Exclusives

ALFIE Boe – one of the nation’s favourite tenors – will be unleashing his inner rock god on new album Face Myself.

The record, out on April 10, is inspired by his love of the Madchester era and was produced by Myriot, who previously worked with Primal Scream.

In an exclusive chat, Alfie revealed the album’s title track pays tribute to late Stone Roses bass player Gary “Mani” Mounfield.

The classical singer said he spent his weekends travelling up to Manchester as a teenager to immerse himself in the music scene, where the Stone Roses launched hits such as I Wanna Be Adored. Alfie said: “At the time I was writing that song, Mani passed away.

“So I had to put a tribute in the song. I changed the lyrics to say, ‘For good old Mani, he played it right’.”

The high-energy track, which is released today, also name checks Liam and Noel Gallagher’s childhood home on Cranwell Drive and celebrates the Madchester spirit.

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On the track he sings: “Dreams are grown in Burnage sky, a golden past that made us cry.

“The prom is glorified with lights, for good old Mani, he played it right. Those Cranwell boys, they sang along.”

As a teen, Alfie, who has clocked up 12 Top Ten albums including four No1s, joined an indie band and later found himself exploring classical music.

“I was in an indie band called The English Roses,” Alfie said with a laugh. We were going to go on tour and I was going to be the drummer. But there was school to attend, which was fine, but then I joined lots of other little bands.”

Alfie’s new album is made up of mostly original material and he was inspired to start writing by his pal, The Who’s Pete Townshend.

And the Les Miserables stage fave says the record is all about facing his past, adding: “I thought, what is it about me I have to face?

“It was my childhood, my teenage years, and what got me to where I am today. It’s been a wonderful journey.”

Dua’s full of beans

Dua Lipa has a hefty cheque coming her way, plus a lifetime’s supply of coffee I imagine.

She’s signed up to be global ambassador for Nespresso and posed in blue co-ords to promote the new tie-in. Dua also had a snap with George Clooney, long-time face of the brand.

Greg heading to £2m…but pleads for Wills’ help again

Greg James continues his mammoth 1,000km cycle ride for Comic Relief after getting the royal seal of approval from Prince William.

He was given a boost on Tuesday, when the Prince of Wales hopped on the back of the Radio 1 DJ’s tandem.

As I caught up with Greg yesterday from the Yorkshire Moors, he said he wished William had stuck around.

Greg, resting up on a wall, below, said with a laugh: “I could’ve done with his legs today. Wills, if you’re reading this, help.”

He has remained incredibly upbeat despite the physical and mental toll the challenge is taking.

And he has been buoyed by the incredible donations from the public, which last night was creeping towards the £2million mark. Greg, who set off from Dorset last Friday and is pedalling all the way to Edinburgh, said: “The hills are very, very difficult today.

“But there was a really nice crowd of people shouting at me at the top.

“The good news is we’ve raised over £1.5million, which is an absurd amount. I’d be happy with that if it was the final total but we’ve got three days left.”

He starts his ride from Sunderland this morning with two full days to go.

Tomorrow he will begin his final push, cycling from Galashiels in the Borders to Edinburgh, where he is set to arrive in time for Comic Relief to start on BBC One at 7pm. You can do this, Greg!

Go to comicrelief.com/ride to make a donation.

Placebo are making a comeback for the 30th anniversary of their debut album, which they have reworked into a new version.

Placebo re:created will be out on June 19.

They will then kick off a European tour this September playing songs from their first two albums, with dates in Nottingham, Glasgow, Dublin, Manchester, London and Cardiff in November and December.

Big cat in Africa

Doja Cat showed her wild side in clashing animal prints while on stage in Rwanda.

The Say So rapper, who wore a blue wig with a tiger-striped bodysuit, was performing at Global Citizen’s Move Afrika concert.

She sounded great, despite her carefree lifestyle.

In a new interview with Vogue yesterday, Doja admitted she’s had to curb bad habits for the sake of her live shows.

She said: “I love trash – I’m Oscar the Grouch. I love to eat garbage, and I love to drink, and I love to party.

“Not too hard, obviously. I don’t do any drugs.”

Doja, who had a romance with actor Joseph Quinn in 2024, went on to reveal she is a serial dater, adding: “I’m 30, so I’m ovulating and horny.”

At least she tells it how it is.

Mosh-pit memories with trust

The Teenage Cancer Trust is staging a photo exhibition at the Royal Albert Hall to mark the joys of mosh pits.

Musicians including Yungblud, Wolf Alice, Fontaines DC and The Sex Pistols ft Frank Carter are featured in the show, called Good Energy.

It highlights “good energy”, which is the code used by fans to look after each other in the crowd. Frank said of his pic: “It was taken in the Royal Albert Hall.

“To play there with the Sex Pistols was a dream come true. Seeing a mosh pit inside such a venue felt like the definition of Good Punk Energy.

The exhibition runs until April 9. Buy signed copies of the prints at teenagecancer trust.org/good.

One direction’s Louis Tomlinson confessed the band’s debut No1 single, What Makes You Beautiful, was his least favourite track. He told Scott Mills’s Radio 2 show: “Performing it was always really eggy.”

Louis also took aim at the handling of 1D’s split, adding: “Hiatus, what a horrible word. It’s cringey, screams management.”

Princess is really made up

Harper Beckham has competition from another nepo baby when it comes to her upcoming beauty brand – Katie Price and Peter Andre’s daughter Princess.

The Sun told last week that Harper had taken part in a photoshoot for beauty brand Hiku by Harper, which is expected to launch in the coming months. Now Princess is following suit.

She said on the Not My Bagg podcast: “I’ve been working on it for ages. I was in Liverpool three days ago.

“I went up for a photoshoot for my beauty brand, which is so good. It’s being released this year.

I’m so excited. I’ve always wanted to be involved in some sort of business. Make-up, I love, so it had to be that.”

SIR David Beckham was just miles from his estranged son Brooklyn in LA on Monday — but the pair failed to meet.

Insiders said Becks, 50, was in the US city for work following a ski break in Canada with son Romeo.

Brooklyn, 27, and his wife Nicola, 31, live in Los Angeles and were at Sir Elton John’s Aids Foundation Oscars viewing party on Sunday.

A source said: “David was in Los Angeles for a new ad campaign, but given Brooklyn’s decision to cut off his family, there was no meeting between them.

“David had just come back from a ski trip with Romeo and friends in Canada when he flew to Los Angeles for work.

“Brooklyn would have just been miles away from him in the house he shares with Nicola.”

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The Sun first revealed how Brooklyn had cut off his family last year in a multi-pronged row.

In October insiders confirmed Brooklyn had no interest in making amends with his family.

By January he was communicating with them through lawyers.

Days later, Brooklyn released a bombshell statement confirming the story.

He went on to make allegations against his family, including claiming fashion designer Victoria had “hijacked” his first dance with Nicola at their wedding in 2022.

As well as cutting off his famous parents, Brooklyn is no longer in contact with his brothers Romeo, 23, and Cruz, 21, and sister Harper, 14, after blocking them on social media.

Yesterday, musician Cruz revealed the lyrics to a new song, Loneliest Boy, which appears to allude to Brooklyn.

On the track, Cruz sings: “Loneliest boy, mama don’t talk too much. It’s breaking her heart.

“It shows in the small things that you don’t do.

“I guess in the end that it’s you, yourself, and you.

“Tell me how do you live, when you’ve got nobody to lose?”

Brooklyn and wife Nicola were all smiles when they were invited by his godfather Sir Elton to be guests at his Oscars bash in Los Angeles on Sunday night.

Yesterday, Nicola shared a series of pictures of the night on her Instagram, including a black and white photo of her and Brooklyn.

She wrote: “What a beautiful evening for such an important cause. Thank you for having us Elton John and David Furnish, we love you both so much.”

On Sunday, Brooklyn’s social media followers rounded on him after he shared photos of mother-in-law, Claudia Peltz, who had celebrated her 71st birthday a few days earlier.

His post coincided with Mother’s Day. Mum Victoria shared tributes from Romeo, Cruz and Harper on Instagram, but fans noted there was no message from Brooklyn.

Those close to Brooklyn and Nicola said there was no going back in the feud with his parents.

A source said: “Brooklyn has said his piece. He is done. Moving on with his life with Nicola is his priority now.”

HOLLYWOOD actor Timothée Chalamet missed out on Oscars glory — and had to endure a string of jibes during the ceremony.

The Marty Supreme star was the butt of jokes having angered the arts world by stating nobody cared about ballet and opera.

And his comments came back to haunt him as Academy Awards host Conan O’Brien said: “Security is very tight tonight. There’s concerns about attacks from the ballet and opera communities.”

He waded in again later, saying to Timothée: “We’re vibing, right?”

He then told viewers: “He doesn’t think so.”

Alexandre Singh, who won Best Live Action Short Film for Two People Exchanging Saliva, also took a pop during his speech and said: “We believe art can change people’s souls.

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“Maybe it takes ten years, but we can change society through art, through creativity, through theatre and ballet — and cinema.”

Timothée, 30, also had to sit through a musical number from movie Sinners, with ballerina Misty Copeland — who had also criticised the star for his cultural views — dancing during the song.

Timothée was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar but lost to Sinners star Michael B. Jordan.

The backlash was sparked by his comment: “I don’t want to be working in ballet, or opera, or things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive, even though no one cares about this any more.”

He quickly added, “All respect to the ballet and opera people out there”, but the damage was done.

His remarks were widely rebuked, with Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli mocking the star by publicly inviting him to one of his opera performances.

Onlookers told The Sun Timothée and girlfriend Kylie Jenner, 28, walked out of the ceremony for an hour amid the drubbing.

They said: “Timothee and Kylie were replaced by seat fillers for an hour.

“It seems like he had enough of being the butt of the jokes.

“They only came back just before the Best Actress and Best Actor categories were announced.”

Timothée was seen leaving the Vanity Fair after-party in the early hours of yesterday morning with Kylie, who is part of the Kardashian reality TV family.

Kylie’s ex-partner, rapper Travis Scott, the father of her two children Stormi, eight, and Aire, four, also later appeared to mock Timothee’s defeat by sharing a photograph of Michael wiping away tears as he accepted his award.

Timothée attempted to shrug off the loss at the Vanity Fair do, where he was also joined by Kylie’s sister, Kendall, and half-sister, Kim Kardashian.

Timothée and Kylie, who have dated since 2023, had been sipping champagne with stars including Rolling Stones singer Sir Mick Jagger, Australian actress Nicole Kidman and British-born star Naomi Watts.

An onlooker at the party said: “Timothée was swarmed by well-wishers as he arrived.

“He kept his sunglasses on for most of the night and tried to be low-key, but he stood out like a sore thumb in his white suit.

“Kylie and him stayed for a while but then left together without being seen.

“It was the Irish exit he wanted — and needed.”

Who won on Hollywood’s biggest night?

One Battle After Another ran away with the night with six Oscars, while Sinners, which was nominated for a record-breaking 16 awards, came away with four. See the full winners list below:

Best Picture: One Battle After Another

Best Actress: Jessie Buckley, Hamnet

Best Actor: Michael B. Jordan, Sinners

Supporting Actress: Amy Madigan, Weapons

Supporting Actor: Sean Penn, One Battle After Another

Directing: One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson

Adapted Screenplay: One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson

Original Screenplay: Sinners, Ryan Coogler

Documentary Feature: Mr. Nobody Against Putin

Documentary Short: All the Empty Rooms

Animated Feature: KPop Demon Hunters

Animated Short: The Girl Who Cried Pearls

Cinematography: Sinners, Autumn Durald Arkapaw

Costume Design: Frankenstein, Kate Hawley

Film Editing: One Battle After Another, Andy Jurgensen

International Feature: Sentimental Value – Norway

Life Action Short: 

The Singers (TIED)

Two People Exchanging Saliva (TIED)

Makeup and Hairstyling: Frankenstein, Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey

Original Score: Sinners, Ludwig Goransson

Original Song: Golden, KPop Demon Hunters

Production Design: Frankenstein, Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau

Sound: F1, Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo and Juan Peralta

Visual Effects: Avatar: Fire and Ash, Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett

Casting: One Battle After Another, Cassandra Kulukundis

TIMOTHÉE Chalamet’s painful Oscars experience was made worse by love rival Travis Scott cheering for Michael B. Jordan, a source close to the star told The U.S. Sun.

Chalamet endured a brutal Academy Awards, from being roasted by host Conan O’Brien to missing out on a career-defining award.

O’Brien targeted the Willy Wonka actor over his scathing remarks about opera and ballet, which had sparked global criticism and threatens to end his partnership with Cartier.

Chalamet said last month in a CNN town hall with Matthew McConaughey that “no one cares” about either artform, with one Academy insider labelling him as “arrogant.”

The night, however, reportedly worsened when controversial rapper Scott — girlfriend Kylie Jenner’s ex and father of her two children — openly supported Jordan, who beat Chalamet in the Best Actor category.

The insider said the 30-year-old was “shaken” after Marty Supreme failed to win any of its nine nominations.

While he was happy for Jordan, who impressed judges with his dual role in Sinners, Chalamet struggled to hide his disappointment, and his tension with Scott reportedly hit an “all-time low.”

