Irish actor Brenda Fricker, who won an Oscar for her role in “My Left Foot” and whose Pigeon Lady befriended Macaulay Culkin‘s Kevin McCallister in “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” has died. She was 81.
Her talent agent Phil Belfield confirmed Fricker’s death in a statement shared with The Times on Friday. The actor died peacefully Thursday evening in Dublin after a “period of ill health,” he said.
“We will never see her like again and the world is lesser for the lack of her,” Belfield said in the statement. “I was honored to know, love and work with her and she will always have a place in my heart and in the heart of so many film and TV fans the world over.”
Fricker, who was born Feb. 17, 1945, in Dublin, appeared in nearly 100 TV, film and short projects since the mid-1960s. She reached international acclaim for her work in Jim Sheridan’s 1989 comedy-drama “My Left Foot,” based on the life of Dublin-born painter Christy Brown, who only had control over the titular limb due to cerebral palsy. Daniel Day-Lewis starred as Brown and Fricker played his supportive mother. She earned the Academy Award for supporting actress, becoming the first Irish female actor to win an Oscar, and Day-Lewis took home the prize for lead actor.
“My Left Foot” was also nominated for best picture, director and adapted screenplay.
In her review of the film for The Times in 1990, film critic Sheila Benson praised a “magnificent” Fricker for her portrayal of motherly love. “She plays [Mrs. Brown] like the rock she must have been, without a jot of martyrdom or a flicker of complaint and without an actressy moment,” Benson wrote.
The ‘90s brought Fricker additional roles in productions including “The Field,” “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” “Angels in the Outfield,” “A Time to Kill” and “Veronica Guerin.” She counted Cate Blanchett, Joe Pesci, Tim Curry, James McAvoy, Fiona Shaw, Sean Bean, Richard Harris, Christopher Lloyd and Tony Danza as co-stars, to name a few.
For generations of movie audiences, however, Fricker will most likely be remembered as the Pigeon Lady from “Home Alone 2.”
A sequel to the hit “Home Alone,” Fricker’s Pigeon Lady was a source of unexpected tenderness for Culkin’s Kevin, now stranded during the holidays in New York. He first encounters Fricker’s odd character in Central Park, dressed in oversized, dirty clothing with city birds resting on her head and shoulders. Though a terrifying sight at first, the film later reveals Fricker’s character has a heartbreaking past.
“The man I loved fell out of love with me,” she tells Kevin one evening, adding, “whenever the chance to be loved came along again, I ran away from it. I stopped trusting people.”
Kevin later gifts his new friend a turtledove ornament after learning the animal represents friendship and love.
Fricker continued acting through 2015 — with roles in numerous TV movies, miniseries, more than 70 episodes of the show “Casualty” and films such as “Conspiracy of Silence” and “Rory O’Shea Was Here” — but her career tapered off. She was last credited for the 2024 film “The Shallow.”
Fricker attended Catholic school but drifted away from religion in her late teens. She suffered injuries from a car crash at age 14, prompting her parents to spend their life savings on plastic surgery as part of her recovery. She also suffered other health issues during childhood and spent two years in a sanatorium.
“The positive side is, it taught me about self-sufficiency,” she told The Times in 1993.
She was a journalist for the Irish Times, where her father had also worked, before she started acting. She graced the stage at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company in London, and never looked back.
Amid her mounting fame in the 1990s and early aughts, Fricker did not heed the call to move Stateside and lived in the U.K. before ultimately returning to Dublin. “I didn’t like Los Angeles,” she recalled in 1993. “I don’t like the heat and I found it uninteresting. I wasn’t comfortable there.”
Before her death, Fricker penned a memoir, “She Died Young: A Life in Fragments,” about her upbringing and experiences with sexual violence and mental illness. In February, Fricker was awarded Honorary Freedom of the City of Dublin.
Lord Mayor of Dublin Daryl Barron honored Fricker in a statement shared Friday.
“She was a proud Dub with a sharp wit and warmth that exuded to all who knew her and experienced her work,” Barron said. “She will be sorely missed.”
EXCLUSIVE: Love Island star weighed in on Ellie Chadwick’s dramatic departure at ITV’s reality event in London today.
20:36, 17 Jul 2026Updated 20:43, 17 Jul 2026
Love Island stars’ heartbreak on Ellie’s exit saying ‘I wish she knew how loved she was’
Love Island stars have been having their say on the dramatic moment Ellie Chadwick made a shock exit from the villa.
Charleen Murphy, 27, found fame when she joined the cast of this year’s edition of the hit ITV2 dating show but was dumped from the villa after 30 days on screen. Meanwhile, Ellie was enjoying a blossoming romance with Finley Maddock but it all started to go wrong when he fell for Elicia, bombshell who entered the villa.
In shock scenes that aired on Thursday night, Fin was voted out of the villa by his co-stars and Ellie, in floods of tears, decided to leave as well, claiming that she couldn’t see herself finding love with anyone else.
Speaking about the dramatic moment, Charleen exclusively told The Mirror: “Her journey was definitely with him and it made sense to finish it with him but it was sad to see her go.”
Meanwhile, Lola Deal, who recently departed the island with Sean Fitzgerald, was asked if she was shocked by the sudden exit and told us: “Not if Fin was leaving. She really, really likes Fin, and it was always a thing that if he was going, she was going. So as soon as he was voted out, I think we knew she was going.”
Asked if could’ve told Ellie anything or given any advice, Sean said: “I would’ve told her to probably just weigh up how much you were gonna take of him switching what he was gonna be doing. He does really like her.
“They talked about their future together and everything, and she’s probably a bit further along with how much she likes him. She’s had a longer journey, she’s gone through all the other relationships she’s had. When he says he owes it to himself to get to know other people but he does really like her.”
Former Islander and current Love Island: The Debrief host Shakira Khan said: “I wasn’t surprised she left, i just wish she knew how loved she was on the outside and how supported she was.”
When Fin was voted out by his fellow contestants, Ellie simply said: “It’s fine. It’s done.” But she then whispered: “I can’t do it. I’m going,” and promptly burst into tears.
Ellie then insisted that there was no one else who would enter the villa who would make her as happy as Fin had and begged her co-stars to stop arguing over their decision.
She said: “Who is gonna walk through these doors and I’m gonna have a connection in two weeks like I did with you? F*****g leave it, stop arguing.
“I’m going. You’ve done what you had to do so I’m going so please don’t f***g argue with each other.”
She then reassured Lorenzo that she had “made peace” with her decision and was looking forward to seeing her family. Reacting to the news, viewers flooded social media with their opinions on all the action that had just exploded across their screens.
One wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Why would Ellie do this for a boy? She could have recoupled and still win. Everyone loves her over here. Why would you do this for fin?”
Another said: “They know Finley was using Ellie as a free ticket to the final. That was the ideal outcome tbh,” and a third wrote: “To be honest, if Ellie wants to leave, they should let her go and stop trying to make her stay. Crying over a guy who found you boring and moved on the way he did with Elicia?? The show isn’t about her.”
This article contains many spoilers for “Heartstopper Forever.”
In the early minutes of “Heartstopper Forever” — the feature film finale of Netflix’s hit teen romantic dramedy series — Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) notices a crooked photo strip on his boyfriend Nick Nelson’s (Kit Connor) bedroom wall. Gently pulling down the pictures, taken on the beach day they made their relationship official, Charlie smiles wistfully at their younger selves: “We look like babies.”
It’s a line that applies to the characters as much as it does to Locke and Connor. Four years after being catapulted into global stardom, the pair are bidding a bittersweet farewell to the roles that have defined their own coming of age.
“Season 1 does feel like an immensely long time ago that I do look back and think, ‘Yeah, we do look like babies,’” Connor says, with Locke nodding in agreement next to him on a recent video call from London. “‘Heartstopper’ itself was this tiny little show that was clearly something quite special to us, but we didn’t really think or know anyone was going to watch. And, suddenly, it became this thing that was immensely important to a lot of people.”
Adapted by Alice Oseman from her own bestselling graphic novels, which originated as a webcomic in 2016, “Heartstopper” chronicles the endearing love story between high-strung, gay overthinker Charlie and kind-hearted, bisexual rugby player Nick at an all-boys’ school in England.
Nick (Kit Connor) and Charlie (Joe Locke) in a scene from Season 1 of “Heartstopper.”
(Netflix)
Upon its debut in 2022, the show was lauded for its unabashedly joyful, tender portrayal of queer youth — a refreshing departure from the trauma-heavy narratives that dominate other teen dramas. Even as “Heartstopper” ventured into darker thematic territory, such as Charlie’s history of eating disorders and struggles with self-harm, Oseman’s writing never lost its deft, light touch.
From the outset, Oseman knew she wanted to end “Heartstopper” with Nick going off to university in Leeds and Charlie, who is a year younger, finding independence as head boy at school. But with her cast growing increasingly more in demand every year, the author-turned-screenwriter says it would have been logistically difficult to make a fourth and final season.
After Netflix greenlit a two-hour finale instead, Oseman elected to zero in on her protagonists — not unlike her comics — rather than give each character their own, heavily condensed arc. “I think that was definitely the right decision, because we really get to spend a lot of time with Nick and Charlie and not feel like we’re missing anything,” she says.
Directed by Wash Westmoreland (“Colette,” “Still Alice”), “Forever” finds the first loves grappling with the reality of an impending long-distance relationship, leading to a rash breakup and, ultimately, an emotional reconciliation. In a surprising role reversal, as Charlie confidently steps into a leadership role as an advocate for other LGBTQ+ students, Nick is left to discover his own identity and self-worth outside of being the protective, supportive boyfriend.
On the set of “Heartstopper Forever” as Connor and Locke film a scene from the movie.
(Samuel Dore / Netflix)
Connor, who also executive produced the film with Locke, felt Charlie and Nick’s romance would be better wrapped up in a feature-length format. “There were a few very important and crucial, but short and intense [plot points] — the breakup and the time apart, and the eventual makeup and the two of them discovering who they are without one another,” he explains. “Doing it in a shorter period, I thought, would make those things hit that much harder and feel that much more visceral.”
Unlike previous seasons in which she could rely on her existing comics as storyboards for the show, Oseman was working simultaneously last year on the sixth and final volume of the “Heartstopper” comics, released earlier this month, and the “Forever” screenplay.
