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A former MAFS UK bride has alleged she was left traumatised after her on-screen husband performed a lewd act and controlled her behaviour as she criticises welfare team

A former Married At First Sight UK bride says she was traumatised for years after appearing on the show and alleges her co-star restricted her movements, leaving her isolated.

Speaking to the Mirror following Panorama: The Dark Side of Married At First Sight, which aired on BBC One on Monday night, the bride alleged: “He performed a lewd act and then touched my face without consent. He banned me from drinking or speaking to production staff without him.”

She claims to have reported it to welfare staff and that production staff were aware of incidents but she was encouraged to continue with the show. She alleged: “They [production] would say, ‘It’s going to be OK’. Staff bought me a drink to help smooth things over after I complained.”

READ MORE: Two more Married At First Sight UK brides and a groom make fresh abuse claims

Describing the welfare team, she alleged: “They present as your best friend. I thought they were somebody you could talk to about anything. But if I look back on it now, I would say it’s more like grooming.”

The bride alleged she felt pressured into intimacy by her partner and does not believe enough safeguarding existed once couples returned to their apartments off camera.

She said: “I had sex with my partner and whilst I wasn’t forced, I felt pressured.” She added: “The couch ceremonies are supposed to be a safe space where you can speak honestly. But you go back to your apartment afterwards and there are no cameras there and nobody to protect you.”

She told how much of the alleged behaviour took place away from cameras and claimed she repeatedly raised concerns with welfare and production teams throughout filming.

She had months of psychological assessments, interviews and background checks, which she believed were designed to protect participants.

But she said: “I told them everything about myself – that I’d been in controlling relationships before, that I struggled speaking up for myself and that I fall in love very quickly. But now I feel like I gave them the blueprint on how to expose me and use me.

“They knew I had a history of abusive, controlling relationships and paired me with someone who controlled my every move.”

She believes the intense filming conditions heightened emotions. She said: “I’ve never cried more in my life. “You aren’t sleeping enough, you’re filming 14, 15, sometimes 20-hour days and when you’re not filming, you’re isolated in an apartment.

“At the dinner parties you’d be picked up at 8am in full hair and make-up then left sitting in a shipping container for six or seven hours before filming. The worse your situation was with your partner, the longer they seemed to leave you in the room.”

She questioned how much information relationship experts Paul C. Brunson, Charlene Douglas and the late Mel Schilling had received. The contestant said: “The experts had zero idea what was going on. They gave good advice based on the information they had.”

After watching the Panorama episode, the bride believes the worst is yet to come. She added: “They need to properly safeguard people instead of just creating drama. This Panorama story is only the beginning of hearing the nightmares people have had.”

The bombshell claims come as Channel 4 removed all ten series from its platforms and scrapped the series due to air in September following a BBC Panorama investigation that revealed two women claim they were raped by their on-screen “husbands” during filming, while another made allegations of sexual assault against her partner.

The Metropolitan Police has now urged potential victims to come forward, stating they will be “making approaches to the relevant production teams” to ensure anyone affected knows how to report criminal allegations.

The scandal has blown open the production practices used in dating reality shows which have been growing in popularity over recent years.

Monday’s documentary sparked a political row, with Channel 4 CEO Priya Dogra telling MPs the broadcaster was “not an adjudicator” on the serious allegations. But it is feared this is just the tip of the iceberg for dating reality shows and these new claims put pressure on producers and broadcasters to clean up their act.

Channel 4 has commissioned an external review while insisting their welfare protocols are “some of the most comprehensive and robust in the industry”. Industry sources say the show is unlikely to ever air in the UK again.

The Mirror put these allegations to CPL and to Channel 4 who directed us to their statement in full. Part of this includes: “MAFS UK is produced under some of the most comprehensive and robust welfare protocols in the industry. These include the most thorough background checks available, a Code of Conduct which clearly sets out behavioural standards, daily contributor check-ins with a specialist welfare team and access to additional support before, during and after filming. The physical and psychological wellbeing of all contributors is of paramount importance throughout the process. All duty of care processes are regularly reviewed and, where appropriate, strengthened.”

Another section of the statement reads: “Channel 4 believes that when concerns related to contributor welfare were raised through existing welfare and production protocols, prompt and appropriate action was taken, based on the information available at the time. Channel 4 strongly refutes any claim to the contrary.”

READ MORE: ‘Serious concerns’ raised with Channel 4 and Ofcom over Married At First Sight rape claims

Women’s basketball is finally getting the queer rom-com it deserves.

Media company Run-A-Muck has announced that it is developing “Courtside,” a sports romantic comedy set in the world of professional basketball. WNBA All-Star Gabby Williams, two-time WNBA champion Sydney Colson and 2022 WNBA champion Theresa Plaisance are among those set to appear in the movie, according to Deadline.

“If you like ‘Love & Basketball’ and ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ and ‘Bring It On’ but you found yourself wondering, ‘Could this maybe be a little bit gayer?’ We have great news for you,” Colson said in a Thursday Instagram post. “The answer is yeah, you could always make it gayer.”

Colson, a Texas A&M standout who was drafted to the WNBA in 2011, is also one of the executive producers on “Courtside.”

Written by “Abbott Elementary” writer-producer Brittani Nichols and directed by Carly Usdin, the movie will follow an injury-plagued women’s basketball superstar with championship ambitions who is thrown for a loop when she falls for a teammate.

“Making a movie like this is super exciting to me because I grew up playing basketball,” Colson added. “I would have loved as a young person to see my story depicted … on screen so to see a team of people who want to ensure that others can see characters and storylines that feel personal and familiar to them. I’m so excited about it.”

Colsen and Plaisance, who won a championship together as teammates on the Las Vegas Aces in 2022, share a podcast and also starred in the unscripted buddy comedy “The Syd + TP Show” together. Williams, who plays for France in international competition, currently plays on the Golden State Valkyries.

“It feels like I’ve been waiting my whole life for this kind of excitement to surround women’s basketball, and I’m excited to blend my love of sports, lesbian tension, and comedy into one project,” Nichols told Deadline. According to the outlet, Run-A-Muck co-founder and “The L Word” star Jennifer Beals is also slated to appear in the project.

LOVE Island’s Ty Isherwood has revealed he has undergone a hair transplant.

The reality star, 24, who rose to fame on the show last year, took to Instagram following the surgery to show his bandaged head.

Filming himself the day after undergoing the procedure, Ty admitted that despite covering it well, hair loss is something that has impacted his confidence for years.

Dressed in a grey hoodie and bandaged up, Ty told the camera: “For me, this has been something that has played in the back of my mind for a long time now.

“I’ve managed to keep it under wraps pretty well, I’ve always had a fringe since I was younger and It has always hidden it.

“I noticed it started slowly receding when I was about 19/20 and it has slowly gone back ever since.”

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Ty, who is in a relationship with Love Island co-star Angel Swift after meeting on the show, said he had been taking hair growth medication such as Minoxidil for the last three years.

But in search of a long term solution, he opted to undergo the transplant for his hairline.

Admitting it all went fairly smooth, Ty continued: “The transplant itself took about 6 and a half hours, it was completely pain free.

“The only thing I didn’t like was the local anesthetic in the donor at the back. I’m not gonna sugarcoat that, it wasn’t very nice. But, once you’re over that, the rest of it was fine.

“For men, I think that losing your hair is a tough pill to swallow. For me, it was, I think it has affected my confidence for a couple of years. I’ve not been able to go about my day without actually thinking what my hair looks like.”

Urging his male followers to take the plunge if they are considering a transplant, Ty then said: “I wish I’d had it done sooner, I think it’d have put my mind at ease. I just feel so much more relieved now it’s done.”

Posting the clip to his 159K followers, Ty thanked Manchester-based clinic KSL for carrying out the transplant on him.

His girlfriend and Love Island co-star Angel took to the comment section to show her support as she wrote: “Proud of you my handsome boy”.

Other show alumni such as Wil Anderson, Giorgio Russo and Harry Cooksley also supported Ty in the comments.

Angel went along with Ty for the procedure, with the reality star revealing the couple were up at 6AM to drive to the clinic together.

Few would contend that Lerner and Loewe’s “Brigadoon” and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Flower Drum Song” represent the best work of these legendary duos.

Unlike Lerner and Loewe’s eternally popular “My Fair Lady,” “Brigadoon” hasn’t had a Broadway revival since 1980. “Flower Drum Song,” relegated to the shadows of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!” and “South Pacific,” didn’t last long when it received its first and only Broadway revival in 2002.

I assumed nostalgia was fueling the desire to give these Golden Age musicals a makeover. But when I sat in the audience for these shows and fell immediately under the spell of their scores, I had a different answer.

The music makes a case for why “Brigadoon,” now in a soaring revival at Pasadena Playhouse, and “Flower Drum Song,” making a less assured reemergence at the Aratani Theatre in Little Tokyo, should live again. I was particularly skeptical of “Brigadoon,” with its airy-fairy book and heavy dose of romantic hokum, but the Broadway-level production at Pasadena Playhouse may be the best local staging of a musical I’ve seen in my 20 years covering the scene for The Times.

Kylie Victoria Edwards and Daniel Yearwood in “Brigadoon” at Pasadena Playhouse.

(Jeff Lorch)

I knew both musicals principally from their film adaptations. I missed David Henry Hwang‘s original rewrite of “Flower Drum Song,” which was a storied success at the Mark Taper Forum in 2001 but fared less favorably when it moved to New York the following year. I suppose I first saw “Brigadoon” as a kid at my grandmother’s house, amused at the way she goofily sang along. When I recently watched both movies again, it was like falling into a musical comedy time warp.

The enduring love for these Broadway shows isn’t just about the standards they have bequeathed to the American songbook. It’s also about the yearning for a more optimistic era of musical storytelling, when goodness could be counted on to prevail and a happy ending might be delayed but only rarely denied.

“Brigadoon,” a romantic fantasy about two Americans who stumble upon a mystical Scottish village that magically comes to life for a single day once every 100 years, might seem to be irredeemably old-fashioned. The show, which premiered on Broadway in 1947, was Lerner and Loewe’s first hit after a string of flops and fizzles. Without the success of “Brigadoon,” “My Fair Lady,” “Camelot” and the movie musical “Gigi” might never have happened.

Betsy Morgan and Max von Essen in “Brigadoon” at Pasadena Playhouse.

(Jeff Lorch)

But how do you solve a problem like Alan Jay Lerner’s book, written for a sensibility markedly more wholesome than our own? Enter playwright Alexandra Silber, whose fresh adaptation works for the most part remarkably well. There are a few lumpy patches, moments when the revision over-explains itself or belabors a point. But the way Tommy Albright (Max Von Essen) and Jeff Douglas (Happy Anderson), the accidental American intruders, have been modernized is a fizzy delight.

Imagine if Vincente Minnelli’s screen version of “Brigadoon,” starring Gene Kelly and Van Johnson, was remade with Paul Rudd and John Goodman, and you’ll have some idea of the comic chemistry here. But I should preface this thought exercise by first extolling the musical theater prowess of Von Essen, who received a Tony nomination for his work in “An American in Paris” and has a voice that could make the angels swoon. Less is required of Anderson’s jaded, booze-sodden Jeff, but this smart-alecky sidekick is re-imagined with crackling comic vitality.

The production, directed and choreographed by Katie Spelman, saves its most assertive interventions for its female characters. Fiona MacLaren (Betsy Morgan), the unmarried heroine who catches Tommy’s amorous eye, still falls heedlessly in love but not before correcting some of her American suitor’s chauvinistic assumptions. Morgan might overdo Fiona’s fiery streak when she sings “Waitin’ For My Dearie,” but the driving impulse is to bring the musical’s out-of-time female characters into the 21st century.

“Brigadoon” ensemble at Pasadena Playhouse.

(Jeff Lorch)

Meg Brockie (Donna Vivino), no longer the town floozie single-mindedly out to bed Jeff, is now the proprietor of Brockie’s Pub and the keeper of Brigadoon’s traditional language and culture. She’s still a sensual wrecking ball, but she’s too formidable to be treated as comic relief.

Silber has transformed Mr. Lundie, Brigadoon’s schoolmaster and moral guide, into Widow Lundie. The casting of the great Tyne Daly in the role is reason enough to make the gender switch, but it’s all part of a recalibration of the values of this theatrical world.

The dynamism of the singing and dancing smooths out some of the adaptation’s rough edges. Spelman puts her own stamp on Agnes DeMille’s original choreography, which was as integral to the storytelling as the book, lyrics and music.

