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CARAVAN park owners have a message for Labour: park the holiday tax now. 

One of those making the call is Claire Flower, who runs a site in Paignton, Devon, which has ­welcomed guests for more than 60 years.  

Beverley Holiday Park was started by her grandfather and now 12,000 tourists a year spend their breaks there. 

But Claire, 53, fears for the future if Labour bring in a visitor tax of at least £2 per head per night. 

She says: “If the Government puts a tax on everyone ­visiting, that means a lot of families won’t be able to afford it.  

“Holidays aren’t just a luxury, ­people rely on them for their mental health and family time. 

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“Plenty of parents these days work two or three jobs and there can be shift work in families, too. Holidays are often the only place whole ­families get to sit and eat together. 

“The Government talks about wanting people to spend their money here, not in Spain or Portugal or wherever in Europe, but how are people encouraged to do that if they’re going to be taxed for it?” 

Clare is a member of the Holiday and Residential Parks Association (Harpa), which wants the Government to abandon plans for local mayors to tax anyone staying ­overnight on a break in their area.  

She believes the tourist tax will affect the whole English Riviera in the South West, which depends heavily on holidaymakers. 

Claire says: “The economy of the entire bay will be hit. We employ 180 staff in the summer and 80 all year round.  

“We pay our VAT, our business rates, all our taxes and we help the local economy in a really big way with all the visitors we can accommodate who go on and spend in local businesses. 

“If our numbers start to dwindle, it’s impossible to say where the impact will hit hardest.” 

The park has free indoor and outdoor swimming pools but its utility bills have gone through the roof. 

Claire says: “It’s becoming harder and harder to operate but we have such loyal and lovely visitors, so we work hard to keep prices affordable.  

“We’ve even got a 30 per cent off Easter holiday offer at the moment to encourage people in.” 

The park was founded by Claire’s grandad Stan Jeavons in 1965, and her nephew Adam Furneaux, 22, is the fourth generation to work there. 

Claire says: “Grandad would be devastated at the prospect of the tax. English holiday parks like ours contribute £9.2billion in visitor spend into the economy.  

“For a lot of people, even if they could afford to go abroad, there may be a health reason they can’t or there might be another reason they choose to holiday in the UK rather than overseas.” 

Lee Jenkins, from Abertillery in Gwent, has been visiting Beverley Holiday Park since 1971, when he was three years old.  

He spent his honeymoon at the park with wife Julie in the 1990s and visits several times a year.  

Taxi driver Lee, 58, says: “We’re supposed to support the UK ­economy, aren’t we?

“This country needs people holidaying here, not abroad, so we can support local businesses and spend what we earn here rather than overseas. 

“It seems so short-sighted to tax people out of UK holidays, and it will impact the whole country’s economy.” 

Association Harpa represents 3,000 holiday parks across the UK, from small campsites to major companies.

It believes a holiday tax on British families will place extra financial strain when many are already ­struggling with the cost of living. 

The organisation’s director general, Debbie Walker, says: “Holiday parks and campsites offer some of the most affordable holidays in the UK and this tax risks pricing people out of breaks at a time when money is so tight. 

“While we fully recognise the financial pressures facing local authorities, a holiday tax adding around £100 to a typical two-week family break is not the right ­solution. 

“If we want people to choose UK holidays, taxing them for doing so sends exactly the wrong message.”

Park Holidays UK, which operates more than 50 sites in the UK, says that a tourism tax would be “totally self-defeating” as well as punishing hard-working families who choose to take a holiday in Britain. 

Chief marketing officer Brad May says: “The Government imagines a holiday levy would help raise ­revenues for cash-strapped local councils.

“But it’s far more likely that ­visitor numbers to these areas would drop as families turn to other destinations which are not slamming a tax on their fun. 

“When our guests take a well-earned break, many enjoy visiting nearby attractions, going out for a meal and spending money in local shops.

“So, it’s these businesses which will also suffer as an unintended consequence of this move.” 

All of them are backing The Sun’s Hands Off Our Hols campaign. 

It is a sentiment echoed by Alfie Best, who owns Wyldecrest holiday parks. 

He says: “When you think of a budget holiday in this country you automatically have a picture of a caravan park in your mind. They have been the backbone of holidays for a generation.  

“This tax will surely drive ­holidaymakers abroad in search of better value getaways. 

“If it comes into force, the tax will ultimately lead to the closure of many parks and lots of job losses.” 

“LINDA looks so beautiful, so cool,” says Paul McCartney.

He’s just been watching a film about the decade of his life after The Beatles broke up — and it is filled with images of his much-missed first wife.

“The Linda stuff was very emotional,” he admits at the Man On The Run launch event in London.

“Linda, the kids, me and John [Lennon] — all these memories. It’s like my life flashing in front of me.”

Macca is talking to an intimate gathering that includes his daughter Stella, son James, superfan Noel Gallagher and the actor who will play him in a forthcoming biopic, Paul Mescal. Oh, and me.

He continues: “Seeing me and Linda interacting is special because, you know, she’s not here.

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“So is seeing the kids when they were little, because they’re not little any more. They’ve got kids of their own now.”

The film stirs memories of forming his own band, Wings, with Linda in 1971, prompting this from McCartney: “We tried to follow The Beatles — it’s mad!”

It also brings into sharp focus his relationship with Lennon, which broke down in the wake of The Beatles split but, as we see, they reconciled shortly before John’s death.

Directed by Oscar-winning Morgan Neville, Man On The Run is a masterpiece of ­documentary storytelling.

Rich in source material, partly because Linda was a professional photographer who also shot home movies, it is raw, heartfelt, funny, poignant and, crucially, not remotely sugar-coated.

Before the screening starts, Sir Paul, looking fit and well for his 83 years, strolls on to the stage and quips: “I just want to say thank you to Morgan for keeping in all the embarrassing moments that I asked him to take out.”

But let’s get back to the big ­question: How DO you follow The Beatles?

It was a conundrum that weighed heavily on McCartney as the ­Swinging Sixties drew to a close.

As he puts it himself in the movie, the first thing he did was “escape” and then he had to learn how “to grow up”.

He had married American Linda Eastman in March, 1969, at Marylebone Town Hall, London, and soon afterwards adopted her daughter Heather from a previous marriage.

McCartney was still only 27 when, on April 10, 1970, he told the world that he, John Lennon, George ­Harrison and Ringo Starr were going their separate ways.

The announcement came amid acrimony over the band’s crooked business manager Allen Klein, favoured at the time by John and the others but later described by Paul as “a sort of demon”.

It was all over for the band of four likely lads from Liverpool who changed popular culture for ever.

In private, McCartney had known for months that his songwriting partner Lennon was leaving.

“John broke up The Beatles,” Macca affirms in Man On The Run. “But I got the rap. And that’s a bit of a weight to bear.”

Around the same time as ­Lennon’s bombshell, in late 1969, there were rumours across the US and around the world that “Beatle Paul may be dead”.

There’s a hilarious moment in the film when his younger brother Mike is asked whether it’s true.

“It’s a hoax, it’s a con,” he exclaims, before being asked when was the last time he saw his brother.

Mike replies: “The last time? It was his funeral, I think!”

It turned out that McCartney had the perfect bolthole, in an archetypal middle of nowhere, to hide away and reset his life.

In 1966, he had bought High Park Farm, a 183-acre sheep farm on the Mull of Kintyre (yes, that explains the song) in Argyllshire, only reached via a “long and winding” track.

With its corrugated iron roof and general state of dilapidation, it was, as someone in the film points out, the sort of place a poor farm labourer might baulk at accepting.

But, as the Sixties ebbed to a close, Paul, Linda, their daughters, Heather and baby Mary, plus their Old English Sheepdog ­Martha decamped to the Scottish wilds.

In the movie, McCartney suggests, “We got up there to escape”, and ponders whether he would write “another note of music” before confessing to drowning himself in one wee dram of Scotch after another.

But, with the responsibility of supporting a young family on his shoulders, he realised that “it was a question of HAVING to grow up”.

At the Man On The Run launch, McCartney reflects: “With The Beatles, we were just lads. Everyone, all our management, used to call us ‘the boys’.

“Then I got married and then there was a baby [Mary] on the way.

“I had to grow up. I thought, ‘We can’t just be these ‘boys’ any more’. It was time to think about stuff.

“Even though the film is kind of madcap and you see all our insane decisions, in the background there were some sensible decisions, too.”

He remembers how Linda was his guiding light through those years.

“If there was an idea that was a little bit crazy, I’d say, ‘Should I do that? Could I do that?’ She’d say, ‘It’s allowed’. It was a brilliant philosophy in life.”