Juggling the same story in two different formats turned out to benefit each end product. “When I finished writing the first draft of the script, it actually made me do a really big rewrite of the comic, because it helped me see which moments were really important and which moments didn’t need to be there,” she says. (One of the pivotal scenes was the Pride parade, filmed on the last morning of production.)
As first-time producers, Locke and Connor also provided script notes that directly influenced the story. For instance, “there was no scene between Charlie and Mr. Ajayi in the original script,” says Locke, referring to the gay art teacher, played by Fisayo Akinade, whose classroom became Charlie’s safe haven from bullying before he befriended Nick. “I was like, ‘That scene in Season 1 with them is so pivotal to the story. It would be really lovely to have just a little moment for them in the film that circles on that chapter of their relationship.’ And straight away, Alice was like, ‘Yeah, great idea. Let’s do this.’”
For his part, Connor always feared that the show’s “rose-tinted” approach, though part of the story’s appeal, “would not be nuanced enough to talk about the complexities of being human and being young.”
Locke says he proposed a scene with Fisayo Akinade, who plays art teacher Mr. Ajayi, as a way to circle back on their relationship.
(Netflix)
“There was one moment where I was like, ‘Oh God, I hope these young people watching “Heartstopper” don’t suddenly forget that these kids are human, and that these kids can make mistakes and still be lovely, delightful and good people,’” Connor says. With Oseman and Locke, Connor was adamant about “finding the place [where] these characters were being treated in a way that we all felt good about.”
According to Oseman, Locke and Connor were also heavily involved in selecting a new intimacy coordinator, Robbie Taylor Hunt. Over the years, the amount of sex — or lack thereof — in “Heartstopper” has been the subject of much discourse. “It always annoyed me slightly that people were like, ‘Oh, this is so unrealistic. They’re not having sex.’ They were underage. What do you want us to do?” Locke says with a wry laugh.
Oseman has learned to tune out that online chatter, accepting that she cannot please everyone — let alone represent the entire spectrum of the young queer experience. With each season and now this film, her creative team chose to age up the story slightly. After Charlie and Nick lost their virginity to each other at the end of Season 3, the film uses physical intimacy to reveal more about their maturing relationship.
Locke says those scenes were necessary to the plot. “The pier sex scene is this carnal lust between these two people who need to get it out. The sex scene in the pillow fort is a moment of connection for them,” he says. “And the big sex scene at the end of the film is the reconciliation of their relationship.”
In the end, Nick and Charlie decide to give their relationship another shot, confident that their love can defy the conventional wisdom that teen romances rarely last. But what they learn during their split is “that you can’t put all of your hopes and dreams, your mental health and your ability to survive into one person, because it’s not fair on yourself and on that other person,” Connor says.
Over the years, the amount of sex, or lack of it, in “Heartstopper” has been the subject of online discourse. The film shows more physical intimacy.
(Netflix)
The film’s epilogue, like in the comics, offers a brief glimpse of Charlie visiting Nick for a weekend in Leeds, ending with the two of them looking through the pages of a scrapbook that still has room for new photos. While Oseman has her own vision of Nick and Charlie’s future in 10 years — they’d be newly married with a dog, she believes — the actors who play them aren’t so sure.
“I feel like the beauty of ‘Heartstopper’ is that we get to see a chapter of these two young men’s lives, and it ends in a way that doesn’t promise anything,” Connor says. “Even if they were to not end up together eventually, it wouldn’t make the experience that they shared together any less special or pivotal to who they are as people. I think that’s kind of beautiful.”
Locke is reluctant to divulge his own interpretation of the characters’ future, preferring instead to let viewers make sense of the hopeful ending. “I hope they’re happy,” he says simply. (But for the record, the actors both believe that Charlie and Nick will stay together. “Of course, we all hope so,” Connor clarifies.)
Although she is ready to tell new stories, Oseman believes that she will be revisiting Nick and Charlie, who first appeared in her 2014 debut novel “Solitaire,” “in small ways for the rest of my life.”
“I think there definitely won’t be another 10-year-long webcomic — probably not — but I love thinking about what Nick and Charlie might be up to when they’re 40 or 60,” Oseman says. However, she adds, “I think the main story of ‘Heartstopper’ has concluded, and I do feel good about that.”
Like their high school characters, Locke and Connor are ready to graduate from the “Heartstopper” universe. Wary of being typecast, they have established themselves as versatile stage actors, making their Broadway debuts in “Sweeney Todd” and “Romeo + Juliet,” respectively. Onscreen, Locke joined the Marvel universe in “Agatha All Along,” while Connor has explored vastly different cinematic genres — his next major project, the film adaptation of the dark fantasy video game “Elden Ring,” will reunite him with “Warfare” director Alex Garland.
Even on the day of our interview, Connor and Locke looked a world away from Nick and Charlie. Locke wore an all-black designer outfit, while Connor — dressed in a light blue striped button-down over a white tank and khakis — had traded Nick’s signature floppy hair for designer stubble. Yet both actors have made peace with the reality that they will forever be linked to each other and their roles. “That’s part and parcel of the job,” Connor says.
Fittingly, the last scene Connor and Locke filmed as Nick and Charlie was the anniversary scene in the park where there is a fallen tree with the letters “N+C” carved into the trunk. “It was lovely because it was back to how a lot of the ‘Heartstopper’ experience has been, which is just me and Joe,” Connor says.
“I love thinking about what Nick and Charlie might be up to when they’re 40 or 60,” says creator Alice Oseman. However, she adds, “I think the main story of ‘Heartstopper’ has concluded, and I do feel good about that.”
(Netflix)
Would they be open to revisiting Charlie and Nick’s love story as older adults? “In 10, 15, 20 years, who knows? Maybe,” Connor says. “Even if Alice were to decide that they wanted to make a TV show about another character in the universe of ‘Heartstopper’ and they wanted us to cameo or something, then, hey, maybe.”
While the “Heartstopper” team expected the series to resonate with younger audiences, they have been particularly moved by the reactions of older queer viewers, who have marveled at the strides in LGBTQ+ representation onscreen. Coming from the world of young-adult fiction — where she notes stories of queer joy are abundant — Oseman recalls being surprised that “Heartstopper” was treated as an anomaly in mainstream media. Still, she is proud to have helped move the needle on LGBTQ+ representation, particularly when such characters remain underrepresented.
“My hope is that people will be able to look back … and say, ‘Hey, “Heartstopper” did really well. Let’s make another queer show that’s got the [same] ‘queer joy’ vibes,’” Oseman says. “I hope it’s been able to give that encouragement to the people in power to let there be more stories out there because we just need more, different kinds of queer stories.”
Connor believes that anyone can enjoy the show because “Heartstopper” simply captures the universality of “human beings being happy and being in love.”
“Obviously, the [queer] representation is incredibly important. I think that the very existence of the show and the comfort and safety that it can bring people is one of the things that makes it so special,” Connor says. And the demand for such stories “isn’t going to change,” he adds. “Queer people are always going to exist.”
Love Island’s Ellie Chadwick has spoken out after quitting the show shortly after a series of explosive scenes played out on the dating series following her doomed romance with Finley Maddock
Ellie Chadwick has spoken out after dramatically quitting Love Island(Image: ITV/Shutterstock)
Love Island’s Ellie Chadwick has spoken out after dramatically quitting the show. The real estate videographer, 24, had been taking part in the hit ITV2 reality dating series and was enjoying a blossoming romance with Finley Maddock, but it all started to go wrong when he fell for a bombshell who entered the villa.
In explosive scenes that aired on Thursday night, Ellie stormed out of the villa for good, having decided to leave when Finley was voted out by the other Islanders, and has now insisted that everything stated to kick off after bombshell Elicia set her sights on Finley during a recoupling.
She said: “When Elicia chose Fin at the recoupling, all hell broke loose. I was angry. As all the girls were saying, I just lost my cool. There had already been a little bit of back and forth. I more or less knew what was coming, but it had been back and forth and I just lost it. I had too much emotion in me to let out. I’d laid my cards out.
“I couldn’t do any more. I was just hurt. It wasn’t like she had done anything wrong. She had a job to do,she was a Bombshell. I was just feeling a type of way about it, and that was okay. Everyone in that situation was feeling a type of way, mine just came out in a louder way than everyone else’s.”
The reality star then admitted that she had hoped to remain in a couple with Finley and then accused of him of dealing with the situation in such a “poor” way to begin with, but ultimately thinks she has grown from her experience on the dating programme.
She said: “Obviously, seeing Finley up there was hard because it was a recent event and he hadn’t been in the bottom before. Then, when we got told about the second dumping and that we had to choose, I already kind of knew in my gut that it wasn’t going to go the way I was hoping, which was for me and Finley to stay there and continue to grow. There were no ifs, buts or maybes, or what ifs, or how could this play out.
“Finley knows fine well that I feel like he navigated it very poorly. I made that very vocal and I will stand on that. I always will. I think the communication was poor.
“A lot of the things that happened were not relayed to me in a proper way, which I would have appreciated. I’m big enough to take the truth on the chest.
“I’m happy with that. I’m a very direct, upfront person. I just think the communication was poor and the way he handled it wasn’t great. I understand he was confused. I was understanding the whole time, but there was only so much understanding I could do.
“There are definitely ways it could have been better, but we live and we learn. That’s what Love Island is. It’s about living and learning. I’ve learned a lot about myself there and I’ve got to give him grace on that.
“It doesn’t mean the grafting boots are off because we’re out now, those boots are still on. I believed in the connection we had so much. I just knew in my heart that it was going to work, regardless of what was going on.
Love Island continues tonight at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX
CHRIS Hughes was left devastated watching England’s defeat in the World Cup on Wednesday night – with the Love Island star shouting at the TV before storming off.
Chris Hughes was left furious as England were defeated during last night’s World CupCredit: Instagram/jojosiwaEngland lost to Argentina 2-1 in the devastating gameCredit: Getty
However, Chris was extra animated during the game.
His girlfriend JoJo Siwa filmed as Chris stood in front of the TV watching intently.
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And when Argentina‘s Lautaro Martínez scored in the 92nd minute, Chris furiously shouted: “Oh My God, England!” while storming off.
Angrily walking away, he continued to shout: “What are you doing?!”
