SACRAMENTO — A new poll shows that former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter’s support in the 2026 governor’s race dropped after she tangled with a television reporter during a heated interview in October, an incident that rival candidates used to question her temperament.
Porter was the clear front-runner over the summer, but by late October she dropped behind Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, a Republican, according to a poll released Friday by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and co-sponsored by The Times.
“She’s the leading Democrat among the various ones that are in there right now,” said Mark DiCamillo, director of the poll. “But it’s because nobody really on the Democratic side has really jumped out of the pack. It’s kind of a political vacuum at the moment.”
The governor’s race was frozen in stasis for most of the year, first as Californians waited for former Vice President Kamala Harris to decide whether she was going to jump into the race. It wasn’t until late July that Harris announced, no, she was not running. Then, weeks later, Californians became captivated by a special election to reconfigure the state’s congressional districts — which set off a furious, expensive and high-stakes political battle that could help decide which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives.
Now that the special election is over, gubernatorial candidates can “rev up the public to pay attention,” DiCamillo said.
“It’s the time for someone to break through,” he said.
But it won’t be U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla. The senator would have been the top Democrat in the race, but not a heavy favorite, if he decided to jump in, the poll found. Voters gave him the highest favorability rating among all current and potential contenders in the governor’s race. After months of speculation, however, Padilla on Tuesday announced he would forgo a run for governor.
The new poll found that Bianco was supported by 13% of voters in the state, followed by Porter at 11%. The Berkeley poll in August showed that Porter led all candidates with 17% support, with Bianco in second place at 10%.
A Bianco representative said his lead in the polls was evidence that his campaign was resonating with voters.
“It is abundantly clear that Californians are demanding a new path forward,” campaign manager Erica Melendrez said. “Sheriff Bianco represents a safe California, an affordable California, an educated California and a leader with integrity and character that ALL Californians can be proud of.”
DiCamillo said Porter’s 6% drop over those three months was significant, given that the California governor’s race is so tight, but cautioned that it’s still early in the 2026 campaign season and a lot of shifting will happen before the June gubernatorial primary.
Porter’s campaign declined to comment on the drop in support and noted instead that she still led the Democratic field.
“Poll after poll continues to show Katie as the strongest Democrat in the race, driven by a growing coalition of grassroots supporters — not powerful special interests,” spokesperson Peter Opitz said. “Californians know her record of taking on Donald Trump and trust her to tackle our cost crisis, from skyrocketing rent and housing costs to rising healthcare premiums and unaffordable child care.”
Porter came under fire in October after an outburst during an interview with CBS reporter Julie Watts. When the Sacramento-based journalist asked Porter what she would say to Californians who voted for Trump, the UC Irvine law professor responded that she didn’t need their support.
After Watts asked follow-up questions, Porter accused the reporter of being “unnecessarily argumentative,” held up her hands and later said, “I don’t want this all on camera.”
The next day, a 2021 video emerged of Porter berating a staff member during a videoconference with a member of the Biden administration. “Get out of my f— shot!” Porter said to the young woman after she came into view in the background. Porter’s comments in the video were first reported by Politico.
Porter later acknowledged that she mishandled the television news interview, but explained that she felt the reporter’s questioning implied she should cater to Trump’s supporters. Porter also said she apologized to her staff member, saying her remarks were “inappropriate,” that she values her staff and could have handled that situation better.
Her Democratic gubernatorial rivals seized on the videos. Former state Controller Betty Yee called on Porter to drop out of the race, and businessman Stephen Cloobeck and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa attacked her in ads about the uproar.
While difficult to assess, the negative news coverage and publicity surrounding those incidents appear to have taken a toll on Porter’s reputation. No other candidate experienced a similar shift in support.
According to the new poll, 26% of California voters had a favorable opinion of Porter, compared with 33% who saw her unfavorably — with the remainder having no opinion. That’s a major drop from when she was running for the U.S. Senate last year, when 45% of voters had a favorable opinion in February 2024 and 27% were sour on her.
Political scientist Eric Schickler, co-director of the Berkeley institute that conducted the poll, said Porter looks vulnerable, and that makes the governor’s race a more attractive contest for current candidates and those who may be considering joining it.
