show biz

Wrestling with the realities of drug addiction is an endeavor rife with pitfalls for any filmmaker hoping to avoid easy judgment. To judge from the earliest, straight-on view in “Union County” of Will Poulter’s Cody — a weary-looking, tight-lipped young Ohio man absorbing the rules of a treatment program as explained by a courtroom judge — the sense is that we’re in for a ride-along hinged to honesty and the unfettered character work of a fine actor.

That empathy is welcome from first-time writer-director Adam Meeks, and he supports his approach with a gentle aura of verisimilitude, a mostly locked-down camera and, in the snippets of other testimonials, a suggestion that we’re in genuine spaces, not movie locations. Eventually, as the film tracks Cody’s progress through this rural stretch of central Ohio, it becomes clear we’re in a fictionalized story surrounded by real recovery participants and counselors, a backdrop of sincerity that allows a well-intentioned performance to breathe on its own.

That unaffected authenticity helps gird us for the quietly complicated tale “Union County” has to tell. Cody, who is living in his car when we meet him, isn’t alone as he starts this journey. Also in that courtroom that first day is his brother Jack (Noah Centineo), a more visibly restless and outgoing soul compared to Cody’s protective reticence. Jack, who is further along in the program and seems to bring Cody out of his shell, also helps him land a job at a lumber mill where he works. Tagging along to a campfire hang, Cody allows himself to talk to Anna (Elise Kibler) and we notice a potential spark.

But with that connection to Jack, initially forged as foster siblings but later as opioid buddies, comes risk. There’s a sister, too, played by Emily Meade, and her stone-faced appearance during a backslide in Cody’s recovery is a sign that with his past comes a lot he hasn’t faced yet. But as we learn more about Cody, Jack and the hard road ahead, “Union County” doesn’t pitch its treatment as a cure-all, nor engineer candidness into dramatic gold. Rather, Meeks merely asks us to clock the humanity in our every minute of observing Cody, to recognize what struggling looks like whether we “know” someone going through it or not.

Necessary to that approach, which brings to mind the watchful grace of last year’s stellar memory drama “Familiar Touch,” is the wonderful Poulter’s lived-in presence as someone trying to not even have a presence. Meeks knows when and where to give his lead character distance, respecting that opacity. In group sessions, where Cody typically doesn’t say much, the others speak for what Cody might be going through, Greek chorus-style. The effect is of watching someone float around the outside of a safe space. There’s tension in wondering if he’ll notice when it’s time to slip inside.

Social realist dramas aren’t new and they include award-winning landmarks by Ken Loach and Chloé Zhao. But they’re having a moment and “Union County” underscores why some work as well as they do. The right mix of true and imagined can give the simplest of humane narratives — in this case, the possibility of renewal in an epidemic of hurt — a fresher chance to touch us.

“The Wrong Girls” is the right comedy if you want to unplug your brain and laugh. The first punchline doesn’t even have words. It’s just two stoner roommates, Frankie (Kristen Stewart) and Molly (Alia Shawkat), ripping a mega-hit and coughing at each other. Finally, they speak in unison: “Jinx.”

Frankie, a Stanford dropout, engineered the living room’s impressive “bong-a-tron.” Molly, a wannabe chef, bakes brownies spiked with pot and blue cheese. (We’re assured they‘re delicious.) These screw-ups share everything: a taste in thrift store cat paintings, a chillaxed attitude toward overdue bills and a comfy inertia that’s kept them both stunted, frustrating Molly’s boyfriend Josh (a likable Zack Fox). In turn, possessive Frankie thinks Josh is a buzzkill.

Soon, the insular twosome will share a mind, too, thanks to a telepathic drug they ingest like idiots, not that they have any gray matter to spare. That’s not entirely fair. The friends aren’t dumb; they’ve just been baked for so long that acting dumb is a habit. (Don’t worry, writer-director Dylan Meyer won’t force them to sober up.)

The plot is confidently stupid. A criminal courier (LaKeith Stanfield) mistakes Frankie for her more successful doppelganger Francis (also played by Stewart), saddling her with a briefcase that a trio of dangerous Danes are determined to steal back. Thus, our heroes must peel themselves off from the couch and go on the run with their resentful felines Dio and GG bouncing along in backpacks.

Voiced by Seth Rogen and Kumail Nanjiani, the pets have opinions their owners don’t want to hear. “I’m pretty sure they’re the ones who gave us fleas,” GG sneers. I like those comics and live with two annoying Maine Coons. Nevertheless, these cats are too chatty.

Meyer is a screenwriter-turned-filmmaker who met Stewart on the set of the underseen 2015 comic thriller “American Ultra.” In the years since, she has also become Stewart’s wife. That’s important only because “Wrong Girls” has the pinpoint silliness of soulmates who spend a lot of time goofing around at home. Meyer wrote the script a decade ago about her friendship with producer Maggie McLean, but no doubt she knows better than anyone how much the smart and sensible-projecting Stewart delights in acting the fool.

The jokes are as flawlessly tailored to Stewart as Chanel couture, be they zany schemes, spacey freak-outs or the sly middle finger Stewart flashes with her 818-tattooed knuckles while her character suffers a jerk (Tony Hale). And they custom-fit Shawkat’s mellower Molly, who trots behind in Frankie’s wake of destruction. The sci-fi twist in the script turns their relationship into a send-up of co-dependence. Their insular bond can’t last forever — can it?

Meyer subverts a couple tropes, embraces others. Comedy capers like this usually deflate in the third act when their pleasures get punctured by unfunny gunfire. The movie sees that trap coming and dodges it by the skin of its teeth. Nimbly, it manages to be both a pacifist film and a subversive one with no faith in the system as it stands. Characters deliver jabs at “Jeff Bozos” and the Epstein class while slyly revealing you shouldn’t trust their takes, either. Frankie invents a new nonsensical insult, calling Molly’s boyfriend Josh “such a customer.” Sure, whatever that means!

“The Wrong Girls” shares its own hive mind with David Wain’s also-good “Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass,” released earlier this summer. Both are star-studded, hyper-L.A. chase comedies that treat their central contrivances as nothing more than scaffolding for the scenes that actually count. Who cares what happens to the Danes’ precious briefcase? We just want to see Frankie and Molly melt down upon learning that their favorite all-you-can-eat lunch spot is closing due to uncertainty in the buffet sector (a eulogy for the real-life Souplantation, whose absence remains deeply felt).

Even within the tenuous reality of the movie, Frankie and Molly aren’t focused on saving their own necks, especially after their clairvoyant powers kick in and the friends realize they can communicate with closed mouths. As lab-coated figures played by Kate McKinnon and Geena Davis attempt to deliver exposition, the pals drown them out chit-chatting about drivel. The stars know it takes skill to act dumb. Christina Applegate described it best: About her portrayal of hair metal bimbo Kelly Bundy in “Married … with Children,” Applegate said, “In her own mind, she’s a genius.”

The film is just wonky enough to wonder if some beats got chopped out of it, like a go-nowhere running joke about how Hale’s front door won’t close or an aside about how Stewart’s Frankie once Jerry-rigged an escape parachute, which cinematographer Todd Banhazl seems to be reminding us of when he lingers on a shot of an awkward shindig’s helium décor. Banhazl does pull off one of the few inventive psychedelic sequences I’ve seen in a while. (To see another, go stream the giddy new campus comedy “Pizza Movie.”)

Or maybe “The Wrong Girls” is simply making an artistic statement about the joy of sloppiness. Here, to be chaotic and colorful is a badge of honor. Just compare the girls’ cluttered digs with their pursuers’ sterile white suits. In that same spirit of excess, there’s an extra scene in the end credits that goes over like a lead balloon. No one in my theater chuckled. But I respected it anyway for insisting on these jokers’ right to remain an unapologetic mess.

KATIE Price has announced a new live tour in a money-making move.

It comes as the former glamour model is said to have been consulting divorce lawyers over her tumultuous marriage to Lee Andrews

In a new Instagram post, Katie revealed she’s set to tour the country with the podcast she hosts with sister Sophie, The Katie Price Show.

The post read: “PRICEY IS BACK!

“Katie Price and her little sister Sophie bring their hit podcast “The Katie Price Show” to a theatre near you, live – with more chaos, more singing and even juicer stories!

“They may be opposites, but their sisterly banter and relationship are what makes the podcast a success.”

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It was then confirmed that the sisters will be touring in February, with the tour kicking off on the 2nd in Stockport before ending in Harpenden on 25 February.

Tickets are on sale today (Friday 14 August) from 10am for the tour.

The tour announcement comes as Katie has spent the week partying in Ibiza with her son Harvey and Wayne Lineker.

She has been letting her hair down on the White Isle after a rocky time in her marriage with husband Lee.

The Dubai-based ‘businessman’ was exposed by The Sun as a conman last month, and currently remains in prison for a second time.

Sources revealed to The Sun that Katie was consulting divorce lawyers following her husband’s imprisonment, and took off her wedding ring.

