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Dani Harmer has reunited with her Tracy Beaker co-star Nisha Nayer more than 20 years after the hit CBBC show came to an end and fans were quick to react to the surprise social media post

Dani Harmer has reunited with her Tracy Beaker co-star Nisha Nayer more than 20 years after the hit CBBC show ended.

The actress, 37, was just 12 years old when she was cast in the title role of The Story of Tracy Beaker and, over the course of five series, played the tough care home kid who fantasised that her mum was a Hollywood star. Nisha played Elaine ‘The Pain’ Boyak, an incompetent social worker who was often at odds with Tracy.

The series, which is based on the books by Dame Jacqueline Wilson, aired from 2002 until 2005. The two former co-stars reunited on social media ahead of their debut at Swansea Comic Con on Sunday and urged fans to come along.

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Fans of the hit TV series rushed to the comments section to see two beloved characters reunited, with one writing: “Way too surreal seeing Elaine the Paine and Cheeky Beaker getting along like BFFs. I reckon Dani is hiding a butcher knife behind, LOL,” to which Dani responded: “Nah, she’s my bestie in real life!”

Another fan joked: “Was not expecting these two to be so happy to be in the same room,” whilst a third said: “Ahhhhh! The most iconic duo everrrrrr.”

After Tracy Beaker ended, a spin-off, Tracy Beaker Returns, followed, in which the titular character returned to work in care. When Dani opted to leave the series, it was retooled into The Dumping Ground, which is still being produced for CBBC after more than a decade on air.

Outside of Tracy Beaker, Dani has competed on Strictly Come Dancing, starred in the sitcoms Dani’s House and Dani’s Castle and ultimately returned to her signature role in 2021 for My Mum Tracy Beaker and The Beaker Girls. Prior to landing the part of Tracy, Dani had starred in West End productions of The Who’s Tommy and Annie, and is a regular in pantomime.

Meanwhile, prior to being cast as Elaine on Tracy Beaker, Nisha became known as Debra Kumar in the film Out of Hours and went on to appear in Doctor Who, Holby City and The Bay.

Other cast members of the original Tracy Beaker included former Casualty actress Lisa Coleman, who played Tracy’s foster mum Cam Lawson, and Clive Rowe, who has more recently appeared in sitcom So Awkward and the BBC’s The Hairdresser Mysteries, starred as care home chef Duke.

Just weeks ago, actress Montanna Thompson, who played Tracy’s rival Justine Littlewood, revealed that she initially landed the role of Tracy before Dame Jacqueline Wilson stepped in. “I didn’t actually audition for Justine,” Montanna said.

Speaking on the Embarrassing For No Reason podcast, the actress, 37, went on to add: “I auditioned for Tracy, and I got the phone call, and they said, ‘Oh, you’ve got the part as Tracy.’ So me and my mum was jumping around…

“We was all jumping around and celebrating and then an hour later, I get a call from the BBC. Jacqueline Wilson said she wanted to keep the illustration of Tracy original. So I was like ‘Ok’, and they was like ‘Would you like to be Justine?’ so I was like ‘Yeah, ok, great’.”

Montanna went on to tell hosts Sam Darlaston and Tatum McGreal that her mother was asked if she would “cut her hair off” as Dame Jacqueline wanted Justine to have a bob. “My mum said, ‘Well, no, not really,'” she explained. I think that’s why Justine has got the plaits, and they made that character like that.”

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As the intro of his song “Girls, Girls, Girls” poured over the crowd at SoFi Stadium late Friday night, Jay-Z locked eyes (from behind his ever-present shades) with a guy near the stage whose excitement had bubbled over at last.

“Oh, this yo s—,” the rapper observed with a knowing little laugh. “You was waiting for this s— all night long.”

Dude was lucky not to wait even longer: The first of two SoFi gigs, Friday’s show was an almost comically overstuffed display of hits by an aging cultural giant in the middle of a legend-reclamation project; Jay-Z performed parts of three dozen songs over two hours, which was still only a fraction of the 152 entries he’s notched on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart since 1996.

“We got a million of these,” he said after doling out a few verses of “On to the Next One” — not bragging so much as explaining.

