Dragons’ Den star Sara Davies recently announced that she will be stepping away from the BBC show
Dragons’ Den favourite Sara Davies has dropped hints about an “exciting” twist that’s never been witnessed before as she prepares for her departure.
The businesswoman, 40, first entered the Den in 2019 and during her time she has helped a range of entrepreneurs with her expertise.
The TV personality has now revealed she’ll be ‘stepping back’ from the BBC programme to concentrate on her own enterprise.
Before her poignant farewell, Sara graced Tuesday’s (October 14) instalment of BBC The One Show with presenters Alex Jones and Roman Kemp.
Roman was eager to discover more about her final series as he hinted at a ‘remarkable’ scene that’s still to be broadcast, reports the Express.
The television host continued: “There is a very special moment this week as part of Dragons’ Den history. What can you tell us because I know you can’t say much.”
Sara began by revealing: “I don’t want to give too much away but there was a moment that happened in filming last year, which is what you will see this Thursday on Dragons’ Den between Steven (Bartlett) and I.”
The personality hinted: “We do something that has never ever happened in the Den before and as a result of that something pretty exciting happens and let me just tell you it’s a pretty good business. You’ll love it.”
Dragons’ Den viewers will witness the extraordinary moment unfold on Thursday’s (October 16) show and judging by Sara’s teaser, it’ll be utterly unforgettable. This follows Sara’s confirmation in an Instagram statement that she had “taken the decision to step away from the Den for now, to focus on my own business” – a crafting enterprise she established in 2005.
She will continue to feature in the latter half of the current series and judging by her statement’s phrasing, there remains potential for her comeback down the line.
The BBC is yet to reveal her replacement.
In her social media post, Sarah declared: “As this last run of Dragons’ comes to an end I have to say I’ve loved every minute of this series so far and I’m so proud of the businesses I’ve invested in this year!”.
“As a lot of you will know, I’ve taken up my position again as CEO of Crafter’s Companion and my business is my big priority this year. And when I commit to a business, I really commit, which is why I find Dragons’ Den such a rewarding role.
“As well as filming an incredible show, being a Dragon requires so much dedication and time behind the scenes as you join the life of each business you invest in.
“It means seeing through your investment and committing to your part in that organisation. It’s so much more than a TV show. That’s why taken the decision to step away from the Den for now, to focus on my own business, which was my first baby! So I won’t be filming with the team this year for the next series.”
The One Show airs weekdays from 7pm on BBC One and iPlayer and Dragons’ Den is available to watch on BBC iPlayer
During her appearance on Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh, she discussed her upcoming ventures beyond All Creatures, acknowledging her newest character represents a dramatic shift from Helen Herriot.
In her fresh production, she portrays Joanna, following a mum who relocates to a small community only to suspect a child murderer resides nearby.
The character couldn’t be more different from Helen Herriot in All Creatures, yet Rachel explained that range is precisely what drew her to performing.
She disclosed she’s currently crafting a theatrical piece – her newest professional venture, stating: “It’s hugely important to me, variety is what you get into this business for, to tell stories and to do them in whatever medium that is.
“I love all sorts of stories, I love feature films and short films.
“At the moment I’m writing a play and all of it is so important to me, that you just get to tell your version of the story in whatever way that is.”
The actress has made a comeback to the horror genre, featuring in The Strangers – Chapter 2, the fourth instalment of The Strangers film series.
She portrays Debbie, the elder sister of the main character Maya (Madelaine Petsch), who is a survivor of the Strangers.
The most recent film premiered in September 2025.
All Creatures Great and Small airs on Thursdays on Channel 5 at 9pm
“Boring” products can make for revenue that funds riskier bets.
In January 2024, Office 365 quietly reached 400 million paid seats. Microsoft(MSFT 0.26%) products are as integrated into our professional lives as meetings that could’ve been emails, but these “boring” and decades-old tools are the fuel Microsoft is using to compete in the artificial intelligence (AI) race.
