THE Wanted star Nathan Sykes has taken a swipe at bandmate Max George amidst bitter feud.
Nathan, 32,tied the knot with his girlfriend of six yearsCharlotte Burke earlier this month and broke his silence as to why his former pal was not in attendance.
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The Wanted star Nathan Sykes has taken a swipe at bandmate Max George following his wedding with Charlotte BurkeCredit: InstagramFeud rumours have recently reignited between Max and NathanCredit: Getty
Feud rumours have recently reignited inside the huge UK boyband following a wedding snub.
Nathan opted for an intimate celebration inviting just 61 of their closest friends and family, among them was The Wanted star Jay McGuinness.
But, Max was noticeably absent from Nathan’s wedding alongsideSiva Kaneswaran – Max and Kiva now have their own boyband The Wanted 2.0 together.
Following the wedding Nathan opened up about why Max and Siva weren’t in attendance, speaking to OK! he said: “We haven’t touched base recently, so I’m not sure they would have known the wedding date.
“With them being out in America at the time, we’ve not had the chance to [catch up], but I’m sure we will soon.”
He added: “We had a room full of people we’re comfortable with, so it was a really safe space and allowed us to relax.”
The band was first formed in 2009 by Max, Nathan, Jay, Siva and the late Tom Parker.
The group had massive hits between 2009 before it was disbanded in 2014, with plans to bring the boys back together.
But now it seems The Wanted aren’t reuniting, and Max and Nathan might not be talking at all.
Recently, fans on Reddit noticed that the pair unfollowed each other on Instagram, cutting off social media communication.
One wrote: “Not to sound parasocial or anything, but for some context, I have been a fan of The Wanted since 2012.
They added: “Couldn’t help but notice Max and Nathan unfollowed each other?
“I wonder if there’s any beef between them lol.”
Another fan replied to the Reddit thread, saying: “I’ve always suspected Max and Nathan had a falling out before they broke up the first time.”
A third said: “It’s a real shame because teenage me loved Nathan and Max’s interactions.
“I remember when Nathan used to comment on Max’s ig posts around 2 years ago.
“They haven’t followed each other in a very long time.
Nathan admitted him and Max ‘haven’t touched base recently’Credit: Shutterstock EditorialThe band was first formed in 2009 by Max, Nathan, Jay McGuiness, Siva Kaneswaran and the late Tom ParkerCredit: GettyMax George and Nathan Sykes unfollowed each other on InstagramCredit: Getty
Nathan Aspinall threw two nine-dart finishes during the Players Championship 31 only to be blown away in the final – as Luke Littler suffered an early exit.
Aspinall, 34, produced perfect darts in a 6-4 victory over Irishman Steve Lennon in the second round, then repeated the feat in a 6-5 win over Germany’s Lukas Wenig in the last 16.
Englishman Aspinall had taken a 2-0 lead against Jermaine Wattimena of the Netherlands in the final in Wigan.
However, Wattimena reeled off eight legs on the bounce to clinically see off Aspinall and seal his second ranking title of the season.
The 18-year-old world champion is currently 67th in the Players Championship standings, external and has three events to secure his place in the top 64 to qualify for the finals.
Michael van Gerwen is also in danger of not qualifying after he was knocked out at the same stage with a 6-4 loss to Dom Taylor.
The Dutchman is 92nd in table and must now make the final in the Players Championship 32 on Wednesday to secure his spot because he is skipping the final two events because of a pre-booked holiday.
There are 34 Players Championship events across the year, with the competition’s finals held in Minehead from 21-23 November.
Luke Humphries turned on the style to beat Nathan Aspinall 2-0 and reach the second round of the World Grand Prix in Leicester.
Premier League champion Humphries edged a close first set 3-2, despite Aspinall recovering from a slow start to win the second leg with a ‘big fish’ finish of two treble 20s followed by a bullseye.
Aspinall struggled to start with doubles – a requirement of the double-in double-out format – as fellow Englishman Humphries took advantage and launched into the second set with a brutal 156 finish.
Humphries recovered from a wobble to see out the second set 3-0 and set up a second-round meeting with Poland’s Krzysztof Ratajski, who beat Germany’s Martin Schindler 2-0.
“It was a big game. Nathan is a fantastic player,” Humphries told Sky Sports.
“He struggled to get in a few times and he let me in with that 156, which was a big shot there to take the game towards myself.