When Charlie (a phenomenal Daniel Yearwood), a genial groom readying himself for the big wedding day, performs with his buddies “I’ll Go Home With Bonnie Jean,” Pasadena Playhouse erupts in a stomping frenzy of Celtic ecstasy. And Yearwood’s gorgeous rendition of “Come to Me, Bend to Me” is so seductive, it’s no wonder that Jean (Kylie Victoria Edwards), Fiona’s sister, has chosen to marry him.

“Brigadoon” ensemble at Pasadena Playhouse.

(Jeff Lorch)

All, however, is not idyllic in time-forgotten Brigadoon. Casting a pall over the nuptials, Harry Beaton (Spencer Davis Milford), hopelessly in love with Jean, threatens to destroy Brigadoon’s miracle by leaving the town for good.

Silber deepens Harry’s character and gives his story more emotional weight. (Milford manages to be both convincingly menacing and pitiably heartbroken.) The movie tweaked Harry’s fatal ending, but the adaptation does something even more striking with his desperation. The change is absorbed naturally by the musical, even if the funeral dance that Maggie (Jessica Lee Keller) elaborately performs might be more moving on a reduced scale.

The adaptation doesn’t always get the dramatic proportions right. When Jeff bares his soul to Tommy after the two are back on barstools in New York, the revelation that he is a heartsick widower complicates our understanding of a character originally conceived as a cynical bachelor. But Silber tries to extract too much sympathy from the exchange and stops the action when it should be moving rapidly toward its big finish.

Marc Oka, foreground, and Esther Lee, from left, Gemma Pedersen, Ai Toyoshima, Sally Hong, Hillary Tang and Emma Park in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Flower Drum Song,” produced by East West Players and the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center.

(Mike Palma)

But nothing can derail the success of this extraordinary production, the high watermark so far of Pasadena Playhouse producing artistic director Danny Feldman’s ongoing reexamination of the American musical canon. Jason Sherwood’s ravishing scenic design, full of eye-catching texture and lush density, makes it impossible not to dream along with the characters. Even the stage curtain, graced with Brigadoon’s floral insignia, is a work of art.

A 22-piece orchestra, under the music supervision of Darryl Archibald, draws out the all the sublime color of Frederick Loewe’s music. Most spectacularly, the blend of Von Essen’s lyric baritone and Morgan’s assertive soprano gives eternal life to Tommy and Fiona’s numbers. Hearing “The Heather on the Hill,” “Almost Like Being in Love” and “From This Day On” in the majestic intimacy of Pasadena Playhouse is a memory that will last at least a lifetime.

It’s a bit harder to judge this update of “Flower Drum Song,” which is Hwang’s second crack at revising the book, originally written by Oscar Hammerstein II and Joseph Fields. A co-production between East West Players and the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center, the revival doesn’t have the resources of Pasadena Playhouse’s “Brigadoon” and likely doesn’t have the same goals.

Ai Toyoshima, from left, Brian Shimasaki Liebson, Grace Yoo and Scott Keiji Takeda in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Flower Drum Song,” produced by East West Players and the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center.

(Mike Palma)

The musical, which premiered on Broadway in 1958, was groundbreaking for the way it provided a showcase for Asian American performers. Henry Koster’s 1961 studio film adaptation followed suit with an even greater reach. The intention was to create musical theater entertainment built around generational conflict — a longstanding device of romantic comedy. But here the clash involves immigrants in San Francisco trying to reconcile traditional Chinese culture and modern American life.

Stereotypes, however, prevailed, leaving a community at once grateful for representation and uncomfortable with the reinforcement of old tropes. Hwang (author of the Tony Award-winning “M. Butterfly”) set out to re-imagine the characters from the perspective of a contemporary Asian American dramatist nearly 25 years ago. But times continue to change along with cultural sensitivities, and he wanted to revisit his work for East West Players’ 60th anniversary season.

Directed by EWP artistic director Lily Tung Crystal, who is of Chinese heritage, the production is on a quest for a deeper authenticity. This mission is to provide a more genuine reflection of Asian American experience — community members speaking directly to fellow community members.

Grace Yoo, left, and Scott Keiji Takeda in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Flower Drum Song,” produced by East West Players and the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center.

(Mike Palma)

The production is most effective when the actors are singing, especially Grace Yoo, who plays Mei-Li and had me entranced the moment she started singing “A Hundred Million Miracles.” Don’t let the traditional flower drum she totes around fool you. She’s no longer the quietly obedient daughter of authority. Having fled communism, she has arrived in the U.S. without papers and (unlike the original) her father, and isn’t too keen on anyone dictating to her what she can and cannot do.

Scott Keiji Takeda, who plays Ta, Mei-Li’s reluctant inamorato, has a sumptuous voice that captures the hues of Richard Rodgers’ music. But unfortunately his wooden characterization raises questions about what exactly Mei-Li sees in him.

There’s a tension between the update’s good intentions and the tendency of musical comedy to traffic in amusing caricatures. (Exaggeration and simplification are par for the course.) In trying to root out offensive Asian American stereotypes, Hwang imports swishing stereotypes for laughs in his creation of a new character, Harvard (Kenton Chen), who works at the theater owned by Ta’s father and seems a throwback to the campy, wisecracking gay characters that were a staple of 1980s big-budget movie comedies. Harvard may get a more empowering storyline than his florist-hairdresser-retail-clerk predecessors, but the humor is redolent of the same punishing cliches.

Krista Marie Yu in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Flower Drum Song,” produced by East West Players and the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center.

(Mike Palma)

Emily Kuroda as take-charge producer Madame Liang and Marc Oka as Wang, Ta’s old-school father, throw themselves into the revival with full farcical force. Crystal’s fluid staging, full of agile and vibrant design choices, smoothly maneuvers the action. But earnestness is the enemy of hilarity. Hwang can be very witty, but how can the production let itself go when it’s so often being called upon to make an important point?

Linda Low (Krista Marie Yu), no longer Mei-Li’s rival for Ta’s hand in marriage, is now her ally. When she sings a middling version of “I Enjoy Being a Girl,” the joke isn’t on her but a society that leaves women so few options. The problem is that for Hwang to rebuild Mei-Li and Linda into characters of credible modern-day complexity, he would have to start from scratch, not just retooling the book but commissioning a new score to flesh out his more complicated vision. In other words, leaving Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical behind.

“Brigadoon” manages to transcend time, but this take on “Flower Drum Song” falters between eras.

On the walls of one of the hospitality lounges at the Affidea Stadium there are pictures of Ulster’s storied history.

The two that stand out contain teams celebrating silverware.

The European Cup win in 1999 remains the most famous day for the Irish province.

The other was the Celtic League triumph in 2006, but there has not been an addition to the honours board at Ravenhill for 20 years now.

Ulster have an opportunity to change that as they face Montpellier in the Challenge Cup final in Bilbao on Friday.

Richie Murphy’s side head into the game off the back of a disappointing end to their United Rugby Championship campaign, as they finished just outside the play-off places in ninth.

But the slate was wiped clean after a review on Monday and, for head coach Richie Murphy, the chance to win a trophy and join the heroes of years gone by on the walls of the Nine Counties lounge is something “we want to embrace”.

“We want to try and achieve what they’ve achieved,” he told BBC Sport NI.

“You know, the guys don’t shy away from the task that’s in hand, but also the dream of coming back here with a trophy in the early hours of Saturday morning. You know, that’s, you know, You can’t just dream. You’ve got to have a plan.

“You’ve got to make sure you work really hard in order to prepare to be at your best. And that’s what we’re going at.

“The guys are looking around and seeing the history on the walls, and they’d love to be a part of that history.”

REALITY TV star Matilda Draper sizzled as she stripped off to a yellow bikini on holiday in Ibiza.

The 25-year-old split from her TOWIE boyfriend Roman Hackett back in March and fans were quick to point out how stunning the star was looking in her “single era.”

Brunette bombshell Matilda flaunted her incredible abs as she posed on a balcony in the famous party isle.

The TV personality put on a busty display in a beautiful yellow bikini and gold belly chain.

She surely to sent pulses racing in the sexy ensemble as she gave the camera a sultry pout.

Matilda stunned as she pulled her locks back from her face, soaking up the last few rays as the sunset.

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In another snap, Matilda flashed a smile as she showed of her enviable physique.

The star donned a pair of pink lensed Miu Miu sunglasses as she prepared for a night out on the town.

Matilda was spotted wearing a matching pair of plaid low-waisted trousers as she posed next to her pal Albie in a mirror at their hotel.

The pair went on a boozy night out at a beach club as Matilda was seen flashing her middle finger and kicking her leg up in the air as she laid on a sofa.

It seems the star is living it up post break up and fans were quick to applaud her.

One fan penned: “Entering her hot single era,” followed by three heart eye emojis.

Another fan wrote: “I’m actually obsessed with you.”

Meanwhile, her Love Island pal Uma said: “OH SHE’S SEXAAAAAY.”

Matilda and Roman, 23, went Instagram official in December 2024 but parted ways earlier this year after just over a year together.

The split left fans baffled as the pair looked very loved-up on social media.

A source told The Sun at the time: “Matilda is absolutely devastated about the split.

“They tried for a while to make things work but they aren’t together any more.”

FOR almost four decades, Kylie Minogue has soundtracked our lives with anthems of love, joy and heartbreak.

While her own personal life has seen both stellar highs and crushing lows — including failed romances, and cancer — she has kept calm and carried on, and on, then on some more.

As for those gold hotpants from her 2000 video for disco belter Spinning Around, they brightened up all our lives, to the point they are now under lock and key in a museum.

But as Kylie, 57, sits down with me for her only newspaper chat ahead of her self-titled Netflix docuseries that airs on Wednesday, she insists she is just like the rest of us when heartbroken.

In the TV tell-all, she recalls her devastating 1991 split from the late INXS frontman, Aussie Michael Hutchence, after a passionate two-year romance — and how she slept on a pal’s sofa in Paris while unable to face the couple’s old stomping grounds in Oz and the UK.

She had previously also dated Aussie actor-singer Jason Donovan — and when I ask if she’s ever “gone full Bridget Jones”, liked the unlucky-in-love soul of movie fame, she swiftly replies: “Oh, 100 per cent.

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“I’ve had different relationships that all shaped me. Of course, I talk about Michael. I’ve also got Jason Donovan, who speaks so amazingly in the documentary.”

During the Netflix special, Kylie recalls how she struggled post-Hutchence — and tells viewers: “I didn’t know where to go or what to do. I knew I didn’t want to be in London and I didn’t want to be in Australia, so I went to Paris.

“I remember having a tiny English to-French dictionary. I didn’t know anyone, but had two numbers on a bit of paper. One of those was a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of mine.

“She lived with a girl called Kat, who is now my oldest, best girlfriend. I moved into her apartment, got a sleeping bag and slept on the sofa. I was feeling heartbroken.”

Keen not to sugarcoat her life for Netflix, Kylie let director Michael Harte retain total creative control, even when she may have liked some bits left on the cutting-room floor.

In one episode, her former Neighbours co-star Jason remembers the moment Kylie left him for rocker Michael — explaining how they met him after an INXS gig before Jason watched the pair disappear into a hotel bathroom together.

Jason admits: “He wasn’t interested in me. I could sniff that a mile away. And she disappeared with him into the bathroom, which is fine. You know, we’re grown-ups.”

Reflecting on that evening, Kylie adds: “After the gig, Jason and I were invited back to the after-party. I would have been a bit like, ‘How did we get here?’ We were just talking about singer stuff.”

Kylie has been single since splitting from GQ magazine boss Paul Solomons in 2023, and insists she does not need a man to feel complete.

When I ask if she is happy, All The Lovers singer Kylie replies with a smile: “I’m super-happy, yeah.”

She told the Sunday Times’ Style magazine yesterday: “I don’t have a boyfriend. I was in a relationship, and when that ended, I realised I was OK on my own. I’m getting pickier. Narcissists . . . I’ve dated one and I’m grateful I now have that knowledge. That’s my red-hot ‘no’.”

Similarly, when Kylie and I last chatted, in October 2024, the I Should Be So Lucky singer told me: “There’s no one significant in my life and I feel content. I feel like this is my destiny right now.”

But she STILL fiercely believes in love — and enjoys watching it bloom for others.

We first met in 2023 while she was promoting 16th album Tension. I was shamelessly chasing a boy and, on my way to her Claridge’s hotel suite, bought a bottle of Kylie Prosecco for her to sign for him.

After our chat, she agreed, writing his name on the bottle and wishing me luck in my romantic pursuit. The next summer, he was my boyfriend.

During a brief meeting in 2024, at the British Summer Time festival in London’s Hyde Park, I thanked her for the part she had played. “See, I’ve still got it!” she happily told her team, punching the air.

