Louise

HER last tour in 2020 was cut short thanks to the Covid pandemic but now Louise is gearing up to go back on the road.

The Borderline singer will play five live shows as part of her Naked/Confessions tour next April, taking in cities including London, Birmingham and Manchester, with tickets on sale today.

And in an exclusive interview to celebrate the announcement, ex-Eternal star Louise says she’s never felt so inspired after her last album Confessions became her fourth top ten record.

“I’m so proud of that album,” Louise tells me.

“That’s really what spurred me on to carry on writing.

“It taught me that it’s OK not to please everybody.

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“I’m enjoying the creative process of not worrying about if people might hate on it.

“Knowing that you just can’t please everyone.

“It’s all about the mindset and the confidence.

“I do think that comes with age as well.”

After saying yes to going back on the road, Louise reveals she’s learned the power of saying no — and was inspired by pop royalty Madonna.

“I am a big fan, I loved the show she did with Sabrina Carpenter. As a woman, for me, it’s about celebrating people and their achievements,” Louise says.

“I hated reading anything negative about that because for me, she is a genius. I’m at that stage where I’m trying to embrace everything and go with it, but I am also saying no.

“I just wrote a song about saying no and I love it.

“The basis of the song is when you finally learn to say, ‘That’s not for me.’

“We all live in a world where we don’t want to say no to anything for a multitude of reasons.”

The tour, which kids off in Sunderland on April 8 next year, will see Louise picking her favourite tracks from her debut album Naked — which turns 30 in 2027 — and from Confessions for the set list.

And Louise — who will play The Mighty Hoopla festival in London next weekend — has promised to throw in some brand new tunes too.

Louise, who has scored nine Top Ten solo singles including 2 Faced and Pandora’s Kiss, adds: “I get that people will want the hits. It’s about celebrating Naked and Confessions — but I definitely will do new stuff on the tour.

“I don’t want to play it particularly safe.

“The one thing I have learned in this industry is that you have to keep changing.

“You have to keep finding new ways to motivate yourself. Whether that be music, what you’re wearing, the lyrics you’re writing.

“Now I know the lane that I’m in and I know what I want to do.”

Girls single minded

THEY have been together for over a decade, represented the UK at Eurovision and performed at Wembley Stadium.

Now, British girl group Remember Monday have given Bizarre’s Howell the exclusive that they’ve just completed work on their debut album in Prague – and have today dropped the first single, Delusional.

The trio, made up of Lauren Byrne, Charlotte Steele and Holly-Anne Hull first started work on the track two years ago, but only finished it last summer with the help of McFly’s Danny Jones and Dougie Poynter, after being introduced to them at the Capital Summertime Ball.

Lauren, who posed with her bandmates for the single artwork, said: “It feels like it was the first song that started the whole new era.

“After that session, it was like, this is the kind of music that we want to be working on now.”

Holly continued: “We just wanted to kind of hone in on our sound, really solidify what we want to say moving forward.

“I don’t know if we can say, but . . . well, we’re releasing an album.

“The sound that we’re going down is quite nostalgic. Like, we really love the Nineties rom-com energy of music.”

The group will support McFly on tour this summer.

They admit their path is not always easy given that they are independent artists without the financial backing of a major record label.

Referencing the title of their single, Charlotte said: “Our whole band is run and fuelled by delusion.”

Lauren added: “It’s weird to be around. But we do just talk about things as if they are happening regardless of whether we have the funds or contacts. We just speak it into existence.

“And it actually has worked. I don’t even know how we’ve got to this stage.”

It’s working so far ladies.

Good for you.

Too pretty for this ditty

SONGWRITER Linda Perry has revealed she almost turned down Christina Aguilera’s request for her song Beautiful after admitting she thought she was too pretty to sing it.

Linda wrote the track which ended up being one of Christina’s most enduring songs from her 2002 album Stripped.

Appearing on the Zach Sang Show, Linda said she played American star Christina, pictured at the Abbey’s 35th anniversary party in Hollywood, the track and explained: “She was like, ‘ I want that.’

“And I’m thinking, ‘No, you’re like, a hot chick. I’m not giving you this song. No way. Are you kidding me?”

