pair

MANCHESTER United midfielder Mason Mount has found love.

I can reveal that the England international was seen with his arm around marketing executive Jordan Porter on a family trip to Lapland in Finland over the Christmas period.

It is understood that the couple met through Mason’s pal Ben Harris who is engaged to Jordan’s sister Jodie.

A source said: “Mason and Jordan have been friends for a long time after being introduced through Ben.

“Family is important to Mason so having Jordan on the Lapland trip meant a lot.

“Mason’s performance on the pitch has also improved so it looks like Jordan is a keeper.”

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Mason shared a snap of himself with his arm around Jordan at Lapland with his 5.6million followers last month.

The footie ace also posted a glimpse of two red stockings under his Christmas tree, embroidered with an M for Mason and J for Jordan. His brother Lewis also shared a picture of their family to his 16,600 Instagram followers.

Mason was pictured next to Jordan and with his arm around his dad Tony.

The pair were first linked in February 2024 when they were both pictured with a group of friends at the v.

Mason and Jordan also joined Ben and Jodie on their trip to Ibiza in July.

Jordan is Head of Experiences for London-based event planning service, GP Management, and grew up in South East London.

Mason confirmed that he had split from model Chloe Wealleans-Watts to Tatler magazine in 2022, following a five-year romance.

Asked about his relationship status, he said: “Football is my priority.”

It sounds like Jordan is his new No1.

Tim’s scored Ad

MOVIE star Timothee Chamalet is a huge football fan, supporting both Chelsea FC and French club AS Saint-Etienne – and now I can reveal he has been signed up by sports giant Adidas to film a huge World Cup ad.

The actor, who is dating Kylie Jenner, shot a top-secret campaign last month in Barcelona alongside Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny, ex of Kylie’s sister Kendall, and British Real Madrid midfielder Jude Bellingham.

A source tells me: “Adidas bosses were chuffed to bring Timothee on to the ad and paid a lucrative fee.

“It is believed the film will drop during the lead-up to the World Cup.”

Timothee has recently been on an epic press tour for his latest flick Marty Supreme, while mostly donning movie merch.

He’ll have to mix that up once the ad drops.

Jossa is strong for family

JACQUELINE JOSSA is determined to start 2026 in strong spirits, despite a probe into online death threats against her.

I revealed last month how the EastEnders actress had been sent menacing messages on social media, and had reported them to her BBC bosses.

But Jac who shares two daughters with husband Dan Osborne, is focusing her energy on her family and work.

A source said: “She trusts the police to investigate. She is not changing her routine and she is still fulfilling her commitments with family and work.

“She is very calm and content in the knowledge the police are dealing with it.”

Jacqueline posted Instagram snaps with the children and Dan in London’s Covent Garden last month.

She wrote: “I love this time of year so much. I love the age the kids are now. They are older but the magic is still here, it’s just different.”

It comes as the actress, who plays Lauren Branning in Albert Square, feared for her character when the soap’s top boss called her in for a meeting last year.

Of the flash-forward episode that aired on New Year’s Day, she said: “It’s always scary when you get called up to a meeting.

It’s either, ‘You’re going to be thrown off the roof of the Vic’ or it’s just a catch-up.”

Tina will Corrie on

CORRIE star Tina O’Brien has signed a new contract keeping her on the cobbles for another year.

The star, who began playing Sarah Platt in 1999, had a tough 2025, splitting from her husband Adam Crofts – father of her son Beau – after seven years of marriage.

Tina who also has daughter Scarlett with her former co-star Ryan Thomas, then revealed in November her beloved dad Steven had died.

A Corrie source said: “Tina had a very difficult 2025, so bosses wanted to reassure her there was nothing to worry about where her job was concerned. She put pen to paper just before the Christmas break.

“Obviously, there have been a lot of changes over the last few months and the last thing they wanted was for her to worry about her role on Corrie.

“She is very much adored on set and her character has got some big things coming up this year.”

Hopefully, 2026 is off to a better start . . . 

Hannah Hope’s annual 2026 showbiz calendar

JAN: Dust off your sequins as 2026 season kicks off with the 83rd Golden Globe Awards in Los Angeles on January 11.

Comedian Nikki Glaser will return as host, with Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in the running for gongs for their roles in Wicked: For Good, while Kpop Demon Hunters are up for their catchy track, Golden.

Rock band All Time Low will begin the UK leg of their Everyone’s Talking Tour on January 20 in Glasgow.

Love Island beauty Maura Higgins and Real Housewives star Lisa Rinna join the line-up for The Traitors US, which starts on Peacock on January 8.

FEB: For the first time in its history, The Brit Awards will be heading up north to Manchester on February 28.

Jack Whitehall is back as host with pop star Tate McRae rumoured to perform at the star-studded show at the city’s Co-op Live Arena.

