show biz

In an era hallmarked by what experts call a “sex recession,” Six Sex is a symbol of liberation.

The Argentine baddie fashions herself as a baby-voiced, bikini-clad fembot, beamed in from the clubs of Buenos Aires — and has become known for cheeky, instructive celebrations of desire. Her songs are designed to galvanize like-minded club rats into Dionysian revelry, or, in the case of the song “How to Make Your Ass Bigger,” squats.

To a certain subset of the Latine underground, she represents a pure-hearted hypersexuality. Yet, for the artist behind the persona, Francisca Agustina Cuello, this wasn’t always the intention.

“I don’t know if it was because I still had to keep my innocence or what, but I didn’t envision the project that way,” she said, calling from a hotel room in Barcelona. “That response sort of came about from the people, towards me. So, I said OK, I’m making it my own.”

In doing so, Cuello has churned out six thumping EPs as Six Sex, a campy character that she describes as a “fable” — a mix of “fantasía y hedonismo.”

That dynamic is taken to extremes on her debut album, “Ultra”, released June 6. It’s a dark and propulsive journey through decades of electronic dance music, best described by its own opening words portending “ultra terrorific fantasy.” (The phrase conjures up images of grandeur, but really, it evokes that “Blades of Glory” quote: “no one knows what it means, but it’s provocative.”)

“I feel like nothing I say is all that serious,” she said about her lyrics. “It’s a thing about my personality to be silly and goof around.”

“Ultra” centers Cuello’s winking, suggestive sense of humor. “Not Your Mom” features a conversation with a garbled, omnipotent voice akin to the parents in Charlie Brown; “FUchi!” features schoolyard taunts about “low dickie energy;” the album ends with “No More Porn,” a playful yet powerful subversion of sexual expectations.

“At the same time, for me, that acts as a filter,” she added with a laugh. “Weeding out the people who get scandalized by it, and identifying the people who get it and say: ‘Yas, yo también quiero tener cuatro novios.’”

Earlier this year, Cuello took the stage at Don Quixote, performing in front of a sold-out crowd for her Los Angeles debut. The smell of sweat permeated the air as she ripped through several of her hits — including collaborations with Reysha Rami and German producer MCR-T. Every single one of her signature ponytail flips sent the room into hysterics. The audience screamed every word at the top of their lungs; it was the loudest, most raucous show I’d been to in years.

Cuello took a breather in the middle of her world tour to chat with De Los over Zoom about all things Six Sex: her new record, her writing style and how it feels to connect with fans spun into febrile intensity.

This interview has been condensed for clarity and was translated from Spanish to English.

“[I’m] weeding out the people who get scandalized,” says Six Sex of her provocative music.

(Catalina Jacobo)

I was really taken by the “Ultra” album cover. You’re wearing a white bikini and in this “come to Jesus” pose. What was the goal?
[laughs] It was hard, because I wanted the cover to represent what the entire journey of the album meant to me. I was looking for something strong and heavy in visual terms, because with “Ultra”, this is the first time I’ve finished a long, heavy project and I see the start of something. It’s like something new was unlocked. I found a new way to convey feelings, and a new way to create as well. It’s not like I just finished, and it is what it is. Rather, it is the beginning of something bigger.

Is there an element of separation at all between the artistry and you as a person?
I think they’re pretty close. It’s as if Six Sex was sort of a fable, or like a hentai or comic [version of] my life. It’s also happened that things I wrote as a joke later became reality. But generally, I draw inspiration from things that actually happened to me.

Is it weird to put those intimate experiences on an album?
No, not for me. Because I’m not speaking so seriously, I don’t feel exposed. Even though my persona and my character are very close to one another, I don’t have to prove anything to anyone. I’m not trying to make you believe in something. The songs stop being about me as soon as someone else listens to them. There are certain things we can all see ourselves represented in, and I think my music aims for that, too.

I want to ask about your performance style. I saw you live in Los Angeles and was really taken by the energy exchange between yourself and the crowd. How do you approach live performance?
Nowadays, I’m in a balance between performance and being a human being that connects with people and can pause to look in the eyes of the audience to register how they feel. I like being in a showgirl role, and at the same time, knowing when to step out of it.

