morning

Gayle King, the most high-profile star at CBS News, has signed a new deal with the network.

A CBS News representative said Wednesday the division reached an agreement with King, 71, to continue as co-host of “CBS Mornings” co-host but did not reveal the length or the terms. Her current deal was set to end in May.

King’s future at the program came into question last fall after the arrival of CBS News Editor-in-chief Bari Weiss. There were leaks to the trades and tabloid press that parent company Paramount was looking to trim King’s salary or reduce her role at the network as a means to cut costs.

“Rumors of my demise were inaccurate and greatly exaggerated,” King said in a statement. “CBS News is my longtime home, and I am committed to our mission. I’m excited about continuing at CBS Mornings. As always, I’m open to new adventures here and ready to go. It took a minute, but we got there. And now that we are here, I am all in.”

King is the highest paid on-air talent at CBS News, earning an annual eight-figure salary.

Known for her effusive charm, King apparently won Weiss over.

“There is only one Gayle King,” Weiss said in a statement. “We’re so proud that she’ll continue to call CBS home. We’re thrilled to have her on in the morning—and equally excited to work with her on new, enterprising projects that bring her talents to new audiences.”

While King is locked in for at least another year, there is a search underway for at least one new co-host on the program.

King’s current co-host is Nate Burleson, who is also an analyst for CBS Sports. The network has not permanently replaced Tony Dokoupil, who left “CBS Mornings” in January to take over as anchor of the “CBS Evening News.”

King joined CBS News in 2012, when she joined “CBS This Morning.” As co-hosts alongside Charlie Rose and Norah O’Donnell, the program experienced five consecutive years of ratings growth.

“CBS This Morning” was adrift after Rose — a major audience draw — was ousted over sexual harassment allegations. In 2021, it was renamed “CBS Mornings,” with King taking a more prominent role.

“CBS Mornings” ranks third in ratings behind NBC’s “Today” and ABC’s “Good Morning America,” but remains a significant revenue generator for CBS News.

ITV stars Susanna Reid and Ed Balls caused mixed reactions from Good Morning Britain viewers.

Good Morning Britain viewers were less than impressed with the ITV show during Wednesday’s episode (March 4)

During the programme, presenter Ed Balls informed his co-star Susanna Reid, who recently addressed a mistake on the show, that he had made a Shepherd’s Pie for dinner on Tuesday night with beef mince.

He replied: “That’s what proper Shepherd’s Pie is-” Cutting him off, Susanna replied: “No, Shepherd’s Pie is with lamb mince. You made a cottage pie!”

Ed added: “If we did a poll of our viewers, in their lives, was Shepherd’s Pie made with beef or lamb’, 70% of people would say beef.”

Wanting to settle the debate, Good Morning Britain’s official X account asked their viewers in a poll.

They asked: “@edballs has revealed that he made a shepherd’s pie with beef mince last night, but @susannareid100, @Kevin_Maguire and Kwasi Kwarteng say Ed made a cottage pie. Help us settle the debate: Is it OK to make shepherd’s pie with beef mince?”

However, it was clear people weren’t thrilled with the question, as many flocked to comment on the topic.

For the latest showbiz, TV, movie and streaming news, go to the new **Everything Gossip** website.

One person said: “What utter garbage for a news or even a current affairs programme.” Another reeled: “Is this even a newsworthy debate: how or what Balls cooks for dinner?”

Someone else commented: “That’s your take on world news.” As another shared: “This is taking up airtime. Wtf.”

However, some fans were thrilled to take part in the debate, as one person commented: “Morning, I’m with Ed. I don’t eat Lamb, but I’ve had many tasty Shepherds pies, made with beef.”

Later on in the show, Susanna remarked: “We are losing sleep this morning on whether a pie topped with potato and mince is a Shepherd’s Pie, if it’s made with beef mince.

“My view is that it’s clearly a cottage pie, your view is that it’s clearly a Shepherd’s Pie, despite the fact that Shepherds don’t look after cows.”

While Ed insisted that he was correct, there are some people who are a ‘bit fussy’ over what is correct.

