Reality star Loana Petrucciani, who shot to fame after having sex in the pool while appearing on the French edition of Big Brother, has been found dead at her home
Daniel Bird Assistant Celebrity and Entertainment Editor
21:59, 25 Mar 2026Updated 22:16, 25 Mar 2026
Loana Petrucciani was found dead at her home(Image: Getty Images)
A TV star who became known for having sex in the Big Brother pool has been found dead. Loana Petrucciani, who won the first series of Loft Story France 1, was just 48-years-old.
It’s reported that the reality star, simply known as Loana, was found dead at her home in Nice. Prosecutor Damien Martinelli stated that an investigation has since been opened to “find the causes of death”, before stating the TV star had been dead for “several days”.
Loana gained fame in 2001 when she entered the Loft Story house, living with strangers for ten weeks under constant surveillance from cameras, mirroring the Big Brother format. In the wake of her death, TV network M6 said: “An iconic figure of the first season of ‘Loft Story’, she will forever remain a personality who profoundly marked an entire generation of viewers,” before praising her for “her pontaneity, sensitivity and authenticity.”
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Alexia Laroche-Joubert, CEO of Loft Story’s production company Banijay France, said: “It is with immense emotion that I learned of Loana’s passing. Our paths crossed 25 years ago, and I am honoured to have shared so many memories with her. I witnessed her successes and her struggles.
“My thoughts are, of course, with her mother, Violette, her daughter, her brother, and the other housemates who were part of this adventure. Let us never forget that behind her public image was a sensitive and extremely intelligent woman.” Benjamin Castaldi, presenter of Loft Story said: “There are some faces we never forget. And hers, Loana’s, is part of our collective history.
“Thought we would watch a show. In fact, we were witnessing a revolution. The first one. The truth. The one that changed television forever… and maybe also our view on humans. Loana was not a character. She was a woman. A real one. With its cracks, its sweetness, its fragility in the open sky. And that’s precisely why we loved it.
“But that’s also why we dropped her. We applauded his light… not protecting his shadow. His authenticity has been consumed… without measuring the price she would pay. We’ve watched her live, love, fall… without ever really wondering who would pick her up after. The truth is, we’re all a little responsible. Because we all watched. Cuz we all commented Because we’ve all, at one point, looked away when it got too hard.
“She embodied raw innocence in a world that didn’t forgive anything. And we couldn’t match what she gave us. Today, there’s only a television memory. There’s still an emotion. Embarrassment. A regret. The one of not being human enough to someone who deeply was. So yeah… We lived a revolution together. But maybe we forgot, along the way, the important thing: Behind the phenomenon… There was a woman.”
It was on Lost Story that Loana became known for sleeping with co-star Jean-Edouard Lipa, sparking outrage across the country. Despite the scandal, she walked out of the house as the champion and was welcomed as she paraded down the Champs-Élysées.
With her newfound fame came magazine deals, gracing the cover of Elle, photographed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino and her deeply personal memoir several months later.
In her memoir, the Cannes-born star opened up about the highs and lows of her career in the spotlight, as well as previous suicide attempts. Speaking about entering Loft Story, she said previously: “I went there feeling very insecure. I was worried. The casting director said to me, ‘Aren’t you ashamed to come dressed like that?’ I took it very badly, especially since he was asking everyone that question.”
She added: “He asked me to flirt with the camera: I don’t know how to do that, it’s impossible. I blushed, I stammered. Then they asked me to dance and sing. I left and thought to myself, ‘I didn’t show them anything.'” She said of her fame: “There are two women inside me. The public loved both. Before, we saw a lot of the extroverted Loana who danced on the catwalks, but we didn’t see the other side, because she was too shy to express herself. But, in Loft Story, we saw that there was another side to her.”
In the early 2010s, Loana attempted to take her own life, which left her in a coma. Her family and friends later discovered that she had made several attempts on her life prior to this.
If you’re struggling and need to talk, the Samaritans operate a free helpline open 24/7 on 116 123. Alternatively, you can email jo@samaritans.org or visit their site to find your local branch
If you have been affected by this story, Cruse Bereavement Support offers free help to make sense of how you are feeling. Click here for their website or call 0808 808 1677.
FORMER glamour model Katie Price has sparked mystery as her new travel business venture has been shut down just two weeks after its launch amid backlash.
The 47-year-old had created a “Katie Price Travels” Instagram page, trying to recruit agents for InteleTravel under the brand Travel Smarter Group.
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Katie Price appears to have shut down her new travel venture just two weeks after it was launchedCredit: GettyKatie was spotted advertising for new travel agents as she appeared to set up her business venture alongside Danielle LloydCredit: The Travel Smarter Group
Travel Smarter Group “co-founded” by Danielle, promises travel perks, training and financial protection but does not include clear details of its host agency.
The podcast host received a slew of backlash from the travel industry, who branded the venture a “gimmick” and a “slap in the face.”
Katie was most notably called out by Inspire Europe chief executive Lisa Henning.
She criticised the star’s move and accused her of bringing down the industry name amid the ongoing war in the Middle East.
Lisa wrote, as reported by Travel Weekly: “I very rarely comment publicly on things like this. But seeing this today is a step too far.
“For the past 12 days I have worked non-stop, 24/7, supporting our clients and our agents through the disruption affecting Dubai and other destinations.
“I’ve seen agents in tears because they care so much about their clients and are genuinely worried about what’s happening.
Katie was slammed by Inspire Europe chief executive Lisa who dubbed her business a ‘gimmick’ and ‘slap in the face’ amid the ongoing war in the Middle EastCredit: Splash
“To see promotions suggesting that you can simply ‘earn money from travel’ with a glossy campaign featuring Katie Price and Danielle Lloyd — positioning the role of a travel agent as something you do casually around other commitments — honestly feels like a huge mockery of our industry.
“This isn’t a side hustle. This isn’t a gimmick. And it certainly isn’t ‘easy money while you travel’.”
Lisa continued: ” Seeing this kind of messaging feels like a real slap in the face to the thousands of dedicated agents who work tirelessly behind the scenes every single day.
“Well done and thank you to all of those who continue to give our industry a good name by doing this job ‘properly’. Always book with a ‘real travel agent’.”
Following the negative response, the model appears to have now deleted her travel page on Instagram.
Katie’s PA has responded to the remarks, according to Travel Gossip.
“Katie has never stated that she personally books travel. She is simply sharing this platform with others to help people become independent travel agents and create an additional income – whether that be part-time or full-time.
“All agents within the community receive full training and are committed to supporting their clients.”
She added: “Katie was simply advertising an opportunity call.”
Katie’s PA responded to the comments claiming the star was simply advertising an ‘opportunity call,’ according to Travel GossipCredit: Getty
Fans now know when they can look forward to the new adaptation
20:06, 25 Mar 2026Updated 20:10, 25 Mar 2026
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Fans of Harry Potter admit that they are ‘dancing in their room’ after the first ‘incredible’ trailer finally landed for the upcoming HBO series.
We have known for some time now that a new adaptation based on the series of books written by J.K. Rowling has been on the way. Most have welcomed the news with cautious optimism. Some have said to be unsure we need another version after the much admired film series.
This new iteration is set to be a faithful adaptation of the iconic novels, with the author credited as an executive producer. Each season of Harry Potter will be introduced to both new and existing fans, exclusively streaming on HBO Max which finally launches in the UK this month.
The original classic films will continue to be accessible for viewing globally. While fans should be able to stream the new series on HBO’s dedicated platform, Sky and NOW users should also have access providing they have the correct subscription.
It’s been previously suggested that the studio is optimistic about the series being as successful and well-received as the films, with hopes of it running for a minimum of 10 years. The series is penned and executive produced by Francesca Gardiner, known for her work on Killing Eve and His Dark Materials. Multiple episodes will be directed by Mark Mylod, renowned for directing several episodes of the HBO hit series Succession.
Last year it was confirmed that emerging talents, Dominic McLaughlin, Arabella Stanton, and Alastair Stout, will take on the legendary roles of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley, respectively. We now have a first glimpse of their much anticipated performances.
That also includes the new portrayals of other beloved characters. This includes Hagrid played by Nick Frost and Professor Dumbledore, with Hollywood star John Lithgow taking on the responsibilities of the role.
Fans now also know when they can expect to start watching the series and it is sooner than many think. The caption for the video as shared on YouTube states: “A new era of Hogwarts begins. The HBO Original series Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone premieres this Christmas.”
As expected, fans were quick to share their thoughts and opinions on the first footage shared from the series. Many were actually surprised at how much they enjoyed it.
One person replied: “This actually looks incredible! I love that they’re going to show more of Harry’s life with the Dursleys!” Another added in a similar vein: “THIS LOOKS INCREDIBLE!!! God Bless HBO!! THIS CHRISTMAS.”
Someone else confessed: “I’m dancing in my room right now.” While one person noted: “I actually love the take on Harry trying to be a muggle student at a school.”
