show biz

IRINA Shayk gives fans gauze for thought in the 2026 calendar for tyre firm Pirelli.

The 39-year-old model posed almost nude apart from a near see-through pink fabric covering her body.

But she said: “I was not born confident.

“To be a woman in power, you have to feel comfortable in your own skin.”

The iconic calendar also features model Eva Herzigova and tennis champ Venus Williams plus British singer FKA Twigs and actresses Tilda Swinton and Gwendoline Christie.

It was shot in London, Norfolk, Essex and New York.

Last month Irina featured in a new festive campaign for Victoria’s Secret.

Irina, who has a daughter with actor Bradley Cooper, 50, was one of its Angels at a New York fashion show last week. 

She returned to modelling for the brand last year following an eight-year hiatus. 

Irina first shot to fame after appearing on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in 2011. 

ESPN football is returning to YouTube TV after the service and The Walt Disney Co. settled their contentious contract dispute — ending the 15-day blackout of Disney channels.

The Disney-owned channels and ABC station signals were being restored for YouTube TV’s 10 million customers, the companies announced late Friday. The breakthrough came after the companies agreed on a new distribution deal for YouTube, which is owned by Google, replacing the previous pact that had expired on Oct. 30.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

“This new agreement reflects our continued commitment to delivering exceptional entertainment and evolving with how audiences choose to watch,’’ Disney Entertainment Co-Chairmen Alan Bergman and Dana Walden and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement.

“It recognizes the tremendous value of Disney’s programming and provides YouTube TV subscribers with more flexibility and choice. We are pleased that our networks have been restored in time for fans to enjoy the many great programming options this weekend, including college football.”

The outage surpassed the length of last year’s clash between Disney and DirecTV, which saw Disney channels being dropped for 13 days.

YouTube and Disney have been bickering over distribution fees. Google had rebuffed Disney’s earlier demands for fee increases to carry ESPN, ABC and other channels. The Burbank entertainment giant wanted to maintain revenue to help pay for Disney’s content production, streaming ambitions and ESPN’s gargantuan sports rights deals, including long-term contracts with the NFL and the NBA.

YouTube pushed back, pointing to declining viewership for ABC and other channels, for which Disney had been seeking fee increases.

Disney and other programmers have been trying to boost fees to offset the loss of pay-TV customers who have cut the cord or switched to smaller streaming bundles. YouTube also had accused Disney of holding out in an effort to scoop up aggravated YouTube TV subscribers considering a switch to its Fubo or Hulu + Live TV services, which compete directly with YouTube TV. The services offer most of the same TV channels.

The dispute highlighted the ongoing tensions between pay-TV distributors and programmers amid the shift to streaming. In 2021, the Disney channels were knocked off YouTube TV for two days in an earlier fee dispute.

A shrinking pool of big-bundle subscribers increasingly has been asked to shoulder higher programming expenses. Distributors, including YouTube TV, have tried to hold the line on prices, cognizant that their customers are tired of ever-escalating monthly bills. YouTube TV offered a package of channels for $35 a month when it launched in 2017. The service now costs $82.99 a month.

The cost of carrying broadcast channels (ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC) and sports networks, including ESPN, has skyrocketed due to the huge jump in costs for TV rights deals with major sports leagues. ESPN is the most expensive basic cable channel, costing pay-TV distributors nearly $10 a month per subscriber home.

Disney has defended its costs to pay-TV distributors, arguing that it provides high-quality programming that consumers love.

The company also is trying to transition its businesses to focus more heavily on direct-to-consumer streaming services, including Disney+ and Hulu + Live TV, that bypass the traditional pay-TV distributors.

The skirmish was just the latest between YouTube and a major programming company.

Since August, Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corp., Comcast’s NBCUniversal and Spanish-language broadcaster Univision have all complained that YouTube TV has been trying to use its market muscle to squeeze them for concessions.

“Rather than compete on a level playing field, Google’s YouTube TV has approached these negotiations as if it were the only player in the game,” the Disney executives Pitaro, Bergman and Walden wrote in an Nov. 7 email sent to employees.

YouTube TV customers have been without Univision and Unimas since Sept. 30. That dispute centered on YouTube’s plan to group the Univision channels with other Spanish-language programming on a separate tier rather than offer the channels as part of YouTube’s basic packages.

Univision cried foul, in large part, because the switch would mean less revenue because programmers are paid rates based on the number of households that receive their channels. Fewer consumers pay for the Spanish-language add-on.

YouTube countered that Spanish-language viewers were watching Univision on the main YouTube free video site — and that service has remained available.

The winner of this year’s ITV series has been named and they were shocked with the result

The Big Brother 2025 champion has finally been revealed.

A total of 17 housemates, including latecomers and surprise entrants, were narrowed down to a final six. Cameron, Elsa, Emily, Jenny, Richard and Tate were announced as this year’s Big Brother finalists earlier in the week.

This was followed by a shocking last-minute double back-door eviction that left viewers at home stunned. Marcus and Teja just missed out on the grand prize as they were sent packing after the final Wicked-themed task.

The latest series has been jam-packed with drama, from forming rivalries to divisions and heated debates. One contestant was booted out on the very first night only to make a surprising comeback and secure a spot in the final.

Meanwhile, one housemate was shown the door by Big Brother due to repeated rule violations, reports OK!.

Presenters AJ Odudu and Will Best graced our screens once again to host ITV’s live grand finale on Friday (November 14), where they disclosed the public vote results for each remaining contestant.

The final rankings were: Tate in 6th, Emily in 5th, Cameron in 4th and Jenny in third. This left Richard and Elsa battling it out for the top two spots.

Before the final result was unveiled, viewers got a glimpse of how the contestants spent their last night and day in the house, including partaking in Big Brother’s last supper.

Cameron confessed: “Seven weeks in this mad house. It’s been a hell of a ride in here. I can’t say in a nutshell how much I’ve appreciated coming into this house and spending it with you guys, and how great you’ve all been. So, thank you for that. Jenny I probably couldn’t have done it quite without you. It certainly wouldn’t have been as fun and enjoyable and you know I think the world you, never change never change.”

Richard declared to the group: “This experience has been without doubt the most bonkers, crazy, madcap, incredible, extraordinary thing I have ever done. It’s been great to meet all of you, it’s been a magnificent, magnificent ride and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. So, here’s to you, it’s been great!”.

After this, the crucial moment arrived. Will enthusiastically revealed the victor during the live finale and AJ was the first to greet the jubilant housemate, £100,000 richer, as they stepped out to thunderous cheers.

In a nail-biting climax, it came down to a showdown between Elsa and Richard, with the latter clinching victory.

Before leaving the house Richard embraced imaginary housemates and addressed the house: “Big Brother team it has been an absolute pleasure and delight. Good night and thank you.”

When asked by AJ how he felt about winning the series he responded: “Absolutely crazy.”

Fans were quick to voice their opinions on the outcome. One fan took to social media, posting: “Absolutely made up for Richard! He’s been the most decent, genuine and authentic person in the Big Brother house this year! Well deserved!”.

Another chimed in: “He was one of 4 late arrivals that entered without a crowd and now Richard will not only leave the house to a crowd, but he’ll be leaving it with £100k as the Big Brother GRAND CHAMPION 2025! ! ! Huge congratulations, sir.”

A third fan remarked: “Huge congrats to Richard for winning this year’s Big Brother, he has been such a brilliant housemate and he deserves to win especially being the oldest at 60.”

Another said: “I’m fine with Richard winning for the sheer fact that Caroline will have to sit there and watch his winning interview.”

Big Brother is streaming on ITVX.

ADAM Peaty’s mum has told of her heartbreak at the ongoing family feud that saw the Olympic swimmer’s brother James arrested over alleged violent threats.

Gold medallist Adam’s wife-to-be Holly Ramsay called cops while he was on his stag do in Budapest over concerns he could be assaulted when he got back to the UK.

Adam and Holly are set to get married next month, with her famous parents Gordon and Tana Ramsay, and their celeb pals such as Sir David Beckham and his wife Victoria as guests.