Speaking about the poll, Susanna added: “Obviously, we’re in the middle of conflict, and there are, as we understand, more important things to talk about. But, we’re on air for three and a half hours every morning, so real life does go on, doesn’t it?

“We put a Twitter poll up, help us settle the debate: is it OK to make Shepherd’s Pie with beef mince? No, 63.4%, of course it isn’t.”

Good Morning Britain is available to watch weekdays on ITV from 6am.

Ensure our latest headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source.** Click here to activate**** or add us as your Preferred Source in your Google search settings.**

Just in time for the February half-term and to prevent the stress of travel, Wizz Air is offering a new nifty bag drop of hack for UK holidaymakers who have early morning flights

Ahead of a busy travel period, Wizz Air has introduced a new check-in procedure that allows UK travellers to drop their bags off at the airport the day before they fly.

Airports are expected to be busier than usual as hundreds of families jet off abroad during the February half-term for a sun-soaked getaway, while other travellers seek a winter escape amid the chilly British weather. In a bid to help Brits have a smooth start to their holiday, Wizz Air has introduced a twilight check-in option.

Available from today (Monday, 16 February), the new service allows passengers to check in and drop their luggage off at London Luton Airport the night before they fly. It will be available seven days a week, between 9pm and 2am, for travellers departing on a flight scheduled up to 9am the following morning.

READ MORE: United Airlines flight aborts London Heathrow landing after mid-air emergencyREAD MORE: UK airline announces 4 major new routes – and ticket prices start from £84.99

Wizz Air is the third airline to offer twilight check-in at Luton Airport, following EasyJet and Jet2, who introduced the option to their passengers last year. It comes at the perfect time amid the February half-term, as Luton Airport alone is predicted to handle a whopping 325,000 passengers during the week. (It’s worth noting that TUI also offers the service although not from Luton, but other airports including Gatwick).

Following Valentine’s weekend, Amsterdam, Bologna and Paris are thought to have been Luton Airport’s most popular destinations for couples jetting off for a romantic escape. Meanwhile, Berlin, Budapest, Lisbon, Prague and Seville are among the favourite destinations for a half-term city break, offering warmer climates and charming streets to explore.

For UK travellers looking for a sun-soaked getaway, Palma de Mallorca, Murcia and Malaga are ranked as Luton’s most favourable destinations. While Lanzarote, Madeira and Turkish hotspots Antalya and Dalaman have also proven popular among those looking for a winter sun escape with blistering rays.

To keep up with demand, Wizz Air is set to launch new routes from Luton to Barcelona, Madrid, Bilbao, Valencia and Seville from March 29. Meanwhile, Jet2 will launch five new routes to Corfu, Kos, Preveza, Skiathos and Menorca, from May 21.

Clare Armstrong, Head of Guest Experience at London Luton Airport, commented: “February half term provides the perfect opportunity to take a well-earned break and to escape the notorious British weather that we typically see this time of year. As ever, our teams will be working hard to deliver a simple and friendly passenger experience to all those travelling from the airport, from Valentine’s couples heading off for a romantic getaway, to families searching for sunshine and solo travellers exploring new regions.

“The launch of another twilight check-in service will mean even more passengers can get their travels off to the swiftest and simplest start and follows another hugely exciting year for LLA, with continued investment in passenger facilities, new shops and restaurants and record customer satisfaction scores achieved. We are all set for another busy and exciting week, and we’re thrilled to see so many passengers choosing LLA as the starting point for their travels.”

Do you have a travel story to share? Email webtravel@reachplc.com

Sanne and Nick Gibson are two Wizz Air captains who first met at pilot school in Arizona and now fly for the same budget airline, managing to juggle life as parents with flying across Europe

This is your captain speaking. And this is your captain’s husband speaking.

Not the words you’d expect to hear as you buckle up ahead of a trip away, but ones that could crackle through the intercom of Sanne and Nick Gibson’s Wizz Air plane when they happen to be flying together.