As AI progresses and automates away chunks of the professional world as we know it, the legacy suite of Microsoft 365 products shows no signs of slowing down. This ability to quietly and reliably generate revenue is funding Microsoft’s riskier AI bets.
Office products generated $54.9 billion in fiscal year 2024 (the 12 months ended in June 2024). That was 22% of all of Microsoft’s revenue. Microsoft 365 will keep the company on the leaderboard of AI innovators for years to come. This is great news for long-term Microsoft investors.
Image source: Getty Images.
Microsoft’s lagging AI strategy
Microsoft is still playing catch-up when it comes to generative AI. OpenAI leads with more than 200 million weekly active users and set the gold standard with the release of ChatGPT in 2022. Alphabet‘s Google and Meta Platforms both have models nearly equivalent to OpenAI.
Compared to these companies, Microsoft got a late start in deciding on an AI strategy. However, it has since closed the gap significantly by partnering with competitor OpenAI and, as of the end of 2024, was beginning to build models in-house.
Microsoft also purchased billions in Nvidia chips and continues to innovate on its cloud computing platform, Azure, and agentic powerhouse, Copilot. These strategic moves are, thus far, keeping pace with the other major players in the AI industry.
Microsoft requires immense amounts of capital to remain competitive in the AI landscape. Fortunately, its decades-old productivity and business lines are the stable engine propelling Microsoft into its new, automated era.
The Office moat
Normally, when one thinks of a legacy business, it’s of an outdated, shrinking portion of revenue. That is not the case with Microsoft’s Office products. Microsoft 365, including the applications Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Teams, and Outlook, is still growing by double digits year over year.
This indicates these product lines are not only here to stay, but are so universally adopted by businesses and individuals alike that it’ll be nearly impossible to dethrone them anytime soon.
These products are also mostly recession-resistant, as businesses are unlikely to cut them in an economic downturn. Microsoft also switched to a subscription model more than a decade ago, making revenue from these lines of business extraordinarily predictable and dependable.
The significant growth in the legacy products is also great news for the capital-intensive investments Microsoft will need to continue making for the next several years. Microsoft reports that it’s on track to invest approximately $80 billion to build out AI-enabled data centers for training and deploying AI models and applications.
Microsoft’s AI revenue is exploding
In its earnings call on July 30, Microsoft revealed Azure’s income for the first time: a whopping $75 billion, an increase of 34%, according to chairman and CEO Satya Nadella.
The CEO added, “Cloud and AI is the driving force of business transformation across every industry and sector. We’re innovating across the tech stack to help customers adapt and grow in this new era.”
Microsoft’s market cap is approaching $4 trillion, and there seems to be quite a bit of room left for growth, particularly if the company’s big AI bets pay off.
Microsoft remains a top competitor
For investors, Microsoft remains a solid long-term play, largely because of the stable products users have known for years. With a quarterly dividend of $0.91 per share, investors are rewarded on both the value and growth side, though the dividend yield is under 1%. Microsoft’s burgeoning agentic and innovative technologies will continue to produce massive revenue alongside mature, reliable products.
Overall, Microsoft’s total revenue increased 18% from Q4 2024 to Q4 2025. There’s plenty of risk associated with investing in AI technologies, but thanks to Microsoft’s steady lines of business, the downside is far less than that of many competitors.
Catie Hogan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
There have been a number of new additions to the coaching and playing staff for Ulster ahead of the new campaign as they aim to muscle their way back into the top eight.
Juarno Augustus has been signed from Northampton while Australia prop Angus Bell will join the squad after the autumn internationals.
Mark Sexton has arrived as attack coach, with Willie Faloon now in permanent charge of the defence.
Henderson is enthused by the impact Augustus and Sexton have already had and believes the team are already in a better shape to compete with younger players now having a tough year of senior rugby under their belts.
“Mark Sexton has been working wonders with our attack, it feels fresh and new,” added the 33-year-old.