Surprised by how the first episode seems to be approaching faster than first anticipated, one said: “Also, Christmas??? YESSS!!! I thought we’d have another year!!”
Plenty of others recognised that the series will allow them to explore more events of the book and reflect on characters more deeply. Some fans even admitted that they were left emotional and even in tears at the thought that the series could allow them to relive their childhoods. One person commented: “I shed a tear…my childhood is coming back to me again.”
One person posted: “I’m sobbing this is incredible” and another “I’m literally crying.”
Harry Potter is streaming on HBO Max this Christmas.
There’s a mysterious new character that fans are wondering about their true identity
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The latest season of hit Marvel sequel series Daredevil Born Again has introduced a mysterious new villain.
While the show debuted last year, it quickly became a hit with fans and critics alike and succeeded in picking up where the Netflix version of the comic book character left off. It also meant that the character was now officially a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Its first season managed to score an impressive 87% on website Rotten Tomatoes and the premiere episode of the second season is streaming now on Disney+.
As episodes are released on a weekly basis, fans will see Mayor Wilson Fisk crush New York City underfoot as he hunts down public enemy number one, the Hell’s Kitchen vigilante known as Daredevil. But, beneath the horned mask, Matt Murdock will try to fight back from the shadows to tear down the Kingpin’s corrupt empire and redeem his home. Resist. Rebel. Rebuild.
The show sees most of the original cast return including Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio reprising their roles as Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk respectively. Also returning are Wilson Bethel as Bullseye and Deborah Ann Woll as Karen.
One newcomer to the show though has already made an impact just one episode in. That is the currently mysterious Mr Charles, played by Matthew Lillard. Lillard is famed for his previous roles in the Scream franchise as well as Five Nights At Freddy’s, the Scooby Doo live-action films and Prime Video series Cross.
But who is his character Mr Charles? Is he in the original Marvel comics? Here’s all you need to know. Beware some mild spoilers for Daredevil Born Again season 2, episode 1.
Who is Mr Charles?
In the show, we meet Mr Charles as he watches developments in New York on the TV from Washington. Daredevil has just sunk the North Star ship which was secretly smuggling weapons for Wilson Fisk and his associates. Turns out, Mr Charles is a middle man for these associates.
As a result, he gets a phone call and agrees he needs to address the matter personally. He arrives at Fisk’s office on his own terms, seemingly one of the very few people unafraid of the Kingpin. In a reference that may have missed the average viewer, the name Miss de Fontaine is mentioned and confirmed to be Mr Charles’ boss.
This means he works for Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus and seen in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier , Black Widow , Black Panther: Wakanda Forever , and Thunderbolts. So this Mr Charles works for the CIA but is assisting de Fontaine with illicit operations.
However, some fans believe that this name could be a cover for who the character really is. According to Screen Rant there is a character called Mr Charles in Marvel lore but he only appeared in one issue, outside any main storyline or continuity. The issue was published in 2013 and he was a Roxxon Corporation employee who was in charge if illegal oil drillings in the ocean.
Fans will just have to wait as the series continues to see who Mr Charles really is and what he is truly up to. There is always the chance that he is an original character created for the show.
Riz Ahmed has created and stars in a marvelous new series, “Bait,” premiering Wednesday on Prime Video. There are no worms in it, though viral video plays a part, and fame — the pursuit of which is a subject — is a lure.
But what’s in a name? A comedy by any other name would be as funny — if it was funny, and this one very much is, in a way that’s crazy and serious and human, built around a character in crisis who refuses to believe his life is out of control and is so invested in putting up a front that he’s begun to believe his own lies. Almost. It’s a series in which hallucinations, dreams, magical realism and memories, which punctuate and interfere with the “normal” business of the story, all amount the same thing, and in which the style of the filming shifts with the action.
Ahmad plays Shah Latif, a British Pakistani actor, who, owing to the exertions of his faithful, often frustrated agent, Felicia (Weruche Opia), is improbably auditioning to be the next James Bond. But he repeatedly forgets his line when his scene partner, a girl with a gun, asks, “Tell me, when it’s just you all alone, how do you live with yourself? Do you even know who you are?” establishing a theme. (The line he can’t recall: “I don’t live with myself, I live with whoever you need me to be.” Spies and actors!)
Leaving the audition, he contrives to be photographed by one of the paparazzi lurking outside, sniffing for a Bond scoop; his picture is published, which creates a stir and some racist blowback, culminating in a package thrown through the front window of his parents’ home. (It is not a window that opens.) What’s inside the package I’ll leave for you to discover, but it will play a part through the rest of the show.
The recurring question of who will be the next James Bond generates a lot of pop cultural heat in our world; just type “next James Bond” into your search engine of choice. At one point, you may recall, Idris Elba was regularly bruited as a potential 007, which occasioned enough anti-Black reaction that he officially took himself out of the unofficial running. It may have been on Ahmed’s mind here — Shah claims high purpose for his Bondean aspirations, that he wants “to show them that this too is what British looks like.”
On the one hand, Shah has had enough of a career to have been made into a “limited edition collectible action figure,” starred in a well-regarded but underseen small film, played “the translator in ‘Homeland’ series seven” and earned a rising star award from some French festival; on the other, he is, professionally speaking, no Idris Elba — not a nobody, but not too many rungs above it. (He’s not Dev Patel, either, with whom he’s repeatedly confused.)
At the top of the second episode, Shah is seemingly being interviewed on a podcast, “Sir Chatwick Stewart, with me, Sir Patrick Stewart” — played by the man himself, whom we hear but never see — about his ambitions, though it’s soon clear that Stewart is a mental projection, an inner critic and inquisitor. He’ll stick around through the series, offering barbed commentary and something like support: “If I humiliate you, it’s to save you from the bigger humiliation of remaining as you are.”
As a protagonist continually getting in his own way, Shah is a classic sort of comic character. He creates opportunities only to squander them; finds himself voiceless after forcing himself onstage at a black-tie gala or in an underground club (he was once a politically provocative MC). After a newsworthy mishap, his agent advises him to lie low, which is impossible for him to do; there is no itch he won’t scratch, and no good advice he’ll actually follow. Apart from a rival actor (Himesh Patel) he’s a protagonist without antagonists, excepting himself. He’s insufficiently grateful to the people he owes, and insufficiently apologetic to those he’s wronged.
Shah’s self-involvement will be challenged by ex-girlfriend Yasmin (Ritu Arya), encountered first by accident, then sought out — a writer, she has published an op-ed headlined, “No, Shah Latif, We Don’t Need a Brown Bond” — in which she accuses him of “exchanging his political art for vanilla distraction.” His family, whom he neglects to visit for months, includes warm-hearted cousin Zulfi (Guz Khan), who has started a Muslim ride share company; a no-nonsense sister (Aasiya Shah) — the name of her character is rendered as “Q” on IMDb and elsewhere, but in the series itself she’s called Ainy — doting mother Tahira (Sheeba Chaddha); and his skeptical father, Parvez (Sajid Hasan), who has not been keeping his doctor appointments and asks Shah, “What do you even do? I watch TV all day — you’re never on it.”
Appropriate to a character who lives for being onscreen, “Bait” plays with the language of film — gritty procedural, a burst of Bollywood, romantic comedy — though not necessarily to the usual ends. Frame-filling titles identify the London neighborhoods where the action takes place — Wembley, Kentish Town, Brick Lane, Ladbroke Grove — as Paris, Moscow and Mexico City might appear in an international thriller. The series is at once satirical and celebratory; “Bait” feels abundant, both in its presentation of a culture, which has the ring of documentary truth, and as a beautifully realized work of art.
Victoria Pedretti was fresh out of Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama when she was cast in Mike Flanagan’s acclaimed 2018 horror series, “The Haunting of Hill House.”
In her breakout role as Nell Crain, the youngest and most sensitive of five adult siblings reckoning with wounds from a childhood summer spent in a cursed home, Pedretti became the undisputed heart of “Hill House,” anchoring the show with a spellbinding performance that christened her as a scream queen. Her subsequent appearances in “The Haunting of Bly Manor” and “You” were characterized by a similar dramatic intensity, solidifying her renown in the horror genre.
But in Pedretti’s new “Forbidden Fruits,” a horror-comedy directed by Meredith Alloway making her feature debut and produced by “Jennifer’s Body” screenwriter Diablo Cody, the actor shines in all-new soapy splendor.
Set in a Dallas shopping mall, “Forbidden Fruits” revolves around an elite clique of retail employees who run a witches’ coven out of the basement of their boho boutique Free Eden. Pedretti stars alongside Lili Reinhart, Lola Tung and Alexandra Shipp.
Victoria Pedretti in the movie “Forbidden Fruits.”
(Sabrina Lantos / Independent Film Company and Shudder)
Initially asked to look at both the roles of whimsigoth physics buff Fig and the bubbly yet emotionally complex Cherry, described by Alloway as a “Texas Brigitte Bardot,” Pedretti fell hard for the latter.
