illness

Coronation Street legend Kevin Kennedy played beloved character Curly Watts for 20 years

Coronation Street icon Kevin Kennedy portrayed Curly on the ITV soap for two decades, but off-screen, he battled addiction.

Curly made his debut in the summer of 1983 and is fondly remembered for his romantic misfortunes and a succession of unsuccessful marriages. He was married to Rovers Return barmaid Raquel (Sarah Lancashire), though regrettably, they ended their rocky marriage after just five years.

Ultimately, however, Curly discovered contentment with his second wife, police officer Emma Taylor (Angela Lonsdale). The couple left the cobbles and set off to begin a fresh chapter in Newcastle-upon-Tyne following a perjury incident in 2003. Tragically, their marriage didn’t survive.

Curly returned briefly in a 2010 DVD special for the Coronation Street film A Knight’s Tale, where he disclosed that he and Emma had separated, leaving Curly single once more, reports the Daily Star.

Kevin’s health battle

Away from the BBC soap, Kevin struggled with alcohol addiction and has remained clean and sober for 27 years.

Speaking to The Mirror in 2013 regarding his addiction, Kevin admitted he would add shots of rum to his coffee. He would then consume a bottle of vodka before arriving at the Corrie set, where he secretly drank more in his dressing room to cope with filming.

Kevin said, “If it wasn’t for Coronation Street, I would be dead. If I were lucky, the drink would have killed me straight away by a fall or by walking in front of a bus.

“If I were unlucky, it would have taken everything from me first, kept me alive for another 10 years, and then killed me.”

Having departed the Cobbles in 2003, Kevin established an addiction recovery charity to support others battling addictive and mental health disorders, following more than two decades on his own personal recovery journey from alcohol addiction.

The organisation provides a helpline, staffed by trained coaches all in active recovery, alongside free virtual recovery coaching, support, signposting, and workshops.

Kevin told the Manchester Evening News: “The Kennedy Street Foundation is my passion; all we want to do is help people who find themselves in the desperate situation I was in 22 years ago.”

He further stated: “Our national recovery helpline is receiving calls every day, and we really need to raise as much money as possible in order to be able to help each and every one start their own Road2Recovery.”

Kevin’s other talents away from acting

Since departing Coronation Street 23 years ago, Kevin wrote and produced a programme entitled Spanish Capers, which broadcast between 2005 and 2007.

The 64-year-old, from Manchester, took on a role in Ben Elton’s musical We Will Rock You, portraying a hippie named Pop. Further television credits include appearances in Blue Murder, Doctors (both in 2006), and Holby City (in 2017).

In 2019, Kevin made his return to the small screen, portraying Clyde in a single episode of Mrs Brown’s Boys. The former Coronation Street star also trod the boards between 2018 and 2019, taking on the role of Dennis Dupree in the hit musical Rock of Ages.

According to The Guardian, Kevin is also an accomplished musician who was once signed to Simon Cowell’s record label. He performed in America alongside globally renowned acts, including Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson.

“Along with [the Smiths bassist] Andy Rourke, we were in a band called Paris Valentinos. As soon as I heard Johnny play the guitar, I thought: this is special, what a privilege to be here for this”, he told the publication.

Kevin is equally at home on stage, having played His Royal Highness, King Curlington in Cinderella at a County Durham pantomime in 2024, before going on to appear in the Pretty Vacant UK tour, which charts the story of punk and the new wave generation.

He has also been cast in the forthcoming UK tour of The Picture of Dorian Gray – A New Musical, scheduled to run from October 2026 through to April 2027, in which he will take on the role of Mr. Issacs.

For more information, help, and advice about addiction and recovery, visit Kennedy Street here.

Coronation Street airs weekdays on ITV and ITVX

THE wait is finally over for Madonna fans – as she returns with new music on Friday.

And I am told that she will finally unveil details of her upcoming 15th studio album.

A source revealed: “Madonna is ready to enter her new era and, on Friday, fans will finally get a taste of what she has been working on with Stuart Price.

“This album has been such a passion project for Madonna.

“It’s taken her to a different level in her artistry and she is excited for her fans to hear what she has been working on.

“Madonna has been through so much in the past few years. She almost died in 2023 after contracting sepsis and she lost her brother Christopher the following year.

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“The album will be steeped in reflections of what she has endured and how she has overcome everything thrown in her path.

“Working with Stuart has been brilliant for Madonna, too.

“Confessions On A Dance Floor back in 2005 was one of her best records and he has injected some of that magic into their new sessions.”

The Queen of Pop last released an album in 2019, with Madame X.

It has been the longest-ever gap between records since her career started.