Katie has now returned to wearing her ring, but is yet to speak out on Lee.

Kate Garraway and Ranvir Singh returned to host ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Friday

Viewers of Good Morning Britain have been left feeling unimpressed.

Kate Garraway and Ranvir Singh returned to host the ITV programme on Friday (August 14), delivering the day’s biggest headlines from across the UK and around the world.

They primarily focused on Nigel Farage winning the Clacton by-election with 22,239 votes after quitting as an MP and fighting to reclaim his seat. His main rival, parody candidate Count Binface, was backed by just over 9,000 voters.

This came after the Reform UK leader triggered the by-election in protest of the scrutiny of donations from his backers.

There was also early-morning drama as Farage announced he would not be attending the result declaration. He told activists he had been made aware of plans to “disrupt and degrade” the proceedings.

Kate and Ranvir discussed the result during the latest episode of GMB, alongside former Scottish trade union leader Christina McAnea and Reform MP Nadhim Zahawi.

But viewers were left feeling frustrated over the show dedicating much of its coverage to the politics, as well as the hosts and guests repeatedly talking over one another.

“ITV needs to shake up #GMB. The BBC is the place for political debate in the morning. We need a more light hearted alternative,” one person wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Another added: “What the hell are you doing bringing Zahawi on? Are you kidding me? get him off!” while a third said: “Just a load of noise with 2 s**** presenters and 2 guests talking over each other on #GMB move on.”

Someone else commented: “Turned off within 20 seconds this morning,” with another fuming: “Doing my head in now.”

Other frustrated fans said “come on”, while a seventh said: “I turned off. Many people lost their homes in wildfires in Stourbridge last night but they are giving full on airtime to Nigel Farage.”

Meanwhile, other viewers praised Ranvir and Kate for their handling of the story as they spoke to Zahawi and interviewed his colleague Richard Tice.

Another headline that was focused on was the weather. Laura Tobin revealed that cooler weather is on the way for the UK after Brits endured another week of record breaking heat.

Kew Gardens provisionally recorded a top temperature of 38.1 degrees on Thursday (August 13), surpassing the previous high of 38 degrees on June 26, the Met Office said.

Good Morning Britain airs weekdays on ITV1 and ITVX at 6am

Denise Welch has announced that she is leaving Loose Women, sparking a flood of support from fans. The 68-year-old has been a staple of the ITV panel for decades, but confirmed that she would be stepping down in a video shared on Instagram earlier today.

Sharing the reason for her departure – which came days after Nadia Sawalha spoke about her own exit – she told followers that she wanted to focus on her acting career, describing it as her ‘first love and the thing she’s best at.”

In a video posted on Instagram she said: “I’m leaving Loose Women after the best part of 25 years, off and on. I did leave for about seven years and went back in 2018. This show has been part of mine, and my family’s life, for nearly a quarter of a century.

“I have the most wonderful, wonderful memories and it’s just that acting has always been my first love and, I think, the thing I’m best at.

“At the moment, I’m having the most wonderful opportunities coming my way and I’m grabbing them by the you-know-whats and running with it for this new chapter of my life.

“And so I just wanted to say that in person to thank all of the people who have shared my stories with me. I’ve shared my life with you – the good, the bad and the ugly. I’m very marmite but I cherish all the comments, good or bad, that I’ve had over the years.”

She added: “I just hope you wish me well for this new exciting chapter in my life. I’ll miss everybody but I will remain friends with the whole gang because, despite what you might read, we are a happy band of campers. Lots of love, thanks for sticking with me.”

Denise’s husband, Lincoln Townley, was among the first to share his support for her departure in the comments below. He proudly penned: “Grab those you know what’s darling you’re an incredibly strong talented sensational woman, the best is yet to come!”

Carol Vorderman commented: “Dens …… well that’s an era closing … you’ve been the beating heart of LW and I loved my 3 years with you there. You’re looking soooooooo well and happy and excited so here’s to your next chapter my lovely friend.”

“Nooooooo! Gutted to be honest! Going to really miss sharing the panel with you,” Katie Piper replied, as GK Barry added: “Denise I’m gonna be so sad not to be on the panel with you anymore you always brought so much joy to my day. Can’t wait to see you on our screens [sic].”

Denise made her debut as an official Loose Women panelist in 2005 alongside Kaye Adams, Coleen Nolan and a string of other notable faces. She took a step back from the series in 2013, before eventually returning in 2018.

In that time, she has shared the screen with Ruth Langsford, Christine Lampard, Andrea McLean, Oti Mabuse, Gloria Hunniford and many others.

She came to came in the early 80s before landing a coveted role in Byker Grove as Polly Bell in 1990. Shortly after, she made the move over to Weatherfield, playing Rovers Return landlady Natalie Barnes in Coronation Street.

Following her exit from the soap in 2000, she appeared in Down to Earth, Waterloo Road, Hollyoaks, Emmerdale and EastEnders. Aside from acting, she also won Celebrity Big Brother in 2012 and competed in Dancing on Ice.

Although Denise remained coy about her upcoming acting opportunities, an insider explained that she was taking ‘a massive leap of faith’.

Describing her decision as ‘the end of an era’, they told the Sun: “She is taking a massive leap of faith and going to focus solely on her acting which, really, has always been her first great love.

“Over the past 18 months she has also won herself a whole new fan base with Gen Z, and the LGBTQIA+ community especially.”

“This has seen her being offered high-fashion photoshoots, and given new social media opportunities,” they added. “Now is the time to pursue her dreams, although she will be devastated to wave goodbye to her Loose friends and colleagues. She will be sorely missed.”

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.

A BRITISH girlband have sparked controversy after they admitted they’re “difficult to work with” and have “been rude” but “own it.”

The trio formed in 2019 and they eventually shot to fame in spring 2022 when their debut single, Cardboard Box, went viral on TikTok.

R&B group FLO, made up of Stella Quaresma, Jorja Douglas and Renée Downer, have already found chart-topping success, bagging themselves a MOBO Award and a Grammy nomination.

Since then, rumours have swirled in the music industry that the girls are “difficult” to work with.

They have now made an appearance on a podcast and addressed the backlash head on.

Speaking on the Zach Sang Show, Stella Quaresma said: “A lot of people have stuff to say about us that we’re hard to work with or we’ve got attitude or we’re difficult.

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“And at some point you have to just be like okay, sure, maybe you’re right… like you have to own it.”

“Because if you own it, they can’t say anything more. It’s like I know you are but what am I,” she continued.

“It’s like if I agree then what can you say, it’s owning it.”

When asked how they would define why they are “difficult” to work with the girls replied in unison “opinionated.”

Jorja Douglas said: “I think it’s very much that people aren’t used to it and especially where we were so young… there’s a lot of power dynamics in the industry.

“It’s hard being like 18 and even up until now when we’re 24 or 23 and people who are deep into their 30s and have been doing it, since they were our age.. to take onboard that we disagree or have a different idea.

“It’s difficult for people and I think that’s where it stems because we’re not rude obviously we’ve been rude before, like who hasn’t, it’s a very high stress job and being rude can sometimes be a bit fun.”

She added: “But obviously pick your moments.”

Stella also confessed that she believes people in the industry are “sensitive” with the industry being “based off of emotions.”

FLO’s fans certainly had their backs in the comments as they rushed to the girls’ defence.

One fan said: “Our queens know what they want, and what they deserve. They shouldn’t expect any less.”

Another fan wrote: “People just hate confident women who know what they want.”

A third fan penned: “These women are fabulous. I’ve met them before and they were so open, sweet and genuine.”

Meanwhile, a fourth person felt differently: “Own it all you want but once you get a reputation like that, you will miss out on future opportunities.”

California regulators have approved the sale of Cox Communications to cable giant Charter Communications — the final hurdle in a marathon review to clear the $34.5-billion cable consolidation.

With Thursday’s sign-off by the California Public Utilities Commission, the mammoth merger is expected to close next week.

The deal will make Charter’s Spectrum the dominant broadband internet and cable television service in Southern California, with millions of customers scattered throughout Santa Barbara, Bakersfield, Los Angeles, Palos Verdes Estates, Newport Beach, Irvine, Riverside and San Diego.

Charter’s acquisition of Cox, unveiled 15 months ago, will solidify Charter’s status as the nation’s largest cable company, eclipsing Philadelphia-based Comcast Corp., which serves San Francisco and other Northern California communities.

“This transformative deal will benefit millions of consumers who will soon have access to greater value and opportunities to save, including our fully converged mobile-broadband bundle savings guarantee, combined with our industry-leading Customer Commitment and the 100% U.S.-based sales and service employees Spectrum is known for,” Charter said in a statement.

After weeks of behind-the-scenes wrangling, the CPUC voted unanimously to approve two settlement agreements with Charter that allow the merger to move forward. The agency attached conditions that it hopes will protect consumers and expand broadband access.

“This decision secures significant commitments that will benefit Californians through expanded affordable broadband options, major infrastructure investments, improved customer protections, and meaningful support for digital inclusion,” Commissioner Matthew Baker, who helped negotiate the agreements, said in a statement.