Director Neville picks up on this theme: “I looked into the questions Paul was trying to ask of himself, questions that I felt were universal.

“How do you deal with your own legacy and the expectations people have of you? How do you balance your career with your family?

“In Paul’s case, he made them one and the same. And that, I thought, was completely inspirational.”

Though Kintyre provided a necessary respite from the dazzling glare of publicity, Macca has never been far away from making music. It’s in his blood.

In 1970, he released his debut solo album, simply titled McCartney, with its intimate DIY aesthetic and featuring at least two songs with his beloved partner in mind — The Lovely Linda and Maybe I’m Amazed.

In 1971, he formed Wings with ex-Moody Blues musician Denny Laine and, controversially, Linda, who until that point had little or no experience, as core members.

Rehearsals for their debut album Wild Life took place at Macca’s converted barn in Scotland, dubbed Rude Studio.

It felt to him as if he was starting over, at the bottom of the pile.

“It was so impossible to do something like that,” he says today.

“Just go back to square one, show up at a university, don’t book hotels, take the dogs in a van. For some reason, we thought it was a great idea!”

If Wings took time to take flight, everything changed in 1973 when they released third album Band On The Run, loaded with classic tunes such as the title track, Jet and Let Me Roll It.

Recorded in extraordinary ­circumstances at EMI’s studio in Lagos, Nigeria, not far from where Paul and Linda were mugged at knifepoint, it paved the way for ­stadium-sized shows in America.

Without the McCartneys’ sojourn to Scotland, there would have been no Mull Of Kintyre, which, at the time of its release in 1977, became the biggest selling single of all time.

A “love song” to that remote idyll, it featured Great Highland bagpipes played so passionately by the local Campbeltown Pipe Band.

Yet, interwoven with stories of Wings’ upward trajectory, there are musings on McCartney’s strained relationship with Lennon during the Seventies.

We’re reminded of John’s caustic song How Do You Sleep?, directed at Paul with its line, “The only thing you done was yesterday”.

And there’s his old buddy left thinking, “Aside from Yesterday, what about Eleanor Rigby, Lady Madonna, Hey Jude, Let It Be and the rest?”

Macca says: “As it shows in the film, I knew John from a very early age — we were just a couple of rock and roll fans.

“We enjoyed hanging out together and we started writing little songs round at my place.

“My dad had a pipe in his drawer. So we thought we’d smoke it. We couldn’t find any tobacco so we smoked tea! We had all those ­memories in common.

“Then we went through the whole trajectory of The Beatles. But John was always just that guy to me, even when he was being really mean and I was having to take it.

“At the same time, it was like, ‘Yeah, it’s just John, he does that’. He’d always done that — so that made it a little bit easier.

“But I loved him, you know. I loved all the guys in The Beatles.

“I try and think of how else it could have been, but with just me, John, George and Ringo, it was a magic grouping. And we did OK!”

Near the end of Man On The Run, you see McCartney being confronted by camera crews about the shocking death of Lennon, who had been shot the day before outside the Dakota Building apartment he shared with partner Yoko Ono in New York.

Macca was criticised at the time for a rather cool, unemotional response — but one look in his eyes reveals his utter devastation.

As for the aforementioned “embarrassing moments” on display in the film, they are what make it so refreshing and endearing.

Hence you see McCartney singing Mary Had A Little Lamb wearing a red clown’s nose with Wings guitarist Henry McCullough looking as if he wants the earth to swallow him.

There’s a moustachioed Paul in a baggy pink suit performing the cabaret-style Gotta Sing Gotta Dance, complete with dancing girls, for his 1973 variety show.

And what about him getting ­busted by Japanese cops in 1980 for having 219g of cannabis in his luggage, spending nine days in custody before being booted out of the country?

McCartney was supposed to be embarking on a Wings tour of Japan but, as it turned out, they never played together again.

He says: “So many bits are embarrassing. The look on Henry McCullough’s face! He’s not happy.

“I was thinking, ‘Maybe we could cut those bits, the dance routine, cool out my image’.

“But Morgan said, ‘No, let me keep them in. You’ll see all that stuff but because you overcame it all and found yourself, you won in the end’.”

Finally, McCartney takes a long hard look at himself — at the ­person “growing up” in Man On The Run and the man he is today.

He says: “You start to see yourself, not just in the mirror, but to realise what your character is like.

“It’s natural for me to be enthusiastic so I don’t always see pitfalls, With me, it’s, “Nah, nah, just do it’.”

IT was the long, hot summer of 1995, John Major was in No10 and Blackburn Rovers were Premier League champions.

The music charts had been dominated by acting duo Robson and Jerome, until one crazy week in August when Britpop’s heavyweights began slugging it out.

Oasis and Blur released their new singles Roll With It and Country House on the same day in a race for the No1 spot — and the nation was absolutely mad for it.

It was an era-defining, pop culture moment, billed as North v South, working-class v posh boys and sing-along anthems v lyrical sophistication.

Yet even their most ardent fans would have struggled to imagine that 30 years down the line the rivalry in all its boozy, sweary glory would be transformed into a theatrical production.

The Battle — which opened at the Birmingham Rep theatre this week — is a comedic caper that tries to recreate the 90s vibe.

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So Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher — played by George Usher — is seen snorting lines of coke, swigging champagne and threatening to knock Blur singer Damon Albarn’s block off.

And the production includes more uses of the C word than have been uttered in much of the rest of British stage history put together.

The play’s writer, best-selling novelist John Niven, tells me he had to explain the context of the expletive-laden script to the actors.

He said: “The young cast found some of the language challenging at first.

“I had to say that that was just the way people spoke back then. It was more full-on and a much more unfiltered time.

“There’s five or six c***s in it but I guess that’s a lot for the theatre.

“But there’s no way you could accurately reflect those musicians over a five-month period without a few C-bombs dropping. It wouldn’t be authentic.”

John, 60, said he took inspiration for the narrative from a comment by Oasis manager Alan McGee about the rise of his band from a tough Manchester suburb.

He recalled: “Alan said, ‘The thing is, Blur think this is all good media fun but you’ve got five lunatics off a council estate in Burnage who actually want to f*****g kill them’.

“Blur moved the release date of their record to coincide with the Oasis single, so Liam thought, ‘Right, they’ve offered us out’.”

With actor George, 21, successfully aping Liam’s loping gait, he also gets to deliver the most one-liners.

John, who spoke to Blur’s bassist Alex James while writing the play, added: “Someone like Liam is so seductive to write for.

“Noel and Liam are both very funny in completely different ways.

“Noel is really dry and has got great timing, like a stand-up comedian, while Liam is much more surreal, random and unfiltered. He’s a delight to write dialogue for.

“Sometimes you think, ‘F***, have I gone too far there?’

“And then you could go online and find an interview with Liam where he said something ten times crazier.”

John — who began writing the play in 2023, long before the triumphant Oasis reunion last year — also had to explain to the young cast how the Britpop battle came to dominate the national conversation.

He said: “It was such a big cultural phenomenon. The whole country, from six-year-olds to 60-year-olds, knew about it.

“It went from the music papers to the broadsheets to the tabloids to News At Ten. Back then, things spread via radio, TV and the Press, whereas now the culture is so atomised.

“I’ve got teenage kids and you can have acts with a billion TikTok followers who play Wembley Stadium and I’ve never heard of them.”

After a blast of Blur’s Girls & Boys, the play begins at the February 1995 Brits, where Blur won four awards to Oasis’s one.

Collecting the prize for best British group, Damon insisted: “I think this should have been shared with Oasis.”

Interviewed later, Noel Gallagher said: “As far I’m concerned, it’s us and Blur against the world now.”

But the love-in didn’t last. Later that year Noel said of Blur: “The bassist and the singer, I hope the pair of them catch Aids and die because I f***ing hate them two.”

(The guitarist would later appologise, insisting he was “f***ed” on drugs when he made the remark).

When John began writing the play, he recalled the resentment that had built up between the bands in a few short months.

The former music company executive who was at the Brits that year, added: “I thought. Now there’s a dramatic arc.

“Back in February they had all been mates with Noel giving an interview saying, ‘It’s us and Blur against the world now’.

“Now he was saying he hoped they died.”

Then, in August Oasis’s record company Creation announced their new single Roll With It would be released a week before Blur’s Country House.

John added: “Blur’s manager Andy Ross was worried that Oasis would have a massive No1.

“Back then a single could top the charts for a month so Andy was worried the Blur would be stuck at No2.”

Andy, played by Gavin and Stacey star Mathew Horne, decides to move Country House’s release date forward to coincide with Oasis and all hell was unleashed.