Chris stormed out of the room in disbeliefCredit: Instagram/itsjojosiwaHe then placed his head against the wall following Argentina’s second goalCredit: instagram
Chris then completely stormed out of the room, and could be heard shouting: “Oh my good God”.
It’s a far cry from Chris’ usually soft-spoken demeanour, with girlfriend JoJo even admitting in the caption: “Didn’t know his vocals could reach that octave” with laughing faces.
Chris was watching the game over in the US, where he is currently visiting JoJo.
As the match came to a disappointing close, she filmed him with his head against the wall in dispair.
The couple have been together since meeting on Big Brother last year, and do long distance between London and L.A.
Chris wasn’t the only famous face to be left feeing down over the result, with Sam Thompson also taking to his Instagram Stories to rant about the loss.
Love Island fans think they have figured out exactly why Ellie Chadwick left the show before the latest dramatic scenes on the hit ITV2 dating show have even aired
17:06, 16 Jul 2026Updated 17:08, 16 Jul 2026
Love Island fans think they have figured out exactly why Ellie Chadwick left the show(Image: ITV/Shutterstock)
Love Island fans think they have figured out exactly why Ellie Chadwick left the show. The real estate videographer, 24, had been taking part in the hit ITV2 reality dating series and was enjoying a blossoming romance with Finley Maddock but it all started to go wrong when he fell for a bombshell who entered the villa.
It recently emerged that her decision to quit the programme all together reportedly stemmed from hearing the results of a viewer poll for favourite boy and favourite girl, and, in dramatic scenes set to air tonight, viewers will find out exactly what happened – but bosses have already teased the action with a clip posted to YouTube and Instagram.
In the preview clip, host Maya Jama tells the contestants: “The public have been voting for their favourite girl and favourite boy. The Islanders with the fewest votes will be at risk of being dumped from the villa tonight,” as the stars all look on in shock and horror as they await their fate.
Maya adds: “The girl and boy with the fewest votes are…” before the trailer cuts off, creating suspense for it all to play out in Thursday night’s episode. Now, fans are sure that Finely was the one who got dumped by the public and Ellie chose to walk out shortly after.
In the comments section on social media, one fan said: “Marta, Jordan Elicia and Finley get voted off. Ellie walks,” whilst another said: “Ellie would’ve won if she just binned Finely!”
A third wrote: “Finley likely is gone to the vote so Ellie left walked out of the villa, the rest is up to guesswork but we can make educated guesses as to who is at risk.
Last night, the contestants had to play a brand-new game called If You Know, You Know, in which they all adorned blindfolds and headphones. When their phone vibrated, each couple had to make their way to a podium to read out a controversial statement and then guess who it was who said it in the first place.
One couple read out the claim that “One half of this couple is secretly bored but too polite to admit it” and it was then that Finley said he was “a bit bored.”
The dramatic scenes aired shortly after it was reported that Ellie had walked out of the villa for good, and shocked fans instantly took to social media to predict it was the catalyst. Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, one fan said: “Finley has said he is bored of Ellie ??” and another said: “I don’t want to believe Ellie self-evicted for a man who literally said he got bored of her.”
Another said: “Omg Finley said that and they were all in ears to take Ellie back woow see how they are all in each other’s business but will be coming for Julia!”
Another wrote: “Oh was that boring comment to do with why Ellie left?” and a fifth said: “Finley said he’s bored with Ellie! That boy just keeps humiliating her!” On Facebook, one fan explained: “The received a statement that said this couple is one sided and one person is bored, which Finley had said to Kav in private apparently and it never came out, Ellie was clearly upset.”
Another replied: “OMG that heartbreaking for Ellie” and left a sad face emoji to emphasise how they felt. Just before the episode aired, it was reported that Ellie chose to quit the programme altogether, reportedly stemming from hearing the results of a viewer poll for favourite boy and favourite girl, even though she was not dumped by the public.
A source previousky said: “Viewers have seen Ellie threatening to leave across recent episodes, so the news of her now quitting won’t feel like a surprise.
“But in real time, her and Fin reconnected at the recoupling a few days ago so her decision to now leave is a shock. Viewers will see the dramatic action play out in an episode soon.”
The reality star had threatened to quit before, when it looked like Finley had begun to take an interest in Elicia Bailey. In Tuesday night’s episode, she was apparently back together with him, but that was all filmed days ago, and now Ellie has actually left.
Speaking to The Sun, the source added: “The whole fallout of the vote was electric and is going to make for amazing TV. Everyone was devastated that Ellie left, and viewers will definitely be left scratching their heads.”
Craig Clews, resort director at Gulliver’s World, said: “We are so excited to be launching our new accommodation as we know our guests will be wowed by what is on offer at the Enchanted Castle and Pirate Ship Hotels.
“The popularity of our short break stays continues to increase year-by-year, so this investment in our park helps to meet that demand and also provide families with even more options for cost-effective, family breaks here in the UK.”
The Warrington resort is already home to a number of different accommodations including tipis, safari lodges, Swizzels sweets-themed rooms and Nerf- themed rooms too.
Then inside the park, visitors can enjoy over 25 rides and attractions, including rollercoasters and play areas.
One hotel is princess themed and the other is pirate themedCredit: Gullivers World / sidekickTickets cost from just £15.25 per personCredit: Google maps
And tickets cost as little as £15.25 per person when you book online.
One recent visitor said that it was a “great day out for a young family”.
Another added: “This place is amazing for the younger thrill seeker. Loads for the kids to do and without having to queue as well.”
Love Island fans were left “heartbroken” for Ellie Chadwick after it was reported that she had quit the series for good after a tumutlous romance with Finley Maddock
Love Island fans have been left ‘heartbroken’ for Ellie Chadwick (Image: ITV/Shutterstock)
Love Island fans were left “heartbroken” for Ellie Chadwick after it was reported that she had quit the series for good and the reason why appeared to emerge during the latest episode.
The real estate videographer, 24, had been taking part in the hit ITV2 reality dating series and was enjoying a blossoming romance with Finley Maddock, but it all started to go wrong when he fell for a bombshell who entered the villa.
During Tuesday night’s episode of the series, Maya Jama told the Islanders they were to play a brand-new game called If You Know, You Know, in which the contestants had to wear blindfolds and headphones.
When their phone vibrated, each couple had to make their way to a podium to read out a controversial statement and then guess who it was who said it in the first place.
One couple read out the claim that “One half of this couple is secretly bored but too polite to admit it” and it was then that Finley said he was “a bit bored.”
The dramatic scenes aired shortly after it was reported that Ellie had walked out of the villa for good, and shocked fans instantly took to social media to predict it was the catalyst.
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, one fan said: “Finley has said he is bored of Ellie ??” and another said: “I don’t want to believe Ellie self-evicted for a man who literally said he got bored of her.”
Another said: “Omg Finley said that and they were all in ears to take Ellie back woow see how they are all in each other’s business but will be coming for Julia!”
Another wrote: “Oh was that boring comment to do with why Ellie left?” and a fifth said: “Finley said he’s bored with Ellie! That boy just keeps humiliating her!” On Facebook, one fan explained: “The received a statement that said this couple is one sided and one person is bored, which Finley had said to Kav in private apparently and it never came out, Ellie was clearly upset.”
Another replied: “OMG that heartbreaking for Ellie” and left a sad face emoji to emphasise how they felt. Just before the episode aired, it was reported that Ellie chose to quit the programme altogether, reportedly stemming from hearing the results of a viewer poll for favourite boy and favourite girl, even though she was not dumped by the public.
A source said: “Viewers have seen Ellie threatening to leave across recent episodes, so the news of her now quitting won’t feel like a surprise.
“But in real time, her and Fin reconnected at the recoupling a few days ago so her decision to now leave is a shock. Viewers will see the dramatic action play out in an episode soon.”
The reality star had threatened to quit before, when it looked like Finley had begun to take an interest in Elicia Bailey. In Tuesday night’s episode, she was apparently back together with him, but that was all filmed days ago, and now Ellie has actually left.
Speaking to The Sun, the source added: “The whole fallout of the vote was electric and is going to make for amazing TV. Everyone was devastated that Ellie left, and viewers will definitely be left scratching their heads.”
The story of Dan Tana’s, in many ways, is the story of Los Angeles.
In 1980, Dan Tana’s burst into flames. At the time, the Tana family was vacationing on a remote Yugoslav island when a telegram arrived: “The restaurant burned down. Call me, Pearl,” recalls Katerina Tana, one of Dan Tana’s daughters.
On the Shelf
Everybody Came to Tana’s: An American Dream Come True
By Dan Tana Radius Book Group: 384 pages, $30
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Dan Tana flew back to Los Angeles, expecting charred remains. Instead, he found handwritten signs taped to the restaurant’s door: “Rebuild it. This is our home. Don’t change a thing,” recounts Katerina.
News of the fire reached musician Linda Ronstadt, who swore that Dan Tana’s served the best plate of spaghetti in the world. The rock star became the immigrant-run restaurant’s unlikely patron saint, calling on her relationship with then-Gov. Jerry Brown to help clear the way for its reopening. Just six weeks after the fire, Dan Tana’s welcomed customers again, even without a roof.
“They open up the restaurant with no roof on it. There’s no air conditioning unit. It was the hottest day,” says Katerina.
Oddly, the fire ushered in a new era for Dan Tana’s — a rebirth, even. Like Los Angeles, the restaurant endured by reinventing itself. “In a weird way, he rebuilt better than he ever could have, because if the restaurant hadn’t burned down, it might not have lasted this long,” Katerina says.
Stories like these fill the pages of “Everybody Came to Tana’s,” the late restaurateur’s memoir, which chronicles the outlandish journey that carried a young immigrant from communist then-Yugoslavia to the helm of one of Los Angeles’ most adored dining institutions. Dan Tana died last year at age 90, but his legacy lives on — inside the restaurant and now in his own words.
On a summer afternoon, his daughters, Gabrielle and Katerina, sit at the Sunset Marquis bar, recounting their father’s remarkable life — particularly his championing of soccer and his contributions to the sport. With the World Cup now unfolding across Los Angeles, the sisters say they can’t help but feel his presence. “One of his big wishes was to be here for this year’s World Cup. That’s why I know he’s here,” Gabrielle Tana says. “He was very instrumental in L.A. getting the World Cup. Our father was constantly helping connect people,” says Katerina.