“She really popped off the page,” Pedretti, 31, says on a recent Zoom interview she takes while on a sandwich run in L.A. “I entered into this glorious flow state.”
“I can’t say I’ve had any experience quite like it, where I really didn’t spend a lot of time questioning myself,” the actor says. “She kind of took over.”
That confidence was perhaps the product of Pedretti performing in two stage plays before “Forbidden Fruits” — or maybe it was the nighttime filming schedule. Either way, Pedretti says she improvised constantly and always kept swinging until somebody said, “Cut.”
The result: Pedretti in Alloway’s instant cult classic is a laugh-out-loud-funny unending well of charm, packing humor into even her most routine dialogue. In her best quotable moments, she seamlessly infuses her sometimes shrill timbre with a dash of Southern drawl. One of her most iconic facial expressions in the film is already circulating as a reaction meme online.
“I was enjoying being in this character so much, I just wouldn’t stop,” Pedretti says, adding that Alloway, who was sensitive to cast members’ interpretations of their roles, supported experimentation.
Alloway praises the Philadelphia-born Pedretti for nailing Cherry’s comedic moments yet also grounding the character in a traumatic backstory — a balancing act the director knew she was capable of after watching “Hill House.”
“I saw her in that show and I was like, ‘Who is that?’” Alloway says. “She is magnificent and so raw. I didn’t feel like I was watching someone acting. I was worried for her.”
After later watching Pedretti nail her role in “You” as Love Quinn, a wealthy, charismatic chef who hides a psychopathic nature, Alloway was convinced of her star power.
Victoria Pedretti in the movie “You.”
(John P. Fleenor / Netflix)
Cody was most familiar with Pedretti’s performance in “You,” pegging the actor as an “intense brunet” that didn’t square at first with her interpretation of Cherry as an Anna Nicole Smith type.
“Then I see the movie and I’m like, oh my God, she has that fragility,” Cody recalls. “She has that humor. She has that sexuality. She has all of it.
“Victoria brought all of those layers and I’m really blown away by her,” the Oscar-winning “Juno” screenwriter adds.
Cody says she wasn’t surprised that the film drew such talent. From the moment Alloway and Lily Houghton, who wrote the play “Forbidden Fruits” is based on and cowrote the film’s screenplay, brought the material to Cody and her producing partner Mason Novick, she became obsessed.
“It feels spiritually like a film that I would want to be part of my body of work,” Cody says. She remembers being especially delighted by the echoes of “Jennifer’s Body” present in Alloway and Houghton’s screenplay.
“Jennifer’s Body” was widely considered a box-office flop and critical failure upon its release in 2009 — grossing only $31 million worldwide against a $16-million budget — but in recent years has enjoyed a reappraisal as a stealth-feminist essential, reclaimed by superfans.
“I don’t think that the world was ready for these kinds of themes,” Cody says of the movie’s ideas, including the cost of toxic femininity, the nuances of female friendship and the pervasiveness of the male gaze.
When it came to promoting “Jennifer’s Body,” the producer adds, “there was a huge emphasis on trying to market it to straight men, based on Megan [Fox] being attractive, and that was not at all the point of the film, so that was frustrating.” Conversely, “Forbidden Fruits” speaks intimately to the female experience and “doesn’t attempt to pander to any other demographic.”
“The current zeitgeist is a great place for a movie like this,” she says. “This movie is for the girls, gays and theys, as they say.”
Alloway, a trained actor who worked as a film journalist before moving into directing, was struck with a similar feeling when she first discovered Houghton’s play, right around the time she was consuming copious media about women criminals, such as Tori Telfer’s 2017 book “Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History.”
“I was so entrenched in why women commit acts of crime,” Alloway said, adding that she was disappointed to find that revenge films on the subject still often revolved around men.
Picking up Houghton’s script, the director recalls feeling relieved. “Oh, this is just about women,” she says, her face brightening. “This is about women friendships, women being pitted against each other.”
In an early meeting with Houghton, Alloway told the playwright she’d like to bring a genre lens to “turn up the dial on the emotions that you feel reading the play and make them accessible to people who haven’t had these experiences — or validate people who have.”
Outside of the opportunity to work with so many other young women, Pedretti said she was drawn to “Forbidden Fruits” because of its use of style and tone.
“It asks a lot of people to try to step into a world like this one,” the actor says of the unabashedly histrionic screenplay. “And as nerve-racking as it may be to take that big swing, you gotta take the big swing.”
“She has that fragility,” says producer Diablo Cody of Pedretti. “She has that humor. She has that sexuality. She has all of it.”
(Evelyn Freja / For The Times)
And swing she does: Pedretti plays up Cherry’s emotional volatility, giving her a full-bodied form of expression. The actor even did her own onscreen makeup (as did Reinhart) and collaborated heavily with costume designer Sarah Millman on Cherry’s wardrobe and styling. Plus, she performed her first topless scene — in a sequence that doesn’t involve men or even sex.
“I’m really proud of the way we use nudity to show a certain kind of unspoken comfortability among women,” she continues. “I remember always getting such a thrill at the comfort level of a girl being like, ‘We’re going to the bathroom together,’ and to me, that is that moment.”
It’s a perfect example of a scene that doesn’t try to speak to anyone except those it’s specifically written for, and one that you only get with women at the helm of a production.
Reflecting on the agency she had to shape Cherry, Pedretti says she is more inspired to explore directorial projects of her own.
“I am so interested in protecting these spaces to be positive, creative experiences for everyone involved,” she says.
Whenever Pedretti does make her feature debut behind the camera (she’s already made a short or two), perhaps Cody will pick up the phone.
Netflix has confirmed the third season of one of their most popular shows is now in production
Netflix fans ‘can’t wait’ after update on ‘best show in the world’
Netflix has announced the third series of popular rom-com Nobody Wants This is presently in production.
Featuring Adam Brody as rabbi Noah and Kristen Bell as agnostic podcast presenter Joanne, the programme chronicles the duo as they begin an unexpected romance.
The second series wrapped up with Joanne choosing to convert to Judaism while Noah comes to terms with wanting to be with her regardless.
Series three is consequently expected to commence with their relationship more solid than ever, though there will inevitably be additional drama to unfold with Joanne’s sister, Morgan (portrayed by Justine Lupe) and Noah’s brother, Sasha (Timothy Simons), and sister-in-law, Esther (Jackie Tohn).
Showrunners Jenni Konner and Bruce Eric Kaplan informed Netflix: “We are so grateful to Netflix and 20th for giving us another season of Nobody Wants This”, reports the Express.
They continued: “This job is criminally fun. Working with the uniquely gifted Erin Foster [creator], this unbelievable cast of talented, hilarious pros, amazing writers, and incredible crew has been a truly great experience.”
Foster shared with the streamer when the third series was originally announced: “I couldn’t be more excited to head into a third season of this show.”
She added: “It is a privilege to be able to write about my favourite couple on a scale like this. As long as it doesn’t take too much time away from me watching reality TV at night, I’ll do it for as long as they want me to!”
The second season of Nobody Wants This demonstrated even greater triumph than the first, accumulating 18 million views within its initial 11 days and securing a position in Netflix’s Top 10 chart across 82 countries.
Netflix and lead actress Bell ignited excitement amongst devotees with a collection of behind-the-scenes photographs as production commences in Los Angeles, California.
“Can’t wait to see them be silly and cute on my screen again,” responded one user beneath Bell’s Instagram post.
Someone else declared: “Hurry!!! We can’t wait for season 3.” Another stated: “Best series in the world ever.”
Get Netflix free with Sky for Bridgerton Season 4
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‘Dearest gentle reader’, as the fourth season of Bridgerton follows second son Benedict love story, there’s a way to watch this fairytale-like season for less.
Sky is giving away a free Netflix subscription with its new Sky Stream TV bundles, including the £15 Essential TV plan. This lets customers watch live and on-demand TV content without a satellite dish or aerial and includes the new season of Bridgerton.
And a final fan enthused: “Finallyyyyyy!!! We have been waiting for this!!”
Season two featured numerous thrilling guest stars, including Seth Rogen, Kate Berlant, and Leighton Meester, so devotees are anticipating further major names could participate in the entertainment for season three.
A launch date for the third season remains unconfirmed, but as the previous instalment commenced filming in March 2025 and was released later that same year, viewers could anticipate the series to return in October or November 2026.
Nobody Wants This is available to stream on Netflix.
Tom Hardy’s absence from Peaky Blinders movie explained – The Mirror
Need to know
Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight has disclosed he almost brought back Tom Hardy’s Alfie Solomons for The Immortal Man
Peaky Blinders film almost brought back Tom Hardy for massive twist(Image: BBC)
Everything you need to know about Tom Hardy’s absence from Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man.
Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight has revealed he scrapped a massive twist that would have brought back Tom Hardy’s iconic character Alfie Solomons as a ghost.