The then influential music magazine NME produced a front cover with the headline, British Heavyweight Championship, Blur v Oasis.

A then 29-year-old Clive Myrie reported breathlessly for the BBC News At Ten on the brewing rivalry.

Like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones in the 1960s, the two bands divided friends and families into rival camps.

An exclusive in the The Sun revealed that Oasis-mad Mandy Vivian-Thomas had kicked out her husband Richard for being a massive Blur fan.

Richard said: “Mandy’s been a nightmare. She’s spent a fortune on trash about Oasis and the last starw was using my card to buy their record.

“I’m out on my ear but I’m hoping things will calm down.”

Headlined, You Blurty Rat, the Sun article takes centre stage in The Battle.

It’s cited by Blur guitarist Graham Coxon as a symptom of how the chart battle has seen his band drift away from their indie ideals and into the mainstream.

John explained: “It became apparent how different the two bands were because I think Noel and Liam loved being in the tabloids and wanted to be that big.

“They had no problems with having loads of reporters outside their door. They thought, ‘We want to be the biggest band in the world and this is part of it’.

“But I reckon Blur found it all much more uncomfortable, especially Graham. That when you get that big you’ve got the tabloids banging on your door.

“I think he thought, ‘This is getting crazy now.’”

In the end, it was Blur who would win the Battle of Britpop with Country House topping the charts but Oasis would go on to have a more stellar career.

John added: “Damon and Noel are pals now.

“When men are in their 20s and 30s and they’re really ambitious, they’re all claws and teeth, sharp edges and hustling.

“You hurt people trying to get where you want to be but I think as men get older in their 40s and 50s they get a lot nicer and they calm the f*** down a bit.”

John hopes the play will transfer to the West End after runs in Birmingham and Manchester.

“I don’t think we’ll see a time when two bands dominate the national consciousness in a way like that again,” he said.

“It’s almost impossible to imagine.”

TOUCH OF TARANTINO

EFFING and jeffing as he struts around the stage like a rampant chimp, George Usher has Liam Gallagher down to a tee.

I’m supping a lager in the stalls at the Birmingham Rep, where if you suck your gut in and comb your hair forwards, it could be 1995 all over again.

With blasts of their hits, and aided by newsreel and radio clips, the great Battle of Britpop is fought once again.

The dialogue is pacy, comedic and very sweary. Yet with two bands, assorted managers and girlfriends to cover, there is little time for character development.

However, just as the play seems to be running out of narrative, it plunges into a Quentin Tarantino-esque sequence.

It’s a fittingly surreal end to this parable of a drug-addled decade.

★★★☆☆

SHE’S got her showbiz career nailed, but will it be boom or bust for Sydney Sweeney as she takes on Kim Kardashian in the lingerie business?

It is the big question in Hollywood following Syd’s very ambitious move to rival Kim’s Skims brand with her own label, Syrn.

Last month, Sydney finally launched her highly anticipated range of undies with $1billion of support from a fund backed by Amazon ­billionaire Jeff Bezos.

And this week, she upped the ante with a cheeky promo video, which sees her raiding a local store with a gang of pals flashing their bras.

It is a ballsy scheme for a relative rookie who, despite cementing herself as a leading lady in the acting world, has yet to prove she has the business acumen to “do a Kim” and turn her sex symbol status into a corporate, billion-dollar brand.

Since co-launching her shapewear company Skims in 2019, Kim, 45, has defied the odds, making it a global lifestyle behemoth worth $5billion.

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She’s also launched a new partnership with sportswear giant Nike to create the NikeSkims label.

From where we are sitting, Kim’s a tough act to beat.

‘CALCULATED PLOT’

But evidently, Sydney, 28, isn’t one to be deterred — and why should she be when she’s got the world’s fourth-richest man on her side, injecting big bucks into her new venture?

Syrn, pronounced “siren”, is a ­lingerie line that promises to offer inclusive sizing, up to a 42DDD.

So far, the inventory is limited, with a handful of sexy bras, corsets, thongs and knickers offered on its online store, mostly priced at around $100 (£73) or under.

But sales have already been sky- high, with the “Seductress” collection going out of stock almost immediately.

Like Kim, Sydney has chosen a platform to stand on.

While Skims’ remit focuses on inclusivity — with shapewear sold in nine skin colours and in a large range of sizes — Syrn includes bigger-breasted women, who might not otherwise be catered for by traditional retailers.

It is a clever move, positioning the actress and her own famously ample chest front and centre, with the underlying message that she has something innovative to offer.

According to sources close to Sydney, the Euphoria star’s new business isn’t a half-baked move.It is a ­calculated plot to elevate her to the big leagues and prove she can more than keep up with the Kardashians.

Sydney wants to dethrone Kim — she knows she has the potential to make enormous money and turn Syrn into a multi- billion-dollar company, like Skims

Sweeney insider

“Sydney is extremely competitive and knows she has the potential to reach the very top of the fashion industry,” an insider exclusively tells The Sun.

“That’s exactly why she launched her lingerie brand.

“Syrn is one of her biggest dreams, and she is fully committed to doing whatever it takes to turn it into a major success and compete with top brands like Skims.

“She isn’t afraid of anything.

“She’s aware that Kim Kardashian and her team aren’t happy about her entering the lingerie space, and she was warned by several people not to do it, including friends close to Kim.

“But she never cared about Kim’s opinion, and she never lets others influence her business ideas.”

The insider adds: “Sydney wants to dethrone Kim — she knows she has the potential to make enormous money and turn Syrn into a multi- billion-dollar company, like Skims.

“She sees this as a competition and she loves that challenge.”

Sydney showed her rebellious streak — and got her brand some extra publicity — with a video in which she and her production crew scaled the Hollywood sign in Los Angeles, before hanging Syrn bras across the famous letters.

Some hailed her a cheeky rabble-rouser.

Others dismissed it as a PR stunt.

Either way, it got Sydney noticed and made her brand a ­talking point — especially after the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which owns and licenses the sign, slammed the actress, saying she did not have prior authority.

So could Sydney go to jail thanks to her zest and zeal for selling big-sized bras to the world?

No. But for an actress who knows the power of a good performance, she put on one hell of a show.

According to brand and culture expert Nick Ede, the stunt was in keeping with Sydney’s bold approach, which hinges on her unapologetically selling her biggest asset: herself.

She is not afraid to stick two ­fingers up to propriety to make her mark — and money.

‘STUNT MAVERICK’

Nick says: “While Kim is all about being wanted and admired, and always making sure everyone loves her, Sydney doesn’t care.

“She knows that people want to buy into the brand, and she is being maverick with her stunts.

“We didn’t know much about the lingerie line until a few weeks ago, but she’s stepped it up in a strategic way to cut through other celebs with huge brands and endorsement deals.

“Look at Meghan Markle — she had so much around her when she launched her brand.

“She had her TV show and her status, but Sydney has cut through all that in a punky way.

“In Euphoria, she’s a little bit messy as her character Cassie, and she’s a little bit messy as an actual celebrity.

“She’s sticking with her persona, which works well as a brand.”

Fans and critics will remember the chaos last year over Sydney‘s American Eagle ads, which boasted that she “has great jeans”.

Critics suggested the line was racist, claiming it ­promoted white supremacy.

But ­Sydney proved that sex plus controversy sells.

The clothing brand duly reported a massive spike in sales, plus a stock surge of 25 per cent.

Initially, Sydney refused to discuss the controversy.

However, in December, she said: “I’m against hate and divisiveness.

“In the past, my stance has been to never respond to negative or positive press, but I have come to realise that my silence regarding this issue has only widened the divide, not closed it.”

That said, she didn’t regret the ads, nor the impact they made.

And she’s not about to moderate her behaviour . . . not when she’s got her own brand to promote.

As Nick explains, the actress knows what her assets are, with curves that match her confidence, and she’s putting both on display.

“Sydney’s selling and creating a fantasy,” he explains.

‘SULTRY SELFIE’

It’s very ‘old Hollywood’ in many ways, but it’s gritty, too, and that’s why there is such huge appeal.

“She will become a mega-brand in the future.”

As for Kim, it is no surprise her nose has apparently been put out of joint over the Sydney uprising.

While she often gets models and celeb brand ambassadors to model her Skims wear, the week of the Syrn launch in January saw Kim post her own sultry selfie to Instagram, posing in her brand’s lacy lingerie.

Fans could not help but notice the timing of her decision to model a sexy Skims set, hot on the heels of Sydney’s own saucy ­campaign, also on social media.

As one follower said: “Kim said, not today, Sydney Sweeney,” while another weighed in: “Is this the Sweeney fight back?”