Aside from Porter and Bianco, the poll found that 8% of voters favored former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, a Democrat; the same percentage backed conservative commentator Steve Hilton. Villaraigosa had support from 5% of voters, Yee 3%, and California Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond 1%. Cloobeck and former Democratic legislator Ian Calderon registered less than 1%.
Another potential candidate — billionaire developer Rick Caruso — was backed by 3% of voters, the poll found. Caruso said Monday night that he still was considering running for either governor or Los Angeles mayor and will decide in a few weeks.
Schickler said the results of Tuesday’s election may be a sign that moderate or business-friendly Democrats — including Caruso — may not fare so well in a state as Democratic as California. Voters across the nation delivered a sharp rebuke to Trump, electing Democrats in major races in New York City, New Jersey and Virginia and passing Proposition 50, the California ballot measure designed to help Democrats take control of the U.S. House of Representatives after the 2026 election.
“Somebody like Caruso, his narrative would probably look a lot stronger if Democrats still seemed on the defensive and in disarray,” Schickler said. “But after Prop. 50 passing, big Democratic wins in New Jersey and Virginia, I think the argument for a need to change what we’re doing dramatically, at least in a state like California, is less likely to resonate.”
The Berkeley IGS/Times poll surveyed 8,141 California registered voters online in English and Spanish from Oct. 20 to 27. The results are estimated to have a margin of error of 2 percentage points in either direction in the overall sample, and larger numbers for subgroups.
Sunday Brunch hosts Simon Rimmer and Tim Lovejoy were left in a flap when one of their guests dropped a swear word – before then asking, too late, if his language choice was acceptable
Nick Offerman swore on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch(Image: Channel 4)
Channel 4 stars Simon Rimmer and Tim Lovejoy were left embarassed and scrambling to clear the air after one of their Sunday Brunch guests swore live on air. The warm natured weekend daytime show sees celebrities join the hosts to cook and discuss projects.
Among the stars joining the presenters on the Channel 4 show this weekend was 55-year-old American actor Nick Offerman who was on air promoting his Little Woodchucks book. But things took an unexpected turn when the Parks and Recreation star dropped some coarse language while fellow guests sat around clutching mugs of tea.
Nick was asked by the hosts to open up about one of his biggest fears in life – and he explained that he worried about letting down his parents.
He said: “My parents are the greatest citizens I’ve ever met. They lived these beautiful lives of service and they had incredible values. And so naturally, as their kid, I experimented with the other direction.”
He went on: “And eventually with maturation, I learned to try and be a decent person, but I’m always catching up. So when I wake up in a sweat at night, I just think, ‘Are my parents ashamed of me?'”
Asked if he ever apologised to his parents, Nick continued: “I have. When I got to college and I was out on my own for the first time and I had to have my own chequebook, I realised that they had given me all the tools I needed to just be a good person.”
He then sparked anxious laughter and blushes when he added: “I called my dad and said, ‘Dad, I’m sorry for the last four or five years’. And then, ‘I’ve been quite a real t**t.’ Can I say that?”
Tim then desperately jumped in to declare: “You can’t. I am going to apologise for that. But carry on.” Nick then completed his story while everyone in the studio laughed nervously. Sunday Brunch is no stranger to controversy – with guests going off script in the past and causing the hosts to issue an apology.
And earlier this year, there were even reports that comedian Katherine Ryan had breached Ofcom rules when she was a guest on the show. The Canadian stand up was left full of remorse after being told off for repeatedly mentioning Gousto recipe boxes on the show.
It was found that her repeated mentioning of the brand went beyond acceptable limits for what can be deemed “editorially justified”. Channel 4 reacted to the findings by promising to issue “further training” to the makers of the show – which was enough to satisfy the broadcast regulator.
Channel 4 said “the presenters were transparent about Ms Ryan’s commercial connection with Gousto” – however they added the “repeated references to Gousto were unsolicited, unscripted, spontaneous, outside the scope of the agreed contribution and clearly not part of the editorial intent”.