Sometimes I go up there after having a crappy day, thinking that I’m gonna screw it up. And when I get up there and connect with the people, everything flows in a perfect way.

Does the music transform when it’s performed live, versus on a record? A lot of your music seems designed to be played in the club.
I think it’s very personal. For me, I’m a bit autistic; sometimes when I’m at a show, I get different sensations. It really depends on the person. I like seeing people’s reactions live when I start playing these songs for the first time. People were super hyped. They were enjoying them and jumping around a lot. It feels really fresh.

You reference ‘90s club classics all over “Ultra,” including by U.K. band the Prodigy on “Bitch Up.” How did these sounds come into your life?
These sounds evoke a special kind of nostalgia for me. Even though I hadn’t been listening to them lately, they sounded like something I wanted to bring back to the table — songs my uncle used to listen to when I was really young. Like a CD [of] pirated songs that somehow ended up at my house, and at the time I was like, “Wow, what is this music?”

There’s an element of Six Sex that gives “fembot,” like a female, sexy robot. I’m curious if you feel that playing out in your work.
[laughs] I didn’t know about the fembot thing. I don’t use Twitter. I [keep] a bubble… against some things that I don’t know. But I’ve always liked the idea that people have that perception of me, to some extent.

How do you feel about the rise of AI as a musician, especially considering your persona adopts that perception?
I mean… I don’t have a formed opinion on the matter. I do think that, I don’t know, it’s all very relative. For one thing, I obviously feel like it strips away the human value, but at the same time, it’s also a tool for humans. So it’s kind of contradictory. I feel weird about it…. I don’t know.

Zooming out, I’ve noticed Argentina has been having a musical moment over the last few years between yourself, Ca7riel y Paco Amoroso, Juana Rozas… How do you feel Argentina being represented or even challenged in your music?
I feel that culturally, Argentina is a very rich country. However, I do feel like, over generations, a paradigm was broken, and new sounds have been created that don’t necessarily abandon the roots of our music, but were created out of counterculture.

That same kind of counterculture is what makes Argentina be in such turmoil. It’s also the context of our country. Economic, political, social. The key Argentinian figures we refer to nowadays are constantly changing. And that allows you to listen to a variety of genres from Argentina, from people doing different things, and at the same time raising the flag and saying: “Yo soy argentino.” And we love that.

A-LIST celebrities have begun to arrive for Taylor Swift’s rumored rehearsal dinner on Thursday ahead of her lavish wedding.

Taylor and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce are expected to tie the knot at Madison Square Garden on Friday in front of around 1,000 guests.

A few celebrities were spotted in New York ahead of the couple’s big day, where roughly 100 guests are expected to attend the rehearsal dinner on Thursday evening.

Beloved actor Adam Sandler was seen outside of Madison Square Garden with his family on Thursday afternoon in an exclusive video capture by The U.S. Sun.

The comedian was dressed in his signature casual style, wearing shorts, a baggy shirt and sneakers and appeared to be joined by his wife, Jackie, and their daughters, Sadie and Sunny.

Travis joined the big screen alongside Adam in the sequel to the classic film Happy Gilmore and invited the movie star to his podcast, New Heights, which he hosts with his brother Jason Kelce.

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On the podcast, Adam talked about taking his two daughters to the Eras Tour concert film premiere.

“What a girl … She means so much to our house,” Adam said of Taylor.

Selena Gomez shared a video on her Instagram story on Thursday of her in a floral lace black dress applying one of her Rare Beauty lip products, possibly on her way to the rehearsal dinner, although it has not yet been confirmed.

She paired the dress with a pair of Flicker earrings, featuring 1.92 carats of pear-cut diamonds totaling $29,000 and an $11,000 Flicker ring, according to Page Six.

Selena and Taylor met in 2008 and were first spotted together stepping out to dinner with Nick and Joe Jonas, whom they were respectively dating at the time.

In a 2020 interview with WSJ Magazine, the duo opened up about their friendship, which Taylor compared to “sisterhood.”

“I knew from when I met her I would always have her back. In my life, I have the ability to forgive people who have hurt me. But I don’t know if I can forgive someone who hurts her,” Taylor said of Selena.

