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A YouTuber set himself a £100 challenge to discover just how much food, drink, accommodation and entertainment he could squeeze into a night in Benidorm

The seemingly endless cost of living crisis is making even our weekly shop a major budgeting challenge. So it’s no surprise that some of us have given up on luxuries like holidays. With that in mind, YouTuber Ed Chapman set out to see how far £100 could take a holidaymaker in one of the most popular Spanish resorts.

Benidorm is renowned for “The Strip”, a street lined with garishly neon-lit English pubs and restaurants promising a traditional fried breakfast. It’s the ideal spot for a cheap and cheerful stag or hen weekend, but just how cheaply can you spend a night there?

Armed with €116 (£100), Ed scheduled a night out, a stay in a one-star hotel and a fun activity for the following day.

A key part of his plan was tracking down a hotel that wouldn’t leave him out of pocket. Ed explained that while he could have saved a bit of cash by opting for a hostel, he’d rather have a proper hotel room to himself.

And given what he paid for it, he said the room exceeded all expectations: “Believe it or not, we have a balcony,” he said. “I was sort of shocked by this for the price.”

The hotel bathroom also came as a welcome surprise: “This is a nice big modern shower. I was really shocked about this. You’ve got a toilet here. You’ve even got a little sink at the side as you’d expect, and a bathroom hand dryer in a holster,” reports the Express.

The room, which set Ed back just £62, was something of a revelation, he said: “I didn’t expect such a good shower situation. And it is a very powerful shower as well. I’ve been really impressed with this for one night.”

For his evening meal, Ed nipped into a bar-restaurant called the Bulldog and went for a wallet-friendly jacket potato. For €6 – just over a fiver – he tucked into a perfectly decent jacket potato with baked beans, served alongside a side salad which, as he rightly noted, “no-one ever eats.”

Washed down with a “massive” pint of cider that brought his total spend to £9, it was a hearty and satisfying meal that set Ed up nicely for a bar crawl.

Spending an evening solo on Benidorm’s notorious “Strip” could have been quite a daunting prospect, but Ed says he had a brilliant time. Settling down with a pint of cider in one particularly “friendly” bar, he recounts how a complete stranger wandered over and planted a kiss on his ear: “Bit friendly, bit familiar,” he said.

Ed spent a couple of hours strolling around Benidorm, noting that while it’s widely regarded as a destination for a “lads’ holiday”, the ratio of men to women meant that romance was unlikely to be on the cards.

He did clock one club hostess, however, stripping a gleeful punter and giving him a smack on the bottom with a leather tawse, which was about as close to romance as the evening got.

With his night’s entertainment wrapped up, Ed headed back to his hotel room before venturing out the following morning for a fry-up, which set him back a very reasonable £5. However, after forking out on two bottles of water with his meal, the total breakfast bill came to £7.

Technically, the “entertainment” element of Ed’s getaway pushed him marginally over budget. His session at a water-park assault course set him back €16 (roughly £14).

Featuring Ed’s efforts to balance on some oversized vinyl beach balls and a go on a soggy trampoline, it proved a somewhat chaotic conclusion to the trip: “No one ever does this on Total Wipeout, do they?” Ed said, admitting that he’d spent £101 of his £100 budget.

EastEnders star Kitty Castledine is about to take center stage as her character, Penny, hides a baby bombshell

EastEnders star Kitty Castledine is the sister of a famous footballer and they also have well-known parents.

The 24-year-old actress arrived on the BBC soap as Penny Branning in January 2024, taking over the role from Mia McKenna-Bruce, who appeared between January and April 2008.

Penny, the daughter of local copper Jack Branning (Scott Maslen), has since been caught up in a drugs smuggling plot, has caused a dangerous club crush, and enjoyed a brief romance with Harry Mitchell (Elijah Holloway).

Most recently, she found love with local businessman Vinny Panesar (Shiv Jalota), but before the romance could blossom, she found out she was pregnant, and confirmed that Vinny was the father.