Having earlier visited stadiums in London, Paris and his hometown of New York, the 56-year-old is in Inglewood this weekend as part of what he’s calling JAŸ-Z30: a yearlong celebration of himself timed to the 30th anniversary of his debut album, “Reasonable Doubt,” and the 25th anniversary of his commercial high point, “The Blueprint.” Last month, HBO premiered an 8-part docuseries in which Jay-Z combs through the minutiae of his songwriting with the producer Rick Rubin; any day now, the rapper is expected to announce that he’ll return to SoFi in February to headline the halftime show at Super Bowl LXI.

That’s a lot of action for an artist who’s spent much of the last decade in éminence-grise mode — Jay-Z’s most recent solo album, “4:44,” came out in 2017 — but he seemed in fighting trim Friday, moving nimbly through the songs that made him a superstar and helped put hip-hop at the center of pop music. He was backed by a muscular live band (complete with horn players and a string section) that could push the music toward plush soul, sticky funk or crunching hard rock; “99 Problems,” in particular, made you think about how funny it’ll be, if indeed Jay-Z ends up at the Super Bowl, to see a rapper bring big guitars back to an event that rock fans love these days to lament.

Jay-Z’s daughter Blue Ivy joined him to play piano during “The Story of OJ” and “Dead Presidents II”; he beamed as she walked offstage afterward — a moving vision of fatherly pride. He also brought out Scarface, the veteran Houston MC, to do “This Can’t Be Life” and Scarface’s Geto Boys classic “Mind Playing Tricks on Me.” A pair of OGs still competing in a young man’s game, the two traded compliments before parting: “Jay-Z is a killer,” said Scarface, whom Jay-Z hailed as “one of the best writers of any genre.”

With a set list that jumped freely among albums and eras, the concert felt a little scattershot; it wasn’t always clear what story Jay-Z was trying to tell about his life and career beyond the glorification of his success. And you have to wonder how a man who’s found work as an event planner — booking the halftime show falls under the purview of his Roc Nation company — could end the night so anticlimactically with an appearance by a past-his-prime DJ Khaled. (It didn’t help that many in the audience were anxiously awaiting Jay-Z’s wife, Beyoncé, who performed with him at Yankee Stadium but didn’t show on Friday.)

The evening’s emotional peak came maybe two-thirds of the way through in “Never Change” and “Song Cry,” two tracks from “The Blueprint” written by a guy in his early 30s struggling with how — or whether — to hold onto his complicated past. That he performed them here as a middle-aged billionaire proved he figured it out; that they were so lush with the pain of nostalgia proved he remains an artist.

Manchester United manager Michael Carrick is under growing pressure, but club legend Wayne Rooney takes aim at players.

Manchester United great Wayne Rooney has labelled the current squad “babies” and “selfish” after a humiliating Champions League capitulation and post-match criticism by Bruno Fernandes of manager Michael Carrick.

Carrick’s men are 13th in the Premier League before Sunday’s visit by Bournemouth and could drop into the bottom three if results go against them this weekend.

With the club beset by infighting and off to their worst domestic league start for decades, Carrick was left clinging to his job after the 4-1 defeat at Como on Wednesday.

Deepening the sense of crisis, the captain Fernandes afterwards took aim at his manager’s tactics, saying United had to be more “brave”.

Defender Lisandro Martinez criticised the club’s board last week for not investing enough in the transfer market.

Rooney, United’s all-time leading goalscorer, said he was in “shock” and “disbelief” at the Como display.

A friend and ex-teammate of Carrick, former striker Rooney pointed the finger at the players.

“When Martinez came out, I said this is an absolute nightmare because it will rip the dressing room apart,” Rooney told The United Stand podcast on Thursday.

“That was the start. We’ve seen it now with Bruno and you’re going to see it with more players because these players, they don’t want to take responsibility.

“You can say whether Bruno was right or wrong in what he said but you have to take responsibility on the pitch. You have to take responsibility as a group of players.”

He added: “These players, they’re selfish. They don’t care about their teammates, don’t care about the manager, the staff or the fans; they care about themselves.

“If they’re not getting what’s right for them, they’re like babies and just throw their toys out of the pram and go and deflect the blame on to anyone else but themselves.”

HOLLYWOOD legend Tom Skerritt has died at the age of 93 after a six-decade career.

Tom is best known for his roles in Top Gun, Alien, and Picket Fences.

The veteran actor died on Wednesday from natural causes, his family confirmed to TMZ.

“We are heartbroken by his loss,” Tom’s family told the outlet.