Federal regulators approved the deal months ago, as had other state regulators.

“This proceeding was a heavy lift for everyone,” Commissioner Darcie L. Houck acknowledged during Thursday’s hearing, which was held in San Francisco.

Through the settlements, Houck said she hoped Charter would address a disparity in which low-income residents are often stuck with higher phone and internet bills than residents in more affluent areas. Higher-income neighborhoods often benefit from increased competition as multiple providers jockey for business.

“There are many areas of the state that do have low-income communities that are paying higher costs for telecommunication services,” Houck said. “I’m hopeful that the provisions in this settlement agreement will help ensure more equity in pricing.”

Atlanta-based Cox has long been viewed as a lucrative prize. In addition to serving coastal communities in Southern California, it also has customers in growing population hubs such as Las Vegas, Phoenix and Tucson.

To win CPUC approval, the Stamford, Conn.-based cable giant agreed to offer more affordable packages for low-income residents, including several tiers of the California LifeLine service, for up to five years.

Advocates had pushed for a longer commitment.

Charter promised to invest $30 million in education and awareness initiatives in California, including community outreach and digital literacy training. In addition, Charter agreed to spend at least $275 million on upgrades to its equipment in its existing Spectrum service area — including completing a 1-gigabit service buildout — within three years.

The company also must provide free broadband and Wi-Fi service for dozens of eligible community centers, including schools and libraries.

Spectrum will be required to provide automatic bill credits for customers for qualifying service outages that last at least two hours. And the company must honor eligible “price for life” service agreements held by some residential subscribers.

Charter Chief Executive Chris Winfrey has told investors that his firm was aiming to close the merger this month. Several commissioners noted the looming deadline as they opted for the settlement that Baker helped negotiate.

Regulators said the two companies generate more than $10 billion in revenue from their California customers. In addition to serving more than 5 million homes, they also provide telephone service to 1.5 million subscribers in the state.

California regulators have approved Charter’s $34.5-billion purchase of Cox Communications.

(Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images)

After the deal closes, Cox customers will be switched to Spectrum service, most likely by mid-September. They should also get SportsNet LA — the Dodgers’ television channel — as part oftheir lineups.

For more than a decade, Cox has refused to carry the channel, owned by the Dodgers organization, due to its high license fee — leading to one of the television industry’s longest blackouts.

END OF OAK STREET

(12A) 99mins

★★★☆☆

SINCE the explosive success of Stranger Things, the style of Spielberg’s Eighties sci-fi films is trendy – and this film leans into that nostalgia.

You know — the American small town where kids play out on the street and strange goings-on happen while the parents are too busy to notice.

That is certainly the feel of this action-horror movie, which combines ET with Jurassic Park.

It follows the Platt family, who are living in American suburbia in the Eighties — a more innocent time when neighbours had street barbecues and teens spent hours on their Walkmans.

Dad Greg (Ewan McGregor) and mum Denise (Anne Hathaway) appear to be a perfect union, but behind closed doors they are discussing divorce.

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Their kids, Audrey (Maisy Stella) and Brian (Christian Convery) are concerned, but the foursome paper over the cracks by eating pizza and chatting about their naughty dog, Starbuck.

Soon though, their home life is thrown into disarray when a mysterious cosmic event rips through the neighbourhood and surrounds it with time before the Big Bang.

This brings tropical temperatures, terrifying water levels and lashings of really hungry dinosaurs that couldn’t care less if you own a gun.

The family have to stick together to work out how they can transport themselves out of this seemingly broken time machine — while avoiding being chomped on by a T-Rex.

There are a few jumpy moments early on and, like many “mysterious goings-on” films, it’s scarier when you don’t see the enemy.

But the build-up is intriguing and there are some nice, nostalgic Eighties moments thrown in for the millennials to enjoy.

Sadly, it’s a lacklustre performance from McGregor in a bad wig, who looks like he would rather become dino-feed than be in this film, as he has zero chemistry with the rest of the family.

While Hathaway is more watchable, she appears so distractingly young, she could swap roles with the actress playing her daughter.

Director David Robert Mitchell does a decent job showing his commitment to the genre and gives a few nods to Spielberg’s camera techniques for film geeks.

But, while perfectly entertaining, the story gets a ­little overcomplicated and the characters are not engaging enough for it to join the ranks of a truly great monster movie.

LADY

(15) 95mins

★★★★☆

KOOKY characters in film can quickly become tiresome, but not so in this bizarre and brilliant mockumentary about a flamboyant lady of the manor.

Lady Isabella (Fleabag’s Sian Clifford) rattles around with her housekeeper in the vast Ravenhyde Hall, until she becomes the subject of a documentary, allegedly for Netflix, calling herself “aristocracy’s answer to the Kardashians”.

Going at high octane all the time, she is in truth achingly lonely – one companion is a raven called Ricky.

This changes with the arrival of a camera crew led by director Sam (Laurie Kynaston), a trendy filmmaker.

But he is soon put in his place by the hilarious Isabella, who ignores his directions, calls “cut” regularly and even tries to seduce him with some milk when he is lactose intolerant.

The madcap satire soon turns into a study filled with em­pathy and intriguing, unconventional relationships.

Clifford gives a cracking performance, never pushing into caricature, and Kynaston is the perfect juxtaposition as the seemingly sane but hugely insecure director.

Surreal, sweet and seriously funny.

TONY

(15) 106mins

★★☆☆☆

IT’S not easy to make movies about real-life figures who have a cult following, which puts pressure on this story of how celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain became a culinary icon.

So instead of getting into the film about Bourdain becoming the great man the world knew, it’s more of a coming-of-age story that could be about anyone.

Tony (Dominic Sessa) has flunked school and travels to Provincetown, Massachusetts, to chase Nancy (Emilia Jones), a crush he barely knows.

Skint and with nowhere to live, he soon finds himself washing dishes in the ­restaurant of a local chef (Antonio Banderas) and sleeping in his hammock.

Working alongside him is drug-loving ladies’ man Sal (Leo Woodall), who regularly vomits in a bin on shift. Tony apparently becomes inspired.

Tony spends a really long time staring at things in a daze and not saying much.

When he does speak, it’s pretty infuriating.

With no real direction, this becomes more of a buddy movie than an insight into how the now sadly deceased great man became such a hit around the world.

A new true crime documentary revisits the story of an amputee surgeon’s web of lies

A police investigation into human butchery and a monster known as the ‘Eunuch Maker’ is the centre of a new true crime documentary, and it makes for a disturbing watch.

An Amputation Obsession: The Monster and the Surgeon explores the real life story of NHS surgeon Neil Hopper who, in 2019, lost his own legs to amputation following what he said was a result of a mystery illness.

Upon returning back to work, Neil performed amputations as part of his role at the Royal Cornwall Hospital, and often took to social media and news outlets to share his own journey.

He even claimed over £466,000 in insurance payouts after he claimed his injuries were a result of sepsis, becoming somewhat of a national hero and symbol of hope. However, he hid a dark secret that nobody could have guessed.

His leg amputations were a result of self-inflicted injuries, meaning he fraudulently claimed insurance payouts. Not only that, but he was investigated for paying to access a website which sold videos of amputations.

The new documentary explores the disturbing case and Neil’s connection to the ‘Eunuch Maker’.

Who is ‘Eunuch Maker’ Marius Gustavson and where is he now?

The Metropolitan Police were looking into the ‘Eunuch Maker’ website which was run by Marius Gustavson. It offered pay to view access to chilling videos of extreme body modifications and mutilations on customers.

These extreme videos included the cutting the genitals off of men to make them ‘eunuchs’, which is a male who has been castrated. Marius was the ringleader, with the procedures often being carried out in his own home which would sometimes go wrong, meaning ambulances were called.

The programme hears from one journalist who says the nature of the evidence was “so extreme” and hard to hear, with Marius earning around £300,000 in profits from the site over a period of around four years.

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After a brave victim came forward, the website was eventually brought down and it was through this investigation that police learned about Neil Hopper’s own involvement and the dark reality about what really happened to his legs.

In May 2024, Marius appeared before the courts and issued a guilty plea to 13 offences including multiple counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent. He was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 22 years, meaning he will still be in prison now.

At the time, nine others also received sentences ranging from suspended sentences to 12 years imprisonment for their roles in the investigation.

An Amputation Obsession: The Monster and the Surgeon can be streamed on Prime Video

When she’s not showing off her brainiac skills, The Chase star Jenny Ryan is loved-up with her actor partner

Jenny Ryan is a firm favourite on The Chase – but who is her real-life boyfriend?

The brainiac shot to fame when she joined the ITV quiz show – hosted by Bradley Walsh – back in 2025. Since then, Jenny has become a regular on TV screens.

From stints on Celebrity X Factor to the new spin-off programme, The Chase Around The World, Jenny, also known as the Vixen, has remained booked and busy.