The show’s writer originally considered revealing that Alfie had actually died from his gunshot wound on Margate beach. Knight briefly toyed with the idea that all of Alfie’s appearances since season four were just apparitions in Tommy Shelby’s mind.
“I thought, maybe [Alfie] appears, and we realise he’s been dead all that time,” Knight told the Hollywood Reporter. “Now, I nearly did that, and I didn’t do it, but that was a thought.”
The twist would have mirrored Tommy’s other ghostly visions, including his deceased first wife Grace. Knight noted that since the beach shooting, viewers have only ever seen Tommy and Alfie together alone, adding fuel to the theory.
Hardy’s busy filming schedule for Paramount+ crime drama MobLand may have also influenced the decision not to pursue this storyline.
Fans still have hope of seeing Alfie return as the series continues with at least two more instalments on Netflix and the BBC. Knight confirmed Duke Shelby will appear in the upcoming post-WWII Birmingham follow-up.
The creator teased: “Some of the characters that are in [The Immortal Man] will appear in that. But I’m under strict instructions not to talk about it except to say that it’s happening.”
Welsh actress Sian Reese-Williams, who played murder victim Gennie Walker on Emmerdale, has transformed her look for a new role in Channel 5’s Huw Edwards drama
Joe Crutchley Screen Time Reporter
13:11, 25 Mar 2026
Emmerdale Gennie Walker star looks so different 14 years after exit in Huw Edwards drama(Image: ITV)
Sian Reese-Williams became a household name on Emmerdale through her portrayal of Gennie Walker – but what has the actress been up to since?
She quickly won over audiences and became a beloved character. Gennie featured in numerous major storylines – from multiple romantic disappointments to eventually finding happiness with Nikhil Sharma (Rik Makarem).
Tragically, in 2013, Gennie met her end when Cameron Murray (Dominic Power) killed her, whilst attempting to conceal the murder of Carl King (Tom Lister).
Following her departure from Emmerdale, Sian has maintained a strong television presence, with roles in productions including Netflix’s Requiem and Holby City. She also portrayed Sgt. Jane Cafferty in the BBC’s Line of Duty, reports the Daily Star.
Most recently this week, Sian featured in Channel 5’s drama Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards. The hard-hitting one-off programme stars Martin Clunes as disgraced BBC newsreader Huw and documents the circumstances surrounding the presenter’s conviction for making indecent images of children.
Huw pleaded guilty in 2024 to three counts of making indecent images of children and was given six months imprisonment, suspended for two years, with a requirement to complete a sex offender programme.
The one-off programme centres on Huw’s alleged interaction with a 17 year old who has the fictional name ‘Ryan’. Alongside Martin, Power also features Jason Hughes and Chanel Cresswell in the cast. Sian portrays Carys, the mother of ‘Ryan’ (Osian Morgan).
Beyond her acting career, Sian is also an accomplished potter. She wrote on X in 2024: “Hello. I make pottery now. I’ll be selling these from next Friday so if you fancy a one-off piece of loveliness to brighten your January, head over to my insta.”
Last year, Sian appeared on the Celebrity Side Hustles podcast, hosted by her former Emmerdale cast mates Roxy Shahidi and Matthew Wolfenden.
Discussing her choice to pursue pottery, Sian revealed: “As I was finishing series three of Hidden [a Welsh television drama that aired from 2018 to 2021], I knew it was going to be a real loss in my life.”
She continued: “Because A.) as an actor to have something that is even remotely constant is such a luxury and you just want to hold on to it and B.) I was proud of the show and loved it, and I’d had quite a rough few years, like life, it had been hard.”
Upon discovering a six-week pottery course in Cardiff, Sian attended the classes and became “completely obsessed” with the craft. “I just wanted something to have in the diary, because I hadn’t cracked that downtime thing,” she explained.
Emmerdale airs Monday to Friday at 8:00pm on ITV1 and ITVX
This Morning star Sharon Marshall has spoken out for the first time, revealing she was taken to hospital in an ambulance after her severe hay fever saw her almost go into cardiac arrest
12:18, 25 Mar 2026Updated 12:18, 25 Mar 2026
Sharon Marshall reveals hay-fever led to her ‘going into cardiac arrest’
This Morning star Sharon Marshall has revealed for the first time her terrifying health ordeal, as she was carted off in an ambulance over fears she was in cardiac arrest – but she was actually suffering from hay fever.
Sharon, 54, spoke candidly about how her complex hay fever – which was misdiagnosed as adult asthma – once saw her collapse in the doctors office, which lead her to being rushed to hospital in an ambulance as paramedics feared she was going into cardiac arrest. The Queen of Soaps sat on the This Morning sofa today to reveal her complex health woes and how the ordeal unfolded.
Speaking to Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley on the This Morning sofa, alongside Professor Adam Fox, Sharon revealed she got ill when she was training to run the marathon and initially ruled out symptoms as being unfit. She recalled waking up in the middle of the night not being able to breathe – which Sharon didn’t realise was an asthma attack at the time.
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Sharon explained that the ordeal happened in the middle of the night so she decided to wait until the morning to see the doctor. She recalled: “I remember sort of waiting until nine o’clock, ringing the doctor’s surgery and they were like, ‘oh God, come in immediately,’ going out the flat and luckily a black cab came past, got me in the back, took me in and he helped me to the door. And I don’t really remember much past that because I just collapsed in the doctor’s surgery and I came round in the back of an ambulance.”
She continued: “I said, ‘Oh what’s happening’ and they said, ‘we’re taking you to hospital’ and my first reaction was, ‘will I be going back’ and I they said, ‘No probably not’ and I said, ‘well can I just go by the house and feed my cat’. And this lovely guy who was just saying: ‘You’re going into cardiac arrest, we’re trying to take you into hospital to save your life no you can’t feed your cat’.”
Sharon stayed in hospital for a week but doctors struggled to get to the root cause. Sharon was then diagnosed with adult onset asthma. She explained: “So for years and years, I started taking asthma inhaler and then every year, not realising pollen season would come around and I would start getting asthmatic again. I was on the strongest asthma inhaler every single day. I was going through an asthma inhaler set in a week – horrible steHowever, Sharon revealed that every spring she would continue to get “really breathless and really ill”. Sharon continuned to go to the doctors in search for more answers and even struggled to wak up the stairs in the doctor’s surgery.
At one point, Sharon was even tested for lung cancer. She revealed: “So every year it was just this terrifying thing of, ‘I can’t breathe’ – stronger and stronger steroids and asthma inhalers.” Sharon revealed a visit to the This Morning studios changed her health for good.
Sharon had come into the studio and struggled to breathe while having her makeup done, which saw the crew call a medic as she was going into another asthma attack.
She added: “And, lukcily, in the studio, doing an item about allergies was our lovely professor here, who was able to work out, ‘Oh there’s a time of year that this seems to be happening’.”roids, Mysoline [an anticonvulsant medication] and all these things.”
However, Sharon revealed that every spring she would continue to get “really breathless and really ill”. Sharon continuned to go to the doctors in search for more answers and even struggled to wak up the stairs in the doctor’s surgery.
At one point, Sharon was even tested for lung cancer. She revealed: “So every year it was just this terrifying thing of, ‘I can’t breathe’ – stronger and stronger steroids and asthma inhalers.” Sharon revealed a visit to the This Morning studios changed her health for good.
Sharon had come into the studio and struggled to breathe while having her makeup done, which saw the crew call a medic as she was going into another asthma attack.
She added: “And, luckily, in the studio, doing an item about allergies was our lovely professor here, who was able to work out, ‘Oh there’s a time of year that this seems to be happening’.”
Professor Adam then explained Sharon has seasonal allergic asthma. Professor Adam then explained: “So the problem isn’t chronic all the time asthma, it’s just that when your hay fever is bad enough, if you imagine the lining of your nose is connected to the lining of your lungs. So if your upper airway because of the hayfever is really angry, can send really angry signals down to your lower airway, your lungs, and give you what listens will be an asthma attack. And of course, that can be very, very severe.”
Professor Adam then explained: “So the problem isn’t chronic all the time asthma, it’s just that when your hay fever is bad enough, if you imagine the lining of your nose is connected to the lining of your lungs. So if your upper airway because of the hayfever is really angry, can send really angry signals down to your lower airway, your lungs, and give you what listens will be an asthma attack. And of course, that can be very, very severe.”
Professor Adam then explained Sharon was then treated using ‘desensitisation’, which is a treatment that retrains to immune system to tolerate pollen. Sharon said of the new treatment: “It’s miraculous, it’s completely life changing.”
The award-winning series returns for its fifth and final season soon, with fans calling it ‘awesome’
The series stars Jean Smart as Deborah Vance(Image: HBO MAX)
Fans of the series are wishing it would never end.
Fans of comedy dramas are in for a delight as an acclaimed dark comedy is poised to return with a brand new season soon.
The series first premiered on HBO Max back in 2021 and it charts the journey of a stand-up comedian and her comedy writer as they grapple with the shifting dynamics of their partnership.
