Ill

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. fell ill at an event in Philadelphia last month and was treated for dehydration before returning home to suburban Washington, the court’s spokeswoman said Friday.

Alito’s illness did not require an overnight hospital stay and he was back on the bench the following Monday, spokeswoman Patricia McCabe said in a statement.

Alito was an active questioner during arguments that day in an important case about mailed ballots and participated in all the court’s hearings over the ensuing two weeks.

Alito, who turned 76 on Wednesday, is the second-oldest member of the court, after 77-year-old Justice Clarence Thomas.

The episode was first reported by CNN, which also said the treatment was administered at a Philadelphia hospital. The court did not say where Alito had been taken.

The incident is the latest example of the justices’ reticence to discuss their health, at least until the news somehow leaks.

In 2020, the court confirmed that Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. had spent a night in the hospital after a fall that required stitches in his forehead, only after the Washington Post reported it first.

Alito was driven by his security detail from Washington to what CNN said was a dinner following a Federalist Society panel that looked at his 20 years on the court.

When he didn’t feel well in the evening, “he agreed with his security detail’s recommendation to see a physician before the three-hour drive home” to northern Virginia, McCabe said. He was given fluids for dehydration, she said.

While the justice has not said anything about retirement, speculation has swirled that Alito might soon step down, which would give President Trump the chance to appoint a fourth justice, after the three who were confirmed during his first term.

While Alito is young by Supreme Court standards, he might not want to stay around and gamble on the possibility of Democrats flipping the Senate in the November elections and seeing a Democrat capture the White House two years later.

Retiring in the summer would allow Trump to name a similarly conservative but much younger replacement who would almost certainly win confirmation from the Republican-led Senate.

Sherman writes for the Associated Press.

MEGAN Thee Stallion has been rushed to hospital after suddenly falling “very ill” during a performance of Moulin Rouge on Broadway.

The 31-year-old rap star managed to get through the opening scenes of the hit musical in New York before the show had to be halted so she could get treatment.

Megan, who plays Zidler in the beloved Broadway production, was quickly taken to hospital and is still undergoing an evaluation, it is believed.

A representative of the Savage rapper told TMZ: “During Tuesday night’s production, Megan started feeling very ill and was promptly transported to a local hospital, where her symptoms are currently being evaluated.”

There is yet to be any further update on her condition.

Megan’s personal hairstylist and close friend Kellon Deryck has come out since to ask fans to say “a prayer” for the rapper.

MEG-A SEXY

Megan Thee Stallion suffers wardrobe malfunction in completely see-through dress

Megan is due to appear in Moulin Rouge! The Musical until May 17 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre.

Her casting as Zidler marks a history making moment for the star as she becomes the first female-identifying performer to play the role in any production of Moulin Rouge worldwide.

Concerned audience members said they were told to “stay inside and seated” while medics assessed Megan off stage.

After she left the theatre, the show continued as a male performer took on the role of Zidler.

Megan’s first show came on March 24 where she was congratulated for putting on an impressive act in New York City.

Earlier this year, the Hot Girl Summer artist spoke about how big of an honor it is to be able to perform on Broadway.

She released a statement when she was announced for the musical saying: “Stepping onto the Broadway stage and joining the Moulin Rouge! The Musical team is an absolute honor.

“I’ve always believed in pushing myself creatively and theatre is definitely a new opportunity that I’m excited to embrace.

“Broadway demands a different level of discipline, preparation, and storytelling, but I’m up for the challenge and can’t wait for the Hotties to see a new side of me.”

Imagine cutting the cost of accommodation on your next holiday to about £5 a day. You can have a whole house, rather than just a bedroom. And you can go almost anywhere in the world and stay as long as you like, within reason. Welcome to house swapping.

You’re sceptical, I know. I was, too. Our terrace house was too small. Too overflowing with stuff. The 1980s kitchen was too old (and battered). We aren’t in a nice enough neighbourhood. Who would want to stay here? Lots of people, it turned out.