But by the time we crossed paths in May 2025, outside her dressing room as she played London’s 02 Arena for her Tension world tour, I was single once more.

I mentioned I was seeing her show again the next night and bringing my ex. “Ooh, what’s the goss?” Kylie asked. Laughing awkwardly, I admitted I wished we were still together.

Meanwhile, in episode two of her Netflix series Kylie wells up as she admits she has been searching for a love like she shared with Michael ever since their 1991 breakup.

Kylie says to camera: “I haven’t quite got it. I’ve probably been looking for something like that ever since.

“He was a first for so many things and one was heartbreak. I was devastated. He was a rock star, which doesn’t just mean that he needs many women in his life, but he needed to go where he needed to go. But I know from people in his circle that he talked of me and thought of me. We were good together.”

Shrugging off the emotion, Kylie adds: “Shoulda, woulda, coulda  — whatever. But it was an amazing time. The memories make me feel good, even if I’m getting teary. It was good to have someone, to feel like you were a good team. I’m fortunate. The emotion and the memories I have with that time — I just felt protected, nurtured, valued, and believed in.”

Recalling Michael’s funeral in 1997 in Sydney, after he died at just 37, Kylie says: “At the church it was overwhelming, the outpouring of love for him. I felt him saying, ‘It’s OK. It will be OK’. I always feel he’s with me.”

But as we chat, Kylie wishes she had “stressed less” over the course of her career, and she admits she sometimes “didn’t manage it well”.

I am also relieved that — like me when love’s course goes awry — this global superstar so indentifies with Bridget Jones, as played in the films by Renee Zellweger.

In the series’ first film, Bridget Jones’s Diary, in 2001, the pyjama-clad protagonist has break-up blues as she clutches a bottle of wine and belts out power ballad All By Myself.

I doubt Kylie’s go-to heartbreak fixes are the same as my budget pairing — a £4.99 supermarket Pinot Grigio and Cadbury popping-candy chocolate bar. But I do recommend them, Kylie.

Of course, the other bombshell in Kylie’s life came at just 36 when, in 2005, she was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer.

She had to pull out of a Glastonbury set and part of her Showgirl: The Greatest Hits Tour to undergo a lumpectomy as well as chemotherapy.
The next year she was in remission and given the all-clear.

But Kylie tells Netflix viewers: “I felt removed from my body. I was so scared of what was ahead of me.” Her singer sister Dannii adds: “We didn’t know, if she was ever going to be well again.”

It is hard to believe, though, how she has kept much of her off-stage life little known about.

When I put this to her, she nods and says: “It’s like, is there a monster under the bed? You build up this fear of telling.”

But she adds: “There’s enough behind me, and in front of me, that now has made it a good time. And what am I so scared of? It’s been a good exercise to have a look back at life, and find acceptance.”

In the docuseries, Kylie admits she was “riddled with self-doubt and anxiety” — and that those feelings still rear their head.

Kylie, who wrapped up her 66-date Tension tour last year, tells me: “I still have anxiety and self-doubt. No, not all the time, but a healthy amount is good.

“I know what I’m doing more now, which is satisfying. There’s definitely moments but that doesn’t permeate through.”

Although Kylie is now a superstar, she got there through steadfast resilience — proving critics wrong time and time again.

Her decision to quit Aussie soap Neighbours at the height of its success — when 24 million daily viewers was commonplace — was deemed by many as crazy.

Indeed, so popular was the soap that when Princess Diana missed just two episodes, she called up the BBC to ask after recordings.

Kylie’s sixth studio album, 1997’s Impossible Princess, was savaged so brutally by critics that radio stations refused to play her singles. A billboard even told the world Kylie was “over”.

Yet nearly three decades later, the 5ft powerhouse has never been more beloved. In December, she landed her eighth UK No1 single, ,and her first festive chart-topper, with Xmas.

A seasoned pro with interviews, Kylie usually has a slick answer ready for any question. But when I ask what she would say to her younger self, she takes her time before replying: “I still don’t know what’s ahead of me now — but I especially didn’t at 16.”

During the Netflix series, Kylie hits back at a suggestion she might be ready to slow down soon.

“Tell that to Cher and Barbra [Streisand]” she quips.

Both are plenty older than her — Cher recently turned 79 and Barbra 84 — and Cher, in particular, is still dusting off her suspenders and stockings for performances.

So, can we expect to see Kylie still doing The Locco-Motion at 80?

Beaming, she replies: “With all my heart, I hope so, yes.

“But how I’ve done this is, I am not a planner, I like to be fluid. I have a loose idea, I know what I want to do — but, yeah, maybe next week or this month.”

But while Kylie may still be up on stage in 2049, her famed gold hotpants will not. They are in a museum in Melbourne, Australia — but Kylie beams at my idea they belong in the Louvre museum in Paris, with the Mona Lisa painting.

Kylie says of the hotpants: “That would be amazing. But I bought them for 50p — my girlfriend found them in a secondhand store. I wore them quite rigorously so they’re fragile and the museum have said they have got to stay flat. They are in preservation mode.”

I also ask if “Kylie the pop star” ever feels like “Kylie the person” is forgotten.

But she feels fans want her to be both, adding of time on stage: “It’s a place for me to harness everything I’ve worked for and that I feel, and be expressive.”

The word “icon” is overused, but when I tell Kylie she is one, she replies simply: “I try.”

BBC One’s crime comedy Death Valley is back for a hotly anticipated second series, and a whole lot of new ‘whodunnits’ that need to be solved

Death Valley has made its eagerly awaited return for a second series.

BAFTA-winning performer Timothy Spall stars alongside Gwyneth Keyworth in the comedic murder-mystery programme, portraying the improbable pairing of actor John Chapel, formerly her hero as TV detective Caesar, and determined detective Janie Mallowan.

Filmed and set in Wales, Death Valley’s debut series launched in May 2025, smashing records with the largest overnight viewership for a new scripted programme in five years.

The series maintained a robust average of 4.6 million viewers over 28 days, and amongst Welsh audiences, Death Valley claimed the top comedy spot across all channels and platforms throughout 2025.

Given the programme’s triumph, it came as little shock when plans for a second series were swiftly revealed, with Death Valley series two now scheduled to debut on Sunday, 17 May at 8:15pm on BBC One. Audiences can also stream the complete box set on iPlayer from the same date, reports the Express.

The second series resumes several months following the conclusion of series one. Janie has secured promotion to Detective Inspector and finds herself more overwhelmed than ever, with administrative duties mounting faster than she can manage them.

Complicating matters further, she’s been avoiding John since discovering he’s been romantically involved with her mum, Yvonne (Melanie Walters), and the pair are compelled to make amends when DCI Barry Clarke (Steffan Rhodri) enlists John’s assistance to crack a murder investigation.

They must set aside their complicated personal relationships when tasked with examining a suspicious death within a community service group, following the fatal plunge of one of its members from atop a crumbling castle.

The latest series of Death Valley also sees John hesitantly return to the acting world, appearing on the set of a grand Welsh fantasy television production, though another killing soon demands attention.

Additional murders occur in a seaside fishing community, at an eco-friendly commune, and within a rugby club, as John and Janie persist in delivering justice throughout the mid-Wales area.

Throughout the series, there’s also an impressive roster of guest appearances, featuring Outlander’s Mark Lewis Jones, Game of Thrones legend Owen Teale, and Killing Eve’s Alexandra Roach.

Jane Horrocks (Here We Go, Chicken Run) also appears in the programme alongside Hammed Animashaun (Black Ops, SNL UK), Alexandra Roach (Killing Eve, Bodies), Roisin Conaty (After Life, Last one Laughing), Jim Howick (Ghosts, Here we Go), Asim Chaudhry (People Just Do Nothing), Lynn Hunter (Pushers & End of the Fxx World), Rhiannon Clements (Small Prophets, Pushers), Mike Bubbins (Mammoth) and Liz Carr (Silent Witness, Good Omens).

Death Valley series 2 launches on Sunday, 17 May at 8:15pm on BBC One and iPlayer.

LOVE Island stars Whitney Adebayo and Yamen Sanders have split after five months.

The pair found love in the ITV All Stars villa in South Africa in January – finishing in fifth place.

However, rumours have swirled of their break-up after the couple were navigating a long-distance relationship.

Whitney was based in the UK while American footballer Yamen was in the US.

A source told me: “Whitney and Yamen did try and put everything into their relationship.

“But it has inevitably been tough to keep up their romance long-distance.

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“Whitney has been spending more time with her girls and has been leaning on them while navigating her break-up.”

Earlier this week, Whitney was spotted on TikTok with fellow Love Island star Millie Court having a girly night in.

The pair were seen in their pyjamas clinking glasses of red wine together with the audio ‘so we’re going to heal’ playing.

Sounds like Whitney has a hot girl summer pending.

LOVE Island’s Yasmin Pettet left fan’s jaws on the floor as she stripped down to a thong bikini and showed of her sexy pole dancing routine.

The ITV2 show alum, 25, was seen gracefully swirling around the bar in her tiny brown swimwear.

Yasmin nearly popped out of her bikini top as she arched her toned body.

She was seen jumping up onto the bar and wrapping her legs around it. Yas then carefully let go as she elegantly dangled in the air.

The telly star engaged her incredible abs as she pulled herself up to be completely horizontal.

Yas did her whole routine in the daring bikini but was careful not to flash her fans during the sizzling scenes.

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Stunning former Islander Yas had her brunette locks tousled in loose waves as she put on quite a show on the pole.

She captioned the racy Instagram story: “Layback slay.”

Yas has been updating fans on her progress with her pole dancing hobby.

She often frequents London‘s Akila Pole Studio, which focuses on “movement, self-expression and community.”

Last month, she was spotted in the studio at another practice session.

Yas opted for a more casual look, donning a white sports bra from Gymshark and grey shorts from Garage Clothing.

She was snapped hanging of the bar and posing with her arm outstreched.

Yasmin skyrocketed into the spotlight after appearing on season 12 of the summer dating show Love Island.

She entered the famous Mallorca villa as a bombshell on day five and 25 days later she was finally happy in a couple with Jamie Rhodes.

They came in third place and left the show together; but it wasn’t meant to be as they called it quits just weeks after it ended.

COVINGTON, Ky. — Rep. Thomas Massie was stuck in Washington for a vote on Capitol Hill, so one of his supporters made the pitch for his campaign in a banquet hall packed with Republicans in northern Kentucky.

The audience had just heard Ed Gallrein, who was drafted by President Trump to run against Massie in next Tuesday’s primary, describe the congressman as suffering from “a severe case of Trump derangement syndrome.”

Then Gex Williams, a state senator backing Massie, told the audience at the Lincoln Day Dinner not to worry about all that.

“If you are thinking that you can’t be for President Trump and for Thomas Massie, you certainly can be,” Williams said.

Whether voters agree will determine whether Massie’s political career survives Trump’s most aggressive attempt to purge the Republican Party of dissenters. The president already succeeded last week in dislodging several Indiana state senators who opposed his redistricting plan, and he’s supporting a primary challenge against U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy in Louisiana on Saturday.

But nothing compares to the vitriol against Massie, whom Trump has called a “moron” and a “nut job” who “will go down as the WORST Republican Congressman.” Trump made an unusual trip to Kentucky to campaign against Massie, and some of the president’s top advisors are working to help Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL.

Massie angered Trump by voting against his signature tax legislation over concerns of adding to the national debt, pushing for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files and opposing his decision to go to war with Iran. His positions, Massie insists, reflect the America First promises Trump initially made on the campaign trail.

In a Kentucky district where the president won by 35 points two years ago, Massie told the Associated Press that the upcoming primary is “by far the most challenging reelection I’ve ever faced.”

Party loyalty or ideological purity?

The race is playing out across Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, which sweeps northeast from the outskirts of Louisville along the Ohio River, through the suburbs south of Cincinnati and over to the lush foothills and old coal towns of Appalachia.

Voters here have sent Massie back to Congress ever since his first election in 2012, embracing his stalwart independence and jaunty personality. Back in 2020, they brushed off Trump’s social media demand to “throw Massie out of Republican Party” because he was a “third rate Grandstander.”

Now, Republican voters are debating whether they will do the same thing again.

“If all we’re doing is pulling in yes men, then how do you grow from that? How do you have the best end product if everyone just says, ‘Oh yeah, that’s a great idea,’” said Tonya Young, an attendee of the Lincoln Day Dinner who is leaning toward Massie but still undecided.

“However, I do feel like it’s important to stay loyal. That’s where, I’m like, I’m a hot mess,” said the 57-year-old special education teacher. “Sometimes you have to just bite the bullet and compromise on things.”