It was only after Christina sang the track for Linda that she changed her mind, adding: “It broke the ice between the both of us when I saw that.

“That’s when I discovered beautiful people are actually insecure and just as damaged as I am.”

Sphere come all the Girls?

THE SPICE GIRLS might fancy zig-a-zig-ah-ing their way into a Las Vegas residency, but I’m told bosses at the Sphere aren’t interested in a quick nostalgia cash-in.

Insiders have confirmed bosses will only give the green light if Victoria Beckham, Melanie C, Melanie B, Geri Horner and Emma Bunton are all on board.

My Sphere insider said: “The Spice Girls would be a massive draw, but this couldn’t be done as a one-off or a short residency.

“The costs involved in creating a Sphere show are enormous. There’s special cameras, bespoke visuals and millions of dollars in production costs before a ticket is sold.

“They’d need all five on board and would want 40 to 60 shows.”

Last month Posh Spice teased that she was keen for the shows to go ahead, saying: “How good would the Spice Girls be at the Sphere? I love the idea of it.”

The venue, which has mind-blowing wraparound screens, has already hosted U2, The Eagles and No Doubt.

TREVOR NELSON was handed a top gong at last night’s Audio Academy Arias.

Rylan Clark hosted the bash at The Roundhouse in North London, which saw Radio 2 legend Trevor honoured with a Special Recognition Award.

He was handed the gong by my pal Craig David, who spoke about Trevor’s impact on the British music scene.

It was a great night for Radio 1 DJ Greg James too, with his Breakfast show landing the top prize in its category, while BBC Radio 6 Music’s Beth Ditto was handed Best New Presenter.

LOUIS TOMLINSON reckons there’s one man who could tempt him into a collaboration – fellow Doncaster star Yungblud.

Ex-One Direction singer Louis admitted he’s not keen on teaming up with artists for the sake of it, but working with the rock wild man would feel different.

Louis explained: “I really like his music and he’s from Doncaster, my hometown, I think that would make it even more interesting.”

But he joked that their might be a slight age gap issue.

Louis laughed: “I’d be the senior one in that conversation.”

Doncaster might be running the UK music scene soon . . . 

MY fellow Spurs fan AJ Tracey has joined talkSPORT as a World Cup pundit.

The Thiago Silva rapper will join footballer-turned-Strictly star Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Burnley ace Kyle Walker on the station’s line-up for the big event this summer.

CRUZ BECKHAM And The Breakers lead the new music releases today with their catchy new single, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah.

DJ Sonny Fodera also drops his new tune, Let Me Be In Your Arms, ahead of his performance at Radio 1’s Big Weekend tonight.

LEGENDARY recording studio Abbey Road has announced its fifth annual Music Photography Awards.

This year’s judging panel is packed with music industry royalty, including Raye and Nile Rodgers.

Photographer to the stars, Rankin, is also on the panel ahead of the VIP ceremony on September 24.

Rankin said: “With another stellar judging panel joining us, I can’t wait to get stuck in and review the 2026 submissions. What are you waiting for?”
Submissions are open now.

THEIR podcast was supposed to be a safe space for unfiltered conversations about relationships and families, but instead, it’s become a cause for concern for Louise Thompson and Ryan Libbey’s fans.

This week, things reached boiling point as Louise, 36, and her fiancé, 35, giggled about children going to school without being potty trained or being able to eat on their own on the He Said, She Said podcast. Listeners branded the conversation “disgusting and disappointing”, and now insiders tell us how the bubble is about to burst for the Made In Chelsea star.

Our source explained: “Louise has, of course, been through a hell of a lot in her life and is entitled to an opinion, but she has really hit a nerve with this one.

“She seems to have forgotten that she is in an incredibly privileged position with a healthy four-year-old son and lots of time and money, which of course all play a part.

“It’s a real shame she didn’t think before she started laughing because it would have upset a lot of people.

“It’s very surprising considering how much work she has done for mothers in the past.”

In a clip, which has now been deleted from social media, Louise and Ryan discuss the number of children who are attending school without being potty-trained. 

Outraged by the stats, Louise insisted: “I think a basic human right is to teach your child before the age of four how to use the loo and how to wipe their bum.”