But away from the TV sets, Jenny is loved-up with her long-term boyfriend, Thom Tuck who also happens to work in the showbiz and entertainment industry.

Over the years, Thom has appeared in the likes of a number of hit shows, including The Crown, Fresh Meat and Babylon. He’s also shown off his talents on stage, performing in theatre productions of Death of A Salesman and Three Sisters.

Thom was also nominated for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Fringe for Thom Tuck Goes Straight-to-DVD. The show managed to get adapted to BBC Radio too.

But that’s not all, as Thom is one-third of the acclaimed sketch troupe The Penny Dreadfuls who have made series for Radio 4 and several audio dramas.

What’s more, Jenny and Thom even worked together when they co-starred in the pantomime production of Sleeping Beauty at the Wyvern Theatre in 2025, in which Jenny played the Wicked Fairy Carabosse and Thom played King Keir.

The pair also appeared on Celebrity Escape To The Country in 2023, and shared their plans to move from the city “back home” to the countryside near her hometown of Bolton.

Looking to relocate with a budget of £850,000 Jenny and Thom were shown an array of residences, turning down the first one but falling totally in love with the second one.

After the show aired, Jenny issued an update to fans a year later on her and Thom’s living situation, revealing on Instagram that she sadly did not buy the house.

She explained that before she could even get another viewing, another person put an offer on the property. Jenny then said she was not surprised another house hunter had bought the property but quipped “the search continues”.

The Chase Around The World airs every Thursday at 9pm on ITV1

Duvetyne, or in this case the alternative spelling Duvateen, is a twill fabric with a matt finish that makes it ideal for blocking out light.

In its black fire-retardant form, it has widespread use in the film industry to ensure the right controlling effect.

In the first season of the ­original Star Trek for instance, exterior shots of space, “the final frontier”, were created by gluing glitter to it.

As you’ll discover, it was also used by The Afghan Whigs’ frontman Greg Dulli — and now it’s the name of a pivotal song on the band’s tenth studio album, Soft Control.

It is 40 years since he formed the Whigs in Cincinnati, Ohio, later moving to Seattle to become Sub Pop label mates with grunge pioneers Nirvana, Mudhoney and Soundgarden.

But Soft Control, their first LP in four years, has to be one of their most urgent, textured and captivating efforts yet.

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When he calls from America’s West Coast, it’s the first time I’ve spoken to Dulli since 2008.

He was in London then during an extended Whigs’ hiatus, promoting The Gutter Twins’ album Saturnalia, made with the late Mark Lanegan, one of the grunge movement’s defining singers both with the Screaming Trees and as a solo artist.

Lanegan died aged 57 in 2022, a year after battling a severe case of Covid at his adopted home of Killarney, Ireland. “Mark is someone I miss . . . every day,” Dulli tells me.

He returns to the subject in hand and provides a fulsome explanation of his song Duvateen.

“There was a time in my life when I put it on all my windows,” he admits. “I kept my house in permanent night, living the vampire life.

“I had a friend in the movie business so I went with her to get some. I saw what it could do for me.”

So, what DID it do for you? I venture with a degree of trepidation.

“It was decades ago and I just didn’t have any use for sunlight or for being outside,” replies Dulli, before adding with a knowing sigh, “It was clearly not a healthy time for me.”

By calling the piano-led song Duvateen, Dulli, who delivers the lyrics with white-knuckle intensity, is using it as a metaphor for the infinite void — or, if you like, ­mortality.

He admits: “The symbolic nature of it is not lost on me.”

With lyrics that span his childhood, “teacher gonna chase us down the hall”, to the grave, “dig somebody’s hole”, it encapsulates the circle of life and serves as the album’s heartbeat.

Its sound is in stark contrast to the more rock-heavy numbers, drawing this response from Dulli: “When I get a piano song like that, it’s an exciting moment in my life.

“It’s the sort of thing I could play to my mom.” As for the idea that Duvateen is the album’s centrepiece, he says: “You write songs and, as some emerge, they state their alpha-ness.

“Duvateen got my attention very quickly. It started out differently — a bit like Honky Tonk Women for a minute — but I completely changed it.

“It was one of those songs when you feel as if your hand is being guided from beyond.”

I suggest to Dulli that listening to Soft Control’s ten tracks “feels like an emotional rollercoaster”.

“Well, life in general is an emotional rollercoaster for me,” he replies. “It would stand to reason that any art I put forth would be a similar thing.”

Next the single-minded singer describes his path to the album: “We did a Covid record that came out in ’22, then we toured it for a year.

“Then I took some time off and travelled. I didn’t start working on a new record until ’25.

“But once I began writing songs again, they were happening fast and furious. I did 20, 22. Cut them down to ten. And here’s the ten.”

The result is a concise, dynamic punch of an album. “I like 40 minutes or less and I like ten as a round number,” says Dulli. “I’ve been landing on it for the past four or five records.

“They’re like a little family and sometimes they waiting for a little brother or sister to show up. I wrote the final song, Loose Talk, earlier this year.”

The album comes bursting out of the blocks with taut Jungle Roux and riff-heavy House Of I.

Elsewhere, My Lover leans into the band’s R&B credentials while stately The Deepest Part Of The Darkest Shadow serves as a companion piece to Duvateen.

There’s a song called Memphis, Texas, not as strange as you think because there is such place, along with the famous Memphis in ­Tennessee where Elvis made his name.

The album ends with A Simulation, 70 seconds of ambient beauty segueing into one of Dulli’s most tender vocals and a gorgeous string arrangement.

He calls it one of his “most existential songs”. “I get overwhelmed by injustice, sadness, and people and animals being hurt. I know I’m not the only one wondering, ‘What the f*** are we doing here?’”

But now, before we go any further, it’s time to tell Dulli’s story beginning with his teenage dream of fronting a band, inspired by a legendary psychedelic soul band.

He recalls: “I went to see The 5th Dimension. When (singer) Billy Davis Jr. took off at the end of Let the Sunshine In, it was the most electrifying thing I’d ever seen. I knew I wanted to be a lead singer.”

Having dropped out of studying film at the University Of Cincinnati and flirted with the idea of becoming an actor, Dulli formed his first band, The Black Republicans, in the mid-Eighties.

Did they find it hard to get noticed at first? I ask. “When you’re 20 years old, nothing’s hard, man,” he answers. “You’re literally immortal.

“We all had regular jobs. I drove a taxi. I cooked in a restaurant. I painted houses, put roofs on houses. I was a roadie-type guy at the big theatre in town.”

Crucial to Dulli’s trajectory was the recruitment to The Black Republicans of bassist John Curley, the only Whigs founder member still by his side today.

He says: “We would see this bearded dude at our shows. We all thought he was about 40.

“Then one night after the show, he walked up and introduced himself to me, saying, ‘I’m better than your bass player.’ John came by our rehearsal place and played his way into the band.”

Dulli describes what happened next: “I moved to Arizona for six months and wrote a bunch of songs.

“Then I came back to Cincinnati and started the Whigs with John, Rick McCollum (guitar) and Steve Earle (drums).”

He remembers the Midwestern city on the Ohio River being a “great jumping-off point” because so many towns “weren’t that far away from us”.

Dulli rattles off the places in the manner of Johnny Cash singing I’ve Been Everywhere — “Louisville, Lexington, Kentucky, Columbus, Athens, Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Pittsburgh.”

But most inspirational to Dulli was a venue in Newport, Kentucky, just across the river from Cincinnati, The Jockey Club.

“Back in the day, the jazz dudes Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. played there,” he says.

“Then it fell into disrepair before opening again as a punk rock club. When I got to college, my roommates were deep in that scene and that’s how I got into The Jockey Club.

“I saw The Damned, Ramones, Johnny Thunders, Violent Femmes, Hüsker Dü, The Replacements, Killing Joke, so many great people.

“And everybody in the area cut their teeth there. If you were in a band, you played The Jockey Club and you played it multiple times a month.”

In 1989, the Whigs self-released debut album Big Top Halloween caught the attention of Seattle-based Sub Pop’s boss, Jonathan Poneman, who offered them a contract.

Suddenly, they were label mates with grunge pioneers Nirvana and Mudhoney — but they were a very different beast.

Dulli says: “We were outsiders in more ways than one. We were from Cincinnati and we weren’t from the Northwest.

“Our covers were R&B covers instead of Stooges’. I love The Stooges but we had bonded over The Temptations. At our first rehearsal, we played Psychedelic Shack.

“We formed in October, 1986, and played our first gig in January the following year — and I guarantee you we played Psychedelic Shack at that show.”

Dulli was also infatuated with a Midwestern powerhouse in the shape of genre-defying Minneapolis-based Prince.

“We weren’t trying to sound like Prince,” he says. “But you could grab elements of him and stick them in your quiver.”

So what was it like heading to Seattle and mixing with Kurt Cobain and Co?

“It was like seeing people our age doing cool things,” says Dulli. “When Nirvana knocked Michael Jackson off No.1 on Billboard, I thought, ‘Wow! One of our own is at the top’.