The aviators are a vanishingly rare duo who don’t just work for the same company, but do exactly the same job. Sometimes in the same cockpit.

They are veteran captains for the Hungarian budget airline, both based at its UK base in Luton. They start work at the same time, jumping out of bed in the small hours, heading to the airport and skillfully flying a plane load of people to one of the 190 or so airports Wizz Air serves, before heading back to the UK again after a short 35-minute break.

Impressively, Sanne, 31, and her 33-year-old husband manage to make it back from Budapest, Corfu, Rome or wherever they happen to be going that day in time to pick up their 1.5-year-old daughter from nursery.

Having known each other for more than 10 years has its advantages when it comes to working together. When they first joined one another in the cockpit, the professional connection was instant.

“We didn’t have to understand each other first. I knew Sanne’s thought process before it came out of her mouth. I couldn’t have asked for a better co-pilot, because you know each other so well, you understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses,” Nick, from Leeds, explained.

It seems to be true what they (might) say: couples that fly together, stay together.

Sanne and Nick’s soaring romance began in 2015 when they met at pilot school in Arizona. “Away from the prying eyes of parents,” for the first time and beneath the scorching desert sun, the Yorkshire lad and Dutch woman hit it off one evening around a pool after a hard day’s flying.

They exchanged bucket lists, Nick impressing Sanne with boasts of a police ride-along he’d secured in a chance encounter with a cop.

Wings earned, what had remained a friendship in the US blossomed into a romance in the UK, where Nick took Sanne for her first Nando’s on their first date. From then, they may well have been inseparable – had the fast-paced, demanding life of a young pilot not got in the way.

READ MORE: Holiday hacks that are a ‘waste of time’ and don’t actually save moneyREAD MORE: Padel craze and astronomy lead summer travel trends for Brit holidaymakers

He scored a job in Munich, and she in Strasbourg, meaning they were a two-hour drive apart. When Sanne later landed a gig in Toulouse, Nick managed to transfer to Bristol so he could do night layovers in the French city.

And then, when Sanne secured a job at Wizz Air in 2017 and Nick the year after, the couple had achieved their ambition of working from the same base for the first time. “I know other people in this job had been at it for ten years trying to get to the same place,” Nick explained.

On his very first flight as a captain, Sanne was there alongside Nick as his co-pilot.

“Sometimes I have to pinch myself that we live together. And we get home every night. I am so lucky,” Sanne said.

The couple’s rotas are aligned, meaning they both work five days on and then four days off. They have permanent, live-in childcare for five days when they’re at work – something they say is crucial to them getting enough sleep to be ready to fly.

“The mum guilt is a real thing, but I think it’s a really important thing to keep going. Flying is a perishable skill; if you don’t fly, you lose it. It’s not like riding a bike. I remember that first takeoff after maternity leave, I was halfway down the runway before I got my head in the game,” Sanne said.

While Nick and Sanne do fly together, they don’t do so all the time. In fact, it’s a chance when they do end up in the same cockpit. “We don’t push for it, but it is quite nice. It was just us, no daughter, no phones. We just sat there and had a chat,” Nick said.

Both are quick to note that they’ve never had a domestic while behind the controls, despite Sanne noticing that Nick does sometimes make a loud whistling sound into the microphone when he’s flying.

They also resist doing a ‘his and hers’ bit to the cabin over the intercom, for fear it’d freak out passengers concerned that they aren’t taking their jobs seriously enough.

Looking to the future, the husband and wife won’t be flying together anytime soon. Because Sanne is due to give birth just before Valentine’s Day.

But after six months of maternity leave, they’ll both be back in the cockpit, jetting off to somewhere sunny together.

Do you have a story to share? Email webtravel@reachplc.com

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry gets tearful as she explains the conversation she had with Ukrainian skeleton pilot Vladyslav Heraskevych.

Heraskevych was banned from participating in the race for continuing to wear a helmet featuring images of athletes killed during Russia’s invasion of his home country, which the IOC says breaks its rules.

READ MORE: ‘Price of dignity’ says Ukrainian athlete banned over helmet