In the final years of his life, Tana became determined to tell that story, working with writers in Serbia and eventually a ghostwriter, Todd Gold, who requested no credit; the resulting memoir feels wholly told in Tana’s voice. “Our father, for years, was talking about how he wanted to tell his story,” says Gabrielle. “He was always pinching himself about the life that he had — the stories, the adventures, and his luck.”
Tana had an unusual path to becoming the restaurant owner of the renowned Hollywood red-sauce hideout. Born in present-day Serbia, Tana’s early life was marked by political oppression under Communist rule. His father, a restaurateur, spent years as a political prisoner.
Gabrielle and Katerina Tana with their dad at Dan Tana’s, circa 2001.
(Suzette Van Bylevelt)
“When you live in a country where political powers are constantly in play, when you own a restaurant, you’re the person who’s hosting somebody who’s having a dangerous conversation,” explains Katerina. From an early age, Dan Tana’s mother made Dan promise not to end up in the restaurant business.
Instead, Dan Tana became a soccer star, touring Europe with Red Star Belgrade before eventually escaping to Belgium — a decision that would set him on the unbelievable path to Canada and then Los Angeles, where he would serve a stint managing a nightclub called Peppermint West and even launch a modest acting career with the help of Natalie Wood.
The chapters follow the restaurant’s improbable success, offering extraordinary anecdotes, such as how a Yugoslavian immigrant happened to open a red-booth, comfort-food Italian restaurant. The answer? Hiring Mussolini’s private chef. “It was one of two chef options that he was given by his partners: Dan Reeves and Clarence Dan Martin, who funded the soccer league. [Dan Reeves] also bought the restaurant,” says Katerina.
Beyond dispatches from his red-and-white-checkered tablecloth joint and name-dropping, Dan Tana’s memoir outlines his significant contributions to soccer. Throughout his life, he maintained deep ties to the international soccer community, supporting Red Star Belgrade long after he retired from the sport. “He became an evangelist for the game because he thought it was a game that this country would appreciate,” says Katerina. “Football was always the biggest love of his life.”
Craig Susser, left in black, has been greeting patrons at Dan Tana’s for decades.
(Stephen Osman / Los Angeles Times)
Last November, when England faced off with Serbia for the World Cup qualifying games, the stadium held a moment of silence for Dan Tana’s passing. “There were people within the game who really wanted to acknowledge his contribution to the game,” says Katerina.
“A good restaurant has a good bar, and a good bar has ghosts,” reads the introduction. For Dan Tana’s, as far as ghosts go, they comprise a who’s who of Hollywood royalty. Johnny Carson once called it his favorite restaurant. Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Marilyn Monroe and other A-list stars were known to haunt the bar.
Even with its reputation as a watering hole for Hollywood’s biggest names, Dan Tana refused to pander to celebrities. “Everybody was treated the same. He never wanted the restaurant to be full of celebrities. He wanted to make sure that there were doctors, lawyers and teachers,” Gabrielle says. “He was almost a democratic socialist in that way.”
A revealing anecdote from the early pages of the book: Tana turned away Barbara Sinatra’s offer to buy out the restaurant for a night for Frank Sinatra’s birthday at $25,000. Tana refused. It wouldn’t be fair to his regulars. Frank Sinatra never set foot in the restaurant again.
Sonja Perencevic and Dan Tana attend the restaurant’s 50th anniversary party in Los Angeles in 2014.
(Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images)
In many ways, Tana was one of Hollywood’s quiet power brokers, earning influence through humility and respect rather than status. In 1972, mysterious mafia members came into the restaurant to ask Tana to procure early-screening tickets for “The Godfather.” Naturally, Tana obliged. The mafia returned to report they loved the now-classic film.
The proximity to the Troubadour also made the restaurant a hangout for up-and-coming names in rock music. “He fed so many of those musicians. He wouldn’t charge them. These were kids that had nothing,” says Gabrielle. She recounts a night when musicians from the Troubadour celebrated the end of the Vietnam War at Dan Tana’s; the event went undocumented, lost to history.
Rock stars aside, the place is a writer’s joint too. Eve Babitz — who was a close friend of 93-year-old Deanne Mencher, who still makes the cheesecakes at Dan Tana’s — was known for socializing at the restaurant. “If you got hungry, you had to walk over to Dan Tana’s. Tana’s was delicious and evil — all that garlic,” Babitz once wrote in her semi-autobiographical novel, “L.A. Woman.” Screenwriters, journalists and famed L.A. writers Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne were also known to frequent the restaurant.
In fact, Gabrielle and Katerina attribute the restaurant’s early colossal success to a Los Angeles Times review. It was 1966, and the restaurant was struggling. Art Ryon, a columnist at The Times, happened to stop at the restaurant before a screening at the Writers Guild of America and ordered mushrooms. “The L.A. Times made the restaurant,” Katerina says. “The next day there’s a line around the block, and my father has no idea what happened.” Tana was informed that he received a rave five-star review in The Times. Success soon followed.
Chicken Parmesan from Dan Tana’s.
(Jakob Layman)
The next generation of Hollywood — including comedy stars like Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller and Chris Rock — has continued the tradition. “SNL” cast member James Austin Johnson expresses his fondness for the restaurant. He discovered the restaurant after hearing Ed Begley Jr. rhapsodize about it. “The first intrigue is finding out who Dan Tana is,” says Johnson. “It has a West Hollywood mystique, like Chateau Marmont — like when Hollywood, the place and the business were all the same.”
Johnson loves restaurants that feel preserved in time. “It’s the idea that you can build something right the first time and then preserve it, so that people can be a part of your good idea when it happens,” says Austin Johnson.
Gabrielle and Katerina credit the enduring appeal of Dan Tana’s to its persistent lack of pretentiousness. The atmosphere evokes a Sinatra-era simplicity. “I think celebrities felt safe. They weren’t photographed, and they would be left alone,” says Gabrielle. The restaurant has kept its dim pink lights, which Gabrielle notes, “made everybody look good.”
The food has also remained consistent, with large portions and comfort food. “It’s not fancy, but it’s the best chicken Parmesan,” says Gabrielle. Over the decades, Dan Tana was approached about expanding the restaurant and opening second locations. He always refused, the restaurant’s humility always mirroring the man behind it. The restaurant, which felt like an anomaly, could not be replicated. “He always said: if I knew what I did right, I would do it again,” says Katerina.
Dan Tana’s originality continues to capture the city’s attention, its legacy now preserved in a memoir and carried on by its new owners, Mihajlo and Sonja Perenčević, who were friends of Dan Tana. Within its pages, the reader becomes one of Dan Tana’s beloved ghosts. “In a town that’s always trying to be something that’s not, it’s not trying to be anything,” says Katerina. “Dan Tana’s is longevity in the midst of ephemera.”
Connors is a culture journalist in L.A. She covers books, food, entertainment and offbeat Los Angeles. She’s currently at work on a book of essays about tourism in all its forms.
The full line-up for Celebrity Hunted on Channel 4 has been released, with stars from Strictly Come Dancing, EastEnders, Love Island and more battling the Hunters.
Brian Conley is going on the run(Image: Hoda Davaine/Dave Benett/Getty I)
Celebrity Hunted is officially returning to our screens, with a fresh batch of stars going on the run to help raise money for Stand Up To Cancer.
More than a decade after the first series of Hunted aired on Channel 4, the hit show will be returning to our screens very soon – as a string of famous faces will become fugitives in August.
EastEnders icon Brian Conley will be competing with his daughter Lucy, while Strictly Come Dancing stars Amy Dowden and Carlos Gu are also hoping to go unnoticed by Ray Howard and his “elite team of Hunters”.
Love Islanders Chris Taylor and Toby Aromolaran will be taking part, beside JJ Chalmers and Sophie Morgan, and presenters and siblings Scarlette and Stuart Douglas. Comedians Jen Brister and Laura Smythe also make up the line-up.
The celebrity pairs will have to “vanish into mainland Britain, cutting themselves off from the lives – and the fame – they’ve always relied upon. For 14 relentless days they must stay hidden, think fast and trust no one because the moment they leave a trail, the hunt is on.
“In a world where almost every movement leaves a footprint, can these celebrity fugitives escape the glare of the spotlight and remain under the radar, or will the Hunters bring every fugitive into custody before the 14 days are up?”
While Hunted first aired in 2015, the celebrity version began two years later – The Wanted singers Jay McGuinness and Siva Kaneswaran outwitted the Hunters to take home the crown in 2017.
The most recent season aired at the beginning of last year, with Christine McGuinness and Duncan James defeating the Hunters.
Shedding light on the upcoming season of Celebrity Hunted, which will begin filming next month, Factual Entertainment Commissioning Editor for Channel 4 Ian Dunkley said: ”When celebrities go on the run and are forced to engage the help of us mere mortals, chaos and comedy inevitably ensue.
“Hunted down by a motivated team of police and security professionals, this series reveals what it takes to remain hidden when everybody knows what you look like.’’
Matt Bennett, Director of Programmes for Shine TV, added: “Celebrity Hunted is the only TV series – alongside its cousin, Hunted – which continues to remind us of the powers of the state in an entertaining and engaging way.
“This is our most ambitious series yet, beginning with a breathtaking aerial launch amongst the skyscrapers of London, then a daring escape at the end of the run for any who evade capture… with a great deal of entertaining mischief in between.”
Love Island fans have taken to social media with celebratory posts as original couple Lola and Sean chose to self-dump after a public vote and a feud with Julia
Lola Deal and Sean Fitzpatrick(Image: ITV/Shutterstock)
Love Island fans have decided shared their shock after Lola and Sean, who have been together since the beginning, dumped themselves from the villa. Fans, who had been pushing for the couple to leave amid a feud with Julia, were excited to see them head out of the villa.
Taking to social media after the couple volunteered to leave, one fan said: “SEAN AND LOLA TAPPING OUT I DID NOT EXPECT THIS #loveisland #loveislanduk.”
“Wait they actually dumped Sean and Lola?? wtf oh my goddddd #loveislanduk,” said another.
Many felt that it was time for the couple to leave with one viewer sharing: “It was honestly their time to leave.” Others were a bit more ecstatic, with another saying: “War is over, Lola and Sean are gone.”
A third said they were “so happy” Lola had left the villa and hoped she would look back at her feud with Julia and how her behaviour, which included telling Julia to “be scared” to talk to her and refusing to join a peace chat amongst the girls, could be seen as “nasty”.