The popular comedy was renewed for a fifth and concluding season, set to air on April 9, and it features Jean Smart as Deborah Vance and Hannah Einbinder as Ava Daniels.
HBO Max has just unveiled the trailer for the final season of Hacks, and within 24 hours it amassed over a million views.
Fans flocked to the YouTube comments to express their opinions, with one viewer exclaiming: “I never want it to end!!!”
Another commented: “I love when a series announces the final season, even though I adore Hacks, to end it’s inevitable, and to conclude with full control and a solid script is even better.”
A third chimed in: “I freaking love this show, I can’t wait for this final season.” Whilst a fourth enthused: “This is gonna be amazing!!!!!!”
A fifth declared: “Hands down, one of the best comedy series ever! Why does it have to end?”
Whilst numerous fans were disheartened that the series was drawing to a close, others were content that the show was concluding on its own terms.
One stated: “I’m so glad they’re going to be able to finish it knowing it’s the end.”
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Sky is giving away free subscriptions to HBO Max with its Ultimate TV bundle, which also includes Netflix, Disney+, discovery+, Hayu, and around 135 channels at no extra cost.
Season five was confirmed to be the final season at the 2025 Emmy Awards, with star Hannah Einbinder revealing: “I think it will feel different.
“We’re going to start [filming] next week, and knowing it’s the last season is really bittersweet. But I think it’s right, you know?”
Einbinder expressed that it was the appropriate time to conclude the show, stating it’s crucial not to “overstay your welcome.
“I think it’s nice to do something as many times as it should be done,” she further commented. “Not overstay your welcome. Rip it and do it and laugh and cry.”
All four preceding seasons of Hacks have garnered critical praise and on the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the series as a whole boasts an impressive 99 per cent rating.
One of the most painstaking architectural renewals in recent Los Angeles memory has finally pulled a world-class jewel of modern architecture from obscurity.
Designed by pioneering Modernist architect Richard Neutra in 1928, with limited collaboration from another Modernist icon, Rudolph Schindler, the Jardinette Apartments had been hiding in plain sight on an unassuming Hollywood street for nearly a century. The complex was a technical and spatial breakthrough, and quickly gained international renown as one of the earliest International Style structures in the United States, not to mention Neutra’s first L.A. commission.
But the building’s original owner, Joseph H. Miller, went bankrupt during construction and skipped town to avoid his creditors, and the Jardinette slipped from view. “After that early burst, it just disappeared,” said Barbara Lamprecht, historical consultant for the Jardinette’s rehabilitation, which is just now wrapping up.
For decades the building stood quietly along West Marathon Street: an austere, four-story complex that most people passed without a second glance. Wedged between Western Avenue and Manhattan Place, amid stucco apartment blocks and scrappy bungalows, the edifice had, until recently, grown increasingly shabby as time and neglect took their unforgiving toll.
That changed with the intervention of a newcomer to historic preservation named Cameron Hassid. For years the tireless local developer and his tenacious team have willed the Herculean restoration project to the finish line. Hassid plans to bring the apartments to market before the end of the month.
Property owner Cameron Hassid, left, and Neema Ahadian, commercial real estate agent for Hassid, on the scenic rooftop of the Richard Neutra-designed Jardinette Apartments in Los Angeles. Neutra imagined the Jardinette Apartments as a prototype for future garden apartment buildings. Nearly 100 years later, the Jardinette is set to reopen after a lengthy redevelopment.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
A Radical Design
When the Jardinette first opened it was featured prominently in a seminal survey of early avant-garde apartment housing called “The Modern Flat,” while European architectural publications from Paris to Moscow showcased it as an exemplar of functionalist design, noted Nicholas Olsberg, an architectural historian and curator who has written extensively about Neutra. “It was seen worldwide as one of the signal examples of the new architecture,” Olsberg added.
The Northeast corner of the Jardinette Apartments, circa 1930. When the building first opened in 1928 it was a technical and spatial breakthrough—but it suffered from years of neglect after falling from view.
(Richard and Dion Papers, Collection 1179, UCLA Special Collections)
Built inside and out with reinforced concrete — a modern industrial material that had rarely been employed for housing— the sculpted, U-shaped building, whose jogging corners, projecting sills and swaths of dark and light paint gave it a powerful visual rhythm, used its structural heft to liberate its facade.
Long horizontal bands of easy-to-open steel casement windows, some complemented with concrete balconies, drew daylight and air deep into its 43 efficiently organized units — studios and one bedrooms, ranging from about 400 to 700 square feet — and opened them to wide views of the street and, on higher floors, the Hollywood Hills. Hallways and stairs were saturated with natural light thanks to skylights and strategically placed windows. At the forecourt a modest garden, then dominated by a huge cedar tree, softened the building’s mass, giving the project its name: Jardinette, the little garden.
A roof covered the original skylights in the Jardinette Apartments, but they are now fully exposed.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
“Arguably my father had more influence on apartment design than he did on house design,” said Neutra’s son Raymond, pointing to several Neutra designs offering indoor/outdoor lifestyles via “garden apartments.” Raymond, who was on site a few weeks ago, has toured the rehabilitation multiple times.
The Jardinette was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 and designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument two years later. Yet despite its formal protections, the building continued its long drift into disrepair.
In 2016 Jardinette’s previous owner, Robert Clippinger, began reviving it, hiring Lamprecht’s firm, Modern Resources, as well as June Street Architecture and land use consultants Cali Planners. The team filed a comprehensive Historic Structure Report that helped secure much-needed tax relief via the Mills Act, a state preservation program. But Clippinger soon faltered under the weight of the many developmental requirements to bring the historic building back. Lawsuits followed. Financing collapsed.
A carpeted hallway beneath an original skylight at the Richard Neutra-designed Jardinette Apartments in Los Angeles. The Jardinette was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 and designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument two years later.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Hassid bought the building in December 2020, in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping Clippinger’s core designers and consultants in place.
Decades of negligence and neglect had proved both a curse and a blessing. Many original steel windows had been swapped out for cheap vinyl replacements. Larger units had been subdivided. At one point the building had been repainted an unfortunate pastel peach and green. Electrical systems dated back nearly a century. Gas water heaters punched vents through the concrete walls.
Yet because the building never attracted a well-funded modernization campaign, much of its essential fabric remained intact.
“Had it been owned by people with more resources,” noted Lamprecht, “there might have been upgrades that blurred the sense of history.”
Corey Miller, a principal at June Street Architecture, described his first encounter with the almost empty property: “There had been 43 units with 43 different people who had been left to their own devices,” Miller said. “Every time we peeled back a layer, there was something worse.”
Unit 302, inhabited for four decades by a single tenant, retained the most original fabric, including an early icebox cabinet. But it also contained endless layers of grime and clutter. It was “disgusting,” Miller said bluntly, but invaluable as forensic evidence. Much of it — like tiles, windows and millwork — were reproduced around the building.
The 128 Jardinette Apartments were painstakingly restored with an eye toward preserving original details including kitchen cabinets, sinks and iceboxes.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
The perils of rehabilitating a historic treasure
When Hassid called Miller to ask about buying the building, Miller remembers his response clearly. “You probably have no idea what you’re getting yourself into,” he told him.
Hassid’s love of early modern architecture began as a child. His grandparents lived at 848 N. Kings Road in West Hollywood, with a balcony overlooking Schindler’s famed house. So Hassid was familiar with Jardinette’s geometric forms and clean lines. His mother reacted with angry skepticism when he first raised the idea of acquiring the building, but encouraged him to buy it after she learned about the connection.
Nostalgia did not make the rehabilitation any easier. Technical plans required approval, and fixes weren’t straightforward within a protected treasure. “You can’t just go into a historic building with a sledgehammer,” Hassid said. Every move had to align with federal preservation standards and the commitments embedded in the Mills Act contract. Lambert Giessinger, Los Angeles’ historic architect and Mills Act administrator, acted as liaison. Inspections were frequent. Conditions were exacting.
“It’s stressful to have people looking at everything,” Miller admitted. But he credits both Giessinger and Lamprecht with pragmatism. “They were under no illusion that this was going to be done 100% perfect,” he added.
“There’s a lot of wonky stuff in this building that will remain wonky forever,” noted Lamprecht, pointing to settling areas and imperfect details.
Michael Norberg, a land use consultant for the Jardinette Apartments preservation project, stands on the balcony of a unit at the Richard Neutra-designed complex, which will soon reopen after prolonged development issues.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
The astonishingly complex rehabilitation revealed a simple-looking building that was anything but. The board-formed concrete carried a subtle wood-grain texture, which had to be left intact, even as seismic reinforcements were added beneath the surface. The finish on white stucco shifted from smooth to pebbled on the walls’ higher reaches, and this had to be carefully re-created.