Young said she will plumb through the Republican-backed bills that Massie voted against before she makes up her mind. What isn’t a major part of her calculation is Trump’s endorsement of Gallrein or his epithets against Massie.

Young still supports Trump, rating his second term at a “B to a C+” relative to his campaign promises. During Trump’s first term, Young said, she’d “probably put more stock in” his endorsement.

‘I’m going to vote for Massie even though he makes me mad’

At the Lincoln Day Dinner in Covington, well-dressed Republicans sat at circular tables, ate dinner and listened attentively as candidates gave speeches.

Steve Jarvis, a 77-year-old retired law enforcement officer, who stood near the late night coffee station, has decided to vote against Massie for the very first time.

“Made me sad, truly it does,” said Jarvis, wearing a bespoke American flag bow tie made of feathers, “I like Massie.”

When Massie first ran for Congress, Jarvis bought a Massie campaign sign, sized for a freeway overpass, and planted it outside his home, a few doors down from which lived Massie’s opponent.

But some of Massie’s departures from the party, he said, “made me nuts. I can’t do it anymore.”

One was Trump’s flagship Big Beautiful Bill, which Massie voted against citing the consequent budget deficit and increased inflation.

“I understand voting your principle once or twice,” said Jarvis, “but at some point in time when it becomes crucial, I think they have to get in line.”

Gallrein, he said, would get in line.

Jana Kathman came to a different conclusion.

“I’m going to vote for Massie even though he makes me mad,” she said while shopping for bagels at a local farmers market outside Covington.

The 56-year-old registered nurse said, “I just like him as a person, I like how he lives his life, and I know he stands very strong with his convictions.”

Though she still likes Trump, his endorsement and attacks don’t impress her.

“I don’t like when Trump plays the little games as soon as someone opposes him, but we know that’s how Trump lashes out,” Kathman said.

‘Antibodies’ to Trump’s electoral broadside

Gallrein mounted the stage at the Lincoln Day Dinner with a prepared speech. He grew up on a family farm, was inspired by President Reagan to join the Navy SEALs and was recently asked by Trump to serve his country again in Congress.

He hyped up Trump — “Do you know he doesn’t take a salary?” — and launched into a list of Trump-backed policies Massie had voted against, lumping him in with the “radical Democrats.”

Gallrein declined an interview request, and he’s declined to attend candidate forums and debates with Massie.

Several voters said they were grateful for Gallrein’s service, but still don’t have a grasp of his platform, aside from his fidelity to Trump.

Massie argues that’s why Kentucky should stick with him, using what has become a go-to refrain.

“Politicians promise during the campaign, and then they go to D.C. to go along to get along,” he said. “My opponent is promising to go along to get along.”

Massie is hopeful that Trump’s anger will blow over once he wins the primary.

“Once this race is over, I don’t think there’s any benefit to him attacking me, I’ll have the antibodies from a natural infection,” Massie said chuckling.

After years of being considered a conservative gadfly in Congress, he said, maybe he has some of those antibodies already.

“This will be the booster shot,” he said.

Bedayn writes for the Associated Press.

IN the weeks before we lost The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson on June 11 last year, he had two special visitors. 

They were the group’s surviving founder members, his first cousin Mike Love, and his best friend from college, Al Jardine. 

It was their chance to say goodbye to the man who, above anyone, brought “good vibrations” to the world and created their 1966 magnum opus Pet Sounds. 

First to venture up the drive at Brian’s Beverly Hills mansion for one last time was Jardine.  

“I last saw him at the very end,” he says. “I came up to the house and he just pointed at me. 

“He said, ‘You started the band’, and I went, ‘Wait, come on, Brian, I’m sure you had a little something to do with it!’ 

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“He was very direct at times — he could be very unfiltered — but I think our friendship meant a lot to him. 

“He was always my best friend, right from when we started out.” 

Despite Brian’s well-documented struggles with mental health, Jardine insists that his old buddy never lost his passion for music. 

“His reputation remains solid,” he adds, before supplying an answer to his own question: “What’s the term? Legend.  

“His work will be appreciated for centuries to come. He had his own style. Just listen to his arrangements and his chord changes — they’re just so unusual.  

“His brother Dennis actually said it first, ‘Brian is The Beach Boys’. He created our sound and, as Mike Love would say, he heard things we couldn’t hear.” 

Of his last visit to Brian, Love says: “A couple of weeks before he passed away, I was able to go and see him. 

“We had a great time. We sang together, actually, which was a lot of fun.” 

Love leads the latest incarnation of The Beach Boys, keeping their songs alive in concert, including Pet Sounds classics God Only Knows, Wouldn’t It Be Nice and Sloop John B.  

“Brian’s still with us every night in that music,” he affirms 

If Brian, younger brothers Carl and Dennis, Mike and Al started out by singing about surfing, girls and open-top cars in the California sun, it was the elder Wilson sibling who took things to the next level with Pet Sounds. 

A themed song cycle employing pioneering production techniques, sublime harmonies, divine melodies and darker, soul-searching lyrics, it is regarded as Brian’s masterpiece.

He had been impressed with The Beatles’ sonic adventures on Rubber Soul — now he was pushing The Beach Boys to raise the bar higher, in turn inspiring their chart rivals to make Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. 

Paul McCartney maintains that God Only Knows is his favourite song and that Pet Sounds is among his top three albums.  

He once enthused: “The musical invention on that is, like, ‘Wow!’  

“I just thought, ‘Oh dear me, this is THE album of all time, what the hell are we gonna do?’” 

To mark its 60th anniversary, The Pet Sounds Sessions — including demos, alternate takes and outtakes — are receiving digital, CD and vinyl editions. They feature a host of a cappella tracks shining the spotlight on the breathtaking harmonies.  

Which is why I’m speaking to Brian’s bandmates via video calls that seem entirely appropriate for singers who epitomise California’s sunny beach vibes.  

As we’re connected, Love, 85, reports that he’s “driving down the Pacific Coast Highway outside of Malibu”. 

In a separate call, Jardine, 83, is sitting in his solarium under clear blue skies in Monterey, gateway to the rugged Big Sur coastal region. 

First, Love gives me insights into his Beach Boys journey, leading up to the groundbreaking Pet Sounds.  

His mother Glee was the sister of Murry Wilson, father of Brian, Carl and Dennis, “so every holiday — Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Fourth of July — and birthday was celebrated with music. 

“When Brian and I were teens, we’d get together and sing or listen to the radio, hearing groups like The Everly Brothers.” 

When they formed The Beach Boys, the clean-cut image involving surfing, sun and girls was, he says, “environmental because we lived a few miles from the sea”. 

Love continues: “We would often go to the beach for family outings. There, you’d find people who dressed a certain way, talked a certain way and had a certain attitude.  

“They were the surfers who inspired our first song, Surfin’ [released in 1961].” 

As to whether The Beach Boys joined the craze, he adds: “Dennis, Al and I had surfboards but we weren’t the greatest athletes. We appreciated it though, and we gave it a shot. 

“I’m not sure Brian ever tried it. He could only hear out of one ear and didn’t have much balance. You need all the balance you can get when you’re surfing.” 

Love recalls how he would “sit down at the piano with Brian while he figured out chord progressions, tempos and melodies.  

“I felt it was up to me to come up with lyrics and sing lead on songs we were working on together such as Surfin’ USA, I Get Around and Fun Fun Fun.” 

Jardine, who currently fronts The Pet Sounds Band of ace Brian Wilson associates, also casts his mind back to the early days but is interrupted by “actual pet sounds”. 

“Hang on a second, we have a little dog outside and he’s barking — I gotta shut him up,” he reports.  

When calm returns, I ask Jardine how he came to form a band with three brothers and their cousin in 1961.  

He answers: “Well, Brian and I were classmates in high school but didn’t really know each other. 

“We were on the football team — he was quarterback and I was full back. He would call the plays, either pitching the ball to me or somebody else. 

“But we didn’t interact until we went to college. I’d heard him in concert and, in our second year, I bumped into him on campus and said, ‘We gotta start a band’.  

“We walked over to the music room and started playing music for each other.  

“I’d already been in a folk group and, when he heard me sing, he realised I had a gift. 

“Then he said, ‘I’ve got my little brothers and my cousin, Mike. I’ll introduce you to them. I rented instruments from a local music store but we didn’t know how to express ourselves at first, so we just sang a cappella. 

“Once we finally got around the piano, we were off and running. 

“I soon realised that Brian was a fine-tuned instrument. He had a great voice, a great knack for composition and already had a duet thing going on with Mike.” 

As for the surfer image, Jardine credits Dennis Wilson, the family rebel who played the drums. He says: “Dennis was a surfer and the rest of us were land lovers. He taught me how to surf but I sank like a stone. 

“But surfing was the craze so we put lyrics to our first song and called it Surfin’.” 

In 1964, Brian dropped the bombshell that he was stepping back from touring to concentrate on studio work.  

Love provides this insight into his cousin’s state of mind: “Brian wasn’t comfortable on the road — he got nervous and unhappy. He missed home and he missed the studio. 

“It was a drag to see him leave the live group but it was in his best interests.” 

Afforded fewer distractions, Brian applied himself to Pet Sounds and, in tandem with it, the sophisticated sonic miracle Good Vibrations — a standalone hit deemed not a good fit for the album. 

This period coincided with his experiments with LSD and marijuana.  

He once stated that drugs helped him achieve a deeper level of creativity but later expressed regrets over the damage to his mental health. 

Because of the complexity, Brian needed longer than usual to finish Pet Sounds so The Beach Boys released a stopgap party album, yielding one of their biggest hits, Barbara Ann. 

Then, after a tour of Japan in January 1966, with Bruce Johnston taking Brian’s place, Carl, Dennis, Mike, Al and Bruce returned for the momentous sessions.  

In their absence, Brian had employed lyricist Tony Asher and crack session musicians the Wrecking Crew, including, among many, Glen Campbell on guitar and banjo. 

Love says: “The tracks Brian had done were completely amazing. Our main job was to finish them vocally and we worked very hard.” 

One of the songs was God Only Knows, which he says was “sung so beautifully by my cousin Carl”. 

“We lost him many years ago to lung cancer. For concerts these days, my son Christian sings lead.” 

So what was Carl like? “He was our musical director on stage and the most proficient musician in the group,” replies Love. 

Jardine adds: “Carl could knock it out of the park. He was right in the centre of our harmonies with Mike’s baritone below and me higher, with Brian higher still.” 

And what about Dennis, who had a wild reputation and later befriended cult leader and killer Charles Manson? 

Love says: “He lived a dangerous life because of the alcohol and drugs he got involved with. He died [from drowning] in 1983.” 

Jardine adds: “Dennis was our Keith Moon. Oh boy, all he had to do was just stand up on stage and the crowd would go nuts.” 

It was self-confessed folkie Jardine who brought Bahamian sea shanty Sloop John B to Brian. He says: “I was a Kingston Trio fan. They were big Capitol Records guys, same label as us, and they wore striped shirts.  

“Learning all their songs was my musical training. When the time came to start The Beach Boys, I went out and bought striped shirts for us. 

“Sloop John B was my idea. I said, ‘Brian, if we add one major and one minor chord, it’ll sound like us instead of The Kingston Trio’. 

“He put it to good use. It became Pet Sounds’ lead single. Capitol always wanted a hit to sell an album.” 

Recalling the sessions, Jardine says that Brian’s abilities had been “growing exponentially” while they’d been away. 

“In spite of our jet lag, we were in the studio the day after we got home from Japan. We were extremely impressed with Brian’s arrangements. 

“People forget that he was a masterful producer. He knew the language. He could go into a studio and the studio became an instrument for him.” 

That said, it wasn’t all plain sailing, as Jardine explains: “Mike didn’t like the lyrics on some songs so he insisted on changing a couple around.  

“He thought a song called Hang On To Your Ego was too sophisticated for our crowd so he changed it to I Know There’s An Answer.” 

The story of Pet Sounds wouldn’t be complete without mention of the album title and cover shot of the boys among the goats at San Diego Zoo. Love says: “Brian didn’t know what to call the album.

“At the end [of final track Caroline, No], you hear a train going by and dogs are barking.  

“Those were Brian and [first wife] Marilyn’s dogs. So I said, ‘Why don’t we call it Pet Sounds? It was a double entendre, of course — and it stuck.” 

Jardine picks up the story of the photo shoot: “It was a total mystery to me.  

“We had to drive to San Diego, which was 200 miles away. We had our own zoo in Los Angeles, for God’s sake!” 

The resulting album cover has a quaint charm but it’s not exactly up there with Sgt Pepper’s iconic Peter Blake design. 