“My scoring was a bit strange, they just didn’t want to drop in.
“Hopefully on Wednesday I can come back and be better.”
England’s Stephen Bunting – who recently won the Swiss Darts Trophy for his sixth title of the season – beat Germany’s Niko Springer 2-0, and fifth seed James Wade fell to a surprise 2-0 defeat to Joe Cullen in an all-English contest.
The first round continues on Tuesday as Peter Wright takes on 2024 Grand Prix champion Mike de Decker, Luke Littler faces Gian van Veen and Michael van Gerwen plays Dirk van Duijvenbode.
Bangor-born Broadhead was in Wrexham’s academy as a boy before he started his professional career with Everton.
He joined Ipswich permanently in 2023 and was part of the Tractor Boys team that last season played in the Premier League, something he hopes to emulate with Wrexham.
Wrexham’s Hollywood owners, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, have spoken of their ambition to reach English football’s top-flight.
“That’s the main reason I came and hopefully we can do that to get this club to the Premier League,” Broadhead added.
“That’s the aim of the owners. So I see the vision and hopefully we can get there.
“You see the players coming in. You’re bringing in quality players from the Championship and it just shows you where the owners want to be.
“That’s the project, what we’re going on.”
Broadhead was one of 13 players to join Wrexham during the summer along with Wales team-mates Danny Ward and Kieffer Moore.
Moore scored Wales’ winner in the 1-0 win in the World Cup qualifier in Kazakhstan earlier this month, a game Broadhead missed due to his calf injury.
With a camera trailing his every move, Nathan Chen glides across the ice at the same training center that fueled his Olympic dreams. Four years after winning Olympic gold, Chen is still the picture of power and artistry as he picks up speed to round a turn and circles an arm around his head.
“Is this a comeback?” Jean-Luc Baker, a 2022 Olympic ice dancer, playfully asks.
The reigning Olympic champion has not skated competitively since Feb. 10, 2022, when Chen landed five clean quadruple jumps to become the seventh U.S. man to win a figure skating singles gold medal.
He doesn’t intend to change that soon.
Six months before the Milano Cortina Olympics, Chen confirmed he will not defend his Olympic title. The two-time Olympic gold medalist hasn’t officially retired, but is ready to embark on a new career in medicine.
“I just want to open doors to kind of see what’s the best sort of approach for me,” Chen told The Times. “And frankly, at this point in time in my life, I’ve already accomplished enough in skating that I’m quite satisfied with my career.”
A six-time national champion and three-time world champion, Chen put an exclamation point on his career with a dominant performance in Beijing. He set the world record in the short program. He conquered demons from a 2018 disaster in which he finished fifth to win his first individual Olympic medal. He became the first singles skater in Olympic history with two gold medals in the same Games after helping the United States to a victory in the team competition.
Then Chen slipped seamlessly back into life as a student, finishing his bachelor’s degree at Yale, where he started before the Games. He began applying to medical schools while helping launch Your True Step, a series of skating seminars with Baker, who placed 11th in the 2022 Olympic ice dance competition with partner Kaitlin Hawayek, and choreographer Sam Chouinard. After giving instruction on and off the ice to roughly two dozen young athletes, the first question Chen received Friday during a post-camp Q&A was about which medical school he was going to attend.
Whichever one wants him, Chen responded with a chuckle.
Chen, who said taking the medical college admission test was even more nerve-racking than competing at the Olympics, is interested in cardiology or oncology, specifically related to genetics. He’s curious about cardiothoracic surgery, but worried about the potential work-life balance sacrifices.
The concern isn’t that Chen is scared to dedicate himself completely to a particular job. He just wants his next project to be as fulfilling as skating was.
“The basis of being a doctor, I think, is to help people,” Chen said. “I think that’s something that I didn’t necessarily feel as an athlete, that I felt was a little bit lacking, and I get a little bit of that sense doing YTS.”
The skating camps, which began in 2024, have brought Chen and Baker to rinks in Irvine, Boston, Detroit and Seattle. They came up with the idea while attending a pre-Olympic camp in 2022 so the longtime friends could remain close to each other and to the sport. Baker, 31, knew the Beijing Games would likely be his last Olympics. Chen wasn’t sure at the time.
Nathan Chen listens to the national anthem while standing on the top step of the podium after winning gold in men’s figure skating at the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games.