Channel 4 told Ofcom: “Ms Ryan was spoken to by a member of the editorial team. She expressed remorse at having strayed from the agreed script and gave her assurances that there would be no more mentions of Gousto in the programme.”
There has been tension and, at times, the atmosphere has been cold between Vinicius and Alonso.
The incident that defined the current mood came in the final training session before the Club World Cup semi-final against PSG. Vini, who had started every match until then, was told he would be a substitute. He did not take it well and Alonso stood firm, determined to show that no player, however talented, is beyond instruction.
That dynamic has continued.
The manager has insisted Vinicius will not finish every game, that he needs to rest more, and Rodrygo will challenge him for a place on the left side of the attack. Alonso’s stance is rooted in authority and planning. Vini Jr, used to being indulged, has found it hard to adapt.
The coach’s approach is consistent with the way he was as a player: methodical, controlled and, on top of that, he has the personality to be unafraid of confrontation. He wants every member of the squad to understand who sets the tone. For him, managing Real Madrid means creating order, not deferring to star power.
Vinicius, meanwhile, feels treated like any other player when he expected a closer, more personal relationship. The warmth he shared with Ancelotti is missing, replaced by professional distance.
SAN FRANCISCO — The Dodgers have gotten back to the basics this week, preaching the importance of the little things in daily hitters’ meetings, in-game dugout conversations and even simulated drills in early batting practice sessions.
After a 2 ½ month slump over the second half of the season, they were searching for a more dependable style of offense. Like simplifying their approach at the plate. Shortening up swings and using the big part of the field with two strikes. Capitalizing on situational opportunities with runners on base. And making sure that, amid a resurgence from their rotation, they were finding ways to more consistently manufacture runs.
This weekend in San Francisco, they finally enjoyed the fruits of those labors, blowing out the Giants 10-2 on Sunday to win a three-game series and remain 2 ½ games up in the National League West standings.
“Quality of at-bat, winning pitches, using the whole field, not punching [out] — I think all those things, you know it’s in there,” manager Dave Roberts said, after the Dodgers racked up 18 hits, worked six walks and scored in six of their nine trips to the plate.
“We’ve seen it. Maybe not with the consistency we would’ve liked. But when you’re facing really good arms, to see us do what we did… it’s certainly encouraging.”
Indeed, coming off a 13-run outburst Saturday night, the Dodgers picked up right where they left off at Oracle Park on Sunday afternoon, slowly sucking the life out of a recently resurgent Giants team trying to sneak into the playoffs.
Teoscar Hernández continued a recent surge with a team-high four hits, making him 11 for his last 24. Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Michael Conforto each had three knocks, with Conforto’s day getting his batting average back to .200. As a team, the Dodgers combined for a whopping 16 singles while forcing 207 pitches from the Giants’ staff of arms. And most amazing, they did it with Shohei Ohtani reaching base only once, and that didn’t even happen until his sixth at-bat in the top of the ninth.
“It’s quality at-bats, quality outs, moving guys over, getting sac flies, bringing defenses in if you move them over,” Freeman said. “It creates more traffic, more things that are able to happen on the baseball field. Just think the quality of at-bats have been really good over the last week.”
The onslaught started in the second inning, when two walks and a Freeman single loaded the bases, setting up Kiké Hernández for a sacrifice fly. It continued in the third, when a pair of productive outs (plus a bobbled ground ball from San Francisco third baseman Matt Chapman) turned singles from Betts and Teoscar Hernández into another hard-earned run.
Then, in the fifth, it all culminated in a four-run rally, one that knocked Giants starter Robbie Ray out of the game, and turned a low-scoring affair into a series rubber-match rout.
Freeman lined a double to right field, after Betts walked and Teoscar Hernández again singled. Conforto came off the bench for a two-run, pinch-hit, bases-loaded single that he managed to slap past a drawn-in infield. A run-scoring balk from reliever Joel Peguero added to the deluge, which included a pair of walks from Tommy Edman and Ben Rortvedt.
In the sixth, what was already a 6-1 lead was stretched a little further, with Miguel Rojas’ two-run single — with the bases loaded once more — putting the Dodgers’ sixth win in seven on ice. The Dodgers nonetheless added more runs in both the eighth and ninth, giving them their first back-to-back double-digit run totals since all the way back at the end of April.