Love smiles at the memory and says: “I was in India at the Maharishi’s place when Paul McCartney and I had a conversation one night. 

“He was saying, ‘Mike, you ought to take more care with your album covers’. 

“So I told him, ‘Paul, you’re absolutely right.

We should’. 

“But we always felt that what went into the sleeve was more important than the cover itself.” 

And speaking of goats, to many including Macca, Pet Sounds is the GOAT. 

THE BEACH BOYS 

The Pet Sounds Session Highlights 

★★★★★

LOVE Island stars Millie Court and Whitney Adebayo have left fans confused as to if it’s all over with their American boyfriends Zac and Yamen as they continued to fuel split rumours.

The pair have posted a string of cryptic clues, hinting they have called it quits with their partners just months after the All Stars series ended.

Taking to TikTok, Whitney, 28, shared a video of her and Millie having a boozy girls night – and fans are convinced they’re now single.

Sitting in their PJs on a bed they could be seen cheersing their drinks as the words, “so we’re gonna heal” played over the top of the clip.

The sound continued: “We’re gonna start again. You’ve bought the orchestra, synchronised swimmers. You’re the magician.

“Pull me back together again, the way you cut me in half.”

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Millie, 29 and Whitney burst out laughing while the sound played and she captioned the post with six laughing face emojis.

While some fans in the comments thought the pair were joking with their viewers amid the break up rumours, others were certain they had parted ways with their villa hunks.

One fan penned: “Sounds like another break up.”

Another fan wrote: “The healing journey continues.”

Meanwhile, a third fan said: “They’re joking, rage baiting I love it.”

Whitney’s man Yamen first sparked split rumours earlier this week following a bold social media post to his “exes.”

He shared a montage of him in various places around the world and added: “Never block your ex. 

“Always let them see what they missed out on.” 

Stunning blonde Millie also made waves this week when she replied to a fan’s message asking if she was ok.

Millie said: “I am all good… I do feel like I have been very quiet with content and haven’t been posting much on any platform really. 

“I was away for a whole month and then last week was really busy with work and things I couldn’t actually show you guys. 

“And then catching up with friends and family and I didn’t want my phone to be in my face or their faces… big catch ups were needed.”

Rushing to the comments fans were quick to point out that she didn’t mention Zac at all.

Both Whitney and Millie are yet to officially address the rumours.

Jason Collins, the NBA’s first openly gay player who went on to become a pioneer for inclusion and an ambassador for the league, has died after an eight-month battle with an aggressive form of a brain tumor, his family announced Tuesday.

Collins, who starred at Stanford and Harvard-Westlake High, where he helped the Wolverins win to back-to-back Division III state titles along with twin brother Jarron, spent 13 years as a player in the league for six different franchises. He revealed in 2013 that he was gay, an announcement that came toward the end of his playing career.

Collins had been diagnosed with Stage 4 glioblastoma, which has an extremely low survival rate. He was 47.

“Jason changed lives in unexpected ways and was an inspiration to all who knew him and to those who admired him from afar,” Collins’ family said in a statement released through the NBA. “We are grateful for the outpouring of love and prayers over the past eight months and for the exceptional medical care Jason received from his doctors and nurses. Our family will miss him dearly.”

Just last week, Collins received the inaugural Bill Walton Global Champion Award at the Green Sports Alliance Summit. He was too ill to attend so Jarron Collins accepted for him.

“I told my brother this before I came here: He’s the bravest, strongest man I’ve ever known,” Jarron Collins said while accepting that award.

Jason Collins averaged 3.6 points and 3.7 rebounds in his career. He helped the New Jersey Nets reach two NBA Finals and in his best season averaged 6.4 points and 6.1 rebounds for them in 2004-05.

“Jason Collins’ impact and influence extended far beyond basketball as he helped make the NBA, WNBA and larger sports community more inclusive and welcoming for future generations,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said. “He exemplified outstanding leadership and professionalism throughout his 13-year NBA career and in his dedicated work as an NBA Cares Ambassador. Jason will be remembered not only for breaking barriers, but also for the kindness and humanity that defined his life and touched so many others.

“On behalf of the NBA, I send my heartfelt condolences to Jason’s husband, Brunson, and his family, friends and colleagues across our leagues.”

Jason Collins revealed his sexuality in a first-person account for Sports Illustrated in April 2013. He was a free agent at the time, said he wanted to keep playing, and went on to play in 22 games with Brooklyn the following season.

“If I had my way, someone else would have already done this,” he wrote at that time. “Nobody has, which is why I’m raising my hand.”

His decision was widely lauded, with star players such as Kobe Bryant quickly speaking out in support of Collins. There was even support from the White House and then-former President Bill Clinton — whose daughter, Chelsea, went to Stanford with Collins. At Stanford, Collins was roommates with someone who was part of another American political dynasty, that being Joe Kennedy III, who spent eight years in Congress representing Massachusetts.

Collins, in the piece for Sports Illustrated, wrote that he realized he needed to go public about his sexuality when Kennedy walked in Boston’s gay pride parade in 2012 — but Collins couldn’t do the same.

Until then, Collins kept his feelings about gay rights close to the vest. He wore jersey No. 98 for the majority of his final three playing stints with Boston, Washington and Brooklyn — a nod to the year that Matthew Shepard, a gay college student in Wyoming, was killed. He also wore 46 in one game for the Nets, since it was the only jersey the team had available when he signed.

Collins made nearly 61% of his shots in his career at Stanford, which remains a school record. He was an honorable mention selection for the Associated Press’ All-America team in 2001, a few months before the Houston Rockets took him with the 18th pick in that year’s NBA draft.

“It’s a sad day for all of us associated with Stanford basketball when we lose one of the program’s greats,” former Stanford coach Mike Montgomery said. “We all have great memories of Jason and the kind of person he was. It’s hard to separate Jarron and Jason because they thought so alike, but even though he was an identical twin, Jason was unique in his own way. The impact he had on Stanford was immense, as he could match up against anyone in the country because he was big, smart, strong and skilled, all while being a very bright and nice person.”

MAURA Higgins turned heads at Cannes film festival as she was seen for the first time since quitting Love Island USA.

The brunette beauty looked as flawless as ever as she put on a leggy display in France.

Reality TV star Maura has confirmed she’s walked away from her Love Island USA: Aftersun hosting job after three years.

As she continues to make big moves cracking America, Maura has revealed she’s ready for a fresh start.

The 35-year-old stepped out today at the festival wearing an incredible structured white shirt dress.

She flaunted her sizzling figure as the dress, with pops of aqua and hot pink, cinched her waist and flashed her legs.

Read more on Maura Higgins

casa no maur

Maura Higgins QUITS huge Love Island USA gig after three years

MAUR!

Maura Higgins proves she’s cracked US as she walks red carpet with Emily Ratajkowski

Maura kept the rest of her ensemble simple, donning a pair of matching white heels, some silver studded earrings and opted for no bag.

The Celebrity Traitors US star had her locks scrapped back into a sleek bun, leaving one piece to frame her face.

She gave the cameras a sultry pout as she posed for snaps.

Maura looked very glamourous, opting to have her makeup glowy and bronzed and finished with a nude pink lipstick.

The Irish star – who is heading for the Dancing With The Stars ballroom – told Vulture that she won’t be returning to Fiji for the upcoming eighth season.

She said: “You won’t. I’ve done it for three years, and they’ll always be family to me, but I think it’s time to try something different.

“I’ve got amazing opportunities coming in the door.

“I think it’s time to say good-bye. But you know what? I won’t say forever.

“I’ll still be watching from afar and I love them and miss them. It’s just time to move on.”

Maura has been dominating the US since her successful stint on Celebrity Traitors US.

She has certainly been busy, appearing on US chat shows, red carpets and has even been seen rubbing shoulders with Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker and model Emily Ratajkowski at industry events.

Irish beauty Maura skyrocketed to fame after debuting on season five of Love Island in 2019 – she’s among the show’s most successful participants.

Maya Hawke sits at a picnic table in Griffith Park with an iced tea and a small notebook and happily reports that she still likes her new record.

“Every other album cycle I’ve done, by the time I got to the point where the album came out, I hated it,” says the 27-year-old singer and actor. “I was just exhausted by the internet and by being public, and I wouldn’t want to post about it. So I kind of tried to build this rollout where it could be enjoyable. And it seems to be working.”

On this recent morning, she’s about a week and a half from releasing “Maitreya Corso,” a set of deep-thinking folk-pop songs about love and art and how the two intersect; to help drum up interest in the LP, Hawke’s fourth, she’s on tour playing intimate live gigs like the one she did last night at the Troubadour, where she was accompanied by Christian Lee Hutson, with whom she made the record.

Hutson, who’s known for his work with Phoebe Bridgers, is also Hawke’s husband: After collaborating on her 2022 album “Moss” and 2024’s “Chaos Angel,” the two were married this past Valentine’s Day in Hawke’s hometown of New York. (You may have seen the pictures in People magazine of the couple on the street with Hawke’s parents, Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, and her castmates from “Stranger Things.”)

As we talk, Hawke wears the same vintage Beastie Boys T-shirt she had on at the Troubadour; when we’re finished, she’s got a flight to catch to Denver for her and Hutson’s next show.

I was struck last night by the intense eye contact between you and your husband.
I’ve never played guitar before onstage, and so I think a lot of that is me being nervous and wanting to keep rhythm. I’m looking at his eyes but also at his hands. His chordal shapes are different than mine but I’m following the rhythm to make sure I’m staying in the pocket.

Why didn’t you play guitar before?
I’ve been playing since I was 11, but I reached a point where I was getting better a lot slower than my brother was or than other people in my life. You pick up the guitar to play and then a bunch of guys sit down next to you and they’re like, “Oh, can we jam?” And you’re like, “I don’t know if I can jam. I was trying to write a song and now you’re noodling all over me. You know what? I’ll just put it down.” Later, when I started making music professionally, I met all these extraordinary musicians, and I thought: Why would I play guitar when I’m not as good as you are? Then I really hated doing shows.

Because of that?
I’m not a dancer — I don’t want to be a pop star and do dance moves. I don’t have a big Adele voice. And standing up there and just singing — I was like, I should be at a poetry reading. So I made myself a promise that if I made another record I would have to play guitar and write songs that I can play.

It’s funny: You were both super locked-in during the songs, but then between them your banter was extremely loose.
I wanted to build a show that was a concert I would want to go see. I’m weird — I don’t love concerts, but I do I like it when people talk. I can hear the record at home — what I don’t get at home is a sense of the person.

Who would you say are some of music’s great between-song talkers?
Hmm.

I think Adele might be the best I’ve seen.
She’s really good. I saw her once when I was younger — I had a year where my dad took me to see all the biggest women of that year. I remember thinking: When I leave the theater, I’m filled only with joy and no jealousy because I could never do what she’s doing. That’s a gift from God, and I’m not in competition with that gift.

But after she hits you with that, she’ll just freestyle for three or four minutes.
That’s what I want too — I want to see some humanity, especially these days when everybody is being force-fed so much perfection and so much unattainable grace.

There are a tremendous number of words on this record.
It’s very verbose.

Why?
I love words — lyrics are my favorite part of songs. One of the first songs that got written for this record was “Devil You Know,” which was like an experiment where I wrote this poem in free verse. I’ve been in a fight with my husband about free verse versus poetic form. He’s pro-free-verse, I’m anti-free-verse.

What’s your beef?
My beef is: Free verse is great — I wish you could have spent a little more time making it rhythmically sound.

To you it feels like —
Like a first draft. The confines of a structure make your brain work in a different way: How do I get this idea across in a sonnet or a villanelle? But I tried writing this free verse thing, and I really liked it and wanted to write more things like that. Normally, I love the arrow of a Willie Nelson lyric, which is: What’s the simplest way I can say the most complicated thing? And I have some of that on this record, like in “Bring Home My Man.” But I also was like, What’s the most complicated way I can say the simplest thing?

OK, speaking of that: I read the essay you had this philosopher Justin Smith-Ruiu write about the album. I understood probably 11% of it.
I’m obsessed with him. I read his Substack religiously — it’s called the Hinternet. He’s just a brilliant genius, and I was like, I don’t know what he’s gonna say, and I don’t know if it’ll make sense to anyone, but it’ll make sense to me.

Honestly, some of the songs might also have gone over my head. How important is it to you that the listener grasps everything that’s going on in your music?
Zero percent important. I want people to take from it what they take from it. One of the coolest things in my life has been putting out songs and having people form crazy personal attachments — sometimes communal attachments, where all the people think it’s about the same thing and they’re all wrong. That’s so much more interesting to me than if they just thought it was exactly what I thought it was.