(Jae C. Hong / Associated Press)
Still only 26, Chen could be entering his physical prime. The sport has remained open to older competitors as technique has progressed. But the window of opportunity to realistically win is small, Chen acknowledged, as athletes push the limits toward jumps that were once unimaginable.
Leading up to the 2022 Olympics, Chen dabbled with a quadruple axel during practice, but stopped training it as the Games approached. While he came close to landing it, he was comfortable knowing no one else had the daring jump yet.
Only seven months after those Games, Ilia Malinin landed the world’s first quadruple axel in competition at 17 years old. Now the favorite for Olympic gold in 2026, the 20-year-old American has won consecutive world championships.
While Malinin, who also trains at Irvine’s Great Park Ice with Chen’s former coach Rafael Arutyunyan, landed six quadruple jumps at the 2025 world championships, Chen watched from afar.
The event took place in Boston, where Chen was completing a post-baccalaureate program. Instead of feeling like he was missing out, Chen was relieved he didn’t have to feel the stress of competition.
He’s content to enjoy what could be a golden era of U.S. skating from the sideline. The United States claimed three of four world championships in 2025, the most ever for the country in a single world championship. Alysa Liu made an improbable return from a two-year hiatus to become the first U.S. woman to win the world championship since 2006. Madison Chock and Evan Bates won their third consecutive ice dance world title. Malinin, known as “the Quad God,” became the first American man to win back-to-back singles world championships since Chen, who won three.
Chen, the one-time “Quad King,” is happy to pass his crown.
Nathan Eovaldi limited the Angels to a run in seven innings, Adolis García hit a two-run homer in the eighth and the Texas Rangers beat the Angels 6-3 on Wednesday night.
Eovaldi (9-3) helped the Rangers avoid a series sweep and snap the Angels’ three-game winning streak. He allowed six hits and struck out four.
Marcus Semien was three for five with an RBI and two runs. He doubled and opened the scoring on Wyatt Langford’s single in the fourth, and had an RBI single in the sixth. Langford was two for five with a double.
Robert Garcia pitched the ninth for his ninth save.
José Soriano (7-8) pitched seven innings for the Angels, giving up two runs, one of which was unearned, while striking out seven.
Luis Rengifo tied it, 1-1, with an RBI single in the fourth.
García broke hit open in the eighth with his 15th home run of the season, and Texas tacked on two more runs to pull away.
Nolan Schanuel hit a two-run homer for the Angels in the eighth. Corey Seager extended his majors-best on-base streak to 29 games in the ninth with a single to right.
Key moment
García’s eighth-inning homer gave Texas breathing room.
Key stat
Eovaldi allowed just one run.
Up next
Angels left-hander Tyler Anderson (2-6, 4.41) is scheduled to start at home Friday night against the Chicago White Sox.
Denis Bouanga scored on a penalty kick and assisted on Nathan Ordaz’s goal as LAFC defeated FC Dallas 2-0 at BMO Stadium on Saturday night.
Hugo Lloris made one save as LAFC (9-5-5) recorded its second straight shutout and won for the second time in three games since it went winless during the Club World Cup.
LAFC put 10 shots on goal.
Ordaz took a pass from Bouanga in the penalty box, spun and booted a right-footed shot into the right side of the goal in the 31st minute.
Bouanga made it 2-0 when he converted into the right side in the 45th minute, after he was fouled by Shaq Moore.
LAFC captain and defender Aaron Long was carted off in the 76th minute for an apparent leg injury.
Nathan Fillion straddles the line between everyman and hunk — and he’s built a career out of it. He’s a natural in roles that require both charisma and a touch of self-awareness, whether he’s solving crimes, commanding a spaceship or enforcing the law.
In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.
Fillion played the wisecracking mystery novelist Richard Castle in ABC’s crime drama “Castle” and stars in ABC’s “The Rookie” as John Nolan, a forty-something who navigates his midlife crisis by joining the LAPD. Of course, to sci-fi fans, Fillion will always be Captain Mal Reynolds from “Firefly,” the short-lived but beloved space Western that has kept him a staple at comic conventions for over two decades. Though “Firefly” lasted just one season in 2002, its cult status has endured, cementing Fillion as a fan-favorite in the genre world.
Now he’s stepping into an even bigger universe: the DC Universe. Fillion plays the role of the Guy Gardner / Green Lantern (complete with the iconic bowl cut) in James Gunn’s “Superman,” a highly anticipated reboot hitting theaters on today.