“It was an exciting time, certainly in Seattle, where we had a front-row seat to it all.

“We loved all those guys and we loved those bands, played with everybody, and got to know everybody.”

When it came to meeting his biggest buddy from the scene, Mark Lanegan, it was via a different route.

“I met Mark in Boston when the Screaming Trees, Primus and the Whigs were on the same bill but we didn’t start hanging out until around 2000.”

The Whigs enjoyed a stellar Nineties, navigating their way through the music industry “machine” on various labels but coming up with at least three first-rate albums, Congregation (1992), Gentlemen (1993) and 1965 (1998).

In 2001, frazzled Dulli decided to take a step back and the Whigs disbanded. Aside from a brief recording reunion in 2006, the ­hiatus lasted ten years.

He says: “I had absolutely no intention of being in the Whigs ever again. In my creative life, I’m so proud of the things I did during that time — The Twilight Singers and The Gutter Twins.

“But when the door opened to the Whigs again, I was a different person and ready to step through it.”

Dulli remembers the times he would pass through his home town of Cincinnati where bassist Curley and his wife were raising their two daughters. “We were all pretty cooked from the Whigs experience but John would come to the shows and would get up on stage and play with either one of my bands — and everybody loved it.”

In 2010, when Dulli was on a solo tour, Curley did his usual thing but was then persuaded to do the next night in Chicago, a five-hour drive away.

He says: “It was the first time in 11 years that anyone had seen John Curley and I on stage together outside of Cincinnati.

“When I introduced him, the ovation was so unexpectedly loud and long. That, effectively, was the catalyst for the Whigs reforming.”

Since getting back together, they have made four studio albums, Do To The Beast (2014), In Spades (2017), How Do You Burn? and the imminent Soft Control.

The current line-up is Dulli, Curley, multi-instrumentalist Rick G. Nelson, Christopher Thorn (guitars) and Bryan Lee Brown (drummer who recently replaced Patrick Keeler who tours with Jack White).

Forty years on since the Whigs formed, Dulli says: “I’m still smiling at my good fortune. Still putting out music, playing live, the whole works. I’m a lucky fella.”

He accepts that he used to be “an angry young man” but, at 61, he has found a degree of peace.

“I had an imaginary chip on my shoulder that I needed to get rid of,” he says.

“You can tame yourself but you can always go back to the wild side — just in case you need to explore.”

It’s fair to say that The Afghan Whigs’ latest album is one of his walks on the wild side.

THE AFGHAN WHIGS

Soft Control

★★★★☆

Get ready to wipe the steam off the TV screen. Season 2 of the Peabody Award-winning series about two hockey rivals entangled in a heated romance is still months away from premiering. But details are slowly emerging that paint a picture of what fans can expect from the sophomore season of “Heated Rivalry.”

The first season’s release schedule was accelerated in the U.S. after it was acquired by HBO Max from Bell Media’s streaming platform Crave, Justin Stockman, the VP of content for Bell Media, told Variety late last year.

Things will be different for the upcoming season, which was announced in December 2025, creator Jacob Tierney told Variety. Tierney wrote and directed every episode of the first season.

“It can’t be the same time next year, because this time last year I’d written five of [six episodes], and this time this year I’ve written zero of them. So it’s going to be a little bit later, but it’s still going to be soon.”

“Soon” has now turned into spring 2027, when it is slated to hit HBO Max.

Here’s everything to know about Season 2 of “Heated Rivalry”:

What book will Season 2 cover?

The first season was based on the second book in the “Game Changers” series by Rachel Reid. It followed the off-the-ice romance between two professional hockey stars that play for the rival teams the Montreal Metros and the Boston Raiders in a fictional Major League Hockey league.

The new season will continue their romance and will be based on the sixth book, “The Long Game,” which reads as a direct sequel to “Heated Rivalry.” The novel follows Shane Hollander, played by Hudson Williams, and Ilya Rozanov, portrayed by Connor Storrie, as they struggle with going public with their secret relationship.

The follow-up season will also introduce a new couple — from the fifth book in the series, “Role Model” — a player who’s traded to a struggling team finds support from the franchise’s social media manager.

Who will play the new couple?

Justice Smith (“I Saw the TV Glow”) and Charlie Gillespie (“Splitsville”) will be joining Season 2 of the hit romantic drama as Harris Drover and Troy Barrett, respectively.

Character descriptions were not released, but in Reid’s book Troy is a hockey player who gets traded to the Ottawa team after cutting ties with a Toronto teammate who is accused of sexual assault. Harris is Ottawa’s social media manager.

Who else is joining the cast?

Season 2 will also welcome new faces to the cast, including Emily Hampshire from “Schitt’s Creek,” Edvin Ryding from “28 Years Later,” Robert Naylor from “Mile End Kicks,” Sabrina Jalees from “I Used to Be Funny” and Priyanka from “Meet Me Next Christmas.”

Hampshire will play Vanessa, Ryding will portray Luca Haas, Naylor is cast as Wyatt Hayes, Jalees will take on Farah Jalali and Priyanka is Tarek.

How many episodes are in the new season?

Did Dylan Walsh, who plays Shane’s dad, reveal too much? The actor recently paused his account on the celebrity video app Cameo after he slipped up and released information about the new season.

“Getting ready to go back up to Canada and shoot some more episodes … I think we’re doing 12 this time,” Walsh said in a clip recorded for a fan.

The number is significantly more than the first season‘s six episode-run. However, Tierney told The Times early this year that he doesn’t want to make more than six episodes per season so there’s a possibility that they’re filming two seasons back to back.

Walsh’s Cameo account has been set as unavailable until August 2027 with a message under his profile that reads, “Stepping away because a video went viral that got me in trouble.”

The new start of this year’s I’m A Celebrity has reportedly been pushed back after ITV won the rights to the UEFA Nations League, meaning there would be a schedule clash

Bosses at ITV have been forced to delay the latest series of I’m A Celebrity, according to reports. It’s claimed a major scheduling clash has led to the series Down Under being pushed back.

That’s because the channel has landed the rights to the UEFA Nations League. It’ll see England back in competitive action following this summer’s World Cup disappointment.

The international tournament will kick off on September 24. The games will continue for a number of months and England are set to take on current World Cup champions Spain on November 15.

The game, being held at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano in Madrid, will kick off at 8.45pm. This is just 15 minutes before the start of I’m A Celeb 2026 was pencilled to begin.

But it’s claimed the football has taken priority, with the reality series said to now be commencing a day later on November 16.

A source told The Sun: “I’m A Celeb has always benefited from the Sunday night prime-time slot, but this year it’s all change. Now ITV has the rights to the UEFA Nations League bosses have had to go back to the drawing board.”

And a second source added: “Bosses have pulled out all the stops to ensure this year’s IAC launch show is must-see TV. Following the huge success of this year’s World Cup, bosses are overjoyed to have such a stellar lineup of entertainment and sport this autumn on ITV.”

While the campmates for the upcoming series are yet to be announced, speculation is already growing. And there are also reports that there will soon be another spin-off of the series.

Rio and Kate Ferdinand have reportedly signed up for an I’m A Celebrity: Wild Frontier, a new spin-off of Ant and Dec’s classic reality show which will be filmed in Canada.

If they have signed up, it means they have become the first married couple to join the show, which is focusing on celebrity pairs. Together, they will have to face their own daredevil challenges and Bushtucker Trials and it will mark England star Rio’s first venture into reality TV.

A source said: “Bosses are overjoyed to have landed the Ferdinands. It’s a real coup for the show. They have brilliant chemistry and are great fun. It will be the first time viewers have really seen Rio away from football chat, too.

Speaking to The Sun, the source added: “ITV are still in talks with some other brilliant names and this show promises to be absolutely spectacular — and a real social media talker.”

Unlike the Australian series, the spin-off show sees famous faces compete in pairs. It could be with friends, relatives or couples as they take on Bushtucker-style trials together before facing elimination as a duo.

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads.

Grammy winner Jon Batiste placed his summer performing duties on hold as he “navigate[s] some personal circumstances.”

The Connecticut festival Westville Music Bowl on Wednesday published a statement from the composer-singer-multi-instrumentalist and former “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” bandleader announcing that he has canceled “a portion of my upcoming performance dates.” That includes his appearance at the New Haven fest on Thursday, according to the social media statement. The notice did not specify the additional cancellations but included mention of Batiste’s new releases including his piano-centric albums “Monk Meditations” and “Monk Movements.”

“My team and I are finding new ways and opportunities to share live music with you,” Batiste continued in the statement. “There’s so much more to come, and I’m looking forward to what’s ahead.”

People reported that Batiste’s shows in Pennsylvania and New York have also been canceled and ticket refunds will be available for the three canceled shows. A representative for the Grammy-winning musician did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for more information on Thursday.

Batiste, who will also release the album “Black Mozart” on Friday, is still scheduled to play several of his remaining tour stops including those in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio; Atlanta and the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. He is set to close off his tour at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley on Oct. 3.