How do you listen to the songs you love? Are you trying to figure out where they came from?
Yes, but I don’t care if I’m right. I’ve had many a debate about what [Elliott Smith’s] “Say Yes” is about — gone through the lyrics with friends and been like, “Wouldn’t you say that this supports my theory?” But it doesn’t matter to me what it is. It’s just fun to try to connect all the dots.

Maya Hawke and Christian Lee Hutson in New York in March.

(Ilya S. Savenok / Getty Images for Tibet House US)

Break down the chronology of your and Christian’s relationship. You made this record not as married people but —
As engaged people.

How did that compare to the previous album?
When we made “Chaos Angel” we were maybe in a slightly uncanny valley of being friends who were in love but not together at all. But our working dynamic has always been pretty amazing, even from when we met doing “Moss.” Christian was really the person who made me want to play guitar and write music. He was like, “What do you mean your music isn’t good enough? Why, because you didn’t go to jazz school? I didn’t go to jazz school.” That kind of belief really shaped my journey from “Moss” until this record.

Are you the type of person who needs a facilitator?
I really enjoy support and encouragement, and I often need permission.

I wonder why.
Just a couple of weeks ago, I was talking to someone, and I was like, I want to spend less time with this person, but I want them to want to spend less time with me. I don’t want to be the one to draw the boundary — I need their permission to draw a boundary between us. My therapist was like, “We can work on that.”

Is this classic child-actor people-pleasing stuff?
I wasn’t a child actor.

When did you start?
I did my first audition at 15 but I didn’t get the part. Then I didn’t end up working until I was 18.

I’d argue that at 18 the world still sees you —
As a young person, yeah.

But I take your point.
I don’t know what it has to do with. It’s not exactly people-pleasing. There’s definitely an oldest-sibling thing I have a bit. I’m very interested in sibling-order theory. I think it’s extremely influential to who people are — better than astrology, for sure.

You’re older?
I’m oldest of five. Generally, when I meet eldest siblings, there’s a kind of interesting energy of someone who both needs to be in charge and needs a lot of permission.

Has anything changed about the way you and Christian collaborate since you got married?
We’re really happy, and we’ve been really happy. It’s awesome that we were friends for a long time first. When I got into relationships in the past, I would kind of pick the person that liked me the least. I didn’t like myself very much, and I thought that someone who didn’t like me must be a genius and that I could overcome my inherent ineptitude by getting them to like me. And in order to get them to like me, I would transform myself into becoming a person that they would like. Then we’d have a very happy couple of months until I got bored of not being myself. What being friends with someone first did was that it made it very hard to trick them.

Some of these new songs seem very clearly to be about the two of you.
Totally. A lot of this record is about how much I learned about what love really is — what it could be and how to be good to another person. My ideas about those things really transformed in the last couple of years.

As a child of divorce, were you ambivalent about marriage?
I think if anything it was the reverse. I wanted to get married twice in my life. Once was when I was 18 years old, and it was definitely mental illness: I want the nuclear family that I didn’t have, and I want it now. Then I was kind of neutral on whether or not I would get married. Then I met Christian, and I was like, “I don’t know if I’m ready to be in this kind of relationship, but you’re my person.” And we stayed in each other’s lives until it ended up being the right time.

Plenty of people find their person without wanting to have a wedding.
Are you a romantic?

I’m not sure I know.
When I was younger, I imagined myself in a sort of French marriage where we both cheated on each other but didn’t talk about it and had a lot of mutual respect. But I didn’t find a French marriage — I found my best friend. You know what a piece of s— I am and you still love me? I wake up every morning still happy to see you? That’s a miracle — we gotta have a party.

Last thing: Did finishing “Stranger Things,” which had defined the structure of your life for so long — did that change the way you think about making music?
It’s changed the way I think about everything. Basically, from about four months before the show wrapped until a year after that, I was pretty freaked out.

Because you knew a big change was coming?
Because I didn’t know how I would be reborn out of it. Even when I was resentful of being like, “I’m booked, and I can’t do this other thing that I want to do,” the show was so grounding. I was really lost without it. I’m not freaked out about it anymore, but I’m in a renegotiation of the structure of what I want my life to look like.

Do you feel some kinship with your former castmates on that?
Everyone freaked out in different amounts and at different times and to different degrees of wanting to talk about it. But we all collectively had a very, very intense time moving through the last season.

You’ve got upcoming acting projects —
I didn’t actually die like I thought I was going to.

But did the end of that job create space for music to play a bigger role in your life?
In some ways, it could become smaller. I had an ensemble part in a show that takes a year to film, which creates a tremendous amount of waiting-around time. I think that’s why so many “Stranger Things” actors have musical projects: You can’t film anything else but you can sit in your house with your keyboard. What I’ve really been feeling since the show ended was an invigorated desire to double down on acting. I’ll never not make music, but the music industry is difficult for me. I don’t know if it’s just that I was raised in the acting industry and I understand the things that are f— up about it better.

The music biz feels more opaque to you?
I struggle with some of the things that one should do in that industry to grow their project. When you’re promoting a movie, you’re on a team promoting an external item. When you promote a record, you’re doing self-promotion: “Buy my stuff. Do my thing. Put me on your chest.” It feels a little too “Look at me,” which isn’t my comfort zone.

Better start making those TikToks.
Yeah, I can’t. I really can’t.

Greg Davies has been called up to host the BAFTA TV Awards for the first time1

Greg Davies is back on our screens tonight as he hosts the BAFTA TV Awards for the very first time.

The 57-year old, known for co-hosting the hit comedy gameshow Taskmaster, follows in the footsteps of Graham Norton, Lenny Henry and Michael Parkinson in his MC role and said it was an opportunity he could not turn down.

“I used to watch Stephen Fry at the Baftas and marvel at his cool, intellectual charm. I won’t be bringing that,” laughed Greg ahead of the show.

The 6ft 8in funnyman shot to fame after starring as headteacher Mr Gilbert in The Inbetweeners and has since become a regular fixture on our screens, thanks to his TV roles in The Cleaner, Brassic, Cuckoo and Man Down.

Speaking as a guest at the BAFTAs last year, Greg gave a rare update on his personal life as he said he was ‘ready for a wife’.

The Taskmaster star and his co-host Alex Horne were nominated in the Entertainment category for their Channel 4 programme alongside The 1% Club, Michael McIntyre’s Big Show and Would I Lie to You?

Speaking on the red carpet, Alex said: “We’re an unlikely couple,” with Greg piping up: “That’s why we’re a good team.”

Alex then added: “And I would like to thank my wife for getting us here tonight,” before Greg joked: “I don’t have a wife so maybe I can thank Alex’s wife.”

Tom insisted he could meet his wife at the star-studded event, with Greg responding: “Maybe I will, I’m open to it. It would be so lovely, it’s been too long and I’m ready now.”

Alex simply quipped: “Lonely”,” as Greg added: “Oh god, the horrible hot lonely tears.”

The Cleaner star was in a relationship with Labour Party politician Liz Kendall between 2007 and 2015, but usually keeps his love life under wraps.

Liz told previously The Mirror about their romance: “I am not going to be the sort of politician who does all that stuff about their private life because it’s very precious to me and really important to me that I have that space that’s personal and just to me. We are not together any more but we remain really good friends.”

In the past Greg has made jokes about his disastrous single life and previously said he ‘gave up’ on romance while on The Graham Norton Show.

Greg said his grandfather once caught him in an embrace with his first girlfriend and the experience left him mortified. “It’s not for me, romance… that was the day I gave up on romance,” he explained. However, Greg counts one ex-girlfriend of changing the course of his life. His former partner, who he has not named, convinced him to switch from his teaching career to one in comedy. Speaking to The Times, he said: “I’ve been doing comedy for about 15 years now. I always wanted to do it, I just never had thick enough skin.

“A girlfriend I had while teaching was a pragmatist and always told me that if you want to do something, then go for it. So eventually I made the switch. Comedy is definitely where I’m happiest.”

During an interview with OK! magazine, Greg admitted that he had quite the crush on former Blue Peter star Janet Ellis, who also happens to be the mother of popstar Sophie Ellie Bextor.

Mortified Greg recalled: “I met Janet Ellis once in a fish and chip shop. I used to have a terrible crush on her, all throughout my childhood. Then I finally met her and said something humiliating, I think chips-based, that guaranteed I would never end up in the relationship I craved.” He added: “I met her daughter Sophie on a show once and told her I fancied her mum and she rolled her eyes and said ‘everyone does’.”

While he was known for playing doting dad Ken in the sitcom Cuckoo, the actor himself does not have any children. He does, however, have lots of experience looking after kids as he was a secondary school drama and English teacher for 13 years before moving into comedy.

That’s not Greg’s only transformation. In recent years the funnyman has admitted to using Ozempic to lose weight after receiving concerning health news from his doctor.

The host claimed to have lost three stone – and named the diabetic medication in an interview. Ozempic is not designed as a weight loss drug and is used instead as a treatment for type 2 diabetes in adults – however, many patients have experienced weight loss as a side effect.

He told The Times: “[I] lost three stone on the old Ozempic, in about four months, before putting most of it back on.” The interview also notes that his doctor warned him that if he was shorter, he would “look obese” – and that he is now considering turning to fasting in an attempt to maintain his weight.

Noting that he is not concerned about ageing, he added: “I think that’s probably good in my game, isn’t it?”

Plane etiquette can be a contentious topic but one flight attendant has shared five of the “basic” passenger habits she always “absolutely loves” to see people doing on board

A flight attendant has shared her top five “basic” habits she “absolutely loves” to see passengers doing while flying. Plane etiquette can be a hot topic, with many passengers holding strong opinions on what’s appropriate and polite behaviour – be it whether it’s acceptable to recline your seat or not, whether you’re obligated to swap seats if asked to by a stranger with a small child, and much more.

Playing loud audio, kicking the seat of the passenger in front of you, or ignoring the instructions of the flight crew are all seen by reasonable people as unacceptable ways to act while on board. Still, some passengers are guilty of engaging in unpleasant and unwanted behaviour.

Keen to shed some light on the positives displayed by people when travelling on a plane, one flight attendant took to TikTok with a simple video showing her working behind the scenes and sorting food and drinks out while on a flight.

In overlay text written over the top of the footage, she penned: “My top five favourite things passengers do on a plane”.

In the caption, she elaborated on this and said: “Top 5 things passengers do that I absolutely love:

• “1. When you take your headphones out as I walk up to your row

“Instant respect. You see me. I see you. We’re already besties.

• 2. When you actually pay attention during announcements

“I promise I’m not just talking to hear my own voice.

• 3. When you give a smile and a genuine ‘thank you’

“You have no idea how far that goes at 30,000 feet

• 4. When you keep your shoes on

“Especially in the lavatory. We all know that floor is not holy water.

• 5. When you treat the plane like it’s not your personal living room

“It’s someone’s workplace. And someone else’s ride home.”

She added: “It’s really that simple. Kindness + awareness + basic hygiene = elite passenger status.”

In the comments section, people were keen to share their thoughts. One person said: “Soooo actually basics and human behaviour”.

To which, another replied: “So sad so many people are selfish, rude and ignorant”.

A third said: “Blows my mind people don’t genuinely thank the crew when getting off a flight or after they bring you something”.

And a fourth commented: “When I’m getting off the plane and looking at people’s mess they leave, it makes me mad so I can only imagine how you feel”.

While the majority of TikTok users agreed with the flight attendant’s views, some did take issue with one point – the contentious issue of taking shoes off on a plane.

One TikTok user said: “I’m down for everything except shoes on at my seat. I’m so sorry I have to take them off”.

Another agreed: “Anymore than a four hour flight and the shoes are coming off and slippers going on”.

And someone else added: “I think shoes off is okay as long as you’re not barefoot and put them back on when you leave your seat. And if you travel a lot, nobody is listening to that nonsense – sorry. Everything else 1000%”.

Others stressed the importance of showing your appreciation to flight attendants.

Love may not be all you need these days, but a picture with it might help. This you can get beginning later this year when the Huntington installs its newly acquired “LOVE” sculpture by Robert Indiana near the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art.

Indiana first unveiled the iconic sculpture almost 60 years ago — also just a few days before Mother’s Day — as part of his 1966 solo exhibition at Stable Gallery in New York. While this early version measured only 12 inches high, the Huntington’s edition is 12 feet tall and 12 feet wide, making it an ideal vessel for you and your, ahem, loved ones to snap a pic with.

The polychromed aluminum sculpture is third in an edition of five, with two artist’s proofs, and will be the only “LOVE” sculpture in Southern California available to the public. It arrives at the museum’s San Marino campus as a gift of Terri and Jerry Kohl, who also provided funding for installation and long-term care.