Fresh from the Strictly final, West End star Amber Davies will return to the stage as Elle Woods in the Legally Blonde musical at Leicester’s Curve Theatre on February 7.

The 2026 Grammys will hit Los Angeles on February 1 at the Crypto.com Arena.

Britain’s brand new boyband December 10 will release their debut single. The band consists of Cruz 19, Danny, 17, Hendrick, 19, John, 17, Josh, 17, Nicolas, 16, and Sean, 19.

MAR: After the success of her album West End Girl, Lily Allen is set to kick off her album tour in Glasgow on March 2.

The album is believed to be inspired by the breakdown of her marriage to Stranger Things actor David Harbour.

Wolf Alice and Manic Street Preachers form part of the line-up of the Teenage Cancer Trust Gigs at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

Elbow will kick off the concert series on March 23 with special guest Mrcy.

APR: Olivia Dean truly made 2025 her year with The Art Of Loving album.

The British pop star will continue her tour in the UK in April. She is set to play the OVO Hydro in Glasgow on April 22.

Noughties boy band Blue will kick off their 25th Anniversary Tour at Oxford’s New Theatre on April 7.

Sabrina Carpenter, Justin Bieber and Karol G are the headliners of Coachella festival, in California, which kicks off on April 10.

MAY: Strictly Come Dancing: The Professionals returns in dazzling style.

Fans can see 11 pros – including Vito Coppola and Nancy Xu – take to the dance floor for the ultimate night out.

The nationwide tour, which travels around the country throughout May, kicks off at the Globe Theatre in Stockton-on-Tees on April 29.

Meanwhile, the glamour of the South of France will come alive with the 79th edition of The Cannes Film Festival on May 12.

JUN: A Glastonbury-shaped hole will be filled with the Isle of Wight Festival.

Lewis Capaldi, Calvin Harris and The Cure form the incredible line-up for the four-day festival which starts on June 18.

Following the global success of Wicked, pop star Ariana Grande will return to the stage for The Eternal Sunshine Tour, which begins on June 6 at the Oakland Arena in California.

JUL: Michael Bublé proves he does not just defrost for the festive season – as he headlines Blenheim Palace Festival in Oxfordshire on July 4.

Rapper Pitbull – aka Mr Worldwide – returns to the UK with special guest Kesha on July 10 for BST Hyde Park in London.

Lewis Capaldi will also be performing at the festival on July 11 and 12.

AUG: All Points East in London’s Victoria Park will see our favourites Zara Larsson, PinkPantheress and Lorde headline the festival on August 22.

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe runs for three weeks from August 7, filling the city with the best theatre, comedy and music.

SEP: The 31st National Television Awards will see your fave soap stars battle it out to be crowned the winner on September 8 at London’s O2 Arena.

Meanwhile the 2026 Emmy Awards are set to take place on September 14 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. The nominations will be revealed on July 8.

Watch it

ANNE HATHAWAY and Meryl Streep return in The Devil Wears Prada 2 on May 1.

Valentine’s Day just got even more romantic as Margot Robbie stars alongside Jacob Elordi in a new adaptation of Wuthering Heights, which is out on February 13.

Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow starring Milly Alcock will hit cinemas on June 26.

Buzz, Woody, Jessie and the gang return in Toy Story 5 on June 19.

Cillian Murphy stars in 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple which is out on January 14.

“Oooh, look at this trash!”

Alicia Piller was giddily flitting around her Inglewood live-work studio holding up resin-coated balls of detritus, showing off tiny fossil fragments, and pulling out plastic trays filled with random thingamajigs that had been organized by color.

The assortment is all part of her eclectic jewelry-making arsenal. She clusters recycled textiles, found items, donated castoffs and gemstones to create handmade wearable art that she describes as “science bohemian.”

In this series, we highlight independent makers and artists, from glassblowers to fiber artists, who are creating original products in and around Los Angeles.

Piller juxtaposes opals, garnets and pearls with less conventional materials such as tile fragments, snakeskin, bits of lava from a trip to Iceland, and bullet casings, all bound together with strips of leather or vinyl. Lately, she’s been working with 3-D printed waste that her friends, a pair of costume-based performance artists, started delivering to her in giant garbage bags.

“I am always thinking about some aspect of recycling,” she said, “seeing the value in these things that we deem ‘trash.’”

One wall of her studio is lined with metal racks stacked with bins and boxes labeled “clay,” “metal” and “scraps.” The room is cluttered, yet curated.

“There’s a little bit of hoarding mentality,” Piller laughed, “but I use it!”

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1. Necklaces featuring seashells, gemstones and recycled printed plastic. 2. Alicia Piller displays her handmade ring. (Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

From her “controlled chaos” come intricate, ornate, one-of-a-kind necklaces, earrings, brooches and rings. While Etsy is her main retail hub, she previously sold her wearables at L.A.’s Craft Contemporary museum and the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft. She’s also provided flair for the likes of Phylicia Rashad, Jill Scott and Ciara.