She had her hen do at the weekend but Adam’s mum Caroline was not invited.

Caroline has now revealed she wants to repair the rift.

She told the Daily Mail: “I know it’s the end. But please, the message I want Adam to hear is no matter what happens in the future, please know I love you, your dad loves you, you can come home and talk to me at any point.

FOR PEAT’S SAKE

Adam Peaty’s dad breaks silence as Olympian’s brother is arrested

ADAM BROKEN

Adam Peaty hugs fiancee Holly and laughing Gordon Ramsay after first triathlon

“There’s nothing you’ve done that I would not forgive. I love you so much.

“I hope your marriage is a good one, I don’t wish any ill on you and I want you and Holly to have a long and happy marriage, like your dad and me. The reason I’m speaking out is I want all this to end.”

Caroline added that she has reached rock bottom over the family feud.

She also claimed to feel as though her son is being “pulled away” from her amid the rift.

This comes as Adam Peaty’s dad broke his silence today after the Olympic swimmer’s brother was arrested over alleged violent threats.

Gold medallist Adam’s wife-to-be Holly Ramsay called cops while he was on his stag do in Budapest over concerns he could be assaulted when he touched down in the UK.

Five officers met 30-year-old Adam’s plane when it arrived at Manchester Airport at the weekend and escorted him through passport control.

It has since emerged that his older brother James, 34, was arrested at his Staffordshire home and later bailed.

Adam’s father Mark told The Sun: “They’re brothers.

“They’ve always been close but like any normal family, brothers fight, argue, fall out, make-up and start all over again. But it’s got out of hand.

“There’s been very little empathy towards Jamie’s genuine mental health difficulties.”

A Staffordshire Police spokesman said: “We arrested a 34-year-old man, from the Uttoxeter area, on November 11, 2025, on suspicion of harassment.

“The man was released on conditional bail while our enquiries continue.”

It follows Adam’s mum Caroline, 59, being snubbed from Holly’s hen do and uninvited from next month’s wedding at Bath Abbey, a move that sparked a furious online outburst from the athlete’s auntie Louise.

However, a source close to Adam and Holly said: “This feud is heart-breaking from both sides.

“But the reality is that Adam sees his mum Caroline to be enabling his brother’s actions rather than pushing him to deal with his demons.

“Poor Caroline must feel utterly torn and it’s just very hard for everyone.

“Gordon has been incredibly supportive of Holly and Adam; after all, he’s been through similar issues with his own brother.”

Adam has been forced to cancel a two-day event in the US after the ordeal.

The Olympic champion swimmer was due to fly to the US this weekend for a two-day training clinic with aspiring swimmers who signed up to his AP Race company.

He founded the business in 2019 to provide clinics to athletes across the globe.

Adam was expected to fly to Orlando, Florida, for a two-day session on November 15 and 16.

A source close to Adam said: “With everything going on Adam is going to remain in the UK.

“His team will still be delivering a first class clinic.”

The Sun first told this week how a secret feud between Adam and certain members of his family had imploded.

His mother, Caroline, was banned from attending his wedding to his fiancee Holly Ramsay, 25, next month.

Those close to the family branded six-time Olympic medalist Adam a “narcissist” and said he was “ashamed” of the family.

In a statement, a friend of Adam and Holly hit back and said the issue wasn’t cut and dry as his family were making out.

A friend said: “The issues that have been reported don’t stem from hen do or wedding invitations; it goes so much deeper.

“Things escalated over the weekend when someone became increasingly abusive and threatening over text.

“Adam was trying to enjoy his stag do and was getting freaked out by it all.

“He then received a threat that he’d be met off the plane.

“He told Holly who called the cops after consulting with her family.

“Gordon and Tana have been 100 per cent supportive of them in this.

PEATY FEUD TWIST

Adam Peaty’s brother arrested over stag do threats sent to Olympian

CHOC HORROR

‘Disgusting’ price of 750g Quality Street tins are slammed by Tesco shoppers

“They are both brilliant in a crisis.

“The police were sufficiently concerned that they went to the airport to accompany him through passport control, baggage area, arrivals hall and into a waiting vehicle.”

To watch “Trifole” is to fall in love with Langhe, a gorgeous section of the Piedmont region of northern Italy. Famed for its farming, cheeses and wine, this hilly, rural countryside feels cut off from modernity: an agrarian past perfectly preserved in an uncertain present. Among Langhe’s hallmarks is its rich tradition of truffle foraging, which becomes the centerpiece for director Gabriele Fabbro’s gentle drama about an aging truffle hunter, his restless granddaughter and a way of life vanishing before their eyes. Unfortunately, this heartfelt film resonates most strongly through those majestic landscapes, not via the story that unfolds.

Constructed with the elemental purity of a fable, “Trifole” introduces the viewer to Dalia (Ydalie Turk), who’s in her late 20s and visiting her grandfather Igor (Umberto Orsini). The trip is a reluctant one for Dalia. Prompted by her anxious mother Marta (Margherita Buy), she’s taking a break from her stalled life in London to check in on him due to Marta’s concern that his failing memory may require him to abandon his beloved crumbling cottage and enter a nursing home. When Igor initially mistakes Dalia for his daughter — Dalia’s mother — his confusion validates Marta’s worries.

Happy to live out the rest of his days in his remote paradise alongside his loyal dog Birba, who ably assists him in his truffle hunts, Igor is displeased that Dalia has rejected her family roots for the big city. Indeed, Dalia has trouble with her Italian, and when she offers to help him find truffles, he insists his granddaughter doesn’t have the instincts or the calloused hands necessary for the job. But Igor isn’t just adept at sniffing out truffles — he quickly deduces that she’s emotionally lost. (A writing career hasn’t materialized as she’d hoped.) Both of them are at a crossroads, neither sure what the future holds.

Turk and Fabbro, who co-wrote the screenplay, did extensive research on the region, incorporating locals’ stories into the narrative. No matter how fantastical “Trifole” eventually becomes, the filmmakers insist the plot points derive from tales they collected. (To that end, there actually is an Igor, Birba is a real truffle-hunting dog and there’s a 2020 documentary, “The Truffle Hunters,” that correlates with much of what we see.) Not surprisingly, this melancholy picture celebrates and mourns Langhe, a region imperiled by global warming and encroaching industrialization that threaten the once-fecund practice of truffle gathering. Igor’s fading memory proves to be an apt, albeit obvious metaphor for a vocation slowly losing its connection to its past as truffles have emerged as a hot gastronomic trend.

In its early stretches, “Trifole” is almost rudimentary in its storytelling, establishing a familiar generational conflict between Dalia and Igor, who live under the same roof but can’t see eye to eye. When she tries to compliment his picturesque farmland, he curtly responds, “It’s nothing like the soil I knew when I was young.” The tension only escalates once Dalia discovers he’s terribly behind on his mortgage, owing hundreds of thousands he doesn’t have. Igor’s only hope is to find an elusive (and valuable) white truffle that could save him from foreclosure. But he is now too frail to brave the deep woods. Dalia, guided by Birba, must take up the quest.

The film’s themes are simply drawn and easy to follow. Dalia may reside in cosmopolitan London but is, of course, miserable, with wise old Igor immediately diagnosing the cause of her malaise. “You don’t love anything,” he advises sagely. “This will end up hurting you a lot.” Consequently, Dalia’s journey to find the mythical white truffle will also be an opportunity to locate a sense of purpose, coming to appreciate her grandfather in a more profound way. Turk conceives her character as a collection of insecurities and hesitant expressions, making Dalia the perfect candidate to be metaphorically reborn through an unlikely forest adventure in which magical events will occur.

In his sophomore feature, Fabbro, who previously directed the 2021 romantic thriller “The Grand Bolero,” juxtaposes the quiet grace of Igor’s modest life with the cacophony and commercialism of contemporary truffle auctions. But Fabbro’s wistful salute to bygone traditions has significant limitations, especially noticeable in the reductive design of his diametrically opposed main characters. Now in his early 90s, Orsini (best known for Luchino Visconti’s 1969 drama “The Damned”) projects a fragile but resilient gravitas that’s quite affecting, but Igor is reduced to a noble symbol — a simplification that also undercuts Dalia, who is little more than a stand-in for a younger generation ignorant of its country’s history.