“A handful of older guys leaving last year have lifted the ceiling of those young guys who have been stepping into shoes and there are a couple of new players kicking around, I can’t wait to see them cause a bit of disruption.
“Watching him [Augustus] in training, there’s no doubt in my mind he is going to cause a bit of damage and that is exciting.
“There is so much there to cause excitement and the excitement they [young players] bring rejuvenates me, I feel like my body has been brilliant in pre-season and I want to be part of this new Ulster coming through with the freshness I feel.”
Ulster edged past Dragons 34-30 at Rodney Parade last season, but Henderson added that both teams’ summer business means Friday’s game at the Affidea Stadium will be a different proposition.
“They caused us loads of issues over there last year, but they have signed a heap of new players and will be a different team and how we have progressed in pre-season, we are a different team to last year.”
Tell someone about “The Cortège,” and it may inspire as much apprehension as it does curiosity.
A theatrical procession running this month at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, “The Cortège” promises to explore grief, loss, mourning and our collective disconnection from one another. It’s a dramatic interpretation of a funeral, albeit one with jubilant street-inspired dance and a Sasquatch-like creature. And robots and drones.
I arrived at “The Cortège” just weeks removed from attending a very real, deeply personal funeral for my mother. Did I want to revisit that space as part of my weekend’s entertainment, and would the show inspire a new round of tears? The answer to both turned out to be yes.
“The Cortège” is alternately playful and serious as it explores the cycle of life.
(Emil Ravelo / For The Times)
For “The Cortège” approaches a difficult subject matter with an imaginative question: What if we explore grief not with isolation or solemness, but with wonder? It’s a prompt that’s ripe for an era of divisive politics, financial stress and often isolating technology.
Beginning at twilight and extending into the evening, “The Cortège” starts with an overture, a six-piece band performing in the center of the field. We’re seated either on the grass on portable pads with backs or in folding chairs on an elevated platform.
Soon, a mist erupts on a far end of the field; a lone figure emerges who crawls and then walks to the center. He’ll move in place for much of the show, remaining silent as a fantastical life transpires around him — dancers, ornately costumed characters and larger-than-life puppets will surreally reflect the journey of life.
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Inspired as much by Walt Disney’s approach to fairy tales as, say, Carl Jung’s theories of collective consciousness, “The Cortège” is a revival of an ancient art — the procession — that aims to be a modern rite of passage. A ritual, “The Cortège” is a communal experience, one that seeks to erase borders between audience and performer while imagining a more optimistic world.
Think of it as theater as a healing exercise, or simply an abstracted evening with elaborate, vibrant costumes and choreographed drones creating new constellations in the sky. It’s also a bit of a dance party, with original music composed by Tokimonsta, El Búho and Boreta.
““The Cortège” builds to a final that invites audience participation — and maybe a little dancing.
(Emil Ravelo / For The Times)
“The Cortège” comes from Jeff Hull, a Bay Area artist best known for devising participatory and mysterious experiences that have used real-world settings as a game board — some may recall the beloved underground experiment “The Jejune Institute.” This, however, is a more personal show. It’s informed as much by the struggles and challenges of adulthood as it is the awe and playfulness that Hull experienced when he was younger, specifically his time working as a teen at Oakland’s Children’s Fairyland, a theme park-like playground for young kids.
“Every day I would follow the yellow brick road and have a magic key and slide down a rabbit hole, and I would wonder why the rest of the world wasn’t like that,” Hull says. “I’ve been trying to make it like that ever since. Why can’t we play? Why does it all have to be barriers? That’s the motivation from a childlike place, but now I also have motivation from a wise elder space.”
In turn, “The Cortège” is part festive renewal and part philosophical recollection. At the start, music is mournful but not quite sorrowful, a lightly contemplative jazz-inspired feel anchored by a steel hang drum. The music shifts through reggae stylings and Eastern rhythms. Performers are robed and instruments are carried on ramshackle wheelbarrows, setting up the transitory mood of the night.