A fourth jokingly said “Pack those bags angel”, referring to the nickname Lola gave everyone. Meanwhile, several mentioned the England World Cup win from Saturday and implied Lola and Sean leaving was on the same level. “What a time to be British,” said one fan.
But some were on Lola and Sean’s side, respecting them for taking the decision to leave. As one fan said: “Fair play to Lola and Sean they weren’t actually playing a game and left. The other couples would NEVER.”
A second said that “no one deserves to be done dirty” the way Lola and Sean had been and that they hoped Lola really had found love, as she thought she had. A third said they respected the couple for leaving when the point was to get to the end as a couple and win the prize money.
The exit comes after a public vote. At the end of Friday’s episode, Julia and Lorenzo were voted the favourite couple. This came after several episodes of strife between Julia and Lola – Casa girl Julia had briefly hit it off with Sean, and when Lola found out she was livid.
Fans slammed Lola for her reaction to Julia, with many saying it was overly harsh and even Sean telling her not to be “petty” when she wanted to say Julia was only in the villa for “air time”.
So when a vote came up for fans to pick their favourite couple, they rallied behind Julia and voted her couple the best. The bottom three were Lola and Sean, Mica and Samraj and Martha and Jordan.
In Sunday’s episode, Julia and Lorenzo were told to pick a couple to send home, but before they could, Lola and Sean stepped forward to volunteer to go home. They said they’d found what they wanted and were happy to head home.
Lorenzo teared up as he agreed to send Lola and Sean home. Sean later said that it would’ve felt “selfish” for him and Lola to stay when they’d been together since the start and were already exclusive.
Katie had a very cheeky answer when asked for her thoughts on disposable camerasCredit: InstagramThe former glamour model is promoting her new Sky documentary Nothing To HideCredit: Instagram
Former Gogglebox star Joe fired off a series of 90s trends to Katie and asked her if she would bring them back or ditch them.
When he suggested disposable cameras, the mum-of-five suggested she’d used them to snap naughty photos back in the day.
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She said: “Nowadays, because you’ve got your phone, I think people take more explicit photos.
“With a disposable, you have to be careful and remember you have to take them somewhere like Boots.
She stood by her man when he recently spent time in Dubai’s Al Awir jail, where he was held over unpaid debts. Katie said on the Reign podcast this week: “There will be a documentary coming out about Lee, and he knows it.
“He’ll be appearing in it and yes, there is scandal around me — there always is. Not only now, there’s years of it.”
Heard about that fresh new wave of horror dominating the box office and charming even the snootiest of critics?
“Evil Dead Burn” — less an inferno than a partly scorched reheating — isn’t that. Director Sam Raimi’s original 1981 “The Evil Dead,” filmed in the Tennessee woods by a bunch of hyperactive dreamers, has since morphed into a monolithic franchise that mainly serves to keep the lights on. Some foundational elements remain: wobbly camera sprints through the forest, demons with a smiling love of bodily destruction. But the house feels dormant.
Sébastien Vaniček, a French filmmaker of vigor if not vibrancy, is the fourth director to pick up the series, now on its sixth installment. It’s hard to know from his palette what thrills him, or if he sees colors at all, given the film’s muddy, deadening grayscape. (A softly falling snow, almost mocking of the action to come, is a nice touch.) Vaniček knows where his movie needs to end up — a sloppy showdown in a home with a lot of power tools lying around — but sometimes he lingers, adding transient curiosity to a serviceable story.
A tense family coalesces around the memorial of its eldest son, cut down in the prime of what seems like an argument-leaden life. Mainly, we focus on Alice (Souheila Yacoub), his bruised foreign-born widow, a black sheep among them who doesn’t have any words to offer at the service. Already, they all hate each other, but what they don’t know is that younger failson Joseph (Hunter Doohan), a wannabe writer, has been busy going through his grandfather’s notes concerning the Book of the Dead, unwittingly summoning vicious spirits to a fractious dynamic.
These people shouldn’t be around each other, but whereas a mightier movie like “Hereditary” would simmer that grief into a boiling pot of bad behavior, “Evil Dead Burn” has something more obvious and darkly funny in mind. The spirits (we call them Deadites in this universe) slip into a human host, we see a telltale contraction of the irises, and it’s off to the races.
The gore comes like a tide, shockingly for a mainstream studio wide release. Vaniček is clearly inspired by the extremity that has marked so much horror from France over the last two decades, in notorious exports such as “High Tension” and “Martyrs.” But it’s also show-offy and ill-considered: When a family dog receives a furious fork-stabbing, it’s hard to know who the film is for. Elsewhere, heads are exploded by guns, cleaved and gashed, though not so irretrievably that a possessed couple can’t enjoy a long lip-lock (“You haven’t kissed me like that in years,” a partner says, her mouth bloodied).
As it goes on, “Evil Dead Burn” itself feels possessed by a kind of narrative impatience: Can’t we just get to the good stuff? Raimi was capable of shapelier storytelling than this. These reboots in his name — on which, it should be said, he is a producer — somewhat demean his legacy by reducing “Evil Dead” to a viscera delivery device. I can’t say the audience I saw it with was particularly juiced.
But a loopy grandma (Maude Davey), stricken with dementia, gets her licks in via a brutally deployed fountain pen that is notably not used for writing. There’s a hint in that. This movie is not for those who want anything beyond a steak served blue.
‘Evil Dead Burn’
Rated: R, for strong bloody horror violence and gore, and language
Chunky platform sandals, fitted baby tees, butterfly clips on perfectly crimped hair, brightly patterned skirts and tons of sparkles. Pure Y2K-fueled nostalgia filled the Kia Forum on Wednesday night in celebration of all things Hilary Duff.
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Duff graced the stage at the Inglewood venue as part of her Lucky Me tour, her first global headlining tour in nearly two decades. And her fans couldn’t have been more thrilled. The pop singer and actor, who released her sixth studio album “Luck… or Something” in February, performed two back-to-back sold-out shows.
Before the final L.A. show, we caught up with fans to talk about their outfits (many of which were inspired by Duff’s most famous roles such as Sam in “A Cinderella Story” and the title role in “The Lizzie McGuire Movie”), the memories her music brings up for them and why her work still resonates with them. Here’s what they had to say.
(Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times)
Tristan Hallam, 36, of Chicago
Tell us about your outfit.
This is my wedding dress that I had stuffed in a suitcase. She’s been in a suitcase for 10 years, and I still fit into her, which is nice. People ask me why I keep stuff and this is exactly why: You might get divorced and use it as a costume. My outfit is inspired by “A Cinderella Story.” It’s my favorite Hilary Duff movie. She plays diner girl Cinderella. She disguises herself with a mask and a L.A. Dodgers cap. I did have a tiara, but I didn’t bring it because I didn’t want to be too much. So I figured, you know what, why not buy an apron and a little black crop top, and rep L.A.
I have a tattoo of her signature. It’s a little faded because it’s like 10 years old, maybe older than that now. It was at a book signing at Barnes and Noble at like the Grove or something. I asked her if she would initial my wrist, and I got it tattooed the same night. I literally drove to the tattoo shop on Hollywood Boulevard with my arm out the window because I’m so clumsy and I didn’t want to smudge it. Then the next time I saw her, she asked me, what did your parents say? I said, “My mom asked me how long I kept the Sharpie on so long.”
How long have you been a fan?
I think I was like 8 or 9 years old when I saw “Casper Meets Wendy” for the first time. My grandma took me to like a K-Mart or something, and told me that I could get any movie that I wanted. Then I was into “Lizzie McGuire,” but as soon as Hilary started doing all her like movies and independent work, obviously the music is great. I used to live in L.A., so I went to a bunch of her book signings. I’ve done a lot of meet and greets for her concerts, and right now I’m traveling around. I’m going to 18, technically 19 shows now, and I’m gonna see her in New Zealand, Australia and some other places. I’m actually really excited because one of my friends, I met her in a Hilary Duff fan club chat room in 2005 on MSN Messenger, and we are still friends, so we are going to a ton of shows together.
Why does her work still resonate with you today?
The fact that we’re around the same age, there’s been a lot of relationship similarities. I don’t have any kids, but the struggles with family, with your dad, with your siblings. She’s got some songs that are more mature and relatable for people our age. People who have gone through ups and downs in relationships, struggles with family and figuring out who your real family is, not just by blood but who your chosen family is. I think that’s really important.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
Leilanie Martinez, 30, of South Gate
Tell us about your outfit and the inspiration behind it?
It’s my quinceañera dress. It’s supposedly very traditional to wear a white dress, like young women coming of age. For mine, I wanted to wear something that I didn’t see a lot of people wearing and I was very firm that if I didn’t find the love of my life, I was going to wear a white dress and this was my moment. My quinceañera was such a precious time. It really was a labor of love, and I think it’s one those memories I hold very near and dear. I think it’s an ode to her history, her legacy.
How long have you been a fan?
I remember I was 5 and I was running around in my neighborhood, playing with Barbies and watching “Lizzie McGuire.” I’m here today with my neighborhood and childhood friends. We used to watch it together and now we’re reliving our nostalgia and childhood.
Thinking back on when you first fell in love with her work, why does it still resonate with you today?
There’s a lot of power in her being a woman and she’s going through so many milestones that a lot of people my age are going through like having children and growing her career. Sometimes I think people “wash out” and I think it’s wonderful how she’s combating that narrative in so many ways, and that people are out here supporting her. I think there’s a lot of beauty in being able to be together as young women and relive some of these memories, but also cheer her on as she continues developing further.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
Crystal Chesher, 33, of Mar Vista and Isabella Sanchez, 33, of Culver City
Tell us about your outfit.
Sanchez: We’re channeling “The Lizzie McGuire Movie.” My actual name is Isabella. She gives more Lizzie vibes and I give more Isabella vibes. It’s funny because I’ve literally saved [looks] of Isabella and Lizzie on my Pinterest board and I’ve always wanted to dress up like this. It’s not 100% of what I wanted, but it’s giving what it’s supposed to.
How long have you been a fan?
Chesher: Since I was little. I remember watching “Lizzie McGuire” since the age of 10 at the very least so I’ve been growing up with her movies and shows. She’s definitely my idol.