“Thank you for your understanding and continued support,” Batiste said in the statement published by Westville Music Bowl. “I truly can’t wait to come back and perform for you soon.”

Batiste, 39, will share his trio of new albums four years after he won the coveted prize for album of the year at the 2022 Grammy Awards for his 2021 release “We Are.” Batiste, in addition to his late-night TV work, is also known for composing original works for the soundtrack of Disney’s 2020 animated film “Soul.”

ALL That star, Christy Knowings is dead at 46-years old.

According to TMZ the TV star died suddenly in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

Family members told the outlet that Christy suffered an asthma attack on Friday which left her with brain damage.

They ultimately decided to take her off life support earlier this week.

Christy appeared in three seasons of All That, starting in 1997.

She has also appeared alongside her twin brother, Chris Knowings, in 3 episodes of Sesame Street.

AMANDA’S NEW LOOK

Amanda Bynes looks unrecognizable as she shows off weight loss

This is the second All That cast member to die this year.

Kianna Underwood was killed in a hit and run crash at the start of the year.

She was 33-years-old.

All That was a popular Nickelodeon sketch comedy show, described as a Saturday Night Live for a younger audience, and starring Amanda Bynes.

The show ran from 1994 until 2020.

Also starring on the show over the years was Amanda Bynes, Nick Cannon, Kel Mitchell, Kenan Thompson, Jamie Lynn Spears and Lori Beth Denberg.

Hugo Lara and Manolo Cabrera — the Mexican DJ pair better known as RØZ — casually strolled through Sightglass Coffee in Hollywood, one gripping a half-melted iced coffee, the other an empty Erewhon juice bottle.

To any onlooker, they might appear as two standard Gen Z Angelenos in sardonic streetwear: 22-year-old Cabrera flaunted a hat that referenced the 2008 financial crisis while 25-year-old Lara’s faded tee read, “You don’t dream of a better version of yourself.”

But over the past year, this fresh-faced pair from Querétaro, a small state just outside Mexico City, has dominated the festival world circuit. Spinning heart-thumping electronic beats and Latin house rhythms, RØZ has taken the stage at many a popular event, such as the most recent Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Lollapalooza Chicago, Hard Summer, EDC Las Vegas and Sueños.

“We’ve had huge crowds at festivals, even the workers on stage are like, ‘No way, you filled more venues than yesterday’s headliner,’” Cabrera told The Times. “We filled it up and people started leaving for the next person, which is obviously not cool. It feels awful. But you do think: good! They value Latinos and Mexicans now.”

Besides regaling ravers at their concerts — which will continue for the remainder of the calendar year, including a 20-city North American tour that kicks off in Boston on Oct. 21 — RØZ has landed another major artistic goal.

“Everyone will give [the album] a different interpretation, but I think the through line is the idea of drama, or poetic essence,” said Hugo Lara.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Last Friday, they released their first full-length album, “Se Esta Haciendo Tarde.” It’s a 19-track, introspective debut that solidifies the duo’s standing in the EDM world as both masterful mixers and vocalists.

“We are neither fully DJs, or fully singers, but artists,” said Cabrera. “Our shows, with the album, are going to be us playing synths, at another point singing and at another point we mix some songs.”

Featuring cameos from Latin superstars like Peso Pluma, J Balvin and Ryan Castro, the LP itself is hard to define as simply house music; RØZ is known best for peppering its EDM with a heavy dose of Latino sazon. It’s a sonic recipe that the two former schoolmates have been mastering since they were under lockdown from COVID.

This era also saw the commercial rise of other Mexican artists in their generation: Natanael Cano and Latin Mafia were among the most prominent Mexican acts who maximized their creativity during the isolation period and used social media platforms like TikTok to gain traction.

“It’s like if Fred Again, Skrillex, Frank Ocean, Mora and Bad Bunny adopted a child and raised him,” said Cabrera about their own music, which they began uploading to the streaming platform Soundcloud in 2022.

At the start of their disc jockey journey, they remixed already established songs, from Bad Bunny and Bomba Estéreo’s “Ojitos Lindos” to Bellakath’s “Gatita.” By 2024, they would release their frosty original track, “Cora de Hielo” under Warner Music Mexico; this featured Natt Calma and Mau Moctezuma, artists whom they met through the local indie scene.

Their subsequent releases went viral — including the dark-synth pop “Flashes” with Yng Lvcas and atmospheric “Apaga la Luz” with a rather mellowed performance from Peso Pluma — which were released under LT:Vision Records, Queens Road Music and Atlantic Records.

“At that time, emotions were secondary [in the music],” said Cabrera when looking back on those early songs. “Perhaps we didn’t resonate with the artist’s lyrics, we might have helped with some ideas. But with this [new] project, we wanted to find more of a balance — we want to be transparent, while also releasing f— bangers.”

Inspired by the transient beauty of cherry blossoms, known in Japan as sakura — which is illustrated in their album cover, alongside a dark pegasus — much of the LP also hinges on melodrama. Glitchy beat drops in “Acelero Lento” (featuring Chitra) fade into acoustic ballads. The bouncy freestyle rhythm in “Soho” melts into feverish pop harmonies. There’s also an interlacing spiritual hymn in “Yo Gospel” (featuring Rodrii) that showcases the heavenly vocals of an American-style church choir.

“Everyone will give [the album] a different interpretation, but I think the through line is the drama, or poetic essence,” said Lara. “Perhaps in 10 years we will listen to the same song and have a different interpretation.”

The new LP is imbued with various Latin genre fusions. In “Ya es de Noche” (featuring Rodrii and Olisso) they open with neo-perreo rhythms that slowly wade in and out of a cumbia-guided trance. In “Hanami,” named after the traditional Japanese custom of observing a floral bloom, RØZ is joined by Colombian producer Sky Rompiendo, whose pulsating reggaeton beats undergo a warping process, as their lyrics harp on romantic tension.

“Cherry blossoms only last a while, so it was our way of saying that we must appreciate the moment in which beauty exists,” said Lara.

The magnetic pull of RØZ — whose stage name is pronounced like the second syllable in “arroz” — cannot be overstated. They’ve already sold out six shows in their upcoming tour, which will wrap up Feb. 27 in their home state of Querétaro. Their popularity comes at a time when electronic music was registered as the largest-growing genre in the U.S. in the first half of 2026, per Luminate’s 2026 data report, which also found that casual monthly listenership in Latin music peaked at 54% of streams in the first quarter.

The growing admiration for Latin-fused EDM by Latino listeners was most visually evident during their Coachella debut in April. One attendee uploaded a video to Instagram showing the jammed entrance to the Sonora Tent, which reached full capacity before the duo began their Sunday set: “Coachella underestimating the Latino crowds like [what do you mean] I can’t see RØZ [because] it’s at full capacity both weekends,” the subtext on the video read.

Even before their breakout year, on the night of their first U.S. performance on the rooftop of the Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles last August, the line to get inside stretched across the Hollywood Boulevard sidewalk with attendees eager to hear the pair’s early tracks.

Still, it doesn’t surprise RØZ that a Latino act like themselves might be early on the call sheet — or left to assemble a last-minute crew after their original team ran into visa processing delays ahead of the first Coachella weekend. “In this genre that we’re moving in, you’d never picture a Latino headliner. Latinos are always put down, down, down,” said Cabrera.

But some milestones have given them faith that the mainstream world is opening up to putting Latino acts at the top of the bill; including the fact that Colombian singer Karol G was the first Latina Coachella headliner this year. “And with music in Spanish, not English,” marveled Lara.

And rather than sulk about the conditions of Latino artists, RØZ is ready to put up a fight.

“Just because I’m Mexican or Latino doesn’t mean that I can’t connect with people the same way a person from the United States can,” said Cabrera. “Headlining is possible, without a doubt.”

ICONIC Fawlty Towers star Prunella Scales left a huge £3.2million in her estate, The Sun can reveal.

The acting icon sadly died last October aged 93 following a decade-long battle with dementia.

Documents obtained by The Sun show she passed on 40 per cent of her fortune to children Samuel West and Joseph West, who she had with late actor husband Timothy West, and 20 per cent to stepdaughter Juliet.

She also made a string of donations to charities close to her heart.

Court records show the star left an estate worth £3,376,585.

It was reduced to £3,166,554 after taxes, debts and costs were deducted.

i don’t

‘Sachsgate’ victim Georgina Baillie, 40, calls off wedding to DJ fiance, 68

STAR GONE

Fawlty Towers actress who starred alongside John Cleese dies aged 89

Her will was signed in 2020 and a grant was issued by the High Court earlier this week.

In the six-page document, Scales asked her trustees to delay selling her South London home by up to a year to let grandson Clement, who lived at the property, move out.

She also revealed she and husband Timothy had gifted son Sam £300,000 to help renovate his home.

Charities to benefit from her will included the Snipe Charitable Trust, which was given £10,000, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, which got £1,000, and the Royal Horticultural Society, which also got £1,000.