“Travis’s support for Michael B. Jordan was seen as a direct snub, and it’s clear he has little respect for Timothée’s talent,” the source said. “While he isn’t confrontational, their relationship has grown colder than ever.”

Chalamet was, according to the insider, withdrawn throughout the evening, leaving the after-party earlier than usual.

Another source also told The U.S. Sun that the couple even walked out of the Oscars ceremony for an hour, leaving seat fillers in their spot.

People close to him said he leaned heavily on Jenner for comfort, appearing so reliant that she sometimes seemed overwhelmed.

It has been a dispiriting awards season for Chalamet.

Last month at the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards in London, he was nominated for Best Actor for Marty Supreme but lost to Robert Aramayo for his performance in I Swear.

Marty Supreme, which tells the true story of a table tennis player in the 1940s, went home empty-handed despite nine nominations.

Sources said Chalamet left the BAFTA ceremony visibly deflated, struggling to enjoy himself despite efforts from Jenner and his friends.

“Going home with nothing in London deeply bruised his ego, though he will certainly learn from the experiences of the last few months.

“He never truly settled into the vibe of the ceremony; his mood was tense and stressed, and he struggled to enjoy himself.”

It wasn’t just host O’Brien laughing at him, either.

Another roast came from Alexandre Singh, who accepted the award for Best Short Film (a tie between The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva) and addressed Chalamet’s ballet comments.

“Maybe it takes ten years’ time, but we can change people’s lives through art, through creativity — through theatre and ballet — and also cinema,” Singh said after collecting his award.

The insider said the energy throughout the night was tense, with Jenner’s behavior described as almost maternal.

“The atmosphere was strange for everyone involved. Kylie has become his primary safe space, to the point where those around him feel she is essentially babysitting him.

What did Timothee Chalamet say about ballet and opera? Oscars controversy explained

Timothée Chalamet has sparked a heated cultural debate following comments made at a CNN and Variety Town Hall on February 21, 2026.

Speaking alongside Matthew McConaughey about needing “draws” to pull in an audience to his movies, Chalamet made harsh comments about industries he claimed feel forced to stay afloat.

“I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera… where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive, even though no one cares about this anymore,’” he said.

The remarks mirror sentiments Chalamet expressed as early as 2019 during a promotional event for The King, where he labeled the disciplines “dying art forms.”

The Royal Ballet and Opera issued a formal rebuttal, emphasizing that these art forms do not exist in isolation but rather “inform, inspire, and elevate” the broader cultural landscape, including the film industry itself.

“It is a bizarre dynamic; while she seems to embrace her influence over him, it often feels like she is acting as a maternal figure rather than a partner, which many find frustrating to witness.”

Sources said the Oscars provided Chalamet a reality check when he faced fellow nominees Jordan and Brazilian actor Wagner Moura.

Friends have advised him to adopt a more mature public persona, projecting confidence rather than appearing like a “young boy with a high school girlfriend.”

“The gap in maturity was obvious,” the insider said. “He’s been told multiple times he needs to project more maturity to be taken seriously as a leading man.”

Chalamet now plans to put the disappointment behind him by going on vacation, attending some NBA games, and “reconnecting with himself” before returning to work.

BROOKLYN Beckham was offered a public show of support by Sir Elton John — who made him a VIP guest at his Oscars party.

The 27-year-old, locked in a family feud, was seen at the bash alongside wife Nicola Peltz deep in conversation with the singer, 78.

We revealed last year that the I’m Still Standing singer has been acting as a peacemaker between Brooklyn and estranged parents David and Victoria.

And the VIP invitation to Sir Elton’s Academy Awards viewing party in West Hollywood on Sunday night showed his continued love and support for his godson.

A source said: “Elton has seen Brooklyn all adrift without his biological family and he’s stepped up for Brooklyn.

“Inviting him and Nicola to the party was a public show of support for him.

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“Elton doesn’t want to get involved in the row — as far as he’s concerned that’s between Brooklyn, David and Victoria.

“But he has been watching everything that has unfolded over the past ten months.

“Brooklyn lives in Los Angeles and when Elton is in town, he’ll often touch base with him.

“Brooklyn knows he has Elton’s ear and support.”

Brooklyn and US actress Nicola, 31, were among a string of celebs at the Elton John Aids Foundation bash, co-hosted by the singer and his husband, David Furnish.

They were photographed with Sharon Osbourne and her I’m a Celebrity star son Jack, while singer Dua Lipa and her actor fiancé Callum Turner were also there.

A source added: “Brooklyn and Nicola had a fantastic time with Elton and David.

“He just wants to move on with his life and is happy to have the support of Elton and David, who have always looked out for him.”

Sir Elton, who has two sons Zachary and Elijah with his hubby, has been very close friends with Posh and Becks for several years.

They asked the singer to be godfather to their first-born son Brooklyn in 1999, and they did the same with Romeo three years later.

Former Spice Girl Victoria was also a guest at Sir Elton’s Oscars party in 2009.

But they have not been pictured together in public since August 2019, when the Beckhams joined Sir Elton and David on a yacht during a holiday in the South of France.

Victoria posted pictures of their trip on Instagram with the caption: “Happy Summer with friends. Kisses @davidfurnish @eltonjohn. We love u both and your boys so much.”

In May 2023, David and Victoria supported Elton on the final night of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour and shared videos and photographs from a box at London’s O2 Arena.

Last summer The Sun revealed that Sir Elton had reached out to Brooklyn and Nicola amid their family feud — and invited them to lunch to talk in the South of France.

A source said at the time: “Elton wants everyone to be happy.

“There is no side-taking as such; he simply adores his godson, and really has a laugh with Nicola who he thinks has a great sense of humour.

“He wants to look after them in his role as ‘spiritual adviser’ as a godfather.

“It’s a role he takes seriously.”

We revealed yesterday that Brooklyn snubbed Victoria on Mother’s Day — while posting a birthday message to “the best mother-in-law”.

He told Nicola’s mum, Claudia, “Love u so much”, as she turned 71.

Who won on Hollywood’s biggest night?

One Battle After Another ran away with the night with six Oscars, while Sinners, which was nominated for a record-breaking 16 awards, came away with four. See the full winners list below:

Best Picture: One Battle After Another

Best Actress: Jessie Buckley, Hamnet

Best Actor: Michael B. Jordan, Sinners

Supporting Actress: Amy Madigan, Weapons

Supporting Actor: Sean Penn, One Battle After Another

Directing: One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson

Adapted Screenplay: One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson

Original Screenplay: Sinners, Ryan Coogler

Documentary Feature: Mr. Nobody Against Putin

Documentary Short: All the Empty Rooms

Animated Feature: KPop Demon Hunters

Animated Short: The Girl Who Cried Pearls

Cinematography: Sinners, Autumn Durald Arkapaw

Costume Design: Frankenstein, Kate Hawley

Film Editing: One Battle After Another, Andy Jurgensen

International Feature: Sentimental Value – Norway

Life Action Short: 

The Singers (TIED)

Two People Exchanging Saliva (TIED)

Makeup and Hairstyling: Frankenstein, Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey

Original Score: Sinners, Ludwig Goransson

Original Song: Golden, KPop Demon Hunters

Production Design: Frankenstein, Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau

Sound: F1, Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo and Juan Peralta

Visual Effects: Avatar: Fire and Ash, Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett

Casting: One Battle After Another, Cassandra Kulukundis

WEARING protective suits, masks, hats and gloves, we approach the buzzing hive in front of us.

The Canarian black bee, our guide tells us, is a hardy species adapted perfectly to the high heat and dry lands that make up Lanzarote’s volcanic climate.

My mum Rhona and I seem to have adapted pretty well ourselves, as we soak up the last of the afternoon sun.

The fourth-largest Canary Island, Lanzarote was the ideal destination for a pre-Mother’s Day trip, with its year-round “eternal spring” climate, lunar-like landscapes and white-sand beaches.

While a fly-and-flop holiday is always tempting, particularly when it’s 21C, I was determined to include some bonding experiences during our visit.

And our beekeeping tour was just that. Ahead of reaching the hive, our guide taught us all about the insects that live there.

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Then, after shedding our protective suits, we were treated to samples of the organic honey, taking note of the sightly different flavours depending on which plants the bees had visited.

We felt fully connected to the surrounding nature.

When we weren’t off exploring, we could relax at the 4H Seaside Los Jameos, in Puerto del Carmen, one of the island’s most popular resorts.

With its beachfront location, palm tree-lined pools, gym, spa and cactus gardens, the recently renovated hotel is an oasis within the town, with plenty of activities on site.

I’m lucky enough to have a mother who can run rings around me, so we started each day with a jog on the beach.

I picked up pace as the week progressed, but never quite managed to catch up with my mum.

It was the perfect way to work up an appetite for the plentiful buffet breakfast.

My highlights were the mimosa station, with crisp cava and freshly squeezed orange juice, and the DIY waffle machines.

In the evenings, guests can expect live entertainment from acts such as an ABBA tribute band, as well as magic shows and children’s discos.

Outside of the hotel, nearby restaurants included beachfront tapas joint Restaurante El Molino, which was within walking distance, and Sebastyan’s Atlantico Lounge on the water (be sure to arrive in time for the stunning sunset).

Lanzarote also has a thriving plonk scene, with wineries dotted all around the island.

Our final First Choice excursion took us on a tasting and museum tour at Bodega Finca Mota, a charming family-run winery surrounded by Lanzarote’s distinctive volcanic landscape, where grapes grow in the black sand.

We started our visit with an introduction to vintage winemaking tools in the museum, before sitting down for some sipping.

We tasted three different wines accompanied by locally-produced cheese and traditionally-cured tuna, and enjoyed it so much we bought a bottle each to take home.

On our final day, we decided to explore the picturesque village of Yaiza, famed for its beautifully maintained whitewashed houses and palm-lined streets.

Mum and I both love to shop, so we enjoyed a potter around the boutiques selling jewellery and ceramics and found a delightful cafe to have coffee and baked goods.

Literally the cherry on top of the cake to end a dreamy Mother’s Day getaway.

TV star Olivia Attwood takes her next steps in life after her January split from footballer Bradley Dack — as he is seen without his wedding ring.

Loose Women’s Olivia, 34, showed off her legs in a mini skirt and leopard print boots on a trip to New York.

Bradley, 32, was pictured leaving training at League Two Gillingham, minus his gold band.

Last weekend, we revealed Olivia left a Manchester hotel with reality star Pete Wicks, 37, hours after he took two pizzas up to his room at 3am after the Brits.

Olivia has revealed that she’s pausing her podcast as she navigates “big life changes” after her split from husband Bradley Dack.

The TV star split from footballer Bradley, 32, earlier this year following a “breach of trust” on his part.

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Olivia said that she would speak about her marriage breakdown when the time is right – insisting she had a “lot to process”.

And today the ITV presenter shared a short life update with her fans on her podcast, Olivia’s House.

In the 36 second clip, Olivia revealed she was taking a few weeks away – telling fans that she has a lot going on in her personal life.

She then touched on her break-up, saying that her listeners are obviously aware of her split by now.

Olivia said: “Hi dolls, Olivia here – I just wanted to pop on and give you a little update from my house to yours.

“So, unfortunately Olivia’s House is going to be closed for just the next couple of weeks.”

Olivia added that she’s currently working on a number of projects which requires her full focus.

“I know… the filming schedule is insane, lots of new projects, navigating some big life changes right now in case you didn’t know,” she continued.

THEY have amassed a legion of teen followers after becoming the next big boyband.

But it seems December 10 have also managed to make a fan out of Spice Girl Geri Halliwel.

This week, Biz on Sunday’s Emily caught up with the lads — Cruz, Danny, Hendrick, Sean, John, Josh and Nicolas — following the release of their latest single, Angel.

They revealed they were starstruck when Ginger Spice popped into their rehearsal at a West London studio last month, accompanied by her husband Christian Horner’s daughter.

Asked about their celebrity fans, Danny said: “The legend that is Geri Halliwell and her step-daughter came to the rehearsal studio to watch our set. They had wanted to come to our London show, but were due to be away when it was on, so we invited them to our rehearsals.

“Geri was like a pocket rocket. Petite and loads of personality.

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“We couldn’t believe we met a Spice Girl!

“She gave excellent advice, including to always enjoy the moment.

“Geri was super kind and gave us all a bag of gifts, including little speakers we always use on our phones.”

Sean said: “She showed up to rehearsals before the show and gave us advice. She’s really cool.”

Hendrik added: “The advice that she gave was, ‘That laugh that you have in your band as a group — try and keep that laugh and enjoy it’.

“That was the main advice that came across.”

December 10 found fame on Simon Cowell’s Netflix show The Next Act last year and have amassed millions of followers on social media.

Last month, they attended their first Brit Awards, in Manchester, and have told how they brushed shoulders with singers Lola Young and Sam Fender, as well as Happy Mondays maracas player Bez.

Cruz said: “I was partying with Bez in the DJ booth — he is funny. He and I have got to go to Ibiza one day.”

To celebrate Mother’s Day, the boys have been treating their mums after receiving their first big pay cheque.

Hendrik said: “I have been saving money to try and finish my mum and dad’s house. They have been wanting to finish it for years.”

Despite the global stardom that awaits, it sounds like the boys are keeping their feet on the ground.