The Dodgers’ Tyler Glasnow pitched into the seventh inning on Sunday to pick up his second win in as many starts.
(Godofredo A. Vásquez / Associated Press)
“It’s definitely the kind of baseball we want to be playing down the stretch and for the rest of the season,” Conforto said. “I think we’re doing a lot of the little things right. That’s kind of been the theme as we finish up here.”
It all represented a new look from the Dodgers’ star-studded offense, with only one of their 23 runs the last two days requiring a ball to go over the fence.
For much of the year, the team has been overly reliant on home runs, scoring via the long ball at the fifth-highest percentage in the majors (45%) at the end of play Friday. During their second-half slide, that dynamic had prevented them from working around injuries and mechanical flaws from much of the lineup, or finding alternative ways to build big innings and hang crooked numbers.
Hence, their recent re-emphasis on more dependable fundamentals — allowing them to paper-cut an opposing pitching staff to death in a way that is typically for success in October.
“When you can be able to do it, and know you can do it, as we’re leading up to that point [of the playoffs], it definitely is a big confidence booster,” Freeman said. “We don’t have to rely on the two-run, three-run home run all the time. I think that was just big. The last week, [this is] what we’ve been trying to do. And we’ve been able to actually do it in the games.”
The offense wasn’t the only positive sign Sunday.
On the mound, Tyler Glasnow was able to settle down after looking frustrated with his command early, when he walked four batters (and hit another) in his first three innings. At a point he has so often spiraled in his up-and-down Dodgers tenure, the right-hander instead found a rhythm by retiring 10 in a row, managing to pitch into the seventh in a 6 ⅔ inning, one-run outing.
“It’s encouraging,” said Glasnow, who has a 3.06 ERA on the season and a 2.66 mark since returning from a shoulder injury in July “Since I got back from the IL, it’s been easier to kind of put [those kind of struggles] out of my head and go compete. If my stuff sucks, it’s kind of whatever. Just compete, try to get in the zone, get some weak contact. It’s helpful.”
It led to the kind of performance the Dodgers are banking on from their rotation in the playoffs. This is still a team that, at its core, will have to be carried by its pitching.
The only way that strength will matter, however, is if the lineup can find some long-awaited consistency. This weekend, signs of it finally arrived. Everything the Dodgers had been preaching at last came to fruition.
“As we come down to the end [of the season, we’re] just kind of recognizing what it is that really puts us in the right spot to win games,” Conforto said. “It’s go time now, and we got to do all those things if we want to get to where we want to get to.”
Tensions are palpable in the West African nation of Togo as highly anticipated local government elections are being held following weeks of angry protests calling for leader Faure Gnassingbe to resign.
Although small, Togo commands weight as a developing maritime and transit hub in the region because of an important port in the seaside capital, Lome, which is perched on the edge of the Atlantic. The country serves as a gateway into inland Sahel nations and is also home to a major West African airline, meaning unrest there could reverberate across the region.
Voters heading out to cast their ballots on Thursday, July 17, are expected to elect leaders of the country’s 117 municipalities, amid a heavier-than-usual security presence and shuttered land borders.
At the same time, demonstrators have scheduled protests in the capital, Lome, to intentionally clash with the date of the vote, prompting fears of possible widespread violence.
Led largely by the country’s youth population, antigovernment demonstrations erupted in June after a controversial constitutional change. Protests have been met with brute force from Togolese security forces; at least seven people have died, local rights groups say. The protests are only the latest in the restive country, where more frequent demonstrations in recent years are pressuring the decades-long dynastic government.
Here’s what to know about the current political situation in Togo:
Demonstrators set up a barricade during a protest calling for Faure Gnassingbe’s resignation in Lome, Togo, on Thursday, June 26, 2025 [Erick Kaglan/AP]
Why are Togolese protesting?
Large demonstrations have been held in Lome in recent years, with Togolese calling for Gnassingbe, who has led the country since 2005, to step down.
