DAMON ALBARN has found the woman to drag him off his very own melancholy hill.
The Blur frontman’s 25-year relationship with Suzi Winstanley ended four years ago, but now I’m told he has been secretly dating long-time Gorillaz collaborator Rebecca Freckleton for almost a year.
And now, things have got more serious, as pals say the couple are shacked up in his London pad.
My exclusive photos show that Damon and Rebecca are absolutely smitten, and I’m told they’ve been inseparable for months.
I first heard whispers about their relationship late last year, with friends telling me Rebecca and Damon’s friendship was moving to the next level.
Over the past few months, the pair have been seen together in public on a handful of occasions.
“Damon and Rebecca are in love and their friends couldn’t be happier for them,” one insider told me.
“After his split from Suzi in 2022, Damon took some time to find himself again. It was a few years later he started to grow closer to Rebecca.
“They’ve been seeing each other for almost a year now.
“He’s got a place in London and she’s there all the time with him.
“She’s been seen out walking his dog, too. They make a lovely couple and it’s been great to see Damon so happy again.”
I first revealed Damon and Suzi, the mother of his daughter, Missy, had split three years ago.
The pair ended their relationship in 2022, with friends revealing the news early the following year.
Damon, who wrote On Melancholy Hill for Gorillaz album Plastic Beach in 2010, poured his heartbreak into Blur’s comeback album, The Ballad Of Darren, which came out in 2023 and went straight to No1.
And he had the same success with Gorillaz’s latest record, The Mountain, which hit the top spot in the album chart back in March.
Rebecca was on board for that project and sang backing vocals on their track, The Empty Dream.
Damon certainly won’t have any of those with Rebecca by his side.
WHEN one door closes, another opens – and that’s exactly what’s happened to Robbie Williams and his wife Ayda Field.
After he launched new clothing line Hopeium last week, hers, Ayda Activewear, was put on ice.
Former Loose Women panellist Ayda debuted her range of cool athleisure clobber back in 2022 and it was initially a big success – but things became more tricky.
A source said: “The market is fiercely competitive and while Ayda Activewear did take off, business has been tough recently.
“The way the markets are, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for brands like this to operate.
“Naturally she hopes one day she could open it back up, but only time will tell.”
Shoppers visiting Ayda’s website are now greeted with a message blaming “sizeable tariffs and overall economic uncertainty” for a “pause” in trading.
In a personal note, she wrote: “I envisioned clothes that were ready to reflect and tackle the chaos of my life and make me feel f***ing fantastic while doing it. Thanks to you all, I got to do just that.
“It’s been an absolute pleasure and I thank you so much for the enduring support. For now we’re hitting the pause button but don’t worry – we’re still stretching and dreaming . . . and wearing leggings every damn day.”
Amen to that, Ayda.
SAM SMITH says they have never been as proud of an album as new record, Hazel Eyes.
The LP came out yesterday and is reminiscent of their 2014 debut, In The Lonely Hour. It is all about falling in love with fashion designer Christian Cowan.
Sam, who confirmed their engagement last month, said: “I don’t think I’ve ever been as proud of myself or an album.
“This album will always mark one of the most magical, confronting, happiest and challenging times of my life as a person and an artist.”
Sam will play two nights at Manchester’s Albert Hall on September 3 and 4 before kicking off an eight-night residency at the London Coliseum on September 8.
NETFLIX has snapped up the rights to a documentary all about US singer and actress Jessica Simpson.
The project will be headed up by Joe Pearlman, who directed Robbie Williams’ 2023 series on the platform.
Jessica found fame as a pop star in the early noughties alongside Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, with hits like I Wanna Love You Forever, With You, and a cover of These Boots Are Made For Walkin’.
She’s since sold 20 million records and had a high profile marriage, and divorce, to American singer-songwriter Nick Lachey.
CELEBRITY Big Brother star Danny Beard may wear wigs in his drag shows, but he wants everyone to know the importance of hair care.
The performer is the new face of the Method haircare brand – creating a full dance video to show off his not-so-natural locks.
Apparently, 71 per cent of us say freshly washed hair has a positive effect on our mood.
To be fair to Danny, I also perform a full choreographed dance routine in the shower.
PIXIE LOTT arrived in style for the press night of her new West End show, Who Killed Marilyn?, in a white Cadillac.
She wore a slinky pink, white and gold dress for the event at London’s Emerald Theatre and told how she hopes to show the real person behind Marilyn’s Hollywood alter-ego.
Pixie, who posed for pics with husband Oliver Cheshire, said of the play: “Marilyn was the character she created, but this is more from her Norma Jeane side. It’s her telling her own story, right from the beginning, right up until the end.
“ I was always aware of obviously the very glamorous Hollywood icon side and maybe more of her vulnerable side and fragile side, but not this strength and the intelligence – that side of her that hasn’t really been spoken about.”
SHAGGY lived up to his name when he got hitched at the GoldenEye resort in Jamaica – where Ian Fleming wrote James Bond – by intimating he got frisky on the author’s desk.
The It Wasn’t Me singer, who married wife Rebecca in 2014, admitted: “It’s a magical desk. I did a different kind of magic on the desk – but we’re not going to talk about that.”
On Alan Carr’s travel podcast Life’s A Beach, Shaggy also said one of the best things about being a celeb is never complaining.
“I just have someone complain for me,” he said. “I’m famous. I can do that.”
MICHAEL JACKSON’s biopic sequel will explore the sexual abuse allegations made against the late King of Pop, but won’t tell it from the victims’ side.
The Smooth Criminal singer’s nephew Jafaar Jackson, played him in the first film, Michael, which came out this year and made more than $1billion at the box office.
He has said the follow-up will be from MJ’s point of view. But that has already ruffled feathers among people who believe it will skate over the serious allegations.
Jafaar told GQ Middle East: “The second film will give more insight from his point of view, because [the allegations] are always from someone else’s.
“It’s someone else’s story . . . and it’s mainly driven by an agenda. That’s the issue we have as a family – not having Michael’s voice heard. That is very important.”
There are high hopes for the sequel, after the first movie became the highest-grossing biopic and has sent Jacko’s greatest hits album back up the charts.
Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz is set to make his return at the US Open after missing four months with a wrist injury.
The 23-year-old triumphed at the Australian Open in January to become the youngest man to win all four Grand Slam titles.
However, the Spaniard has not played a competitive match since 14 April after injuring his right wrist at the Barcelona Open.
The news was confirmed by football influencer Fabrizio Romano in a joint post with Alcaraz on Instagram.
Seven-time major champion Alcaraz also wrote “here we go!” – Romano’s catchphrase – in a post on X, external with an emoji of the American flag and a plane.
As well as playing singles, Alcaraz could also enter the mixed doubles competition that takes place the week before the US Open, with three wildcards still to be handed out.
Alcaraz played in the revamped event last year alongside Britain’s Emma Raducanu, who is out of this year’s tournament with injury.
Alcaraz has been replaced as world number two by Alexander Zverev after being unable to defend his Cincinnati Open title.
Rival Jannik Sinner is well clear at the top of the world rankings, having won Wimbledon in July, while Zverev won the French Open and finished runner-up at SW19.