SIMON ‘PROUD’ OF LADS

DECEMBER 10 have revealed how their mentor Simon Cowell was proud of them after their sold-out London show.

The music mogul and his fiancee Lauren Silverman attended their gig at the O2 Academy Islington, in North London, last month.

Band member Nicolas said: “He really enjoyed that we incorporated instruments into the live show, and when he spoke to us, that was one of the main things that made him really happy and proud.”

John added: “He has also always said that he just wants great songs. Over the past few months that we have been recording music, we have been working towards that.”

And the boys reckon it still feels surreal seeing thousands of teenagers queuing to hear them play.

Nicolas said: “I wouldn’t say it’s overwhelming, it’s more of a strange feeling, because the first show was a bit of a shock.

“It is a feeling for me, personally, that I don’t think I will get used to.”

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HE HAZ TO SEE MATES

HE is one of the biggest pop stars on the planet, but Harry Styles says he had to change his mindset so he did not become a recluse.

He explained: “When you shut out a lot of the things that are assumed can be negative, you also just unconsciously shut out a ton of positive things.

“It can be hard to go to a bar and hang out with friends because there’s maybe people who would act [in a certain] way.

“There’s also incredible people that you can meet in that bar – that you also shut yourself off from.”

He added on SiriusXM: “I was having some experiences where I was meeting some really great people that were kind of really planting the seed of, like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to shut myself off from this world’.”

It comes as his record Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally has topped the albums chart, while his track American Girls is No1 in the singles rundown.

Meanwhile, Harry’s singles Aperture and Ready, Steady, Go! are also top five.

It is truly Harry’s year.

DENISE GOES BIG

DENISE VAN OUTEN and Johnny Vaughan are creating a new Big Breakfast-style TV show 25 years after the original was axed.

I can reveal the pair, who presented the Channel 4 show in the Nineties, are working on a new format set to shake up TV schedules.

Denise said: “In my new touring show [An Evening With Denise], of all the things I’ve done, The Big Breakfast section gets the biggest reaction. I think people are still craving that chaos and the fun – we’ve lost it.”

She added: “I’m working on something with Johnny, it’s going to have that feel to it. It’s all come from the show and speaking to people. I was like, ‘Oh, people are missing this, they want this’.”

I cannot wait.

YOU’RE SO ROUGE, CHRISTINA

CHRISTINA AGUILERA was red hot on stage in this basque and matching gloves.

The US hitmaker teamed them with thigh-skimming black boots in Austin, Texas, as she headlined the Coca-Cola Sips & Sounds Music Festival.

Highlights included a performance of her 2001 hit Lady Marmalade, from film Moulin Rouge!, as fireworks lit up the sky.

MAYA’S VILLA TO VILLAIN

MAYA JAMA has revealed what her dream movie role would be – and it’s not what you might expect.

The Love Island host, who is set to star in the second series of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix crime-comedy The Gentlemen, said: “I’ve always said I don’t want to be what people expect me to be on camera.

“I’d want to be the complete opposite to that . . . so a monster or a mean, evil person. A villain maybe would be nice.”

DIVORCE NO2 FOR MILLIE

MADE In Chelsea couple Millie Mackintosh and Hugo Taylor have filed for divorce, I can reveal.

The pair, who married in 2018, have both appointed legal teams and have quietly started proceedings.

Reality star turned author Millie, who has two daughters with entrepreneur Hugo, has been through the process before, having split from rapper Professor Green, who she was married to from 2013 to 2016.

A pal said: “Fans will be sad to hear that their relationship is really over, but the pair just want a clean break.

“Millie and Hugo are committed to co-parenting their two young children and keeping everything stable. They are still very amicable with each other and have a lot of respect for one another.

“They want the divorce to go through as painlessly as possible and are focusing on work in the meantime.”

Professor Green has a son with model and actress Karima McAdams, who he dated for five years after splitting with Millie.

Now, he is back in touch with Millie and said: “There’s no resentment in me. She is gorgeous. We were not good for each other at that time.

“We spoke about our mutual diagnosis (ADHD) and our kids.”

MOLLY AND TOM IN SPANISH LOVE AISLE

THEY met on Love Island: All Stars in South Africa, but Molly Smith and Tom Clare are set to tie the knot in Majorca – home of the original dating show’s villa.

The couple are eyeing up Son Marroig, a stunning, 17th century, clifftop temple on the Spanish island for their summer nuptials.

The venue is popular among celebrities, with Pixie Geldof, weatherman Alex Beresford and Man City defender Nathan Ake all having held their ceremonies there.

A source said: “Majorca is a stunning destination for a wedding and there is plenty of privacy on the island. Many of the buildings are difficult to access by road and it has a secluded feel.

“There is guaranteed sun and it offers a beautiful backdrop with the most stunning sunsets.”

Tom and Molly do a weekly podcast called NearlyWeds and post regular vlogs about their planning.

Congrats guys . . . 

EX-PM SNAPS GEM OF A SHOT

GEMMA COLLINS posed with an unlikely fan at the Cheltenham races this week – as I am told that former PM David Cameron asked for a photo.

And reality favourite Gemma was only too happy to oblige David and wife Samantha in the Royal Box.

A source said: “Gemma was honoured that David asked her for a picture. They chatted about politics and her fondness of current Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch.”

Chuffed Gemma quickly shared the snap with her 2.2million Instagram followers.

She wrote: “It was lovely to be in the Royal Box and have a good chat with David Cameron and his lovely wife. We spoke politics and . . . what we were going to bet on next.”

Gemma, who is a face of bookmaker Paddy Power, won a mighty impressive £20,000 at Cheltenham – and £5,000 off just one bet.

The GC was spotted shouting, “I’m loaded” as she basked in her glory alongside stars including Danny Dyer and Peter Crouch.

Next year, I am asking Gemma for tips.

MICHAEL B. Jordan has been dreaming of landing Oscars glory since he was 15-years-old, but there were fears his career was over before it began.

In-demand Jordan heads to the Academy Awards on Sunday in line to land the coveted Best Actor award for supernatural horror movie Sinners, which has been nominated for a record-breaking 16 gongs.

But in an exclusive interview with The U.S. Sun, childhood pal JD Williams — who starred alongside a teenage Jordan in HBO’s iconic cop drama The Wire — says his bloody exit in the show had the young actor doubting his future.

Williams played local dealer and gang member Bodie, taking Jordan’s unassuming, drug-running character of Wallace under his wing.

Yet when the bosses, led by Hollywood star Idris Elba as the notorious Stringer Bell, suspected Jordan was speaking to cops, Williams was told to execute him.

With the actors only given their scripts days before a shoot, the Creed star had no idea his breakout role was soon to be over.

It was a heartbreaking end to the first season, and left a young Jordan worried about his career ending abruptly.

“None of us knew where the story was going,” Williams told The U.S. Sun. “You only get your scripts week to week. When he saw that he was getting killed off, he literally thought he wasn’t going to work again.

“I told him, ‘Look, everybody loves you already. When this happens, people are going to look up Wallace’s real name. When they find out it’s Michael B. Jordan, they’re going to look for you in everything.’”

Williams, 48, and Jordan, 39, grew up in Newark, New Jersey, and both attended Arts High School.

While many of the actors in The Wire were cleverly drawn from the gritty streets of Baltimore, trained actors such as Elba, the late Michael K. Williams, who played hustler Omar, as well as Jordan and his pal Williams, helped elevate the five-series masterpiece to the next level.

Jordan came into the show off the back of the 2001 sports drama Hardball, starring Keanu Reeves.

He was very much learning his trade when he met Williams and his fellow co-stars for the first time.

Yet going up against the A-listers Timothee Chalamet and Leonardo DiCaprio for an Oscar illustrates just how far Jordan has come since those early, nervy days.

“I had already heard about him because he had done Hardball, and I was proud of him for that,” Williams recalled. “Then to find out he was on the same series I was doing, I was like, ‘Wow — a kid from exactly where I’m from and we’re doing this together.’”

The two actors quickly formed a bond on set.

They hung out together, playing PlayStation and traveling to Las Vegas and Miami when not filming.

Their friendship has remained strong ever since.

“I would say he’s probably the most organic actor — star actor — out there,” Williams, a prominent and memorable character in The Wire who was eventually killed off himself after 34 episodes, said. “There’s minimal fakeness in him, minimal shade.”

If Jordan wins the best actor award, he will become the first character from writer David Simon’s critically acclaimed show to be crowned by the Academy.

“Someone from our class had to get it, if Michael K. Williams were still alive, I think he would have been in this position too, but I’m so proud it’s Mike,” said his old friend. “There’s no scandal with him. It’s deserved.”

Williams went on to star in prison drama Oz, is working on numerous independent projects, has also appeared in Starz drama BMF, and now relishes helping guide the next generation of actors.

Jordan, meanwhile, has steadily built one of the most successful careers of his generation, starring in films like Creed and portraying villain Killmonger in Marvel’s Black Panther.

Crucially, his longtime creative partnership with director Ryan Coogler, who was also behind Creed in 2015, has become one of the most influential collaborations in modern Hollywood.

No film has ever received more nominations than Sinners, in which Jordan masterfully plays a dual role as twin brothers Elijah and Elias.

The movie stormed this year’s Academy Awards with a record-breaking 16 nominations, surpassing the previous record of 14 shared by All About Eve, Titanic and La La Land.

Its dominance spans the biggest categories, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Coogler — along with a Best Actor nomination for Jordan, his first at the Oscars.

The apocalyptic drama also earned acting nods for Delroy Lindo and Wunmi Mosaku, while racking up recognition across major craft categories including cinematography, editing, costume design and visual effects.

The record-setting 16th nomination came in the Academy’s brand-new Best Casting category, recognizing Francine Maisler’s work assembling the film’s ensemble.

Williams says he worked on a series of scripts and ideas with Jordan over the years, but admits the partnership with Coogler has helped his friend evolve as an actor and is why he now stands on the brink of greatness.

“Him and Ryan getting together is the perfect combination,” he said. “Having a director that is great to collaborate with is exactly what was needed.

“If you have a vision and you’re part of a class of actors coming up together, that’s what happens. They are the perfect combination.”

Jordan’s ability to deliver the performances his directors want is also key.

“If you give Mike direction, he gets it straight away,” Williams said. “He can go exactly where you need him to go and be what you need him to be in that moment.

“That’s the essence of acting — delivering the message to the audience.

“And he’s not just there to be handsome and pretty. Mike is writing, producing, directing. He understands the whole business.”

Biggest Oscar Nominees of 2026 Academy Awards

Everyone in Hollywood hopes to snag a nod on the industry’s biggest night but only few get that honor. Here are the nominees from the major categories of the 2026 Academy Awards:

Best Picture

• Bugonia
• F1
• Frankenstein
• Hamnet
• Marty Supreme
• One Battle After Another
• The Secret Agent
• Sentimental Value
• Sinners
• Train Dreams

Best Director

• Chloé Zhao — Hamnet
• Josh Safdie — Marty Supreme
• Paul Thomas Anderson — One Battle After Another
• Joachim Trier — Sentimental Value
• Ryan Coogler — Sinners

Best Actor (Leading Role)

• Timothée Chalamet — Marty Supreme
• Leonardo DiCaprio — One Battle After Another
• Ethan Hawke — Blue Moon
• Michael B. Jordan — Sinners
• Wagner Moura — The Secret Agent

Best Actress (Leading Role)

• Jessie Buckley — Hamnet
• Rose Byrne — If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
• Renate Reinsve — Sentimental Value
• Emma Stone — Bugonia
• Kate Hudson — Song Sung Blue

Best Supporting Actor

• Benicio Del Toro — One Battle After Another
• Jacob Elordi — Frankenstein
• Delroy Lindo — Sinners
• Sean Penn — One Battle After Another
• Stellan Skarsgård — Sentimental Value

Best Supporting Actress

• Teyana Taylor — One Battle After Another
• Wunmi Mosaku — Sinners
• Amy Madigan — Weapons
• Elle Fanning — Sentimental Value
• Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas — Sentimental Value

Best Original Screenplay

• Bugonia — Yorgos Lanthimos & Will Tracy
• Marty Supreme — Josh Safdie & Ronald Bronstein
• One Battle After Another — Paul Thomas Anderson
• Sentimental Value — Joachim Trier & Eskil Vogt
• Sinners — Ryan Coogler

Best Adapted Screenplay

• Blue Moon — Richard Linklater & Glen Powell
• Frankenstein — Guillermo del Toro
• Hamnet — Chloé Zhao
• The Secret Agent — Kleber Mendonça Filho
• Train Dreams — Clint Bentley & Greg Kwedar

Best Animated Feature

• Arco
• KPop Demon Hunters
• The Magnificent Life of Marcel Pagnol
• Zootopia 2
• The Night Gardener

Best International Feature Film

• The Secret Agent — Brazil
• Sentimental Value — Norway
• It Was Just an Accident — Iran
• Universal Language — Canada
• Sujo — Mexico

Best Documentary Feature

• The Alabama Solution
• Come See Me in the Good Light
• Four Daughters
• No Other Land
• The Perfect Neighbor

More than two decades after their time on The Wire, Williams says watching Jordan’s continued rise is deeply personal.

Their families remain close.

