quiet

When Strictly foxtrots back on to our screens later this month, it will be the first time in 14 years without longest serving female pro dancer Karen Hauer, who shimmied her way through more than 100 numbers on the show. But she’s not ready to kick off her dancing shoes just yet – revealing her ambition to cha-cha her way into the role of fiery Puerto Rican, Anita, in West Side Story. She says: “My dream role would be Anita in West Side Story. The world is my oyster.”

When Strictly’s new season launches on Saturday 19 September, it will also be the first time Karen has watched it live. She says: “I’ve never watched it live – I was always in it.”

And Karen – who announced her departure in a statement on social media in March – is not the only high profile departure. Longtime hosts Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly have also left, as have pro dancers Gorka Márquez, Nadiya Bychkova, Luba Mushtuk and Michelle Tsiakkas. Karen says: “Things have to evolve. Whether people like it or not.”

But Karen will be rooting for the new hosts, Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Rabede. She says: “The new series is so exciting. I’ll definitely be watching my friends and I’m really looking forward to seeing Johannes, Emma and especially Josh. I danced with him on the Christmas Special dressed as penguins.”

Karen, who was in the show from 2012 to 2025, has already started her new chapter – playing teacher Mavis in Devonshire Park Theatre’s production of the Richard Harris comedy, Stepping Out in Eastbourne until the end of April, before taking it on tour until the end of September. She will then be playing the Wicked Queen in Snow White at The Princess Theatre, Torquay, in December and January.

She says: “I’d been preparing myself mentally for a long time to leave [Strictly]. I’m doing great, I’m really happy. I’m going to miss Strictly, but I’m definitely enjoying my new chapter.”

But the dancer was shocked by the outpouring of love she felt from fans when she announced her departure. She says: “I’ve never felt so much love. I made such an impact without even actually knowing. I was shocked. I was like, ‘how come you guys didn’t vote for me to win?’ Goddamn it.”

Giving no dramatic reason for going, she simply says it was “the right time” to go, adding: “There’s a time when you just have to go, ‘okay, well, that’s a wrap.’ Now I have free time. I don’t know what’s going to happen in five years. So, I’m literally living the best life that I can right now, and not overthinking about the future.”

The first to admit to being a romantic, Karen has had three husbands. She was married to dancer Matthew Hauer from 2000 to 2009, to fellow Strictly pro dancer Kevin Clifton from 2015 to 2018 and then to fitness professional Jordan Wyn-Jones from 2022 to 2023.

But she now shares her rural home near Preston, Greater Manchester, with her boyfriend of three years, rugby player Simon Davidson and four rescue dogs, Betty, Phoebe, Marley and Joe. After her hectic Strictly schedule, she says of Simon: “It’s probably really weird for him to have me home.”

Positive she has now found ‘The One,’ she continues: “I love love. I think love is incredible, and I found it in Simon. I love being in a partnership, and in a partnership that’s healthy. “Knowing what a healthy relationship looks like and being in it … I think that’s what I love is, and that’s what I’ve been searching for. Joy for me is being at home with Simon and the dogs.”

Honouring her love of dogs, in November, Karen is hosting the The Burns Bravery Awards, in which the pet nutrition brand is calling on people to nominate Britain’s Bravest Dogs. Research from Burns Pet Nutrition reveals that three-quarters of owners say they turn to their dog when they’ve had a bad day.

And Karen can see why, saying: “My rescue dogs are the best thing to ever happen to me. Mentally, physically, my dogs get me out of bed, they get me out for a walk. My dogs have been through all my ups and downs. I think my dogs need therapy now.”

The dancer also turns to her mum Mirian when she needs comfort or inspiration. She says: “She inspires me every day. ‘It’s not going to be easy, kid, but you got this’ – that’s what I’ve always known since I was a kid. I’ve always fought and I’ve seen my mum struggle. I’ve seen what it takes to make it – not just as a person on television, but to make it in life.

“My mum raised three kids in New York City, in the Bronx, on her own. She always says, ‘don’t let your head get to the clouds.’ And that’s why I’ve always been very grounded, no matter what kind of job or who I’ve met. We’re all the same. On Strictly, I was never the flashy one, I was always grateful that first of all I had a job – and one that I loved and which entertained the entire nation.”

Karen made it to the Strictly final twice, with partners Jamie Laing and Mark Wright, but never lifted the glitterball. She says: “I was winning every year just being there. It’s great getting a 10, it’s fantastic, but it’s the moments that bring a smile to people’s faces and make them go, ‘That was really funny’, that I’ll remember the most.”

One such moment was when Anton Du Beke and Ann Widdecombe danced together at the Blackpool Tower Ballroom in 2010. This hilarious moment was how she likes to remember the long serving former Conservative MP, who died on July 9, aged 78, and whose death is now the subject of a murder inquiry.

Speaking fondly of Ann and Anton, Karen says: “He took her by the hand and the foot and was just swinging her around in a yellow dress. I was on the floor, peeing myself. It’s those moments, that’s what Strictly’s about.” Meanwhile, Karen gave her many famous Strictly partners – who included Westlife’s Nicky Byrne, actor Greg Wise and comedian Jayde Adams – the same advice.