Sinner – as he did at Wimbledon – will go into the US Open with no match time on a hard court after withdrawing from Cincinnati with a knee injury.
The US Open singles event begins on Sunday, 30 August in New York.
The TWZ Newsletter
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
The U.S. Army is on track to stand up a new battalion equipped with the Patriot surface-to-air missile system on Guam in October. The unit will also have Enduring Shield, a lower-tier air defense system that currently uses the AIM-9X Sidewinder as its interceptor. This is a major step forward in the U.S. military’s years-long effort to bolster air and missile defenses on the extremely strategic U.S. island territory in the Western Pacific. It is also a significant development for the Army’s Patriot force, which continues to be worryingly overstretched due to heavy operational demands, something TWZ calls attention to regularly.
The new Army air defense unit on Guam will be designated 3rd Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment (3-43rd ADA). It will be under the purview, at least in part, of the 94th Army Air and Missile Defense Command (94th AAMDC) headquartered at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii.
“So, over the past couple of years, we’ve been working to increase the level of protection on Guam. In the past, we’ve had the THAAD [Terminal High Altitude Area Defense] battery there, and of course, Aegis BMD [ballistic missile defense capable] ship[s],” Army Col. Matt Dalton, Deputy Commander of the 94th AAMDC, said last week. “We’ve been working the past few years to increase that to provide a 360-degree defense, cruise missile defense, of the homeland [on Guam].”
Dalton was speaking during a panel discussion at the annual Space & Missile Defense (SMD) Symposium in Huntsville, Alabama, at which TWZ was in attendance. An Army unit, known as Task Force Talon, has operated the THAAD battery on Guam since 2013.
“What does that entail? Construction, planning, barracks, housing, defense design, coordinating with the local authorities in the joint community, the governor’s office, FAA [Federal Aviation Administration] – so many, many things over the last couple of years,” he continued. “I think right now what we’re seeing is we’re starting to see the fruits of all that labor. This summer, the battalion commander arrived. This fall, 3-43rd ADA will stand up in October. Currently, there are about 120 or so soldiers specifically for that battalion on [the] island, on top of the the soldiers already there for the THAAD battery. And then over the next few months, we’re going to see the delivery of the weapon system.”
“The battalion will have both the Patriot Missile System and IFPC, or mobile ground-based launchers, which they will integrate to provide 360-degree, layered air and missile defense for Guam as part of our expansion to the defensive architecture to better protect everyone living there,” an Army spokesperson told TWZ when asked for more information about the “weapon system” Col. Dalton had referred to.
IFPC stands for Indirect Fire Protection Capability. IFPC dates back to the early 2000s, but the Army transitioned to the second phase, or Increment 2, of the program in 2021. That, in turn, led to the acquisition of the Enduring Shield system, which is primarily intended to help defend against cruise missiles and drones. We will come back to this in a moment.
Whether the Patriot systems headed for 3-43rd ADA are new-production assets or available with the Army’s existing inventory as part of a reorganization of other units is unclear, and TWZ has reached back out for more details. At the time of writing, the service is known to have 15 operational Patriot battalions, as well as two more that are non-deployable dedicated training units. A typical one of these battalions consists of a headquarters element and between three and five firing batteries. A single Patriot firing battery can have up to eight trailer-mounted launchers, along with a fire control radar and other supporting equipment.
“We know we have to grow that [Patriot force]. We have plans on the table to build a 16th, 17th, and 18th [battalions],” now-retired Army Gen. James Mingus, then the service’s Vice Chief of Staff, said last year. “And that’s not to include the Patriot battalion that we’re going to put in Guam as part of the Guam defense system.”
At that time, the Army general also talked about the possibility of future composite battalions with Patriot and IFPC/Enduring Shield systems. The Army also has plans to establish nine dedicated IFPC/Enduring Shield battalions.
“The IFPC battalions that are coming online will help offset that [demand for Patriot] as well, even though it’s not quite the same capability,” Mingus said. “In some environments, that [IFPC] actually is more appropriate to apply than a full-up Patriot battalion.”
Recent fighting with Iran has underscored the challenges posed by barrages that include a high-low threat mix. Furthermore, lower-tier IFPC/Enduring Shield systems can also provide critical defense for high-tier air defense assets like Patriot and THAAD, which are themselves high-priority targets for adversaries.
How many IFPC/Enduring Shield systems will be assigned to 3-43rd ADA is also unclear. The Army has said in the past that a typical IFPC/Enduring Shield platoon, multiple of which would be contained with a single battery, consists of four launchers linked to at least one AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel-series radar via the Army’s Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS) network. In their current form, each palletized launcher can be loaded with up to 18 AIM-9Xs. The Army is working to fielding at least one new interceptor for IFPC/Enduring Shield, primarily to help improve the system’s ability to defeat ever-more capable supersonic cruise missiles, though it would also boost its capabilities more broadly.
As an aside, the Army moved to acquire IFPC/Enduring Shield after deciding not to adopt a service-specific version of the Israeli Iron Dome system. An Iron Dome system was briefly deployed to Guam in 2021 as a test.
3-43rd ADA is still just one part of the larger plan to bolster air and missile defenses on the island as part of what is currently called the Guam Defense System (GDS). A prototype of a ground-based launch system based on the Mk 41 Vertical Launch System (VLS) used on various U.S. and foreign warships has already been emplaced on the island. There have been plans, at least in the past, for a Guam-specific version of the Aegis Ashore system that use Mk 41-based launchers to fire Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) and Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) interceptors.
Guam is also getting an entirely new sensor architecture as part of the GDS. Work to date has included the establishment of a radar site with a prototype AN/TPY-6, a design derived from Lockheed Martin’s AN/SPY-7 Long-Range Discrimination Radar (LRDR) in Alaska. Questions about the future of the AN/TPY-6 have been raised in the past, but it was still in place as of July.
The Army has also previously deployed a Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS) to Guam. LTAMDS can be used as a standalone sensor, but also intended as next-generation radar for Patriot, and it could easily be tied with 3-43rd’s other assets when the battalion stands up later this year.
“So instead of what we have today, with our Q-series [AN/MPQ-65] radars that have about a 270-view look, which grows – or, kind of negates how much coverage that you can have, the new LTAMDS is 360 [degrees],” Gen. Mingus said last year. “It also goes from about 85 kilometers [close to 53 miles] up and 85 kilometers out to 300 by 300 [kilometers; around 186 miles]. So [it] greatly expands the range, the altitude, and it’s a 360.”
In works since 2021, the overall GDS plan reflects the extremely strategic position Guam occupies in the Western Pacific and the growing threats the island faces. As we previously wrote:
“Since 2021, expanding air and missile defenses on Guam has been a centerpiece of larger U.S. military efforts to reorient itself to preparing for future large-scale conflicts, especially a potential high-end fight with China in the Pacific. Guam is a vital hub for U.S. air and naval operations in the Western Pacific. It is also an important location for staging ground forces for onward movement across the region. In turn, being able to adequately protect key facilities on the island, including Andersen Air Force Base, Naval Base Guam, and Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz, especially from a growing array of Chinese ballistic, cruise, and hypersonic threats, is seen as critical. Various tiers of drones are also a real and still evolving threat. Guam could be a target for other adversaries, as well. Concerns about increasingly longer-range North Korean ballistic missiles prompted Task Force Talon’s initial deployment more than a decade ago.”