What follows will touch on religious and mystical iconography — we’ll meet three lantern-carrying masked figures, for instance, with exaggerated, regal adornments as they herald a birth. Expect a mixture of old and new technologies. Drones will form to mark a passage of eras, a marching band will conjure New Orleans revelry, and towering, furry creatures may invite youthful spiritedness while militant, robotic canines will represent clashing images of human ingenuity and violence.
Think of “The Cortège” as a ceremonial rite of passage — a show that wants audiences to find healing via community.
(Emil Ravelo / For The Times)
For much of the show, we are asked to wear glowing headphones. Their luminescence highlights the crowd while also creating a more intimate, reflective atmosphere. It’s not quite a sound bath and it’s not quite a play, but as more figures enter the field — some haunting and dreamlike with their bodies shaped like arrowheads, and others sillier bursts of feathered color — “The Cortège” takes on a ceremonial, meditative feel.
While some may indeed come for the outsized costumes and extended dance sequences, Hull says the show is the entertainment equivalent of “shadow work,” that is the therapeutic uncovering of suppressed, forgotten or hidden memories.
“Shadow work is something we need to do as individuals, but it’s also something we need to do as a culture,” Hull says. “Let’s look at ourselves. Let’s look at what we don’t want to admit about ourselves. How can we bring that to life? When you do it as an individual, we’re actually partly doing something for the collective. That’s a big aspect of ‘The Cortège.’ Let’s do shadow work as a cultural moment. It’s not all just meant to be entertainment.”
Audiences are asked to wear headphones during “The Cortège,” creating an intimate relationship with the music.
(Emil Ravelo / For The Times)
Ultimately, however, “The Cortège” is an invitation, a hand extended to the audience asking us to consider and reimagine our own journey through life. Emerging from both the traumatic end of a relationship and the death of my mother, I appreciated the way in which “The Cortège” sought to put our existence in perspective, to reinterpret, essentially, the individual as the communal for a celebratory reminder that we’ve all struggled as much as we’ve dreamed.
Hull says “The Cortège” was born from a time of strife.
“What you mentioned, losing a loved one and going through a separation, my version of that is I had Guillain-Barre Syndrome and was walking with a cane. My wife was diagnosed with cancer and then she lost her father. And this was all during a time when the sun didn’t come out. It was dark out, all day, because of the California wildfires. It was a shift between taking everything personally and realizing that all the things I mentioned were things we all have to go through.”
The show is purposefully abstracted, says Hull, to allow audience members to attach their own narratives. It’s a work of pageantry, inspired in part by Hull’s fascination with medieval morality plays, specifically the story of “Everyman,” an examination of self and of our relationship to a higher power.
“The tale of ‘Everyman’ was one in which a universal protagonist met with all of the challenges of life and a reckoning with himself and with God,” Hull says. “That’s literally what we’re doing here. It is a revival of ancient European pageantry.”
Drones will form constellations in the sky during “The Cortège.”
(Emil Ravelo / For The Times)
Hull’s name is well-known among those who follow what is the still-emerging niche of so-called immersive entertainment, media that, broadly speaking, asks participants to take on an interactive role. Those who went deep into “The Jejune Institute,” which ran in the late 2000s in San Francisco and inspired a documentary as well as the AMC series “Dispatches from Elsewhere,” could discover a narrative that examined the fragility — or the allure — of human belief systems. It was often, for instance, compared to a cult.
“The Cortège” is clearly a departure. And Hull today is skeptical of the word “immersive.” Though “The Cortege” invites audiences onto the field in its final act and then asks participants to join in a reception (the afterlife), Hull finds much of what is classified today as immersive to be lacking, emphasizing spectacle and imagery over human emotion.
“The Cortège,” says Hull, is “not a metafiction.” Or don’t think of it as a show about a rite of passage. It’s intended to be a rite of passage itself. “That’s kind of the thesis of this piece,” Hull, 56, says, before expanding on his evolved take on the immersive field.