Original trim had to be salvaged and repaired wherever possible. Kitchens were rebuilt based on archival drawings and surviving fragments. Bathrooms, originally designed around tubs, required discrete tile extensions to accommodate modern showers. The paint scheme, which has been returned to a warm, off-white concrete field with blackish-green bands emphasizing the window walls, had to be reconstructed from historic photographs. Wine red concrete lobby floors were revealed under ungainly tile. Large stairwell skylights were uncovered, while unique, cube-shaped stair post lights were rehabilitated.
Plenty of white tiles replicate the original look in this bathroom in the historic Richard Neutra-designed Jardinette Apartments. One floor of the newly preserved 1928 complex features original doors and kitchen cabinets.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Support infrastructure, threaded through the thick concrete frame, was perhaps the messiest challenge. Fire sprinklers, mandated by code, had to remain visible because they could not run through joists without compromising historic fabric. New electrical, plumbing and ventilation had to snake around (or burrow through) beams that original plans didn’t note.
Hassid chose to add air conditioning, and the resulting electrical loads required a 13-foot-deep vault beneath the courtyard. That addition will limit what can be planted in the central garden.
The view from the large windows in a newly restored unit of the Richard Neutra-designed Jardinette Apartments. Original skylights were also preserved during a remarkably complex historic preservation effort.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
The team preserved as many original steel casement windows as possible on the primary north-facing facade. These are interspersed with custom reproductions throughout.
The rehabilitation costs climbed past $5 million — accounting for structural analysis, waterproofing, electrical overhaul, plumbing, mechanical, windows, flooring, sprinklers, cabinetry, landscaping — an ever expanding list.
“If I knew then what I know now,” Hassid said with a weary laugh, “I’m not sure I would have done it.” He paused. “But listen, I’m happy I did.”
Today, the building’s value is clear. The courtyard, with vegetation still waiting to grow, is again a communal garden framed by cantilevered balconies. The flat facades have regained their subtle play of depth and shadow. New systems hum quietly, concealed as carefully as possible.
But the building’s renewal has not made it immune to its surroundings. Portions of the exterior were tagged during construction, and some windows have even been shot out by BB guns. As it reemerges, Jardinette could become a lightning rod for those who fear gentrification.
Modernist architect Richard Neutra imagined his first Los Angeles project, the Jardinette Apartments, as a prototype for future garden apartment buildings, but the building fell into disrepair and obscurity for decades. A newly completed historic preservation project will allow it to reopen soon.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
Hassid, who initially planned to keep the building, is now testing the waters for a sale with the help of local broker Neema Ahadian of Marcus & Millichap. He said he’s already gotten calls from potential buyers in both the affordable and market-rate sectors. Affordable housing, he added, would be fitting because the smaller units were originally used that way — often for people working in nearby Hollywood studios. The building’s lack of parking could be another factor pushing the sale in that direction.
“I want to leave my options open,” said Hassid. “It’s bittersweet, because we put so much into it.”
Despite swearing off the project more than once, he is hooked by the process.
“I’m looking for my next historic building. After doing it, I know the mistakes I made and how to minimize the lag,” he said.
“This is such a good niche. Others run away from it. I love it because I love the challenge.”
THE creator of the 90s hit movie Air Bud has died aged 63 after a tragic fall from Hollywood stardom.
Kevin DiCicco’s death comes a year after he revealed he was homeless and battling health issues.
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Kevin DiCicco was dealing with homelessness and a series of health issuesCredit: Facebook/GofundmeKevin DiCicco with Golden retriever dog Buddy, thee basketball-playing star of motion picture Air BudCredit: Getty
His sad passing on Saturday March 21 was confirmed by his brother Mark to TMZ.
Kevin was credited as a creator of the beloved 90s film Air Bud, about a lonely boy who befriends a stray dog who has a natural talent for basketball.
Together they experience the highs and lows of life as their friendship remains solid through a series of escapades.
Kevin had found Buddy the dog as a stray, transforming him into a star.
The duo originally found fame on America’s Funniest Home Videos before making a memorable appearance on David Letterman.
More to follow… For the latest news on this story keep checking back at The Sun Online.
Thesun.co.uk is your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video.
Less than 30 years after “13 Going On 30” made legions of young millennials want to be “big-time magazine editors,” the classic rom-com is getting a reboot.
Jennifer Garner, who starred in the 2004 original as the 30, flirty and thriving Jenna Rink opposite Mark Ruffalo’s Matt “Matty” Flamhaff, is executive producing the project. “People We Meet on Vacation” star Emily Bader and Logan Lerman, known for “Oh, Hi!” and “Perks of Being a Wallflower,” will star in the reboot.
Brett Haley, who directed Netflix’s “People We Meet on Vacation,” will reunite with Bader to helm the project.
In a statement to “Deadline,” Haley said, “‘13 Going On 30’ is one of those rare, perfect films. Funny, emotional, deeply human, with unforgettable performances from Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo, and Judy Greer. I’m a longtime fan, so stepping into this reimagining comes with tremendous responsibility.”
“Jennifer Garner being on board as an executive producer, after playing such a big part of what made the original special, is especially meaningful,” Haley continued. “I also couldn’t be more excited to reunite with Emily Bader after ‘People We Meet on Vacation.’ She and the amazingly talented Logan Lerman are a magical pairing. I feel incredibly lucky to be trusted with something that means so much to so many people.”
In case you missed it (or were living under a rock in 2004), our former Los Angeles Times film critic Manohla Dargis wrote of the film: “Another iteration on the apparently indestructible body-switching premise, ‘13 Going On 30’ closely adheres to the essential gimmick and learning curve introduced to superior effect in the 1988 hit ‘Big.’
“After a disastrous birthday party and a foolish wish to become ‘30, flirty and thriving’ (some alliterative propaganda she’s read in a fashion magazine), Jenna wakes one morning to discover that she’s metamorphosed into an older, taller, somewhat curvier version of herself. Now played by Garner, the wild-eyed teenager comes face to face with a wish fulfillment of a life that comes with a designer Manhattan apartment, an executive position at a slick women’s magazine, a hockey-star boyfriend who likes to strip to Vanilla Ice, and row upon row of designer shoes.”
While mum’s the word on plot specifics, the script for the reboot is by Hannah Marks, who penned and directed “Mark, Mary, & Some Other People,” with revisions by Flora Greeson, who wrote “The High Note.”
Once news of the reboot broke online, social media chatter picked up, with fans speculating which eras the film may be set in. If, like the original, the protagonist wakes up as a 30-year-old in today’s modern world, some worry the flick won’t be as lighthearted as the original.
One user on Threads said, “The concept of a 13 Going on 30 where a teenager in 2009 now wakes up in THIS reality in her 30s feels like horror not romcom.”
NEW Found Glory guitarist Chad Gilbert has had surgery to remove three tumours in his brain after a tough battle with rare adrenal cancer.
The 45-year-old rocker went to A&E on February 20 after experiencing weakness in his leg that caused him to fall.
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New Found Glory’s Chad Gilbert has had surgery to remove three brain tumoursCredit: Instagram / xchadballxThe guitarist was diagnosed with a rare adrenal cancer in 2021Credit: Instagram / xchadballx
It came three days after he struggled to control his left hand during a show in Nashville.
Taking to Instagram, Chad revealed how a CT scan showed three tumours in his brain, leading to emergency surgery to remove them.
The operation was a success and he felt improvements straight away.
He wrote on Instagram: “I regained function of my left hand immediately. My radiation oncologist described it like this: ‘this is not a fatal blow and not the end of your story, just the beginning of a new chapter.’
“My recovery has been bumpy at times but I’m feeling much better now and getting stronger by the day.”
Chad thanked those who had checked in on his wife Lisa Cimorelli and their daughter, four, over the past month.
He continued: “More stories to come when my brain is working well again. Love you all and am looking forward to sharing more music and fun with you as we come out of this.”
Pictures accompanying the post showed him in a hospital bed at various stages in his recovery and ended with a smiling picture of him doing an activity with shapes to help his cognitive function.
Emo veterans Hawthorne Heights wrote: “We love you Chad! Keep fighting. The world is a brighter place with your riffs and positivity.”
Dashboard Confessional commented: “I love you bud.”
Another post branded Chad the “strongest man on the planet!”
Musician Chad, who was previously had a short marriage to Paramore’s Hayley Williams, was first diagnosed with cancer in December 2021 after wife Lisa found him unconscious in bed.
He was rushed to hospital and doctors found a large adrenal gland tumor that had spread to his liver. The tumour was surgically removed along with half of his liver and gallbladder.
Though he was declared cancer-free the following month, it returned in his spine in August, leading him to have a six-hour surgery to remove the affected vertebrate and replace it with an artificial disc.
There was more disheartening news the following year after nodules were discovered in his lungs.
He went through intense rounds of chemotherapy while continuing to perform and release music with New Found Glory.
The band’s latest album, Listen Up!, was released the same day Chad experienced issues with his hand on stage.
Florida rockers New Found Glory released their debut album in 1999, but it was with their third record, Sticks and Stones, that they achieved stardom.
