happened

DISGRACED actor John Alford’s cause of death has been revealed after he was found dead in his prison cell just weeks after being caged for sexually assaulting two teenagers.

The disgraced actor died less than three months into the sentence at Category C HMP on March 13 this year – and now the cause of his death has been revealed.

John Alford – who played Robbie Wright in the BBC series Grange Hill – was sentenced to eight years and six months in prison after being convicted of sexually assaulting two teenage girls, 14 and 15.

The victims had been at a pub before heading to the home of a pal whose dad had been drinking with Alford, real name John Shannon.

The paedophile bought £250 worth of food, booze and cigarettes from a petrol station, including vodka the girls drank later, a trial at St Albans crown court was told. Once left alone with the girls, Alford had sex with the younger girl in a garden and a toilet.

The trial heard he asked her “Do you want this babe?” to which she answered “No”. He assaulted the other teen twice while she was “dozing off” on the sofa.

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Following the horror, The older girl said Alford “destroyed my mental wellbeing”. The other said the assault “affected me and my family in every way”.

The disgraced TV star made his mark on BBC school drama Grange Hill in the 1980s and found fame as fireman Billy Ray in London’s Burning in the 1990s before his fall from grace.

Grange Hill ran for 30 years until 2008 and launched the careers of several famous faces we know today. It covered major issues from drug use to teen pregnancy, HIV and knife crime.

The show’s characters became some of the most recognisable faces on TV, but where are the actors who played its young stars now? From sex assault scandal to star who traded acting for a very ordinary job, fate has dealt the former stars varied hands.

John Alford – Robbie Wright

Towards the end of his Grange Hill stint, Alford later admitted he was drinking up to 18 bottles of beer and nine spirits shots a night.

But he went on to earn a new army of fans as fireman Ray in London’s Burning from 1993 to 1998. However, this didn’t last long either, as John was sacked two years later after he was convicted for supplying cocaine and cannabis. He served six weeks of a nine-month sentence in 1999.

But this wasn’t his only encounter with the law. Back in 2019 John pleaded guilty to smashing a windscreen in a bin lorry ‘hijacking’ and resisting arrest. A hearing at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court heard how a refuse worker spotted the shamed TV star who had broken into the Veolia lorry while it did its morning rounds near his home in Holloway, North London.

Police attended and noted that John was seemingly under the influence as he began resisting arrest. First, John argued with attending officers Police Constables Darren Baker and Miranda Narcin and claimed he was trying to stop the vehicle rolling back, but they all fell to the ground as he resisted their attempts to restrain him, Irish Mirror reported at the time.

The sick predator, who had been in a psychiatric hospital before his September 2025 trial, was found dead in his prison cell earlier in March. The provisional cause of death for Alford has now been publicly recorded as ischaemic heart disease following an inquest opening.

George Armstrong – Alan Humphries

He starred as Alan from the first episode of Grange Hill in 1978 until Series five in 1982.

Among Armstrong’s other roles was that of PC Driscoll in The Bill in 1989. He later gave up acting and became a theatre manager at a public school.

Unfortunately, the former TV star passed away in 2023 following a “long battle with leukaemia“. His former co-stars paid tribute to the actor, describing him as a “true legend”.

Lee Whitlock – Bevis Loveday

Alan’s sad death came just months after the passing of Lee Whitlock, who played Bevis Loveday in series 16 in 1993, in February.

Prior to that, Lee launched his career in the popular TV series Shine On Harvey Moon as Stanley Moon in the 1980s.

London-born Lee, who died aged 54, went on to appear alongside some of the biggest names in the movie industry – Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter – in the 2007 film Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Other film credits included Wish You Were Here, Jack the Giant Slayer, Cassandra’s Dream and Wild Bill. Lee also had cameos in Casualty, EastEnders, Lovejoy, Boon, The Bill, London’s Burning and Solider, Solider.  

Paula-Ann Bland – Claire Scott

One of the show’s most iconic characters, Claire – played by Paula-Ann Bland – was a child of overprotective parents. Following the trailblazing drama series, Paula, now 54, continued her acting career and portrayed Kelly Brice in Only Fools and Horses, as well as Sylvie in Vanity Fair.

The mother-of-two, who posed topless for lads’ magazine Mayfair, also moved to Los Angeles for a time before returning to London to set up a publicity firm.