Between 2017 and 2018, thousands of protesters took to the streets in demonstrations tagged “Faure Must Go” and “Togo stands up”. The uprising rocked the nation of four million and resulted in violent crackdowns from security officials. The government thereafter banned public demonstrations for “security reasons”.
Although officially a democracy, Togo operates in practice as a militarised state, with the army heavily involved in politics. The capital is crawling with stern-faced, armed gendarmes who are often accused of arresting and torturing dissidents.
This year’s bout of protests was triggered after popular rapper and TikToker Tchala Essowe Narcisse, popularly known as Aamron, was arrested for publishing a video where he called for protests to mark the president’s June 6 birthday.
However, anger had been simmering over the high costs of living in the country, and particularly, over new constitutional reforms that opposition leaders and civil society organisations say could see Gnassingbe rule for life. Thursday’s municipal elections will be the first polls held under the new reforms.
First approved in April 2024 by a parliament dominated by the governing Union pour le Republic (UNIR) party, the constitutional amendment swapped the presidential system in the country for a parliamentary one.
Controversially, though, it also introduced a new all-powerful position: President of the Council of Ministers. The role essentially regains all the powers of a president and is without clear official limits. Opposition leaders argued at the time that it would allow Gnassingbe to appoint a dummy president and remain the de facto leader until at least 2030. They called it a “constitutional coup”.
On May 3 this year, Gnassingbe was sworn into the new executive role, as critics predicted. Politician Jean-Lucien Savi de Tove, 86, is now president, and is the oldest in Togo’s history.
In late June, thousands of demonstrators poured into the streets of Lome in anger, calling for Gnassingbe to step down from office after rapper Aamron’s arrest and alleged torture. Protesters set up barricades and hurled stones at security forces, who responded with force, firing tear gas canisters into the crowd, according to reporting by the Reuters news agency.
Le Front Citoyen Togo Debout, a coalition of 12 civil society and human rights groups, accused security officials of arbitrarily arresting civilians, beating them with batons and ropes, and stealing and destroying private property.
At least seven people were discovered dead in the aftermath of the protests, according to the coalition, including two minors. Their bodies were discovered days after the demonstrations in various lagoons and lakes around Lome.
Meanwhile, a Togolese government statement said the deaths were caused by drowning and cautioned residents living near water bodies to be extra careful in the current rainy season.
The ‘Don’t Touch My Constitution’ movement demanded an international investigation into the claims, while Togo’s Catholic Bishops said the levels of violence were “unacceptable and unjustified”.
Togo’s Faure Gnassingbe at a session during the United Nations climate change conference COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan, November 13, 2024 [File: Maxim Shemetov/Reuters]
Who is Faure Gnassingbe?
Just days after his father died in 2005, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe was hurriedly installed as the country’s president by the army, extending decades of his family’s rule over Togo.
Despite outrage in the country, which led to widespread protests in which at least 500 people were killed, the younger Gnassingbe did not relinquish power and went on to organise and win elections that year, which many critics called a ruse.
His father, the late Gnassingbe Eyadema, seized power in a military coup and ruled the country with a tight fist for 38 years (1967-2005), making him the longest-serving African ruler at the time he died. His “rule of terror” was characterised by a one-party system and deadly repression of dissent, according to Amnesty International. The younger Gnassingbe, while having fostered multi-party rule and infrastructural development in the country, appears to be angling for his father’s record, critics say.
Combined, the father-son duo has commandeered Togo for 58 years. With 60 percent of the population under 35, most Togolese have never experienced life under a different political administration.
Gnassingbe has won every election since 2005. In 2019, in an attempt to circumvent demonstrations calling for his resignation, parliament ushered in constitutional amendments that, the government argued, automatically reset Gnassingbe’s terms. That allowed him to run for the 2020 and 2025 presidential elections.
At first glance, the latest reforms from 2024 appear to acquiesce to what some critics have been demanding: A weakened president elected by the parliament for a single six-year term, rather than an all-powerful leader.
However, what most did not see coming was that Gnassingbe would be appointed to a more powerful position.
A picture of Jacques Koami Koutoglo, a 15-year-old who died in recent mass protests in Lome, Togo [Erick Kaglan/AP]
Are protesters being targeted? And what is the M66 Movement?