Prunella had continued to travel around the world into her 90s after a glittering 70-year career in TV, film and theatre.

The actress was best known for playing Sybil Fawlty, wife of John Cleese’s hot-headed hotelier Basil in classic Seventies sitcom Fawlty Towers.

The show ran for two seasons in 1975 and 1979 and is considered one of the best British comedies ever made.

Episodes often featured Sybil trying to calm Basil down or putting him in his place.

Cleese, 84, led tributes to his screen wife, branding her “a really wonderful comic actress”.

He added: “Scene after scene, she was absolutely perfect.”

Prunella also appeared in Coronation Street between in 1961 as bus guard Eileen Hughes.

She played Queen Victoria more than 400 times in a one-woman play, An Evening with Queen Victoria, written for her by Katrina Hendrey in 1979.

She would reprise the role of Victoria in the 2003 BBC docu-drama Victoria: An Intimate History.

In August 2024, aged 92, she reprised the role again for a voice over at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

The production, Queen, saw Prunella play an 81-year-old Victoria, reading out letters in the final year of her life.

Asked in 2024 if she liked playing royals, Prunella told The Times: “I don’t.

“When you say ‘like playing queens’ there aren’t any queens that I want to play.

“But the queens I have played have all been interesting people with interesting jobs and interesting lives.”

Prunella also appeared on Great Canal Journeys, a Channel 4 series celebrating her and Timothy’s love of narrow boating.

She continued to front the show despite a 2014 dementia diagnosis.

Timothy, her husband of 61 years, said of the condition: “The sad thing is that you just watch the gradual disappearance of the person that you knew and loved and were very close to.”

Prunella was born in Surrey in 1932, the daughter of actress Catherine Scales and cotton salesman John Richardson Illingworth.

She started her career as an assistant stage manager at the Bristol Old Vic in 1951 before moving into acting.

The star was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1992 Birthday Honours List, and awarded the Freedom of the City of London in 1999.

Timothy, who died in November 2024, left the bulk of his £110,000 estate to charity, including theatre schools and Guide Dogs for the Blind.

BBC Comedy director Jon Petrie said: “She was a national treasure whose brilliance as Sybil Fawlty lit up screens and still makes us laugh today.”

Netflix’s latest true crime docuseries pays tribute to a special ‘powerhouse’ figure

Netflix’s latest true crime documentary includes a special tribute one of the high profile figures taking part.

The platform has released the latest instalment in the Conversations with a Killer series.

Previous entries have included closer looks at high profile criminals including Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy and Ted Bundy. Now, the most recent edition focuses on Charles Manson.

According to its synopsis, the three-part title draws on previously unreleased prison recordings, firsthand accounts, and archival footage, to trace Charles Manson’s rise as a cult leader, the 1969 murders that followed, and the media spectacle of his trial.

It features interviews with former Manson Family members and law enforcement alongside recorded phone calls with Manson himself. Also featuring is one of the extinguished journalists who covered the story at the time.

In the final moments of the last episode of the series, a special tribute is made for this person. A title card appears that reads: “In loving memory of Linda Deutsch.”

It appears after the production reveals what happened to other individuals who spent time behind bars for the ‘Manson murders’. But who was Linda Deutsch? Here’s all you need to know.

Who was Linda Deutsch?

Linda Deutsch was a journalist from New Jersey, who worked for Associated Press as a court reporter in Los Angeles. She was a well known figure in the industry and enjoyed an illustrious career.

While studying for a degree in English in 1965, she worked on the student newspaper The Outlook. There she held prominent roles as Features Editor, while also running the letters section.

Her very first professional front page byline, while working as an intern for her local paper was her coverage of the civil rights march where Martin Luther King Jr made the “I have a dream” speech.

When she joined the Associated Press in 1967, she was the only woman working out of the Los Angeles office. She would go on to report on high profile cases including Charles Manson, O.J. Simpson, Erik and Lyle Menendez, Phil Spector and Michael Jackson to name a few.

She also wrote a book concentrating on the Simpson case, called Verdict: The Chronicle of the O. J. Simpson Trial. While as demonstrated by the new Netflix series, was a regular talking head discussing Charles Manson’s trial.

In a tribute to her from her old college paper, The Outlook said she was “a powerhouse in the journalism industry and a positive figure for female journalists everywhere”. Deutsch successfully campaigned for equal pay and the right for female journalists to be referred to as ‘newswomen’ and not ‘newsmen.’

She was named a special correspondent in 1992 and retired in 2014 at the age of 71. Never forgetting her roots, she endowed journalism scholarships at her former school and they named their newsroom after her.

Deutsch did not get married or have children and said of her personal life: “I have a godson who means the world to me. And I have a very full life, but it never included marriage. I think my relationships mostly broke up because of my work.”

She died in 2024 at the age of 80, two years after she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Conversations with a killer: The Charles Manson Tapes is streaming on Netflix

The importance of parental support goes meta in Julia Hart’s “Don’t Say Good Luck.” The YA musical drama, which premieres Friday, pays homage to musical theater, unconditional maternal love and the family-hour TV, er, Netflix movie. In a landscape littered with teenage dysfunction, “Don’t Say Good Luck” is a moving argument for aspirational television.

And with a star whose famous father serves as producer, it‘s an admonition to the term “nepo baby.”

We meet normal kid Sophie Birenbaum (Sunny Sandler) as she anxiously prepares for a day that will include auditioning for her high school’s production of “Waitress.” While her father, Ted (Max Greenfield, marvelously transformed by a beard), wrangles her rambunctious younger twin brothers, her mother, Elizabeth (Melanie Lynskey), assures her that she is talented and beautiful and will do just great. These sentiments are echoed by Sophie’s best friend, Carolyn (Scarlett Estevez), who joins her at the audition where the director is the super-cool Ms. Parker (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s” Stephanie Beatriz) and even theater department queen bee Mallory (Elyse Bell), who everyone knows is going to get the lead, is pretty nice.

It’s a high school experience that’s about as far from “Euphoria” or even “Glee” as one can get while still being situated on Earth. Still, all is not perfect in Sophie’s world. When Elizabeth learns that her cancer has returned, Sophie overhears her parents’ subsequent conversation via a butt-dial from her father’s phone. Her first impulse is to flee the audition; instead her emotional turmoil fuels a powerful performance that (spoiler alert?) lands her the lead role.

Determined to downplay the seriousness of her illness, Elizabeth insists that life continue on as normal — she and Ted own a local deli, which offers some nice bagel versus wrap shade and a Jon Lovitz cameo. Though Sophie is worried, she believes her mother who says she will beat cancer again. So she throws herself into the stomach-churning rigor of being the star of the show, which includes a painful separation from her bestie, a crush on her co-star and a struggle to find the confidence to let her obvious talent shine.

“Don’t Say Good Luck” is, obviously, a showcase for Sandler, whose parents, Adam and Jackie Sandler, serve as producers (which may have had something to do with the extraordinary supporting cast, which also includes Bebe Neuwirth and Steve Buscemi as Elizabeth’s parents). Adam Sandler and his Happy Madison Productions have a long and lucrative partnership with Netflix, which recently debuted “Happy Gilmore 2” and announced “Grown Ups 3” as part of their deal. One could see this as yet another case of nepo-baby triumph — streaming is currently littered with the progeny of famous parents — or simply a living example of the film’s theme. Like the Birenbaum parents, the Sandlers want to help their daughter shine in her chosen career and that she certainly does.

Adam Sandler serves as a producer, which may have had something to do with the extraordinary supporting cast, which also includes Steve Buscemi as Sophie’s grandfather.

(Netflix)

Though Sophie is the only older daughter ever to escape the task of caring for her younger brothers (or doing any chores at all), Sandler makes her completely believable as a nice, self-conscious kid who just needs a push to trust her talent. If the tone of the film is 1970s-family-comedy aspirational (particularly in the mother-daughter scenes), that shouldn’t be construed as a low level of difficulty.

Indeed, it is almost revolutionary to see emotionally resonant teenage characters who aren’t mired in abuse, addiction or some kind of horror; leveraging dysfunction has become shorthand for “drama.” “Don’t Say Good Luck” is based on the real-life experience of co-writer Laura Hankin (collaborating here with Hart and Jordan Horowitz), and though the stakes are emotionally high, portraying a loving family doing their best to get through a devastating situation with minimal meltdowns is its own act of bravery.

It certainly helps that this family is firmly anchored by Lynskey, who proves, yet again, that she can do anything. Her Elizabeth is neither martyr nor saint, just a woman who wants to live as she’s always lived for as long as she can. Lynskey lifts what could have been a sappy (or even worse, guilt-inducing) cancer-mom tale into a quietly transcendent contemplation of motherhood. (A scene in which she flips through the calendar trying to figure out when to let the kids know what’s really going on drove the breath from this mother’s body.)

Does “Don’t Say Good Luck” skirt around the grim realities of cancer as cavalierly as it paints a Pinterest mood-board vision of high school? Absolutely. But that doesn’t mean the message and the feelings (yes, you absolutely will cry) are not just as authentic. Love is the root of much pain, but it’s also what conquers it in the end.