Only when Fabbro trains his camera on the Langhe skies, the land stretching off into the distance, does “Trifole” suggest the weight and majesty of a culture in danger of disappearing. You can almost touch the sacred soil of Igor’s youth, a world that he alone remembers.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) has ended its financial partnerships with two weapons manufacturers.

On 11 November, the long-running advocacy organisation confirmed to Adalah Justice Project and the Gender Liberation Movement that it had dropped Northrop Grumman and RTX Corporation (formerly Raytheon Technologies) as sponsors.

The move comes after two years of pressure from LGBTQIA+ activist and advocacy groups – including ACT UP NY, Writers Against the War on Gaza, and No Pride in Genocide – who expressed concerns that the HRC was complicit in Israel’s war in Gaza, which human rights activists and organisations, the United Nations, and scholars have described as a genocide.

Before parting ways with Northrop Grumman, the weapons company was listed as a “Platinum Partner” on the HRC’s website.

According to the Action Center for Corporate Accountability, the Falls Church, Virginia-based company is the third-largest military contractor in the world.

From 2008 to August 2024, Northrop Grumman Corp held contracts worth over $173 billion with the US Department of Defense.

“Northrop Grumman supplies the Israeli military with a wide variety of weapons, including various missile systems,” the investigative site revealed. “The company’s technologies are also integrated into Israel’s main weapon systems, including its fighter jets, missile ships, and trainer aircraft.”

Based in Arlington County, Virginia, RTX Corporation is the second-largest military company in the world.

Like Northrop Grumman, RTX Corporation has supplied the Israeli government with a range of weapons, including various missiles and bombs, for years, per the Action Center for Corporate Accountability.

In a statement to The Advocate, a spokesperson for the HRC confirmed that the two weapons companies no longer sponsor the organisation.

“What’s happening in Gaza and throughout the region is devastating. The starvation of children and families, the violence to its people and aid workers is horrific,” they told the LGBTQIA+ news outlet.

“And while our focus is on LGBTQ+ equality in the United States, we have spoken out about the crisis, the rising cost of extremism in the United States and around the globe and how Islamaphobia, anti-semitism and anti-LBGTQ hatred are globally linked.

“Our national corporate partners represent companies that have demonstrated a high level of commitment to equality. When it comes to corporate advocacy, our responsibility is to make the places where LGBTQ+ people live and work safer and more inclusive.”

While Northrop Grumman and RTX Corporation no longer serve as sponsors for the HRC, Adalah Justice Project and the Gender Liberation Movement have noted that the advocacy organisation has not committed “to divesting permanently from these or other weapons companies,” and has also “failed to call for an arms embargo on Israel, despite these being the explicit demands from queer and trans organisers.”

“Queer and trans folks in the US and across the world have been at the forefront of the movement to end the Israeli genocide and occupation. We have made it clear that there is no pride in genocide and that LGBTQ people will not be used as cover for violence. The fight for queer and trans liberation is the same fight against the war machine that is killing our communities here at home, in Palestine, and across the world,” the two advocacy organisations said in a statement.

“It is our responsibility to continue to push the organisations and institutions that claim to serve and represent our communities to divest from weapons manufacturers and institutions complicit in genocide, settler colonialism, and apartheid. And it is these organisations’ responsibility, as the leading LGBTQ+ human rights organisation, to heed our demands.”

Vicky Pattison has admitted she spent last weekend ‘bursting into tears’ after competing in the latest round of the BBC show after she topped the leaderboard

Strictly Come Dancing star Vicky Pattison has admitted she spent last weekend ‘bursting into tears’ after competing in the latest round of the BBC show. The Geordie Shore legend , 37, had been awarded a near-perfect score of 39 following her Tango to Taylor Swift hit The Fate Of Ophelia, and found herself at the top of the leaderboard.

The former Loose Women star, who won I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! in the years following her rise to fame, made an appearance alongside professional partner Kai Widdrington on Friday’s edition of Strictly spin-off It Takes Two, where she explained to host Fleur East just how much the successful result had meant to her.

She said: “On social media, someone said ‘I fear Vicky Pattison might chuck herself off that balcony if she ever gets a 40!’ and I fear they are right. For someone like me who had never danced before and was so scared at the start of the process, even now who still has wobbles, that’s a moment I never thought would be mine. I’m still feeling very overwhelmed and I spent Sunday just bursting into tears.”

As a congratulatory gift, Vicky was then presented with a framed picture of the leaderboard and a cushion with judge Anton DuBeke holding up his 10 paddle up on it. Vicky joked: “I am going straight home to bed with this!” Meanwhile, Vicky is hopeful that she and her co-stars will remain friends in the longterm and is confident that it will happen because she is still friends with her fellow showbiz stars from other reality shows.

She said: “For me, all the celebs are absolutely gorgeous. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to be doing Strictly this year because everyone is so lovely. When we lost Dani Dyer originally, it was so devastating and heart-breaking. But then we got the gorgeous Amber, and we’ve got by Bal, La Voix, Caz Carney. I just feel so lucky and I hope we’re gonna be friends forever.

“That sounds a bit soppy, but maybe I am a bit soppy! I’m still friends with Ferne [McCann] and I was in the jungle 10 years ago with her. So I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we’re gonna be friends forever!”

Following the performance, Craig Revel Horwood was full of praise, describing the performance as “perfect”, while Anton admitted he was “a bit stunned” because it was “that good”.

He enthused: “I thought it was absolutely marvellous. I loved it. Your line is the best line I’ve ever seen. It was immaculate.” Meanwhile, Motsi Mabuse and head judge Shirley Ballas declared it their “dance of the night”, reports the Manchester Evening News.

Motsi gushed: “Last week I said you were a contender for the final, and this dance just proved what I meant. You confirmed my intuition. Without a doubt, you are on fire. Whatever is giving you that fire – keep it up. This was for me, till now, the dance of the night.”

After the show, Vicky took to Instagram to share her disbelief, posting a snapshot of the leaderboard with the caption: “This can not be real”. Saturday’s episode marked the halfway point of the series, with nine couples taking to the dance floor.

Follow our Strictly Come Dancing blog by clicking here.

LIAM Gallagher isn’t a fan of sharing his food – just ask Paul Gascoigne.

The Tottenham and England legend told FourFourTwo about snaffling a steak from the Oasis rocker – and it didn’t end well.

Recalling a run-in during the Nineties, Paul said: “I was in a restaurant and a guy said, ‘Liam Gallagher’s over there’.

“I went up to him, he was sitting on his own having a steak.

“He said, ‘F***ing hell sit down mate, how are you doing? Do you want something to eat?’

“I said, ‘No I’m not hungry, I’ll have a drink though’. He went for the drink and I ate his f***ing steak. He went f***ing off at me, going ‘Where’s my f***ing steak, man?’ I went, ‘I’ve ate the c***t.

SAVE THE DATE

Huge Hollywood star, 45, ‘finally proposes to girlfriend of 20 YEARS’

SHOCK CLAIM

Ozzy Osbourne’s ‘secret daughter’ sends widow Sharon hair & blood for DNA test

“He said, ‘You c***t, I’ll go and get another one’. But he didn’t.

“He came back around the corner with a fire extinguisher, set it off and absolutely slaughtered us with it.”

Tonight, Liam and his brother Noel will kick off the final leg of their Oasis tour in Buenos Aires.

They will play a second show in Argentina’s capital tomorrow before a concert in Santiago, Chile, on November 19 and their final two shows in Sao Paolo in Brazil on November 22 and 23.

Tay note To 1D idol for sale

A handwritten letter from Taylor Swift to Liam Payne supporting his solo career is going up for auction.

She gave the late One Direction singer the note ahead of his performance at Capital’s 2017 Jingle Bell Ball.

Taylor headlined the annual bash at London’s O2 Arena. Liam, who died in October last year, was also on the bill.

The letter reads: “Liam, long time no see.

