal and You Bet!, says he’s very happy to always hide behind his presenter alter ago.
But in the one-off special later this year, the audience will watch the real Stephen properly struggle as he pushes his boundaries by travelling to an unfamiliar country to eat food he doesn’t like with people he doesn’t know.
At the time of filming last year, he had just lost his father, Christopher, and his attempts to become more intrepid left Stephen, 48, feeling incredibly emotional at times. “No one’s ever seen me cry on the telly,” he muses now, admitting that it took nearly three years for him to be persuaded.
“But it was quite nice to not be behind a format, I’ve never done that. You’re going to see behind the razzle-dazzle, if you like. People have thankfully seen me on TV for nearly 25 years, but they may go, ‘Well, what’s he like at home? Is he going out with someone?’ I’m at the very centre of this and it’s scary.
Stephen loves being a gameshow host but has decided to put himself ‘out there’ with a travel show to Korea, with the shots called by Ant and Dec
“They film and they film and they film and they just get everything. I think what you’re going to see is a lot of emotion. You’ll see me totally out of my comfort zone.”
For the programme, designed to help him unleash his inner traveller, Stephen is sent to Asia, a continent he’s never visited because he only ever holidays in Florida. “I like the food and the theme parks,” he laughs. “Only Ant and Dec would choose Korea. Why couldn’t it have been Tokyo? It looks like New York.”
He says the idea to send him out into the world came about because he was so unadventurous and the Geordie pair thought it would be funny to see him learn new things. Already, the show has been compared to An Idiot Abroad, in which Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant sent their pal Karl Pilkington off on daft adventures. “The difference is that I got very emotional because of the timing,” he sighs. “I’m not very worldly. I don’t travel a lot. And my body’s been used to eating plain food.”
Stephen’s dad Christopher died last year, leaving him feeling “very emotional” as he started filming the new travel show(Image: Getty Images)
His reluctance to broaden his horizons has led to teasing from celebrity pals including Emma Willis and Holly Willoughby. “They would call me 50 Shades of Beige because of the food I eat, which is embarrassing really,” he laughs. But when he got back to the UK after filming ended, he found that the exotic diet had played havoc with his insides. “The food was just horrific, we’d try things like octopus, fish penis, something they dug out the very bottom of the sea and like a worm that’s wriggling, but when you squeeze it squirts water,” he shudders. “When I came back I couldn’t eat for two and a half weeks. I literally couldn’t stomach anything – I lost half a stone.”
He nearly quit along the way but managed to stick it out and, once home, his family asked if he’d be prepared to do it again. “The answer is, I don’t know,” he says now, looking faintly terrified at the prospect.
Having got over the experience, he does feel proud of himself, but it’s tinged with regret. “My dad had just passed away,” he says sadly. “So that’s the only thing. I’m gutted that he didn’t see it.”
Fully recovered from the ordeal, Stephen is now on screen with the final two episodes of Celebrity Catchphrase with guests including Mel Blatt, Michelle Visage and Jeremy Vine yet to come.
Stephen doesn’t know why Holly quit You Bet! and said he was “gutted” over her decision so soon after Dancing on Ice ended(Image: ITV)
He’s also making a second run of You Bet! – this time without co-host Holly Willoughby, who pulled out ahead of filming. Stephen says Holly, with whom he also hosted Dancing on Ice until it was axed after the most recent series, told him in person that she didn’t want to continue with the fun challenge show. “I’m gutted she’s not doing it, but I’ve had time to think about it,” he reasons. “Bruce Forsyth was the first person to do You Bet!, and he did it on his own. Matthew Kelly made it the best show on the telly. So maybe it’s happened for the right reasons. We’ve filmed one episode already and it felt very comfortable and it felt good. I think maybe it is just a one presenter show.”
It’s been reported that her Netflix series Celebrity Bear Hunt has been dropped after one run, and he says it’ll be “interesting” to see what she does next. “I don’t know what happened. She just said, ‘Look, sorry, I can’t do it.’ She told me face to face. She said, ‘Look, I’m gutted, but it’s all over.”