As mentioned, the Army establishing a new Patriot battalion, even one also equipped in part with IFPC/Enduring Shield is a significant development in of itself. The service’s existing Patriot force has been heavily in demand, and under significant strain as a result, for years, most recently due to the ongoing conflict with Iran. TWZ routinely highlights the worryingly inadequate capacity of the Army’s existing Patriot battalions to meet operational requirements now, let alone should a high-end fight, such as one against China in the Pacific, break out.
The PATRIOT Missile in Action
At the same time, work to establish the 3-43rd ADA highlights continued challenges the Army faces in bolstering its Patriot force, as well as its air and missile defense capabilities and capacity more broadly. As noted, it will have taken more than a year just to stand up this composite battalion on Guam, which will also be dedicated to defense of the island. The Army’s timeline for establishing the three other planned Patriot battalions is unclear. Prime contractor Raytheon is itself under immense strain to meet existing global orders for new Patriot systems due to competing priorities, and not just ones emanating from the United States. Last year, Switzerland saw its orders for new Patriot batteries deferred to meet urgent requests from Ukraine, and authorities in Geneva subsequently raised the prospect of canceling the deal altogether as a result of the delays.
Patriot systems also need stocks of interceptors to go along with them, and this has also become its own area of serious concern, especially in light of heavy expenditures in fighting with Iran. Transfers to Ukraine have also had significant impacts on U.S. stockpiles, as well as those of other countries. Questions have been raised about the ability of Raytheon and Lockheed Martin to meet still-growing demand for PAC-2 and PAC-3-series Patriot interceptors, respectively. These are long-lead items that take years to deliver. Both companies have been working to bolster their production capacity, but it will take time for this to translate into increased deliveries. Lockheed Martin is now also developing a lower-cost PAC-3 variant, called the Adapted Capability Effector (ACE), which it sees as another way to help boost total production. Just this year, the Army put in its first order for a new-production batch of older PAC-2 interceptors in more than three decades, further underscoring the current level of demand.
The establishment of 3-43rd ADA on Guam in October will still be an important development. At the same time, there is still much work to be done before the Army meets its larger goals for a sorely needed expansion of its Patriot force.
Contact the author: joe@twz.com
EMILIE Kiser has addressed the controversy that surrounded her after her young son was pictured without a life jacket.
The 27-year-old influencer‘s son, 16 months, was pictured on a boat without a life jacket – and fans were left completely enraged.
In a video posted on Friday, Emilie acknowledged that she and her husband, Brady Kiser, 29, made a mistake for not putting a life jacket on their son and apologized for the incident.
“I understand this conversation.
“I think it is important. It holds people accountable, and I know that I am not perfect.
“I know that we make mistakes, and all I can say is that I’m sorry, and that I know we made a mistake,” Emilie said.
She captioned the video, “Thanks for listening. Hope you all have a safe and good weekend.”
Emilie also shared a statement which read: “Our child should have been in his life jacket for the entirety of that boat ride, not even for the few moments that he was out of it.
“We are painfully aware that in a matter of seconds, your entire life can change, and we should have done better.
“We recognize and appreciate the genuine care that people have for our children.
“There has also been a deep level of anger and hurt directed toward our family, and we understand the basis of those feelings as well.
“It comes from the belief that Trigg should still be here, and we share that same belief more than can be expressed. He was only three years old, and should have lived a lifetime more. That reality lives with us every moment of every single day.
“We will continue to do better, advocate for better and, as hard as we try to avoid them, still make mistakes. We can only promise that we will never stop learning from them and continue loving our children with everything we have.”
The footage of Teddy was captured during a June family trip to Mallorca, Spain.
The footage was shared by fellow influencer Madi Curtis in a now-deleted upload.
Teddy could briefly be seen sitting on the boat with Brady without a life jacket.
This comes just a year their son Trigg died after falling into the family’s pool.
Arizona police alleged Brady was watching an NBA playoff game while Trigg, 3, fell into the water and was alone for over nine minutes.
Brady found him unconscious, and Trigg died six days later in the hospital on May 18, 2025.
Just last month, Emilie revealed she’s expecting another child.
Taking to social media in July, Emilie penned: “As I stated last year, my family’s privacy will always be my priority.
“Because of that, I’m not sure how much I will be sharing about this pregnancy and next phase of life, but I appreciate your understanding as I navigate those boundaries.”
She added: “This baby has already brought so much hope and joy into our home, and we are treasuring every moment of it together.
“Thank you in advance for all of the love, well wishes, and support as we navigate this next chapter of our growing family.”
The influencer recently opened up about her grief and her decision to stay with her husband in mid-June on the Jay Shetty Podcast.
“Losing a child really shows you, in the scariest, most real way possible, just how quickly life can change and how quickly life can literally be taken away,” she said.
“And I think that really scared me with Teddy [her youngest son].”
Emilie revealed there were times she was “so angry” at her husband and was unsure if she could ever forgive him.
Kevin Rideout, a pilot with the evangelical missionary agency SIM International, was abducted in the capital, Niamey, on October 21, 2025.
Published On 14 Aug 202614 Aug 2026
An American missionary kidnapped in Niger last year has been released after more than nine months in captivity and is now in the care of United States officials, according to his organisation.
Kevin Rideout, a pilot with the evangelical missionary agency SIM International, was abducted in the capital, Niamey, on October 21 by three armed men while heading towards the airport.
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“We are grateful to confirm that our good friend and brother in Christ, Kevin Rideout, has been released after over nine months in captivity,” SIM said on Friday, adding that he was in good health and would soon be reunited with his family.
The Reuters news agency, citing The New York Times, reported that Rideout was travelling to the US accompanied by FBI officials. Details of how and where Rideout was released remain unclear, as does the identity of the group that held him during the final stages of his captivity.
After his abduction, the kidnappers were believed to have travelled towards Niger’s western Tillaberi region, where armed groups linked to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) operate. Reuters reported in March that Rideout was believed to be held in neighbouring Mali by al-Qaeda affiliate Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM).
Niger and its neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso have struggled with armed groups across the Sahel for years.
The US withdrew its troops from Niger after the military seized power in a 2023 coup, while Niger’s authorities have since strengthened security and diplomatic ties with Russia.
Villa had fought since the start of the year to register the 6ft 4in Madjo following his £10m arrival from Metz.
Under-18 players cannot complete international transfers, but the club argued that since Madjo was born in London he should be exempt – despite having three caps for Luxembourg in friendlies.
Since those games, he accepted an England Under-17 call up last year and has four goals in nine appearances, scoring on his debut against Venezuela.
With England searching for their next No9 once Harry Kane eventually retires, Madjo could force himself into the conversation in the coming years.
Fifa does allow some exemptions for minor players to make moves, including if a 16 or 17-year-old transfers within the European Union – something the UK is no longer part of.