Our first swap was with a pair of retired Australian judges who had lived in the UK decades before. They came to our house first and, over a cup of tea and cake in our living room, we talked about where to find a good pint and the best fish and chips locally, as well as mastering the idiosyncrasies of how to run our dishwasher. They told us about their favourite local parks (warned us about snakes) and when to put out the bins, before we headed for our month-long stay at their house in Perth. It’s these conversations and connections that really make house swapping special.

Yes, we have stayed in some truly extraordinary homes. There was a house in Florida where we watched rocket launches while lounging in the pool; a clapboard cottage with a hot tub in the Stockholm suburbs; and a swanky five-bedroom villa in the south of France that we shared with friends. We couldn’t have afforded any of these if it were not for house swapping. In fact, the swaps themselves are free, but I pay $235 (£177) a year to use Home Exchange, a house swap booking platform, which works out at about £5 a night for the 35 or so nights I used it last year.

The greatest pleasure, however, is in the genuine relationships forged. Through the messages exchanged before and during the swap, friendships are created. You become, however briefly, part of each other’s lives. We have swapped pets and cars, and watered plants along the way. For a week, we became passionately involved in helping pick a summer school for our Basque guests’ kids. Warm welcomes are universal. We’ve had olive oil from the garden grove of a house in Greece and marmalade from Seville. In return, guests at our house can expect to find sparkling wine from Kent, Essex jam and a pile of Cadbury chocolate bars to try – French guests are big fans of the Crunchie.

Even in challenging moments we found friendship, such as when our shower sprang a leak and rained all over the dining table. We had to arrange an emergency repair via video call with our Spanish guests, an Albanian plumber and a UK insurer, all while frantically looking for a reliable phone signal in the countryside. The babel of languages resulted in a tube of silicone being applied and both parties leaving five-star reviews.

I won’t go back to hotels. I have saved tens of thousands of pounds over the past five years, but what has really hooked me is the interactions with hosts and guests that make my holidays more fulfilling. It’s like having a friend everywhere you go.

Q&A – Everything you need to know

Will I be comfortable house swapping?
If you’re precious about the things in your home or anxious about someone sleeping in your bed, a swap is not for you. Likewise, if spending the last day of your holiday cleaning is a deal-breaker.

How do I house swap?
For some sites, you pay a flat annual membership fee (£100-£200) to use a booking platform with thousands of homes. I use Home Exchange because it verifies member identities and offers some guarantees such as damage, theft and cancellation protection. Kindred is a smaller and generally more expensive rival, focused on upmarket homes. Instead of locking you into membership, it charges variable service and cleaning fees.

How does it work?
Classic swaps are simultaneous; you exchange houses on the same dates. But non-direct swaps are also allowed via a points system: you are awarded credits for stays at your house, which you can then spend to stay somewhere else.

What about scams and safety?
Everyone on Home Exchange is a host and a guest, so there is a high degree of trust. Most swaps don’t involve money, so scams are rare. The only exception is a cleaning fee, payable when the stay is at an end. If you’re asked for money in advance, it’s a scam.

How do I pick my accommodation?
This is time-consuming. The website looks similar to Airbnb, where you filter by availability, destination and the type of property you want, but you need to match with a host, too. Hosts and guests both have ratings from previous stays, but some people still like to phone or video call before agreeing to an exchange. Then once the exchange is agreed, there are messages to organise the swap and answer questions such as how to use the cooker or where the bedding is. Many hosts prepare a house manual. Cancellations are rare but do happen, usually due to illness in our experience. The one time it happened to us, Home Exchange helped us find a new host in the same city, and it will pay for a hotel in a true last-minute emergency.

Do I need to own a luxury house?
No. If you have a pool, hot tub or luxurious mansion, you will certainly get more offers, but flats and smaller houses near popular UK destinations (whether that’s Edinburgh, or the Dorset coast) do just as well. Most houses, like ours, are completely ordinary.

Do I need to put my stuff in storage?
Clear a few drawers, perhaps a wardrobe, for guests, and that’s it. Most of the houses on Home Exchange are family homes.

What about cleaning?
You do need to scrub that oven and clean that grout. Cleanliness expectations are high (and should be agreed upfront). We usually spend much of the last day of our holiday cleaning, and return to find our own house absolutely sparkling. Some hosts give you the option of paying a cleaner.