Sanchez: Same. Growing up, I was bullied so she was a very big part of me being more positive about myself. I can relate to her and she really helped me. It just feels full circle to be able to see her at 33 when I wanted to see her when I was like 10.
Thinking back on when you first fell in love with her work, why does it still resonate with you today?
Chesher: She has a heavy influence in the LGBT community as well especially with the [anti-gay speech campaign]. I loved that. With her movies and her music, it’s all relatable and it resonates with you, the lyrics, the storyline and even her new album that just came out.
Sanchez: She’s just that girl. I’ve never even met her, but I feel like she’s so genuine and real and she’s always stayed consistent with who she is. She’s not like your typical celebrity. She’s just awesome. I’m literally probably going to tear up seeing her on stage.
(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
Lucca Petrucci, 33, of Santa Monica
Tell us about your outfit.
This is a last-minute choice. It’s very like ’70s or retro. I feel like I’ve seen her wear something like this. I’m wearing wide-legged pants, Doc Martens, platform, new haircut, facial. The inspiration for this fit was elegant pop star like confidence, grounded, a baddie. I’m a baddie who knows my worth and that’s what I wanted to embrace. I feel like she’s like doing that. She has a lyric that’s like ‘I look in the mirror, like I’m a bad b—.”
How long have you been a fan?
Since third grade. I thought she was my crush, but I think I just wanted to be her. So many of my core childhood memories are with her.
Why was tonight a non-negotiable for you?
I wanted to experience with my bestie and her sister. I feel like as a kid I didn’t allow myself to fully embrace it because it would be too girly, too much, too gay. So I feel like as a 33-year-old, I’m reclaiming that experience. I’m so excited just to hear everybody in the Forum sing “So Yesterday” and “Come Clean.” She has always been my number one pop star, to this day, and I’ve never seen her perform.
Why does her work still resonate with you today?
I feel like, especially when she was on “Lizzie McGuire,” she was figuring out who she was, but was open to being her authentic self. So I think that just like hit me when I was like in third and fourth grade, like figuring out myself. I felt so seen by her, and her music just brings back like such good feelings. Younger version of me, life wasn’t always great, but, I don’t know, she made things better.
(Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times)
Liv Guardado, 8, Priscilla Cruz, 38, Ava Guardado, 10 and Jezelle Velasco of Costa Mesa
Tell us about your outfit.
Cruz: We went thrifting for the first time for this. I’m plus-size, so thrifting is not easy in my size, so we did what we could. We got some overalls from Goodwill. And then we got some cowboy boots because we just wanted to be comfy.
Velasco: I probably stressed the most. I ordered so many pieces and it just kind of came together. I think the nails took the longest. One of my friends did my nails. It took some time but we got it done.
How long have you been a fan?
Velasco: Probably since I was their age. I never got to go to a concert, so this is my first time seeing her live.
Cruz: I definitely got inspired around middle school. I had a friend who was like Lizzie, and I was the best friend, Miranda. People would always say I was Miranda. I was a little older than [my girls], but I definitely have kept tabs on her life, and we love her.
Why does her work still resonate with you today?
Cruz: It definitely feels like memories and home when you think of her music from back then. And now she’s obviously stepped into a different phase of her life, and it matches where we’re at in our phase too so it’s nice.
Velasco: It just brings back the nostalgia from back when we were younger and now being parents, and being able to relate to her and her new music.
(Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times)
Paige Beard, 34, and Tayler Nelson, 27, of Bakersfield
Tell us about your outfits.
Beard: I was supposed to be wearing purple and she was going to wear green, and we were going to do the Isabella and Lizzie look at the end of “The Lizzie McGuire Movie.” It turned out more pink, but we ran with it.
Nelson: I was all about that performance, so I was like green. Gotta go green. We’ve been planning for a while, like two months.
How long have you been a fan?
Beard: I’ve been a fan for a long, long time, probably since “Casper Meets Wendy.” I was also a really big “Lizzie McGuire” fan, so I got into her acting as well as her music.
Nelson: Same. I was all about the Cinderella movie though, so it’s probably been 10 years for me.
Why does her work still resonate with you today?
Beard: I was telling my sister that I really liked “Lizzie McGuire” because it was one of the first times I saw somebody’s inner dialogue acted out in cartoon form. It showed me that I’m not too much. She’s a little bit older than me and I see her crying on stage and I’m like “OK, it’s OK.”
Nelson: “The Lizzie McGuire Movie” was a big turning point for me. I just loved how she expressed herself with what she wore and how she acted. I feel like I understood her in different ways. I enjoyed the dancing and the singing for sure. She felt free and I’m like, “Dang, I want that.”
(Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times)
Freddy Lopez, 38, and Raymond Lockwood, 36, of San Bernardino
Tell us about your outfits.
Lopez: Just a ’90s vibe. I guess a little old-school.
Lockwood: The outfits are a little last-minute because we were like we should’ve done diner girl [from “A Cinderella Story”] or one of her other movies, but we chose the little cartoon character from the show.
How long have you been a fan?
Lopez: I’ve been a fan since “Lizzie McGuire” and her movies.
Lockwood: For the past 20 something years. We grew up watching “Lizzie McGuire” and got introduced to Hilary Duff when she started singing.
Why was tonight a non-negotiable for you?
Lopez: We don’t know if she’s going to come back after this, so you’ve gotta take every opportunity. There’s other artists who cannot come back to perform right now. So when she said I’m coming back, we had to.
Lockwood: We’re healing our inner child. As a kid, we didn’t know she was having tours or we couldn’t afford to come out. Now, we’re like we don’t have to ask our mom and dad for anything.
Why does her work still resonate with you today?
Lockwood: For me, it’s being a teenager, watching the “Lizzie McGuire” show and watching the movie and then learning her songs. My favorite song is from the movie, “What Dreams Are Made Of.” It’s just us getting to live back in the past and kind of understanding it a little bit more. As a kid, our dreams are not what they realistically are today. I ended up becoming a nurse. As a kid, I didn’t sit on the couch like “Oh, I’m going to be a nurse,” but that’s what my dream ended up being.
(Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times)
Stephanie Rodriguez, 32, High Desert
Tell us about your outfit.
If you ask my fiancé, I was hunting for outfits and last-minute I was like, “I’m just gonna order something on Amazon.” When I saw this, I was like, “That’s it.” Total nostalgia with “13 Going on 30.” We went shoe shopping at the South Coast Plaza over the weekend. The metallic is pulling it all together and the butterfly clips.
How long have you been a fan?
Probably since I was like 8 or younger, pretty much very much obsessed. All of my holiday gifts were Hilary Duff. I had her K-Mart home products. Any magazines she was in, I got. Any outfits that I could try and replicate, I would. My first Hilary show was either Wango Tango or a Jingle Ball with KIIS-FM, so it was just a festival with a bunch of different artists but I went specifically for her.
Why does her work still resonate with you today?
I think a lot of us feel like we grew up with Hilary, so all of her music resonated with us then, and now, now that we’re older, through relationships or divorces or motherhood. It’s pretty cool to see just how we’re all kind of growing up together. The first time I think I found out about her was at the Glendale Galleria. I was recently telling my fiancé that my dad had me on his shoulders because she did a meet and greet and the entire mall was packed.
(Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times)
Kelsie Wagner, 35, of Temecula and Tyler Walsh, 35, of Long Beach
Tell us about your outfit.
Wagner: I’m channeling Lizzie McGuire. My favorite part is the butterfly clips.
Walsh: This is from Company D, which is a discount store for Disneyland. I was like let me get the biggest shirt and make it into a dress, but I’m wearing shorts — it’s still appropriate. I have like six authentic Disney pins here. This is about $200 on my hat. I was like I have to do something that represents. It’s a big hobby, pin trading, that I picked up in 2023. Then I wore my Lisa Franks. I figured I would channel everything from the ’90s and 2000s.
How long have you been a fan?
Wagner: Whenever the “Lizzie McGuire” show came out.
Walsh: I remember going to sleepovers with all of my friends and we would do Lizzie nights. I was on a soccer team and on Saturday nights, we’d go watch the newest episode. It was just so fun because I feel like I had a little clan that loved Lizzie. We went to her concert at the Grove together and it was back when you paid $50 to get in. We were front row and we like smelled her. It was wonderful.
Why does her work still resonate with you today?
Wagner: For me, especially her new album, she talks about marriage, relationships, motherhood, so it’s still relatable in that sense of that stage of life that we’re in.
Walsh: For me, it’s just nostalgia, because I’m not married, I have no kids, like I’m that fun aunt. And I will say, like, because she goes to Disneyland a lot, so I luckily got to meet her too. I asked her for a picture, and she’s like “Yeah, of course, honey.” It’s the most embarrassing photo of me ever though.
Wagner: I told her she should get it printed and wear it to the concert.
The fifth Strictly Come Dancing star has been revealed for the upcoming BBC series, following in the footsteps of Chris Appleton, Delta Goodrem, Dani Dyer and Lacey Turner
15:11, 09 Jul 2026Updated 15:23, 09 Jul 2026
Cach Mercer has been announced for Strictly(Image: BBC)
Cach rose to fame on last year’s series of Love Island, winning the public vote to be crowned the 2025 male champion. He won alongside Toni Laites, who now hosts spin off show The Debrief with Shakira Khan and Yasmin Pettet.
With almost 50 million likes on TikTok, he has earned a legion of social media followers for his posts showcasing his Afrobeat, hip-hop and street dance moves. Cach also works as a model and DJ, and is an ambassador for a young persons’ mental health charity.
Following the news, he said: “I have grown up watching the show with my family and am so excited to now be part of the cast. Dancing is a huge passion of mine and I can’t wait to learn Ballroom and do the Foxtrot for the first time!”
The show has already featured a Love Island winner, as series three champion Amber Davies made it to the final last year. Love Island finalist Tasha Ghouri also took part in Strictly and made it to the final as well.
Meanwhile, Dani Dyer, who won series four, was supposed to take part last year but had to pull out. As she has already been announced as part of the line-up for this year’s Strictly, Cach’s participation marks the first time two Love Island winners will go head to head.
The BBC have been announcing their celebrity line-up for the show since the middle of June, much earlier than their usual release which comes around mid-August.
However, there’s a lot of ‘new’ this series, with five professional dancers stepping away and another five taking their place. Hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman have also gone and three presenters – Emma Willis, Johannes Radebe and Josh Widdecombe – will replace them when the BBC show returns later this year.