The battle was finally won just eight days ago – after Villa took their case to CAS in July – and Madjo was added to the travelling party for Salzburg, having not been included in the initial squad.
With Ollie Watkins rested after World Cup duty and Tammy Abraham left on the bench, the youngster was given the responsibility up front by Emery having scored four pre-season goals.
His strike at the Red Bull Arena, holding off Ecuador international Willian Pacho to volley in John McGinn’s cross, was arguably the hardest chance of the trio he had in a first half full of promise.
It cancelled out Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s opener for PSG, only for Desire Doue to hit a second-half winner after a video assistant referee (VAR) check.
Before his goal, the hulking Madjo had earlier planted a free header over from three yards and shot wide, but was a constant nuisance for 11-time Ligue 1 winner and Brazilian centre-back and captain Marquinhos.
“He played because he was showing us his capacity to work and be demanding,” said boss Emery. “It is not just about scoring goals, it’s about defending and how he has the commitment and discipline tactically. He was doing that.
“I wanted to play with young players and watch their progression. Brian started scoring goals [in pre-season] against Walsall and Real Sociedad.
“Now the reality is we have shown their capacity, but they have to keep being consistent, demanding and keep performing at the level they were.”
Villa have been looking to sign a new striker – Chelsea‘s Nicolas Jackson has been a summer target – but Madjo’s availability now gives Emery a different option and dilemma before the Premier League season opener at Brighton on 23 August.
“You’ve got a young player coming, especially on a stage like this one, against PSG, getting in those scoring positions and not allowing that disappointment to stay with you,” former Villa striker Dion Dublin told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“I saw Brian Madjo, he had his hands on his head for a couple of seconds and then he got into another scoring position.
“He was brave enough to get back into that scoring position and if he keeps missing it’s not frightening him. He’s happy to have that pressure on his shoulders. I’ve been there, you need to be able to deal with it. At 17, he seems to be doing it easily.”
Madjo – and fellow teenage forward George Hemmings – were given their chance against PSG with Emery insisting he would not rush Watkins, Emi Martinez and Ezri Konsa back for the game.
The trio are due to return next week after being given a month off following the World Cup, with Martinez losing the final with Argentina and Watkins and Konsa helping England to third place.
Madjo expertly deputised for Watkins, despite missing his earlier first-half chances, until he was replaced by Abraham with 18 minutes left.
Whether Konsa will still be a Villa player for the league opener against Brighton remains open to debate with Arsenal expected to step up their pursuit of the defender.
Villa have already sold Morgan Rogers in a record £117m deal to Chelsea and Youri Tielemans to Manchester United, and Konsa’s departure would be a another bitter blow after winning the Europa League last season and qualifying for the Champions League.
Keeper Martinez will stay, despite interest from Juventus this summer.
Emery added: “We decided to play this match with the players who were ready to play, were fit and trying to avoid some risk with some players. It is very important how we are going to manage the players.
“I am trying to use my experience to avoid some mistakes which i can understand can happen.
“I can feel free with my decision and proud of the players.”
WASHINGTON — White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, the youngest person to hold the role, will leave at month’s end, President Trump announced Wednesday.
Leavitt, 28, just recently returned to the White House after taking a brief leave for the birth of her second child in May.
Leavitt, who served Trump as a press aide during his first go-around in the White House, has been one of the most visible advocates of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement. The Republican president described her as one of his “most trusted aides” in a social media post announcing her departure.
He said Leavitt “will be departing her role at the end of the month so she can spend more time with her beautiful young children and family, a decision I totally understand and respect! Karoline will now be one of my top outside advisers, and an influential voice within the Republican Party, as we work to defy History, and conclusively win the Midterm Elections.”
Leavitt recently returned to work after taking leave following the birth of her second child, a daughter, in May. She also has a two-year-old son.
“The truth is since returning to the White House after the birth of my daughter, I have felt in my heart that I cannot be the best mom my two young children deserve while devoting the constant time, energy, and attention required of the White House Press Secretary — and that is why I have ultimately made the bittersweet decision to depart the White House and embark on a new chapter in my life,” Leavitt said in a social media post.
Trump did not outline plans for who might replace her in the high-profile role.
Earlier cases of the disease were wrongly attributed to malaria and typhoid, WHO said.
Published On 10 Aug 202610 Aug 2026
The fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record started in February, months before it was officially declared in mid-May, said the World Health Organization (WHO) as responders in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) battle the surge in cases.
Mohamed Janabi, the WHO’s regional director for Africa, told a news conference on Monday that sequencing indicated the outbreak’s start, with some cases early on wrongly attributed to malaria and typhoid.
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“So we are chasing the virus, the virus is ahead of us,” Janabi said.
Confirmed cases of Ebola in the DRC have reached 4,200, including at least 1,900 deaths, according to latest government figures.
The Ebola outbreak declared on May 15 is unlike most previous ones because the rare Bundibugyo virus has no approved vaccines or treatments. Early testing was conducted for the more common type of Ebola, contributing to delays.
The outbreak is unfolding in challenging conditions, with strikes by some unpaid health workers, threats by rebel groups, anger among long-traumatised communities and misinformation asserting that Ebola isn’t real.
Health teams travel on remote, unpaved roads and have reported shortages of protective gear, while the vast population of displaced people struggles to find reliable water sources for washing hands hygienically.
This Ebola outbreak has killed more people at a faster rate than any other, including the 2014-2016 outbreak in West Africa that is considered the worst on record with over 11,000 deaths in at least 28,000 cases. That outbreak took about eight months to reach 1,000 deaths.
Ebola is rare but highly contagious and can be contracted via contact with bodily fluids, such as blood or semen, and with contaminated surfaces and materials, such as bedding and clothing. The disease it causes is severe and often fatal.
Last week, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Ebola is spreading faster than efforts to fight it. New cases are doubling in some hotspots, Tedros said on X after meeting with officials in the capital, Kinshasa.
Access to healthcare in the region had already been challenged by years of rebel conflict in one of the DRC’s most remote and vulnerable areas.
On Friday, the WHO recommended the start of full-scale human trials for the Ervebo vaccine, the only licensed Ebola vaccine. While Ervebo has proven to be safe and effective against the more common Zaire strain of the Ebola virus, WHO experts said early data showed it may also give some protection against the rare Bundibugyo strain.
A specific Bundibugyo vaccine is the preferred option for fighting the current outbreak, according to experts from the United Nations’ health agency. Two potential Bundibugyo vaccines are in the early stages of clinical trials on people, while a third is being worked on to get it to that stage.
Several previous Ebola outbreaks have also been declared weeks or months late, including the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak. That was declared in March 2014, although the first human case was later found to have occurred in December 2013.
TWO airports in Europe that see thousands of passengers through their doors are set to close for major upgrades.
During this time flights will be diverted and one airport will see flights cancelled during both the summer holidays and October half-term.
The first major airport closing its doors to passengers is Almeria Airport in Spain which each year handles around 800,000 passengers.
In February 2028, it will shut for six days to upgrade its runway with all scheduled flights during that time to be cancelled.