And DIY?
One of the fringe benefits of house swapping is that it has made us look after our house a little better. Sticky door handles and dripping taps need to be dealt with.

What if I break something?
We have broken small things, as have our guests; usually this is simply forgiven. Put more precious items away. For more expensive items, such as a TV or screen door, house swap platforms usually offer a level of cover, but you should make sure you have home insurance.

Will my home insurance cover my house swap?
Ask. Some insurers offer no cover, others offer it for a certain number of exchanges, or you may need to buy a bolt-on. House swapping is still relatively unusual, so persevere to get a clear answer. Insurers that cover holiday lets, such as Pikl, are also useful.

Are there legal restrictions?
Because no money is exchanged, house swapping is not restricted in the same way as Airbnb and similar services – except in Amsterdam, where only reciprocal swaps are allowed (so no paying with points). You do need to check visa rules if looking after someone’s pet – some countries (such as the US) may view this as providing a service and in breach of a visitor visa.

Other house swap sites
Keybento, Kindred, HomeLink

Rory Boland is the editor of Which? Travel

Cheaper school fees and endless sun are part of the reason celebrity stylist Gayle Rinkoff moved to Majorca – but there are some things about the UK she struggles to live without

A British mum who left the UK behind to give her youngest daughter a more balanced life in Spain says she could never go back to the UK – but there are definitely some things that she misses.

Fashion and celebrity stylist Gayle Rinkoff gave up her London home for a remote farmhouse on the island of Majorca. She told the i newspaper: “When friends visited, they were shocked at how remote we are. In London, we lived on a busy street of Victorian terraced houses and a train station at the end of the road. Now, we are up a mountain and a 45-minute walk to the local village, or six minutes by car.”

One of Gayle’s main reasons for leaving the UK, she says, was the way that living in London turned her three daughters into social media addicts. While her two oldest daughters remained in the UK to attend university, Gayle’s 14-year-old daughter Leni is now a “through-and-through island girl”, she says.

The trigger for Gayle’s dramatic move was, she says, the Coronavirus pandemic. During lockdown, her daughters were “glued to their phones” because it was the only way to stay in touch with their friends, and moving to Majorca was, she says, a way to “break the cycle.”

While that aspect of the relocation was a success, with Leni often completely forgetting about her phone, there are definitely a few things that Gayle misses: “I do miss British things like M&S and ManiLife peanut butter, and of course, I miss my oldest girls. I thought they would fly out more,” she says. “But they’re enjoying being young and their lives in the UK.”

Living in Majorca isn’t cheap, Gayle admits: “You’re on an island, so everything has to be imported.” She and her husband treat themselves to a restaurant meal once a week, but says: “In Palma, you pay London prices.”

Gayle has prioritised her daughter’s education, marvelling that she has become almost completely fluent in Spanish in under two years: “Leni’s school fees are about a third of what they would be in London.

“However, it’s not the same level of education, so we top up with a maths tutor and a Spanish tutor. But, for us, the quality of life and everything else offset what she might be lacking in her education.”

Relocating from the UK to Spain isn’t as easy as it was before Brexit. Would-be expats need to demonstrate proof that they’re financially secure, with adequate private healthcare and a clean criminal record.

Spain’s so-called “Digital Nomad Visas” allow non-EU professionals to legally reside in the country while continuing their remote work for foreign companies — giving people who mainly use the internet for work the best of both worlds.

In Gayle’s case, that was ideal. She explains: “My husband has a remote job and I have always worked remotely as a fashion and celebrity stylist. I wasn’t ready to give it up, but I was ready to slow down.”

But there were some tough conversations before they finally pulled the trigger on their move. They finally did so in 2023: “This summer will mark three years since we moved to the magical island,” she says, “and we have never looked back.”

The Crown star James Murray started off his acting career on ITV soap Coronation Street but the experience left him terrified

James Murray has revealed why he won’t return to Coronation Street after just three episodes.

The actor shared that he featured in three episodes of the ITV soap when speaking to Alan Titchmarsh on Love Your Weekend on Sunday (March 15).