I told you last month that Madonna had filmed a huge new video to celebrate her return to music.

Celebs including Kate Moss, Gwendoline Christie and Benedict Cumberbatch filmed top-secret scenes at Black Island Studios in West London, alongside a number of other famous faces I can’t reveal as I have been sworn to secrecy.

The video, I am told, pushed boundaries like never before, with Madonna’s stunt double filming an epic car crash scene then legging it into a rave.

Madonna has remained tight-lipped about her return, but yesterday she deleted all the photographs from her Instagram account and updated her profile shot with a blurry new picture of herself.

Last night, Madge also updated her website with a picture of a woman in fishnets and boots and her legs splayed open with a huge speaker covering her modesty.

We can’t wait to hear what you’ve been working on, Madge.

Selena & Demi share the Lov

SELENA GOMEZ and Demi Lovato can’t hide their delight as they are pictured together for the first time in a decade.

The former child Disney stars posed on the opening night of Demi’s It’s Not That Deep Tour in Florida.

It was a joyous moment for their fans, who had long thought the pair had fallen out.

Selena shared the snap online with the caption: “I am in tears.

“This was hands down one of the best shows. Oh and the vocals?”

Since they met backstage, Selena and Demi have started following each other again on Instagram – which is basically millennial code for “everything is fine”.

Given the smiles, I am actually convinced it is.

KANYE WEST might not be able to play festivals these days, but eldest daughter North is having no problems.

She has been signed to make her festival debut at Chicago’s Summer Smash, despite being only 12.

North, who was in the crowd at Coachella at the weekend, has only released a handful of songs but is already high on the line-up for the event, also featuring rappers Lil Uzi Vert and Sexyy Red.

It comes a week after Ye was refused entry to the UK.

It caused Wireless Festival, which he was due to headline for all three nights in July, to be axed.

Here’s hoping North has more luck for this event in June.

Frilled to see you, Anne

ONE WORD springs to mind when I look at this glam snap of Anne Hathaway. Itchy.

The US actress swapped comfort for couture as she promoted new film Mother Mary, alongside her equally elegant British co-star Michaela Coel, in a custom-made designer gown made from swathes of rough-looking fabric.

The psychological thriller, which is out in cinemas on April 24, is a far cry from Anne’s other new film, The Devil Wears Prada sequel which comes out the following week.

She reprises her role as Andy Sachs, alongside Meryl Streep who plays her formidable magazine editor boss Miranda Priestly.

I’m expecting some incredible fashion choices from Anne and co when they start promoting the film, with the UK premiere in London’s Leicester Square on 22 April.

And hopefully her stylist will choose something a little less scratchy.

WRONG ON ROAN MOANS

FOOTBALLER JORGINHO admitted he got it wrong when he accused Chappel Roan of making his stepdaughter cry by ordering her security guard to tell the girl off.

He made the claim last month when his wife Catherine Harding and her daughter Ada were at a hotel in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Chappell received a massive backlash.

But the singer insisted she wasn’t aware of the incident, and the security guard came out to say he was working for someone else.

Addressing the situation on Instagram, the Brazilian midfielder didn’t apologise but said: “I made my initial statement in the heat of the moment.”

Jorginho, who insisted he did not support “hate speech or online attacks” as a result of the saga, said Chappell “reached out privately to Catherine”.

PADDINGTON is digging out his raincoat as he returns to cinemas in a fourth movie.

Film company Studiocanal has confirmed another instalment is in the works following the 2024 release of Paddington In Peru.

Since the first movie in 2014, the series has made more than $700million at the box office worldwide.

WETS TOUR FOR DEBUT’S 40TH YEAR

WET WET WET will play 40 dates around the UK next year to mark four decades since their debut album, Popped In Souled Out.

The band will kick off their tour at Watford Colosseum on February 7, with more shows through the month.

A second leg of the tour starts at Leicester’s De Montfort Hall on October 4.

The band now includes founding member, bassist Graeme Clark, long-time touring guitarist Graeme Duffin, who has been with the band since 1983, and lead vocalist Kevin Simm, formerly of Liberty X, who has toured with the band since 2018.

Graeme Clark said: “Forty years later, those songs have taken on a life of their own, and this tour is about celebrating where it all began without forgetting what followed.”

OLIVIA’S STRICTLY TOURING

OLIVIA DEAN has won four Brits, three Mobo awards and a Grammy so far this year.

But she’s got her eye on something else for her display cabinet – the Strictly Glitterball trophy.

The singer has been having dance tuition and is seriously tempted by the possibility of appearing on the BBC One show.

She said: “I’ve been doing salsa lessons recently.