“There’s this world of immersive entertainment, but what are we immersing ourselves in?” he says. “Is this just sensory stimulation? Is this gesturing at the numinous? Is this referencing the mystical? There’s no meta-narrative here.”
Hull’s hope is “The Cortège” will erase the line between the performative and the restorative. “We all want to have a pretend metafictional relationship to transformative experiences rather than genuine transformative experiences,” he says.
Not quite a play and not quite a dance show, “The Cortège” incorporates elements of both during its procession.
(Emil Ravelo / For The Times)
We can get there, Hull believes, by engaging with an art form that has largely been discarded by the Western world.
“We are reconnecting a lost lineage to that which is ancient and to that which is eternal,” Hull says. “A procession is people walking together; that is simply what a procession is. Where are they walking from? They’re walking from their past. Where are they walking to? They’re walking toward the future. That’s what we’re doing.”
I won’t spoil the moment that made me tear up other than to say it was not due to the jolting of any memories. For “The Cortège” is also exultant — a procession, yes, but a walk into an imagined world.
Holly Willoughbymarried TV exec Daniel “Dan” Baldwin in Amberley, West Sussex in 2007 and the couple, who have three children together, have recently moved house
00:22, 09 Sep 2025Updated 02:01, 09 Sep 2025
Holly Willoughby has been married to Dan Baldwin for 18 years(Image: Getty Images Europe)
TV power couple Holly Willoughby and husband Dan Baldwin have moved into “an amazing” mansion, it is reported.
Holly, 44, recently bought the “an insanely beautiful forever home” with her 50-year-old partner whose media company, it is said, struck a deal with America’s National Football League (NFL), Channel 5 (which now wants to be known as 5) and US media giant Paramount to bring live coverage of American football to UK viewers.
As the consortium has even bagged the rights to broadcast the Super Bowl in this country, it is thought Dan and Holly have been eager to explore opportunities to relocate. It is understood they’ve now snapped up a six-bedroom mansion, said to be worth millions of pounds.
A source who knows the couple, who married in 2007, said: “Together, Dan and Holly make a smashing pairing. They have the whole industry covered between them.”
The TV power couple have recently moved home(Image: @hollywilloughby/Instagram)
The Super Bowl is the most-watched annual sporting event in America and the second most popular around the world after the FIFA World Cup – with nearly 200million people worldwide tuning in each year.
And so television sources suggest the deal could be worth “well over £2million” for Baldwin and his consortium. The new American football show, which started last week, is presented by one of Dan’s best friends, Dermot O’Leary, 52, along with former NFL player Osi Umenyiora, 43, and hockey player-turned-sports-presenter Sam Quek, 36.
Presenters: Dermot O’Leary, Sam Quek & Osi Umenyiora can’t wait to get started with new NFL show
An industry insider told Mail Online: “It is the deal of the year. Dan pulled it off. It’s lovely, actually, as it means the pressure is off Holly to wait for the right job to come up… She has been to hell and back in the past two years. It has been awful for her.”
They referred to Holly’s ordeal at the hands of former security guard Gavin Plumb, who planned to kidnap and murder the star. He was jailed for life in July last year for the sinister plot, which a court was told was “life-changing for the victim.. both in private and personal terms”.
This came after Holly’s This Morning career ended abruptly in 2023 after a distressing fallout with her best friend Phillip Schofield over his brother Timothy’s sex offences trial. These episodes “knocked the wind out of Holly,” a source told Mail Online.
But Dan’s recent success has reportedly brought new vigour into both Holly and Dan’s lives, as mum-of-three Holly now has “some time to decompress”. The star, originally from Brighton, East Sussex, did co-host You Bet! last year with pal Stephen Mulhern, a revival of the game show after 27 years. The programme, though, was largely panned by viewers and critics.
Match of the Day pundits Danny Murphy and Steph Houghton analyse the influence of Everton’s attacking players in their victory against Wolves at Molineux.