“I’m so excited for you, you’re crushing it out there.

“I’m obsessed with Bedroom Floor.

“It’s so cool to see you from afar.

“I’m always cheering you on.

“Good luck tonight!”

Speaking on the red carpet at the event eight years ago, Liam revealed Taylor also sent him a “lovely little hamper of new Reputation gear”.

He added: “She’s got very good handwriting if she did write it.”

British auction house Omega Auctions will sell the letter on December 2.

It is expected to fetch between £5,000 and £10,000.

Gabriella Cilmi is back, 12 years after her last album.

She had a string of hits in the late Noughties with Sweet About Me, Warm This Winter and On A Mission.

The Aussie singer, who is name-checked by Ed Sheeran on his 2011 song You Need Me, I Don’t Need You revealed she has been living in the English countryside and is returning to music.

She said on TikTok: “I’m super-excited to announce I’ve recorded a new record.

“We recorded it under the full Harvest Moon and it was a magical experience, going back to basics, playing live.”

Ellie: My break-up torment

Ellie Goulding has opened up about the breakdown of her marriage to Caspar Jopling.

Speaking about her new song Destiny, Ellie said: “I first heard this track when I had recently separated from my husband.

“This was at a really turbulent time for me because I was trying to navigate what felt like a separation of all separations.”

The singer added to NME: “It was a marriage, not just a relationship.

“I didn’t know what else to do other than make music.”

Ellie and Caspar tied the knot in 2019.

They had their son Arthur in 2021, but sadly separated in 2023.

Emeli Sande was joined by acts including Boy George and Ali Campbell of UB40 at a charity gig for victims of Hurricane Melissa.

They played A Concert For Jamaica, at Koko in Camden, London.

DJ Robbo Ranx praised Jamaicans for standing strong after being battered by the storm.

Much of the island is still without water or electricity.

Aussie accused of Ari scare

I was pleased to learn the brain-dead idiot who almost knocked Ariana Grande flying – when he stormed the Wicked: For Good red carpet premiere in Singapore – has been charged by police.

Australian-born Johnson Wen boasted about meeting the pop star at the event, when in actual fact he scared the living daylights out of Ariana.

Ariana was thankfully protected by the one-woman muscle machine that is Cynthia Erivo.

Wen has been charged with being a public nuisance, which is the understatement of the year.

He is known for his d**kish antics and has previously disrupted a Katy Perry concert and the men’s 100m final at the Paris Olympics last year.

PEATY FEUD TWIST

Adam Peaty’s brother arrested over stag do threats sent to Olympian

CHOC HORROR

‘Disgusting’ price of 750g Quality Street tins are slammed by Tesco shoppers

The jail term for being such a deluded berk is anything up to three months.

Sadly, I doubt being locked up would stop him being less of an idiot in future.

THE CHARTS

Taylor Swift bounces back to the top on both the singles and album charts.

It comes five weeks after the release of The Life Of A Showgirl, and following signed copies of the record going on sale online.

Rosalia has the highest new entry on the album chart, going to No4 with Lux.

Singles

1. The Fate Of Ophelia – Taylor Swift
2. Golden – Huntr/x, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami & Kpop Demon Hunters Cast
3. Where Is My Husband! – Raye
4. Man I Need – Olivia Dean
5. So Easy (To Fall In Love) – Olivia Dean
6. Opalite – Taylor Swift
7. Raindance – Dave & Tems
8. Rein Me In – Sam Fender & Olivia Dean
9. Elizabeth Taylor – Taylor Swift
10. How It’s Done – Golden – Huntr/x, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami & Kpop Demon Hunters Cast

Albums

1. The Life Of A Showgirl – Taylor Swift
2. The Art Of Loving – Olivia Dean
3. West End Girl – Lily Allen
4. Lux – Rosalia
5. Man’s Best Friend – Sabrina Carpenter
6. The Highlights – The Weeknd
7. +-=÷x Tour Collection – Ed Sheeran
8. The Essential – Michael Jackson
9. 50 Years: Don’t Stop – Fleetwood Mac
10. Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party – Hayley Williams

You know millennial nostalgia has reached a dangerous peak when there’s a new “Now You See Me” in theaters. The last time we encountered the merry band of Robin Hood prankster magicians known as the Horsemen, it was the Obama era, when “Now You See Me 2,” the sequel to the hit 2013 film, opened in the summer of 2016. Were we ever so young?

Back then, the Horsemen, played by Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco and either Isla Fisher or Lizzy Caplan as the token girl magician, used the principles of magic for altruistic purposes, redistributing wealth and saving the world from various evil tech overlords.

We’re in even worse shape now, so why not do magic about it? It couldn’t hurt and it seems there’s literally nothing else we can do to exert any modicum of control over billionaires who are exacerbating environmental degradation and dangerous technology.

With “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t,” director Ruben Fleischer takes over the franchise reins from Jon M. Chu (now preoccupied with “Wicked”), who himself took over from Louis Leterrier (the screenplay is by Seth Grahame-Smith, Michael Lesslie and Rhett Reese). Some nine years down the line, fresh blood is needed, so “Now You Don’t” plays like “Now You See Me: The New Class,” introducing a trio of budding magicians who take inspiration from the Horsemen.

A reunion show at a Bushwick warehouse turns out to be — you guessed it — an illusion, with a group of young aspiring magicians, June (Ariana Greenblatt), Charlie (Justice Smith) and Bosco (Dominic Sessa), aping the Horsemen’s faces and using clever presentation in order to rob from the rich (corrupt crypto bros) to give to the poor (their fellow broke Gen-Zers). They’re happy to continue their scrappy operation, living in a converted loft in a bagel factory, until an actual Horseman, J. Daniel Atlas (Eisenberg) shows up at their place with an invite in the form of a tarot card, from an entity known as the Eye.

Turns out they’ve got bigger fish to fry: The whale is Veronika Vanderberg (a hilarious Rosamund Pike), a South African diamond heiress with a prize jewel known as the Heart Diamond and a very shady family history. The quest to steal the Heart will take the Horsemen from Antwerp to rural France and then to Abu Dhabi, where they will use their magical abilities to get out of jams, mess with Veronika and ultimately bring justice to the South African communities that have been exploited by diamond mining (naturally). This globe-trotting adventure will also bring together all generations of Horsemen, including former friends and foes, reminding us that even in comparison to big shiny diamonds, the most important natural resource in the world is friendship.

The funny thing about the “Now You See Me” movies, which are delightfully silly, frothy and ultimately quite stupid (in the best way), is that they’re not really about magic. They’re about puzzles and rubber masks and whipping playing cards through the air and escape rooms. But it’s unclear if anything that they do is actually magic. Sure, there are fantastical illusions (some clearly CGI-enhanced) and Henley (Fisher) is a master of escapology, but half the time, the Horsemen are merely setting up elaborate ruses and then their “show” consists of explaining how they tricked one person, which leads to that person’s arrest. Is that magic? It’s misdirection and lying and showmanship on an internationally grand scale, but it’s more “Mission: Impossible” than David Copperfield. It’s like if Ethan Hunt got on stage and explained everything he did to an adoring crowd before giving them all a monetary gift, Oprah-style.

If the Horsemen say it’s magic, fine. Even though the script is laden with expository dialogue — the amount of times they stand in a circle and babble lore at each other is unconscionable — there’s a fleetness to the pacing and the new additions are charming, particularly insouciant scamp Sessa, whose Bosco matches energy with Eisenberg’s smartest-guy-in-the-room arrogance.

Fleischer’s signature style is slick but chintzy, which works here. (There’s something appropriate for the style of a film about magicians being being shiny but cheap.) The first action sequence is incomprehensible, but they get better throughout. Most importantly, Fleischer knows there’s a winking element when it comes to performing or enjoying magic. It’s campy, it’s cheesy, it’s way more fun than you expect it to be, but there’s a knowingness to the whole endeavor. “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t” is the kind of lightweight, harmless and ephemeral entertainment that allows us to be escape artists from reality for a minute, so go ahead and indulge.

Katie Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.