The Detroit native’s acting credits span six decades, starting with his breakout role in the 1970 war series, M*A*S*H.

He later played Captain Dallas in the 1979 sci-fi Alien, before landing the part of Tom Cruise’s instructor, Viper, in the 1986 film Top Gun.

Tom is also remembered as Sheriff Jimmy Brock in Picket Fences, which earned him an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1993.

Some of his other notable credits include A River Runs Through It (1992), Steel Magnolias (1989), and a six-episode stint on Cheers (1987-1988).

Tom’s final on-screen role was playing Cliff in the 2025 contemporary Western drama Broke, with Dennis Quad and Wyatt Russell.

Years before his Hollywood fame took off, Tom served in the U.S. Air Force.

He later became an advocate for veterans as co-founder of The Red Badge Project.

Tom maintained close friendships with many of the people he met in the industry over the years.

He shared photos from a reunion with Academy Award winner Jeff Bridges in one of his final Instagram posts in April.

The TV star shared his support for Jeff, who is opening an art gallery in Santa Barbara, as the pair hugged and linked arms.

“Got to see my talented friend Jeff Bridges’ photography while in Santa Barbara. Truly inspiring work, and even better catching up with the best people,” Tom wrote in his caption.

Tom also posted a heartfelt tribute last September to his “dear friend” Robert Redford following the actor’s passing.

“We grew up in this industry together – his art and friendship over these many years has profoundly changed my life. The world simply won’t be the same without him,” his post read.

The duo worked together as co-stars of the Korean War drama, War Hunt in 1962, and when Robert directed Tom in A River Runs Through It.

Two months ago, legendary NASCAR driver and longtime Fox Sports broadcaster Darrell Waltrip stepped away from public life at age 79 because of a progressive brain disease. His family said in a statement that his frontotemporal degeneration (FTD) diagnosis was complicated by possible chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) — “likely from injuries incurred during his racing career.”

Now Fred Lorenzen — another Hall of Fame NASCAR driver — has been diagnosed posthumously with CTE, according to a statement Tuesday from his children, Chris Lorenzen and Amanda Lorenzen Gardstrom.

His is the first known case of CTE in a NASCAR driver, according to the Concussion & CTE Foundation. CTE can only be diagnosed after death through a microscopic examination of brain tissue during an autopsy.

Lorenzen, who went by the nicknames “The Golden Boy” and “Fast Freddie” when he dominated NASCAR in the 1960s, died Dec. 18, 2024, at age 89. He lived with dementia for 20 years, yet had the foresight in 2016 to pledge to donate his brain for research. Lorenzen had been inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame a year earlier — one of the first 25 drivers to be enshrined — but was already living in a nursing home, unable to walk. His son, Chris, delivered his Hall of Fame speech for him.

Researchers at the Boston University CTE Center — a renowned research facility that conducts high-impact research on repetitive brain trauma in athletes, military personnel, and first responders — diagnosed Lorenzen with Stage 3 CTE, the second-most severe of four stages.

Although safety precautions for drivers have vastly improved since the heyday of Lorenzen and Waltrip, concussions and the prospect of CTE remain a constant fear within the sport.

Former NASCAR Cup Series champion Kurt Busch was forced to end his full-time racing career after sustaining a severe concussion during a qualifying crash at Pocono Raceway in 2022. Dale Earnhardt Jr. estimates that he suffered as many as 50 concussions over his 20-year racing career and 10 years ago tweeted that he intends to have his brain donated for concussion research after his death.

CTE is most closely associated with football players. A study published in the British Medical Journal in August reported that 315 of the 338 brains studied from players who died between 2008 and 2021 were diagnosed with CTE. It is becoming clear that NASCAR drivers may also sustain the kind of brain trauma that can cause the condition.

Lorenzen’s children made a $1 million donation to the Concussion and CTE Foundation, creating the Fred Lorenzen Memorial HelpLine to help drivers and their families find care when necessary.

Outgoing and friendly during his career, Lorenzen was the first driver in series history to earn $100,000 in prize money in a single season. He was voted NASCAR’s most popular driver in 1963 and 1965.

He won 26 races from 1961 to 1967, more than “The King” Richard Petty, and won the Daytona 500 in 1965 and the World 600 (now the Coca-Cola 600) in 1963 and 1965. He also won six times at Martinsville Speedway, famously launching the tradition of giving the winner a Ridgeway grandfather clock.

