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Helen Flanagan sets pulses racing in sexy Christmas lingerie after fresh swipe at ex Scott Sinclair

HELEN Flanagan looked sensational as she stripped to Santa-themed lingerie for a sexy social media post.

The actress’ sizzling snaps, which saw her posing in a plunging lace bodysuit with white fur trim as well as a red camisole with matching thong, came as she teased “Meet the new Santa Clause”.

Helen Flanagan looked sensational as she posed in Christmas Ann Summers lingerieCredit: Instagram/hjgflanagan
The actress, 35, teasingly pulled at a red ribbon on her sparkly camisoleCredit: Instagram/hjgflanagan
The soap star made sure to pen her Christmas listCredit: Instagram/hjgflanagan
She flashed her black suspender stockings as she put a present under her treeCredit: Instagram/hjgflanagan

The Coronation Street alum’s latest Instagram upload comes after her feud with her ex Scott Sinclair escalated.

Recently, she branded her ex a “piece of s**t” as he lived it up in Abu Dhabi, rather than attending their son’s nativity play.

Yet appearing to put their bad blood to one side, she struck a series of looks while donning her racy Ann Summers clobber.

Helen, 35, was seen perched on her bed as she played around with a bow on her semi-sheer top before writing her own list to Father Christmas himself.

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Helen Flanagan takes new swipe at ex Scott Sinclair after row over son’s nativity


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She then hopped over to wrap some presents under her tree in a fir-trim one piece.

The screen star, best-known for playing Corrie’s Rosie Webster, then held two jugs of milk while donning her Christmassy bodysuit before pouring one into a mug emblazoned with the words “Santa’s little helper”.

She finished off the clip by teasingly untying her one-piece and flashing a cheeky smile to the camera.

In her caption, Helen wrote: “Meet the new Santa Clause.”

A fan wrote: “You look stunning.”

Another put: “Well hello gorgeous.”

A third put: “Wow Helen your so beautiful merry Christmas.”

HUGE CLASH

Helen split from her ex-fiancé in 2022 after 13 years together and they share three children Matilda, 10, Delilah, seven, and Charlie, four.

She recently took to her social media pages to praise her mum for her support in raising their brood.

Soap characters who’ve been recast

Soap operas are staple viewing for many people, but even some of the most famous characters have been played by different actors. Here are some examples from over the years.

Coronation Street

  • Tracy Barlow: Kate Ford took on the role of Corrie legend Tracy Barlow in 2002. Before Kate, three other actresses had played Tracy – most notably Dawn Acton from 1988 to 1999.
  • Nick Tilsley: Ben Price has been playing Gail’s oldest child in 2009, but the former Footballers’ Wives star is the third actor to take on the part.
  • Sarah Platt: Although Tina O’Brien debuted as Sarah Platt in 1999, she is the third actress who has played the iconic role of Sarah Platt.
  • David Platt: Completing the line-up of Gail’s children, David was initially played by Thomas Ormson for a decade before Jack P. Shepherd took over.
  • Daniel Osbourne: For almost a decade, the role of Ken Barlow’s son Daniel has been portrayed by actor Rob Mallard. Before Rob joined, two other actors had previously played Daniel.
  • Bethany Platt: Fans know Lucy Fallon as Bethany nowadays but before her, three other actresses had stepped into the character’s shoes.
  • Kirk Sutherland: Before Andy Whyment took on the role of Kirk, he played by an uncredited actor in his very first appearance.
  • Todd Grimshaw: Gareth Pierce stepped into the role of Todd back in 2020, becoming the second performer to play this part.
  • Summer Spellman: Harriet Bibby became the second actress to play Summer, taking over the role from Matilda Freeman in 2020.
  • Ryan Connor: Ryan Prescott currently plays the long-running character, but Ben Thompson and Sol Heras had earlier portrayed the role.

EastEnders

  • Martin Fowler: Although Martin was the first baby born on-screen in EastEnders, he hasn’t always been played by the same person. His current portrayer, James Bye, is the third actor to star as the character.
  • Peter Beale: Seven actors have portrayed Ian Beale’s elder son, with the current actor, Thomas Law, in his second stint as the character.
  • Ben Mitchell: Ben has been played by a total of six actors – with Max Bowden bowing out of the role in March 2024.
  • Bobby Beale: Before Clay Milner Russell, Ian’s younger son had been played by four other actors.
  • Freddie Slater: Bobby’s best mate, Freddie Slater, had been previously played by twins Alex and Tom Kilby before Bobby Brazier took over in 2022.
  • Chelsea Fox: Former Coronation Street actress Zaraah Abrahams took over the role of Chelsea in 2020. The character had been first played by Tiana Benjamin from 2006 to 2010.
  • Lauren Branning: Jacqueline Jossa took on the role of Lauren in 2010, succeeding Madeline Duggan who’d played her from 2006 to 2010.
  • Johnny Carter: Johnny has been played by three actors since debuting in 2013 – most recently, Charlie Suff has taken on the role.

She is currently starring as The Wicked Queen in a production of Snow White in Liverpool and said her mum, Julia, has practically raised her kids while she treads the boards.

Yet this came after she lashed out at her Bristol Rovers footballer ex Scott after he missed their son Charlie’s nativity play to party at the Formula One.

“You really are a piece of s***,” Helen raged, as she shared Scott’s Instagram post.

“How dare you not turn up to Charlie’s nativity.”