Snugbury’s Ice Cream Farm in Cheshire has been welcoming visitors in their thousands for its array of 55 different and fun flavoured ice creams on their farmland
The huge straw sculptures are available throughout the summer(Image: MEN)
A beloved ice cream farm renowned for its massive straw creations has unveiled fresh attractions to entertain families during the closing weeks of the summer break.
Snugbury’s, situated near Nantwich in Cheshire, has been drawing thousands of guests in recent years with their selection of flavoured ice creams, whilst installing towering 45ft wooden and straw sculptures across their farmland featuring everything from daleks to Peter Rabbit and an enormous bee.
Paddington Bear currently serves as the signature landmark towering over the farm, and this year he’s been accompanied by a fresh trail of wooden dinosaurs, located in a field that’s completely free to access.
There are 55 different ice cream flavours available at the farm(Image: MEN)
This week, the farm also revealed that its sunflower field has now reached full bloom – allowing guests to wander through, capture photographs and marvel at the stunning bright yellow flowers, reports the Manchester Evening News.
At the trail’s conclusion you can also purchase a single stem for £1.50 or a bundle of five sunflowers for £5, with £2.50 from each bundle donated to their chosen charity.
The “Snug-o-Saurus” dinosaur trail has already proved popular with younger guests and families, where you can stroll through a wildflower meadow and discover an assortment of wooden versions of the prehistoric creatures.
The dinosaur trail and the sunflower field is available throughout the summer(Image: MEN)
You can spot a triceratops, stegosaurus, a baby dinosaur and its enormous egg alongside the terrifying T-Rex which is sure to be the biggest draw for dinosaur enthusiasts. After a stroll through the dinosaur trails, visitors are greeted by an enormous Paddington Bear – Snugbury’s largest sculpture to date.
The beloved bear is donned in his iconic blue jacket, tipping his hat and carrying a suitcase. Visitors can wander around Paddington at the ice cream farm before returning to the starting point where a pop-up cafe serves coffees, milkshakes for £5, small tubs of ice cream for £3.70 and soft serve cones for £3.30.
You can also go and visit the huge 45ft Paddington Bear sculpture(Image: Tim Jervis)
For those wanting to sample the full range of tantalising flavours that Snugbury’s offers, they can continue on to the main ice cream parlour on site.
Here, a daily rotation of some 55 flavours awaits, with options ranging from marmalade, lavender and honey, raspberry pavlova, caramelised banana, snugtella, battenburg, pistachio, turkish delight, as well as more traditional flavours like strawberry, chocolate, vanilla and mango and lemon sorbet.
The family-run farm also contributes to charitable causes throughout the summer, with half the proceeds from every sunflower bunch sold going to Freddie’s Army charity this year, which raises funds for research into children with the genetic disorder MPS, with donations encouraged.
Snugbury’s ice cream business was established in 1986 at Park Farm by Chris and Cheryl Sadler, who began making ice cream with a mixer in their kitchen.
Spotting dinosaurs along the trail is all part of the fun(Image: MEN)
The business was taken over by the Sadler’s daughters, Kitty, Cleo and Hannah, eight years ago, who have since expanded the business by an impressive 60-70%. The shop proudly displays a ’55 pan display’ of flavours, with their double cone being the most popular item.
Snugburys can be found on the A51 in Hurleston, just outside Nantwich in Cheshire. The snug-o-sauraus dino trail is open every day from 10am to 6pm, and even well-behaved dogs are welcome, provided they’re kept on leads.
But Lana Skeldon has been selected despite the Bristol hooker, who is the most-capped member of the squad on 81, leaving the field on a stretcher in the same game on Saturday.
“To get Lana Skeldon cleared after that injury is a huge relief as she is an exceptional player and is the most experienced player we’ve got here,” Easson said.
“When we saw her go down against Ireland, it was heart in the mouth stuff.”
Bristol Bears’ Elliann and Rhea Clarke have become the first set of Scottish sisters to be selected for the same Women’s Rugby World Cup.
Scrum-half Rhea has just one cap but joins prop Elliann, who has played for her country 22 times, in the party for the finals.