In an unexpected twist, a midwife appointment soon revealed her dates didn’t match up, and her unborn baby is biologically Harry’s after they shared one night of passion, casting doubt over her relationship with Vinny.

Penny is yet to reveal the truth about the baby’s paternity as she moves in with Vinny and they set up a loving family home. Will the truth come out as Penny’s due date edges closer?

Away from Albert Square, Penny actress Kitty Castledine leads a much simpler life with her family in London.

She is the daughter of television star Lucy Alexander, who is famed for hosting popular daytime shows such as Homes Under the Hammer and A Place in the Sun.

Kitty’s father is ex-Premier League footballer Stewart Castledine, who played for Wimbledon for over 9 years. He also featured for Wycombe in the second tier.

Stewart has also appeared on television screens, hosting BBC One’s Big Strong Boys and Houses Behaving Badly.

Stewart and Lucy are said to have wed in 2000, during a ceremony in Richmond, London, after meeting through a mutual acquaintance.

They have two children, including Kitty and a son, Leo Castledine, 21, who is also a footballer and currently plays for Middlesbrough.

Who is Leo Castledine?

Leo is a midfielder for the Championship team Middlesbrough after joining the club in January 2026.

Prior to his current move, Leo was on loan at Huddersfield Town from Premier League side Chelsea, where he impressed, scoring 12 goals in 27 games for the Terriers.

“I’m absolutely over the moon to join what is a massive, massive club,” Leo explained about joining his new club. “It’s a really big step for me in my career, and I’m very excited to be here.

“There’s always been trust in young players at this club if they can perform, and I want to perform at my highest level”, reported BBC News.

Leo joined Chelsea as an Under-15 from AFC Wimbledon and worked his way up to make one substitute appearance for the first team, a Carabao Cup semi-final against Boro in January 2024. He has also worn the England shirt for the U19s five times.

EastEnders airs Monday to Thursday on BBC One and iPlayer

When she’s not showing off her brainiac skills, The Chase star Jenny Ryan is loved-up with her actor partner

Jenny Ryan is a firm favourite on The Chase – but who is her real-life boyfriend?

The brainiac shot to fame when she joined the ITV quiz show – hosted by Bradley Walsh – back in 2025. Since then, Jenny has become a regular on TV screens.

From stints on Celebrity X Factor to the new spin-off programme, The Chase Around The World, Jenny, also known as the Vixen, has remained booked and busy.

But away from the TV sets, Jenny is loved-up with her long-term boyfriend, Thom Tuck who also happens to work in the showbiz and entertainment industry.

Over the years, Thom has appeared in the likes of a number of hit shows, including The Crown, Fresh Meat and Babylon. He’s also shown off his talents on stage, performing in theatre productions of Death of A Salesman and Three Sisters.

Thom was also nominated for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Fringe for Thom Tuck Goes Straight-to-DVD. The show managed to get adapted to BBC Radio too.

But that’s not all, as Thom is one-third of the acclaimed sketch troupe The Penny Dreadfuls who have made series for Radio 4 and several audio dramas.

What’s more, Jenny and Thom even worked together when they co-starred in the pantomime production of Sleeping Beauty at the Wyvern Theatre in 2025, in which Jenny played the Wicked Fairy Carabosse and Thom played King Keir.

The pair also appeared on Celebrity Escape To The Country in 2023, and shared their plans to move from the city “back home” to the countryside near her hometown of Bolton.

Looking to relocate with a budget of £850,000 Jenny and Thom were shown an array of residences, turning down the first one but falling totally in love with the second one.

After the show aired, Jenny issued an update to fans a year later on her and Thom’s living situation, revealing on Instagram that she sadly did not buy the house.

She explained that before she could even get another viewing, another person put an offer on the property. Jenny then said she was not surprised another house hunter had bought the property but quipped “the search continues”.

The Chase Around The World airs every Thursday at 9pm on ITV1