Ramping it up, Kim this week called in little sister Kylie Jenner to model a bra and knicker set from her “Everyday Cotton” Skims range in a bid to reel in younger fans.

Obviously, when it comes to the Hollywood pool of superficial friendships, Kim and Sydney are on decent terms, having rubbed ­shoulders last year at Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s wedding.

Needless to say, having a mutual pal like Jeff will keep them civil — on the surface at least — as they have too much to lose if they fall out and put him in the middle.

But, according to insiders, Kim feels particularly irked by Sydney’s apparent bid to claim some of her global spotlight.

The Kardashian beauty is used to being the most talked-about woman in any room, but — since Sydney became a pop culture phenomenon — she’s been pulling eyes away.

The fact that she is now launching this lingerie line feels a little too close to home for Kim, especially since it has been reported that Sydney has also filed to trademark the Syrn name for cosmetics and beauty care products.

Coincidentally — or maybe not so — Kim has also spoken about expanding into the beauty space with Skims.

Now, she has ­reportedly been complaining to friends that Sydney is nothing more than a “copycat”.

Still, as Nick tells us, the pair actually have more to gain from this rivalry than meets the eye, as “it’s all about the amount of column inches and publicity they can get”.

‘REBELLIOUS STREAK’

Kim is hardly naive when it comes to the art of publicity.

This is the woman who “broke the internet” in 2014 after exposing her very famous bum to the world on the cover of Paper magazine.

She is hardly going to blush at the thought of engaging now in some performative bra wars with Sydney, as she knows full well that the oxygen for any successful brand is attention and visibility.

So who will ultimately triumph?

Well, Kim’s obviously got a tremendous head start.

She steered her brand to global domination, proving that — despite her internet-breaking derriere — she does nothing half-arsed.

But, like Kim, Sydney understands the power of harnessing one’s sex symbol status to achieve fame and fortune, combining that with business-minded savvy and sizeable investments to create a brand with real selling power.

Add to that her rebellious streak and she could be on to a winner with Syrn.

Whether she overshadows Kim remains to be seen, but one thing remains clear.

In the big, bad world of bra- selling celebs, this storm in a D cup will run and run.

SYD’S GEAR

SYDNEY SWEENEY

AGE: 28.

WEALTH: £30million.

FAMOUS FOR: Starring in The White Lotus, Euphoria and 2025 film The Housemaid.

CONTROVERSIAL MOMENTS: Her American Eagle clothing ad, with the tagline “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans”, which saw her accused of promoting genetic supremacy.

Plus having her bath water used to make a soap range in 2025.

RELATIONSHIPS: Dated businessman Jonathan Davino from 2018 to 2025.

Began dating controversial music executive Scooter Braun in 2025.

BRANDS: As well as Syrn, ­Sydney has her own production company, Fifty-Fifty Films.

She has also collaborated with Armani Beauty, Kerastase haircare, Laneige skincare, Ford motors and Miu Miu fashion.

KIM’S GEAR

KIM KARDASHIAN

AGE: 45.

WEALTH: £1.4billion.

FAMOUS FOR: Reality shows including Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

CONTROVERSIAL MOMENTS: Leaking of a sex tape starring Kim and Ray J in 2007, “breaking the internet” with her 2014 cover of Paper magazine, and a 72-day marriage to Kris Humphries.

RELATIONSHIPS: Married music producer Damon Thomas at 19 and split after three years; Kris Humphries, married and split after 72 days, 2011; Kanye West, married 2014, split 2021.

She is now dating Lewis Hamilton.

BRANDS: KKW Beauty (2017-2021), SKKN By Kim – skincare brand from 2022, Kardashian Kloset – resale site for TV family’s clothes.

Skims has also launched collaborations with Nike, Dolce & Gabbana and Fendi.

AFTER five long years, the dark truth behind Jesy Nelson’s feud with Little Mix has been laid bare for the first time – as the singer reveals she made a secret suicide attempt days before quitting the group.

Jesy — whose abrupt exit from the girl band has been shrouded in mystery until now — claimed her cry for help in the lead-up to her overdose was ignored by bandmates Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Perrie Edwards and Jade Thirlwall.

Thankfully, she was saved by her quick-thinking mum Jan, who raised the alarm after Jesy fell unconscious while on the phone to her.

Speaking about her daughter’s near-death experience for the first time,

Jan said: “For a few days before, she had just been really down and not talking much. She wanted to be on her own quite a lot.

“I got a gut feeling that something wasn’t right. I kept ringing and ­ringing, but there was no answer.

PROUD MUM

Jesy Nelson shares unseen snap of baby twins holding hands after SMA diagnosis

SUPER CUTE

Jesy Nelson reveals unseen pics of twin babies after SMA diagnosis

“She eventually answered the phone and the way she talking was really slurry.

“I heard the phone drop and didn’t hear anything else — I knew she’d done something.”

It was the second time Jesy had tried to take her own life following an overdose in 2013, which she ­previously opened up about in her NTA-winning BBC documentary Jesy Nelson: Odd One Out.

She later said that online abuse over her appearance left her unable to “tolerate the pain any more”.

‘You’ve got to stop’

Her boyfriend at the time, Diversity dancer Jordan Banjo, called an ambulance and she was taken to ­hospital, but one week later was told to “pull it together” to film a video for Little Mix’s single Salute.

Jesy, 34, admits: “It all just got too much for me. My manager was like, ‘Come on Jesy, you need to pull ­yourself together.’

“So it just got swept under the rug and everything went back to normal.”

Reflecting on her second attempt seven years later — just days before she quit Little Mix — Jesy said: “I was so sad. I was so down.”

The star was rushed to hospital by ambulance and missed the final of Little Mix’s BBC talent show The Search, with host Chris Ramsey ­telling fans she had fallen ill.

The singer recalled: “I knew after coming out of hospital that I ­mentally couldn’t do it [be in the band] any more.”

Jesy had sunk into a deep depression after returning to work following the 2020 pandemic.

Recalling the painful breakdown of Little Mix’s friendship days before her overdose, Jesy said: “I sat ­everyone down to explain how I was feeling and I remember one of the responses being, ‘Are you done now? Is that it?’

“She [one of the girls] was like, ‘Can I go now?’”

Fighting back tears, Jesy added: “That made me feel really alone. I felt like there was no point. That no one cared.”

Hidden turmoil within the group led to Jesy trying to take her own life, with her mum Jan insisting: “I can see why they [the other Little Mix members] did get angry at times.

“It’s hard to work with someone who is always down when you are always happy.

“But I personally believe that at Jesy’s lowest of low times, the girls were not really there for her and I think that’s why she’s so sad now.”

In her new Prime Video docuseries Jesy Nelson: Life After Little Mix, Jesy also makes the bombshell claim that another bandmate tried to quit a year before her shock exit.

Unbeknown to fans, the girls had agreed their next tour would be their last, but a two-year delay pushed their “sisterhood” to the brink.

After Jesy’s second suicide attempt, her mum said: “I kept cuddling her and said, ‘Right, that’s it now. No more.

I didn’t get my opportunity to explain why I couldn’t do this any more. I feel mad that that was taken away from me

Jesy Nelson

“You’ve got to stop doing what makes you unhappy’.”

While in hospital recovering, Jesy made the difficult decision to quit.

But after seeking legal advice, she felt betrayed when her lawyer ­delivered the news to the rest of ­Little Mix without her consent.

Jesy said: “I think they felt really hurt about that and it should never have played out like that.

“I didn’t get my opportunity to explain why I couldn’t do this any more. I feel mad that that was taken away from me.”

When Jesy later attempted to meet up with the girls, she claims her manager said that Leigh-Anne, Perrie and Jade “would only feel comfortable if there was a therapist present”.

Jesy tearfully said of Little Mix: “I didn’t feel like they were my sisters [any more]. I’d just come out of the hospital. This is the time I need you the most.”

Despite what she’d been through with her mental health battle, Jesy never saw the girls again.

Leigh-Anne went on to say the girls were left so “traumatised” by their bandmate’s exit they needed counselling.

Jesy explained: “Eventually there was a phone call.

“It was really awkward and so weird. It was like talking to strangers.

“It was the most uncomfortable phone call of my life. No one knew what to say.

“And that’s the last time I ever spoke to them as a group. It’s been five years now and every time I think about it, I think, was it them or was it the management? I’ll never know.”

‘Me and Jade cried’

Speaking for the first time about the end of Little Mix being planned a year before her exit when one of the other girls announced they wanted to walk away, Jesy said: “I thought everyone was in a really good place, but I was wrong.

“We got called in for a meeting and I just had this gut feeling that it wasn’t going to be good.

“One of the girls had decided they didn’t want to be in the band any more. I remember feeling my whole world had fallen apart.