Anne has launched its new groundbreaking health and wellbeing toolkit for the UK’s trans community.

Over the last few years, the LGBTQIA+ community – particularly trans and non-binary people – have become the target of conservative political figures and hateful bigots.

From the 47th president of the United States introducing harmful executive orders that restrict gender-affirming care and ban trans people from participating in sports, to the UK Supreme Court ruling that the legal definition of a woman is based on biological sex, the existence of trans and non-binary people is being continually questioned, undermined and threatened.

Amid the rise of anti-trans sentiment and hateful misinformation worldwide, UK-based not-for-profit health care provider Anne has launched its new Accessing Gender Affirming Care Toolkit.

The community-built resource grants UK-based trans people and allies the ability to better navigate the “increasingly challenging healthcare system against a backdrop of rising social and political hostility.”  

The groundbreaking toolkit includes an overview of gender-affirming healthcare pathways in England — across both NHS and private routes for trans adults — plus core legal protections and context on systemic challenges like long waiting times, inconsistent GP support, regional disparities, and the mental health consequences of delayed care.

It also includes advice for individuals self-medicating, information on moving between private and NHS pathways, and a detailed, extensive directory of trans+ service providers.

In a statement, Anne co-founder Lizzie Jordan opened up about the importance of the new Accessing Gender Affirming Care Toolkit and why it’s needed more than ever.

“We created this toolkit because trans+ people deserve to access healthcare with confidence and dignity. The reality is that Ann shouldn’t need to exist –  but whilst barriers persist, we’re committed to equipping our community with every resource they need to advocate for themselves and get their needs met,” Jordan said.

“This toolkit is about empowerment. It’s about giving trans+ people the knowledge and tools to navigate a system that too often works against them. We will continue building resources like this because we believe trans+ people don’t just deserve to survive – they deserve to thrive.

“By bringing together information that is often fragmented, inaccessible, or inconsistent, the Anne Toolkit provides a trusted point of clarity and source of support during this time of uncertainty. It has the potential to transform daily life for trans people across the UK by informing trans+ people of their rights, offering step-by-step guides to navigating commonly encountered medical roadblocks and educating trans+ patients with accessible resources.”  

Anne co-founder Susie Green echoed similar sentiments, adding that the first-of-its-kind resource gives trans people “the practical tools they need to advocate for themselves with confidence.”

“As someone who has spent decades advocating for trans+ rights, I’ve seen firsthand how the lack of clear, accessible information can leave people feeling powerless and alone,” Green said. “This toolkit is our way of saying: you have rights, you have options, and you deserve to be supported every step of the way.”

The Accessing Gender-Affirming Care Toolkit is now available for free at www.anne.health/toolkits.

The latest series of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! is due to hit our screens this weekend with celebs like Jack Osbourne, Martin Kemp and Ruby Wax set to take part

I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! bosses have been left stumped after Christine McGuinness repeatedly claimed she would be appearing on the show, when she isn’t part of this year’s line-up.

Just weeks ago the mum-of-three hinted that she would be going into the jungle but she hasn’t been announced to be in the show by ITV. It has been said that ITV bosses are “angry” and “confused” after the star suggested she could be taking on the challenge.

The 37-year-old seems to say she would be on I’m A Celeb when she appeared on the Pride of Britain Awards red carpet back in October. Christine said she is usually asked “every year” but the thoughts of leaving her children has always been overwhelming.

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But she said this year could be different as she said she thought “F*** it, why not” which many took as thought they could expect to see her on their screens.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Christine said: “I always get asked and it is one of those shows, every year, would you ever do it?

“And I always say there’s no way, I don’t think I could be away from my children, and I would be scared of the creepy crawlies, I have sensory issues and I have never been outside of Europe so just flying over there would be quite a challenge.

“Trying to get over to the jungle might be a bit of a mission but yeah, let’s see. I think this year most likely I’d be like f*** it, why not.”

The full contestant list was released this week and Christine’s name wasn’t on it. It’s thought bosses aren’t too pleased with Christine’s claims and instead think she should have shut the rumours down.

A source said: “ITV bosses were definitely confused when they saw the reports suggesting Christine had ‘signed up’ for I’m A Celeb.

“Usually, a celebrity would shut down speculation, so Christine appearing to confirm her appearance really infuriated those working behind the scenes.”

Christine shares three children, twins Penelope and Leo, and daughter Felicity, with ex-husband Paddy McGuinness. The pair still live together and co-parents their three children.

The parents have highlighted their children’s autism in recent years and Christine has also spoken about being diagnosed with autism and ADHS herself.

Christine has recently said that she had to consider whether she wanted to remain in the spotlight or not in order to protect her kids.

Speaking to The Mirror, she said: “I’ve had to think if I am in the right industry, and if I can continue. It may be what I enjoy and love, but when i think about my children and how the attention is going to affect their lives I have questioned it and if it’s right for me.”

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MEGAN Barton-Hanson really is the gift that keeps on giving when it comes to turning up the heat, and her latest post does not disappoint.

The sexy Love Island legend, 31, thrilled fans today when you was seen spilling out of her bondage-inspired lingerie.

The iconic Islander is promoting a new adult only content sharing site, which she has been working on called Domora VIP.

To plug the new over 18 site, Megan pulled out all the stops.

The sexy star shared a VERY hot video of her dressed up in bondage lingerie.

The short clip saw her seductively move with her back to the camera.

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Megan’s pert bum was on full display as she spilled out of the strappy underwear.

The reality star was seen gyrating for the camera, and this sent her fans wild.

One said: “This is too much to handle!”

Another added: “Wow girl!”

A third swooned: “You’re on fire!”

‘WELCOME TO DOMORA’

On Instagram, Domora VIP is described as: “A new era of adult content built by a creator for the creator.

“This is a space founded on empowerment, safety and sophistication where luxury meets intimacy.”

Explaining more, Megan said: “Hey, so I know I’ve not posted in so so long, but I’m back and I’ve got such an interesting project to share with you all.

“Welcome to Domora I guess. I’m so excited to share it with you.

“I can’t believe like we’ve worked so hard and it’s gonna be absolutely amazing.

“I think it’s been years and years that I’ve worked in this industry and I always felt like people really put it down, they had judgment around it, there was a big stigma around being in the adult industry.

“You don’t realize what opportunities you can lose, how you can be put down.

“The judgment from finding a relationship, like there’s a lot of things around this that I guess what made me so passionate about wanting to be there for the creator, it doesn’t matter how you identify, what your sex is, it’s not an easy job to do.

“And as much as people do want to put it down, it’s a really important job and a brave job to do, I feel, as I’ve said in so many of my interviews.

“So I finally made a platform we truly believe in, which is ethical, putting in the career first and equally so, so sexy.”

MEGAN’S JOURNEY

The iconic Love Islander appeared on the ITV dating show in 2018 and found love with Wes Nelson, who she eventually left the show with.

The pair split up about five months after filming ended.

Megan was then in talks with bosses to appear as a bombshell during All Stars season two but talks fell through after she got into a new relationship.

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But things turned sour for her earlier this year, with the star announcing she had ended her relationship after fearing for her life.

She said she had been a victim of domestic abuse for a third time, accusing her unnamed partner of “coercive control and emotional abuse” and said she had been made to “feel worthless”.

Before FKA Twigs could discuss her upcoming album, “Afterglow,” she needed a matcha.

The British singer-songwriter had first answered a Zoom call from the backseat of a dimly lit car in New York, where she confessed to running on “2% personality.” She explained that she had flown in that morning from London and had spent the day promoting her upcoming movie, “The Carpenter’s Son,” a biblical horror co-starring Nicolas Cage.

Luckily, only a few minutes into the interview, the singer born Tahliah Debrett Barnett spotted a familiar matcha spot coming up on her route. In a split-second decision, she runs into the cafe, eager for a caffeine boost, and orders everything matcha she could get her hands on — a hot lavender matcha latte, a matcha soft serve and matcha-flavored pudding.