Jack Antonoff, Taylor’s close friend and main musical collaborator who recently worked on The Tortured Poets Department, was also spotted in New York City, dressed in a white-collared shirt and dark blazer.

His sister Rachel was also spotted in New York City, dressed in a long pink frilly gown and a red purse.

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle and his wife Claire were spotted in New York City ahead of the wedding.

The fellow NFL player will apparently not be attending the rehearsal dinner, but will attend the wedding, which he told ExtraTV he plans to give Travis an old coin despite the couple saying “absolutely no gifts.”

Supermodel Gigi Hadid and actor Bradley Cooper were seen heading to the rehearsal dinner, with Bradley in a formal suit and vest, in photos obtained by Page Six.

The rehearsal dinner is reportedly scheduled to run from 6pm to 10:30pm, with fresh lobster possibly on the menu.

The main wedding ceremony is expected to take place on Friday, although it remains unclear if it will be a legal wedding or a lavish celebration as rumors circulate that the pair are already married.

Some others said to be attending the rehearsal dinner include Taylor’s childhood best friend Abigail Anderson, her publicist Tree Paine and Travis’ manager, Amanda Santa, per Page Six.

Travis’ longtime friend Reggie “Regrunt” King and his wife, Sarah, are also expected to attend in addition to several people in sports media, like sports commentator Charissa Thompson and sports reporter Erin Andrews along with her husband, former NHL player Jarret Stoll.

Celebrities close to Taylor have been spotted around New York City, including Suki Waterhouse, who opened for one of Taylor’s Eras Tour shows in London.

Suki told Variety in an interview published in May that she will be attending and hopes to gather inspiration for her wedding to her fiancé Robert Pattinson.

“I’m gonna go to Taylor’s wedding, and maybe I’ll get some inspiration It will be amazing,” she said.

Graham Norton, an Irish comedian and actor who made a cameo in Taylor’s music video for her song Opalite, touched down at John F. Kennedy International Airport alongside his husband Jono McLeod.

Taylor’s pal, English actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge, was also seen in New York City with her family ahead of the celebration.

Taylor and Travis’ full guest list has not yet been revealed, but some eagle-eyed fans speculated singer Katy Perry may not be in attendance as she is set to perform in the UK on their rumored wedding day.

Some other famous faces are expected not to be attending, such as Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, Charli XCX and Matty Healy following past fallouts.

Cut to a seedy alley behind a Chinese restaurant in Rome: A dozen mobsters menace a slight young man who suddenly pulls out a pair of nunchucks. He swings the traditional stick-and-chain weapons and makes quick work of his enemies, who fall one by one, groaning in pain.

The comedic, legendary action scene is from the 1972 film “The Way of the Dragon,” written, directed and starring Bruce Lee. The martial arts star was a trailblazer, allowing Asian Americans to see themselves represented in a strong, positive light on-screen.

And now he has secured a place in California history, becoming the first Chinese American in state history to have a day designated in his honor.

Lee was born in 1940 in San Francisco. His mother was of European descent and his father was a Cantonese opera star who was on tour in the city, affording his son birthright citizenship.

Lee grew up in Hong Kong, where he followed his father’s path as a performer, acting in more than a dozen films as a child and studying the close-quarters southern Chinese martial art Wing Chun.

On May 17, 1959, an 18-year-old Lee returned to San Francisco and eventually made his way to Hollywood. He went on to influence an industry that was at the time bereft of Asian American talent, and helped to popularize the genre of martial arts films and ignite Western interest in Hong Kong action cinema.

In recognition of his contributions, state Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) introduced a bill designating May 17 as “Bruce Lee Day” in California. The bill, signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom, encourages schools and communities to honor Lee’s life and cultural impact.

Haney has described Lee as a “symbol of pride, resilience and possibility for generations who rarely saw themselves reflected with strength and dignity.”

Lee, who saw himself not only as an actor but also as a poet and philosopher, encountered repeated barriers. Up for the main role in the 1970s television series “Kung Fu,” for example, he was rejected in favor of white actor David Carradine.

In 2020, filmmaker Bao Nguyen sought to show how Lee dispelled anti-Asian sentiment and long-held stereotypes of emasculated Asian men in his ESPN documentary “Be Water.”