“I’m proud of my brother,” he said. “He’s been growing as an actor his entire life. But he’s deeper than that — he writes, he produces, he directs. He’s built himself into this system.

“I can’t explain how proud I am. Thinking back to us just sitting on my parents’ steps at my little sister’s birthday party — and now seeing where he is. The vision is unfolding exactly the way it was supposed to.”

But will he watch his old friend’s moment of destiny on Sunday night?

“When I don’t watch my team, they win. When I watch my team, it’s 50-50. And I don’t — I just don’t know, man,” he said with a huge smile.

“If it’s not this time, it’s going to be the next time. But of course I am behind my brother. I always will be.

“Chalamet is a great actor, but this is Mike’s year. If he wins, I’m going straight to his house. I don’t know if I’ll hug him or punch him in the stomach, but it’ll be a great feeling. He’s a great dude and I love him to death.

“We talked about this stuff while playing PlayStation years ago. Seeing it unfold meticulously — not as a fluke, but as a plan — is beautiful.”

I SKULK swiftly through the labyrinth of shrubs. The grass is so tall it strokes my shoulders with each stride.

Fresh dung and paw prints in the sandy pastures point to South Africa’s most famous mammals lurking nearby — but they stay hidden.

Suddenly, among the chorus of bird call, a rustle and a huff from the nearby shrubs sends adrenaline surging through me.

My feet spring into action before my brain, as I pelt in the opposite direction, following the urgent calls of my rifle-carrying guide.

We had found ourselves mere metres from two wild buffalo, part of the elusive Big Five and one of Kruger National Park’s deadliest animals.

In the east of South Africa and arguably the most famous park for safari in the world, Kruger is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

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It’s not been much of a start to its birthday, though.

Severe floods ripped through the plains in the early days of this year, wreaking havoc.

But nature is resilient and the wildlife here always bounces back fast.

That’s in part thanks to the committed rangers, who are continually working on the park’s infrastructure and a fierce anti-poaching programme.

And their work meant my chances of spotting wildlife hadn’t been diminished.

In fact, within 24 hours of checking into Rhino Walking Safaris’ Plains camp, I ticked off the Big Five — lions, leopards, buffalo, rhino and elephants — almost twice over.

Full credit goes to the guides accompanying me, James and Orance, who know precisely how to spot clues, including claw marks on trees, with their hawk-like eyes.

Earlier that day, we had pulled to a halt for a lion sleeping in the road.

He was within touching distance.

Not that you’d risk extending an arm beyond the truck.

You have a greater chance of a lion fleeing than attacking, though.

Guide James tells me the Kruger lions are used to seeing trucks of humans.

They’re still very much wild, but they generally feel safe in our presence, which makes for spectacular observing — that’s if you manage to spot one (more tips on that).

Next it was hippos braving dry land after the blistering heat had subsided, an agile leopard creeping through the long grass, then elephants shaking the last of the green fruit from the branches of a Marula tree.

Smiling broadly, I returned to my luxury safari tent, which featured wooden twin beds, a private bathroom with a shower head that dangles from a tree branch and a large decking area from which you can lazily watch wildlife, beyond the small electric fence.

Rhino Walking Safaris owns a 12,000 hectare private concession within Kruger and its Plains camp is near a popular watering hole, so the chances of spotting creatures even during downtime is high.

Buffalos, a wildebeest named Steve, baboons, and even a duo of young rhinos called by.

With only four tents and no wifi, strangers become friends and you’re wholly immersed in the experience.

The real highlight for me, however, was the morning walks.

A 4.45am alarm may sting, but observing the misty pink sunrise from beyond a buffalo’s resting place makes it all worthwhile.

There’s something magical about safaris on foot, treading the same path as the animal you’re tracking, away from all things man-made and with the exhilaration of imminent danger.

Guides carry rifles, although they’re so knowledgeable about the creatures around us, they’ve never had to fire them.

Morning walks come with snacks and coffee, followed by a brunch feast at camp, a few hours of downtime and high tea.

Then it’s the afternoon game drive with sundowners (in my case a healthy pouring of gin), an 8.30pm three-course dinner back at camp and 10pm stargazing — or bedtime for those whose eyes are too weary.

Exhaustion is combatted by sheer adrenaline, but there are also plenty of less rural camps offering more laid-back itineraries where lazy mornings can be enhanced by spa treatments or dips in the pool.

Mdluli Safari Lodge, on the western periphery of Kruger, has a spectacular infinity pool overlooking a watering hole.

The very large safari tents, of which there are 50, are raised on stilts and come with greater levels of creature comforts such as aircon, plugs in rooms, internet access and a swinging egg chair on the decking.

Choice of game drives is plentiful. You can head out at pretty much any time of day, on short sunset safaris or day-long drives.

We even managed to squeeze in a final early sunrise ride before our transfer to the airport, admiring a mob of dwarf mongoose rustling at the edge of the road.

Before heading home or ahead of your safari, a day in Johannesburg is worthwhile.

Holidaymakers travelling from the UK will fly into this city and it’s a poignant area for delving into South Africa’s troubled past.

June 2026 marks 50 years since the brutal killing of Hector Pieterson, a 12-year-old schoolboy, who was shot by police during the Soweto student uprising.

You can learn all about this tale, and the apartheid regime, on a tuktuk tour with Lebo’s Soweto Backpackers (£35pp, sowetobackpackers.com).

We rolled through modern-day communities and old hostels, before passing Nelson Mandela’s former home, now a museum.

It’s a humbling experience.

Top it with a ride through untrodden pastures with the Big Five for an adventure of a lifetime.

Watching a David Attenborough documentary back in the UK, I feel a little smug.

A TV screen can’t quite capture that magic.

TEN TIPS FOR BUSH HOLS 

1. BRING LOTS OF CLOTHES: You’ll sweat a lot and clothes get grubby on both walks and game drives because of the dust. I often changed outfits twice a day. 

2. EARTHY COLOURS: When you’re in the truck, it really doesn’t matter what you wear – although bring a fleece or jacket, even in summer, as it gets chilly. On walks you should wear neutral, earthy tones like beige, green or brown – no whites or brights. And don’t worry about buying chic or stylish garments for walks; comfort is key. 

3. WAKE UP FOR THE EARLY SAFARIS: Even if you’re knackered and desperate to stay in bed, those early-morning  game drives or walks are some of the most spectacular. This is when a lot of animals come out and some of the sunrises were even more impressive than the sunsets. 

4. IGNORE THE WEATHER FORECAST: The Met Office and BBC Weather forecast rain for every day I was in Kruger. Yet it didn’t rain once. It’s best to come prepared for all eventualities – rain jacket, shorts, trousers and  binoculars. 

5. CASH FOR TIPS: Bring more than you think you’ll need. If you run out of money, it’ll be a struggle to get more and gratuities, although not always expected, are very common. We tipped our guides 200-250 rand per day. You’ll likely want to tip other staff too, such as  cooks, cleaners and waiters.  

6. BRING THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT: Worldwide adaptors rarely work in South Africa – the sockets aren’t common. So order one online before you go and make sure to pack a battery pack if you  plan to  use your phone to take pictures and videos.  

7. DON’T SELF-DRIVE: Self-drives are popular in Kruger and do give you a greater level of independence, but if you’re going for the first time, you’ll see heaps more with the help of a guide. These guides are experts and are connected with all the other guides in the area so will be first to hear of a sighting. They live on site so know exactly where certain herds rest. 

8. BRING EARPLUGS: Remember, you’re in the wild, so if you’re a light sleeper, ear plugs are a must. I thought it would be sleep-inducing listening to the hum of animals at night. They were much louder than expected and I was woken up several times by a relentless owl. 

9. DON’T JUST CHASE THE BIG FIVE: Everyone likes to say they’ve seen them, but some of my most magical experiences were with creatures I’d never heard of. Even the trees and flora we spotted were fascinating, as were the birds. 

10. CHOOSE YOUR STAY WISELY: Camps have their own guides – and each guide or ranger varies in skill and expertise. Do your research and try to book a camp where two guides accompany you on safari as opposed to one – double the people means double your chances of spotting wildlife. We’d met people who were yet to spot a single one of the Big Five in a week, but we’d seen them all in a day and that’s thanks to our guides. 

THE Netherlands’ best-kept secret is out . . . Utrecht is now stealing the spotlight from Amsterdam.

With historic streets, lively bars and quirky shops, it is quickly becoming Europe’s must-visit city.

Lonely Planet has tipped it as one of 2026’s hottest destinations and people are already flocking to see what all the fuss is about.

With architectural wonders, canal-side restaurants and intriguing after-dark hotspots, it is easy to see why visitors are falling head over heels for the Dutch delight . . . 

WHY SHOULD I GO?

WITH a labyrinth of canals and charming gabled houses, Utrecht’s streets brim with character.

It delivers all the allure of capital Amsterdam, but without the crowds.

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Beyond the medieval charm, Utrecht offers far more than fairytale backdrops.

It has a vibrant arts and music scene where Johnny Marr, Ride and Wolf Alice have performed.

For a bird’s-eye view of the city, head to the Dom Tower.

Soaring 112 metres, it is the tallest church spire in the Netherlands and has been a landmark since 1382.

Climb right to the top for your panoramic views.

STREETS MADE FOR WALKING?

UTRECHT is one of the world’s most walkable cities, with 75 per cent of locals on foot or bike.

Explore the old town, or hop on a 90-minute canal cruise to discover historic wharves and charming houses — all brought to life by tales from a skipper.

ANYTHING FOR BUCKET LIST?

GO underground at DOMunder and wander through 2,000 years of history beneath the streets, including Roman ruins and medieval cellars.

Art lovers will swoon at the Rietveld Schroder house, a Unesco-listed modernist gem.

Meanwhile, the Museum Speelklok lets visitors relive history with its whimsical self- playing musical instruments.

WHERE SHOULD I EAT?

KICKSTART your day at Bunk, a chic spot in a converted church.

The Dutch Breakfast (£16) serves up Eggs Benedict, a cheesy pancake, and a Dutch speciality — a spicy slice of cake for a quirky but delicious way to start your day.

For a laid-back lunch, head to Il Pozzo, tucked away on the waterfront. Its wood-fired pizzas are perfect for a lazy meal as you watch the boats drift by.

On the go? Toque Toque sells toasted sandwiches starting at £7.

For an elegant dinner, try Jack Rabbit, with its oversized shimmering rabbit on the walls.

There are small plates of tuna sashimi and sea bass ceviche, crafted cocktails and a buzzing, hip vibe.

If you are after something heartier, Broadway Steakhouse sizzles with a relaxed, stylish setting.

I FANCY A DRINK

CANAL-SIDE sips and cocktail bars set the scene for an evening out.

Kick things off at the on-trend Café Olivier, a converted abbey with vaulted walls serving Belgian beers from £3.90.

Then wander along the Oudegracht to De Rechtbank, a buzzing hotspot with inventive cocktails and a lively terrace.

For a more laid-back vibe, check out Vino Vero, where the expertly chosen wines come at surprisingly great prices.

If you are after something more exotic, duck into the city’s cellars to The Rum Club, where rum cocktails and reggae beats transport you to the Caribbean.

Café DeRat, with a rotating selection of local brews, keeps regulars coming back for more.

And for a touch of glamour, head to Café Lebowski, a speakeasy-style bar where cocktails are expertly crafted in an intimate setting.

WHERE TO STAY

THE Moxy Utrecht is a fun, budget-friendly option in the city centre.

With stylish rooms, a buzzing bar, playful decor, oversized chess sets and complimentary bike hire, it’s the perfect base.

Rooms start from £92 a night.

For those ready to splash out, Grand Hotel Karel V, housed in a former 14th-century monastery, is pure indulgence.

It combines historic charm with modern luxury and also has a Michelin-starred restaurant and a great wellness centre.

ACTOR Warwick Davis’s mystery lover is a woman named Yvette who he has been dating for a year.

The star, whose wife Samantha died in 2024, ­affectionately referred to his new partner as “Sponge” in a speech last year.

Pals said American-born Yvette, who Warwick said had helped him “to laugh and to love again”, was his ­formal date when he received his OBE from Prince William at Windsor Castle on Wednesday.

The Sun can reveal she also attended the Bafta Film Awards with the Harry Potter star, 56, at London’s Royal Festival Hall last month.

And they were also seen backstage together at a Madness concert in Cornwall last July.

A source told The Sun: ­“Warwick has been with Yvette for over a year now and they couldn’t be happier.

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“She has no interest in being a public figure and — although she has accompanied Warwick to events — Yvette does not court the limelight.

“Yvette is so proud of Warwick and loves to be by his side at events, but she will stand back and allow him to be in the ­spotlight.

“Yvette is close with his children and they have a lovely life together.

“All anyone wanted was to see Warwick happy and he has that with Yvette.”

Warwick revealed he had started dating again at the Bafta Film Awards in February last year.

After accepting the Bafta ­Fellowship on stage, he said: “Above all I’d like to dedicate and thank my wonderful wife Sammy, who died almost a year ago.

“Since then life has been pretty tough for me, but thanks to the support of our wonderful children Annabelle and Harrison, I’ve been able to continue working and engaging in life.

“A special mention too should go to Sponge, you know who you are.