Despite finding enormous success, Paula’s life was thrown upside down after she found out she had stage three triple-negative breast cancer in 2018.

In an interview in the Sunday Express at the time, Paula revealed: “When you hear the word cancer, you can’t hear anything else, everything else becomes just white noise.”

The actress, who was considered the British Kylie Minogue thanks to her version of The Locomotion, lost part of her breast during her procedure.

She added: “I understand it had to be done to save my life and this is better than the worst scenario of a double mastectomy and removal of the ovaries. But the procedure still leaves you without an important part of your identity as a woman.”

Terry Sue-Patt – Benny Green

Benny Green, played by Terry Sue-Patt, made his screen debut when Grange Hill premiered in 1978. “There weren’t many black actors about on TV at that time. I had a great time, getting time off school to play football. It was a bit of a dream come ”true”, really,” he told the Daily Mirror.

After his tenure at the London school ended in 1982, Terry went on to star in Channel 4 comedy Desmond’s, set in a Peckham barbershop, and also the 1989 film The Firm. Tragically, Terry was found dead at his London home in 2015 at the age of 50.

The family of the actor released a statement revealing his struggle with personal challenges before his passing. Police feared his body may have lain there for a month before it was found.

John Holmes – Luke ‘Gonch’ Gardener 

Luke ‘Gonch’ Gardener was portrayed by John Holmes, who starred in the show for four years from 1985 before wisely deciding to return to education.

He committed himself to his studies at the University Of East Anglia, where he served as president of the student union for several years.

As reported by The Express, John, who is now 56, left the acting world to manage a casino.

Susan Tully – Suzanne Ross

Susan Tully, known for her role as Michelle Fowler in EastEnders, began her acting career as Suzanne Ross in the BBC series.

The 58-year-old has since applied her talents behind the camera as a successful television director of shows including Secret Diary Of A Call Girl, Lark Rise To Candleford and Getting On.

Millions have watched her work as a director on episodes of Line Of Duty, as well as of EastEnders and the ITV thriller Too Close.

Lee MacDonald – Samuel ‘Zammo’ McGuire

The class clown was at the centre of one of the most talked about storylines on the series when his character developed a dangerous heroin addiction in the mid-80s.

Lee, now 55, tried his hand at professional boxing after leaving the show, but a car accident in the early 90s left him unable to return to the ring.

He had been running a locksmiths and key-cutting business since retiring from telly, but in 2019 he made a surprise comeback 32 years after playing Zammo by joining EastEnders.

In 2020, he got engaged to his long-term partner, Jess. Just three years later, in 2023, the former child star broke down in tears when he feared he had cancer. But although he was given the all-clear, Lee was then diagnosed with a pre-cancerous spot called keratosis after noticing another mark on his face last year.

After leaving Grange Hill, Lee used sunbeds to feel more confident, but regrets using them following his diagnosis.

He explained: “Without a shadow of a doubt, if I look back now, obviously, because of my complaints, I wish I’d never, ever gone near them if I knew now what I knew, then I would not have touched them. I would not not go near them.”

Michelle Herbert – Trisha Yates

Trisha Yates’ Michelle Herbert left the series in 1982, concluding five memorable series. Moving her life to Dundee in the 90s, the mother-of-two and her husband manage All Glass and Glazing business.

But like many other former Grange Hill alumni, she has had her share of obstacles. While she was in a hotel room, during a family holiday in Rome, Michelle spotted a small dimple on her breast in May, 2015.

She was subsequently diagnosed with breast cancer and had to undergo a mastectomy – but luckily, the 61-year-old has since received the all-clear.

Following the ordeal, Michelle has been adamant on raising public awareness around the lesser-known symptoms of breast cancer, urging women to check for dimples.

Erkan Mustafa – Roland ‘Roly’ Browning

Fans of the series all adored Roland, didn’t they?

Roland was the lovable character who, despite horrific bullying, eventually found the strength to confront his tormentors after enduring years of abuse.

Post-Grange Hill, Erkan Mustafa, 56, appeared in the holiday favourite Blackadder’s Christmas Carol and later captivated music fans as a host on E4 Music. he starred in Lenny Henry’s 90s sitcom Chef! and Blackadder and also made appearances on Soccer AM and Celebrity Juice.