“Just learning a new skill that’s completely separate from my music and still in music.”

During an appearance on Hits Radio, Marvin Humes asked Olivia whether she would take part in Strictly and she replied: “I actually would.”

Sadly for us, a stint in the ballroom this year is off the cards as Olivia will be on tour across Australia and New Zealand in October, which will be right in the middle of the series.

There could be more music on the way from Olivia as she teased she has several songs we haven’t heard. She said: “Man I Need wasn’t supposed to be a single.

“But I’m glad I followed through with that one.

“There were loads of songs that didn’t make the album, but I might still do something with them.”

Ladies on the lash

LADIES Of London: The New Reign is on course to get a second series, so it’s little wonder the cast hit the town to celebrate.

The Bravo TV series, which stars Mark-Francis Vandelli, Emma Thynn, Myka Meier, Martha Sitwell, Lottie Kane and Misse Beqiri, started again last month and has proved to be a success.

An onlooker who saw the group celebrating at private members’ club 5 Hertford Street, in London, told me: “The Ladies Of London cast went from drinking tea to doing shots of tequila, they were loving life.

“They’d just done a photoshoot and were in really high spirits, talking about the future and what they had coming up.

“The show is all about bitching and backstabbing, but in reality, now especially, they all seem to get on like a house on fire.

“When they left around 6.30pm on Monday, they were definitely a bit squiffy.”

I’ve no doubt they’ll be cracking open more bottles of champers when they get another series.

Giles Wood and Mary Killen have become staples on screens thanks to their Gogglebox stint – but away from the show the couple have faced their fair share of hardships

Gogglebox’s Giles Wood and Mary Killen have become telly legends thanks to their stint on the Channel 4 show – but what do we know about their real lives?

The married couple joined the long-running Channel 4 programme back in 2015. And it didn’t take them long to become firm favourites with viewers.

Over the years, Giles and Mary – who live in Wiltshire – have had fans in stitches thanks to their witty banter and one-liners and comical takes on the telly highlights.

Away from the show though, both Giles and Mary have faced their fair share of hardships in their marriage, including a terrifying health scare. Here, we’re taking a look inside the couple’s lives.

Giles and Mary’s romance

Giles and Mary’s romance dates back decades, after meeting each other for the first time when they were just 21 years old. When they crossed paths, Giles was at Wimbledon Art School and Mary was a model.

The pair have been married for over 30 years, most of which time they have spent living at their cottage in Wiltshire.

Giles and Mary are also known for referring to each other with the nickname ‘nutty’ on the series. Mary has previously revealed that the nickname is in reference to The Nutty Professor cartoon strip.

She said: “We call each other ‘nutty’ because we both consider the other to be a bit mad. Certainly Giles has multiple personality disorder so he’s all sorts of people and one of them is a bit of a genius.”

Giles and Mary’s rarely-seen daughters

Giles and Mary also have two grown-up daughters together, who don’t feature on the show, although one was reportedly due to appear alongside Giles before deciding against the idea.

Little is known about Mary and Giles’ daughters however Mary once did give an insight into family life. Speaking to The Guardian about banning swearing in their house, Mary explained: “There’s so much on telly, I don’t want it in my own cottage. Giles swears occasionally because he’s always having minor accidents. Our children turn on him and tell him off. Poor Giles.”

Meanwhile, in 2021, Giles and Mary gave a rare look at their daughters after the couple posted a throwback photo of the family. In the picture, Mary and Giles could be seen holding their girls who wore a white shirt with their blonde hair styled in pigtails.

Gogglebox ‘saved’ Giles and Mary’s marriage

Despite appearing very close on the show, Giles and Mary have admitted to facing challenges in their relationship but credit the Channel 4 programme with bringing them closer together.

Giles recounted how their routine changed dramatically due to the show. He told MailOnline: “Working together on Gogglebox – watching telly at the same time – meant Mary and I suddenly no longer lived like two intimate strangers.

“Mary working from 6am till 8pm, then falling asleep slightly drunk at 9pm; me gardening from 1pm till 3.30pm, when I have lunch, and then going to bed at two in the morning after watching vintage horror films. It has definitely saved our marriage.”

Mary on the ‘closest she’s come to death’

In 2018, Mary revealed her near-death experience after contracting Legionnaires’ disease. Speaking to the Guardian, Mary said: “The closest I’ve come to death was contracting Legionnaires’ disease in 1999.

“I caught it from air conditioning in the Bahamas and developed something called Beau’s lines: white ridges across the fingernails which are a sign that your body’s shutting down for death.”