Her creations give nods to nature, at times skew extraterrestrial, and have Afro-futuristic undertones. One pendant evokes the sea with its swirl of mother-of-pearl, spiral seashells and rivulets of pale gray leather arranged above a piece of bleached coral. A crystal-festooned collar necklace calls to mind a pair of Blue Morpho butterfly wings. And a jasper-studded pin resembles a Ghanaian mask at first glance.

The undulating layers and microcosms that make up her jewelry’s signature “biomorphic” look extend into her fine art practice, as well.

Piller received an MFA from Cal Arts and now teaches sculpture as an adjunct professor at UCLA and UC Irvine. Her maximalist mixed-media artwork has shown at Track 16 (the L.A. gallery that represents her), as well as institutions across Southern California, including the Brick and the Orange County Museum of Art. Both the Hammer Museum and the California African American Museum have her pieces in their permanent collections. Next summer, she’ll unveil a new monument as part of West Hollywood’s Art on the Outside public art program.

In her studio, multiple towering sculptures are ensconced in cardboard and bubble wrap, while others — works in progress — sit on plinths, lean against walls, or hang from the ceiling. There’s a stark contrast between these 9-foot-tall pieces and her smallest makes, a pair of one-inch post earrings. But toggling from the massive to the minute comes naturally to her.

Alicia Piller stands for a portrait in her studio.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

“It’s about the microscopic and the macro,” she explained. “I like being able to see the tiniest detail, then letting it expand out into the cosmos. I’m thinking about those two scales constantly and about where we fit between those scales.”

While she addresses such weighty topics as police brutality and climate disasters in her large-scale works, making wearables provides comfort.

“The jewelry is much more free-form and fun versus the more serious stuff that feels heavy to me,” she said. “It’s not always full of activism and all these ideas about humanity and the world. It’s more of a joyous, less stressful task.”

She added, “I also just love to adorn myself in the things that I make.”

This has been true since childhood.

During the studio tour, the artist pulled out a piece of brass wire bent to spell out her name, a keepsake from when she was 12. She’s kept all manner of adolescent mementos, such as beads she fashioned out of tightly-rolled magazine pages or colorful pieces of clay. Her future as an artisan was a foregone conclusion.

Photos of Piller’s maternal ancestors line the edges of this textural necklace, which features a pair of beetles at its center.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

Growing up in Chicago, Piller and her mother performed as clowns at birthdays and company picnics. From ages 7 to 14, it was her job to create balloon figures for partygoers — sculpting skills that would come in handy. She gained an appreciation for nature and anthropology from mother-daughter fishing excursions and regular visits to the Field Museum, which focuses on natural history. Her affinity for biology comes from her father, who attended medical school when she was young.

“I had all these books around me that had the insides of bodies,” she recalled, “so there was a fascination with the inside.”

Piller went on to study anthropology and painting at Rutgers University, making jewelry in her spare time. During breaks, she’d work at a Chicago bead store, where she learned about global jewelry-making practices. After graduating in 2004, she moved to Manhattan, spending weekends hawking accessories and hand-painted clothing from a sidewalk table. She later relocated to Santa Fe, N.M., where she worked at a store selling fossils, minerals and semi-precious stones.

“That’s when I really understood that in all these materials there’s a spiritual side, an energy,” she said. “There’s a beauty in the fusion of all of these materials together.”

Piller moved to Inglewood in 2019. Asked if L.A. has impacted her work the way previous cities had, she said, “[My] storytelling, narrative side has come to the forefront. There’s definitely been a shift, in terms of thinking about how an object can tell a story.”

For example, enamored of Pasadena-born author Octavia Butler, she began referencing the sci-fi legend’s writing and using her likeness, both in sculptural form (as with her 2024 piece “Mission Control. Earthseed.”) and in her jewelry. She also started incorporating images of other inspiring women, including her maternal forebears and the Cuban American sculptor Ana Mendieta.

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1. Earrings featuring science fiction author Octavia Butler, one of Piller’s many inspirations. 2. A necklace made from a crinoid fossil stem. 3. Cuban American artist Ana Mendieta sits at the center of these necklaces. (Juliana Yamada/Los Angeles Times)

L.A. has shaped her aesthetic in more literal ways, too.

“A big part of what I do is walking and doing urban hikes,” she said, noting that she’s trekked through nearly 20 countries. She’s walked from her studio to Watts Towers or westward to Torrance, collecting things she finds on the ground along the way and eventually transforming them. For instance, a pair of jewel-toned beetles she picked up made an ideal centerpiece for a regal bib necklace.

“There’s that side of me that really gets excited about looking at those objects, then creating my own sort of cosmology, my own artifacts, if you will,” she said. “I’m using ‘high’ gemstones to ‘low’ plastic and elevating all of them, fusing them into one work that then creates this energy, this power.”