As tensions simmer, demonstrators and civil society accuse Togolese officials of targeting protest leaders, many of whom are living in exile in neighbouring countries, as well as France and the United States.
Last week, the government issued international arrest warrants targeting those believed to be leading organisers, especially members of the M66 Citizens’ Movement – a political collective of bloggers and activists, named after Gnassingbe’s June 6 birthday date. Officials say the group is “inciting unrest and terrorism” in the country.
“The countries where these individuals reside are urged to cooperate,” Security Minister Calixte Madjoulba said at a news briefing. “Wherever they are, we will pursue them.”
M66 members called for renewed protests on July 16 and 17 in a bid to boycott the municipal elections, which form part of a wider push by the government to devolve power at the centre and attempt to improve local governance. Local elections were not held between 1986 and 2020, as the government kept postponing them. Instead, the central authorities designated special administrators who critics say served the government’s interests.
Some opposition leaders have also called for boycotts, although Jean-Pierre Fabre, leader of the main opposition National Alliance for Change, told reporters this week that taking part in the vote was necessary to show Togolese what’s possible.
“The elections will not change anything in this country and we know it very well,” Zaga Bambo, a France-based music artist who claims to be a member of the group, said in a Facebook post. Bambo also dismissed the arrest warrants, telling French media channel RFI that he was unfazed by it.
Activist Farida Nabourema echoed calls for boycotts on social media platform X. “You participate, you lose, you cry out, then you fall silent. And every five years, you start over,” she wrote.
The women’s world number one tennis player says she was ‘super emotional’ and ‘completely unprofessional’ after losing the French Open final to the American.
Aryna Sabalenka says she has written to Coco Gauff to apologise for the “unprofessional” comments she made following her loss to her American rival in the final of the French Open.
The top-ranked Sabalenka said on Tuesday that her remarks after her loss to Gauff at Roland-Garros were a mistake.
In her post-match media address in Paris, the Belarusian had suggested that the American’s win was more due to her own errors than Gauff’s performance.
Sabalenka had been poised for victory after claiming the opening set in a tiebreak, only to watch Gauff orchestrate a stunning 6-7(5) 6-2 6-4 comeback to claim her second Grand Slam title.
The 27-year-old made 70 unforced errors in the final and later said at the news conference that Gauff won “not because she played incredible, [but] because I made all of those mistakes” – comments she has since regretted making.
“That was just completely unprofessional of me,” Sabalenka told Eurosport Germany.
“I let my emotions get the better of me. I absolutely regret what I said back then. You know, we all make mistakes. I’m just a human being who’s still learning in life. I think we all have those days when we lose control. But what I also want to say is that I wrote to Coco afterward – not immediately, but recently.”
She said she wrote to Gauff to apologise and “make sure she knew she absolutely deserved to win the tournament and that I respect her”.
“I never intended to attack her,” Sabalenka added. “I was super emotional and not very smart at that press conference. I’m not necessarily grateful for what I did. It took me a while to go back and think about it, to approach it with open eyes, and to understand. I realised a lot about myself. Why did I lose so many finals?”
Sabalenka, a three-time major champion, had lost to Gauff in the 2023 US Open final, where she also won the first set.
“I kept getting so emotional,” Sabalenka added. “So I learned a lot. Above all, one thing: I’m the one who always treats my opponents with great respect, whether I win or lose. Without that respect, I wouldn’t be where I am today. So it was a tough but very valuable lesson for me.”
Coco Gauff’s French Open win brought the American her second Grand Slam title [File: Susan Mullane/Imagn Images via Reuters]
The star shot to fame later in life but made the most of her time in the spotlight with her unfiltered, outspoken attitude. Here are five times Kim ruffled feathers
Kim was never one to hold back, even when live on air(Image: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
The sad news has emerged today that presenter-turned-reality star Kim Woodburn has died at the age of 83. The firebrand, who shot to fame on Channel 4’s How Clean Is Your House with Aggie MacKenzie, passed away on Monday.
Kim had been married to her husband Peter for 46 years, living with her ‘soulmate’ in Nantwich, Cheshire. In a statement, her representative said: “Kim was an incredibly kind, caring, charismatic and strong person. Her husband Peter is heartbroken at the loss of his soulmate.”