Sean Maguire – Terence ‘Tegs’

Sean Maguire was only 11 when he joined the cast of one of the most famous schools on TV. He later starred as Aidan Brosnan in EastEnders and also had roles in The Bill, crime series Scott and Bailey, and Holby City.

In the 90s, Sean moved away from acting to kick-start his pop career with two albums and an impressive eight singles that broke into the Top 30. His venture into film, however, wasn’t as successful, with his movie, Meet the Spartans, winning a meagre 2.8-star rating on IMBd.

Undeterred by this hiccup, Sean rebounded when he secured the role of Robin Hood in the American TV series Once Upon a Time. Sean, now 50, married police officer Tanya Flynn in 2012 and they have two sons, as well as a daughter. They now live in the US where the former child star has become a citizen.

Simone Hyams – Caroline ‘Calley’ Donnington

Simone appeared in the first episode of Grange Hill and played the role of Calley in Grange Hill.

In 1991, Simone, now 54, landed a role in the film Dirty Weekend, but it wasn’t released until two years later because it was deemed too violent.

She then went on to star in The Bill before shifting careers to become a corporate events manager for Virgin.

Todd Carty – Peter ‘Tucker’ Jenkins

Todd was just 14 when he joined the BBC cast and went on to be one of the show’s most famous faces.

He was so popular as the lovable rogue Tucker that he got his own successful spin-off series, Tucker’s Luck, for three years. After Grange Hill, Todd played Mark Fowler in EastEnders until 2003 before joining The Bill as evil Gabriel.

Todd, now 62, also famously appeared on Dancing On Ice in 2009 where he became an internet sensation in 2009 after losing control and skating out of the studio.

Since then, he has featured in a range of TV shows, including the comedy A Touch of Cloth, Celebrity 5 Go Caravanning, and the short film The Drive.

Corey Feldman was rushed to an L.A. hospital after his plane arrived at Los Angeles International Airport on Monday.

The “Stand by Me” star, 54, started feeling unwell on his flight from Chicago to Los Angeles and was met by medical professionals at his gate. A doctor happened to be on board and checked on the former child star while in the air, but it was unclear what the issue was.

Doctors at a Los Angeles hospital were able to rule out gallstones, and on Tuesday, a representative for the “Goonies” star told The Times that they cracked the case, and Feldman is on the mend.

“Corey is doing much better and is now out of the hospital,” a rep for the actor and singer said. “They determined it was a really bad case of food poisoning (which no one ever wants to have on a plane!). Corey wants to thank everyone for all of the love and well wishes. He has definitely seen a lot of the messages and really appreciates everything.”

As for what soured Feldman’s stomach, his rep said, “Corey is vegetarian so I can definitely confirm it was not shrimp!”

Feldman was in Chicago to participate in a 40th anniversary celebration of the 1986 classic “Stand by Me,” one of the earlier films that put Feldman on the map as a young actor. He appeared at anniversary events alongside co-stars Jerry O’Connell and Wil Wheaton.

Feldman is dropping the single “What Am I Here 4” on Monday and is slated to perform two birthday shows, on July 25 at the Arrow Room in Rancho Cucamonga and on July 26 at the Garden Amp in Garden Grove.

Friday marks one year since a deadly Air India Boeing crash, which killed 260 people in a densely populated suburb of the city of Ahmedabad in India’s western state of Gujarat.

Families of those killed gathered at the site on Friday to mark the anniversary of the disaster, but they are still waiting for answers about what caused the plane to come down shortly after takeoff from the nearby airport.

Indian authorities are expected to issue an interim report in the coming days, another source of frustration for the victims’ relatives, who had been hoping for a definitive finding and a final disclosure. Media reports, citing unnamed sources, suggest that Indian investigators will delay issuing a final report into the crash, citing the need to complete an analysis of the plane’s engines.

Under international aviation rules, a final report is due “if possible” within a year of an accident. If an investigation goes on for longer, an interim statement should be issued on each anniversary.

What happened to the Air India plane?

Flight AI171, an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane which had taken off only moments before, en route to London Gatwick, crashed into a medical college hostel in the residential area of Meghani Nagar, close to the international airport on the edge of India’s western city of Ahmedabad.

According to flight tracking website Flightradar24, the plane’s final signal was received seconds after takeoff at 1:38pm local time (08:08 GMT). It had reached an altitude of 625 feet (190 metres) before crashing back to the ground outside the airport.