Airlines like Ryanair, easyJet and Iberia which fly out of the airport have been notified by Spain’s airports operator Aena about the closure.
There will be further disruption too as the revamp is part of a 19-month €29million (£24.8million) project to upgrade the entire airport.
During this period there will be work at night between 10:45pm and 7:10am the following day.
Between these hours, flights could be impacted as well.
Direct routes from Almeria Airport to the UK London Southend, Manchester, Bristol, Liverpool, Leeds Bradford and Birmingham.
The airlines will have to reschedule flights or divert the routes.
The revamp will mark the first work on the runway in 20 years.
The second major European airport to close its doors is Charleroi Airport in Brussels which will close for almost three months.
For 11 weeks, the runway will be closed for renovation and the interior airport revamped.
Flights will be impacted between August 15 and October 31 in 2028.
It will disrupt passengers heading to Brussels during the school summer holidays and October half-term break.
Airlines that operate to and from the airport from the UK include Ryanair and Wizz Air to cities Edinburgh, Manchester and Newcastle.
Airlines will need to reroute their flights to different airports during that time.
The airport is the second largest in Belgium – it sees 30,000 passengers each day and around 11.2million people every year.
On the development, the airport said: “A complete refurbishment of Charleroi airport’s sole runway, together with other major infrastructure modernisation works, has been scheduled by SOWAER (the company behind the works) for the second half of 2028.”
FORMER Strictly pro James Jordan secretly lived apart from his wife Ola for months prior to their split.
Pals said he moved into a flat earlier this year close to the five-bedroom house the dancers once shared.
James, 48, is said to have “needed space” as he and Ola, 43, embarked on a trial separation after 22 years of marriage.
A source explained: “It was James’s decision to move out, he needed some space. It happened months ago. He has been holed up in a small flat in Kent.
“These past few months have been tough for James but he is trying to keep moving forward. Ola has been supporting him as best she can but their decision to end their marriage has been incredibly difficult for both of them.”
James was photographed looking downcast as he walked close to his flat last week, minus his wedding ring.
READ MORE ON JAMES OLA SPLIT
We revealed on Saturday how the couple, who have not been photographed together since last year, had split.
James, originally from Gillingham, and Polish-born Ola, who have a daughter, Ella, then released a joint statement confirming their break-up.
It read: “We’re taking some time apart as we work through very difficult personal challenges.
“James moved out of the family home some time ago. This has been an incredibly painful and emotional journey for us both and it certainly wasn’t an easy decision.”
It said James’s mental health “hasn’t been in a good place for quite some time”.
James added: “I’ve been struggling more than I’ve let people see and I’m taking the time I need to focus on getting myself into a healthier place, both for myself and for Ella.
“Neither of us is in a good place right now. We’re both doing our best to navigate one of the hardest chapters of our lives.”
James and Ola both joined Strictly in 2006.
James quit in 2013 with Ola leaving two years later, after winning the trophy in 2009 with Chris Hollins.
In a darkened room in Maldon, Essex, a ship’s lantern illuminates the laundry drying on a web of ropes suspended from the ceiling. Between piles of sailing memorabilia, 86-year-old Barry Pearce is flipping through a yellowing logbook, watched by his mongrel, Winkle. It feels more like a ship’s cabin than a terrace house. Pearce is one of a handful of surviving skippers who delivered freight on the Thames by sailing barge, the flat-bottomed trading boats famous for their striking red sails that were endemic to the river’s estuary until the 1960s. He remembers the names of every vessel he worked on – Remercie, Edith May, Colonia.
In the 19th century, the ochre sails of thousands of Thames sailing barges pierced the skyline as the craft carried cargo from the Thames estuary and beyond in and out of London. Their shallow draft allowed them to snake far upriver in as little as a metre of water (bargemen would boast that they could sail anywhere there had been a heavy dew). Their ingenious rig, with sails that could be set and stowed with the help of winches, meant around 150 tonnes of cargo could be shifted by just a skipper and mate – often accompanied by a guard dog. This efficiency allowed them to outlive all other commercial sailing vessels, surviving until the 1960s, when Pearce himself took the helm.
Today, only about 30 Thames barges are still sailing, either as private homes or leisure cruisers. Two of them – Pudge and Centaur – lie like beached krakens on the oozing mud of Maldon’s Blackwater estuary. Both are owned by the Thames Sailing Barge Trust, a charity run entirely by volunteers, including Pearce. Every summer, both vessels can be hired as private charters for groups of up to 12, or you can book a berth on one of their one- to three-day public sailing cruises. They also offer events such as children’s art days throughout the year.
I’m here on a scorching evening at Hythe quay to spend the weekend exploring the River Blackwater and Essex coast aboard Centaur, a barge built in 1895. Itineraries are flexible and based on passengers’ interests. For us it involves sailing up the Blackwater, a Pimm’s at Tollesbury Marina, and a swim off Shingle Point and wander around West Mersea on Mersea Island. Our motley crew consists of three trainees overseen by skipper Chris Martin, who teaches boatbuilding at vocational training organisation Circles Alternative Education.
There are also six passengers, ranging in age from 18 to 76, in five cabins, which are basic but comfortable (each has a wash basin). Although I am the only one who is not a competent sailor, Martin makes it clear that helping to handle the barge is optional.
Unwisely, given our 3am departure to catch high tide, I sink several pints with the two youngest members of Pudge’s crew in the Little Ship Club on the quay. A behemothic man wielding a squeezebox sings sea shanties as salty couples slow dance nearby. “I only know of one or two people my age who are into barging, and I find that disturbing,” yells 25-year-old Charlie Francis over strains of Bound for South Australia. “Barging was the lifeblood of the east coast. We should be proud of our heritage and celebrate the communities working to preserve it.”
After a few hours in my bunk, I make it on to deck at 4.15am. The moon is a slice of radish in a lilac sky. We’re bearing away from the wind and, having set the sails, the crew is already on their second round of tea and custard creams.
As dawn paints its peachy palette, Martin turns the great wheel. He points out Blackwater landmarks that only a local would know: the green buoy known as the Doctor, where early 20th-century fishers left spirits for the alcoholics supposedly drying out at Osea Island’s temperance resort; the pub where, as recently as 20 years ago, Martin witnessed a smuggler wordlessly deliver two dripping bags while regulars stared determinedly into their pints; the hulking trawler, Ross Revenge, which is still home to Radio Caroline, the former pirate station – another relic kept alive by volunteers of the Blackwater.
Where the river opens into the silvery sea, the wind picks up and the barge rocks gently against the tide. My eyelids are heavy and the slowness of the whole experience is working its magic on my screen-frazzled brain. Martin calls for the staysail to be unfurled, a 20-minute task that rewards the barge with another knot and a half of speed. “This life is the antithesis of the digital age’s obsession with instant gratification,” he says. “Sailing barges may not be able to teach us much about cargo any more, but they can teach us the value of slowing down, doing things with our hands and spending time in nature.”
As we make our stately, seven-knot progress, 370 sq metres of rust-red canvas billows above and fingers of salt marsh slide by. With so little distraction, the coffee tastes lip-curlingly bitter, the bacon sandwiches as saline as the deep. I settle on a coil of rope to scan the horizon for porpoises, but soon drift into sleep.