Scott, 36, had posted snaps from his weekend in the United Arab Emirates where he watched Lando Norris secure his maiden Drivers’ Championship title.

“What a weekend-Abu Dhabi F1,” Scott wrote.

He added: “Happy Days, blurry nights..”

Meanwhile Helen posted a snap of her cuddling their son, writing: “Loved Charlie’s nativity. My star, my heartbeat.”

She recently hinted at trouble “co-parenting” with Scott, telling The Sun: “He lives like Somerset and I live in Lancashire. So we live so far away from each other, which is really difficult when you’ve got three young children.

“I hate calling it co-parenting because I don’t really feel like a co-parent to be honest with you anyway.”

She posed in a one piece with a fur trimCredit: Instagram/hjgflanagan
Helen then switched to a lace bodysuit as she held up jugs of milkCredit: Instagram/hjgflanagan
It comes as she is locked in a feud with her ex Scott SinclairCredit: Instagram

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Woke BBC bosses could thwart fresh bid to finally get Fairytale of New York to Christmas No1

WOKE BBC bosses could thwart a fresh bid to finally get Fairytale of New York to the Christmas number one spot – 38 years after it was released.

The corporation’s radio stations refusing to play a newly released ‘live’ version of The Pogues’ Fairytale of New York because it contains the “cheap, lousy f****t” lyric.

A black and white image of a woman sitting at a piano with a man standing nearby and smoke rising from an ashtray.
The BBC is refusing to play a newly released ‘live’ version of The Pogues’ Fairytale of New YorkCredit: Unknown
Kirsty MacColl and Shane MacGowan dancing.
The popular Christmas tune features Kirsty MacColl and Shane MacGowanCredit: Redferns

The track by the Irish rockers, originally released in 1987, is one of several vintage festive tracks that only reached number two in the charts, despite becoming classic anthems

Another example is White Christmas by Wham! which was kept off the number one spot by Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas in 1984.

But fans finally got that to the top spot in 2023.

Fairytale has long been surrounded by controversy because it contains a perceived homophobic slur which has either been removed in some versions or not played at all.

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A music industry insider said: “It feels unfair that this live version which shouldn’t be edited has now been barred from the Beeb’s playlist.

“It’s an authentic performance of a much loved track by a much loved band and this move might be the measure that prevents it from getting to number one at Christmas, which is where it has always deserved to be.”

The original single was only kept from the top spot by Pet shop Boys classic Always On My Mind, which was a high-energy cover version of the Elvis Presley ballad.

Despite always making it into the top ten every Christmas, and featuring in the 2019 festive special of Gavin & Stacey, it’s never made it to number one.

The BBC were approached for comment.

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Thai PM dissolves parliament, fresh elections scheduled for early 2026

Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul addresses journalists outside Government House in Bangkok on Friday after dissolving the House of Representatives, the country’s parliament. Photo courtesy Royal Thai Government/EPA

Dec. 12 (UPI) — Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul dissolved parliament on Friday, triggering fresh elections just three months after his minority government replaced a government headed by Paetongtarn Shinawatra.

In King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s decree approving the move, Anutin blamed recent deadly border clashes with Thailand’s northern neighbor Cambodia among other issues his administration has struggled to overcome.

The Thai Pride Party leader was elected by lawmakers in September with the backing of the People’s Party, which lent its support on condition that he dissolve the House of Representatives within four months.

However, facing a no-confidence vote after the People’s Party withdrew its backing amid a dispute over constitutional reform, Anutin brought the date forward.

“The appropriate solution is to dissolve parliament, which is a way to return political power to the people,” he said.

Anutin will stay on as caretaker prime minister, albeit with severely limited powers, until the elections, which by law must be held within 60 days.

His administration has been under fire over cross-border fighting with Cambodian forces that has killed at least 20 people and forced hundreds of thousands to flee and for failures in dealing with severe flooding in the south of the country in November in which more than 170 died.

“The government had executed every means in public administration to quickly resolve the urgent issues overwhelming the country… but running the country requires stability,” Anutin wrote in Friday’s decree.

“As a minority government, together with troubling domestic political circumstances, it has been unable to carry out public administration continuously, effectively and with stability.”

Shinawatra, Anutin’s predecessor, was removed from office in August after Thailand’s Constitutional Court found she had broken ethics rules in a phone call to a former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.

The fall of the government, the third in two years, threatens to exacerbate a deepening political, security and economic crisis, with the economy slowing sharply in the third quarter, posting annualized GDP growth of just 1.2%.

Anutin insisted the dissolution of parliament would have no impact on the country’s military operations on the border with Cambodia after fighting re-erupted Monday, threatening to unravel an already fragile cease-fire brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump in July.

Trump was scheduled to hold phone calls with Anutin and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet on Friday evening to try to get the truce back on track.

Analysts warned that internal Thai politics could complicate that effort with the increasingly tough position being signaled by Anutin’s party on the territorial dispute.

“We see a risk of the conflict persisting into 2026 if the Thai government [of Anutin] judges that adopting a harder line could bolster its political standing ahead of the likely early-2026 elections,” Oxford Economics leader economist Alexandra Hermann told CNBC.

South Africans honor Nelson Mandela

Large crowds gather outside Nelson Mandela’s former home in the Johannesburg suburb of Houghton to pay their respects on December 7, 2013. Mandela, former South African president and a global icon of the anti-apartheid movement, died on December 5 at age 95 after complications from a recurring lung infection. Photo by Charlie Shoemaker/UPI | License Photo

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