“You got to be really lucky,” he says of his 30-year career. “It’s just not up to you whether or not you stay relevant and popular and on TV and in movies.”
Living close to the hills in Hollywood, Fillion’s ideal Sunday involves relaxing at home, catching up with his favorite people and some late-night gaming. Here’s how he’d spend a perfect day in the city.
7:30 a.m.: Greet my cat and make some art
I much prefer waking up to sunlight than an alarm. I like having open curtains so the sun comes in, I wake up and feel awake, whereas if an alarm goes off in the dark, I don’t. My cat doesn’t sleep in my room, but every morning when I wake up, he’s at the foot of my bed. This is Bowie. I named him Bowie because he has heterochromia: one blue eye, one gold. He’s massive, 25 pounds, a Norwegian Forest Cat and Turkish Angora. He’s great about not waking me up, which I appreciate. Then he follows me around while I make my coffee — creamy and sweet, like my cat. I’ll sit in my kitchen — I’ve got nothing but birds chirping and the sun’s coming in — doodling for hours if I’m allowed. I say “doodle” instead of “draw” because my work is abstract, just black ink on paper, but only with the right pen, ink and paper. It’s an ASMR thing.
9 a.m.: Eggs benny at Sweet Butter
I love eggs for breakfast. I will do a classic scramble and toast with a little bacon or some sausages. But if I really want to be treating myself, it’s eggs Benedict. There’s a place called Sweet Butter down on Ventura Boulevard, and they do a real nice eggs benny.
10 a.m.: A hike with a view (and a rainy day contingency plan)
After breakfast? A hike. I live close to the hills in Hollywood. You’re up there, you’re in nature, you’re seeing animals, you’re seeing the birds. You’re just out there, looking out over the city. It’s better for your body to move a little bit after you’ve got some food. If it’s a rainy day, all bets are off. You’ll find me at the IPIC Theaters because of their luxurious seats and their incredible food, seeing a matinee.
12 p.m.: Nothing beats a backyard hang
I love having friends over. I’ve got a really beautiful backyard. I just had some friends over and their three-year-old twins. We threw them in the pool, and we made pork ribs. We had an incredible salad with some roasted tomatoes. We made corn on the cob. It was perfect weather. We found some shade, and we just sat there for hours and ate and laughed. And that’s a fantastic way to spend a Sunday, with people that you don’t get to see very often. Los Angeles is a beautiful city, but it’s rather spread out and gathering can be a little bit difficult. So when people make the time, it’s really nice.
4 p.m.: Channel my inner Marie Kondo
My house has too much clutter, so lately I’ve been trying to pick out a room or a closet or a drawer, and I’m organizing everything and getting rid of anything I don’t use or don’t like. Just trying to declutter the house — that’s something I’ve been engaging in in the last month. Do I enjoy it? I don’t enjoy the process. I do enjoy the results. And also just the inventory, knowing what you have. Oh, I’ve got these. I don’t need to buy any more of these. I got five of them in the back here.
6 p.m.: Sushi and streaming
Sunday nights are for ordering in. There’s a pho place, a ramen place and Iroha Sushi, my favorite sushi in the city. And LALA’s Argentine Grill. And [Sunday nights are also] for binging television. And right now we just finished binging “From.” [Editor’s note: Fillion is notoriously private and didn’t state who “we” is.] Super scary, and we love being judgmental of the parenting done by the one couple that have their kids there with them. They really let their kids run around unsupervised in this horror town. Also “Invincible” and “Landman.” We’re making our way through those.
9 p.m.: Answer the “Call of Duty”
In the very late evening, I have a group of about 25 guys who have been playing Xbox Live together for about 20 years. We do “Destiny 2,” “Halo” and “Call of Duty.” Some different games get sprinkled in now and again, but it’s mostly just those top three. There’s a text thread, and you’ll just say, “Hey, I’m jumping on for about an hour.” Or sometimes we’ll play late into the evenings, and we catch up, we laugh, we chat and maybe twice a year, we gather. I say, “This is my last game because I’m getting tired,” and I just roll into bed and wait for the next Sunday.
We’ve all eaten an extra hot dog at a Fourth of July barbecue — but only the greats can stomach 50 dogs in rapid fire.
Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest brings the world’s top competitive eaters to Coney Island, N.Y., to see how many hot dogs they can eat in 10 minutes. Here’s what you need to know about this year’s competition.