A swim from a sandbank near Tollesbury is followed by a meander through West Mersea at golden hour. Clapboard cottages framed by hollyhocks sit beside sailmakers and chandleries converted into trendy cafes. We drop anchor in the Blackwater estuary and beneath a blazing sunset tuck into lasagne on deck. I haven’t felt this present for months. It’s all such a delight I begin to feel concerned about the trust’s future. Sailing barges cost between £30,000 and £100,000 a year to keep afloat. The trip I’m on costs just £220 including meals, while the Trust’s annual membership is only £37.50.
Although the trust offers training in many of the skills needed to maintain the barges, sourcing the timber is becoming increasingly difficult – and expensive. “Centaur’s exterior planking is pitch pine from the Mississippi basin, which is incredibly durable, but has been virtually exhausted,” says Martin. “And so much of the timber trade has been replaced by plastic.”
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The trust also offers free training for future skippers, including the mate on our trip, 18-year-old Ben Weldon, the son of a local shipwright. However, it typically takes 2,000 hours – or 10 years – and the dropout rate is high.
While the trust has recently been awarded £28,090 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to develop a bid for the £4m needed to restore Centaur, it seems wrong that responsibility for keeping this thread of Britain’s maritime story from unravelling rests on so few shoulders. Sailing may be associated with privilege, but we are a seafaring nation and this inheritance belongs to all of us.
On Sunday morning, our last on board, a westerly fills the sails, and the tea-coloured Blackwater wrinkles beneath the bow as we beat our way back towards Maldon. “Lee ho,” Martin calls, showing me how to spin the wheel to help the crew tack. “So far we’ve used less than a gallon of fuel to do 50 miles. Pretty extraordinary, given that a family car does about 30 miles to the gallon.”
When I asked Pearce at the start of the trip why keeping Thames sailing barges afloat is worth the fight, he looked blank, as if such a question had never occurred to him. He showed me a pencil sketch of a barge he had drawn at the age of 15 in Greenwich, left half-finished when his skipper had poked his head through the hatch and invited him below for dinner. Now, more than 70 years later, he bends once more over that drawing as though no time has passed.
Eventually, he half-whispers: “Well, they’re just lovely, ain’t they?” He glances toward the window. Nearby, Centaur waits on the mud for the returning tide.
The trip was provided by the Thames Sailing Barge Trust. The next weekend aboard Centaur departs on 14 August, £220 for two nights’ full board; three-night trips depart on 3 September (£350 on Pudge, £320 on Centaur) and 18 September (£290 on Centaur). A variety of one-day sailings are also available
from £55 to £125pp
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MOLLY Mae has confirmed she’s not trying for another baby with Tommy as she makes a confession two months after welcoming their son Midas.
Speaking on her YouTube Vlog, Molly-Mae explained that she went to Wimbledon which “was absolutely fab” before making a health admission.
She explained: “The day before Wimbledon, I actually had my 6-week check-up with my obstetrician.
“And basically, we were speaking about contraception and I ended up randomly on that day getting the coil fitted.
“Like, that was just really random.”
She then explained how she thinks she told “every single person in that Wimbledon suite that had the coil fitted”.
She later added: “So I had the coil fitted, I had one called the Kyleena. It’s not the copper coil. It’s a different one. It’s one that’s going to last 5 years.”
Molly then made the confession about not wanting to have more children.
“I really wanted to get on some form of contraception because the last thing we need right now is another pregnancy,” she said bluntly.
Molly quickly added: “Like, it would be a blessing of course but it’s just not like… I think I’m done anyway with the children.”
This comes as Molly is understood to be experiencing some tension with her Irish traveller in-laws and wider extended family, as reported by us in June.
A source told The Sun: “Some family members on the Fury side feel they have not been able to spend as much time with baby Midas as they would have liked.
“The arrival of their second child has done little to ease some long-running differences between Molly Mae and members of Tommy’s family.
“Ultimately, Molly comes from a different world to Tommy, and in spite of the best of efforts at times, there have always been difficulties blending their worlds and their wider families.
“There is ongoing grumbling and remarks over family expectations and how much time – or lack of it – Tommy’s family get to spend with the children.”
Meanwhile, another family source told us there are key cultural differences between Molly and Tommy’s relatives which have caused some raised eyebrows.
“There are also very different views about family and what the future should look like and Molly’s comments about not wanting any more children have gone down really badly – it’s become a real talking point within the family.”
SIX months after being diagnosed with cervical cancer, Jersey Shore star Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi has undergone a radical hysterectomy.
The reality star, 38, documented her emotional journey to the operating theatre in a tearful video shared with fans on social media.
Snooki, who previously admitted she was too terrified to schedule the operation, said before: “I’m so scared, I just don’t know what is going to happen.”
Surgeons went on to remove her uterus, cervix, fallopian tubes and part of her vagina to ensure all the cancerous tissue was taken away.
Her ovaries were preserved to prevent her from going through early menopause.
Snooki hopes the operation has left her cancer-free and previously said doctors believed she would not require chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
The mum-of-three also filmed herself preparing for surgery, joking: “Got the gown, got the cap. I feel like an alien serving this look.”
Speaking from her hospital bed afterwards, the MTV star admitted she was struggling with the painful recovery.
She said: “So the first couple of days is hell, and then it’s gonna get better.
“I’m trying to stay in good spirits, and the nurses and doctors and everybody was so great.”
Snooki also revealed surgeons repaired her diastasis recti, a separation of the stomach muscles which can occur during pregnancy, while carrying out the procedure.
She signed off the video by telling fans: “I love you. Thanks for being here. And get your Pap smears, okay?”
Snooki shares sons Lorenzo, 13, and Angelo, seven, and daughter Giovanna, 11, with husband Jionni LaValle.
Although she said their family was complete, the star has said that losing her ability to carry another baby had been difficult to process.
She previously said: “That’s a part of being a woman, and even though I’m done having kids, the thought of not being able to really upset me.
“It messes with you a little bit.”
Snooki revealed in February that a biopsy had confirmed she had stage-one cervical adenocarcinoma, a cancer which begins in the glandular cells of the cervical canal.
She had received abnormal smear-test results for four years but admitted putting off follow-up appointments because she found the examinations painful and frightening.
The biopsy removed the visible tumour, while subsequent scans found no evidence that the cancer had spread elsewhere in her body.
Snooki rose to fame on MTV reality hit Jersey Shore, which followed a group of young housemates spending their summers together on the New Jersey coast.
A MAJOR European airport is set to close for months in 2028, impacting all flights.
Charleroi Airport in Brussels, Belgium, will close for 11 weeks as its runway is renovated and the airport is revamped.
All flights will be impacted between August 15 and October 31 – which includes travellers heading away during both the school summer holidays and October half-term break.
Charleroi Airport is the second largest airport in Belgium.
It will undergo a number of updates during the closure, estimated to cost around €50million (£42.8million).
Airlines that operate to and from the airport include popular budget carriers, Ryanair and Wizz Air.