Maya Jama could be about to exit The Celebrity Traitors after making a plan for the latest murder game and viewers of the BBC show think she has been ‘too obvious’ with her tactics

Maya Jama could be about to exit The Celebrity Traitors after being “too obvious” in front of a Faithful.

The Love Island host, 30, is currently taking part in the hit BBC game show as a Traitor fronted by Claudia Winkleman and in Friday night’s episode, she had to join in with a yawning game. The challenge, which left all three of the Traitors feeling the pressure, was to get either of Faithfuls, Jerry Hall or Ross Kemp, to yawn in a specific room after spraying some “deadly sleeping powder” from a perfume bottle, which would be breathed in.

Reading out the instructions in disbelief, comedian James Acaster said: “To seal the murder you must then say, ’Am I boring you?’ – followed by the victim’s name. I can’t believe this.”

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Viewers will have to wait until next Thursday to find out who will be leaving the castle for good, but fans think that Maya could be up for the chop after making the apparent mistake of inviting EastEnders legend Ross into the mix, having decided that the only way to instigate the murder was to start up some contagious yawning.

But many viewers think this strategy will backfire on Maya, as her pretend yawning was deemed “too obvious” and think she could be rumbled as a Traitor immediately if not careful.

One person wrote on X: “Ross Kemp was the last person the Traitors should have encouraged into the room. He will be all over this ‘murder in plain sight’. Captain’s hat anyone?” A third wrote: “Ross clocking Maya’s GCSE drama yawning.” A fourth said: “So you’re telling me Ross was freaking out about every possible evidence of murder at the beginning and now he’s sitting in a room full of yawning traitors, possibly not suspecting a thing.”

A fifth added: “This yawning task is too obvious in front of Ross Kemp.” Another wrote: “Maya Jama’s yawning was more obvious than Richard E Grant saying he was a traitor.”

Meanwhile, Clare Balding, who competed on the first series, said she thinks the best thing for the Traitors is if Ross yawns. Believe me, if Jerry yawns and Jerry goes, Ross will notice,” she said on Uncloaked.

However, other fans had just taken umbrage with the fact they will now have to wait to find out what happens next. One fan said: “NOOOOOOOOOOOO You cant leave on that cliffhanger, the producers are just geniuses. I think the Traitors FAILED to Get them to yawn in the Time…. AND they will be punished in some way IMO!!”

Another wrote: “10 million people are now going to have a tense wait of 6 days to find out whether Ross Kemp or Jerry Hall yawn first. Now thats a TV cliffhanger.”

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Mary Berry has had her say on Nigella Lawson, who has taken over Prue Leith’s role as judge on The Great British Bake Off. Mary originally held the role alongside Paul Hollywood

TV cook and former Great British Bake Off judge Mary Berry has backed Nigella Lawson – saying she is a “glamorous” addition to the show who has brought “new life” to the format.

Mary, 91, had clearly been watching the current run of Bake Off and was full of praise for Nigella on the new series, whilst also urging her to take fellow judge Paul Hollywood to task.

Dame Mary said: “Bake Off is a wonderful format. We started it off not knowing what we were doing and then Prue has been doing it and it is a format and you fit into it.

‘I am delighted Nigella is there. She has got to keep control of a certain person. Paul needs handling and he has this handshake which keeps appearing.

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“Nigella has brought some glamour to it, and she really likes tasting doesn’t she? And I know how she feels, I always took a proper mouthful because if you just take a little bit, the person whose food you are tasting, their auntie will say ‘well she didn’t even taste it’. So I was aware of that.

“Nigella is a joy and I think she has brought new life and I think it will do really well. A touch of glamour.”

Speaking on stage at Cheltenham with comedian and former host of Bake Off Mel Giedroyc, the pair recalled how Mary would sometimes arrive for day two of filming in the tent with the same hair and make up, having slept without taking it off to minimise the amount of time she needed to be styled.

Laughing, Dame Mary said: “Why not? I used to put a towel over the pillow, I didn’t want them to think I was grotty. It does take such a long time for someone to do your make up.”

She also said she found the tent cold and would hide hot water bottles under her jackets.

Dame Mary was appearing at Cheltenham to promote her first gardening book, My Gardening Life and a new cook book All In One.

Arguably she was a gardener before she could cook, as she recalled how her father grew practical crops such as potatoes, sweet peas and celery during wartime to feed the family.