Is Joey Chestnut competing?
Joey Chestnut, the competition’s most decorated eater, is returning to the Coney Island stage this year after a sponsorship conflict barred him from competing in 2024. Banned after signing a sponsorship deal with Impossible Foods, Chestnut got his fill competing at a different contest in El Paso, Texas. Major League Eating eventually ceded the sponsorship issue with Chestnut, who posted on X in June that he is “grateful we’ve been able to find common ground.”
Who are the eaters?
Chestnut — ranked No. 1 in the country — is the favorite to win again, boasting a Major League Eating record of 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes. Other eaters to watch are the 2024 winner and No. 2-ranked Patrick Bertoletti, No.-3 ranked eater Geoffrey Esper, No.-4 ranked eater James Webb and No.-6 ranked eater Nick Wehry.
Miki Sudo is the front-runner in the women’s competition. The reigning champ with a 10-year winning streak, Sudo will be aiming to top her personal record set in 2024 of 51 hot dogs.
When is the contest?
The 2025 Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest will take place July 4 outside the original Nathan’s Famous on the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues in Coney Island in Brooklyn, N.Y. ESPN will continue its annual broadcast of the Fourth of July contest this year, with coverage beginning at 7:45 a.m. PT/10:45 a.m. ET. The main hot dog eating contest is expected to begin at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET.
How can I watch?
The contest will be broadcast live on ESPN2 at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET. It will air again on ESPN at 2 p.m. PT/5 p.m. ET and 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET, and at 3 p.m. PT/6 p.m. ET on ESPN2. This will give fans some timing options as they iron out their Fourth of July plans.
The women’s competition will air on ESPN3 at 7:45 a.m. PT/10:45 a.m. ET and will be recapped around 12 p.m. ET.
How did the contest come to be?
In 1916, Polish immigrant Nathan Handwerker used a $300 loan and his wife’s secret recipe to open a nickel hot dog stand — it wasn’t until 1972 that the first hot dog eating contest began.
What was initially a lighthearted challenge has become a physically taxing sport, formalized by Major League Eating and extensive media attention. Many see the contest as emblematic of America’s obsession with spectacle and excess. Nathan’s is also not shy about its original goal of self-promotion. Every Independence Day, tens of thousands of fans flock to Coney Island with millions more watching on ESPN.
So, what’s on the table?
The winner receives the highly coveted and bejeweled Mustard Belt, a $10,000 grand prize and the esteemed champion title.
World number one Luke Humphries got the better of fellow Englishman Nathan Aspinall to claim a superb victory in the final of the US Darts Masters.
Humphries, 30, followed up his World Masters and Premier League titles with an 8-6 win in the World Series of Darts event at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
Aspinall defeated world champion Luke Littler 6-4 in the quarter-finals earlier on Saturday.
“This is the most iconic venue that we play in and it’s really special to win this event,” said Humphries.
“It’s one of the top venues in the world and it’s one I’ve always dreamed of winning. When I finally won, it was an amazing relief.”
I’m Glenn Whipp, columnist for the Los Angeles Times and host of The Envelope newsletter, here to explain why Nathan Fielder should be the Top Gun of this Emmy season.
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A show too singular to ignore
The second season of Nathan Fielder’s brilliantly bonkers “The Rehearsal” opens inside a commercial jet cockpit where the plane’s captain and first officer are having a tense exchange as they prepare to land at a fogged-in runway. The first officer suggests they’re off course. The captain disagrees but is soon proved wrong as the plane crashes. We see the pilots slumped in the cockpit, dead. Then the camera pans to Fielder, surveying the fiery aftermath, a disaster he just re-created in a simulator on a soundstage.
With that prelude, it may seem strange to tell you that I laughed out loud as many times watching “The Rehearsal” as I did any other TV series this season. Not during the simulated disasters, of course, which Fielder used to illustrate what he believes to be biggest issue in airline travel today — pilots failing to communicate during a crisis.
So, yes, “The Rehearsal” is about airline safety. Mostly. But Fielder is a master of misdirection. There is no way you can predict where he’ll direct his premise, and I found myself delighting in utter surprise at the tangents he took in “The Rehearsal” this season.