Edinburgh Rugby/University of Edinburgh winger Hannah Walker is the only uncapped player selected.
Trailfinders second row Emma Wassell has made her way back to international rugby after recovering from a benign tumour in her chest in September.
Captain Rachel Malcolm leads a selection comprising 18 forwards and 14 backs for a Pool B campaign against Wales, Fiji and Canada.
The flanker is one of 21 players to have appeared at the previous Rugby World Cup, played in 2022.
Easson is leaving his job at the end of the tournament and added: “To go to a rugby World Cup is the pinnacle for any player but also anyone in our management team as well, so real excitement to go to that, but the fact that it is the last dance, it does put that little bit of an edge on it.
“I am so excited to see what this group can do and I want to finish it off as well as I can.”
England goalkeeper Hannah Hampton says the Lionesses know they may have to do things the hard way once again when they face Spain in Sunday’s Euro 2025 final
Carlos Alcaraz says the French Open final against Jannik Sinner was “the most exciting match that I’ve played so far”.
Spain’s Alcaraz saved three championship points in the fourth set before securing a 4-6 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (10-2) win after five hours and 29 minutes.
James Martin bid his Saturday Morning viewers a fond farewell as the show is being taken off the air for the summer – and he did not explain exactly when the show will be back
17:41, 07 Jun 2025Updated 17:41, 07 Jun 2025
James Martin hinted he will be vacationing in the UK while his show is on hiatus(Image: ITV)
James Martin has revealed he is shunning exotic holidays and choosing to relax in the UK as his Saturday Morning TV show is paused for the summer. The 52-year-old TV chef took to the air for a final time this weekend ahead of an extended break.
He did not give an explicit time or date that the long-running series would return – but did shed light on what he would be doing in the interim. After thanking his guests and co-stars, he engaged in some banter with his crew.
When the episode came to an end, James announced: “That is also for the series. Me and the crew are heading off on sunny holidays. Different climates.” Turning to his team, he asked: “Where are you going?”
A crew member could be heard replying that they would be going to Portugal – leading James to reveal he was looking forward to a staycation rather than jetting off to the sun.
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He revealed: “Yorkshire for me.” Saturday’s episode brought to a close the current season of the show – which was forced to be shorter than usual due to a conflicting event.
He told fans: “Because of the Derby on ITV1 this afternoon, it is a shorter episode than usual today. But we still have time for one more dish.”
When the episode ended, he made sure to explain that he was grateful to his guests, crew and viewers for making his show a continued success. He said: “That’s all we have got time for today, a massive thank you to all of my guests.”
He continued: “To my food team, you can sleep better now. Daniel and Sally, and of course, Harry Redknapp and Carly Paoli.”
James later teased when his show would be back on the air – but did not commit to an exact date. He said: “We will be back here with more top chefs, other brilliant guests, and more delicious recipes later on in the year.”
And signing off, he told viewers: “Until then, thanks for watching. Have a wonderful, fantastic summer. I’ll see you out there wherever you are. Thanks for watching, see you again soon, goodbye for now.”
ITV has been making headlines in recent weeks over the brutal changes they have been making behind-the-scenes, reportedly leading to staff redundancies and even reports Lorraine Kelly is considering quitting the network after her number of shows per year was cut in half and her time slot hugely reduced.
ITV revealed last month: “From January 2026, Good Morning Britain will be extended by 30 minutes to run from 6am to 9.30am daily, and will transfer to be produced by ITV News at ITN at their base at Gray’s Inn Road in London. GMB will be made by a dedicated team within ITV News at ITN.
“This change will see ITV bring all its national news gathering into one hub, with Good Morning Britain benefitting from the journalistic and production resources already in place for national news bulletins, for the website and for digital platforms including ITVX.”
It was added: “Lorraine, This Morning and Loose Women will continue to be produced by ITV Studios and will be broadcast from a new location in central London.” Drastic changes have not yet been made for weekend scheduling.