“Thank you for showing me that life can still have meaning and helping me to laugh and to love again.”

This week at his investiture, Yvette was spotted in the background with his children while her partner spoke to William.

Warwick, who was born with a rare form of dwarfism called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia ­congenita, was named in King Charles’ New Year Honours list.

He was praised for his work supporting people with dwarfism, co-founding the charity Little People UK in 2012 with Samantha.

Meanwhile, the Star Wars actor is to reprise his role as Professor Filius Flitwick in the upcoming Harry Potter TV spin-off.

THE woman charged with attempted murder after allegedly shooting up Rihanna’s home called the pop superstar a “witch” and claimed she was going to “die” in a disturbing video before the attack.

A string of unhinged posts shared over the last few weeks lay bare 35-year-old Ivanna Lisette Ortiz’s alleged obsession with the Diamonds hitmaker.

Police claim the suspect fired multiple shots using an AR-15-style rifle – with several bullets striking Rihanna’s front gate and an RV parked on the driveway – after she drove to the star’s $14million Los Angeles home on Sunday.

Mom-of-three Rihanna was reportedly at home at the time of the disturbing incident but was not injured.

It is unclear whether anyone else, including her partner, A$AP Rocky, or their young children were in the property at the time.

Ortiz, from Orlando, Florida, remains in custody, and bail has been set at around $10.2million, officials confirmed to The U.S. Sun.

SHOCK ATTACK

Woman charged with attempted murder after shooting at Rihanna’s LA mansion

In the months leading up to the crime, Ortiz blasted the star in videos on her YouTube channel,c where she shares daily clips with the title, Praying Woman’s Journal.

“Rihanna, when you die, God is taking me to my future,” she tells viewers in one bone-chilling video from two months ago.

“You want to kill me? Shut the f*** up. Okay, shut the f*** up. Yeah, she’s a witch. She’s a witch. I’m a watchman. She’s a witch. Get that stupid girl out of here, okay,” she continues to ramble incoherently.

Other posts shared on Ortiz’s Facebook mention celebrities, including Rihanna, as she seemingly threatens the pop star.

On February 23, she wrote, “@badgalriri — Are you there? Cause I was waiting for your AIDS 5-head self to say something to me directly instead of sneaking around like you’re talking to me where I’m not at.”

She also shared a photograph of rapper Drake, with the caption, “When Drake found out Rihanna has AIDS #champagnepapi.”

There is no suggestion that her posts are true.

She referenced Rihanna as far back as December, even claiming she was “with @badgalriri” a month later, along with other stars tagged in her disturbing posts.

Ortiz also seemed angry at many female celebrities on her page, branding Kim Kardashian a “stupid b****,” adding, “Your turn hiding b****, stop begging for a look.”

Pictures show her in full glam with different hair styles, and in one, she appears next to several awards, writing, “Posing with my pageant trophies. Miss Teen Illinois Latina Princess 2006.”

She lists herself as living in Florida and is featured in earlier posts with a young girl, thought to be her daughter.

The U.S. Sun obtained filings from December 2025 that show a Florida appeals court upheld a ruling stripping Ortiz of all time-sharing rights with her child in her legal fight with ex, Jed Nikko Valdez Sangalang.

Ortiz had appealed a temporary order issued by a judge in Orange County that revoked her time-sharing entirely and barred her from having any contact with their child.

She filed for divorce in 2015, and the case docket shows it is still ongoing years later.

She was also previously charged after an alleged violent attack on her ex-partner in front of their young child, according to records.

Details about the exact outcome of that case remain limited, but Ortiz has a history of legal issues in Florida, including allegedly violating pretrial release conditions. 

The U.S. Sun has reached out to Sangalang for comment.

Meanwhile, Rihanna has yet to comment on the shooting incident.

A dispatch call from the Los Angeles West Division was reviewed by The U.S. Sun, and features an operator asking officers to attend to an address on Heather Road after reports of gunfire.

The call crackled over the radio, with the dispatcher relaying that the shots had come from across the street and that no one at the scene had a clear view of the suspect.

Witnesses said the gunfire came from a white Tesla, which was seen speeding away down Coldwater Canyon after “ten shots” were fired at the property’s gate.

For more than 10 minutes, officers scrambled for information as they tried to determine the Tesla’s exact model and license plate while investigators worked to pull nearby surveillance footage.

Authorities later said the suspect, described as having braided hair and wearing a cream blouse, was tracked by helicopter to a shopping center parking lot in Sherman Oaks and arrested around 30 minutes after the initial call.

When officers stopped the car, they allegedly found an assault rifle and seven shell casings inside the vehicle.

HARRY STYLES has reason for plenty more disco dancing after scoring the biggest opening week of sales for a UK artist since Adele four years ago.

He released his album Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally on Friday and I can reveal he sold 125,000 copies in the UK in the first two days alone.

The massive figure means he has already eclipsed the first week sales of his last album Harry’s House, which sold 113k copies in seven days in 2022.

It’s likely to be the third fastest selling British album of the last decade and the biggest since Adele’s 30 which shifted 261k in its first week in 2021.

Over on the singles chart, he looks set to occupy all three top spots with American Girls currently in the lead at No1, followed by former chart topper Aperture at No2 and Ready, Steady, Go! at No3.

And the figures globally are massive too, as Harry scored the biggest album debut of 2026 on Spotify worldwide with 63million streams on Friday.

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The killer news comes after former One Direction star Harry smashed his One Night Only performance in Manchester’s Co-op Live on Friday night.

Fans who didn’t manage to get their hands on the £20 tickets, which were sold in a ballot, can now watch the show back on Netflix after it premiered on there last night.

Following the gig, Harry flew to the US to be in the audience for Saturday Night Live, where he will perform and host the show this weekend.

Chatting with Ryan Gosling, who was in the hot seat, Harry, who previously hosted and sang during an episode in 2019, said: “It’s been awhile, so I wanted to watch, get a feel for it.”

Insiders said the stripped back set, which saw Harry performing his new album from start to finish, will be ramped up for his upcoming 12 Wembley Stadium shows.

A source said: “Harry is celebrating this new era with an incredible stage set up.

“His team are building an epic set for the Wembley residency. Because he’s not moving around, they can really go to town.

“There will be enormous big screens and likely fireworks at the end of the shows.

“Harry gave his fans a taste of what is to come from the shows during the Brit Awards when he did an amazing choreographed routine as he sang Aperture.

“These shows are going down in history.”

I was lucky enough to be in Manchester’s Co-op Live to see Harry in action on Friday night and can confirm this album sounds incredible live.

His decision to lock away camera phones was masterful, as I could see the 20,000-odd fans properly connecting with his music – rather than watching him through an iPhone screen.

I think Harry should keep the ban in place when it comes to his Wembley shows, which kick off on June 12.

Enjoying music in the moment is the best feeling in the world — and Harry has reminded everyone, myself included, of that.

LIZZO is back and she’s riding higher than ever.

The About Damn Time singer headlined the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s Black Heritage Night six years after her performance there was cancelled because of Covid.

And she made up for lost time and entered the ring to the sounds of the Texas Southern University Ocean of Soul marching band playing Chamillionaire’s 2005 hit Ridin.

During her set, Lizzo whisked punters through her hits including Truth Hurts and Good As Hell and gave fans a thrill as she pulled out her flute to play the melody of Houston native, American rapper Mike Jones’s song Still Tippin’.

Speaking after her set, Lizzo said: “You have no idea how much this night means to me.

“This night will forever change my life.”

I’m a massive fan of Lizzo’s and last saw her on stage at Glastonbury back in 2023.

Please can she come back soon?

LOLA AND JAMES ON TRACK

LOLA YOUNG is showing no signs of slowing down.

Just last week she performed a near sell-out show at the London Palladium and now I can reveal she’s back in the studio.

Insiders tell me Lola has been getting to work with James Blake with the pair recording after a chance meeting last year.

A source said: “James and Lola have been in the studio working on a few songs and hopefully at least one of the tracks will end up on her next album.”

After being forced to cancel her tour last year to focus on her health, Lola has also announced she will play Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and London in June.

It’s great to see her back.

Rita’s got our hearts racing

RITA ORA isn’t a woman who does things by halves.

And when she performed at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne over the weekend she dressed up like a chequered flag.

Rita teamed her black and white jacket with a pair of tiny black pants and stockings for her performance, which saw her singing some of her biggest hits – including her 2012 breakout song Hot Right Now.

Over the weekend, Basement Jaxx also performed a headline set at the race – which was won by British racing driver George Russell – with DJ Duke Dumont putting on the final show last night with an epic turn on the decks.

BOY GEORGE is to appear on Eurovision – but will be representing San Marino instead of the United Kingdom.

The Culture Club legend will feature on the tune Superstar, performed by Italian singer Senhit, who has qualified for the tiny nation.

He didn’t appear at the regional selection event on Friday night, in which Senhit won her place, but I’m told he does intend to be on stage in Vienna at the contest in May.

She previously represented San Marino in 2021 with the track Adrenalina, which had another famous feature, as American rapper Flo Rida joined her on stage.

Despite the special guest that year she finished 22 out of 26, so Boy George will be hoping to improve on that.

But given the UK came 19th last that year, perhaps George has the right idea singing for somebody else.

LADY GAGA has hinted she will marry fiancé Michael Polansky any day now.

Gaga, whose tour ends in the US on April 13, sent a note into pal Bruno Mars’s iHeartRadio livestream.

She said: “Me and my fiancé have been travelling all year, but we’re getting married soon. We were hoping you could choose a special song for us.”

TRAITOR ALAN SAYS TOO MUCH

ALAN CARR has called his upcoming comedy tour, Have I Said Too Much, and I can confirm he has.

But it’s bloody hilarious. During a small gig at the Soho Theatre in London on Saturday night, he took pops at his Celebrity Traitors co-stars – and had the crowd in stitches.

Alan said: “Wasn’t I good in The Traitors? Was I good or were the other celebrities just s**t?

“They were thick as mince and as stupid. When I laughed in their face and said: ‘I’m a faithful,’ I went home and packed.

“What more could I have done? I could have come down in that cloak with the severed head of CLAUDIA WINKLEMAN and they still would have gone: ‘I think it’s JOE MARLER.’”

Alan added: “Do you think I killed Paloma Faith first? No – I killed Clare Balding. We shoved her in the coffin but could not get the lid down because of that quiff.”

DR CALL FOR MUSO PETE

HE went from playing foul-mouthed Malcolm Tucker in The Thick Of It to becoming Doctor Who, and then trying his hand at music.

And after his second album, Sweet Illusions, was released last year, I’m told Peter Capaldi is already lining up his third record.

Peter worked with Blow Monkeys frontman Dr. Robert for album two and now they’re teaming up again, following the end of Peter’s debut run of headline shows.

A source said: “Peter finished his final show at the 100 Club in London last night, and the plan is to get back into a studio and lay down some new tracks.

“He has been blown away by the response to his first ever live shows with his band, and he already has a host of tracks for a new record.

“More than anything he finds making music fun.

“Peter doesn’t need to get to the top of the charts for this all to be a success for him.

“He would never have even recorded one track if it wasn’t for his friend Dr. Robert urging him to remember his student days as a punk and write some new songs.

“He trusts Dr. Robert and can’t wait to get to work with him again.”

Peter’s first foray into music was when he was at art college and he was the lead singer and guitarist in a punk rock band called the Dreamboys.

His biggest music moment so far came last year when Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos pulled Peter up on stage at Glastonbury to perform Take Me Out with them.

DOH! Homer – no, not the Simpsons character, I mean the ancient Greek poet – must have got it wrong when he penned his classic Odyssey saga some 3,000 years ago.

For legend has it that the tiny Dodecanese island of Lipsi is his fabled Ogygia, where a saucy siren called Kalypso kept Trojan war hero Odysseus a prisoner for seven years.

Now, according to Homer, Odysseus was desperate to escape from Ogygia and flee home to his wife Penelope in Ithaca, on the other side of Greece.

But after my week-long stay in Lipsi I can’t imagine anyone wanting to leave this lovely, laid-back island, lapped by the clear blue water of the Aegean Sea.

Especially with the cooling Meltemi breeze ensuring that, although the temperature can hover in the 30s in summer, it never feels oppressively hot.

Certainly Sally Vavoulas, from Tenterden, Kent, has not wished to leave.

HEAVEN IS HELLENIC

I went to Greek island holiday resort where cast of Mamma Mia! stayed

SAND NICE

I visit Greece 10 times a year – my five favourite beaches which are still 24C

She arrived in Lipsi in 2001, fell under its spell ­— and is still there.

These days she helps run the island’s excellent winery with husband Manolis. But more of that later.

Lipsi is not one island but an archipelago.

Only three of its 24 isles are occupied — and one has just two residents — while most of the 800-strong population are clustered in a sprawling village on the main isle.

Ferries chug into the little harbour every day from Kos and Samos, a two-hour cruise away — and twice a week from Athens, a longer nine-hour voyage.

Berthed alongside them are millionaires’ luxury superyachts, which have sailed from faraway spots such as the Caribbean and the United States.

And tied up farther down the jetty are the locals’ tiny but colourful fishing smacks.

Fortunately, though, those huge skyscraper-like cruise ships are banned from Lipsi.