When asked to share who he played in the long-running serial drama, James told the ITV host he was Sandy the barman many years ago.

He commented: “I was Jack and Vera’s barman for about three episodes, it was a frightening experience.

“No good at the job! Thankfully, I think I was contracted for three episodes, so I was in and out, but it was so frightening because Bill Tarmey, who played Jack, was a wonderful man.

“You know how those things are filmed, it’s very quick. It’s like a sausage factory! There’s not much time for creative input from the actors, shall we say. You just stand on your mark, say your line, and we move on.

“That was my first introduction into the world of acting, screen acting. I walked into the Rovers, and I was absolutely petrified!

“The bright lights, I overlearned my lines, and I was just a mess. I was shaking and sweating.”

James recalled how Bill was polishing some glass during their scene together and noticed how nervous he was.

The actor added: “He [Bill] went, ‘You’re shaking like a leaf, son, either stop shaking or think of doing something else’.

“After that stint on Corrie, I said I don’t want to be an actor, or I don’t want to be an actor like this, because it was so frightening to me!

“Being thrown into the lion’s den, first off. I then went and did theatre and other things, but yeah, never again. My hat goes off to the way they act in those shows because it’s so quick.”

Luckily, it wasn’t enough to turn him off of acting completely as James has gone on to star in many well known shows. Recently, he appeared as Raef Lonsdale in the 2025 BBC drama series Wild Cherry, one of the more villainous characters in the show.

While speaking to Alan Titchmarsh he joked he ‘can’t remember’ the last time he didn’t play an evil character, admitting it may have something to do with his eyebrows.

Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh is available to watch on Saturdays on ITV from 9:30am

For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new **Everything Gossip** website.

Good Morning Britain’s Ed Balls and Susanna Reid were detailing the latest headlines on Monday morning when the ITV star opened up on the ordeal

Susanna Reid has shared an ordeal that happened to her in a hotel room a few years ago.

During Monday’s (March 9) episode of Good Morning Britain, the presenter, who recently paid an emotional tribute to her former co-star, explained that a man once walked into her hotel room when she was asleep.

It comes after the programme was discussing a woman who had been sexually assaulted in her hotel room after a man lied to staff in order to get into her room.

Explaining what had happened, she shared: “It happened to me in America, obviously not this seriously. But I was staying at a hotel in Florida for work, and somebody came into my room in the middle of the night with their suitcase.

“Honestly, the shock you have when that happens. They’d said to the receptionist, ‘I’ve lost my key for this particular room’. They had given the wrong room number. I don’t think intentionally, I think mistakenly.

“Again, it makes me feel slightly ill talking about it. I went, ‘Excuse me!’ and they went, ‘Oh, I’m really sorry and left’.

The GMB star explained that reception gave her an apology and explained very casually that they’d given out the wrong room key.

Susanna added: “It’s extraordinary that this happens, in this case, it led to a crime being committed.”

Reffering back to the news headline being discussed on the show, Susanna called the incident “absolutely shocking”.

ITV viewers learnt that a man had met a woman at a party, found out where she was staying and lied to the reception staff at the Travelodge hotel, saying he was her boyfriend and had lost his hotel key.

Susanna added: “He then accesses her bedroom, it makes me feel sick. He accesses her bedroom and sexually assaults her.

“She only knew this person because they met at a party, he was not in any way involved with her, was not in a relationship with her and should absolutely not of been allowed to get into her hotel room.”

The man, who has been named as Kyran Smith, has been convicted of sexual assault and has been given a seven and a half year sentence. The victim was given a £30 refund, which she has since blasted as “very insulting”.

A Travelodge spokesman said: “The safety and security of our guests is our priority and we were deeply concerned to hear of this distressing incident and our sympathies are with the victim.

“At the time of the incident our hotel team followed the correct security procedures. We continue to ensure our hotel and customer services teams are trained to follow our approved policies.”

Good Morning Britain is available to watch on ITVX

If you or somebody you know has been affected by this story, contact Victim Support for free, confidential advice on 08 08 16 89 111 or visit their website, http://www.victimsupport.org.uk.