“The Asian male was the face of the enemy to many Americans,” Nguyen told The Times in 2020. “It was this vicious cycle of society reflecting media and culture, and media and culture reflecting society. There had to be some kind of intervention there and Bruce, in a way, was that intervention. He was the hero that we hadn’t seen before.”

Lee learned much about the systemic oppression that Black Americans faced from his first student, Jesse Glover, who had been a victim of police brutality.

And scholars have pointed out that, although his films had far-from-perfect politics, they touched on themes of fighting oppression. The 1971 movie “The Big Boss” showed Lee battling alongside laborers. “Fist of Fury” saw him opposing Japanese colonialism and discrimination.

Lee died young in 1973, at age 32 — before he was able to witness the full extent of his stardom. He died just one month before the release of “Enter the Dragon,” which was a box-office sensation and is considered a masterpiece of martial arts filmmaking.

THE White House has shared its own Taylor Swift-inspired post ahead of the popstar’s lavish wedding to Travis Kelce.

The official White House Instagram account shared a photo of “America’s Eras Tour” in the same style as Taylor’s iconic Eras Tour poster.

The image showed President Donald Trump in the middle with his fist raised, surrounded by ten photos depicting moments in American history.

The post included two additional photos of Trump in addition to Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.

There were other images showing a hockey game, the moon landing, and a photo from the end of World War II showing a US Navy sailor kissing a woman in Times Square.

“It’s been a long time coming…” the caption read, a nod to Taylor’s lyrics.

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The timing of the post appeared to throw some shade toward Taylor, whose wedding extravaganza is taking place around the Fourth of July weekend and the celebration of America’s 250th anniversary.

Trump and Taylor have had a longtime feud, where the president blasted the singer as “no longer hot” in a Truth Social post from 2025.

“Has anyone noticed that, since I said ‘I hate Taylor Swift,’ she’s no longer ‘hot?’” he wrote.

He also called out Taylor in his speech congratulating the Philadelphia Eagles on their Super Bowl win in 2025, noting how she was booed on the jumbotron at the Caesars Superdome as she cheered on Travis at the big game.

“The only one that had a tougher night than the Kansas City Chiefs was Taylor Swift,” he wrote on Truth Social after making history as the first sitting president to attend the Super Bowl.

Despite the comments, after Trump learned the news that the pair were engaged, he told reporters, “I wish them a lot of luck.”

“He’s a great player and she’s a terrific person.”

The White House’s post on Thursday came as around 100 guests are expected to be attending Taylor and Travis’ rehearsal dinner.

Several A-List celebrities were spotted in New York City ahead of the couple’s big day, including Adam Sandler and his family, who arrived outside of Madison Square Garden on Thursday afternoon.

Jack Antonoff, who recently worked with Taylor on The Tortured Poets Department album, was also spotted in formal attire alongside his sister.

Supermodel Gigi Hadid and actor Bradley Cooper were seen heading to the rehearsal dinner in photos obtained by Page Six.

The rehearsal dinner reportedly began around 6:30pm with fresh lobster possibly on the menu.

TAYLOR Swift and Travis Kelce may have already exchanged vows ahead of their elaborate wedding weekend.

The singer and NFL star are getting married in a three-day celebration this week at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

However, many fans are convinced that the couple have already said “I do” after spotting numerous clues.

Some Swifties believe that Taylor dropped a big hint that she and the Kansas City Chiefs tight end were already married during the Toy Story 5 premiere last month.

The pop star rocked a short white dress featuring two massive knots on the shoulders to the red-carpet event.

Chatter has circulated that the knot detail was a subtle indicator that she and Travis had secretly “tied the knot.”

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They also believed the floral embellishments on the dress represented “the garden,” as in Madison Square Garden, which is her wedding venue.

Fans also believe that Taylor’s favorite number, 13, has to be incorporated into her wedding date somehow, and they have some theories.

Since her official wedding date, July 3, has no connection to 13, it’s speculated that Taylor and Travis possibly got married a few days before the Toy Story 5 premiere, on June 6.

As Swifties know, Taylor is a big fan of numbers and after breaking down and adding up the digits, it eventually comes to the number 13.