For himself, he has a hard time choosing between Catchphrase and Deal or No Deal when it comes to a favourite. On the one hand he’d choose the former, because he’s hosted it for so long – and would love to see a return for the original version featuring everyday people. But he also has a lot of love for the newer show because it was his market trader dad’s favourite and he was filming it while visiting him in hospital towards the end. “We were doing three a day and he would be asking me, ‘What were the winnings today?’ So it’s very, very dear to my heart simply because of that.”
When it comes to choosing between Mr Chips or The Banker, Stephen says the Catchphrase character wins every time(Image: ITV)
As something of a gameshow expert, Stephen believes that simplicity is the key to success. “If you can’t sum up the show in a sentence, it will never work,” he insists. “Catchphrase, say what you see. Play Your Cards Right, high or lower? You Bet, will they or won’t they? Deal Or No Deal, pick the right box. The Price Is Right, guess the prize,” he reels off. The road to failure, he believes, lies with having to think too hard as you play. “Catchphrase is a prime example of that – anyone can play it,” he says. “As I say to the contestants, if you have a good time, I promise you’ll do all right.”
With In For a Penny currently being rested, he’s decided to have a go at creating his own family entertainment show entirely from scratch. “I’m going to film a 20-minute pilot, I’m just going to invest my own money and then pitch it and see if it goes well,” he says. Inspired by the likes of Beadle’s About and Surprise, Surprise, it will involve his two favourite things – magic and practical jokes. “It’s very heartwarming as well,” he explains. “I just think it would be nice to do a show where I get to do a bit of magic and a bit of wind up, which I love doing,” he says. “I think that’s missing from our screens at the moment.”
In its landmark 50th season, “Saturday Night Live” had a lot going for it: a huge cast of performers with a diverse toolbox of styles and talents, a fine assortment of musical guests (Chappell Roan! Stevie Nicks! Timothée Chalamet?) and celebratoryevents across multiple channels for its half-century anniversary. And it had “Lorne” (the biography), of course; creator Lorne Michaels still runs the ship.
But on a week-to-week basis, it was the guest hosts who set the tone and helped make or break a particular episode. A great host, one who is game and enthusiastic and eager to play, such as Paul Mescal or Ariana Grande, could elevate an episode way beyond expectations. An otherwise talented guest host having an off week or who was underserved by the material, like Chris Rock or Mikey Madison, reminds you that nothing is certain with “SNL.” And an outright bad host (see the bottom) can make the 90-minute show seem interminable and out of touch.
Now, let us celebrate the hosts who got it right, brought their A-game, benefited from great sketch writing and support from the cast and crew. Here are the best hosts of Season 50, ranked.
1. Lady Gaga, March 8
Ready to roll: Lady Gaga and Marcello Hernández in the sketch “A Long Goodbye.”
“Twist and shout”: Andrew Dismukes, left, Maya Rudolph, Ariana Grande and Andy Samberg in “Castrati.”
(Will Heath/NBC)
It was her third time hosting, but it was somehow still a complete surprise how spectacular Grande was in her run-up to the release of “Wicked.” Perfect impressions of Celine Dion and Jennifer Coolidge and a ridiculously wrong (and very funny) sketch called “Castrati” were among the highlights of a top-to-bottom ace appearance.
3. Jack Black, April 5
“Happiness is a disease”: Jack Black and Michael Longfellow in the “Goth Kid on Vacation” sketch.
(NBC/Holland Rainwater/NBC)
Like Gaga, the star of “A Minecraft Movie” danced and sang multiple times, most notably in a brief My Chemical Romance homage, “Goth Kid on Vacation.” Sometimes good hosting is about bringing lots of energy and commitment; Black went above and beyond on both counts in a wild “Flamin’ Hot Preparation H” commercial.
4. Quinta Brunson, May 3
They found OnlySeniors: Quinta Brunson and Kenan Thompson in the “Life Insurance” sketch.