Melanie Lynskey as Elizabeth, Max Greenfield as Ted and Jon Lovitz as Lenny in “Don’t Say Good Luck.”

(Netflix)

The ITV crime series is returning with a familiar face leading the expos command

Trigger Point will soon return to television screens with a much-loved actress joining the bomb disposal experts.

The fourth season of the ITV crime drama sees Vicky McClure’s Lana Washington and her bomb defusal unit take on an explosive new case as they seek to keep the people of London safe from explosive devices and terrorist threats.

McClure has shared her excitement about the new episodes ahead of the release: “I love working with the team, we have a great time making the show, and I cannot wait to continue Lana’s journey on Trigger Point.”

The first look trailer confirms the team’s new challenge is “unprecedented”, with Lana noting that they seem to know how her team works. The scale of the attacks is made even clearer when Lana confirms, “The threats feel bigger, the bombs are closer.”

Returning on-screen alongside Lana is Eric Shango as Danny, Nabil Elouahabi as Hassan “Hass” Rahim, Natalie Simpson as DS Helen Morgan, and Maanuv Thiara as DCI Amar Batra.

Shetland star Julie Graham has also joined the star-studded cast as Commander Nia Quentin.

In the trailer, viewers see Nia confirm that this could be “the biggest terror attack this country has seen,” as the expo team battles to save the capital.

Away from Trigger Point, fans of crime dramas will know Julie as Rhona Kelly in the BBC series Shetland between 2014 and 2022.

The show is based on the bestselling crime novels by award-winning author Ann Cleeves and follows a dedicated police team as they investigate grisly murders and long-buried secrets within the tight-knit, remote island community of Scotland’s Isles.

Scottish actress Julie, 61, has been a seemingly near-permanent fixture on our screens since a Taggart appearance in the mid-1980s.

Her other long-running series commitments include portraying Megan Hartnoll in At Home With The Braithwaites, Abby Grant in Survivors, and playing Sheron Dawson in the adored sitcom, Benidorm.

Most recently, period drama fans saw Julie transform into Ma Hardacre in the Channel 5 show The Hardacres, which follows the sweeping rags-to-riches journey of a working-class family in 1890s Yorkshire.

She also played Annie Marling in Ridley and Elain Phelan in This City is Ours.

Trigger Point series 1-3 is available to stream on ITVX

It will take someone better versed in finance, corporate law, family psychology and, perhaps, the impact of great wealth on brain chemistry than I to analyze the recent actions of Paramount Skydance Chief Executive David Ellison.

To a cultural journalist, however, it seems like he continues to make himself the best argument yet for opposing his company’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.

Mere days after taking to the media to insist that he is a misunderstood film buff who just wants to save Hollywood, he threatened to help destroy it.

If California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and state attorneys general from 11 other states, including New York, New Jersey, Washington and Colorado, refuse to negotiate a settlement of their antitrust lawsuit, Ellison said he will yank Paramount Studios, and potentially Warner Bros., out of California.

Um, OK, Ultron.

So that’s how Ellison wants to prove that he will be a steward of the flailing entertainment industry — by threatening to rip out a big part of its still-beating heart and implant it in Texas or Tennessee?

Will he be taking the Hollywood sign as well, to stick atop the Grand Ole Opry or, better yet, the Alamo?

Not only does this grant Bonta VIP access to the moral highground, it all but negates Ellison’s recent New York Times guest essay. Especially the part in which he wrote: “The states claim this deal will give one company too much influence over theatrical releases and cable operators, while the W.G.A. argues that our combined market power will hurt writers.”

If one man can decide, in a fit of pique, to scoop up a huge portion of the entertainment industry and float it thousands of miles away, I’d say that’s a decent argument for “too much influence.”

Also, good luck with the landing. Texas and Tennessee are both fine states with vibrant cities, undeniable corporate incentives and lower costs of living, but their draconian abortion laws and restrictive LGBTQ+ legislation may give many in the entertainment industry pause.

Still, according to Ellison, it’s Bonta and his gang who are trying to make things political, not him; in his essay, Ellison claimed that the suit is mostly about preventing his ownership of CNN, despite his insistence that (the hiring of Bari Weiss to oversee CBS News to the contrary) the news network would remain autonomous.

As a journalist, I would love to believe that Bonta and the other attorneys general are simply going to bat for the Fourth Estate; with President Trump openly longing for the day when Ellison controls CNN, it is no doubt a concern. But as Ellison seems intent on personally underscoring, the bigger issue is how to prevent a dwindling number of individuals from controlling enormous portions of an industry that not only employs millions, but also plays a vital role in shaping the nature of art and culture in this country and the world.

(Never mind the queasy fact that Ellison is being bankrolled by his billionaire father Larry, who is putting many, if not all, of his eggs in the AI basket, to the detriment of his employees.)

Shaping art and culture is, of course, precisely why Ellison wants to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, almost literally at all costs. When he first lost the bid for Warner Bros. to Netflix, he (and his dad) responded by offering enough money (including a $7-billion payout should the deal not clear antitrust regulation) to make Ted Sarandos blink. Money has always been a ladder to power and influence in this country, and the widening wealth gap, not to mention the current administration, has turned the ladder into a rocket ship. (See please Elon Musk.)

Ellison has continually stressed his love of cinematic storytelling. Under the proposed Paramount Warner, he promises to produce 30 theatrical films and 170 television series a year and create more work for everyone.

That would be lovely (if fiscally difficult) to believe. If only he hadn’t just tried to hold the state that gave birth to cinematic storytelling hostage by threatening to kidnap one of its kids.

As negotiating tactics go, it certainly undermines whatever public approval he hoped to gain with his “I’m just a guy, standing in front of the movie biz asking it to love me” bit.

Change is coming for Paramount Studios — the lot on Melrose Avenue — either way. If Paramount Skydance acquires Warner Bros., production will likely shift to the Warner Bros. lot, with Paramount leased or sold.

Now, it seems, Ellison is willing to have a fire sale — he’ll certainly need to raise a bunch of cash if he’s going to quickly flee to redder pastures. As for the thousands of local workers who depend on Paramount production to make a living, well, Ellison and his executives may be able to afford to relocate or (more probably) commute out of state, but most of the people who actually make movies and television cannot.

Business, of course, is business and it has become financially and politically fashionable to desert California to avoid whatever local law, regulation or tax you now find unfair. Tech mavens, including Musk, have ditched California for the Lone Star State. Ellison’s father recently took Oracle out of Redwood City, first to Austin, Texas, then to Nashville, workers be damned.

But Ellison taking Paramount and potentially Warner Bros. out of Los Angeles isn’t about business. It’s pure politics, of the savage, oligarchical variety.

Given the stakes, it’s difficult to imagine that some sort of deal won’t be struck that allows the sale to go through. But Ellison isn’t saving the entertainment industry, he’s leveraging it.

And if he has to spit in Hollywood’s face to save his own, well, apparently that’s fine too.

OLIVIA Dean broke down in tears while singing her song ‘Let Alone The One You Love’ live on stage.

The singer, 27, performed in Boston earlier this week as part of her ‘The Art of Loving’ tour but became overcome with emotion during the poignant track.

The moment was shared on TikTok, with Olivia looking stunning in a gorgeous red dress with a lace detailing.

As she belted out the track, she struggled to keep her emotion in as she began to cry.

She wiped the tears away from her face as the audience cheered loudly for her.

Olivia continued singing as she attempted to hold it together during the performance.

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The song in question was released in September last year as part of her critically acclaimed studio album of the same name as her tour.

The track delves into the painful realisation that a partner is trying to stop your personal growth.

It explores the heavy emotional toll of romantic disappointment, capturing the grief of choosing self-love over a relationship where you feel small or disposable.

The lyrics include: “Though I’ve tried to hold on, and, if you knew me at all, you wouldn’t try to keep me small.

“Who would do that to a friend, let alone the one you love?”

Fans flocked to TikTok to share their thoughts as one asked: “Who hurt her?”

Another person demanded: “OK s**t just got real. Who hurt my baby?”

Somebody else commented: “NAAAH she’s singing it like she’s talking to someone.”

Yet another penned: “It’s okay, I cry during her songs too.”

While a fifth added: “These lyrics are real as f**k and that pain is DEEP!”

It comes after she turned down the chance to headline Glastonbury next year – where Harry Styles is topping the bill.

She was romantically linked to the former One Direction star two years ago, although they always denied they dated.

She is said to be opting to work on new music in 2027 instead and hopes to perform at the music festival in 2028.

An insider told The Sun: “Olivia’s team had conversations with Glastonbury about headlining in 2027 and she was extremely flattered.

“But after some reflection, she said she wants to take some time to work on new music next year, with a rough plan to return when her third album is ready.

“Of course, if she did it next year, her name would be right next to Harry’s and she just wants to move on from that now.

“She’s happy for him to have his moment, but she doesn’t feel like next year is hers.”