“It was a really sad day — me and Jade really cried. I was devastated.”

When pushed to reveal the name of singer who wanted to quit at the beginning of 2020, Jesy added: “I don’t think that’s for me to say because they still haven’t said.

“It’s been really hard to not speak out about this.

“I thought we’d be together ­forever. It was never my decision to leave first.”

When Covid hit, the band’s end date was pushed back by two years.

“That’s when everything got messy,” Jesy said.

“I knew the band was coming to an end because one of the girls had made the decision to leave and I felt like I was being fake.

“I got this very quick realisation that I wasn’t happy.”

Jesy felt “swarmed with insecurities” after returning to the limelight following lockdown.

She began to feel fearful of performing — with panic attacks leading her to pull out of live performances including a BBC Radio One Live Lounge and as a judge on The Search.

Her vocals are also missing from tracks on Little Mix’s final album.

Jesy continued: “I had mentally checked out. It was like my body was telling me, ‘Stop now’.

“That was the moment I thought, I can’t do this any more.

“I just remember thinking, I ­cannot last another two years.

“I felt like it [the relationship with the girls] had shifted.

“There would be days I would cry and be a miserable bitch.

“All those little things build up and build up and they do get to a boiling point.”

Explaining why she is speaking out now, Jesy insists she wants to draw a line under the speculation.

She said: “I really f*ing hate that there were nine and a bit really beautiful years that I had with the girls and I really didn’t want for us to be known for that one sh***y part.

‘Sad and hurt’

“It overrode every amazing thing that we ever did and what we stood for.

“We were genuinely like sisters and I think that is what’s so sad about this whole thing.

“As the years have gone on I see both sides. I see why they would be sad and hurt.”

Little Mix became the first group to win X Factor in 2011 before making UK singles chart history with five No1s and selling more than 75million records worldwide.

Jesy walked out of the girl band in November 2020 and two years later released her debut single Boyz with rapper Nicki Minaj.

On the track Mine, she paired up with Zion Foster — who later became the father of her two children before they split in January.

Little Mix went on an extended hiatus in 2022 to pursue solo careers and start families.

Despite never reconnecting in person again, in May last year Jesy’s former bandmates got back in touch after she became pregnant with identical twins.

Nine-month-old girls Ocean and Story have since been diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1 — the most severe form of a rare disease affecting muscle strength and movement.

Jesy recently told The Sun there was hope of reconciliation between her and the girls after the five- year feud was “healed” by her children arriving.

In the docuseries, Jesy said: “They reached out to me when I was pregnant.

“It was lovely because I never thought that would happen. It made me really emotional.

“We’re grown women. We’ve got kids. I just think there are so many more important things in life.

“It’s just one of those things that needs to be put to bed now.”

• Jesy Nelson: Life After Little Mix is available on Prime Video from today.

EPiC is a hip-shaking, lip-curling, fist-pumping, wise-cracking, sequin-spangled, sweat-soaked, all singing and dancing grand spectacle. 

It stands for Elvis Presley in Concert — a film that brings The King back into the building. 

Directed with loving care and boundless pizazz by flamboyant Australian Baz Luhrmann, it is a fitting companion to his 2022 biopic Elvis, starring Austin Butler. 

Using an incredible patchwork of unseen footage and unheard interviews, painstakingly restored by high-end technicians, he is presenting Elvis singing and telling his story “like never before”. 

You hear the music icon talking about his adoring fans, saying: “Those people want to see a show. They want to see some action.” 

The “action” centres on two years, 1970 and 1972, and features the singer’s residencies in Las Vegas, tour engagements and upbeat rehearsals, all interspersed with telling insights from the man himself. 

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Aside from fleeting visits to Canada, Elvis never did shows outside the US and yet, as he admits in the movie, he yearned to spread his wings and bring THAT voice to the world. 

Movingly, he performs Never Been To Spain which includes the line: “Well, I never been to England but I kinda like The Beatles.” 

‘Seen all the stuff’ 

Now, with EPiC, he’s getting the world tour he never had. 

To celebrate its cinema release next Friday, along with a soundtrack album, I’m speaking to one of the most qualified experts on “the kid from Tupelo” who changed popular culture for ever. 

Angie Marchese is Vice President of Archives and Exhibits at Graceland, the Memphis mansion bought by Elvis in 1957 for $102,500. 

It’s where he lived with wife Priscilla, where the couple welcomed their only child, Lisa Marie, and where he died on August 16, 1977. 

Since 1982, Graceland has been a museum with exhibits including Elvis’s pink Cadillac, his private jets, his gold records, his jewellery, his ornate furniture, his deep-pile carpets and, of course, his legendary jumpsuits. 

During her years living and breathing the place, vivacious curator Marchese has seen “a whole lot of Elvis footage”. 

“I’ve scrolled YouTube and seen all the stuff,” she tells me. 

But nothing quite prepared her for EPiC, which she first saw last year when it premiered at Toronto International Film Festival.  

“I was captivated for 96 minutes,” she says. “I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. 

“You get to see a real person through this movie. That’s the guy I know from going through his archives.” 

Marchese highlights the frequent snatches of interviews with Elvis, which she describes as a “window into his mind”. 

“You’re hearing him telling his story for the first time, in his own words,” she affirms. 

“It involved lots of manpower — finding all these interview clips, dissecting them and making a story out of them. That brought it to a personal level. If Elvis had ever done an autobiography, this is what it would be.” 

Hollywood’s image of me was wrong. I knew it and I couldn’t do anything about it

Elvis Presley

Marchese also saw EPiC at Graceland on January 8, on what would have been the music legend’s 91st birthday. 

“That was very special,” she says. “It was the first US screening of the movie — and you would have thought that you were at a live concert.  

“Everybody in the theatre was dancing and singing and applauding. With the clarity of the footage, it felt as if you could reach out and touch him and he’s there. 

“The look in his eyes, the little smirks — I’ve never seen Elvis performing this clearly before.” 

EPiC begins with a rapid-fire retelling of the Elvis story and how he led the rock ’n’ roll revolution in the Fifties, even if a few stuffed shirts thought his high- octane antics “triggered juvenile delinquency”. 

You see him being drafted into the US Army and posted to West Germany, serving with a tank battalion. There are glimpses of his frustrating movie career which saw him given increasingly lightweight roles, culminating in him talking to an actor dressed as a dog in Live A Little, Love A Little. 

“Hollywood’s image of me was wrong,” he decides. “I knew it and I couldn’t do anything about it.” 

EPiC continues with the dying throes of Elvis’s movie career coinciding with the momentous 1968 Comeback Special, his televised return to the live arena, looking as fit as a fiddle. 

“The black leather suit has a 28in waist,” says Marchese, again proving what a mine of fascinating information she has at her fingertips. 

“That size rolls into the next couple of years of touring. Even the Aztec Sun jumpsuit which Elvis wore in ’77 [for his last ever concert, on June 26, in Indianapolis] is not as large as people might envision it to be.” 

The focal point of EPiC is his Las Vegas residencies which began at the International Hotel in 1969 and continued until the end of 1976. 

You hear Elvis confessing to stage fright before emerging on to the stage in 1970 in his off-white “fringe” jumpsuit (Marchese’s favourite) and launching into the song that started it all, That’s All Right, his first hit from 1956. 

Marchese believes his anxieties stemmed from a burning desire to make shows as special as he could for his fans. 

“He was the kid who lived the American dream, coming from poverty in Tupelo to being on top of the world and able to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. 

“But he never forgot where he came from.” 

Despite everything, Elvis was never exactly shy and retiring, as Marchese explains. 

“He sure knew how to dress. If a kid was going to high school in the Fifties with sideburns, greased hair, his collar pulled up and wearing pink, then he was confident in who he was as a person — even if he had come from humble beginnings.” 

There’s some astonishing footage of Elvis climbing off stage and wading into the crowd, hugging and kissing women — some on the lips. 

Marchese continues: “One of the questions I get asked the most is, ‘Why is Elvis still so popular?’  

‘He sang just to you’ 

“The answer is that he had a personal connection with his fans. If you were in the crowd and there were 18,000 other people in the audience with you, you felt like he was just singing just to you. He had this energy about him, and he was just so personable. 

“Even if you never had a chance to get a scarf or a kiss or even get close to him, you felt like he was there for you. That really comes across in this movie.”  

Another key aspect of Elvis, which shines through, is his mischievous sense of humour. 

There’s a moment where he grabs a drink after complaining of feeling “dry — like Bob Dylan, only in my mouth”. 

Marchese calls him “Graceland’s worst practical joker” and tells her favourite prank story. “Every year, he gave the Memphis Mafia [the nickname given to Elvis’s inner circle] Christmas bonuses,” she says. 