“Oh, we’re gonna be buzzing,” said Twigs, who laughs a bit about how she hasn’t eaten much that day and decided to exclusively consume matcha desserts. After making it back to the car and indulging in a few sips, she declares, “It feels like I have my personality back. That was quite an authentic experience.”

With a revived glint in her eyes, she was ready to debrief “Afterglow,” the unexpected continuation of her third studio album, “Eusexua.” The 37-year-old singer released “Eusexua” in January as both the namesake of her record and a term she coined to describe a transcendent state of being.

Now, less than a year later and set to be released the same day as “The Carpenter’s Son,” her latest album is meant to “beautifully unravel” the questions of humanity she presents on “Eusexua.”

From the start, she says, she knew that “Eusexua” was something bigger than a singular album — equating it to an era. Inspired by Prague’s underground rave culture, the record itself is centered around life’s purest experiences. Over tattered drum and bass patterns, retro-futuristic crescendos and ephemeral melodies, Twigs attempts to bottle the way dance music makes her feel. Lyrically, she embraces a childlike wonder, shares her vulnerabilities and indulges in sweet nothings — all with the intention of capturing what it means to be a person.

Where “Eusexua” is “the bird’s eye view of the human experience,” Twigs says, “Afterglow” is meant to capture humanity through a more direct lens, where feelings are unfiltered and instantaneous. Changing this viewpoint was something that came to her with ease.

“Sometimes when you’re creating something, it feels like you’re rubbing against something or you’re pushing something uphill. But with this project, it didn’t feel like that. It was flowing naturally,” said Twigs.

Most of “Afterglow” was made post-“Eusexua” from the comfort of her home studio in Hackney, London. Despite “Eusexua’s” successful release, she couldn’t shake the feeling of still having more to give.

“I can’t explain it. Sometimes you put out an album, and then it feels like you need to stop for a while,” said Twigs. “But with ‘Eusexua,’ it felt like it was still growing. The message was still spreading, and people still wanted a deeper understanding of what it was.”

For over a decade, Twigs has been known to cushion her albums with a few years between each release. Her debut, “LP1,” released in 2014, was followed by “Magdalene” in 2019 and “Eusexua” in 2025. She also released a mixtape, called “Caprisongs,” in 2022. On each project, she bears a new side to herself, often diving headfirst into the depths of her identity, love life and womanhood. Uncovering raw emotions, like loss, lust and jealousy, she’s able to capture their complexities through erratic rhythms, unorthodox mechanics and a trance-like ambiance.

FKA Twigs performs at Camp Flog Gnaw in November 2019.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Before becoming a musician, she found success at an early age as a professional dancer. In her late teens and early 20s, she appeared as a dancer in music videos for artists like Ed Sheeran, Jessie J and Kylie Minogue. To this day, she relies on dancing and bodily movement as an essential part of how she understands music.

“When you dance, it’s really good to know the rules and the fundamentals, like with ballet. But once you know ballet, then you can mess it up and let go. You can dance with more freedom,” said Twigs, in between bites of her matcha pudding. “That’s kind of what ‘Afterglow’ is. It’s ‘Eusexua,’ but it’s wild, sensual and irresistible. It’s meant to quench a thirst.”

Since she’d laid out the groundwork with her previous release, she approached its follow-up with a carefree sense of freedom. The 11-track album is meant to be a concept album of sorts, detailing the aftermath of a night out. From the feeling of fresh air after leaving a sweaty dance floor to the drunken temptations of texting an ex-lover and the inevitable rush of not wanting the night to end, Twigs proves she has the “afters” down to a formula.

Leaning into a slightly less alien soundscape than the one heard on “Eusexua,” the singer indulges in a masterful form of electronic edging — never going the predictable route. On songs like “Slushy” and “Predictable Girl,” she intertwines a menagerie of robotic, spacey sirens with tinges of Jersey club beats and ’90s-influenced R&B chords. While on equally hypnotic tracks like “Cheap Hotel” and “Sushi,” she commands the heavily-layered soundscape with an intoxicating sense of recklessness.

“Sometimes I go out to reset my brain a little bit. Obviously, I love what I do so much. I love being an artist. But sometimes, it just gets unnecessarily stressful,” explains Twigs, who touches on the complications of fame with the track “Wild and Alone,” alongside fellow British pop music innovator PinkPantheress.

“So when I go out, it makes me put everything into perspective and realize what’s really important in my life, who I want to be and who I want to be around.”

Powered by these realizations, she’ll continue to lose herself in foggy nightclub dance floors, masses of sweaty bodies and blinding strobe lights. But she says, when it comes to making art, there’s one thing she’ll never lose sight of.

The only thing that can affect her creative output, she says, is “whether you’re telling the truth or not, and how honest you’re being.”

Billie Eilish has hit out at Elon Musk for hoarding his multi-billion-dollar wealth.

As reports circulate that the mogul, the world’s richest person since 2021, could become the first trillionaire in history, the Grammy winner jumped on Instagram Stories to suggest some better uses for his fortune.

Eilish reposted various infographics from the activist movement My Voice, which claim that Musk could end world hunger within five years by investing $40 billion annually through 2030, provide universal access to safe, clean water by allocating $140 billion over seven years, and help save 10,000 endangered species with an additional $1–2 billion per year.

Additionally, the infographics state that Musk could rebuild Gaza and other areas of the West Bank for $53.2 billion.

Aware of the slim likelihood of Musk ever doing any of this, Eilish wrote on her Story: “fucking pathetic pussy bitch coward.”

Eilish’s posts come two weeks after she appeared at the WSJ Innovator Awards, which recognise “leaders across industries who are changing the game,” including fashion, music, beauty, art, film and philanthropy.

In her speech for the Music Innovator Award, the ‘Birds of a Feather’ singer noted that “we’re in a time right now where the world is really, really bad and really dark, and people need empathy and help more than ever… especially in our country.”

“And I’d say if you have money, it would be great to use it for good things and maybe give it to some people that need it,” she added, addressing a room that included billionaire Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, who was honoured for her work in science philanthropy.

Eilish continued: “Love you all, but there are a few people in here that have a lot more money than me. If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? No hate, but yeah, give your money away, shorties.”

According to one of the event’s attendees, Zuckerberg refused to clap for Eilish.

Ahead of her speech, host Stephen Colbert revealed that Eilish would be donating $11.5 million of her proceeds from the Hit Me Hard and Soft Tour to “support organisations, projects, and voices dedicated to food equity, climate justice, reducing carbon pollution, and combating the climate crisis.”

“That donation, ladies and gentlemen, will be $11.5 million,” he added. “That’s wonderful. Billie, on behalf of humans everywhere, thank you.”

Strictly Come Dancing will see another celebrity and their professional partner leave the competition this weekend

Strictly Come Dancing will witness another departure this weekend – and the prospects aren’t promising for one pairing.

Last weekend, Balvinder Sopal and her dance partner Julian Caillon managed to avoid finding themselves in the bottom two despite being the bookmakers’ top picks to depart the show.

Nevertheless, Harry Aikines-Aryeetey and La Voix found themselves in the bottom two and were forced to perform once more in an attempt to remain in the contest.

Unfortunately, it signalled the end for the Gladiator star, as all the judges chose to rescue La Voix.

Yet this week, Balvinder and Julian’s journey could be over, according to exclusive odds from Betway, reports Wales Online.

The duo has been handed odds of 150/1 of departing on Sunday.

La Voix, who received salvation last weekend, is also in danger of exiting, with odds of 100/1.

Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the spectrum, George Clarke remains the favourite to claim victory in the competition, with odds of 10/11.

Emmerdale star Lewis Cope sits in second position with odds of 11/4, whilst Vicky Pattison occupies third spot with odds of 6/1.

Whoever ultimately departs this week will also forfeit the chance to perform at the iconic Blackpool Tower during Strictly’s Blackpool Week.

Following their bottom two placement, Balvinder and Julian featured on It Takes Two, where they discussed landing in the dance off once again.

Balvinder told It Takes Two host Fleur East, “The rumba, it was the hardest thing to learn. Literally, on Tuesday, I’d thrown the towel in and went, ‘I can’t do it,’ I sat in a corner and cried.