“LOVE” is one of the most recognizable pieces of Pop art ever created — a ubiquitous symbol associated with a variety of social causes, movements and groups, including the LGBTQ+ community during the height of the AIDS crisis.

Indiana’s design for “LOVE,” featuring an L and slightly askew O stacked atop a V and E, first appeared on the Museum of Modern Art’s annual holiday card in 1965, and was apparently among the institution’s most popular holiday cards of all time. The artist completed his first monumental love sculpture, made from steel, in 1970. That sculpture is part of the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s collection.

In a news release, Huntington President Karen R. Lawrence said that Jerry Kohl believed that “LOVE,” “belonged in a place where it would be seen and experienced by millions of visitors in the years leading up to the Los Angeles Olympics, during the games, and far beyond. He recognized The Huntington as a cultural destination uniquely positioned to steward the work and share it with a broad public audience.”

“LOVE” will join a number of other outdoor installations across the Huntington’s expansive grounds and gardens, including two recently acquired sculptures by the Cuban-born artist Enrique Martínez Celaya, in addition to pieces by Sam Francis, Tony Smith and Harry Bertoia.

The sculpture also serves to expand the Huntington’s collection of American art dating from the mid-20th century on, joining works by Andy Warhol, Betye Saar, Elizabeth Catlett, Isamu Noguchi, Paul Manship, Gaston Lachaise, Elie Nadelman, Daniel Chester French, Sargent Claude Johnson, Richmond Barthé and Wilhelm Hunt Diederich.

If you’re planning a Mother’s Day jaunt to the picturesque Huntington, you won’t see the sculpture just yet, but you should still go. (This is where I wish all who celebrate a very happy Mother’s Day. Hi, hardworking, selfless moms everywhere: I see you.)

I’m Arts editor Jessica Gelt and I choose LOVE. This is your arts and culture news for the week.

The week ahead: A curated calendar

FRIDAY

Freeways 2026
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra fellows Alejandro Lombo, flute, Eder Rivera, oboe, and Nicolás Valencia, viola, and other emerging musicians perform works by Dranishnikova, Piazzolla, Mozart, Dvořák, Gaubert, Julia Moss and Ravel.
7:30 p.m. Colburn School, Zipper Hall, 200 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laco.org

My Birthday Party
Based on stories by Carl Sandburg and Viggo Mortensen, this immersive theatrical experience includes acrobats, aerialists and clowns from Cirque du Soleil and features surprise guests, with music by Veronika Krausas. Opening night performance by Thelma Houston.
8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday, through May 7. Fais Do-Do, 5257 W. Adams Place, L.A. playwithsprung.com

Lorenzo Viotti in Milan, Italy.

(Vittorio Zunino Celotto / Getty Images)

Rachmaninoff’s ‘Second Symphony’
In his L.A. Phil debut, flamboyant Italian-Swiss conductor Lorenzo Viotti and violinist Lisa Batiashvili join the orchestra for a fiery program of late-Romantic works.
8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com

Picasso: Le Monstre Sacré
Peter Tate’s solo performance piece, adapted by the actor and director Guy Masterson from Terri D’Alfonso‘s “The Loves of Picasso,” explores the complicated artist’s legacy from within.
8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday, through May 17. Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd. odysseytheatre.com

TJ Shin’s solo exhibition “Delta” is at Ehrlich Steinberg through June 11.

(Ehrlich Steinberg)

TJ Shin
The L.A.-based artist’s solo exhibition “Delta,” rooted in game theory, consists of a multi-channel video installation, drawings and a newly commissioned text by writer and professor Sunny Xiang.
11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, through June 11. Ehrlich Steinberg, 5540 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A. ehrlichsteinberg.com

The Sound of Music
The Hollywood Hills (and San Diego and Costa Mesa) are alive with the sound of Rodgers & Hammerstein on this tour of the latest revival of the classic romantic musical set in Austria as Nazi Germany moves to annex it.
Through May 24. Hollywood Pantages Theatre, 6233 Hollywood Blvd.; May 26-31. San Diego Civic Theatre, 1100 Third Ave.; June 2-14. Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. soundofmusicontour.com

SATURDAY

Ascent
This world premiere of a play by the late Henry Ong details the true story of aerospace engineer and cyberneticist Qian Xuesen, who co-founded Jet Propulsion Laboratory and was instrumental in United States’ World War II efforts before being unjustly forced to return to China. Direction and dramaturgy by Diana Wyenn.
8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays, through June 14. Skylight Theatre Company, 1816 ½ N. Vermont Ave, L.A. skylighttheatre.org

Maintenance Artist
The Laemmle “Culture Vulture” series continues with a 2025 documentary about Mierle Laderman Ukeles, who, inspired by Marcel Duchamp, inaugurated the idea that routine activities could be seen as performance art. Directed by Toby Perl Freilich.
10 a.m. Saturday and Sunday; 7 p.m. Monday. Laemmle Glendale, 207 N. Maryland Ave.; Laemmle Town Center 5, 17200 Ventura Blvd., Encino; Laemmle Monica Film Center, 1332 2nd St. laemmle.com 6 p.m. May 16. Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive, L.A. getty.edu

Wild Up: The Center Is Between Us
The eclectic ensemble performs Robert Ashley’s “The Park” and “The Backyard,” narrated live by Christopher Rountree, from the 1978 avant-garde spoken work album “Private Parts,” before being joined by the santoor and tabla duo of Kamaljeet and Jas Ahluwalia, along with cellist Chris Votek, for new work.
8 p.m. UCLA Nimoy Theater, 1262 Westwood Blvd. cap.ucla.edu

SUNDAY

Los Angeles Children’s Chorus
LACC presents two spring concerts: Sunday, featuring the Apprentice Choir, Intermediate Choir and Chorale; and May 17 with the Concert Choir, Young Men’s Ensemble and Chamber Singers.
7 p.m. Sunday and May 17. Pasadena Presbyterian Church, 585 E. Colorado Blvd. lachildrenschorus.org

MOMentum Place
Celebrate Mother’s Day in the great outdoors with aerial and circus performers, dancers and musicians, preceded by a brunch from chef David Gussin and Prose Restaurant.
Brunch, noon; performance, 2 p.m.; Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga. theatricum.com

Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger and Jack Nicholson in James L. Brooks’ 1983 hit “Terms of Endearment,” which won five Oscars.

(Paramount Pictures)

Terms of Endearment
James L. Brooks won Academy Awards for writing, producing and directing this adaptation of Larry McMurty’s novel, which should resonate with anyone who has or had a challenging relationship with their own mother on this Mother’s Day. Featuring a stacked cast including Oscar winners Shirley MacLaine and Jack Nicholson, and nominees Debra Winger and John Lithgow, as well as Jeff Daniels and Danny DeVito. Presented in 35mm.
2 p.m. Academy Museum, 6067 Wilshire Blvd. academymuseum.org

MONDAY

ASCAP Foundation Musical Theatre Workshop
Three new musicals presented as live readings with musical accompaniment and expert feedback panels: “Lilyville” by Antonius Anand Nazareth (Monday); “The Waiting” by Maria Isabella Andreoli and EmmaLee Kidwell (Tuesday); and “Legendary” by Cheeyang Ng (Wednesday).
7 p.m. Monday-Wednesday. The Wallis, 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd., Beverly Hills. thewallis.org

TUESDAY

Rachel Ward, left, and Jason Patric in “After Dark My Sweet.”

(Kino Lorber)

After Dark My Sweet
Actor Jason Patric presents a screening of his personal 35mm print of director James Foley’s 1990 neo-noir adapted from the Jim Thompson novel. Introduced by Alex Winter and followed by a Q&A with Patric and writer/film critic Travis Woods.
7:30 p.m. Vidiots, 4884 Eagle Rock Blvd. vidiotsfoundation.org

Sarah Andon
“Eclectic Engagement: Explorations in Sound, Space, and Collaboration” features the L.A.-based flutist and an all-star ensemble, including percussionist Nick Terry, pianists Todd Moellenberg, Bryan Pezzone and Aron Kallay, flutist Sarah Wass, violinist Shalini Vijayan and electronicist Cristina Lord performing works by Toru Takemitsu, Sungji Hong, Gabriela Lena Frank, Nicolás Lell Benavides, Herman Beeftink, Jerry Goldsmith, Ennio Morricone and Nino Rota.
8 p.m. Monk Space, 4414 W. 2nd St., L.A. brightworknewmusic.com

WEDNESDAY

Alexandra Silber adapted a new book for Lerner & Loewe’s classic “Brigadoon.”

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Brigadoon
Tyne Daly headlines this new adaptation by Alexandra Silber of the classic Lerne & Loewe musical about a mysterious Scottish village that only appears once a century. Directed by Katie Spelman, with original dances created by Agnes Demille.
Through June 14. Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molina Ave. pasadenaplayhouse.org

A Sea Symphony
Pasadena Chorale performs Walt Whitman’s words with Vaughan Williams’ music, featuring solos by sopranos Rachel Adcock and Asha Srikantiah and baritones Eric Werner and Tobin Sparfeld.
7:30 p.m. First United Methodist Church Pasadena, 500 E. Colorado Blvd. pasadenachorale.org

THURSDAY

Camerata Pacifica
The ensemble performs a program that includes works by Beethoven, De Mey and Bunch, and concludes with Shostakovich’s “Symphony No. 15 for Piano Trio and Percussion,” arranged by Viktor Derevianko.
8 p.m. Thursday. Colburn School, Zipper Hall, 200 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A.; 7 p.m. May 15. Academy of the West, 1070 Fairway Road, Santa Barbara. 8 p.m.; 3 p.m. May 17. Bank of America Performing Arts Center, Scherr Forum, 2100 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd.; 7:30 p.m. May 19. The Huntington, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. cameratapacifica.org

Arts anywhere

New and recent releases of arts-related media.

Open-Door Playhouse
Playwright Bernadette Armstrong launched this online venture during the pandemic to help other authors get their work heard by audiences. The endeavor has continued, producing dozens of audio versions of 10-minute and one-act plays delivered as podcasts. The latest release, “Holy Hell,” written by Barbara Lindsay, features a man (played by Gary Lamb, who also directed) and a woman (Elaine Mello) separately recounting the tragedy that united them. Open Door Playhouse is free, relying on listener donations.
opendoorplayhouse.org

“Rupert García: The Making of an American Artist, a Testimonio” by Mario T. García.

(Rutgers University Press)

Rupert García: The Making of an American Artist, a Testimonio
An oral history 30 years in the making, the book chronicles the life and career of the American Chicano visual artist and activist, whose work as a painter, pastellist and screen printer both documented and galvanized cultural movements from the 1960s onward. The book’s author, historian Mario T. Garcia of UC Santa Barbara, will be in town for a book signing at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. vromansbookstore.com
Rutgers University Press: $35, 215 pages.

Arturo Sandoval, who frequently performs in Los Angeles, has a new album, “Sangú.”

(The Wallis)

Sangú
Trumpeter, bandleader and composer Arturo Sandoval’s latest album — the title is a malapropism of “sounds good” made during the studio sessions — features 12 tracks of Afro-Cuban funk, blending bebop, fiery jazz fusion and batá-inspired rhythms. Sandoval will perform June 4-7 at Blue Note Los Angeles.
Self-released: digital download, $9.50. arturosandoval.com

— Kevin Crust

Culture news and the SoCal scene

Maria Wirries and LJ Benet in “The Lost Boys,” from left; Sara Chase and Brad Oscar appear onstage during curtain call of “Schmigadoon!” on opening night, and Joshua Henry and the cast of “Ragtime.”

(Matthew Murphy, left and right; Valerie Terranova / WireImage, center.)

Tony Award nominations were announced early this week with musicals “The Lost Boys” and “Schmigadoon!” leading nominations with 12 each, followed by “Ragtime” with 11. Malia Mendez has the full list, here, and Times theater critic Charles McNulty followed up with a story on 10 standout Broadway performances and shows worth celebrating, including Laurie Metcalf in both Samuel D. Hunter’s “Little Bear Ridge Road” and this spring’s revival of “Death of a Salesman.”

The Pulitzer Prizes were announced the day before the Tony nominations, and Bess Wohl’s play “Liberation” took home the 2026 Pulitzer for drama. The win foreshadowed what would come next: “Liberation” was nominated for five Tonys, including best play and director.