My Friends Over You became a huge hit and the band’s lyrics inspired the names of more recent groups like All Time Low and The Story So Far.
Their success continued into the early noughties with the album Catalyst, which peaked at number three in the US, and the single All Downhill from Here.
He is recovering well following his latest opCredit: Instagram / xchadballxChad is the main songwriter for the punk veteransCredit: GettyHe was previously married to Paramore’s Hayley WilliamsCredit: Alamy
Molly-Mae was left shocked by a cheeky comment made by Tommy FuryCredit: YouTube / Tommy FuryThe saucy star made the comment with Bambi in the backseatCredit: YouTube / Tommy FuryMolly called Tommy ‘terrible’ after his commentCredit: YouTube / Tommy Fury
Opening up about the future, she revealed: “All I want in this life is to be with him, and to have another baby with him, and to grow old as a family.
“And to live in a nice house together and have a nice life together. That’s all I want.”
Molly-Mae revealed she was expecting her second child in a sweet video last monthCredit: InstagramThe proud mum has been showing off her baby bumpCredit: Instagram
Molly also dropped various clues about her pregnancy before announcing her joyous news, which is said to have strengthened her relationship with boxer Tommy.
A source told The Sun: “Finding out Molly is pregnant has really helped bring them close together again.
“Tommy is determined to do things right this time he has cancelled all of his summer trips with his friends, as he wants to stand by Molly every step of the way.
“Their new home is in a better place for both of them and has more than enough space for two children.”
ZENDAYA fuelled speculation she’s tied the knot with Tom Holland again tonight as she wore a gold wedding band to the Paris premiere of her new film The Drama.
She’s certainly lived up to the film’s name in recent weeks as the world clamours to know if she and fellow A-lister Tom, 29, are in fact man and wife.
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Zendaya looked incredible at the Paris premiere of The DramaCredit: GettyA gold band was visible on her ring finger fuelling marriage rumoursCredit: GettyTom Holland and Zendaya have been together for five yearsCredit: Getty
White was once more her colour of choice tonight in the French capital as she posed with co-star Robert Pattinson, 39.
The pair recreated their goofy on-screen chemistry as they high-fived and smiled in front of the cameras and were suitably dressed for the occasion; the new film is about a couple unravelling on their wedding week.
Stunning Zendaya, 29, looked a Hollywood siren through and through with her short curls and glamorous jewellery. Robert was groom-like in his stylish black suit.
Her golden band was previously on showat the 19th annual Essence Black Women inHollywood earlier this month.
And Zendaya addressed speculation during a recent appearance onJimmy KimmelLive.
The host asked the star if she was aware of AI photos circulating of her and Tom’s so-called ‘wedding’.
Zendaya replied: “Many people have been fooled by them.
“While I’ve been out and about in real life and people are like ‘oh my god your wedding photos are gorgeous’ and I was like ‘babe they’re AI’.
“They’re not real! They’re not real!”
Zendaya admitted that some loved ones had been fooled by them and also supposedly unhappy they were not invited.
Robert Pattinson and Zendaya are the lead roles in The DramaCredit: Getty
The US actress wore a bridal-style gown at the Los Angeles premiere. In fact it was the same frock she wore to the Oscars in 2015.
She claimed that she only chose the strapless Vivienne Westwood number to promote the movie — and to relive her first appearance at the Academy Awards as a teenager.
Zendaya told interviewer Maura Higgins, 35, on the red carpet: “We just happened to be wearing white a lot.
“But I didn’t want that to be the only theme.
“And I know that the phrase is, ‘Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.’ So I started with something old.
“This is a dress that I wore when I was 18 years old to the Oscars actually — my very first Oscars.
“It was a very important moment for me in my life and my career but also for my family, for my folks.
“So that moment meant a lot for me so this felt like the right time to bring this one out of the archive.
“And also, it happened to be a wedding dress, so that worked out too.”
Zendaya has been dating her Spider-Man co-star Tom since 2021.
Taylor Frankie Paul might have whiplash in the wake of a leaked video that derailed her “Bachelorette” debut, but she says her kids are also feeling the sting.
Last week, the embattled reality TV star was gearing up for Sunday’s launch of “The Bachelorette” when a video of a 2023 domestic dispute between Paul and Dakota Mortensen (her then-boyfriend and the father of her youngest son) was leaked to TMZ.
Paul’s initial claim to fame was launching #MomTok in 2020, which precipitated the 2024 Hulu series “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.” Although the incident was documented both in court records and on the first season of the reality series (a portion of Paul’s arrest was shown via police bodycam in Episode 1), the recently leaked video showed some of the altercation.
Paul is seen arguing with Mortensen, she is filmed kicking toward him, and throwing metal barstools across the room toward him. Paul’s daughter was on the couch at the time of the altercation, and toward the end of the video, she is heard crying while Mortensen says, “Stop throwing stuff and help your daughter.”
Paul later pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault, and four other charges were dropped.
As the leaked video made its way across the internet, content creators jumped to post commentary. Tiktok user @turtzc posted a take slamming Mortensen for allegedly leaking the video on their son’s 2nd birthday. “The fact that Dakota did this to the mother of his child on his child’s birthday tells you everything you need to know about Dakota,” he said.
Paul replied to the video, writing, “Worst part is my daughter having to relive and see it all over again years later after extensive work with her and apologies to her about that night.”
She added that her son’s birthday was “taken from him.”
Mortensen has denied that he leaked the video. He told ET that his “No. 1 priority” is protecting his and Paul’s son.
Paul spoke with the outlet and said, “I’ve never touched my children, so for me to see those headlines has been heartbreaking. I’m all for taking responsibility for my own life and actions. There is more to the story, and it just sucks to be known as the crazy girl.”
To make matters worse, reports surfaced that Paul and Mortensen were involved in another dispute in late February. Utah’s Draper City Police Department confirmed that there is an open investigation. As a result of the inquiry, Paul has temporarily lost custody of Ever, the son she shares with Mortensen.
Last week, Paul sat down with “Good Morning America” shortly after the video leaked and news that production on “Secret Lives” had paused.
Paul said it was “hard to say” how she envisioned her future on the show.
“It’s hard to see past this,” she said. “I’m not gonna lie. In this moment it’s just so heavy when your life is broadcast out there in these headlines. It’s like the end of the world. That’s what it feels like. … I will say I’ve been here before, and I got through it and, you know, shared my story and my light. So I’m hoping that I can do that again.”
Today, amid the love life drama, Olivia took a moment from filming her new documentary to share a picture from inside a surgery theatre.
She then posted a selfie to Instagram and wrote: “And reading ‘hey girly’ texts on my break, gals come to the front today please and then I’m moving on with my life ty x.”
According to Urban Dictionary, a “hey girly” text is a“text youreceiveor send about a mancheating”.
Earlier today, Bradley’s carefree girlfriend Emily said she was having “the best week of her life” following the surprise reunion.
She took to TikTok to share her excitement for the Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special, which is set to air on Disney+ this Friday.
In the video, Emily is seen driving along in her car with a cap and jumper on as she blasts songs from the iconic Disney show.
She sings along to the music as she writes over it: “Happy Hannah Montana Day to all those that celebrate.”
Emily captioned it: “What a good day to be alive, Hannah is back.”
One of her followers commented: “Good things coming,” as she responded: “Aren’t they just.”
Bradley Dack’s girlfriend Emily is having ‘the best week of her life’Credit: TikTokIt was revealed on Monday that Bradley is back with his exCredit: Getty
Another said: “Having the best day,” and Emily replied: “The best week of my life.”
Olivia’s pals are far less enthusiastic.
An insider said: “After everything Bradley has done, Olivia’s friends can’t believe he is back with his ex all while he’s begging Olivia to take him back.
“Olivia was trying to protect Brad so never wanted to share what actually happened that caused their split.
“So here it is — Olivia was told he had cheated on her, so went through his phone and saw evidence that confirmed it.
“Olivia ended it because crucially that wasn’t the first time she had doubted his fidelity.
“She was trying to respect their 10-year relationship by staying quiet but her friends are bemused as to how Bradley is the one who caused all this, and Liv was still trying to protect him.”
Bradley first dated his new girlfriend Emily way back in 2017, but dumped her to win back Olivia following her stint on Love Island.
But pals say Emily remained the “other woman” in Brad and Olivia’s marriage.
Emily and Brad previously dated back in 2017Credit: InstagramOlivia and Bradley split in JanuaryCredit: Instagram
However, Emily is not the woman Olivia was told Brad had cheated on her with.
While Brad might have been at fault for the relationship’s demise, he appears unhappy with Olivia’s actions since.
Shortly after the photos of her kiss with Pete were made public, Bradley unfollowed her on Instagram.
He’s since gone one step further and deleted the most recent picture dump he had with her from his profile.
His page is now largely pictures and videos of him on the football pitch, although he still has his ex on his feed further down.