“Jules was standing there and went, ‘When you’re ready, bro… we’ve got to get this done’.”

Strictly Come Dancing returns on Saturday at 6.30pm on BBC One.

DAVE Burgess, who was the leader of the band that recorded the popular track Tequila, has died at 90.

Burgess was part of The Champs, which soared to fame in 1958 with the track.

He died on October 19 in Tennessee.

His cause of death hasn’t been revealed.

Tequila spent five weeks as the top-selling chart, beginning in March 1958.

More than one million copies of the instrumental, which won a Grammy for the Best R&B performance in 1959, were sold.

The song defeated tracks such as Harry Belafonte’s Belafonte Sings the Blues, Nat King Cole’s Looking Back, and Perez Prado’s song Patricia.

It even received a gold disc from officials at the Record Industry Association of America.

Burgess, from Los Angeles, worked with Challenge Records during the 1950s, which was founded by the rodeo crooner Gene Autry.

When Chuck Rio, the saxophonist, wrote Tequila, it was initially viewed as a throwaway song.

But, it ended up rising to fame.

Saxophonist Eddie Platt produced a cover in 1958 and it rose to number 20 in the US charts.

The song featured in a scene of the 1985 movie Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.

The character played by Paul Reubens irritated a group of bikers by knocking over their motorcycles.

He then tried to appease them by picking the song on the jukebox.

Reubens’ character then started to dance to it.

Tequila was used as the theme song for Banana Split between 2009 and 2011.

And, it has been adopted into chants for sports stars.

The Tequila tune is sung by Arsenal fans when they chant about the team’s defender, William Saliba.

During his music career, Burgess wrote more than 700 songs.

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More to follow… For the latest news on this story, keep checking back at The U.S. Sun, your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, sports news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures, and must-see videos.

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Look around lately and 20th century science fiction has become 21st century fact. Real life in the year 2025 — the date in which Stephen King set his 1982 novel “The Running Man” — involves technological surveillance, corporate feudalism, infotainment propaganda and extreme inequality, all things that his story about a grisly game show predicted. King, like the great sci-fi authors Philip K. Dick and George Orwell before him, was writing a cautionary tale. But the decades since have seen people take their bleak ideas as a blueprint, like when Elon Musk bragged on X that the Tesla Cybertruck is “what Bladerunner would have driven,” missing the point that we don’t want to live in a dystopia (and that Bladerunner isn’t even Harrison Ford’s name in “Blade Runner”).

The timing couldn’t be better — and worse — for Edgar Wright to remake “The Running Man,” only to put no fire into it. He and his co-writer Michael Bacall have adapted a fairly faithful version of the book, unlike the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger meathead extravaganza. (The only way to suffer through that one is if you imagine it’s a parody of pun-driven testosterone flicks.) Tellingly, they’ve left off the year 2025 and only lightly innovated the production design with spherical drones. But there’s little urgency or outrage. Instead of a funhouse mirror of what could be, it’s merely a smudged reflection of what is.

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Glen Powell stars as Ben Richards, a cash-strapped, employer-blacklisted father who begrudgingly agrees to be a contestant on a television hit that no one has survived. There’s only one network, FreeVee, and its goals overlap enough with those of the government that the distinction between them isn’t worth parsing. Every day Ben dodges a death squad, he’ll earn money for his wife, Sheila (Jayme Lawson), and sick baby, up to a billion “new” dollars if he can last a month. (The updated bills have the Governator’s face printed on them.)

But as ever, the game is rigged. The network’s boss, Dan Killian (Josh Brolin), and smarmy host Bobby T (Colman Domingo) rally viewers to turn Ben in for a cash prize, fibbing that he’s a freeloader who refuses to get a job, the typical tax-leeching scapegoat trotted out to turn the middle class against the poor and the poor against themselves. One enraged FreeVee-addicted granny (Sandra Dickinson) genuinely believes Ben eats puppies. “She used to be a kind, clever woman,” her son says with resignation.

Clearly, Wright wants to make a political satire that echoes the drivel of our own actual news. The politics are there in the armored vehicles rolling down city streets and the masked militias out to nab Ben for the bounty money. Yet we don’t feel the paranoia of eyeballs over the streets, even though it turns out that there’s no way to disguise Powell’s foxlike features under a silly stick-on mustache. A hustler named Molie (William H. Macy) warns that the TVs themselves are watching people. It doesn’t really feel like they are. I’ve felt more uneasy in a house with an Alexa.

As for the satire, this faintly cruder version of right now doesn’t have much bite. Little we see is surprising, stimulating or even that futuristic. Screens blare commercials for a drink called Liquid Death (real) and a Kardashian-esque reality show called “The Americanos” (essentially real). The film’s sole representative of upper-middle-class normality — a hostage named Amelia (Emilia Jones) — could trade places with any Pilates instructor.

When an underground rebel, Bradley (Daniel Ezra), breaks down how the network chases ratings by flattening people into archetypes, he’s not telling today’s audience anything it doesn’t already know. King wrote the character as an environmental activist; here, he’s more of a TV critic. Likewise, Bradley’s crony Elton (Michael Cera) has mutated from a pathetic idealist to a Monster-chugging chaos agent — as if “Home Alone’s” Kevin McCallister grew up to join Antifa. Elton’s motivations don’t make sense, but at least Cera barges into the movie with so much energy that his sequence is a hoot. Chuckling that he likes his “bacon extra crispy” as he takes aim at a police squad, he also breaks the seal on this remake’s use of bad puns. From his scenes on, the script crams in as many groaners as it can.

Wright has talent for casting actors that pop. Domingo’s fatuous celebrity host is fantastic, even doing the retro running man dance with Kid ‘n Play aplomb. We see just enough of Ben’s fellow competitors, played by Katy O’Brian and Martin Herlihy, to wish we had more time with them. One of the hunters, Karl Glusman, has so much intensity that I’ll be looking out for what he does next. Pity that the charismatic Lee Pace’s main villain has to spend most of the film covered by a shroud.

Meanwhile, Powell is being put through his own test of Hollywood survival. Everyone seems to agree that he’s the next movie star, but he hasn’t yet landed the right star-making vehicle. Here, as ever, he’s being treated like a Swiss Army knife on a construction site: Handy at a lot of things from humor to action to drama to romance, but his character lacks the oomph to truly showcase his skills. We’re told over and over that Ben is the angriest man in the world, but Powell’s innate likability, that cocky-charming heroic twinkle in his eye, makes him come across peevish at worst. His best moments are all comedy, like when Ben slaps on a thick brogue to hide out as an Irish priest, or his snappy back-and-forth with a psychologist who puts him through a word-association test. (Anarchy? “Win.” Justice? “Hilarious.”)

Still, I missed the truly misanthropic lead of King’s novella, a sour bigot radicalized to see himself not just as a cog in a machine but as a spoke in a revolution. There’s lip service to that idea here, but the film doesn’t take itself seriously enough to give us the chills. It’s not fair to judge “The Running Man” by how closely it hews to the book — and if you remember King’s ending, then you know there’s no way Wright could have pulled that off, although his fix is pretty clever. But tonally, there’s just not enough rage, gore or fun.

Maybe Wright feels the same way too. He’s been wanting to make this movie since 2017 and had the lousy luck to do it for Paramount in the year that the studio embraced the government and sacrificed its employees for its own billion-dollar reward. There’s no bleaker satire than making it through “The Running Man’s” end credits, past images of a raised fist that reads “Together Against the Network,” to see the last words on screen: A Skydance Corporation. Or maybe there is, if someone makes a documentary about what Edgar Wright may have had to cut.

THE wife of food influencer Michael Duarte has broken her silence following his death.

Duarte, known as Food With Bear Hands, was shot dead by cops after allegedly waving a knife erratically.

Duarte’s wife, Jess, has spoken out for the first time and told TMZ she’s “struggled” what to do.

She paid a glowing tribute to him on social media.

“I plan to keep his legacy going not only for him, but his family,” she wrote on Instagram.

“He gave everyone every bit of him so it’s my turn to give it back.