It comes after celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton was confirmed to have signed up to the show. He counts Jennifer Lopez, Kim Kardashian, Sofía Vergara, Ariana Grande, and Katy Perry as his clients.
“I’m thrilled to be joining Strictly Come Dancing and coming home to the UK for this incredible experience. I’ve always believed that the best things happen when you take a chance and try something new. I may know my way around a salon floor, but the dance floor is a whole different story – and I can’t wait to get started,” he said.
Lacey Turner – who plays Stacey Slater on EastEnders – was the first to announce she was joining the show. She said: “I am so excited to being making my way to the dance floor this year to be a part of Strictly Come Dancing! I am a huge fan and can’t quite believe I will be taking part and not watching at home this year! I look forward to meeting everyone and learning a new skill!”
Dani Dyer, who had to withdraw last year after an injury, is also back. “I am so excited to be back in the ballroom this September! I just cannot wait to get my dancing shoes back on and hopefully this time around I can actually make it to week one! I’m just over the moon and cannot wait to find out who else is doing it!” she said.
Singer songwriter Delta Goodrem shared: “I’ve been incredibly honoured to perform on many different stages throughout my career – from tv, theatre, film sets, to touring my own shows around the world, there is however one stage I’ve never stepped onto and that is the ballroom floor! I’m absolutely thrilled to be joining Strictly and can’t wait to get started!”
Maya Jama looked stunning in her leather dress and matching bootsCredit: GettyThe sexy star turned heads as she headed to a TV interview in New YorkCredit: Getty
Love Island host Maya is known for her sexy looks, and her latest one in the Big Apple didn’t disappoint.
Taking to her latest Instagram Stories, the stunning star showed off her tight leather dress in a mirror selfie video.
The racy outfit clung to her tiny figure, and she completed the daring look with knee high boots.
In the next clip, Maya told fans that she felt she looked “very Matrix”.
Yesterday, Maya was on Good Morning America for her first ever television interview stateside.
Once again, she pulled out all the stops in a leather mini-skirt and top co-ord, paired with high heels.
The Love Island host is in New York to appear on US chat showsCredit: Shutterstock EditorialYesterday, she appeared on Good Morning America to discuss her TV workCredit: GMA
It came after fans noticed the host had been in the ITV2 villa much less this series, so the GMA hosts quizzed her on it.
Explaining her absence, she said: “It’s not up to me, it’s up to the producers that you need to speak to!
“I think this series has just had so much drama that they didn’t need me to intervene, it’s been so entertaining, so wild – as usual.”
Maya is known for her sexy looks and is taking the States by stormCredit: GettyAhead of her GMA appearance, she posed for a mirror selfie in her hotelCredit: Instagram
It comes after Maya responded to fans asking where she had been, as one joked she was on a “zero hour contract”.
She said on Instagram: “Jokes aside it’s not up to me how often I enter the villa.
Although she couldn’t give too much away ahead, she said: “This is the first time I’ve ever been a contestant and not a host. And I can’t say much, because it’s Traitors – you’re not allowed to say anything.
“But I’m excited! We’ll see how I act. It’s the biggest, one of the biggest shows in the UK, and in America also.
“It’s so much fun, whether you’re a traitor or a faithful, what an experience to get to do that. So, yeah, fingers crossed it goes well.”
Strictly Come Dancing is back for a brand new series and there’s some celebrities already signed up for the hit BBC show
Strictly Come Dancing is back for a brand new series(Image: BBC)
Strictly Come Dancing is back for a brand new series and some famous faces have already signed up.
The BBC show is returning this year with a brand new look after hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman stepped down. Johannes Radebe, Emma Willis and Josh Widdecombe have taken over hosting duties in a new look for the show.
Also, five professional dancers will step in to replace the five that have departed. Karen Hauer, Gorka Marquez, Nadiya Bychkova, Luba Mushtuk and Michelle Tsiakkas have all departed the show in recent months.
Here’s a look at the line-up so far – and who might be rumoured for the show.
Speaking about joining the show, she said: “I am so excited to being making my way to the dance floor this year to be a part of Strictly Come Dancing! I am a huge fan and can’t quite believe I will be taking part and not watching at home this year! I look forward to meeting everyone and learning a new skill!
Dani Dyer
Love Island star Dani Dyer was forced to exit the competition last year due to injury but is back this year again with a bang. She was supposed to appear in the last series but an ankle injury before it kicked off meant she had to pull out.
“I am so excited to be back in the ballroom this September! I just cannot wait to get my dancing shoes back on and hopefully this time around I can actually make it to week one! I’m just over the moon and cannot wait to find out who else is doing it!” she said.
“I’ve been incredibly honoured to perform on many different stages throughout my career – from tv, theatre, film sets, to touring my own shows around the world, there is however one stage I’ve never stepped onto and that is the ballroom floor! I’m absolutely thrilled to be joining Strictly and can’t wait to get started!” she said.
“I’m thrilled to be joining Strictly Come Dancing and coming home to the UK for this incredible experience. I’ve always believed that the best things happen when you take a chance and try something new,” he said.
“I may know my way around a salon floor, but the dance floor is a whole different story – and I can’t wait to get started.”
Known for her role as Gwen West in Gavin & Stacey, Melanie has also starred in Hollyoaks and had guest roles in a string of shows including Doc Martin, Casualty and Beyond Paradise.
TV and radio presenter Roman Kemp is also in the mix. During an appearance on The One Show, Emma Barton – who plays Honey on the BBC soap – was chatting with Alex Jones and Roman Kemp about the upcoming series after her own successful stint on it.
As Alex announced Lacey joining the show, she asked her co-star Emma: “Have you spoken to her? How is she feeling?” Emma then replied: “She’s such a gorgeous wonderful woman and the audience are going to love her.
“And I’m so proud of her because it’s nerve-racking, isn’t it. And it’s scary.” Emma then went on to say: “Roman you know as well” but he quickly stuttered as he said: “I have never done it. I’ve never done it.”
Olympian Sarah Storey is also rumoured for the show and “really excited to be learning a new skill”.
“She is obviously very competitive and hopes to give the contest her all, while letting viewers get to know her personality. She’s also keen to embrace the glamour of the show and is looking forward to getting dressed up,” a source said.
Maya Jama looked stunning in snakeskin on Tuesday as she arrived for her first ever live US TV appearanceCredit: Shutterstock EditorialPictured in New York, the Love Island host beamed for snaps before heading into the studioCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
The star donned a mini-skirt and top co-ord for the appearance, paired with black court heels, as she left her brunette tresses sleek.
She appeared on Good Morning America for her first ever television interview stateside, and divulged on the current season of Love Island on the show.
After Love Island fans noticed Maya has been in the ITV2 villa less this series, the GMA hosts quizzed her on it.
Explaining why she has been seen less, she said: “It’s not up to me, it’s up to the producers that you need to speak to!
She appeared on Good Morning America to discuss her TV workCredit: GMAAhead of the appearance, she posed for a mirror selfie in her hotelCredit: InstagramMaya also addressed why she has been seen in the Love Island villa much less this seriesCredit: ITVMaya has made less trips to Majorca this time around, admitting she doesn’t think she’s needed due to all of the drama going on in the villaCredit: ITV
“I think this series has just had so much drama that they didn’t need me to intervene, it’s been so entertaining, so wild – as usual.”
It comes after Maya responded to fans asking where she had been, as one joked she was on a “zero hour contract”.
She said on Instagram: “Jokes aside it’s not up to me how often I enter the villa.
While she couldn’t give much away ahead of the show airing, she did say: “This is the first time I’ve ever been a contestant and not a host. And I can’t say much, because it’s Traitors – you’re not allowed to say anything.
“But I’m excited! We’ll see how I act. It’s the biggest, one of the biggest shows in the UK, and in America also.
“It’s so much fun, whether you’re a traitor or a faithful, what an experience to get to do that. So, yeah, fingers crossed it goes well.”
Ahead of the interview, Maya took to Instagram to share some snaps to her Stories.
“Going on live American TV for the first time, ABC and Good Morning America. Wish me luck,” she wrote over a mirror selfie in her hotel.
Junior and Princess Andre give a joint interview as part of a new series about the life of their mum Katie Price.
19:17, 07 Jul 2026Updated 21:00, 07 Jul 2026
Junior and Princess have had a tough upbringing when mum Katie’s life went off the rails
The emotional children of Katie Price have broken down in tears as they recalled how their mother’s drug use meant she was unable to look after them properly and left them feeling “lonely” and unloved.
Junior, 21, and Princess, 19, have grown up in the spotlight since their parents Katie and Peter Andre split up when they were very young. And they’ve also dealt with the fallout afterwards which saw Katie struggle to cope and at one stage turn to cocaine to try to deal with her problems.
Junior says: “I remember missing her so much. This one time in particular, I was in her bed waiting for her to come back, and I woke up probably 3:30am to some loud noises, and I see her come in the room, and I’ll never forget the look on her face, she was obviously on stuff, right?
“I could see it in her eyes, and I was.. it scared me, because I’ve never seen my mum look like that. She’s there, but she’s not there, you know.”
Junior adds: “She wasn’t in the right headspace, she really wasn’t. And she wasn’t being a mum, she wasn’t being the mum that I knew from when I was a little boy.
“The amount of love she gave me was so immense that that’s what I missed so much. Mum was on drugs, and she could not look after us, and that is the reality of it. She couldn’t.
“And then I got fed up. I clocked on that this was a very unhealthy environment, and I needed to get out. I did leave. I think I was about 14 or 15, Thank God that my dad was stable, because that’s the house that I went to and gained my sanity back, you know.
“While I was wishing and hoping that my mum would come back and turn herself around. It made me feel like I wasn’t good enough, because she wasn’t fixing herself for me.”
His sister Princess says: “She’d give me a blanket, and she sprayed all her perfume on it, and that was like that was my, my attachment to Mum. So I remember after school I used to go home and just feel so like lonely in a way. I used to just cuddle to the blanket and just cry.”
She adds: “I stayed. I always wanted to be there for her, and I always wanted to show her that, like, she has me, she has us, but she didn’t understand that at the time, because she was so hooked up in her own problems.”