Lining the quay are a cluster of excellent tavernas — such as Pefko, where owner Nikos looks annoyed when I ask which is the best dish on that night’s menu.

“None is best,” he replies sternly, before breaking into a beaming smile and adding: “Everything’s superb.” Hmm, as I soon discover, Nikos isn’t wrong!

Just down the road there’s Kalypso, a restaurant owned by the brother of village mayor Fotis Mangos and named after the aforementioned siren.

Well, if she dished up a delicious sea bass like the one I tucked into, then no wonder Odysseus stayed for seven years.

Fotis, I have been warned, has a habit of suddenly breaking into song.

He doesn’t after joining me for dinner, but plays a YouTube video of him duetting with a Greek rapper on a little ditty called “Come With Me To Lipsi”.

Former PE teacher Fotis is justly proud of his “hidden gem” of an island, and would love to see more British holidaymakers venturing there.
September, he says, is ideal as the kids are back at school yet the sun is still hot and the sea remains comfortably warm.

Not too many tourists, though, because Fotis doesn’t want to turn the place into another overcrowded Santorini or Kos.

Probably unlikely, because there are no discos or nightclubs blaring out raucous music.

Nor will you find any sunbeds, parasols or pedalos on the tiny beaches scattered around its coves.

A couple do boast tavernas where you can sip a cold beer or the local aniseed-based ouzo over lunch. But most are virtually deserted and often you have them to yourself.

Two other restaurants in the village worth visiting are Manolis Tastes, whose chef was once voted Best in the Mediterranean, and Plateia, where Despina makes ice cream that is to die for.

One morning I take a 50-minute ramble along winding dirt tracks, following colourful hand-painted signs through the hills to Monodendri — which means “One tree”. It’s supposed to be a nudist beach, although none of the three sun-worshippers stretched out on towels are baring all when I arrive. And I don’t, either.

But it’s an idyllic, peaceful spot where you hear just the gentle waves.
Grand feast

I’ve hired a little runabout car from George’s Rentals but rarely use it. Lipsi is only some 16 square kilometres and you can walk to most places.

One day, hiking past lemon and fig trees, grapevines and donkeys, I bump into Dimitri, the island’s cheesemaker.

He doesn’t speak much English and only makes goat cheese — not surprising as there are twice as many goats as people on the island — but he offers me some. It’s delicious, at 13 euros a kilo.

The island is dotted with white, blue-domed churches, most just tiny family chapels with barely room to swing a cat (of which there are many on Lipsi).

One local tells me there are 400 churches, another reckons about 150.

So I ask the island’s priest as he sits sipping coffee outside a taverna. He reckons 57. And as from time to time Fr Georgios is called out to preach in all of them, he should know.

The biggest is Panagia Charou, or the Virgin Mary of Death Church, where a revered but rather strange icon shows her clutching a crucified Christ on the cross.

Every year on August 23, it seems that a bunch of withered lilies left there by a schoolgirl in 1943 miraculously bloom back to life.

The occasion is marked by a grand feast “filled with dancing and singing, eating and drinking, drawing believers from all corners”.

Out on another walk, I meet Nikiforos, who makes the island’s honey. He doesn’t speak English but happily shows me round his apiary.

Much of the honey is infused with the taste of thyme, which grows all over Lipsi. But, sadly, time isn’t on my side, and the holiday is almost over.

I manage to squeeze in a visit to Sally’s Lipsi Winery, where I taste four of their locally produced tipples.

One, a sweet red wine called Aposperitis, was served by the Greek President to Charles and Camilla during a state banquet in Athens a few years ago.

Sally wants to know which I prefer. So I umm and aah, before suggesting perhaps I should try a second glass of each.

Which is why, on my last night, I’m afraid I ended up rather tipsy in Lipsi.

FEW got on the wrong side of drug lord Pablo Escobar and lived to tell the tale – let alone survived him putting out a contract on their life.

But Godfather actor Gianni Russo, 82, is no ordinary bloke. He was employed by some of America’s most notorious Mafia kingpins and sensationally claimed Marilyn Monroe took his virginity. Now, he reveals the astonishing story of how he went from mob notoriety to Hollywood fame – and how he escaped death in the process.

The New Yorker’s blockbuster life began dramatically when he nearly died aged six from polio, only surviving thanks to an experimental vaccine trial that cured him but led to the deaths of half of the patients on the hospital ward.

After a lengthy five-year recovery, Russo started out selling ballpoint pens on the streets of New York aged 13.

It was here that he first crossed paths with Frank Costello, a mob boss from the Luciano crime family, who offered him work. 

This induction into the mob world would lead to him becoming pally with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Monroe and Al Pacino, as well as bagging acting roles including in the first two Godfather films, Rush Hour 2 and Red Dragon. 

And it was his portrayal of Carlo Rizzi, the abusive husband of Connie Corleone, in the first Godfather movie that would save his life in the unlikeliest fashion.

Surviving “King of Cocaine” Escobar’s wrath – after surrendering himself to the Colombian drug lord and being interrogated in a prison cell three floors underneath his mansion – was among Russo’s biggest feats.

Escobar had put a hit out on the actor after he shot dead Lorenzo Morales, a hitman from his Medellin Cartel, in a 1988 Las Vegas nightclub.

The fatal altercation came after Morales stabbed a woman he had taken to dinner at Russo’s venue and then slashed the Godfather star’s face with a broken champagne bottle.

Russo tells The Sun: “He spins around and goes for my throat. Fortunately I react, I was agile enough, but he cuts me on my jawline, which required 81 stitches, and I’m bleeding.

“I said, ‘Look what you did to my shirt.’ He cut me but I’m worried about my shirt. I just wanted to get my hand on my gun and as soon as I did, I put the gun at his forehead.

“I told him, ‘Now go out the door’. He said, ‘F*** you’. I shot him… The cops came and took me to the hospital.”

Russo wasn’t charged with the killing due to it being ruled a justifiable homicide by the Nevada District Attorney’s Office.

But he knew he was a wanted man when Morales was revealed to be part of the Medellin Cartel.

Despite knowing he was unlikely to return, Russo travelled to a church in Colombia to meet face-to-face with the drug lord – a meeting arranged by mobster John Gotti, head of New York’s Gambino crime family. 

Russo adds: “Understand one thing, Escobar believed in killing your pets, your children, your family, and you last. I wasn’t going to let that happen.” 

Seconds after greeting Escobar, he was hit from behind and woke up in the cartel lord’s famous “mansion prison”, which he had built to avoid extradition to the US for drug charges.

“I was strapped to a chair, the stench was unbelievable,” Russo says. 

“I thought I was hallucinating. [Escobar] had a book in his hands. The book was ‘Making Of The Godfather’. He said to me, ‘Why didn’t you tell me you were Carlo in The Godfather? I loved that movie.’”

In a Hollywood-style twist, Escobar instructed his associate to clean-up Russo, treat his injuries and take him to his dining room, where the Colombian would later probe: ‘Why did you come here?’

Russo replied: ‘What would you have done if someone was going to kill your daughter? I had to come here. Kill me now and leave my family alone.’

He continues: “He walks towards me, I don’t know if he was going to cut off my head or what, but he kissed me. He said, ‘They don’t make men like us anymore. Go home, I’ll handle this’. 

“So, we sat down, had dinner, we talked, it was amazing. But he was a frightening man.”

Russo bagged his role in The Godfather after serving as a liaison between Paramount Studios and the Colombo crime family, who had threatened to stop the film’s production through their vice-like control over the unions.

He recalls petitioning crime boss Joe Colombo, who objected to the movie because it “basically identified every Italian as a gangster”, by telling him: “Listen, we can make a lot of money from this.” 

Eventually, Russo talked him around and was given the role of Carlo in the iconic 1972 movie “as my reward”.

Not everyone was happy he got the part, including Marlon Brando. The legendary star, who played Don Vito Corleone, was desperate to succeed in his “comeback film” and wanted everything to be perfect.

“When he found out that I wasn’t even an actor, he tried to get me fired,” Russo said. “I worked that out with him and we became friends.”

Similarly, Russo says co-star James Caan, who played Sonny Corleone, “hated me from day one” because of his corrupt connections. 

Caan also believed he lost out on the role of Michael Corleone to Al Pacino because of Russo and his mobster allies.

John Gotti rival

By the time Russo starred in The Godfather, he had already made a fortune from criminal activities.

He was sitting on an estimated £1.5million fortune, having worked as a ‘messenger’ for mafia families and run multiple crooked businesses including casinos.

Russo was taken under mobster Frank Costello’s wing out of respect for his Sicilian uncles, who had helped to send the Mafia crime families over to America and were hanged for their criminal activities.

He says being “given so much respect so early on” angered future Gambino crime boss Gotti, who was then a “hijacker, earning big money” and desperate to become a ‘made’ man.

Was I upset? No. I’d just had sex with America’s hottest movie star and sex symbol.

Gianni Russo

Russo’s biggest money-spinner was laundering “hundreds of millions of dollars” skimmed from casinos and other illegal businesses through the Vatican Bank with the help of a corrupt bishop in the 1970s.

Then came his big screen debut in The Godfather, which changed his life forever and was a film that “the mob loved”. 

Russo says: “The Godfather was my first film. I was young, I was making big money and with my ego, I wanted to become an actor.

“The movie premiere was like a dream come true for me because 10 years earlier I was selling ballpoint pens to people and now I was in the biggest movie ever in the world.”

‘Marilyn taught me everything’

Fame, coupled with Russo’s mob connections, led to a series of high-profile celebrity romances. He would go on to father 13 children with 10 different women.

He dated I Say A Little Prayer singer Dionne Warwick in the 1980s, the actress Zsa Zsa Gabor and Cabaret star Liza Minnelli.

“I really like Liza, I couldn’t say anything bad about her, she’s just fun, enjoys life,” Russo said through laughter.

But perhaps his most famous dalliance came earlier with Marilyn Monroe, then 33, who he sensationally alleged took his virginity when he was 15. 

Gianna was working at a hair salon in New York and says the Some Like It Hot star always requested him to wash her hair. 

He claims one day Marilyn’s advisors invited him to her suite in the Waldorf Hotel and they bonked for the entire weekend, leaving him struggling to walk after . 

Russo recalled her standing in her messy room, which he compared to “like the set of a disaster movie”.

She was holding a flute of champagne, wearing just a towel which she promptly dropped and invited him to join her in the bath. 

“My heart was pounding,” he said. “Like an idiot, I covered my eyes, which made her laugh.

“I began undressing, praying I wouldn’t trip over my pants and fall on my ass, and then entered the tub. I’ll be ­honest, I had no idea what to do, or what she expected.

“We wound up in bed for the entire weekend, climbing out only when needed. It was my first ­experience of room service, and it added to the fantastic experience.”

The one issue was that Russo was just 15 years old – but the actor had no regrets, even boasting “she taught me everything I know” and he felt like “the luckiest boy alive”.

He said: “If it had happened today, I think she’d be arrested and my parents would have tried to get some cash out of it… Was I upset? No. I’d just had sex with America’s hottest movie star and sex symbol.”

Russo has lived a life few could imagine – he’s hung out with everyone from Pope John Paul II to Donald Trump.

He dubs himself “the Hollywood Godfather” but despite the title and his murky past, he insists: “I was never in the mob but I was around it and was friends with some of the big names.

“They (police) tried to tie me to the mob but I never got a traffic ticket let alone association.”

Russo has released multiple books and is currently touring the UK and Ireland as part of a one-man theatre show, which reveals all about his colourful life and how his film debut was a seismic moment for him. 

He adds: “The Godfather changed my life. I don’t know what my life would be without The Godfather. It’s still changing my life now.”

Russo Russo’s new book Mafia Secrets Untold Tales From The Hollywood Godfather is out now.  

I’M pretty much an Instagram influencer now, don’t you know.

I’ve spent the day snapping more than 330 photos — I won’t tell you what ­proportion of those were selfies — among the tulips.

And my grid is now filled with brightly-coloured buds below a stunning blue sky.

It’s thanks to Amsterdam’s tulip season that I’ve found this new calling.

The flowers are impossible not to take photos of, and each colour is more beautiful than the last.

I’m here at Tulip Farm De Tulperij, a family attraction that has been around for almost 100 years and sits about an hour’s drive out of central Amsterdam.

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TEMPTED?

Tiny ‘Bali of Europe’ town with stunning beaches, €3 cocktails and £20 flights

It’s a busy day tour that I’m on: a stop at the farm, a canal trip and a visit to Keukenhof, the tulip gardens in Lisse — a veritable floral feast.

Arriving first at the farm, we are given a tour around the fields by owner Daan Jansze — and he certainly knows his tulips.

In his welcome, he tells us that the soil at this farm is extremely moist, with the water table just 60cm below the surface.

The tulips love this moist soil, and rows upon rows bloom each spring after being planted just before winter.

Daan is the third generation farmer of the land, and he points out his youngest son — hauling soil nearby — who will become the fourth generation to run the farm.

But before letting us loose in his field, Daan gives us some ground rules.

No walking through the beds, you’ve got to walk up and down.

And no picking the flowers. “Ok,” he says in his thick Dutch accent. “Now you can go take pictures for your Instagram.”

And we’re off.

My fellow tourists and I fling ourselves into the fields, fanning out between line after line of reds, pinks and yellows.