She says: “I told all of my celebrities, ‘you have to enjoy it. We’re going to work hard, but I want to have a laugh. If you’re not having a laugh, then this is not going to work.’ A lot of people find it really hard to enjoy it, because there’s so much panic.”

Another of Karen’s favourite moments came in 2019, during Halloween week, when her wig came clean off her head on live TV.

“It was hilarious,” says Karen. “But so what if your wig comes off? People are going to remember that you made them smile. That’s what I’ll remember when I’m 85 … or dancing with Jeremy Vine coming out of a bath, or with the late Dave Myers, who I absolutely adored. Wow, I was living the dream, wasn’t I?”

*Following a public voting period, winners will be announced at the Burns Bravery Awards in November. For more information, and to nominate your dog, enter at burnspet.co.uk/pages/burns-bravery-awards

IF you need a loud announcement to tell you when it’s time to board, you might be in trouble at certain airports.

More silent airports are being introduced all over the globe – and these ones have no background noise, but it means you could potentially miss your flight.

Silent airports were first launched in 2015 to create a calmer, less stressful environment for travellers.

Essentially these are terminals that significantly reduces certain sounds like general boarding calls, final calls, and flight updates – or gets rid of them altogether.

Airports Council International (ACI) Angela Gittens previously told CNN Travel that silent airports are designed to “create a calm, relaxed ambiance.”

She added: “Passengers can wind down while they wait for their flight to board in the common airside lounges, commercial, and food and beverage areas.”

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Instead of announcement over loud speakers, lots of airlines are opting for live updates when it comes to their flights on apps or text messages.

Any sort of changes are usually sent straight to the passenger.

But for anyone not paying attention, it could cause problems – and even mean missed flights.

If any passengers are running late, in a silent airport, they will not be called to board their flight.

It’s likely that any last-minute gate changes won’t be announced either.

The very first silent airport was Helsinki Airport in Finland and many others have since followed suit.

Currently only two airports in the UK are ‘silent’ – Bristol and London City.

Around the world, other silent airports include Riyadh Airport, Barcelona El Prat Airport, and Venice Marco Polo Airport in Italy.

Deputy Travel Editor Kara Godfrey almost missed her flight at the airport at Amsterdam Schipol Airport in the Netherlands because there were no announcements.

Kara said: “Returning from Amsterdam Schipol Airport and having checked what gate I would be flying from, I headed straight there and sat down with my headphones on, waiting to board.”

Kara continued: “Yet I didn’t realise the gate had changed until I saw a group of people from the corner of my eye all get up and start running.

“It was only when I saw the women leaving the boarding gate desk that I asked and she told me the gate had moved to one on the other side of the airport.

“So while they can be “less stressful” – keep an eye on your flights.”

A HIDDEN Greek island is set to boom next year thanks to a major blockbuster movie.

Ithaca in Greece is known as being the home of Odysseus from Homer’s Odyssey.

And thanks to the recent Hollywood movie release, the island is expecting more tourists.

Quieter than its famous neighbours, you’ll find olive groves across the island as well as secluded coves that are ideal for snorkelling.

In the capital, Vathy, you can head to one of the world’s largest natural harbours.

The town is also home to an Archaeological Museum with artefacts dating back to the Roman times.

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And if you hadn’t had enough of museums, you could then head to the Nautical and Folklore Museum, which dates back to 1923 and showcases the lifestyle of Old Ithaca.

Like many places in Greece, there are also a number of archaeological sites to explore such as the School of Homer.

Or you could visit Aestos – an ancient acropolis sat on a hilltop.

According to Sunvil, the island has “barely changed for centuries” making it the perfect Greek holiday without the crowds and influences of modernity.

There are several beaches across the island to explore including Gidaki Beach, which is a white pebble beach with clear waters.

You can get to the beach by hiking or boat.

Filiatro Beach is probably the most accessible; it is a short drive from Vathy.

At the beach you can rent a sunbed and there is a small beach bar as well.

A recent visitor said: “Love this beach, parking simple, turquoise waters, calm, great for snorkeling, toilets available, paddle boards to hire kept our kids happy, loads of shade under the olive trees.”

From Ithaca you can also head to a number of other islands, including Kefalonia and seasonally to Lefkada, Corfu and Zante.

There are lots of places to stay on Ithaca, though most of the options are villas – including ones with breathtaking views and pools.

The best way to get to Ithaca is by flying to Kefalonia Airport, which costs from £28 per flight.

The drive is around 30 minutes to the port of Sami where you can catch a ferry over to Ithaca, which takes around another 30 minutes.

LOS ANGELES — U.S. immigration officials worked with Iran to deport Iranians in 2025, newly released emails show, revealing a working relationship between the U.S. and Iranian governments despite tensions mounting between the countries.

Hundreds of emails exchanged between U.S. immigration officials, which were obtained by the National Iranian American Council and made public Tuesday, offer the most transparent play by play yet of how the two countries worked together to arrange for more than 100 Iranians to be flown back to Iran on three separate immigration flights in September and December 2025 and January 2026.