Read more on travel inspo
For UK travellers, this will include flights from and to Newcastle and Manchester.
Airlines will need to temporarily reroute their flights to different airports.
Currently there is no further information of what this will look like although is likely to mean cancellations and diverted.
According to several reports, the airport stated: “A complete refurbishment of Charleroi airport’s sole runway, together with other major infrastructure modernisation works, has been scheduled by SOWAER (the company behind the works) for the second half of 2028.”
Works include completely resurfacing the 3,200 metre runway.
The works are expected to impact two million travellers.
The Sun has contacted Charleroi Airport for comment.
SINGER-songwriter Linda Perhacs has gone missing – with the artist’s loved ones issuing a plea for information on her whereabouts.
The musician, 82, who struggles with dementia, was discharged from a care facility eight months ago – but has not been heard from since.
The cult songwriter’s friends and collaborators posted a plea for help on social media on Monday.
Her manager Laura Stearns said Linda had not been seen or heard from in eight months.
In December, she was released from an assisted living facility in Northridge, California, by her legal guardian.
Stearns said: “Linda Perhacs our dear friend and legendary singer-songwriter was discharged from a residential care facility approximately eight months ago under the supervision of her legal guardian.
“Since then, friends and longtime collaborators have been unable to reach her and repeated attempts to contact her guardian have reportedly gone unanswered. Please help us locate Linda to ensure her wellbeing.
“The intention is not to intrude upon her privacy, but simply to ensure that she is safe and to re-establish communication with someone whose artistic contributions continue to resonate across generations.”
A missing persons report for Linda was filed with the Los Angeles Police Department on June 6.
The singer’s friends and collaborators, including writer Jessica Hundley, singer Julia Holter and DubLab co-founder Mark “Frosty” McNeill, have shared pleas for information.
Her co-producer, Fernando Perdomo, said on Monday that he had been unable to reach her next of kin.
He said: “We’ve all been in touch with her since she’s been in a home for memory care, and we even performed with her two years ago for her 80th birthday party.”
Perdomo added that he wanted to speak to Linda about six weeks ago.
He explained: “So I gave her a call and found out that she had been moved out by her next of kin, and because of California law they can’t tell us where she is.
“I think he might have blocked us, which is really, really weird.”
Perhacs shot to fame decades after the 1970 release of her debut album, Parallelograms.
The record initially bombed and sold poorly, prompting Perhacs to quit the music industry and go back to her job as a dental hygienist.
However, the internet helped new fans rediscover the album in the late 1990s.
It was soon hailed as a lost folk classic and re-released several times.
Following her revived career, Perhacs returned to the studio to release her second album, The Soul of All Natural Things, in 2014, followed by her third, I’m a Harmony, in 2017.
SCOTT Thomas has revealed a secret row between him and brother Ryan that led to the two not speaking to each other for six months.
Former Love Island star Scott and his actor twin Adam, 37, are the younger brother of ex-Coronation Street actor, Ryan, 42.
All three Thomas siblings joined Sam Thompson on his Staying Relevant podcast, where he asked the trio questions that had been sent in.
They addressed how long they’d gone without speaking to each other after an argument.
Turning to Scott, Ryan said: “You can answer that one, can’t ya?”, while Adam added: “They fell out for a while.”
Scott elaborated: “Me and Ryan didn’t speak for six months. This was back in the day.”
Read more on Scott Thomas
He further explained how Ryan “used to be really stubborn” regarding arguments.
Continuing, Scott added: “There was one time… he was playing a charity football game.
“I was just meant to come down and mind Scarlett while you were playing the game.
“Bearing in mind, he had other people there, but wanted me there.
“I was so hungover. And I couldn’t get there. So next minute, we didn’t speak for six months.”
Ryan jokingly quipped: “You let the family down.”
Scott said: “He was punishing for me for going on a night out basically and being hungover.
“Bearing in mind, now I never drink, I don’t punish you.”
Liverpool club record signing Denise O’Sullivan is expected to leave this summer just six months after joining.
It is understood a return to the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) is most likely and Gotham FC are favourites to sign her.
The Republic of Ireland international joined Liverpool in January for £300,000 and has been a standout performer since her arrival.
Her departure is a huge disappointment to the Reds, who are looking to rebuild following a disappointing campaign in 2025-26.
During her time at Liverpool, O’Sullivan has made 13 appearances, including nine in the league, and helped Gareth Taylor’s side reach the Women’s FA Cup semi-finals.
Reports suggest, external O’Sullivan’s move could involve an initial one-year loan with an obligation-to-buy clause included.
Sources have told BBC Sport that Liverpool are in positive discussions with O’Sullivan and Gotham and are expected to receive a large fee in return for her departure.
O’Sullivan’s decision to leave Liverpool is believed to be a personal one as she seeks a return to the United States, where she spent nine seasons with North Carolina Courage, making over 150 appearances and captaining the side.
The 32-year-old is vastly experienced on the international stage, making 132 appearances for the Republic of Ireland and played a key role in their Women’s World Cup qualifying campaign this year.
Liverpool still hope to be active in the transfer window having already made three signings, though losing O’Sullivan and being unable to turn goalkeeper Jennifer Falk’s loan move into a permanent deal are blows to the club’s summer plans.
People in Cuba already faced an ongoing economic and humanitarian crisis, largely due to a US blockade.
Published On 7 Jul 20267 Jul 2026
Cuba has suffered its third nationwide power blackout since the start of the year, as the country’s fuel reserves diminish and its electric grid crumbles due to an energy crisis precipitated by the US fuel blockade.
The blackout in the country of nearly 10 million people was reported on Monday by the state-run Electric Union, which said that the cause is under investigation.
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Cuba’s Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy said protocols were quickly activated to restore electricity throughout Cuba after the outage.
“Vital services continue to be protected, amidst this complex situation exacerbated by the energy blockade we face,” he said.
Grid operator UNE said it was providing electricity to some vital services, including hospitals and food production centres, but by late afternoon was able to serve only 1 percent of the capital, Havana’s, demand.
Cuba was already struggling with fuel supplies before US President Donald Trump cut off oil deliveries from Venezuela to the island in January. But Trump’s actions, including threatening tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba, have made things significantly worse, and deepened the island’s financial crisis. As a result, blackouts and power cuts have accelerated.
Since January, Washington has only allowed one oil tanker, from Russia, to pass its blockade and dock in Cuba, as part of a sanctions campaign aimed at ending more than six decades of communist government in Havana.
Trump has pointed to the US abduction of Venezuela’s socialist president, Nicolas Maduro, in January, and his replacement with a successor that can be pressured to work with the US, as a potential blueprint for Cuba.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel accused the US of trying to “incite social unrest by strangling Cuba’s fuel supply”.
“The actions of electrical workers in the midst of a genocidal energy blockade are heroic,” he wrote on social media.
The blackout is the eighth on the island of 9.6 million people since late 2024. It comes as the state imposes power cuts across the country – over 30 hours straight in parts of Havana and over 70 hours in some rural areas – in a desperate attempt to preserve fuel.
“Living like this is agony,” Meyboll Font, a 51-year-old self-employed social media community manager, told the AFP news agency.