“One year, he overheard the guys as they sat around imagining what the bonus might be. So, Elvis goes to McDonald’s down the street from Graceland and buys them all 50-cent gift certificates. 

“He puts them in envelopes with their names on. Christmas Eve comes around, Elvis brings the envelopes out and hands them out.

“The guys open them up and stare at Elvis — and he just falls about laughing but, mind you, back then 50 cents would have got you an entire meal.”

Next, I ask Marchese if there’s a song in the EPiC movie which particularly grabs her attention. 

He never lost this desire to please his fans, to be with them and to perform for them

Angie Marchese, Vice President of Archives and Exhibits at Graceland

“Like everyone, I love the popular ones such as Suspicious Minds, but when he sings gospel, that’s huge for me. It takes everything to another level. So my answer is, How Great Thou Art. I don’t think anyone could have done it better.” 

Marchese describes how Elvis became infatuated with gospel at a young age. “He used to go to these all-night gospel sings at the North Hall in downtown Memphis when he was a kid. 

“He didn’t have money to buy a ticket so he would go round to the back door and listen. Sometimes, JD Sumner [who sang at Elvis’s funeral] would sneak him in.” 

Of his towering rendition of How Great Thou Art, Marchese says: “Typical gospel hymn, but Elvis put it in the middle of a rock concert. The crowd is silent, listening to every word, but it doesn’t slow down the vibe, it raises it even more.” 

Just before How Great Thou Art, you see cute home movies of Elvis with Lisa Marie when she was a baby and toddler. 

“It made me cry,” says Marchese. “I wonder if Baz [Luhrmann] did that on purpose because How Great Thou Art was her favourite Elvis song.” 

It’s so sad to think that, like her dad, she died young and is buried beside him in Graceland’s Meditation Garden. 

“Lisa was the apple of Elvis’s eye, and loved her dad more than life itself,” says Marchese. 

“She was loyal, authentically who she was and also a beautiful, doting mother to her kids [Riley, twin girls Harper and Finley, and the late Ben].” 

As the owner of Graceland, Lisa Marie also got to know Marchese well. “She really was a special friend. She had a lot of Elvis’s traits — she had no filter so whatever she was thinking was what she was trying to do.” 

Before we go our separate ways, Marchese returns to the subject of EPiC, which showcases some of Elvis’s best-loved songs with breathless intensity — Always On My Mind, Can’t Help Falling In Love, In The Ghetto and so on.  

Elvis announces that it’s time to “get dirty” before launching into a relentless Polk Salad Annie — a truly remarkable feat of film editing, employing footage from two concerts and a rehearsal, all spliced together to thrilling effect. 

“That was masterful editing [by Jonathan Redmond] right there,” enthuses Marchese. 

There are wonderful intimate moments where Elvis rehearses Beatles songs Yesterday and Something.  

Cue one final, illuminating anecdote from the curator with an encyclopaedic knowledge.  

“I actually took Paul McCartney through Graceland. He was most fascinated by the fact that Elvis had a remote control for his TV in 1965 — years before most people had them.

“Oh, and we have the first microwave ever sold in Memphis, inside Graceland’s kitchen.” 

Finally, I ask Marchese if Elvis felt “caught in a trap” by Vegas, resulting in him not touring the world. 

“He loved his Vegas audience. He loved being on tour. But there was a moment in time when he couldn’t get off the hamster wheel. He had so many people relying on him.  

“Yet he never lost this desire to please his fans, to be with them and to perform for them.” 

If you get the chance to see EPiC, you’ll realise Elvis Aaron Presley is STILL The King. 

EPiC – ELVIS PRESLEY IN CONCERT  

★★★★★

SHE once had a love affair with Britain – and now it seems Madonna is back in Blighty with a vengeance.

Over the past week, the 67-year-old superstar has taken to the stands at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in North London for two days running.

Before that, she was visiting — and waxing lyrical — about the seaside town of Margate in Kent.

So is the Queen of Pop, who has changed her image more in the last four decades than most of us change our bed sheets, back to rule Britannia and play the English lady again?

On Saturday, the self-declared “soccer mom” was at the Spurs ground to cheer on her 13-year-old twins Stella and Estere, who were playing in a Tottenham under-14s academy match.

Taking to Instagram, she told her 20.3million followers: “I will pay G*D for some sunshine! Go Estella and Estere, Hotspurs win!!! 5-0.”

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Complaining about the weather and yelling about footie . . . what could be more British than that?

The following day, she was back for more, telling fans she was taking her “second Uber ever” to watch the Tottenham Hotspur women’s team play Chelsea in the Women’s Super League.

Her boyfriend, Akeem Morris, 29, is also throwing himself into the UK way of life, VIP style, of course.

The Chelsea fan is regularly spotted at men’s home games with Madge in the directors’ box.

The couple turn up together with no security in tow.

Madonna last month visited close pal Tracey Emin and the artist’s latest exhibition in her hometown of Margate.

I will pay G*D for some sunshine! Go Estella and Estere, Hotspurs win!!! 5-0

Madonna

While there, she wrote on Instagram: “Tracey Emin is a Pearl.

“A precious necklace that has been draped around a seaside town in England called Margate.”

She added: “Whenever I go there, I feel like I’ve entered a dream.

“On top of all that, I get to eat at my favourite Italian restaurant which I’m not giving anyone the name of because then everyone’s going to go there and it only has one table!”

Margate might be a long way from the singer’s own hometown of Michigan, but she clearly felt very at home there.

And presumably the locals were delighted to have her.

Meanwhile, it is not just the singer’s social calendar that is packed with British outings.

She also seems to be making professional moves here, too.

Tracey Emin is a Pearl. A precious necklace that has been draped around a seaside town in England called Margate

Madonna

It was revealed last year that she had been secretly working with British music producer Stuart Price, who she collaborated with for 2005 album Confessions On A Dance Floor.

It is believed the pair are working on a new album, following Stuart’s role as musical director on her 2023 Celebration Tour.

Confessions On A Dance Floor might have been all disco glitter and electro pop, but it was a time when Madonna was at her most British.

Having married director Guy Ritchie in 2000 at Skibo Castle in the Scottish Highlands, the Material Girl had fully clothed herself in the trappings of a plummy country life.

Gone were the risqué red carpet outfits, replaced with a Home Counties wardrobe of tweed, riding jackets and tea dresses.

Fully embodying her Mrs Ritchie persona, Madonna went riding, took walks in the rolling fields of Wiltshire and hobnobbed around Marylebone.

She then doubled down on the act with her 2003 children’s book The English Roses.

And then, of course, there was the accent.

Having seemingly forgotten she was an Italian-American who had her first taste of adult life on the mean streets of New York City, the singer hit the headlines when she started speaking with the lilt of a posh (but slightly inebriated) Englishwoman.

It was Michigan meets Mayfair, with the added confusion of someone who thought Austin Powers was a real person.

Fans scratched their heads, but also could not help but love the campy creation of a world-class chameleon.

The singer had gone full method acting with her transatlantic marriage, becoming Madonn-rah in the process.

Whenever I go there, I feel like I’ve entered a dream. On top of all that, I get to eat at my favourite Italian restaurant which I’m not giving anyone the name of because then everyone’s going to go there and it only has one table

Madonna

Madonna kept the pretence up until she and Guy split in 2008 and she moved back to the US.

Years later, in 2020, she demonstrated some very British self-mockery when she joked about her adopted accent — and the reaction to it — while performing on her Madame X tour in London.

“I didn’t know what anyone was talking about until I heard old interviews of myself,” she told the crowd.

‘Lucky to be alive’

“And then I was horrified and flabbergasted. Why did you let me do that to myself? I’m from Michigan!”

She added: “It’s all Guy Ritchie’s fault. He made me do it.”

Meanwhile, having continued to grow her property portfolio across the world, Madonna relocated to Portugal in 2017.

That year she adopted twins Estere and Stella from Malawi (she was already mum to Lourdes, now 29, Rocco, 25, David Banda, 20, and Mercy James, 20).

The move to a £6million 18th-century mansion just outside Portuguese capital Lisbon was to help David pursue a career in football after he joined Benfica’s youth team.

Once again, the queen of reinvention did what she does best and embraced the local culture, soon debuting her Madame X persona to the world.

Her new image — and accompanying album — were heavily influenced by Portuguese life.

She later said she had been inspired by the local Fado and samba music.

The family moved back to the US in 2020, but since then Madonna has continued to prove herself a citizen of the world.

Lucky to be alive

Madonna

She splits her time between her palatial pads in New York, Los Angeles, Portugal and London, where she kept her Georgian townhouse in Marylebone after splitting from Guy.