Coming out of the ordeal battered but alive, she confessed: “It knocked the stuffing out of me. I’ve never been quite the same since.”

Mary’s health ordeal

Years later though, Mary was struck by a severe bout of campylobacter food poisoning which she suspects came from “grubby” homegrown vegetables.

While on antibiotics during her treatment, Mary found herself unable to drink alcohol. She recalled: “Immediately afterward, I found I couldn’t face alcohol. I remember going to a house party on the Isle of Mull a short time later. All sorts of wonderful wines were being served and I couldn’t touch any of them.”

Surprisingly, the sudden aversion reminded her of pregnancy : “It made me recoil,” she explained to MailOnline. The condition she suffered from, campylobacteriosis, is an infection from bacteria commonly found in tainted food and water, and can lead to symptoms such as diarrhoea, cramps, and fever.

Gogglebox airs every Friday at 9pm on Channel 4.

A FOUNDING member of Seventies glam rock band Showaddywaddy, guitarist Trevor Oakes, has died the group announced today.

Former lead singer Dave Bartram who is now manager, said the 79-year-old musician passed away peacefully on February 18 after “a long illness”.

The band specialised in Fifties and Sixties classics including their only UK No1 single Under the Moon of Love in 1976 and still tours but with only drummer Romeo Challenger from the original line-up.

It enjoyed 15 Top Twenty hits during their peak from 1974 to 1979.

Bartram, also the group’s manager, said: “Trevor was a unique character and a dedicated professional, without whom the band would never have quite scaled the dizzy heights we seemed destined to achieve.

“He was also a caring and affectionate family man, with a mischievous sense of humour, which will be sadly missed by all those dear to him.

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“ I could write a book about the incredible memories we’ve shared over the past fifty-seven years, but most of all I thank him from the bottom of my heart for his unwavering friendship. Your true friend Dave.”

A source claimed to The Sun that Bartram died in a Leicester care home and that his funeral has already taken place.

No further details have been released about Oakes’ illness or cause of death.

The musician was born in Leicester and worked as press knife maker before becoming a professional musician.

Oakes quit the band when he was aged 62 in May 2009 after suffering ill health, according to his biography on its website.

He has two ex-footballer sons, Stefan Oakes who played for Leicester City in the Premier League, and Scott Oakes, whoi had a spell at Luton Town.

March 25 (UPI) — Dutch scientist Huub Lilieveld has been named the recipient of the 2026 World Food Prize Wednesday for leading a food safety movement across 113 countries.

For six decades, Lilieveld has researched and advocated for food safety, using scientific evidence to inform regulations and legislation across the globe. His work has culminated in establishing modern global food safety, security, trade and aid standards.

The World Food Prize Foundation is recognizing Lilieveld’s contributions with a $500,000 award.

“Lilieveld lives by his conviction that access to safe food is a universal right — a philosophy shared by the late Dr. Norman Borlaug,” Mashal Husain, president of the World Food Prize Foundation, said in a statement. “Through his lifelong commitment to harmonizing regulations, he has lowered trade barriers, prevented the unnecessary destruction of safe food, promoted innovative food safety technologies worldwide and reduced the risk of foodborne illness outbreaks.”

Foodborne illnesses kill 420,000 people annually. There are about 600 million cases of foodborne illnesses per year.

Lelieveld established the Global Harmonization Initiative in 2004, to connect volunteers and food safety experts around the world to combat safe food insecurity and improve the distribution of safe foods.

“Companies large and small, as well as all consumers are negatively affected by unjustified differences in regulations,” Lelieveld said in a statement. “The Global Harmonization Initiative, therefore, strives not only to reach scientific consensus but also to ensure that findings are accessible to everyone, requiring simplification without compromising scientific accuracy and translation into local languages.”

Emma Raducanu has withdrawn from this week’s Miami Open as she continues her recovery from a recent illness.

The British number one became unwell while playing in the Middle East last month, and is still suffering with post-viral symptoms.

Raducanu decided to play last week’s event in Indian Wells, and reached the third round before losing in just 52 minutes to the world number six Amanda Anisimova.

The 23-year-old has 215 ranking points to defend from reaching the quarter-finals in Miami last year, but has decided it would be best to take a break to recover fully.

Raducanu beat both Anisimova and the then top 10 player Emma Navarro before losing to Jessica Pegula in three sets in last year’s quarter-finals.

This year she had a first-round bye, and could have played British childhood rival Sonay Kartal in the second round.

Raducanu had already decided not to play in Great Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup tie in Melbourne next month, but is currently scheduled to return to the tour in three weeks’ time.

She has entered the WTA event in Linz, which would be her first clay-court tournament of the season.