I won’t lie to you, it wasn’t quite fields as far as the eye could see.

But the long lines were definitely enough to keep us busy, and I got shot after shot of the bright flowers.

There were people of all ages in the field around me — mothers and daughters, couples, families and friends, all keen to make the most of the colourful setting.

And when we got tired of taking pictures of ourselves, we headed to the farm’s little cafe that sold everything from apple pie to tiny clog keychains.

It also led to a second shock of tulips, all lined up in a manicured garden.

Two hours later and we were back on the bus, heading off to board a canal boat.

Surrounded by about 50 other tourists, we lapped up the sunshine for an hour as we floated past the windmills, geese and their goslings, and Dutch locals who had also hit the water to make the most of the stunning May weather.

We then piled on to the bus again to head to our final stop — the Keukenhof Gardens.

Like a botanic gardens on steroids, this tourist attraction is only open from March to May, completely dependent on the budding whims of the tulips.

This year, the season kicks off on March 19 and continues until May 10.

With the droves of tourists, it almost felt like an adventure park.

And while it was certainly busy, I would heartily recommend going there.
Jaw-dropping displays

Even though we couldn’t quite get into the tulips like we did at the farm, the sheer effort it took to plant SEVEN MILLION bulbs to create this flower haven is impressive, to say the least.

The rows of tulips across the park are complemented by the stunning flower shows, with everything from orchids to ­lilies creating jaw-dropping displays.

By the end of the day, my photo reel is an explosion of colour and I’m almost (only almost) sick of flowers.

But I manage to summon up some energy and upload my pictures — and the “likes” come flooding in.

It might be too late for your own Insta career to take off, but now is the time to plan and book a trip like this.

The tulip season is short, so tours sell out pretty quick. Happy snapping!

IT was in this very column that Delta Goodrem first revealed it was her dream to represent Australia at Eurovision.

Now, nine months later, she has been officially unveiled as the contest’s Aussie entry, with the Lost Without You singer firmly crediting Bizarre with making it happen.

Speaking to our Jack, Delta said: “This is, literally verbatim, all your fault. It is all on you — you and Bizarre started this.

“Your article went back to the Aussies who were like, ‘Do you want to do this?’ So thank you. I have a big job to do.”

Delta will head to Vienna this May to compete with her song Eclipse and it ticks every box, with an infectiously camp chorus and a complex piano bridge.

A beaming Delta explained: “From your article, people started reaching out.

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“Then one of the songwriters, Jonas Myrin, who I wrote the song with, took a screengrab of the article and sent it to me saying, ‘Delta, if you ever go to Eurovision, I want to write the song with you’.

“He’s in Sweden. Sure enough he flew to Australia when I said I was doing it. Even the first question I got asked when doing my first Australian interview was, ‘We heard it all started from an article from the UK,’ and yes, it did.”

It’s been three years since Australia last qualified for the live final, which adds to the pressure on Delta, who has sold eight million records worldwide.

“Of course I am nervous, but it’s so joyous and I am so excited to be a part of it,” she said.

“I can’t control what will happen. All I know is that I am honoured to represent Aus.

“I will fly the flag and give my heart and soul.

“Two of my greatest idols, who are part of the reason I am in music, Olivia Newton-John and Celine Dion, did Eurovision.

“I am grateful to be able to step into that.

“What an honour it is to be able to perform anywhere, let alone on the biggest stage in the world. I am excited.”

We Brits can’t vote for our own act, Look Mum No Computer (aka Sam Battle), whose entry Eins Zwei Drei is out on Friday, so Delta is hoping the British jury will give her our 12 points.

Explaining how it all fell into place, she said: “I had always said, ‘Oh, you know, when the time is right’. I always have an open heart to new things and being a coach on The Voice I celebrate all types of music. Then it all came into focus.”

It’s not the first time a country has sent a major household name to Eurovision, with Bonnie Tyler, Engelbert Humperdinck and Blue all taking part in the past.

Speaking about what people should expect when she competes at the second semi-final on May 14, Delta explained: “The staging is important, but you will have to wait and see.

“There is a high bar out there but I am enjoying the creativity of it. I love the out-of-the-box moments, but I also love past winners Loreen, Alexander Rybak and Mans Zelmerlow.”

This year’s competition has already been rocked by controversy with Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain all pulling out due to Israel being allowed to take part in the contest, amid ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

But Delta is keen to use the platform to help bring people together and celebrate our common ground.

She said: “I am in music for unity and the healing spirit,” adding that she loves the sense of “togetherness” generated by music and song.

Delta added: “Eurovision has been going for 70 years and there is a reason everyone comes back, united in song.

“I am really looking forward to being united together. At my shows, that is what you want, too.

“My song is about one love and connection.”

You’ve got our votes, Delta.

DECEMBER 10 are playing a free O2 Presents . . . gig at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on April 8.

There will be 767 pairs of tickets available to O2 and Virgin Media broadband customers via a ballot, which will be open from March 9- 23 on the Priority app.

COMPASS TO GO THE COLE MILE

I TIPPED big things for Belfast pair Broken Compass after they released their debut single Storm in October.

Now the duo, Ben Dadidson and Allen Gordon have landed roles in Anything Goes at Belfast’s Grand Opera House.

Running from April 14-18, the show features songs from Cole Porter including I Get A Kick Out Of You.

While Allen has graced the stage at the venue before, it will be the first time for Ben, who previously toured with Westlife in boyband Most Wanted.

Ben told Bizarre: “This has been such a whirlwind, moving to Belfast and joining St Agnes Choral Society.

“Opening myself up to theatre as well as pop has been a dream come true.”

OASIS will feature on the new Help(2) War Child album with a standalone 7in single of Acquiesce, recorded live at Wembley last September, being included in the vinyl edition.

It will be a hidden track on the double CD version, and on streaming, when the charity record is out on Friday.

Arctic Monkeys, Olivia Rodrigo, Damon Albarn and Pulp will also feature.

RAYE SETS LIFE BOAT AFLOAT

RAYE will return to dance music on her upcoming album with a belting electro track called Life Boat.

The singer debuted the song at London’s O2 Arena on Sunday night and it features emotional ­lyrics against a euphoric chorus.

In the verse, she sang: “Cry yourself an ocean, trying not to drown in it. Lord send me a lifeboat, something I can cling to.”

Then in the chorus she repeated: “I’m not giving up yet.”

Earlier in her career Raye had a string of dance hits including Bed, Prada, You Don’t Know Me and Secrets, so she knows a thing or two about releasing a banger.

And with her album, This Music May Contain Hope, out on March 27, there isn’t long to wait.

OH BUCKET! AL’S FOR HIGH JUMP

IF you thought it was funny ­watching Alan Carr take part in the challenges on Celebrity ­Traitors, his next show will see him jumping out of a plane.

He is shooting a travelogue called The F**k It List for Prime Video, which will see him and other comics taking on bucket list experiences, but it sounds like he’s drawn the short straw.

Alan said: “I was sold this show about a bucket list. I thought I would be on the Orient Express and swimming with dolphins.”

Instead, he admitted on his Bottoms Up ­podcast: “I’m skydiving, bungee jumping and stroking a tarantula. I hate spiders.”

Thera’s so much promise

SHE’S the vocal powerhouse from Prague who, aged just 18, is already turning heads across Europe.

And as rising star Thera wraps up supporting Jason Derulo on his The Last Dance world tour, she opened up backstage about juggling school with breaking into the industry.

The Czech singer, who first toured with Loreen, said: “I’ve gone through a lot that made me mature faster, which is why people are shocked I’m 18.
“It doesn’t feel strange to me. Those experiences shaped who I am today and how I handle things and what I do.

“School has really helped me, even though it’s very stressful and chaotic at times.

“It’s almost forced me to be organised and have a system, which I feel has helped me in the music world.”

On tour it was the Les Twins, who also went on the road with Jason, who acted as her “big brothers”.

She added: “They’re role models, but also feel like family.”

Her biggest night yet was Prague’s O2 Arena on Sunday, where her whole family watched alongside 20,000 fans.

SCREAMING matches, tears and table mutiny is what you expect from Christmas Day with your in-laws – not at the Brit Awards.

But this year’s swanky ceremony in Manchester’s Co-op arena was a hotbed of misbehaving drunk stars, disgruntled execs who weren’t dished up their puddings and desperate agents who, on the night, were still begging organisers to get their A-listers into the label after-parties – with one Hollywood actor being repeatedly turned away because “they’re known for being a nightmare”.

On Saturday night, over 1,000 of the biggest names in music and entertainment descended on Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena floor to enjoy a swanky three-course meal before Harry Styles opened the Brits.

The experience, which is usually luxurious to say the least, got off to a shaky start when guests, who’d forked out over £25,000 for a table, were hastily ushered out because Robbie Williams still needed time to rehearse.

The delay in proceedings ended up causing chaos before the show had even begun, and later, angry guests were overheard moaning about the meagre portion sizes and a Manchester tart pudding, which, for hundreds of guests, failed to materialise.

One top celebrity agent moaned to me: “A table costs £25,000, but four bits of celeriac, a tiny bit of venison and no pudding is outrageous.

“Everyone on my table wanted tequila shots, but when we went to order them, the staff said they couldn’t serve them straight.

“Then, because Robbie’s rehearsal messed with timings, there wasn’t time for the puddings to come out before the show started.

“Some tables got their tarts, others got absolutely nothing – and there was no apology. We were all starving.

“The service felt like we were at a badly organised wedding.”

On the floor, music and acting royalty, including Jeff Goldblum and Oasis legend Noel Gallagher, mingled amid discontent – before acts including Harry Styles, Olivia Dean and Mark Ronson put on epic performances.

As the ceremony got started, not everyone was having fun.

Love Islander’s Toni Laites and Cach Mercer had a screaming match mid-way through the show – leaving them on the brink of a split.

Meanwhile, Maya Jama, Olivia Attwood and Lola Young broke the strict “no vaping rule” and irked their nearby table neighbours by puffing out fumes.

One well-respected publicist told me during the night: “It was like sitting next to the Flying Scotsman sitting near Lola Young.

“She was exhaling these huge plumes of vapour. It was ignorant and arrogant.

“And don’t get me started on Bez – he’d had so much to drink he looked like he was struggling to stand.

“He was dressed like a court jester, and he tried to introduce himself to Alex Warren, who looked totally baffled by the entire interaction.

“Alex was totally polite, but he didn’t have a clue who this seemingly mad man was who was trying to shake his hand.

“Eventually, someone he was with got Bez away from him so he could carry on watching the show.”

Censoring was a big point of contention on the night too, with Jack Whitehall’s funniest quips – including a gag about Peter Mandelson – and Geese drummer Max Bassin’s shout of: “I just want to say: free Palestine and f*** I.C.E,” all edited out by ITV.

“It was bizarre,” another publicist quipped to me the following day.

“Noel Gallagher shouted ‘Up the f***ing blues,’ and rather than just beeping out the swear word, they decided to lose the entire sentence – meaning anyone watching at home just suddenly heard him being booed by Manchester United fans in the arena.

“The BBC totally botched up the Baftas, so maybe ITV were scared of getting it wrong.

“But it meant that some of the editing didn’t make a whole lot of sense.

“Why are you letting one of the night’s biggest stars get loudly booed with zero context?”

It was like sitting next to the Flying Scotsman sitting near Lola Young.

As the clock ticked closer to 11pm, stars keen to get out of the arena and to after parties thrown by major labels including Warner and Sony, found themselves being blocked by security.

“People just wanted out towards the end,” one of the on-site crew explained.

“The floor usually is chaotic towards the end of the ceremony because people are drunk, but you can’t have half the tables suddenly going missing.

“Vernon Kay and Sharon Osbourne managed to evade capture, but security were trying to turn most people back to their tables.”

The rush to the after-parties made sense, given how tight the guest lists were.

I’m told one major Hollywood acting agent was ringing around organisers on the day to try and get their client, who is a household name and has been in massive films, into a bash.

“The guest list is full, that’s the party line,” one insider told me.

“But basically, if your client is a nuisance, they aren’t getting in.

“This actor is known to party hard and can be a nuisance. His agent was begging him to be allowed into the parties, but everyone kept saying no.

“In the end, he didn’t bother coming, which was a relief. But there was no way this agent would have let their Hollywood client slum it on the pavement outside.”

Out in the cold

As stars and execs jostled to get into the parties, Selling Sunset star Breana Tiesi was left shivering on the pavement outside of Warner Music’s bash after briefly stepping outside the event and being told she wasn’t allowed back in.

“Bre was furious,” one onlooker told me. “She was an invited guest and had been inside.

“But she stepped out and wasn’t allowed to get back inside again.

“They kicked up a massive stink, and it eventually got sorted. But it wasn’t a good look.

“Amber Gill then ended up in tears and was sobbing in the foyer – all while you’ve got mega A-list stars like Dua Lipa singing a cocktail just a few feet away.

“It’s scenes you just can’t make up.”

WAYNE Rooney boozed until the early hours with two women at a Manchester hotel on Saturday during a pre-Brit Awards bash.

At one point, the former Manchester United and England striker struggled to keep his trousers up in the bar at a posh hotel.