She has also had several more reinventions along the way — which gave her plenty of material for her Celebration Tour three years ago, which took fans on a nostalgic trip over her 40-year pop career.

It was a poignant time for the singer, who had been forced to re­schedule early dates after a bacterial infection in June 2023 left her in intensive care.

She later said she felt “lucky to be alive”.

When she did finally take to the stage, she clearly relished the chance to time-hop through the years to resurrect some of her biggest songs and look back at her former personas.

After so much self-reflection, why does she now seem to be laying her hat down once again in the UK? The answer, first and foremost, seems to be her kids.

So the fact that Stella and Estere seem to be following in older brother David’s footsteps as football prodigies might just keep their proud mum back on British turf for a while.

Aga-loving lady

Added to that, eldest son Rocco is permanently based in London, where he owns his own art studio in Chelsea.

In December, Madonna played proud mum again as she attended one of his art shows in the capital.

She even posed alongside her ex-husband and Rocco’s dad Guy, suggesting the pair’s many years of animosity are now water under the bridge.

Posting the family picture, Rocco wrote: “It’s obvious why some people might hold judgment against me. I don’t blame them.

“However, I am proud to be who I am, but I’m even prouder to have both of my parents together in one room supporting me.”

She might not be sitting down for a Sunday roast with Guy and his new wife Jacqui any time soon, but the family snap was a pivotal moment.

It suggests Madonna is not fully ready to wash her hands of the years she spent winking at the world as Mrs Ritchie.

As she recently said, family means everything, describing her role as a mum of six as her­ ­“biggest medal”.

So, what is next for the woman who never stands still?

With new music in store — which is believed to be a follow-up to her British era Confessions On A Dance Floor output — there is every possibility we will see the Queen of Pop reclaim her crown as a cosplaying Brit.

Whether that will come with the lilt and wardrobe of an Aga-loving country lady remains to be seen, but one thing we do know is that she does not do things by halves.

So keep your eyes peeled, because you never know if a certain international megastar is sitting beside you at that football match, or walking just behind you on your weekend break at the seaside.

Then again, considering her former plummy accent, you will be sure to know when you hear her.

AS the ugly aftermath of his Instagram tirade against his family rumbles on, Brooklyn Beckham’s one-time pals appear to have become unwitting contestants in a real-life game of The Traitors.

Having already severed ties with his parents, David and Victoria, the A-list nepobaby is now ruthlessly banishing his inner circle, with insiders revealing how “incredibly close” friends have been blindsided by his “bizarre” and brutal behaviour.

Former best mates, including Madonna’s son Rocco Ritchie and Gordon Ramsay’s twins Jack and Holly, have all fallen by the wayside since the 26-year-old tied the knot with Nicola Peltz, while even newer friends such as pop star Selena Gomez have found themselves ruthlessly cut off.

His brother Romeo this weekend unveiled a new tattoo that reads “Family” — leaving no doubt where his loyalties lie.

And as divisions grow between the wannabe chef and his famous family, he and Nicola, 31, appear to be weeding out any “traitorous” friends who have slighted them — or picked the wrong side in the feud.

The Sun can reveal that the latest famous face to be cut adrift is Brooklyn’s former classmate Anais Gallagher, the daughter of Oasis star Noel and Meg Mathews.

Just days after David’s oldest son released a bombshell Instagram statement — in which he vowed never to reconcile with his “controlling” family who only care about “Brand Beckham” — 26-year-old influencer Anais was stunned to discover she had been blocked online.

Having attended sixth form with Brooklyn — at the exclusive, £12,000-per-term Fine Arts College in Belsize Park, North West London — the pair were part of the same close-knit group of friends which also included Rocco.

‘I find this book offensive’

As the children of two of Britain’s most famous couples, they quickly hit it off and became thick as thieves with a flirty on/off relationship.

Our insider said: “They grew incredibly close while they were at school and there was always a lot of flirting between them.

“It was never anything with a label but they were certainly more than friends.

“Victoria, it’s fair to say, wasn’t 100 per cent enthralled with their closeness — in her eyes the Gallaghers don’t have quite the same reputation as the Beckhams.

“Anais and Brooklyn stayed close for quite a while after — she even went to his wedding to Nicola — and Anais assumed they were still on good terms even though their lives have taken different paths.

“She was really blindsided when she realised that he had blocked her.

“Anais is pretty sure it’s because he’s worried she’s going to spill the beans about what went on. But that’s not her style.”

Brooklyn’s feelings towards Anais might have started to change in 2022, shortly after his lavish $3million oceanfront wedding to billionaire’s daughter Nicola.

Anais attended the bash, but that same year she slammed Brooklyn’s photography book, What I See, despite attending its launch event.

His photography attempts were widely mocked — and his pal said: “I genuinely find this book offensive.”

It first became clear that Brooklyn was having a social clear-out when none of his former friends or family came to see him renew vows with Nicola last August at her family’s 130-acre estate in New York state.

Instead they partied with Georgina Chapman, her partner Adrien Brody and Nicola’s glam squad.

Brooklyn was close to a string of nepo-babies in London, including Jack and Holly Ramsay.

During his schooldays, he was often snapped skating or hanging out with pals alongside Madonna and Guy Ritchie’s son Rocco — who at the time was dating Kim Turnbull, now the girlfriend of Brooklyn’s sibling Romeo.

Madonna was said to be very pleased about Brooklyn’s influence on her son, but it’s not known if Victoria felt the same way.

Rocco was at Brooklyn and Nicola’s lavish wedding in 2022 — but he was absent when they renewed their vows, raising questions about whether the friends who the Beckhams’ eldest child grew up with supported his relationship.

An insider explained: “There has clearly been a real shutdown. Brooklyn has no contact with mates from his former life in the UK. It’s like the marriage to Nicola meant he started a whole new life with new people around him.

“It’s sad but people have sensed a shift in his life and priorities.

“And being aligned with someone who is feuding with his parents so publicly is a bad look.”

Brooklyn once spoke highly of Rocco and Jack, saying in 2017: “I’ve changed schools quite a few times but I have some close friends that have known me since I was very young. I have a handful of really close friends, but in particular I’d say Jack Ramsay and Rocco Ritchie.”

And as his time with Rocco came to an end, so did his friendship with DJ Kim Turnbull, who he was once romantically linked to.

Her relationship with his brother Romeo hasn’t helped the situation — and insiders say their dating made it clear to him whose side she was on.

And Brooklyn’s friendship with Jack is now said to be non-existent. He no longer speaks to Gordon and Tana’s eldest son, who is in the Marines.

Meanwhile, Brooklyn is believed to have declined an invitation to attend Holly’s wedding to Adam Peaty at the end of last year.

Tellingly, his parents and siblings were all in attendance, including brothers Cruz and Romeo.

It’s been more than five years since Brooklyn has been seen with anyone from his old London life.

His Instagram is now full of pictures with just Nicola or her family who appear to have become their closest confidants.

But it is not only his pals who have been cast aside. Up until last year, American actress and pop star Selena Gomez was a permanent fixture in the Peltz-Beckhams’ lives, joking they were all so close it was like a throuple.

Now the trio are no longer speaking — with sources telling The Sun that Selena was left feeling betrayed after best pal Nicola unceremoniously dumped her.

‘Victoria didn’t like me’

Despite numerous photos together over the past few years — including girls’ night sleepovers, and gushing birthday tributes — Brooklyn and Nicola were not in attendance at Selena’s fairytale wedding to Benny Blanco in September.

While it was claimed Nicola and Brooklyn were unable to attend due to a busy work schedule, questions have been raised about why they refused to move things around for someone who was once so close in their lives.

Nicola is certainly no stranger to shutting people out. Before she started dating Brooklyn in 2019, she had a year-long relationship with Anwar Hadid — brother of models Bella and Gigi — but the romance is now tinged with ill-feeling.

Nicola was 22 and Anwar was 17 at the time, and there were rumours that he grew distant from his family during the relationship. Nicola unfollowed the whole family on social media after they split.

Now, as tensions with Brooklyn’s parents reach an all-time high, their social circle certainly seems to be getting smaller and smaller.

He suffered from anxiety. Brooklyn felt as though the world was constantly waiting for him to muck up

Afton McKeith

So who is still on their side? Despite spilling the beans on their time with Brooklyn recently, former flames Tallia Storm and Afton McKeith appear to have proved their loyalty.

Afton, who dated Brooklyn when they were 17, and Tallia, who was linked to him in 2016, were quick to speak out about their experiences — in particular with Victoria — in support of Brooklyn.