“My dad had to take to gardening because he had to dig for Britain and he gave me a little patch and I grew radishes,” she recalled.

Nowadays she has six raised beds in her garden raised to above knee height so she can easily reach them and even perch on the edge if she wants to take a rest.

She said one of her greatest pleasures now in life was ‘deadheading’ in the garden, the process by which you removed faded or spent flowers to tidy up plants.

She explained: “Deadheading is one of my favourite things, you don’t have to dress up for it. I can do it when I get in tonight if its not dark. I can deadhead the roses which are still flowering and it so encourages more things to come on.”

She added: “Gardening is similar to cooking, you follow a formula. But cooking you can follow a recipe and produce it by tonight. Gardening you have got to be much more patient.

“Which do I prefer, gardening or cooking? I think the two go together. We grow vegetables that we eat, things that I like, so there is no kale, lots of herbs and I think they go together.

“I am a fair weather gardener, I would walk a dog in any weather but I don’t garden in any weather. I wait until the sun comes out.”

Dame Mary is of course better known for her baking and cooking. Having studied in France and the UK, she worked for a number of food industry bodies and wrote recipe pages of Housewife magazine.

Her first cookbook, The Hamlyn All Colour Cookbook, was published in 1970 and since then she has gone on to write more than 50 others, which have sold millions of copies around the world.

Already a big name in food, Dame Mary became a household name to a new generation of cake lovers when she landed the role as a judge on The Great British Bake Off, alongside Paul Hollywood, Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins in 2010.

She quit the show in 2016, along with the hosts Mel and Sue, when it moved to Channel 4, staying loyal to the BBC and continuing to make shows there.

* My Gardening Life by Mary Berry is out now, published by DK.

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A beloved Coronation Street star has candidly opened up about their struggle with alcohol

A Coronation Street actor has opened up about their alcoholism, and revealed that soap bosses sent them to rehab.

Kevin Kennedy joined the ITV soap in 1983 as Curly Watts, renowned for his hapless romantic endeavours and succession of peculiar employment roles. Throughout his tenure on the enduring show, he featured in numerous major storylines.

From his passion for astronomy to his turbulent love life, his years in Weatherfield were packed with drama. Nevertheless, he was last spotted in 2003 when he departed alongside wife Emma (Angela Lonsdale) for a fresh start in Newcastle.

Following his departure, Kevin has remained active, featuring in programmes including BBC’s Doctors, Mrs Browns’ Boys and Holby City.

And on Wednesday (October 14), he turned up on Good Morning Britain to discuss his latest musical, The Picture of Dorian Gray. Kevin also opened up about his battle with alcoholism, disclosing that he has remained sober for 28 years.

He said: “Well, ITV and Coronation Street, effectively saved my life, sending me into rehab. And I was very, very, I still am very grateful for that. You know, I was in there 4 weeks and came out slightly different.”

When questioned about whether his addiction had been impacting his work on the soap opera, he revealed: “Well, that’s the thing about addicts. They’re very resourceful, intelligent people. They have to be. This is why for the charity [Kennedy Street Foundation] that we do, we promote visual recovery.”

Regarding what guidance he would offer those concerned that alcohol or drugs may be becoming an issue, Kevin said: “Well, the rule of thumb with alcohol or any drug or addiction is if it’s costing you more than money, then maybe it’s time to look at it.

“What I would say to you is, we do recover. We do recover. It’s not all doom and gloom. It’s going to take a lot of hard work and a lot of commitment, and you have to go to various health centres; there’s enough out there.

“And if you do, as you’re told, and if you do, as is suggested, then you will recover. I can guarantee you if you put down that drink and that drug, do what’s suggested, your life will get better.”

While on GMB, Kevin spoke fondly about his time on Corrie, saying: “Oh, I mean, all of it is my favourite, actually. I’m very proud of that body of work, yeah, poor boy [Curly], he went through it!”

Kevin continued: “Even now when people come up and they do and they say, ‘oh, I remember when you did that’. I think that’s really humbling experience and I really love it. So it’s great.”

Good Morning Britain airs Monday to Friday at 6am on ITV1.

PUSSYCAT Dolls have kicked rap star Lil’ Kim off their UK tour after a string of controversies.

The Lady Marmalade star, 52, won’t appear for the final night of the run at London’s O2 Arena later today, with the headline act fed-up of her unpredictable behaviour.