Pals said over the weekend that Olivia and Pete’s friendship has “blossomed into an unexpected romance”.
A friend confirmed: “They have been spending a lot of time together and an unexpected romance has blossomed from friendship.”
The two are said to have begun their fling at the Brit Awards on February 28.
Olivia and Bradley dated on and off for years and began before she appeared on Love Island in 2017.
They eventually rekindled their romance before getting engaged while on a romantic holiday in Dubai in 2019.
Olivia and Brad finally tied the knot in a lavish ceremony at the Bulgari Hotel in Knightsbridge in June 2023, after it got pushed back due to Covid.
Power: The Downfall Of Huw Edwards tells the story of the presenter’s fall from grace
Martin Clunes plays Huw Edwards in the drama(Image: PA)
Channel 5 viewers have called a new programme about former BBC newsreader Huw Edwards a “hard watch”.
Power: The Downfall Of Huw Edwards – starring Martin Clunes in the main role – chronicles the events leading to the presenter’s conviction for making indecent images of children. He was found guilty in 2024, and received a six-month prison sentence, which was suspended for two years.
The drama aired on Channel 5 on Tuesday (March 24), centring on Edwards’ alleged interaction with a 17-year-old. The teen, given the fictional name ‘Ryan’, is portrayed by Welsh actor Osian Morgan.
Moments after it began, viewers started posting comments on social media stating that it made for “uncomfortable” viewing, reports Wales Online.
“5 minutes in and can already tell this will be a thoroughly uncomfortable watch,” one viewer posted on X. Another individual admitted they were “already creeped out”.
“Not even halfway and I feel nauseous,” another person shared on the platform, formerly known as Twitter.
“Already creeped out when he calls him ‘baby’,” commented another viewer, whilst someone else confessed they were “speechless” watching the story unfold.
“I’m normally quite hardened to these sorts of dramas but honestly this Huw Edwards programme on 5 is a heck of an uncomfortable watch,” another viewer expressed.
“It’s a hard watch,” concurred another, as one viewer admitted they were turning off.
“I tried watching Power but it’s so grim that I’ve switched over to a repeat of Simon Schama’s History of Britain,” they shared.
“That’s it I have had to turn off this Huw Edwards programme,” said someone else.
Another viewer described the programme as feeling “dark and ominous”.
Numerous viewers also commented on Martin’s depiction of the former newsreader, saying he “nailed it”.
“Clunes is playing a blinder as Huw Edwards,” one individual remarked, whilst another added: “Martin Clunes is giving a career-defining performance. A disturbing, but compelling, portrayal of Huw Edwards.”
“Clunes is really pulling this off,” observed another, with someone else stating that the Doc Martin star’s performance was an “absolute tour de force”.
“Martin Clunes is formidable in his portrayal of Huw Edwards,” praised another impressed viewer.
Power: The Downfall Of Huw Edwards airs on Channel 5.
ANGELINA Jolie’s renowned songwriter uncle, Chip Taylor, who penned the 1966 song Wild Thing has died aged 86.
The tragic news was announced by friend and Grammy winning producer Billy Vera in a post to social media.
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Chip was brother to Angelina Jolie’s dad, Jon VoightCredit: AlamyIt is understood Chip passed away two days after his 86th birthdayCredit: Alamy
Vera wrote on Instagram: “‘RIP: Chip Taylor, my friend and songwriting mentor, last night in hospice.”
He added: “With great sadness I announce the passing of my old friend and songwriting mentor, Chip Taylor last night in hospice.
“He and I wrote some good ones: “Make Me Belong To You,” (Barbara Lewis), “Storybook Children” (BV & Judy Clay, Nancy Sinatra): “Papa Come Quick (Bonnie Raitt).”
It is understood that Chip passed away peacefully two days after his 86th birthday.
Chip was brother to Angelina Jolie‘s dad, Jon Voight, and uncle to the actress’s sibling, James Haven.
He was known for writing several well-loved songs including the 1960s Merrilee Rush song, Angel of the Morning.
Tributes have begun flooding in for the legendary songwriter.
Musician Allan Jones took to social media to pay tribute, writing: “RIP Chip Taylor, who’s just died at 86. Among many other songs, he wrote Wild Thing, Angel of the Morning, and Anyway That You Want Me.
“He played Twickenham Exchange a few years ago, accompanied by John Platiana, for many years Van Morrison’s guitarist.
“It was memorable not only for a lot of great songs, but Taylor’s vast repertoire of extraordinary and hilarious anecdotes, which took up a generous portion of an unforgettable set.
In addition to being a songwriter Chip had a background as a performerCredit: AlamyIn 2007 Chip launched his own independent labelCredit: Alamy
“The man could certainly tell a story as well as he could write a song.”
Born James Wesley Voight, Chip wrote many pop and rock songs, both alone and with other songwriters.
Some of his most notable works include He Sits at Your Table with Willie Nelson and I Can’t Let Go withEvie Sands,the Hollies andLinda Ronstadt.
In addition to being a songwriter Chip had a background as a performer, putting out a number of albums in the 1970s.
He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2016 for his decades of contributions to the music industry.
In 2007 he launched his own independent label, Train Wreck Records.
Chip famously had a passion for gambling, particularly blackjack, which he was reportedly very good at.
He was married to Joan Carole Frey from 1964, and the couple had both children and grandchildren together. Joan sadly died in June 2025.
Chip was brothers with Angelina Jolie’s dad – Jon VoightCredit: Alamy
MEL Schilling’s “heartbroken” MAFS co-star John Aiken has admitted he is “struggling to breathe”, as he broke his silence on her death.
The Australian relationship expert, 55, revealed his immense grief after Mel tragically died aged 54 following a brave battle with colon cancer.
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MAFS Australia expert John Aiken penned an emotional tribute to Mel Schilling following news of her deathCredit: InstagramJohn said he was ‘struggling to breathe’ following his friend’s passingCredit: InstgramMel and John appeared on the Aussie MAFS together for ten yearsCredit: Nine
Today her MAFS Aus co-star John shared a picture of him with his pal from 2016 and one from the recent series, and penned an emotional message which read: “It’s with great sadness and heavy heart that today I lost my dear friend and fellow MAFS expert Mel Schilling.
“I am heartbroken, devastated and finding it hard to breathe.
“It was a privilege and an honour to sit beside her on the MAFS couch and watch her shine. She was warm, supportive and honest, and she deeply cared about all our participants. I had a front row seat to her remarkable skills and she truly believed in the experiment. At her core she loved love.”
John also talked about their relationship off screen, and the “fun” they would have when the cameras weren’t rolling.
“And when her illness struck she never complained. She kept her challenges to herself and continued to deliver time and time again. She was an inspiration, a fighter, a leader,” the grief stricken star said.
“It’s not fair that my partner in crime is gone. She was one of the good ones. I am unravelling just thinking about it. I wanted to sit on our couch together forever. She knew my rhythms and I knew hers. But it’s simply not to be.
John admitted he was “distraught” that he had to accept she was now gone, and ended the heartfelt message with: “I love you and I miss you gorgeous.. xx”.
Mel and John were incredibly close having worked on MAFS Australia together for ten years, including the latest series which is airing right now on E4.
John said he was ‘heartbroken’ by Mel’s sad deathCredit: Channel 4
Alongside touching pictures of Mel, he said: “Melanie Jane Brisbane-Schilling passed away peacefully today, surrounded by love.
“In her final moments, when I thought cancer had taken away her ability to speak, she ushered me closer and whispered a message for Maddie and me that will sustain me for the rest of my life.
“It took all of her remaining strength, and that gesture summed up our wee Melsie perfectly. Even then, her only thought was for Maddie and me.”
He continued: “This is a woman who became a new mum and a TV star at 42 — and nailed both.
Mel’s husband Gareth Brisbane announced the heartbreaking news today in an emotional Instagram postCredit: Instagram
“This is a woman who, through two years of chemotherapy, when she could barely lift her head from the pillow, never complained and never stopped showing courage, grace, compassion and empathy, and never missed a day of filming.
“To most of you, she was Mel Schilling — matriarch of MAFS and queen of reality TV. To Maddie and me, she was our wee Melsie: an incredible mum, role model, and soulmate.”
Channel 4hailed Mel as a friend who “radiated joy, warmth and optimism”.
Issuing a statement, it said: “Our thoughts and condolences are, first and foremost, with her family and loved ones.
“We’re privileged to be the channel that is home to Mel’s work, which was at the heart of Married At First Sight‘s phenomenal success, both in the UK and Australia.
“It reflected so much about her – her fierce advocacy for other women, her passion for healthy relationships and her mission to unite people in love.
“For many who work for Channel 4, Mel was not just a colleague but a friend, someone who radiated joy, warmth and optimism, who energized every room she walked into, with humour and positivity.
“Everyone who knew her will miss all this about her and much more. We share in the sorrow that we’re sure many viewers will now feel at this terrible loss.”
Mel had been battling colon cancerCredit: Instagram