Clearly amused, Louise is heard giggling as she explained: “One in four children are sent to school before they’re potty trained, which means that the teachers are having to change their nappies and then wipe their bum. 88% of kids are going to reception, unable to eat and drink on their own.”

Looking horrified, Ryan replied: “They’ve got nappies on, and they can’t feed or drink themselves.”

Musing on why she thinks it might be the case, Louise said: “Maybe it’s like a bit of a cop out there, like, oh my child’s crying, and they’re being a bit difficult, I can’t be bothered with the hassle. 

“I think that people are so distracted these days with screens that they can’t be bothered to dedicate the time.”

But shockingly, they then revealed that their own son Leo was potty-trained by Ryan’s parents while they were on holiday without him.

He admitted: “My parents pretty much broke the back on the potty training for us with Leo because we went away for a week and he went to his grandparents and they got him out of nappies in a week. It was quite convenient to be honest.”

A recent survey found that one in four children who started reception in 2025 were not toilet-trained. The stats did not count delays that may be related to disabilities or special educational needs. 

It’s a highly sensitive topic, and understandably, the comments have sparked a huge debate.

Reality star, entrepreneur and mum-of-three Lateshya Grace has been vocal in her upset. She shared: “Mocking children for wearing nappies, struggling with toileting, feeding, communication, or developmental delays is honestly disgusting.

“So many families are already dealing with enough without hearing people laugh at situations they clearly don’t understand. Not every child develops the same, and many children facing these challenges have disabilities, additional needs or medical conditions that are nobody else’s business to judge.

“Calling parents “lazy” because their child needs extra support is such an ignorant and privileged take. Most parents in these situations are doing everything they possibly can behind closed doors while fighting battles people never even see.”

Lateshya continued: “Deleting the clip without properly addressing it or apologising doesn’t take away from the damage caused either.

“Children deserve compassion, patience and understanding, not to be mocked for content or podcast conversation. Please educate yourselves before speaking on topics that affect vulnerable children and families.

“You should be ashamed of yourself. Some people honestly don’t even deserve a platform.”

Her thoughts were echoed by lots of parents online as the clip went viral, despite their best efforts to remove it. 

Holly Steer, who runs the Instagram account autismandourworld, dedicated a whole post to the podcast.

She wrote: “Platforms that should be used to promote kindness, compassion, and understanding are instead being used to mock and ridicule children with special needs, and to blame parents for developmental delays that are often far more complex than people realise.”

Her own harrowing story and her past work have only added to her fans’ confusion.

Indeed, Louise has dedicated much of the past few years to improving maternity care after her own life-threatening situation, which means she now wears a colostomy bag.

In 2021, she suffered a near-fatal birth with son, Leo, after an emergency C-section led to catastrophic bleeding. She later required a stoma bag and revealed how she suffered PTSD from the traumatic labour.

She also suffers from lupus, a chronic autoimmune condition that has left her with exhaustion and joint pain, and said she was diagnosed with hydrosalpinx – a condition where a fallopian tube becomes blocked and swells with watery fluid.

Others also pointed out that Louise’s own brother – fellow TV star Sam – was recently diagnosed with ADHD and ASD, adding: “I really expected more from a person who has a brother who is neurodivergent.”

And she won’t be getting much sympathy from her former Made In Chelsea co-stars either, after she made it clear how she had moved on after the show.

After attending the Baftas this weekend, Louise took a swipe at the likes of ex Spencer Matthews and her one-time arch nemesis Lucy Watson as she failed to acknowledge them.

Posing with Millie Mackintosh at the awards, she also shared a throwback with her former cast mates, and wrote: “Here are some photos of Millie and I (and other cast members) attending the BAFTAs in 2013, when we won a Bafta for Made in Chelsea… THIRTEEN years ago.”

Our insider said: “Louise has made it quite clear that she’s got very little interest in some of her old castmates. After what she went through having her son, she made a decision to distance herself from MIC drama, and it’s fair to say there’s no love lost with some of them.”

Just last week, Louise met the then Health Secretary Wes Streeting to discuss her petition to appoint a maternity commissioner and improve care for mothers and babies. She left feeling “genuinely optimistic”.

Some NHS practitioners have expressed concerns about her appraisal of the service, which they believe could be damaging to expectant mothers.