A source said: “Kim didn’t show up to their gig in Manchester on Saturday night, and it was all very last minute. It threw everything into chaos and a sign just went up at the last minute to say she wouldn’t be performing.

“As a result, she hasn’t been asked back for the closing night in London tonight, which was seen as the grand finale.

“Her not showing up in Manchester was really the final straw for team PCD, there had been a string of issues where she was challenging to work with.”

The Sun has contacted representatives for the Pussycat Dolls and Lil’ Kim.

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No official reason for Kim’s absence in Manchester was given, though some fans claimed she was ill.

However, others noticed she had shared social media videos of herself on her tour bus in the build-up to the gig where it looked she was playing video games.

One fan wrote on TikTok: “She was on the tour bus prepping for GTA 6.”

Another posted: “Omg we were there last night how bad is that, not even a comment on sorry she’s no show or anything, playing GTA in the trailer apparently, previous videos of her trying glad she didn’t show.”

Kim came under fire from baffled fans at a previous gig in Paris when a music video playing on the big screens behind her during her set appeared to be synced from her phone and private messages kept popping up before the feed was quickly pulled.

Kim, whose real name is Kimberly Denise Jones, shot to fame in 1994 after being discovered by late rap legend The Notorious B.I.G.

The larger than life star then invited Kim to join the Brooklyn-based rap group Junior M.A.F.I.A, before she launched her solo career with her double-platinum album Hard Core, which debuted at number 11 on the Billboard 200.

Grammy-winner Kim’s biggest hits in the UK are all collabs, including the 2001 number one ‘Lady Marmalade’, a cover commissioned for the Moulin Rouge soundtrack, and 2003 track ‘Can’t Hold Us Down’ with Christina Aguilera, which reached number six.

NEIGHBOURS and Home and Away legend Ray Kolle has died aged 85.

The Australian soap star and script writer passed away in Sydney, it was confirmed today.

Tributes have flooded in from heartbroken fans and friends who remembered Ray as an “important part of Australian television history”.

Australian entertainment and production company, TV City wrote in a statement: “Very sad news to hear of the passing of veteran Australian television writer and story editor Ray Kolle.

“Ray was one of those incredibly talented people working behind the scenes who helped shape some of Australia’s most iconic television dramas.

“Another important part of Australian television history has left us.

“Thank you, Ray, for the stories and memories you helped create for generations of television viewers.”

Ray served as head writer on Neighbours from 1986 until 1992, introducing iconic characters like Scott and Charlene Robinson.

His 46-year career began with a big break writing comedy sketches for In Melbourne Tonight.

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Jon Kay and Sally Nugent were back on the red sofa for the latest edition of BBC Breakfast

The hosts of BBC Breakfast shared some sad news this week.

Jon Kay and Sally Nugent were back in the studio on Wednesday (October 7) to deliver the latest headlines from across the UK and around the world. Later in the show, the presenters announced the death of an acting legend.

Eva Marie Saint, one of the last survivors of Hollywood’s golden age of the 1940s and 50s, has died at the age of 102. Her work on screen spanned six decades. She made her screen debut alongside Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront, and also starred in North by Northwest and Superman Returns.

Representatives of the star said that she died on Tuesday (October 6) of natural causes at her Los Angeles home, surrounded by her loved ones. Sharing the news on BBC Breakfast, Sally said: “Tributes have been paid to one of the last stars of Hollywood’s golden age, the American actor Eva Marie Saint, who has died at the age of 102.”

Jon added: “In a career spanning nine decades, the oldest surviving Oscar winner became best known for her roles in the 1954 hit On the Waterfront with Marlon Brando, and later with Cary Grant in the spy thriller North by Northwest.” BBC culture correspondent Charlotte Gallagher then looked back on Eva’s life.

In the pre-recorded tribute, Charlotte said: “Eva Marie Saint, the ice-cool femme fatale, who meets Cary Grant on a train in Alfred Hitchcock’s Cold War spy classic North by Northwest. She seduces him, betrays him, but ultimately falls in love, after a terrifying escape from enemy spies across Mount Rushmore.”

Eva was the daughter of a tyre salesman from New Jersey. She initially thought of becoming a teacher, but modelling led to a small part in television, alongside former silent screen legend Lillian Gish.