An alternate biopic of pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, with Fielder playing Sully from diapered baby to the Evanescence-loving hero landing in the Hudson River? Yes! Re-creating the German subsidiary of Paramount+ as a Nazi headquarters? OK! Vacuuming up air from San Jose to help train a cloned dog in Los Angeles while he attempts to understand how the nature-vs.-nurture dynamic might play out in human behavior? Ummmmm … sure. We’ll go with it!
Nathan Fielder takes the controls in “The Rehearsal.”
(John P. Johnson / HBO)
With Fielder’s incisive mind, the detours are everything. Even the destination this season came as a jolt. Yes, it involves that Boeing 737 I mentioned in the intro, and, no, I’m not going to elaborate because I still feel like not enough people have watched “The Rehearsal.” The series’ first two seasons are available on HBO, as are all four seasons of Fielder’s Comedy Central docuseries “Nathan for You,” which had Fielder “helping” small-business owners improve their sales. (Example: Pitching a Santa Clarita liquor store owner that he should sell booze to minors but just not let them take it home until they turned 21.)
The humor in “The Rehearsal” can be just as outrageous as “Nathan for You,” but the overall tone is more thoughtful, as it also explores loneliness and the masks we all wear at times to hide our alienation.
For the Emmys, HBO has submitted “The Rehearsal” in the comedy categories. Where else would they put it? But the show is so singular that I wonder if even its fans in the Television Academy will remember to vote for it. They should. It’s funny, insightful, occasionally terrifying, utterly unforgettable. And I hope Isabella Henao, the winner of the series’ reality show competition, goes places. She sure can sing!
Tom Cruise, Dolly Parton will have their Oscar moments
Meanwhile, that other pilot, Tom Cruise, will finally receive an Oscar, an honorary one, in November at the Governors Awards, alongside production designer Wynn Thomas and choreographer and actor Debbie Allen.
Dolly Parton, singer, actor and beloved icon, will be given the annual Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for her charitable work.
Cruise has been nominated for three acting Oscars over the years — for playing Marine Corps Sgt. Ron Kovic in Oliver Stone’s 1989 antiwar movie “Born on the Fourth of July,” the sports agent who had Renée Zellweger at hello in Cameron Crowe’s 1996 classic “Jerry Maguire” and the chauvinistic motivational speaker in Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1999 opus “Magnolia.” Cruise was also nominated as a producer for 2022’s dad cinema favorite “Top Gun: Maverick.”
Tom Cruise, left, and Paul Newman in “The Color of Money.”
(Fox Broadcasting Company)
Cruise should have won the supporting actor Oscar for “Magnolia,” a ferocious turn in which he harnessed his strutting brashness to play an odious character hiding a deep well of pain. It came the same year as his star turn opposite then-wife Nicole Kidman in “Eyes Wide Shut.” Not a bad double feature! Instead, Michael Caine won for “Cider House Rules” during an Oscar era in which there was seemingly no prize Harvey Weinstein couldn’t land. It wasn’t even Caine’s first Oscar; he had already won for “Hannah and Her Sisters.”
Cruise has devoted himself to commercial action movies, mostly of the “Mission: Impossible” variety, for the past two decades. He did recently complete filming a comedy with director Alejandro González Iñárritu, scheduled for release next year.
It’d be funny if Cruise wins a competitive Oscar after picking up an honorary one. It happened with Paul Newman, Cruise’s co-star in “The Color of Money.”
World number eight Aspinall has confounded critics who opposed his inclusion in the eight-man competition, having been ranked 11 when the picks were made.
His inclusion was questioned by fellow players Mike de Decker and Dave Chisnall amid suggestions his popular walk-on song Mr Brightside helped his case.
The Stockport-born player has battled online abuse over his participation, as well as recovering from injuries and dartitis to reach the final four.
“I came off social media because of the abuse I was getting,” said ‘The Asp’ after his second nightly win, in Aberdeen a week ago.
“I’m not being exaggerated here, but it ruined my life for a month, not just my life, my family’s. It was horrific. “
Aspinall has also come back from elbow, wrist and back injuries, along with tackling dartitis – a condition where players have a mental block when it comes to throwing on the stage.
Missing out on qualification seals a miserable campaign for Van Gerwen, whose last nightly win came back in April 2024.
The three-time world champion had seven victories and two runner-up spots from his previous 12 campaigns, with his last Premier League title in 2023.
“This is probably one of the hardest Premier Leagues I have ever played in – not in terms of players, but in terms of myself,” Van Gerwen admitted.