Singer Tallia recalled the time the pair were meant to attend a charity gala, which was hosted by Victoria’s close pal, the actress Eva Longoria.

She explained: “I was meant to sit next to Brooklyn.

“We were all super excited — and then he messaged me on the night itself, when I was already inside, saying, ‘My mum won’t let me come, I’m sorry.’ And that was that. Obviously, Victoria didn’t like me or whatever.”

Afton, the daughter of I’m a Celeb star Gillian McKeith, grew up alongside Brooklyn in West London — and gave a scathing review of David and Victoria’s parenting.

If you’ve ever crossed him, he won’t forget — and as the war with his parents drags on, he’s taking note on who has his back and who clearly doesn’t

Our insider

She said: “He suffered from anxiety. Brooklyn felt as though the world was constantly waiting for him to muck up.

“I now feel his parents could have protected him more and considered the impact of the public Brand Beckham.”

At least Brooklyn and Nicola also appear to have two high-profile champions in their camp, with The Sun last year revealing how Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were secretly supporting the couple and even had them round for dinner.

Closer to home, Brooklyn seems to have reserved an olive branch for little sister Harper — the only sibling he has reached out to since the estrangement — after wishing her a happy birthday in July.

Unfortunately for Anais, building bridges may be harder.

Our insider added: “Brooklyn has the memory of an elephant, just like the infamous, blurry image of one he snapped in Kenya for his photography book.

“If you’ve ever crossed him, he won’t forget — and as the war with his parents drags on, he’s taking note on who has his back and who clearly doesn’t.”

Anyone planning a Traitorous move on Brooklyn or Nicola better watch out — they won’t be returning breakfast in the morning.

SHE is no stranger to steamy scenes, but Margot Robbie says new movie Wuthering Heights beats her previous films when it comes to passion on screen.

Out in time for Valentine’s Day, the adaptation of Emily Bronte’s classic novel sees Margot as Cathy alongside Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff.

And the 35-year-old star says it is much raunchier than the book’s romantic scenes, set on the sweeping Yorkshire moors.

She added: “They never really kissed in the book, but we kiss a lot. We kiss everywhere.

“And there’s so many times where he just picks me up and puts me in a tree, or picks me up with one hand.

“And I have to say, it is really nice, it makes you feel, ‘Oh I’m light as a feather, I’m a tiny little thing’.”

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I think a lot of men are going to turn to their partners and be like, ‘Am I Heathcliff to you or am I Edgar?’. And I don’t know if they want to hear the answer

Margot

Before landing the role, Margot had not read the novel but has now gone through it a “bunch of times” and thinks it’s “phenomenal”.

Film critics say the movie is a winner, too.

Directed by Emerald Fennell, it hits cinemas on Friday. February 13 has become known as Galentine’s Day and celebrates female friendships.

‘Start fights’

Margot said: “It’s a great Galentine’s movie. Going with a group of girlfriends and having a couple of drinks is going to be a fun night out, and then you could go with your partner.”

Bronte’s novel follows a love triangle between Cathy, wild Heathcliff and gentleman Edgar.

And Margot said with a laugh: “I did wonder if this film will start fights, because I do think a lot of men are going to turn to their partners afterwards and be like, ‘Am I Heathcliff to you or am I Edgar?’. And I don’t know if they want to hear the answer.”

Margot rose to fame on Neighbours in 2008, aged 17, as fiery teenager Donna Freedman.

Her Hollywood breakthrough came five years later opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf Of Wall Street.

Since then, she has starred in blockbuster films including as Harley Quinn in 2021’s The Suicide Squad and in the 2023 global smash Barbie.

Last month, polling company Ranker named the three-time Oscar nominee as the most beautiful woman in the world, but Margot says she remains insecure about her looks.

She told Wonderland magazine: “When I was playing Naomi in The Wolf Of Wall Street it was so high-tempo sexy. I was acutely aware that the line in the screenplay was ‘the hottest blonde ever’.

I lied for a long time about the nudity [in Wolf of Wall Street]. First, I said there was no nudity. Then I said there was nudity but it was a body
double

Margot

“I’m clearly not the hottest blonde ever. I was just terrified that people would see the movie and think, ‘Eugh! She’s not that great’.”

Margot also gets worried about her family seeing some of her more risque roles. When she had to strip for The Wolf Of Wall Street, she banned some of them from watching.

She said: “I lied for a long time about the nudity. First, I said there was no nudity. Then I said there was nudity, but it wasn’t me, that it was a body double with my head CGI’d on. Then I had to admit it was me.

“The grandparents flat out can’t see it. The rest of the family can watch at their own risk, but if we can’t have a relationship after that, it’s not my fault.”

Margot’s parents split up when she was five and she was raised on Australia’s Gold Coast with her physiotherapist mum Sarie. She has limited contact with her father Doug, a retired farmer and sugar cane tycoon.

The star says that acting seemed like an impossible dream and told Vogue Australia: “I got on Neighbours and I thought that was the biggest thing that was ever going to happen to me.

“Before that, the idea of being in Hollywood, I did think you had to be born into it or had to know someone in the industry.”

Now she speaks out to let young girls know that if you work hard anything is possible.

Margot said: “I just want to say to young people that success is not as far away as it seems. I didn’t know anyone in the industry; it can totally happen.

“You do have to work really hard, you have to work really, really, really hard, but if you want it badly enough, you can totally make it happen.”

Today, Margot lives in Los Angeles with her husband, English film ­producer Tom Ackerley, and their 16-month old son — who has not been named publicly.

Alongside Tom, Margot runs production company LuckyChap, the powerhouse firm behind Barbie, Saltburn and now Wuthering Heights.

And she says life at the top is a constant balancing act.

‘Rarely go on holidays’

Margot explained: “Having a business is stressful and time-consuming, but it’s incredibly rewarding. There are obviously a lot of times where I’ll have a meltdown and go, ‘I can’t do it any more’.

“You miss out on a lot of things, like you rarely go on holidays, you miss everyone’s weddings, everyone’s birthdays. I haven’t seen my best friends, my nephew.

“So there’s that side to it where it kind of hurts to sacrifice those things, but it’s also enormously satisfying to build something and be part of something.

“The biggest misconception about me is that people think I spend all my time sitting on a yacht or swanning around at fancy parties.”

Margot added to Elle Australia: “I still feel very Australian, so I don’t really feel like I’m in Hollywood at all.

“You only get a taste of Hollywood twice a year when you go to the Oscars or you go to do a press junket or a premiere or something.”

And of her happy place, she told Vogue: “Being on a film set is my favourite place, there’s nothing better.

“And I don’t care if I’ve got three lines in the film or if I’ve got one of the lead roles.

“I hope I look back and feel like I spent my time well.

“I don’t mind if the movies that I make aren’t massive successes, as long as I know I put in everything I could and I loved the people I was working with.

“I want to look back and know I had a lot of adventures, a lot of fun with good people.”

WHEN it comes to getting a tattoo tribute to your family, lover or idol, you should maybe learn from Brooklyn Beckham and think before you ink.

After his angry rant about parents Victoria and David last month, he has dealt them another blow by covering the word “Dad” on his anchor tatt, with three random-looking shapes over the letters.

But Brooklyn – who also has the eyes of wife Nicola, right with him, inked on his neck – is not the only celebrity to have thought again about their body art.

Tom Bryden looks at five other stars who said tatty bye to unwanted tatts…

ANGELINA JOLIE

SHE wore a vial of her husband’s blood around her neck, so a tattoo of Billy Bob Thornton’s name was one of Angelina’s tamer tributes.

After their split, the inking changed course – with the co-ordinates for the birthplaces of her six children.

TATT SAGA

Brooklyn Beckham appears to cover up tattoo tributes to brothers Cruz and Romeo

TIT FOR TAT

Brooklyn Beckham posts new pic of tattoo tribute to David he’s had covered up

SYLVESTER STALLONE

WHEN Sly covered a tatt of his wife Jennifer Flavin with his late pup Butkus in 2022, he had to deny the marriage was Rocky.

Maybe it was just a ruff time.

JOHNNY DEPP

AFTER his 1993 break-up from Winona Ryder, the Hollywood star changed the “Winona Forever” tattoo on his bicep to “Wino Forever” – a cheeky nod to Johnny’s love of wine.

HEIDI KLUM

THE supermodel gave her singer hubby the Seal of approval with arty print of his name, next to stars for their kids.

But Heidi split with Seal in 2012 and had his name lasered off.

MEGAN FOX

THE actress scrubbed a tattoo of one-time idol Marilyn Monroe from her arm in 2011, claiming she had outgrown it after seven years.

While Some Like It Hot, Megan clearly did not.