The plane had issued a mayday alert to air traffic control just before all communications from the aircraft ceased.

How many people died in the crash?

Of the 242 people on board, all except one passenger were killed. These included 169 Indian nationals and 52 British nationals. A total of 260 people died, as 19 people on the ground close to the crash site were also killed. Another 67 people near the site were injured.

The sole survivor on board the plane, Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, is a British national whose brother was killed in the crash.

On Thursday, Ramesh’s representative, Sanjiv Patel, told the UK’s Guardian newspaper that Air India had paid £21,500 ($28,800) in compensation to Ramesh to help support his wife and their five-year-old son. It is not clear whether similar payments have been made to other families.

Relatives of the victims are meeting on Friday at a conference organised by lawyers, along with aviation and air safety experts, in Ahmedabad. They are due to hold a candlelight vigil after sunset.

What have preliminary reports shown?

This was the world’s first airliner crash involving a 787 Dreamliner, a Boeing model that has been in service since 2011.

In accordance with international aviation law, India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) published a preliminary report one month after the disaster.

That 15-page document said the fuel supply to the jet’s engines had been cut off moments before the crash, raising questions about possible pilot error.

It also published a conversation between the captain and his copilot about the fuel supply being cut off – two brief sentences that prompted theories of pilot suicide.

The report was met with strong criticism.

It did not state why the fuel switches were turned off – whether it was the fault of a pilot, or a result of a malfunction.

The preliminary report did not make any safety recommendations to Boeing or engine maker GE Aerospace, suggesting no technical issues had been discovered.

The crash also hit Air India at a sensitive stage of its post-privatisation turnaround, which has been slowed by supply-chain snags, an airspace ban imposed by Pakistan on Indian carriers and, more recently, the US-Israeli war on Iran.

What’s the latest on the investigation?

Under international rules, a final report is due “if possible” within a year of an accident, but sometimes investigations take longer. If it cannot be completed, therefore, an interim statement should be issued on each anniversary. With investigations continuing, the AAIB is expected to issue only an interim report at this stage.

The Federation of Indian Pilots union has been pushing for investigators to seek more technical data about the plane from Boeing and Air India to allow for a “rebuttal of the pilot suicide theory being explored by the AAIB”.

“It [an interim report only] will cause more speculation and more misunderstanding,” Charanvir Randhawa, the union’s president, told reporters at a packed news conference in Ahmedabad ahead of the anniversary of the crash.

“We have requested the Indian government and India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) not to come out with any interim report.”

A cockpit recording of dialogue between the two pilots of the Air India 787 before it crashed supported the view that the captain cut the flow of fuel to its engines, according to US officials’ early assessment reported by Reuters last year.

But the AAIB said at the time it was “too early to reach any definite conclusions”.

Investigators conducted engine testing in April and visited France last month as part of their analysis of the engine management unit, a source told Reuters on the condition of anonymity, as the information is not public.

On Thursday, Bloomberg also reported that the final report into the crash can be expected within three months, once studies of the engines, which had been sent to the US for examination, are concluded.

The captain’s father has asked India’s top court to order an independent investigation that examines possible causes other than deliberate pilot action – a cause that has been suspected in some other fatal crashes and was confirmed in the case of Germanwings Flight 9525, which crashed into the French Alps in 2015, killing all 150 people on board.

The idea grew as organically as the purple cauliflower at Erewhon. One day, I walked from my place in Los Feliz to the beach. I stopped at two Erewhon locations on the way to refuel. I made a reel about my journey and posted it to Instagram. My friend Fish saw it and said, “You should walk to all the Erewhons.”

I thought: I don’t have time to do that. I’m a very serious person who needs to write her novel.

But later I found myself mapping out an 89-mile hike in my Notes App, starting in Pasadena and ending in Calabasas, stopping at all 10 Erewhon locations on the way. (My route did not include the Palisades, which is closed because of the fires; nor did it include LACMA or the new Glendale locale.)

“I need to write my novel” is a thought I have a lot. I usually heed this thought and sit at the desk like a soldier, imagining the wonderful day when I’ll sell said novel — for an amount that would probably be comparable to a fraction of an Erewhon employee’s yearly salary.

Erewhon Trail map illustration by Swan Huntley.