From being at the heart of the most explosive row in the history of Celebrity Big Brother to taking on one of the nation’s best-known TV presenters, the star was never one to back down. We take a look back at five of Kim’s most memorable moments…
Kim and Aggie made a dream presenting duo but weren’t as compatible behind the scenes(Image: Channel 4)
Tensions with Aggie
C4’s How Clean Is Your House? made household names out of Kim and Aggie but the duo famously didn’t get on all that well during the six seasons of the show. Aggie later spilled the beans on their fallout, saying that while the “friction” between the pair had made for good television, appearing on stage together was the final straw.
“We were doing panto in Brighton,” she said. “I was so shocked and upset and angry. I lost my rag with her.” Aggie revealed the pair didn’t speak for the last two series of the show and even said: “Kim was such a big, damaging part of my life. I feel she almost destroyed me”.
Kim, on the other hand, was uncharacteristically silent on the controversy. The star simply said she “never said anything derogatory about Aggie” and was “not going to start now”.
Celebrity Big Brother storm
Security intervened to calm the star down on the reality TV show(Image: Channel 5)
Kim made a memorable appearance on C4’s Celebrity Big Brother in 2017, when she became embroiled in a heated argument with some of her fellow contestants, including ex-glamour models Nicola McLean and Bianca Gascoigne and former footballer Jamie O’Hara.
Never one to back down, the star warned them: “I’ll cross you so badly and you’ll regret it for the rest of your life!” before famously screaming at Jamie: “You’re an adulterer… you two-timed your wife and she’s got three kids!”.
Kim was removed by the show’s security to calm down the situation and spent the night in the spare room before returning the next day. She finished in a respectable third place in the contest, during the course of which she branded fellow housemates “filthy, dirty scum” and a “chicken livered bunch”.
Loose Women walk-off
Thousands of complaints were made after Kim’s Loose Women appearance(Image: TV Grab)
Another show to face Kim’s wrath was ITV’s Loose Women. She had fallen out with Coleen Nolan on Celebrity Big Brother after accusing the star and several other housemates of bullying and had been invited on the daytime show with executives hoping for a reconciliation.
Instead, Coleen told her: “You’re a horrible, self-centred, publicity-seeking witch”. Kim branded Coleen “lying trash”, raised her voice and stormed off.
There were a total of 3,000 complaints made to Ofcom accusing the show of picking on Kim. They included model Jodie Marsh, who wrote: “Having watched the Kim Woodburn interview I couldn’t not make a complaint! It was bullying, pure & simple.”
Kim vs Phillip
The star later called Phillip a “horrible” and “obnoxious” man(Image: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
The TV icon had several on-air spats with presenter Phillip Schofield, who fronted ITV daytime stalwart This Morning for 21 years. At one point, she famously branded Phil a “big phoney” during a heated interview on the show.
The reality TV contestant had taken offence when questioned about her Celebrity Big Brother appearance, insisting to Phil that watching the 45-minute TV edit of the contest was not the same as living it for 24 hours a day. “Don’t think you are going to bully me, I have been around too long,” she told him, with viewers calling their chat “car-crash TV” and the “most awkward TV interview I’ve ever witnessed on This Morning”.
When the presenter wrapped up the chat by telling Kim it had been a delight to interview her she branded him a “phoney”. Six years later, when Phillip left This Morning in disgrace after admitting to an affair with a young colleague on the show, Kim called him “an obnoxious, horrible man”, saying “I don’t know why he’s still on television”.
‘Transphobia’ row
Known for being a gay icon, Kim was accused of transphobia in 2022 when she was interviewed on GB News and asked about unisex changing rooms. Her reply of “a man’s a man, a woman’s a woman” led to accusations of transphobia.
But the outspoken star hit back on social media, insisting her words had been deliberately misinterpreted. “During the show, we never discussed trans people,” said Kim.
“I have always supported the LGTBQ+ community, as you are all aware, and I count each and every single one of you, my friends. I will always be an ally to the community and would never say a bad word about any of you.”