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CHEF KILLED

Food influencer was shot dead by cops after ‘waving knife erratically’

CHEF GONE

Influencer chef with 2 million followers dies in ‘horrible accident’

“I’m not quite sure what that looks like yet but hopefully he will lead me on that path.”

Jess claimed she could feel her late husband “moving mountains” as she acknowledged his legion of fans.

“A big thank you to my tribe & Mike’s BBQ community for making me feel like I have an army behind me,” she wrote.

“I’m still struggling with the fact that he is no longer with us but l’m starting to see his purpose was SO much bigger.

“I’m starting to see God work in mysterious ways that l’ve never experienced before and hoping that will bring our family some peace.”

She revealed she’s proud to be Duarte’s wife.

“I will carry that title with honor for the rest of my life. See you on the other side, Daddy,” Jess said as she rounded off the post.

Duarte died just days after the couple celebrated their nine year wedding anniversary.

Texas cops encountered him waving a knife before ordering him to drop it.

Medina County sheriffs claimed the influencer was making threats.

“Duarte charged toward the Deputy while yelling, ‘I’m going to kill you,” they claimed.

Duarte. a dad of one, was treated at the scene then rushed to San Antonio hospital where he tragically died.

A GoFundMe was created following his death and more than $80,000 has been raised.

PEATY FEUD TWIST

Adam Peaty’s brother arrested over stag do threats sent to Olympian

CHOC HORROR

‘Disgusting’ price of 750g Quality Street tins are slammed by Tesco shoppers

More to follow… For the latest news on this story, keep checking back at The U.S. Sun, your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, sports news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures, and must-see videos.

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It’s election night in Robert Icke’s “Oedipus,” a modern retelling of Sophocles’ “Oedipus the King” that must be the buzziest, if not the chicest, Broadway offering of the fall season.

The production, a prestigious London import that opened at Studio 54 on Thursday under Icke’s smart and sleek direction, stars a charismatic Mark Strong in the title role. His elegant and urbane Oedipus, a politician on the cusp of a momentous victory, prides himself on not playing by the old rules. A straight talker who has made transparency his calling card, he frequently veers off script in paroxysms of candor, to the chagrin of Creon (John Carroll Lynch), his brother-in-law who has been steering the campaign to what looks like a landslide victory.

But “count no mortal happy till / he has passed the final limit of his life secure from pain,” as the chorus intones at the end of Sophocles’ tragedy. There is no chorus in Icke’s version, but the sentiment holds, as Oedipus unravels the puzzle of his identity with the same relentlessness that has brought him to the brink of electoral triumph.

Anne Reid, left, and Olivia Reis in “Oedipus.”

(Julieta Cervantes)

A birther conspiracy has been raised by his political opponent, and Oedipus, speaking impromptu to reporters on-screen at the start of the play, promises to release his birth certificate and put an end to the controversy. What’s more, he vows to reopen an investigation into the death of Laius, the former leader who died 34 years ago under circumstances that have allowed rumor and innuendo to fester.

Oedipus calls himself Laius’ “successor, the inheritor of his legacy,” and in true Sophoclean fashion he speaks more than he knows. Jocasta (Lesley Manville in top form), Oedipus’ wife, was married to Laius, and so Oedipus is occupying his predecessor’s place in more ways than one.

In Sophocles’ play, Oedipus confronts a plague that has been laying waste to Thebes. In Icke’s drama, which had its premiere in Amsterdam in 2018, the pathogen is political. The civic body has fallen ill. Oedipus sees himself as an answer to the demagogic manipulation that has wrought havoc. The water is poisoned, economic inequality is out of control and immigrants have become an easy target. Sound familiar?

Icke’s Oedipus has an Obama-level of confidence in reason and reasonableness. His direct, pragmatic approach has seduced voters, but has it deluded him into thinking that he has all the answers? Oedipus is an ingenious problem solver. Puzzles entice his keen intellect, but he will have to learn the difference between a paradox and a riddle.

Mark Strong, left, and Samuel Brewer in “Oedipus.”

(Julieta Cervantes)

His daughter, Antigone (Olivia Reis), a scholar who has returned for her father’s big night, ventures to make the distinction: “One’s got a solution — one’s just something you have to live with?” But Oedipus is in no mood for academic hairsplitting.

A countdown clock marks the time until the election results will be announced. That hour, as audiences familiar with the original tragedy already know, is when Oedipus will discover his true identity.

Merope (Anne Reid), Oedipus’ mother, has unexpectedly turned up at campaign headquarters needing to speak to her son. Oedipus fears it has something to do with his dying father, but she tells him she just needs a few minutes alone with him. Thinking he has everything under control, he keeps putting her off, not knowing that she has come to warn him about revealing his birth certificate to the public.

The handling of this plot device, with the canny veteran Reid wandering in and out of the drama like an informational time bomb, is a little clumsy. There’s a prattling aspect to Icke’s delaying tactics. His “Oedipus” is more prose than poetry. The family dynamics are well drawn, though a tad overdone.

Mark Strong and the cast of “Oedipus.”

(Julieta Cervantes)

Reid’s Merope and Reis’ Antigone, ferocious in their different ways, refuse to play second fiddle to Manville’s Jocasta when it comes to Oedipus’ affections. Manville, who won an Olivier Award for her performance in “Oedipus,” delivers a performance as sublimely seething as her Oscar-nominated turn in “Phantom Thread.” Endowed with a formidable hauteur, her Jocasta acts graciously, but with an unmistakable note of condescension. As Oedipus’ wife, she assumes sexual pride of place, which only exacerbates tensions with Merope and Antigone.

Oedipus’ sons, Polyneices (James Wilbraham) and Eteocles (Jordan Scowen) are given personal backstories, but there is only so much domestic conflict that can be encompassed in a production that runs just under two hours without interruption. And Polyneices being gay and Eteocles being something of a philander would be of more interest in an “Oedipus” limited series.

When Sophocles’ tragedy is done right, it should resemble a mass more than a morality tale. Oedipus’ story has a ceremonial quality. The limits of human understanding are probed as a sacrificial figure challenges the inscrutable order of the universe. Icke, who views classics through a modern lens (“Hamlet,” “1984”), is perhaps more alert to the sociology than the metaphysics of the tragedy.

Oedipus’ flaws are writ large in his rash, heated dealings with anyone who stands in his way. Icke transforms Creon into a middle-of-the-road political strategist (embodied by Lynch with a combination of arrogance and long-suffering patience) and blind Teiresias (a stark Samuel Brewer) into a mendicant psychic too pathetic to be a pariah.

Mark Strong and Lesley Manville in “Oedipus.”

(Julieta Cervantes)

But Oedipus’ strengths — the keenness of his mind, his heroic commitment to truth and transparency — mustn’t be overlooked. Strong, who won an Olivier Award for his performance in Ivo van Hove’s revival of Arthur Miller’s “A View From the Bridge,” exposes the boyish vulnerability within the sophisticated politician in his sympathetically beguiling portrayal.

Wojciech Dziedzic’s costumes remake the protagonist into a modern European man. Yet true to his Ancient Greek lineage, this Oedipus is nothing if not paradoxical, suavely enjoying his privilege while brandishing his egalitarian views.

The production takes place on a fishbowl office set, designed by Hildegard Bechtler with a clinical and wholly contemporary austerity. The furnishings are removed as the election night draws to its conclusion, leaving no place for the characters to hide from the unwelcome knowledge that will upend their lives.

What do they discover? That everything they thought they understood about themselves was built on a lie. For all his brilliance, Oedipus was unable to outrun his fate, which in Icke’s version has less to do with the gods and more to do with animal instincts and social forces.

When Oedipus and Jocasta learn who they are to each other, passion rushes in before shame calls them to account. Freud wouldn’t be shocked. But it’s not the psychosexual dimension of Icke’s drama that is most memorable.

The ending, impeded by a retrospective coda, diminishes the full cathartic impact. But what we’re left with is the astute understanding of a special kind of hubris that afflicts the more talented politicians — those who believe they have the answers to society’s problems without recognizing the ignorance that is our common lot.