(Erewhon Trail map illustration by Swan Huntley. )

I really wasn’t in the mood to write the novel, though. When I imagined myself pecking away at the keyboard, I felt bad. When I imagined myself walking around L.A. in my Home Depot gardening hat, I felt good. So, I put on my hat, got into an Uber headed for Pasadena, and texted my sister, “Carpe diem, bitch.” Or at least that was my intention. What I actually sent was, “Carpet diem hitch.”

Over the summer, I hiked a little bit of the Pacific Crest Trail. A few years ago, I biked the Camino in Spain. I’ve walked from Los Feliz to the beach a handful of times. I’ve traversed the length of Manhattan thrice. Before that, when I was a teenager, I used to trek from La Jolla to Del Mar while drinking beer (I carried a cooler; yes, I’m sober now) and listening to Sarah McLachlan on my Discman. I’ve always been drawn to activities that many people find tedious. Like walking forever. Or writing a novel.

Starting in the fourth century, pilgrimages were served up by the church as a way for Christians to pay penance for their sins. They were hard and dangerous and a lot of people died. Fast-forward to now: Such treks have taken on an “Eat, Pray, Love” aura. Or a “Wild “ aura. They live in the realm of self-help and of sport. They’re a way to create friction in an increasingly frictionless world. By walking from Mexico to Canada, or from Erewhon to Erewhon, I wonder whether we’re trying to get back to the part of ourselves that wants to try harder.

Or we just want to become more valuable dinner party guests.

What do you do?

I do really long walks.

I ordered a Goddess Smoothie in Pasadena, and then I repeated this tradition at every store thereafter. The smoothie costs $19, tastes like heaven, and it’s green, which my brain reads as “good for me.”

It took me a little over three hours to walk 11 miles to Silver Lake. I got a Vegan Avocado Sandwich for lunch, took an Uber home and posted a reel on Instagram about my first day on the trail. A lot of people liked it. Some of them called me a genius.

In the last 10 years, I’ve published four novels and two illustrated books for adults. I was naïve and just totally blindly happy about the publishing process in the beginning. People wanted to buy my work? Other people wanted to read it? Cool.

The first book, “We Could Be Beautiful,” did well because the publisher put real money into the marketing of it. Then that stopped happening. At a certain point, I realized that expecting too much was unwise. It was up to me to market my books myself. Which meant: social media.

They say you have to see a book cover six times before you buy the book — or consider buying it. There are a lot of book covers on Instagram. Actually, there’s a lot of everything on Instagram, and out of all the everything, is a book cover that exciting?

No.

My second reel, which depicted my journey from Silver Lake to Studio City, went a little bit viral. To date, almost 10,000 people have shared it with their friends. Why? I think the answer has something to do with a desire for levity.

If the atmosphere of the world could be depicted by an Erewhon beverage, it wouldn’t be a vibrant, cheerful one, like the bright magenta Pitaya Smoothie. It would be the dark and brooding Germ Warfare Shot. I find it perplexing that people talk about the apocalypse as if it’s happening later. It’s happening now. If we were really thinking about how climate change is affecting us, we’d be out in the streets screaming. All the time. But we’re not doing that. We’re carrying on with our usual lives. Apparently, for me, that includes walking to Erewhons.

Any long-distance trek is as much an internal journey as it is external. As I continued the trail, I started to think that maybe my endeavor was a reaction to my feeling of total powerlessness. I can’t save the polar bears. I can’t force the president to go to therapy. But I can add some levity to the brooding atmosphere.

Recently, someone commented on one of the reels, “Transplants make LA locals look bad.” This person, and many others, hear the name Erewhon and assume I’m poking fun at it. Erewhon has become a joke about L.A. — a joke that was amplified after Hailey Bieber invented her smoothie in 2022 that Erewhon dubs the “Strawberry Glaze Skin Smoothie.” I’ve never had it, but I can tell you that it looks like a sky full of strawberry clouds. According to an Erewhon employee I spoke to, this smoothie was a turning point. It aligned the brand with wealth and power. Now, Erewhon evokes the image of smooth-skinned, health-conscious Angelenos with money to burn.

The Erewhon Trail, then, inevitably becomes a conversation about privilege, my own included. Instagram hid my two favorite comments, because it was worried they’d be too rude to show, but I think they’re the funniest ones.

This is what white people do on Prozac.

This is what happens when a liberal arts teacher gets fired.

To both of these comments, I say: Yes.