McNulty also rounded up three major Broadway musicals in one handy, sweeping review: “Cats: The Jellicle Ball,” “The Lost Boys” and “Titanique.” “Cats,” notes McNulty, has managed to distance itself from its kitschy reputation and checkered past to become “one of the hottest tickets of the Broadway season. It didn’t take a miracle, only a complete conceptual overhaul.” Happily, “The Lost Boys” also won McNulty over despite his “antipathy to vampire schlock.” “Titanique” was not McNulty’s favorite, but he noticed that his fellow theatergoers couldn’t get enough.

Joe Mantello at his home in New York on Friday, April 3, 2026.

(Evelyn Freja / For The Times)

There was not one free moment in McNulty’s New York itinerary in early March. While attending a flurry of shows, our critic also sat down to a brunch interview with director Joe Mantello during rehearsals for the new Broadway revival of “Death of a Salesman.” “A two-time Tony-winning director (‘Assassins,’ ‘Take Me Out’), Mantello has a résumé so extensive that it can be startling to recall that he’s the original Broadway director of “Wicked,” the blockbuster that has allowed him to write his own ticket. There aren’t many theater directors who can pick and choose their projects without worrying about their next paycheck, but he has become the Mike Nichols of our era in terms of the breadth and consistency of his theatrical success,” writes McNulty,

The Times got the scoop that Holocaust Museum LA will reopen June 14 as part of the new $70-million, 70,000-square-foot Goldrich Cultural Center. The center doubles the museum’s original 35,000-square-foot footprint and broadens the institution’s “focus on inclusion and community, with a diverse range of events and ramped-up educational offerings,” writes Times contributor Solvej Schou.

Composer John Williams, 94, attended the dedication ceremony of the new John Williams Performing Arts Center at North Hollywood High on April 29, 2026.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Times contributor Tim Greiving, who is also the author of a biography on John Williams, covered a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new John Williams Performing Arts Center at North Hollywood High — the famed film composer’s alma mater. Williams, 94, was in attendance and gave a few brief remarks in front of a crowd filled with other notable school alumni and friends including Kathleen Kennedy.

The Times published an exclusive on Pasadena Playhouse’s new 2026-27 season, which includes the post-Broadway debut of “Real Women Have Curves: The Musical.” Other offerings include a new production of Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s tragicomedy “The Visit,” the L.A. premiere of “Passing Strange,” and a revival of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.”

Comedian Kathy Griffin in 2019.

(Matt Licari / Invision Associated Press)

Comedian Kathy Griffin is staging her first-ever residency at the Plaza Theatre in Palm Springs. “Can You Handle This Heat? The Kathy Griffin Palm Springs Residency,” is scheduled to run from Jan. 31 to Feb. 26, 2027. Tickets go on sale today.

The Soraya has announced it 2026-27 season featuring eight noteworthy debuts and 45 performances, including Sutton Foster with Chris Walden and the Pacific Jazz Orchestra; the eclectic band Snarky Puppy; Majo Aguilar con Mariachi y Banda; Dance Theatre of Harlem; National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine; Los Angeles Philharmonic; Audra McDonald; and the National Symphony Orchestra. The new lineup also introduces Chad Hilligus as the Soraya’s new executive and artistic director.

Grand Performances announced its 40th annual Summer Concert Series featuring free outdoor shows in downtown L.A.’s California Plaza from June 6–Aug. 29. Highlights include a June 13 anniversary celebration with Jungle Fire, Healing Gems and DJ Liza Richardson; a tribute to the music of Stevie Wonder with DJ Spinna, Monalisa and MC Cognito; and a tribute to Roy Ayers led by composer Sly5thAve with a 12-piece ensemble including drummer Kassa Overall.

This week, IATSE filed unfair labor practice charges against management at the beleaguered John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, alleging the center broke its union contract by permanently eliminating union jobs ahead of its controversial temporary closure.

— Jessica Gelt

And last but not least

Looking for a great classic diner? Me too! This Food story will help.

Former WNBA MVP Tina Charles has retired after 14 seasons in the league.

“Today, I officially announce my retirement from basketball,” the eight-time All Star wrote in a post shared across her social media accounts Tuesday. “This game gave me everything and I’ll miss it deeply.”

The veteran center — the No. 1 overall draft pick selected by the Connecticut Sun in 2010 — played for six WNBA franchises over the course of her career, including a lengthy stint with the New York Liberty. Named the league MVP during her 2012 campaign, Charles is the WNBA’s leader in career rebounds (4,262), double-doubles (201) and made field goals (3,364), as well as second on the list for career points (8,396) behind Diana Taurasi.

“I’ve experienced the highest highs and the lowest lows, and I’m thankful for all of it,” Charles wrote, reflecting on her professional career and “lifetime of love for this game.” “Growing up in Queens, New York, basketball wasn’t just a game, it was a language, a rhythm, its survival, its expression. It pulled me in early, and I gave myself fully to it. It shaped me into the woman I am today and for that, I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Charles is an expected future Hall of Famer. While a WNBA championship eluded her, her career includes three Olympic gold medals with Team USA, two NCAA championships with the UConn Huskies and a number of titles in leagues overseas. Her individual accolades also include being named to the All-WNBA team nine times, most recently in 2021, and to the league’s All-Defensive team four times. (Charles did not play in the 2020 and 2023 WNBA seasons.)

In a July episode of Sue Bird’s “Bird’s Eye View” podcast, Charles spoke candidly about her thoughts around retiring.

“I thought I was done in 2023 when I didn’t play,” she said. “Then [I] came back, found the joy, love for the game again. But here, I probably think about it every day. … Going in, playing, at this age, in the 30-minute range. Just how you feel physically, and then it’s more games.”

Charles returned to play with the Sun for the 2025 season, starting 42 of 44 games while averaging 16.3 points and 5.8 rebounds. She received the Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award for the second time during her final season, for her work with Hopey’s Heart Foundation. Charles founded the nonprofit in 2013 in honor of her late aunt, Maureen “Hopey” Vaz, to raise awareness about sudden cardiac arrest and provide automated external defibrillators to schools and recreation centers that need them.

According to the New York Times, Charles is currently pursuing a master’s degree in sports management at UConn and is eyeing the possibility of working in a front office of a WNBA, NBA or college team in the future while continuing her Hopey’s Heart Foundation efforts. She also has plans to get into the beer business.

“There are still dreams in my heart that are waiting to be lived, and I can’t wait to share that journey with you all,” Charles said in her social media post.

Reuben Owen and his girlfriend Jessica Ellwood have been together since October 2024 and are starring in the new series of Life in the Dales on Channel 5

Reuben Owen and girlfriend Jessica Ellwood are back on our screens for another series of Life In The Dales.

The Channel 5 show chronicles the young farmer’s journey through the ups and downs of managing a machinery business at Ravenseat, the sprawling 2,000-acre family farm in Swaledale, North Yorkshire, where he honed his skills under the guidance of his parents, Clive and Amanda Owen.

Reuben, 22, first captured the nation’s hearts on Our Yorkshire Farm before Life In The Dales launched in 2024.

Beyond showcasing his farming exploits, he regularly offers fans a peek into his personal life with Jessica.

Jessica herself comes from a farming background, working on her parents’ Brough Castle farm, which houses hundreds of animals, reports the Express.

The couple got together in October 2024, and have since shared some loved-up posts on social media, marking Valentine’s Day, their anniversary and spending Christmas together.

They met at a young farmers’ convention, with Jessica later sharing on the show: “Ever since we first met, we just clicked. I think it’s because I’m from a farming background, so’s Reuben.”

She added: “I just love him to bits. Love his family, get on great with them.”

Reuben meanwhile told OK magazine: “It took me a while to ask her out, I wasn’t that brave but I just asked her one night, we went out for some tea one night and I’d lost my wallet and she had to pay for my dinner!”

In a previous interview with The Mirror, Reuben shared how his family reacted to Jessica, saying: “Mum and Jess get on well, they talk about sheep together, they all approve and they all get along really well.”

The couple are also planning on moving in together soon, as he added: “We’re just waiting for something to come up. I’ve got to try and get a nice place, get a bit of a farm somewhere one day.

“It would be ideal to have a farm where I can park my diggers and she can have her sheep and cows.”

When probed on the prospect of starting a family, referencing his parents’ large brood, he quipped: “I don’t think I fancy nine of them, I don’t fancy nine at all. We’ll have to wait and see.”

In a 2023 article for Farmers Guardian, Jessica, then 18, spoke about growing up on Brough Castle Farm in Cumbria.

She said: “Farming is in my blood: I grew up on Brough Castle Farm and remember helping my mum and dad in the fields from a young age. Since then, it is all I have ever wanted to do.

“I am now working full-time alongside my dad and taking on more responsibilities for different parts of the farm, which is really exciting. I have always loved working with animals too, particularly cows and sheep; they have their own personalities and I feel like I know them all. Because I have grown up with them since I was very little, I see all the animals as part of our family.”

Reuben Owen: Life in the Dales airs Tuesday at 8pm on Channel 5.

PEERING at Europe’s largest pleasure pier from high in the sky at the top of its big wheel, it’s easy to see why the Clacton crowds have been coming here for more than 150 years.

Sunny skies, sandy beaches, seaside snack stalls, circling seagulls and good old-fashioned family fairground fun – it’s the perfect coastal combo, just an hour and a half from the capital.

Follow The Sun’s award-winning travel team on Instagram and Tiktok for top holiday tips and inspiration @thesuntravel. 

Clacton hasn’t enjoyed the best reputation in recent years, even being crowned England’s worst seaside resort.

Telling friends we were off to the Essex coast for an Easter break drew either blank looks or bemusement.

But I found lots to love when I took my boys for a visit over the school holidays.

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Spring flowers bobbing in the sea breeze, we made our way past picturesque pleasure gardens and down to the pier, which is flanked by golden beaches on both sides.

Art deco signage and glistening white buildings welcome you in, with the Ferris Wheel standing proud by the pier entrance.

Stepping out of the sunshine and sea air into the noise and lights of the arcade can be a bit overwhelming.

So I recommend a stroll to the quieter end of the pier out to sea, where the Jolly Roger theatre still stands, to catch your breath before heading back to enjoy all the rides and attractions nearer to land.

After getting our Big Day Out Bands, we were soon whizzing down the vintage helter skelter, which has only just been rebuilt after a year-long refurb.

It’s an iconic attraction that visitors and locals look for on the pier, so the 75-year-old slide has enjoyed a warm welcome on its return.

Then it was on to the trampolines for a bounce with a beach view for my little boy and a go on the log flume for us all before heading indoors to take on the all-weather golf as a family. 

The clever thing about this course is that you start off indoors and then head outside for a few holes overlooking the sea and sand, so you can enjoy the sunshine on warm days.

There’s even a little lighthouse that makes foghorn noises about halfway around to complete the coastal vibe.

I was impressed by the sheer amount of attractions packed onto the pier, with dodgems, bowling, soft play and the Jurassic Pier dino experience inside and 16 rides including rollercoasters, water rides and a waltzer outside.

Every now and again, you get a glimpse between the planks of the boardwalk and realise that you’re strolling above the sea.

What a feat of engineering to build something that can support so many heavy rides and flocks of visitors while standing in sea water for more than a century and a half!

Our wristbands, which cost £22.50 in advance or £30 in person, covered unlimited rides, excluding the go-karts, the 18 holes of Skull Point adventure golf, a turn on the big wheel, a visit to the 4d show and dino models of Jurassic Pier and arcade credits.

You can also buy rechargeable fun cards which you top up and tap to pay for rides and arcade games. Entry to the pier is free, so you only need to pay for those who want to ride or play.

We were there on the warmest day of the year so far so strolling onto the beach just a few strides from the pier was a massive bonus.

We spent time digging in the sand, enjoying a picnic and paddling in the sea before giving the Ferris Wheel a go. It was lovely to look down on all the happy holidaymakers enjoying their day below us.

Of course, there’s more to Clacton than just the pier and nearby you’ll find the Pavilion Fun Park, which also has rides, bowling and a waterpark, the Upside Down House and even the town’s own Wetherspoons, the Moon and Starfish.

If the weather isn’t great, there’s two theatres and a cinema in the town centre to keep everyone entertained. The air show on the August bank holiday weekend is a highlight of Clacton’s summer season.

If you’re arriving by car, there’s free roadside parking along the front for up to three hours or the railway station is only a short walk inland, with trains out of London Liverpool Street taking 90 minutes.

Like many seaside towns, there’s parts of Clacton that are a bit rundown, including the High Street superstore that closed in 2021 and has not yet found a new lease of life. 

But with glorious gardens, a picture-perfect pier and beautiful beaches along its shoreline, Clacton certainly makes the most of its coast.

If you’re after a best-of-British bucket-and-spade trip that won’t break the bank, this star of the Sunshine Coast could be the perfect place to soak up the rays on your summer staycay.