As her acting career took off, Eva became known for appearing in Exodus, The Sandpiper, 36 Hours, and Grand Prix. She soon won a Primetime Emmy Award and an Academy Award.

Back in the studio, Sally then said, “Eva Marie Saint, whose death has been announced. The star of so many incredible films.”

Jon went on to say, “True end of an era stuff,” before Sally agreed, “Yeah.” The hosts then continued with their bulletin.

Tributes have flooded in for Eva, following the news of her death. “Oh no… But what a magnificent life!” one person wrote on X.

Another added: “No! I was just talking about how amazing it was that she was over 100 to my father yesterday!” A third said: “This is such sad news, what a wonderful actress and beautiful lady she was, RIP Eva Marie.”

Someone else echoed the sentiment, saying: “Damn. Not many left. Enjoyed her on Turner Classic. Great actress.” A fifth fan shared: “They just don’t make them like that anymore. What a loss.”

BBC Breakfast airs daily on BBC One at 6am

National Hockey League all-time leading goalscorer Alex Ovechkin says he will retire at the end of the season.

The 41-year-old Russian, who plays for the Washington Capitals, claimed the record in April 2025 when he scored his 895th career goal to surpass the legendary Wayne Gretzky’s NHL regular season tally.

Canadian Hall of Famer Gretzky held the record for 31 years having previously overtaken compatriot Gordie Howe in 1994.

Ovechkin said in a statement that he “loves this game so much” but knew that in his “heart it’s the right decision”.

“It was important for me to make this announcement before our first home game, so I have the chance to thank all the people around the game,” Ovechkin said.

“Everyone who has been so important to me and my family and helped me through good times and tough losses.

“I wouldn’t have been able to achieve everything I have in my life without them.”

Ovechkin has 1,688 career points (929 goals, 759 assists) in 1,575 games for the Capitals, the 10th-most points in NHL history.

He’s 11 goals away from passing Gretzky for most total goals (regular season and play-offs combined) in NHL history and four assists away from passing Nicklas Backstrom for the franchise career assists record (762).

Ovechkin will play his first Western Conference home game of the new season on Wednesday when the Pittsburgh Penguins are the visitors to the Capital One Arena.

“I am excited about this season with my team-mates, and we will do everything we can to make this year special,” he added.

“I am going to enjoy every moment with my family, my boys, our fans and everyone who has been part of my hockey career.”

Gogglebox has returned to screens for another episode – but one notable face was missing from screens

A Gogglebox legend was rushed to hospital this week, causing them to miss out on filming for the latest instalment.

The long-running Channel 4 show returned to screens on Friday evening (October 2) for another episode. Back to share their thoughts on the latest bits of telly were siblings Pete and Sophie Sandiford and Ellie and Izzi Warner.

Married couple Andrew and Alfie and best mates Danielle and Daniella from Leeds also made an appearance, as well as newbies to the show, good friends Jude and Sherry.

However, one couple that failed to make an appearance was Sue and Steve from South London. The pair joined the programme in 2019 and quickly became firm favourites with fans.

But this week, Steve was rushed to hospital, meaning they were unable to film this week’s episode. On Instagram, the couple issued an update and shared a photo of Steve in hospital.

In the caption, they wrote: “What a difference a week makes. Steve was a little poorly and had to spend a few days in hospital & but he is home now. Out for lunch and enjoying his first beer in a while. Just call me Nurse Ratched.”

Confirming their absence from the latest episode, Sue told a follower in the comments section of the post: “We won’t see you this week but hopefully next week.” Meanwhile, other fans and Sue and Steve’s Gogglebox co-stars flooded the couple with support.

Izzi Warner wrote: “Glad you’re feeling better Steve.” Meanwhile someone else wrote: “Sorry to hear Steve wasn’t well, glad to hear he’s home and feeling better.” Another then penned: “Sorry to see this. Hope you’re feeling better soon.”

South London couple Sue and Steve joined Gogglebox almost 10 years ago in 2019 – and it’s fair to say it didn’t take them long to become firm favourites with fans.

Over the years, Steve, a retired black cab driver, and Sue, who is semi-retired, have had viewers in stitches thanks to their hilarious one-liners and comical takes on the telly highlights.

Away from the programme, the pair – who have been married for over four decades – are also doting parents to two daughters and are also grandparents to grandson Roman.

Gogglebox airs every Friday at 9pm on Channel 4.