Just in time for the Oscars, Tilly Norwood, and by extension her creator, Eline van der Velden, gave actors at every level an unexpected gift — the chance to breathe a little easier.

AI will not be replacing you any time soon.

On Tuesday, the AI phenomenon known as Tilly debuted a single and music video titled “Take the Lead.” In it, Tilly sings a self-celebratory, pro-AI anthem with the big-eyed feisty longing of an algorithm marked “Disney princess: Big song” while she wanders through increasingly fantastic self-affirming scenarios that scream “Plus ‘Barbie.’”

Van der Velden was clearly trying to persuade actors to embrace the possibilities of AI but like Timothée Chalamet, who managed to prove that opera and ballet have many devoted fans by publicly suggesting the opposite, her attempt will likely backfire. The underlying message of the video, at least to performers, appears to be: Relax — AI hasn’t figured out how to lip sync properly, much less act.

It’s a bit of good news in a time of AI anxiety, some of which was Tilly-induced. Last year, Van der Velden, a Dutch actor and founder of the production company Particle6, debuted Tilly, via Instagram, as the “world’s first AI actress.” Around the time the account hit 50,000 followers, Van der Velden announced that several talent agents were interested in representing Tilly. Not Van der Velden, but Tilly Norwood, a “performer” who did not exist.

For a few minutes, Hollywood lost its collective mind. Not only were creators and performers facing a future in which their work, bodies and faces could be scanned and fed into an algorithm capable of imitating writing styles or creating images of actors doing things they never did (in a recent AI video, Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt duke it out on a war-torn rooftop), now some feared they would be competing for jobs with “actors” who could work 24 hours a day, required no health benefits and would never demand bowls of M&Ms with the green ones removed.

SAG-AFTRA, which had just ended a strike caused in part by concerns about AI, protested Tilly and the use of “stolen performances to put actors out of work.” Various actors were outraged and some called for the interested talent agencies to be identified. Even Emily Blunt was publicly disconcerted, begging Hollywood agencies to “please stop taking away our human connection.”

Van der Velden quickly responded, insisting that Tilly was “not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work — a piece of art … a new tool — a new paintbrush.”

Then, on Tuesday, “Tilly” released a music video that seems to argue the exact opposite.

In the video, which appears over the message “Can’t wait to go to the Oscars,” the computer-generated young woman trips through a montage of “famous person moments,” as Tilly insists that she is not a puppet but a star; she encourages all actors to embrace and use AI, to own their creativity and “be free.”

A note prefacing the video states that “18 real humans” were involved in its production (including Van der Velden who is the basis of the performance), who provide the subtext for Tilly warbling: “They say it’s not real, that it’s fake, but I’m a human, make no mistake.”

Whatever Van der Velden and her team hoped to achieve, one thing is very clear: Emily Blunt has nothing to fear from Tilly Norwood.

The questionable merits of the song, performance and production value aside, the video is the best argument yet for why AI “performers” are a limited threat. As Tilly walks the streets of London, poses for selfies, signs autographs, appears on talk shows, performs live in front of enormous audiences, interacts with photographers, we are reminded that Tilly could never do any of this. AI performances are, by their very nature, limited to a screen.

Instagram fame is a real thing and can be monetarily beneficial, just as animated and digitally enhanced characters can connect deeply with audiences. But beyond her ability to raise the spectre of wholly coded “performers” constructed from borrowed bits of humans (which, as anyone who has read or seen “Frankenstein” knows, never ends well), Tilly doesn’t appear to have anything like star power.

And to consider her as existing separate from her creators is like imagining that the ventriloquist dummy Charlie McCarthy could have a career, and an agent, separate from the real performer Edgar Bergen.

Though Charlie did have the advantage of being able to be seen live and in person.

Watching Tilly, one is reminded that the magic of actors is that they are human. Audiences are, after all, human too and whether facing a stage or a screen, we are captivated by certain performers’ ability to bring all manner of characters and stories alive, while also being, as Us Weekly says, “just like us.”

People with bodies that age and change, people who fall in love, get messy, say dumb things, say smart things, fall prey to illness and accidents, shop at Trader Joe’s, end up in court or trip when about to receive an Oscar.

Their faulty, glorious humanity allows them to connect to their art, but it also connects them to us. We may never get an Oscar or be able to masterfully deliver a Shakespeare soliloquy on a chat show, but we know what it’s like to trip or say something dumb or experience aging, illness or accident.

You can’t replace actors with algorithms, even if/when someone comes up with something more convincing than Tilly, because actors are not just about performances. They are people who are alive in the world and no amount of coding can replicate that.