One midwife, who has worked for the NHS for ten years, expressed upset about “being blamed for women’s traumas” and pointed out that there have been issues with funding and resources for more than twenty years, which is something midwives have been fighting for day in, day out. 

Louise is clearly playing an important part in advocating for change, but whether her fans will be able to forgive her faux pas is yet to be seen. 

May 6 (UPI) — The FBI raided the offices of and a cannabis business co-owned by L. Louise Lucas on Wednesday in Portsmouth, Va.

Lucas is a Virginia state senator, president pro tempore of the state Senate and a vocal leader of Virginia redistricting efforts.

Officials told The Washington Post that the investigation has to do with corruption and bribery allegations involving the business. Lucas was not arrested, and an FBI spokesperson said the investigation was ongoing.

Democrats called in question the motivation behind the raid; Lucas has often criticized President Donald Trump and was instrumental in the successful Virginia referendum in April to redraw the state’s congressional maps. However, The Washington Post, NBC News and The New York Times reported that sources familiar with the case claimed the investigation was opened during the Biden administration and has to do with the marijuana dispensary.

Rep. Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, D-Va., said that the raid “occurs in the broader context of President Trump’s repeated abuse of the Department of Justice to target his perceived political opponents.”

Don Scott, speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, emphasized that Lucas has not been charged with anything.

“I am deeply concerned by today’s raid,” he said, WAVY-TV reported. “Given the politicization of this administration — an FBI led by Kash Patel and a Justice Department led by President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney — I think people should take this with a grain of salt and allow the facts to come out before jumping to conclusions,” he said.

Scott said he spoke with Lucas after the search, The New York Times reported.

“She basically said, ‘They’re not going to find anything there and I didn’t do anything wrong,’ ” he said. “She’s very upset and she’s very angry and she won’t back down.”

Lucas was elected to the Virginia General Assembly in 1991.

LOUISE Thompson is locked in a new feud with Alex Cooper after claiming the Call Her Daddy star stole her podcast name.

The former Made in Chelsea star, 36, posted a TikTok video as she began: “I don’t know how well this is going to land but I’m going to say it anyway because I’m feeling like a big, brave dog.

“I was just on Instagram, I shouldn’t be doom scrolling on my way home, and I saw a Bloomberg business post that is essentially a takedown of Unwell, which is the podcast production company set up by Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper and her husband.

“So there have been claims they’ve been treating staff badly, they have been shouting, they’ve been disrespecting people and obviously there’s been this very public feud that Alex Cooper has had with Alix Earle.

“I’m just gonna say something, karma is a b***h. Here’s a little story that none of you guys know, so I had a meeting when I was peak unwellness shall I say, a couple of years ago with an exec that come from the US who worked with a big talent agency about doing a podcast with us.”

Louise admitted that she wasn’t mentally in the right frame of mind during the meeting but she did suggest the name ‘Unwell’.

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“I thought it would be a really clever play on what I’ve been through to call this new business and this new project or podcast venture, Unwell or Unwellness. I have it written in my list of notes that I wrote years ago when I was recovering early doors.

“Then I noticed four or five months later, she announces that her entire podcast thing is going to be called Unwellness and I think it’s just a little bit too suspicious that we both had exactly the same name idea, especially given that I had the conversation with people who a part of her overall management team.

“What are they saying? Copying is the highest form of flattery,” Louise concluded.

She wrote over the video: “Alex cooper nicked my brand name… and karma exists.”

The mum-of-one captioned it: “Never thought I’d share this, but in the interest of being honest… this happened and in the words of carrie Bradshaw…. I can’t help but wonder.

“Sometimes I hate how dog eat dog this industry is… but stealing names isn’t cool.”

Alex, 31, founded her Unwell network in 2023, which has extended into wellness with Unwell Hydration and the Unwell Creative Agency last year.

Louise has faced a number of health issues since the traumatic birth of her son Leo in 2021, which has culminated in her living with a stoma bag due to chronic ulcerative colitis.

She launched her own podcast, He Said, She Said, with her partner Ryan Libbey in late 2024, before joining Staying Relevant Productions this year, which is owned by her brother Sam Thompson and Pete Wicks.

The Sun have contacted Alex’s representatives for a comment.