I’m not on Prozac yet, but maybe after I get fired, I will be.

In order to get fired, though, I’d have to get an actual job, which might never happen.

The most intense leg of the trail was from Santa Monica to Calabasas. My friend Fish joined me. Google said it would take 27 miles. After marching through the mountains, I decided to use my own intelligence to make the route shorter. This cut out four miles, bringing the total to 23. For long stretches, Fish and I walked in the bike lane, or in the bramble by the side of the road. That’s the penalty for straying from Google. Your sidewalks disappear and your chances of getting hit by a car go way up.

My legs were noodles by the time we got to Calabasas. I crawled across the parking lot to show my viewers how weak they’d become. The employee at the door smiled at me and handed me a basket, and I thought about the pain of my legs, which no one could see, and about all the secret battles people are fighting all the time, and I wished that we cared about each other as much as Erewhon cares about us. Multiple employees were perfecting the already-perfect plateaus of bell peppers and apples in the produce section. Their thoughtfulness was the opposite of the vibe I encounter in most public restrooms, which is that the strangers who were there before me didn’t have many thoughts about my experience. As lame as the fact that an Erewhon smoothie costs $19 is that so many of us need to be paid to be nice to each other.

When I tell people about my love for Erewhon, they either say, “Duh, I know,” or something along the lines of, “That place is ridiculous, right?” This is almost always followed by the mention of a food item and some amount of money. Like, “Doesn’t a carrot cost $12,000?”

Actually, I tell them, no. Although sometimes, yes. There is a Japanese strawberry that’s famously expensive ($20), but that’s avoidable. I then explain that contrary to popular thought, there is a way to shop at Erewhon on a budget. A jar of soup, for example, costs $15.50. If you return the bottle, you get $3 back. In my opinion, the soup can be two meals, so that’s $6.25 per meal. A lot of the produce is either the same price or only a little bit more expensive than at other health food stores, and it’s in consistently better shape. The most important piece of making Erewhon more affordable, though, is becoming a member. You get 10% off, a free drink of the month and discounts on a bunch of items.

You might be wondering: How many Erewhon memberships has she personally sold?

She’s lost count.

The other reason to go to Erewhon is the environment. It’s visually appealing and the employee-to-customer ratio is notable, and the result is that you feel like you’re at a resort. And frankly, these simple things — a nice environment, high quality food — should be available to everyone.

Back to the question of whether or not Erewhon is ridiculous — yes, of course it is. If you sit at any of the locations and listen to the conversations around you, you’ll probably feel like you’re an extra in a satirical movie. At Studio City, I overheard two moms in white pants and cashmere sweaters talking about how, based on their Instagram recon, they figured out that so-and-so was sitting next to so-and-so at a benefit dinner. Another snippet I overheard in Studio City: “You gotta make music from the heart, man, and the label will feel it.”

It didn’t occur to me to ask for free merch until after I’d finished the trail. Armando at the Santa Monica location was the lucky recipient of my request. I explained my uniquely heroic feat to him, and then wondered aloud if perhaps I could get a sweatshirt, or at least a hat.

Sadly, Armando was unauthorized to give me merch, but he did offer me a gift card in a tiny envelope. I was very grateful. I assumed the card was worth $50 at least.

After we parted ways, I opened the envelope.

Ten dollars.

Enough to put a down payment on a smoothie.

My dreams now are so different from when I was younger. Back in grad school, I imagined that maybe I’d write a bestselling novel, and maybe it would be adapted for the screen, and maybe my tombstone would read: She contributed very serious literature to civilization.

What I never accounted for was, of course, the unknown. Maybe one day, over a decade after school ended, I’d get a lot of attention for making performance art about walking to grocery stores.

Huntley’s novels include “I Want You More,” “Getting Clean With Stevie Green,” “The Goddesses” and “We Could Be Beautiful.” She’s also the writer/illustrator of the darkly humorous “The Bad Mood Book” and “You’re Grounded: An Anti-Self-Help Book to Calm You the F— Down.” She lives in Los Angeles.

LEWIS Capaldi was forced to halt one of his performances in the US, exclaiming he didn’t know “what the f*** just happened.”

The popular singer, 29, is currently on his Survive Tour after taking some time away from the spotlight to prioritise his mental and physical health.

But during his gig at Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre he encountered a major technical issue, leaving him unable to sing.