Pictures and video obtained by The Sun show the dad of four, married to Coleen, relaxing in the Manchester venue in the early hours of Saturday.

It was full of celebrities ahead of Saturday night’s Brits ceremony in the city.

One surprised onlooker told The Sun: “People who noticed Wayne were saying, ‘What would Coleen think?’. She was nowhere to be seen.”

They added: “Wayne appeared to have been drinking. He seemed to have had a few.”

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It comes after he revealed last year that he had curbed his boozing after hitting the bottle too hard in his football career, and said he would be dead if it was not for the support of Coleen.

Rooney had been at the city centre hotel with pop star Calum Scott before he appeared to catch the attention of the two women. One was with her boyfriend.

The group also included a male pal of Rooney.

Witnesses said he looked “worse for wear” at 1.30am when he came out of a ­toilet and fumbled with his trousers.

One told The Sun: “Wayne couldn’t seem to get his trousers done up.

“At one moment, they almost dropped to the floor but he managed to save them.”

He then “kept pulling his trousers up, but then they’d fall down again”.

Rooney went on to spend almost two hours chatting to the two mystery ladies and knocking back drinks.

An onlooker said: “He seemed like he was ­having a laugh and joking around with the women.”

Rooney and one of the women eventually left the establishment, before getting into separate cars just after 3.25am.

One witness said: “He later left alone. He stood outside where there were quite a few people gathered and got into a car.

“Around eight minutes later, a taxi came and picked the woman up.

“People in the queue recognised it was him and were saying he didn’t seem to be in a great place.”

Wayne had been at a party with stars including I’m A Celebrity’s Shona McGarty and rapper Aitch prior to spending time with the women.

Shona shared a photograph of her posing with Wayne inside the bash on Instagram and wrote: “Just a little pre Brits party.”

The former EastEnders actress appeared in ITV’s I’m A Celeb jungle show with Wayne’s wife Coleen in 2024.

Rooney, now a BBC pundit on Match of the Day, has had a string of incidents involving other women over the years.

He admitted using sex workers before he married childhood ­sweetheart Coleen, who is mother to their four sons Kai, 16, Klay, 12, Kit, ten, and Cass, eight.

It was also reported that Wayne even had a threesome with two sex workers while Coleen was pregnant with Kai.

In 2017, he was arrested for drink-driving, with office worker Laura Simpson in the car, following a night out in Cheshire.

Rooney was hit with a driving ban.

Last September, he emotionally revealed that Coleen, 39, was helping him cut down on booze.

Rooney said: “I honestly believe if she weren’t there I’d be dead.

“I’ve made mistakes in the past which are well documented and whatever but I’m a little bit ­different at times and she keeps me on that path and she’s done it for 20-odd years.

“I wanted to go out and enjoy my time with my friends and have a night out. It got to a point where I went too far.

“That was a moment in my life where I was struggling massively with alcohol.

“I didn’t think I could turn to anyone. I didn’t really want to because I didn’t want to put that burden on anyone.”

Rooney, who is Man United’s all-time leading goalscorer, added of his wife: “She’s managed me because I needed managing.”

Speaking in 2023, Coleen admitted their relationship has at times been “hard”.

But she went on: “There’s always been love there so why give up on it?

“If the love’s still there, why not see if you can work it out?

“People haven’t seen that because we’ve done that behind closed doors and it’s been a battle at times, it’s been hard.

“People only see what’s in the Press, they don’t know what goes on in our life.”

She added: “It was out there, we’ve dealt with it, and we’re moving on.”

Yesterday, Coleen opened up about their marriage again in another interview.

Asked if her husband would think she was bossy, Coleen replied: “He would probably say that, but I would say he needs ­telling sometimes.”

She added: “You have your ups and downs, you have things that happen in life.

“But I think being together from a young age, we know each other inside and out.

“We’re a team. I wouldn’t say we’ve changed.

“I would say things around us have changed.”

HE FINALLY patched things up with brother Liam for the Oasis reunion last summer.

And it seems that Noel Gallagher is now closer than ever with his nephews Gene and Lennon — after teaching them how to party hard at Sony Music’s official Brit Awards after-party.

The Rock ’n’ Roll Star songwriter proved he was exactly that, as the last man standing at 3:45am yesterday at the do in Manchester’s amazing Soho House — despite knocking back endless bottles of Peroni until the bar stopped serving.

An onlooker said: “Noel and Liam’s sons are really close, and they hung out all night at the Sony bash.

“He might be in his fifties now but Noel still knows how to party and he put his nephews to shame with the amount of booze he could knock back.

“Noel was in really high spirits after getting the Songwriter Of The Year award and he had so many people coming up and congratulating him.

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“Gene and Lennon tried to keep up with Noel but they couldn’t, he out-partied them by a country mile.

“Even Noel’s daughter Anais gave up trying and left at 3am — Noel just carried on drinking bottles of Peroni.

“When Noel left, it was amazing he could walk straight.

“But he is a proper rocker and showed all those young ones right up.

“When Gene finally decided he wanted to try and one-up his uncle, he went to the bar and was told they’d stopped serving.

“He tried three times to be served and was in a huff when he was told no.

“To be fair it was almost 4am — and he should have just kept up with Noel when he had the chance.”

Noel’s hedonism clearly rubbed off on the other stars at Sony’s bash, which was the best of all the star-studded after-parties, thanks to its stellar guest list.

Brits host Jack Whitehall told me earlier this month that he would be having an early night because his fiancée Roxy Horner and their toddler daughter were coming to Manchester to be with him.

But he ended up partying into the early hours of yesterday morning.

I spotted him holding court with a group of his mates upstairs near grime star Skepta, with Jack finally heading back to his hotel at 3am.

Hopefully he had some Nurofen stashed in a bag because I think yesterday could have been blighted by one almighty hangover — and a very excitable toddler.

LIAM GALLAGHER praised his brother from home as Noel collected his award.

He posted on X: “All hail the greatest songwriter this country has ever seen since Lennon and McCartney.”

He also showed his support for former foe Robbie Williams’ tribute to Ozzy Osbourne, writing: “He was unreal”.

Liam also revealed why he didn’t go to the event at Co-op Live. He told a fan: “I was scared… Of all those cool folks in 1 room, they make me nervous.”

Olivia’s up fur a party

OLIVIA DEAN had good reason to smile as she headed to an after-party following her incredible four wins.

The singer scooped Artist and Pop Act, plus Album and Single of the Year for her record The Art Of Loving and her Sam Fender collaboration, Rein Me In.

Olivia wrapped up in a fur coat which covered her sparkly minidress – but didn’t hide her legs from the northern chill.

She did opt to wear sunglasses too, but at that time of night, they certainly weren’t needed.

LILY GIVES DO COLD SHOULDER

LILY ALLEN pulled out of attending the Brits as she’s desperately trying to recover in time for the launch of her first tour in seven years.

She was up for three gongs – although she was pipped to the post for all three by Olivia Dean – and had been due to travel to Manchester on Saturday morning.

But Lily made the last-minute decision not to attend after battling a brutal cold last week.

She launches her Lily Allen: Performs West End Girl tour in Glasgow this evening and has been trying to conserve energy.

Last Tuesday, she told fans she had been in bed for two days because she was “so sick” and hadn’t been able to rehearse.

When she did get back to practising, she said she had lost the lower register of her voice.

There are very high expectations for the tour, as every date sold out on the day they became available.

So a night of partying probably wouldn’t have done her any favours.

ALEX WARREN performed Ordinary at the ceremony but it’s his new single Fever Dream which is climbing the charts.

The American, who was accompanied by James Blunt on piano at the show, released the track on Friday and it’s on course to be his second No1.

But Ordinary is also rising – up four places to No15 in the midweek charts.

Jade throws shade

JADE THIRLWALL’s feud with Noel Gallagher started at the Brits five years ago.

Following Little Mix’s win for British Group, he said they were “not in the same league as Oasis.”

And she made her feelings towards him clear when Noel was accepting his Songwriter Of The Year gong at this year’s awards – by swiftly exiting the room.

She chose that exact moment to head backstage as she prepared to present the International Artist of the Year award to Rosalia.

Back in 2021, Jade hit back at Noel’s comments and said: “We are the most successful girl group in the country – but he’s not even the most successful performer in his family.”

Something tells me she isn’t praying for another Oasis tour.

JOEL: NOT GRIM UP NORTH

WOLF ALICE drummer Joel Amey told me he’s pleased the Brits came to Manchester.

The North West city will host the ceremony for the next two years and, speaking backstage, and despite being a Londoner, Joel think it is a great move.

He said: “Not everything being in London is a good thing. Manchester has an incredible band culture, it has an incredible heart – it’s nice not to be in the same place all the time.

“As Londoners, we get so much there and people get a jaded – we need more of this feeling around the country. The Mercury Awards were in Newcastle and everyone got behind it, we need more of it.”

Of next year’s ceremony, Joel has a suggestion for the Global Icon award.

He added: “I would love to see Andre 3000 get it. I love him, everything Outkast has done is amazing and he has been doing this for ever.

“He was ahead of his time and we can see how influential he is now.”

STYLES HAS SPA QUALITY

HARRY STYLES kept things gentle at the Brits, having first kicked off the day at a top health spa in nearby Warrington.

The Aperture singer was seen getting a sweat on at the Park Royal Hotel, where one guest told me: “It was about 10.30am and Harry walked into the gym and started working out.

“I had to do a double take and other people clocked him, but no one bothered him. It was all very low key, you would never have known he is one of the biggest stars on the planet. It felt so surreal.”

Harry was very much man of the night at the Co-op Live Arena, but after his incredible opening performance, he didn’t go wild.

Despite having a table, Harry never left his backstage area and once the show had ended, he headed to Sony’s after-party for a quick 30-minute appearance.

A source said: “Harry was keen to be seen supporting Sony and the Brits but also is aware his tour kicks off on Friday at the Co-op Live Arena back in Manchester.

“It was a very low-key weekend for him, he left the party after half an hour.”

One person who was happy to let her hair down after performing though was Dua Lipa.

She hot-footed it to Warner Music’s official after-party alongside her family, who were taken to Manchester by her record label on the cool British Pullman Train, specially hired by the label for the weekend.

Dua made a beeline for the dancefloor with a gaggle of about ten pals before taking some time out for a cheeky ciggie in the smoking area.

Keen not to let her night end there, the Houdini singer was whisked across town to attend Sony’s after-party.

There she hung out with Mark Ronson and drank picantes until the early hours.

Mark so dashing

MARK RONSON delivered one of the most memorable sets of the night.

He played a medley of his hits and was joined on stage by Dua Lipa, and US rapper Ghostface Killah.

But the producer made a mad dash to the Manchester airport in the early hours and only just made his flight home to New York.

Following his Outstanding Contribution To Music win and stellar performance, he celebrated at Sony Music’s party at Soho House and took to the decks until 2am.

But he was forced to make a desperate plea for help after his hour-long DJ slot ended and no one had turned up to take over.

Mark, who was supported by Dua on the dancefloor, told the crowd: “I’m having a lot of fun but I have to catch a flight in two hours so can the other DJ please report to the booth.”

I’m told he made it to the airport by the skin of his teeth, and arrived safely back in the chilly Big Apple.

It’s a good thing he’s used to exceptionally late nights.

AFTER picking up two awards, Sam Fender was in the mood to party – but he shunned the posh dos for a backstage booze-up.

“Sam and his mates loaded up on cans of lager and stayed in the Co-op Arena,” one of my backstage moles explained.

“The stage was being dismantled and all the parties were open but Sam decided to hang around. He was on a massive high and was singing and laughing with his mates as they went to the artists’ green room to crack open some tinnies.”

Never change, Sam.

GEORGE Michael’s pal Kay Beckenham has died — triggering a sale of lavish gifts he sent her.

The British model was dubbed the pop star’s “mystery girl” when they were regularly seen together in the 1980s and 1990s.

In 2019 we reported that Kay, then 54, was shocked to learn she was a beneficiary of his £98million will following his death three years earlier.

Kay’s death was revealed as her daughter auctioned presents her mum received from George, including a pair of his Cutler and Gross wraparound sunglasses, which sold for £5,700.

Other precious gifts included his engraved silver Faith tour belt buckle, which fetched £700.

A Cartier watch went for £1,900 while a Bulgari 18ct gold ladies’ timepiece was bought for £1,200.

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Kay is believed to have been in her early 60s when she died, and her daughter has paid tribute to “kind” George.

She wrote in a letter of provenance for the sale at Omega Auctions: “My mother and George shared a strong, loving and enduring bond that began at the very start of his career.”

She said the singer became her godfather after her birth in 1999, and he helped host her parents’ wedding on Richard Branson’s Necker Island.

She went on: “I have vivid memories — formed later through photographs — of George travelling with my parents, clambering into private jets, and setting off on adventures together.

“As a child, I ran around the house blissfully unaware of the global stardom surrounding me. To me, he was simply a familiar, kind presence in our lives.”

Kay’s friendship with George helped him put together the supermodel line-up of Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Tatjana Patitz, Christy Turlington Burns and Cindy Crawford for his 1990 Freedom video.

The Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go star — who died at his home on Christmas Day 2016 — divided his fortune between his sisters, dad and friends.

Omega said: “These pieces tell a story of loyalty, trust and the man behind the icon.”