The pair, who break down in tears in the joint interview, also say they had to learn how to fend for themselves including making microwave meals and “looking after each other”. In a new Sky documentary series, Katie also is open herself about her drug use in the past. It came around decade after her split from husband Peter Andre in 2009, and coincided with a series of failed relationships including a troubled marriage to Kieran Hayler who she wed in 2013.
“It was the only thing that blocked everything out,” Katie says of drugs thinking back to the worst period of her life. It will take out that pain, it will take out any worry, it will take out the noise.”
She was regularly using cocaine and staying out late and not putting her family first. Looking back she says: “When I hear what the kids, how they saw it, it breaks my heart. But they were still always looked after, I still had people around me looking after them, like helping me.
“But that’s not good enough. Kids need their mum, kids need their mum’s love, their mum’s hugs, and I thought I was given that, but obviously I wasn’t. It must have been horrible for them, horrible for them, and I’m just sorry to them that I put them through that and thought I was doing the best I could with them, but what could I have done?
“I was unwell. I couldn’t even look after myself. I was more than rock bottom. I didn’t want to be. I wanted to die. I felt worthless, suicidal thoughts all the time.”
After one night of taking drugs and drinking, she crashed her car whilst feeling suicidal in September 2021. At the crash scene before being taken to the hospital, and then a police station, she had told her mum she “wanted to be out of it”.
“I remember when they put me in a cell it was like peace. Peace and quiet. I found that quite comforting. It is quite sad to think that,” She recalls.
Thankfully she also credits six weeks in The Priory after this incident with saving her life and helping her to learn to look after herself in a better way. Her relationship with Junior and Princess has improved as a result.
The new documentary covers the whole 30 year career of Katie, beginning as a glamour model who at her peak could command six figure fees for photoshoots or appearances on shows like I’m A Celebrity, where she met Peter Andre in 2004.
But since then she has been made bankrupt and is less in-demand to be on TV.
She is currently married to Dubai businessman Lee Andrews and her family express their shock on screen at the fact she again married someone in January she had known for just weeks.
On the documentary her stepdad Paul Price recalls a conversation he had before her fourth marriage.
“I said what’s she going to Dubai for? ‘To see a bloke’. I said ‘what’s the catch?’ And then we find out she’s getting married. I said ‘you’re off your head’. And then the geezer is in the paper pretending to be a millionaire.”
Asked if he was angry with her, Paul replies: “100 percent”.
Son Junior adds: “This is the most silliest stupidest thing, marrying a guy she doesn’t even know. This is my mum, this is what she does.”
Her mum Amy Price ends the film with a simple dream that her daughter will fine happiness and less drama in her life at some stage as she gets older.
Amy says: “In some ways, she’s still like a child. But she’s a good daughter. I hope she really does find someone to love and be happy.”
* Katie Price: Nothing to Hide, a four-part Sky Original series, will be available on Sky and streaming service NOW on 8 July.
ROSS Kemp has shared another passionate video raving about England in the World Cup.
The EastEnders star made headlines last week for his hilarious reaction to Harry Kane scoring the winning goal against the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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Ross Kemp shared another hilarious video reaction to England playing in the World CupCredit: Instagram/rosskemptvThe EastEnders star raved about England’s win against MexicoCredit: Instagram/rosskemptv
Now he’s gone and done it again, this time sharing his excitement over England‘s win against Mexico in the World Cup.
In a video posted to Instagram, Ross screams to his phone camera about Jude Bellingham scoring two goals while wearing an England football shirt.
The star says: “Come on England, come on England. You just keep it calm.
Jude Bellingham scored two goals for England in the matchCredit: GettyIt follows Ross raving about the goals scored by Harry Kane last weekCredit: Instagram
“Shut them up. Shut that crowd up, shut everybody up.
“Come on England, come on England. Jude, Jude, Jude, Juuuude. I love you. Love you.
“Keep cool heads, keep cool heads and we will shut them out.”
Fans watching the video thought it was just as funny as the last time and took to the post’s comments section to share their delight.
One user said: “Ross Kemp for next England manager.”
A second shared: “Love a Ross Kemp update.”
A third added: “Love your enthusiasm, come on England.”
It follows Ross’ passionate declaration about Harry Kane, which has since been parodied by Olly Murs.
The star ranted: “Yes! Yes! Harry Kane! Harry Kane!
“That’s what we’re talking about. Great changes made – a massive difference. Come on, England! Close it down. Close it down!”
Punching the air in triumph, he went on: “Four minutes! Four minutes! Plus extra time!”
Looking out of breath, the actor added: “My God, why do you do this to me? Come on, England!”
Harryscored two goals in nine minutesduring the match, delivering England to a 2-1 win and sending the Three Lions to Mexico City.
The Love Island villa welcomed Movie Night as secrets were exposed, but viewers ‘spotted’ a problem
Mica on Love Island(Image: ITV)
It didn’t take long for fans to flock to social media with their complaints.
Fresh drama erupted in the Love Island villa on Sunday evening (July 5) as the notorious Movie Night descended upon the ITV2 reality programme.
The twist enables the Islanders to assemble in the garden and view a giant screen displaying video footage from across the series. It’s during this event that private discussions are laid bare and startling romantic encounters are completely unmasked.
It provides the contestants with an opportunity to uncover whether their partners and romantic interests have been wholly honest, and discover what fellow Islanders have been remarking about them while they were away.
This year’s Love Island Movie Night sparked especially heated rows, particularly for the boys who stayed faithful following Casa Amor yet still snogged and chatted up the bombshells.
The selection for the Movie Night footage featured scandalous headings such as ‘The Affair’, ‘Mamma Mica’, ‘The Princess Jasmine Diaries’ and ‘Samraj Like It Hot’, reports OK!.
It was ‘The Affair’ that thrust Jasmine and Lorenzo’s developing bond into the limelight, leading Kavan to announce, “It’s all there, the affair is clear”. Yasmin also wasted no time in telling Lorenzo, “You don’t have a leg to stand on”.
Mica was next to appear on the big screen, and she promptly faced criticism as the islanders witnessed her burgeoning romance with Samraj unfold. The jaw-dropping scenes left Priya doubting everything as she confessed to other islanders, “I look like a mug all the time.”
‘Samraj Like It Hot’ once more placed Mica and Samraj at the centre of attention, courtesy of their developing romance. As Mica tried to justify herself, Priya remained unconvinced and said, “That’s so dishonest of you.”
Yet Mica and Samraj weren’t the sole islanders to come under fire as Kavan drew parallels between his and Jasmine’s situations following their choices during Casa Amor.
Immediately standing her ground, Jasmine told Kavan, “I did not do the same thing”, which didn’t land well, and the friction escalated.
Despite all the expected fireworks, some Love Island fans grumbled as the ITV programme broke for adverts just minutes into Movie Night.
Heading to X, one Love Island fan exclaimed: “Hydration break and ad break at the exact same time, alright man #loveisland.”
A second stated: “A break!? Seriously!? #loveisland #loveislanduk”, while a third chimed in: “BREAK ALREADY?? #loveisland.”
“Break after break after break, this is why there’s so much unused footage, mate #LoveIsland #LoveIslandUK,” commented one viewer.
“AFTER A 10MIN AD BREAK?! ANOTHER ADVERT?!!! ITV R U TAKING THE P*** ?? @ITV #LoveIsland #LoveIslandUK,” asked another, while another echoed the sentiment: “Did we not just come back from a break?! #loveisland #loveislanduk.”
EastEnders is set to welcome a new face to Walford later this summer as Casualty’s Jason Durr makes an appearance and is set to strike up a close bond with Linda Carter
17:48, 05 Jul 2026Updated 17:48, 05 Jul 2026
Casualty’s Jason Durr is joining EastEnders(Image: BBC/Jack Barnes/Kieron McCarron)
EastEnders is set to welcome a Casualty legend in the coming weeks. Actor Jason Durr, who starred in the BBC medical drama as David Hide, will be making his first appearance in Walford later this summer.
But his arrival in Albert Square will see him cross paths with local businesswoman Linda Carter [Kellie Bright], and it’s fair to say that the pair will see sparks between them both. Durr is taking on the role of Clive, a local councillor, when things start to heat up in the Square.
Local residents will be joining forces to save the Community Centre, Walford’s hub, which is at risk of redevelopment. Linda, who’s known for not shying away from airing her thoughts, leads the charge as things start to heat up.
But while planning to save the Community Centre, she and Clive strike up an instant friendship as he backs the campaign. But both Linda and Clive soon realise that there is more than just a feeling of friendship between them both.
Speaking about joining EastEnders, Jason said: “Few shows command their place in the national conversation quite like EastEnders, so I’m delighted to be joining the cast as Clive Masters.
“Working with the wonderful Kellie Bright has been an absolute joy and pleasure from day one. All the cast, crew and production staff have been incredibly generous, welcoming and good humoured. I’m excited for audiences to meet Clive and see what’s in store.”
And it’s set to be an exciting time for Linda, who has endured her fair share of heartache in recent years. Her soulmate and husband, Mick Carter (Danny Dyer), died after Janine Butcher’s (Charlie Brooks) secrets were unravelled, resulting in a feud on the coast. She also battled alcoholism and murdered Keanu Taylor (Danny Walters), following a fight at the Queen Vic as she attempted to save her best friend, Sharon (Letitia Dean).
The Mirror understands that Jason has already started filming his scenes, which will air later this summer. His role comes three years after Jason walked away from Casualty, having left Holby City three years prior.
His character, David, left Wyvern’s emergency department after the death of his colleague, Robyn (Amanda Henderson). At the time, Jason said he was planning to spend more time with his family, as well as explore other opportunities in the industry. His role was open for a possible return in the future.
Confirming his exit on social media, he shared a snap of himself, alongside the caption: “After 6 yrs playing the wonderfully complex #NurseDavidHide @bbccasualtyofficial I’ve hung up my scrubs.
“I’ve forged firm friendships, learnt to pronounce Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty & had my squeamishness thoroughly challenged! Here’s to new adventures (hopefully with less blood & guts).”
Over the course of his time on the show, Jason’s character David was at the centre of a string of huge storylines. One included the death of his teen son, Ollie, who, with a friend, Rob, set out to carry out a mass shooting at their school.
He’s also appeared in the likes of Lewis, Midsomer Murders, Above Suspicion and Shakespeare & Hathaway.