While this may seem like a longshot, Taylor is known for keeping her fans guessing with little easter eggs, so the theory isn’t entirely farfetched.

OLLY Murs left talkSPORT hosts Andy Goldstein and Gabby Agbonlahor in stitches after impersonating Ross Kemp’s emotional reaction to England playing during the World Cup.

The singer was asked if he had seen the moment EastEnders star Ross went wild watching the Three Lions play DR Congo and whether he would be willing to replicate the moment.

The Heart Skips A Beat singer pulled out all the stops to deliver an equally passionate performance, as Andy asked: “Is there any way you could deliver us a Ross Kemp style rallying cry for England against Mexico?”

Scrunching up his face and changing his voice to sound more like Ross, Olly dived right into the task, yelling: “Come on England, we can do this.

“Stop doing this to me, stop it. I’m telling ya, we can do it. He’s coming home.”

Olly then dramatically walked out of frame, leaving Andy in stitches while asking where he had gone.

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EastEnders fans and celebs alike were cracking up after Ross’ reaction to England winning flooded the internet.

The 61-year-old – who recently returned to the BBC soap as Grant Mitchell – shared a video of himself online passionately praising Harry Kane.

Ross filmed himself wearing an England shirt in his living room, shouting at the camera: “Yes! Yes! Harry Kane! Harry Kane!

“That’s what we’re talking about. Great changes made – a massive difference. Come on, England! Close it down. Close it down!”

Punching the air in triumph, he went on: “Four minutes! Four minutes! Plus extra time!”

Looking out of breath, the actor added: “My God, why do you do this to me? Come on, England!”

He captioned the Instagram video, “Harry Kane,” with football and England flag emojis.

A slew of celebs flooded the comments with their amusement, with actor and presenter Adil Ray joking, “Watch the ticker Grant!!!!!” while presenter Rav Wilding posted, “Love you Ross!” and Sky Sports host Adam Smith commented: “Legend.”

Fans also shared their appreciation, with one asking: “Please can I come and watch the next match with you?”

“Grant Mitchell shouting down his phone has made me feel more patriotic than when I was watching the game,” someone else joked.

A third user suggested Ross should join the England coaching team, declaring: “Get him on the team as assistant manager.”

Harry scored two goals in nine minutes during Wednesday’s match, delivering England to a 2-1 win and sending the Three Lions to Mexico City.

You can listen to all FIFA World Cup 2026 matches for free on the talkSPORT app, with live commentaries via talkSPORT’s YouTube and TikTok.

It’s the 250th birthday of the United States of America and how better to celebrate than with a big-screen hagiography of America’s first president, George Washington? “Young Washington” arrives in theaters just in time for the Fourth of July with a chiseled, hot young actor in the lead role and the sheen of a prestige HBO drama, though the result isn’t really big-screen spectacle or appointment television. It feels more like something to be watched on the AV rig in a middle school social studies class. At least there won’t be a quiz at the end.

But there could be, because the plot of “Young Washington” plays out with all the thrill of a textbook chapter. It takes place mostly around 1753-55, at the advent of the French and Indian War. We open in medias res when the 23-year-old Col. Washington (William Franklyn-Miller) lurches from a dysentery-riddled nap directly into battle in the Pennsylvania woods, his battalion on the back foot, surrounded by gore and gunpowder. Another officer describes how dire the situation is while George ponders saving his men and asks, “What could be worth the risk?” Washington steels his gaze and we cut to black. You can almost hear the eagles scream, guitars riff and engines rev.

“Young Washington” is produced and distributed by Angel Studios, the faith-based movie studio that churns out films based on true stories that either feature freak accidents, strange illnesses or, more recently, unique stories from the past in which faith in God is a factor. Apparently, our nation’s founding also falls under this umbrella.

The film is directed by Jon Erwin, one of the in-house Angel Studios mainstays, who also helmed “Jesus Revolution,” “I Still Believe” and “I Can Only Imagine.” Erwin gives the whole project a kind of gritty, visceral approach — very “Game of Thrones” in red coats. It’s violent, muddy, the contrast is high and too many drone shots soar over the forest treetops.