Lewis giggled next to the mic, sharing with the crowd: “Something has happened. Usually I’d be singing by now.

“Something technological has gone wrong. I’m not sure what the f***s happened.”

He then joked: “This feels like… erectile dysfunction in a way,” before checking in with his team to see if the error had been fixed.

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After learning it hadn’t, Lewis continued to entertain the crowd, saying: “Right, we’re not back. Hi.”

Fans of the musician found the moment hilarious and loved the way he chose to handle it – both with humour and then by deciding to go ahead with an acoustic performance while the tech issue was fixed.

One user on Instagram said: “Who needs all the technology with a voice like that?!?”

A second shared: “It was a once in a lifetime experience and we were very excited to be part of the “technical issue”.

A third added: “Well no one can claim he can’t sing live.”

Lewis’ tour shares the same name as his latest EP release which came out last year.

The new music followed him taking a two-year hiatus from the industry, after his anxiety and Tourette’s syndrome symptoms increased.

After Lewis finishes up his shows in America, he’s due to perform in Vancouver before heading over to the UK.

His first UK tour date is on June 19, taking place at the Isle Of Wight Festival.

The fort was built in the 1890s as part of a series of facilities set up to keep a potential invasion from London. One historian revealed the incredible story behind the site

The UK is full of stunning places to visit, but one particular spot combines breathtaking scenery with a captivating glimpse into the past. A military historian recently explored the location and revealed the remarkable story behind its construction.

Military history specialist Dr Jen Howe shared the tale of Reigate Fort on Instagram. Now under the ownership of the National Trust, the fort was constructed on top of Reigate Hill in Surrey in 1898. And the purpose behind its creation is extraordinary.

According to the National Trust, which manages the site today, the fort was erected to fend off a possible French invasion as part of the London Defence scheme. This comprised a 72-mile network of defences consisting of 13 military installations intended to safeguard the capital. Beyond storing equipment and ammunition, there were also proposals to excavate enormous trenches to keep invading armies at bay from London.

Beginning her Instagram slideshow, Dr Howe remarked: “POV: You stumble into a world of forgotten military history just 30 mins from London.” Detailing the history of Reigate Fort, she continued: “Built in the late 1890s to defend London from a French invasion that never actually came. These buildings held shovels and guns, ready to build one huge trench around London…”

The National Trust notes that, by 1906, it was decided the British Navy possessed sufficient strength to repel any prospective invasion, and Reigate Fort was decommissioned. It was sold the following year. In 1972, it and the other mobilisation centres were designated as Scheduled Ancient Monuments by English Heritage in recognition of their significance to British military history. The site welcomes visitors every day, reports Surrey Live.

Those who visit can view two sets of gates – the first are steel and spiked, while the second are heavier and bulletproof. The tool store and the magazine – where munitions and explosives were once kept – are also on display, along with the underground casemates, which would have served both as storage facilities and as shelter from enemy bombardment.

Dr Howe also drew attention to a nearby memorial dedicated to nine US airmen, who died when the B-17 Flying Fortress they were aboard came down on Reigate Hill in March 1945. “A few metres on and you’ll find a tragic site,” she said.

“On March 19, 1945, nine US airmen were coming home from Germany when their plane went down in a thick cloud. None of them made it.

“They had an average age of 21. The oak wing tips laid out are the exact distance of the aircraft’s tips, and a haunting reminder of what fell here.”

According to the National Trust, the memorial sculpture was crafted by Surrey artist Roger Day, and was unveiled on the 70th anniversary of the crash. Both elements of the memorial are carved from ancient Surrey oak, positioned the same distance apart as the aircraft’s wingtips, with metal salvaged from the crash site incorporated within the sculpture.

Dr Howe also drew attention to another nearby structure. “Just beyond and you’ll find a mysterious WW2 structure,” she said. “Even historians aren’t too sure what it was used for.”

In the caption accompanying her post, she wrote: “40 minutes from London there’s a stretch of the North Downs where, in the space of a single walk, you pass a Victorian fort built to protect London from a French invasion that never came, a mysterious WW2 structure, a clearing where a US bomber crew were killed on their 13th mission together, and a WW2 training ground.

“Reigate is a genuinely beautiful walk, with wide open chalk downland, extraordinary views, ancient woodland. But the hidden military history adds so much to this place. You may not even notice these things if you didn’t know where to look!”