Font said her Havana neighbourhood has been surviving on just “three or four hours of power a day”, but that the blackout was worse because “you never know when it [electricity] will return”.
OLIVIA Attwood has revealed the ‘real reason’ why she was cuddling Pete Wicks in those cosy yacht pictures from last year.
The former Love Island star, 35, was seen pictured looking very close to Pete, 37, while lounging on a boat in Ibiza in August 2025.
Olivia and Pete went public with their relationship in March this year.
And it comes after she split from her ex husband Bradley Dack, who she tied the knot with in 2023, in January 2026.
In the most recent episode of the Olivia’s House podacst, the ITV star and pal Mark Johnson discussed the trip, and the pictures of her and Pete.
“Okay, let’s talk to my listeners about the yacht pictures with Pete,” Olivia said.
“Because there is a funny story here. Just as a subtext, okay I was obviously leaning back on him like on the yacht, but nothing happened.”
Mark then told her: “Tell the whole story!”
Olivia continued: “But the pictures, the actual came back was funny, right? So I am lent back on him and whatever…”
Mark chimed in: “Yeah, but let’s go first, when that woman dunked you! Do you remember? Rebecca is her name. She dunked. Do you remember?
“She slipped drunk and dunked you.”
Olivia confessed that she didn’t remember and Mark explained: “What the hell? You were getting out off the board, you know that board, where you jump? Do you not remember? Where were you?!”
“Did she give me concussion?! Because I don’t remember,” Olivia told him.
Mark continued: “So when you were getting out of the water, you know when you get in that board bit.
“You were getting out and she was rotten, fell down the stairs, slid and dunked you.”
Olivia asked: “So is that why he was cuddling me?”
Mark told her: “Yeah so when you were getting out, you were crying, and I was laughing.”
“I remember hitting my head, but I thought I hit it inside,” Olivia confessed.
Mark said: “No. It was when you got dunked under the water. And you were crying. I don’t see you cry at all.
“So I thought it was funny!”
Olivia then went on to explain the other part of the story.
She said: “Our friend Megan Elliot, who we love, we adore her. She is my second sister. She is my blood, my family.
“But love her, sometimes, she is a couple of sandwiches short of the whole picnic. Sometimes she comes out with things, we go “Oh, shut up, Megan!”
“So anyway, she goes, we’re in the middle of the ocean, right? And not posted anything for days.
“There’s a catamaran, so if you don’t know what a catamaran is, it’s one of those boats that has two bits, and then the middle bit is like, it’s a weird boat.
“She goes, “Someone is taking pictures of us off that boat! I saw a flash, it was massive.”
“And we go “Shut up, Megan!” We were all taking the p**s. Someone is taking pictures of us. Who do you think you are? Jennifer Aniston?!
“We were actually mocking her for it. And then she was like “No I swear!” We carried on about our business, next day we’re at the pool and I’m so hungover, I think I’m going to die.
“I’m on the back. I’m on the bed, and she comes in and she goes “Told you.” And then she was going all like “I told you, I told you”.
“She’s scrolling through and she goes “I knew it, I knew it. I saw…”
“She had her t*ts out.”
TV star Olivia had kept tight-tipped about her romance with Pete after being pictured snogging the hunk and leaving a hotel together after the Brits.
But in March, in a statement accusing her ex Bradley of cheating on her multiple times over their 10-year relationship, Olivia admitted she’s trying to move on.
“Yes, I’m dating,” wrote Olivia.
“Yes, I’m getting up every single day even when I have cried all night to film the shows I love filming, record my podcast, record my radio show, shoot campaigns and somewhere in there TRY to move on.”
Since then, the pair haven’t been able to keep their hands off each other.
They were spotted smooching on a sun lounger while on Nikki Beach in St. Tropez.
Olivia and Bradley first met in 2015, dated for three months, and then went their separate ways.
After Olivia went on Love Island in 2017, and split from ex Chris Hughes, the pair got back together in 2018.
Bradley proposed to the star in 2019, and they tied the knot in 2023.
Meanwhile Pete has dated the likes of Maura Higgins, Megan McKenna and Chloe Sims.
A UK airport is going back on the market just months after its first sale fell through.
The 350-acre site, which has suffered millions in losses at the expense of the taxpayer, is up for grabs for a second time.
Gloucestershire Airport in Staverton was put up for sale last year by joint owners Cheltenham Borough Council and Gloucester City Council, with an asking price of £25million.
However an agreed deal with the preferred bidder fell through, after the terms of the proposal changed.
The councils have now agreed to put the airport on the market for a second time and are said to be “hopeful” that it can be successfully sold.
Estate agent, Savills, has been appointed to head up the process.
It’s hoped a buyer who can offer growth and investment for the space will be found.
Gloucestershire Airport has been hailed as a “vital economic and aviation asset for our county and region” by the City Council.
It’s also been confirmed that there has been “considerable interest from potential investors” in recent weeks, making it the “right time” to put the airport back up for sale.
The airport is still in operation, with the Cheltenham-based site offering charter services for private jets and helicopters.
Flying lessons are also operated from the airport as well as gift experiences like hot air balloon flights.
Speaking on the decision during a recent council meeting, Rowena Hay, leader of Cheltenham Borough Council, said: ”We are hopeful this renewed sale process will attract the right partner for the airport’s future, which remains our key priority.
“We will work with partners and stakeholders to update as the new sale process proceeds.”
GLADIATORS star Steel and his wife Samantha have welcomed a baby boy just over a year on from the tragic death of their son.
The couple’s second- born, Leo, died 14 months ago after being bornprematurelye at 23 weeks.
Steel — real name Zack George — said the arrival of their newborn will help heal them following the loss of Leo, who lived for just 13 days.
Writing on Instagram this evening, the 35-year-old said: “You will heal us more than you will ever know.
“We love you so much…Our baby boy.”
Friends and fans were over the moon for the pair.
Kate Lawler said: “Congratulations to you both. You deserve so much happiness x.”
Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, aka Gladiator Nitro, wrote: “Massive congratulations! Beautiful!”
Matty Campbell, better known as Bionic, posted: “Over the moon for you both.”
Zack and Samantha are also parents to Ivy, three.
The couple bravely shared late son Leo’s fight with followers last year.
He was initially placed on a ventilator, but after responding well he was taken off it and provided with CPAP, a non-invasive way of keeping airways open.
However, when he was retubed after six hours, it is believed accidental damage was done to his windpipe.
As well as suffering from brain bleeds, a hole in the heart and collapsing lungs, air pockets began to form around his lungs.
Zack told the Mirror: “Around the tenth day they started getting a bit bigger. They came to the conclusion that when they tubed him, either the first or the second time, they created a hole in his windpipe. It’s no one’s fault, a baby that young is really fragile; it’s just a risk.
“That was really hard, because if it hadn’t happened, he would probably still be here. A 23-week-old baby has so much to do. Overnight, he got quite bad, that’s when we went in and he passed away.”
The couple decided against giving Leo CPR having already witnessed him go through so much.
Zack announced Leo’s tragic death with a heartbreaking picture of he and Samantha holding him.