His cause was not helped when missing the ninth event of the season in Berlin with a shoulder injury sustained while trying to put a shirt on.
Sitting in the Birmingham High bleachers wearing headphones before running the 400 meters at the City Section track and field prelims, 17-year-old senior Nathan Santa Cruz looks like a teenager comfortable and confident. Teammates gravitate to him. Maybe it’s his smile. Or maybe they want to be near someone enjoying each and every day.
A traumatic experience changed his outlook on life in the fall of 2022 when he suffered a brain injury in the opening football game for Venice High and underwent emergency surgery to stop bleeding.
“We don’t know if he’s going to make it,” his mother, Crystal Clark, remembers being told at the hospital.
Nathan Santa Cruz, who survived a brain injury in 2022, goes for a City Section title at 400 meters.
(Craig Weston)
Santa Cruz recovered so well that he played two more years of football, but his real love was using his speed in track. Last season he finished second in the City Section 400. This year, he ran a career-best time of 47.74 seconds at the Arcadia Invitational.
On Thursday, he’ll have a rematch against Justin Hart of Granada Hills in the 400 final. They ran one-two last season.
“I think it’s going to be a real competitive race,” Santa Cruz said. “I’m going to try to come out on top.”
If he doesn’t finish first, he’s already won. He has a track scholarship waiting for him at Cal Poly Pomona, where he plans to study business or criminology. And he has grown up fast because of what happened to him. He’s no normal teenager when you listen to what he believes.
“At the end of the day, it’s God giving you another chance to wake up,” he said. “Make sure I’m better than yesterday. That’s what I do.”
Granada Hills’ Justin Hart, the son of former NBA player Jason Hart, is favored in the City 400 and 200.
(Craig Weston)
His competitor, Hart, has his own story to tell. He’s the son of Kentucky basketball assistant coach Jason Hart, who spent 10 years in the NBA. An older brother, Jason II, also played basketball but Justin was different.
Justin played lots of sports, including basketball, but when he was 7, he told his father, “I don’t want to do this anymore. I don’t want you to waste your money.”
He wanted to run.
“I didn’t want to be in my dad’s shadow. I wanted to create my own identity in my own sport,” he said.
He won the 400 and was second in the 200 at last year’s City final. He’s going for a sweep on Thursday and is just getting started.
“I think the ceiling is really high,” Granada Hills coach Johnny Wiley said.
He’ll welcome his father and mother in the bleachers cheering loudly.
There really won’t be any losers when Hart and Santa Cruz square off. They come from great families and have learned lessons that will help them succeed for years to come.
Santa Cruz makes it clear he runs to make his mother proud because he’ll never forget a memory from his hospital experience.
“Seeing her cry at the hospital, I knew I had to go make an impact in her life, make it so she didn’t have to pay for her kid to go to college,” he said. “Seeing her smile, that’s why I do it.”
And when days don’t go as well as he might like, Santa Cruz said he has learned, “It’s just the way life goes. I think God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers.”
Nathan Aspinall took the Premier League nightly win in Aberdeen to close on a play-off place while Luke Littler sealed top spot.
Aspinall is on the brink of qualifying after beating Chris Dobey 6-1 in the final on a dramatic evening which saw Gerwyn Price hit a nine-darter.
Dobey claimed a decider to win his semi-final 6-5 against world champion Littler, who earlier won a classic against world number one Luke Humphries that featured 14 180s.
Despite averaging 110.01, Humphries could not halt Littler, who averaged 115.96 to guarantee he would finish top of the league phase.
Defending champion Littler had already qualified for the four-man play-offs in London on 29 May alongside Humphries and Price.
Price hit his second nine-darter of the campaign but ended a 6-4 quarter-final loser to Stephen Bunting.
Aspinall moved above seven-time champion Michael van Gerwen into fourth spot with a 6-3 victory over the Dutchman before dispatching Bunting 6-1 and going four points clear after his final triumph.
If Van Gerwen does not claim the night win in Sheffield next week, Aspinall – who finished fifth in 2023 and 2024 – will claim the last play-off spot.
“All I have said to my family, I don’t want to come fifth again. I’ve put one foot in the finals. I play Michael [van Gerwen] again next week and the pressure is on him,” said the English player.
“It’s a do or die game. I save myself three hours of misery if I can beat him at 8pm, I’m going to the O2 which is a dream of mine. It’s in my hands.”