The emails show that Iranian officials had some influence over which Iranian immigrants in the U.S. were sent back to their home country, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials apparently heeded some last-minute changes to deportation lists at the request of Iran.

“Per request from the Iran Embassy I added a few cases,” one unnamed ICE official wrote in late August, a month before the first deportation flight in September. Just over a week later, someone with the same job title moved to make another, unspecified change to the deportation list after they said they met with the “Director at the Iranian Embassy.”

“Iran has requested that I amend the previous manifest and expedite the removal process,” the official wrote.

In a Sept. 26 email, just three days before the deportation flight left U.S. soil, an ICE official said in an email that the Iranian Embassy was still making requests for three additional Iranians on the flight. It’s not clear who ended up on the flight, which ended up being much smaller than initially planned. Iranian officials were still making requests the day the flight departed, although one official wrote that those requests were denied.

Coordination of the flights remained a high priority even as ICE officials acknowledged internally that Iranians were fleeing Iran amid the deadly 12-day war with the U.S. and Israel in June 2025, emails show. The flights departed just months after the U.S. and Israel agreed to a ceasefire with Iran.

The new emails highlight a clear departure from a decades-long practice by the U.S. of welcoming Iranian dissidents, exiles and others since the 1979 Islamic Revolution forced a large number of Iranians to flee.

The deportation of Iranians to a country whose government has a pattern of violent persecution against women, religious minorities and political dissidents has drawn significant criticism from human rights activists.

The Department of Homeland Security did not offer comment in response to an emailed request sent Tuesday afternoon.

Some deportees were handpicked by Iranian officials, emails show

Iranian officials acknowledged in September 2025 that as many as 400 Iranians could be returned under an agreement with the Trump administration. They said most of the Iranians had crossed into the U.S. from Mexico illegally, while some faced other immigration issues.

It is not clear from the emails how frequently U.S. immigration officials had direct contact with the Iranian government. Sometimes messages were conveyed through Qatari officials, who helped charter the deportation flights through Doha, but other times officials reference regular meetings with the “Iranian delegation,” the “Director at the Iranian Embassy” and other unnamed Iranian officials.

It is not clear whether the people Iran put on the list had volunteered to repatriate or if they were forced. Previous reporting from The New York Times revealed that asylum-seekers were among those deported to Iran, while others said they were deported against their will.

At least one person was deported who wasn’t supposed to be, emails showed.

“An Iranian not included on the final manifest we sent to the Qatari MOI was boarded on the flight,” an unnamed U.S. official wrote.

In response, another unnamed U.S. official wrote, “I have no idea how the case/person got through on the plane.”

U.S. prioritized deportation efforts during war

Emails suggest that pressure to carry out the Iranian deportations came from the highest levels of the Trump administration, even when U.S. and Israel were exchanging strikes with Iran in a 12-day conflict between June 13 and June 24, 2025.

Just days after Trump’s June 16 warning on social media that “Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” the former acting director of ICE, Todd Lyons, called the repatriation of Iranian immigrants a “priority” in an email sent to the agency’s head of removal operations Marcos Charles and a number of unnamed staff.

Shortly after Lyon’s email, Charles forwarded the message to a group of officials whose names are redacted. An unnamed ICE official responded, warning that “removal will prove difficult” amid the ongoing conflict because Iran wasn’t issuing the travel documents for Iranians eligible for deportation. On top of that, the Iranian airspace was closed to all flights during the bombings and Iranians were fleeing the country.

Charles was unfazed, telling staff in a subsequent email to make a plan to deport 58 Iranians with final removal orders in ICE custody at the time.

“We need a plan forward ASAP,” Charles wrote. Another official, who name was redacted, urged colleagues to “identify a solution for this White House priority.”

Jamal Abdi, the president of the National Iranian American Council, said the emails undermine Trump’s assertions that the U.S. is at war with Iran to save ordinary Iranians from a repressive regime.

“It demonstrates that the top priority here was to kick out as many people as possible by whatever means necessary,” Abdi said.

Iranian officials had access to immigration detainees

On several occasions, the emails show ICE officials arranging for Iranian officials to meet for unspecified reasons with people detained in the U.S., echoing testimony from Iranian asylum-seekers in an unrelated lawsuit filed by an unaffiliated Iranian interest group in July.

Eleven Iranians in immigration detention said they were forced to meet with Iranian government officials while in ICE detention. Those Iranian authorities knew intimate details about their asylum claims, according to the sworn declarations filed in a Washington, D.C., court in July.

The lawsuit alleges that U.S. immigration agencies have been illegally sharing confidential information about Iranian asylum-seekers with the Iranian government.

The U.S. government is allowed to work with government officials of foreign countries to coordinate deportation logistics. However, federal regulations passed in the late 1990s prohibit the government from sharing information that could reveal that the person getting deported applied for asylum.

DHS vehemently disputed the lawsuit’s allegations.

“These allegations that ICE shared asylum application records with the Iranian government are FALSE,” DHS said in a statement in July.

Riddle writes for the Associated Press.