Though it opens with a bang, this 1755 battle framing device gives way to the George origin story, starting with his father’s death 12 years earlier, when the 11-year-old George is bereft that he’ll have to sacrifice his education in order to become a tenant farmer and provide for his family including his mother, Mary (Mary-Louise Parker, doing a bizarre accent).

His older half-brother Lawrence (John Foss) takes him under his wing and teaches him, and the young George grows into a smart, bright, ambitious young man, whose dreams of becoming a British officer are dashed because he doesn’t have formal education, a fortuitous marriage or his own land. But he’s bootstrapped himself into intelligence and with savvy networking and know-how, he becomes indispensable to the British, volunteering as a major to survey land and negotiate treaties with the Native tribes and French army. It’s all a bunch of politicking and petty disputes until it escalates into all-out war thanks to an ill-advised ambush.

Sir Ben Kingsley, Kelsey Grammar (who starred in “Jesus Revolution”) and Andy Serkis play the British officers who begrudgingly, at times, believe in George and his capabilities, though a lot of the film is about a young man getting rebuffed by snobbish British officers.

He’s the kind of character who always makes the noble choice, does and says what’s right, and sees everyone as equals (including enslaved African men and Native American allies). He inspires his brother and others that the world can change and takes inspiration from his mother, who encourages him to continue his path and do it as God’s servant.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t make for a character that’s in any way complex or interesting at all. Franklyn-Miller is certainly pretty, serving as a fine face for this story, but the screenplay (by Erwin, Diederik Hoogstraten and Tom Provost) flattens his character into a basic cookie-cutter hero. Audiences, including the middle school social studies students, deserve better and more nuanced stories about this country and the values it was built upon.

“Young Washington” is propaganda in the form of a history lesson wrapped in a summer blockbuster. If only it were even slightly entertaining — maybe they’ll tackle that in the inevitable sequel.

On Sunday, Mexico will take on England at Mexico City’s famed Estadio Azteca for a round of 16 World Cup match in one of the most hotly anticipated contests of the tournament so far.

But days before anything goes down on the pitch, Mexico and England fans have already started bickering with each other online — from cheeky jabs to heated debates about which country does beans on toast better.

Joining in on the soccer smack talk are two of the biggest rock stars from the countries — Liam Gallagher of Oasis fame and Maná frontman Fher Olvera.

The beef kicked off Wednesday morning when Gallagher replied to a fan question on X about the possibility of England playing Mexico on their home turf before the Three Lions sealed their win against DR Congo.

“Liam how do you feel about England being crushed at the azteca,” the X user @angelchilddemo asked.

Gallagher answered by writing, “I think we’ll beat Mexico 5-0.”

The “Wonderwall” singer’s prediction was so audacious that Olvera took it upon himself to publicly respond with an Instagram video Wednesday evening.

“The singer of Oasis said that Mexico will lose to England 5-0,” Olvera said in Spanish with a giant grin on his face while draped in a Mexican flag. “No way! Check yourself dude! 5 to 0? Calm down! We’ll see you Sunday to see how it goes, dude. Don’t play with me.”

By Thursday morning Gallagher amended his prediction for the match.

“[L]et me just clear someting up I was obv kidding when I said England will beat Mexico 5-0,” the English rocker wrote in an X post. “I reckon it’ll be more like 3-0 to England.”

While Olvera and Gallagher will be at odds over the next few days, the two singers shared parallel experiences as Maná was one of the bestselling Mexican rock bands of the ‘90s and Oasis was the bestselling British rock group of the ‘90s.

Maná already made its mark on this year’s World Cup when it played its 1992 hit “Oye Mi Amor” at the tournament’s opening ceremony in Mexico City ahead of the Mexico-South Africa match on June 11.

Sunday’s contest between England and Mexico also marks the first time the English side will play at Estadio Azteca since the 1986 World Cup when they lost to eventual-champions Argentina in a quarterfinal game infamous for Diego Maradona‘s “Hand of God” goal.

The last time Mexico and England squared off in a World Cup setting was during the 1966 World Cup in England where the Three Lions beat El Tri 2-0 in a group stage match at Wembley Stadium.

NEW YORK — A skyscraper-scaling daredevil told police that he and his girlfriend climbed the Empire State Building’s antenna and unfurled a banner about love and peace because he wanted to “do something special” for their engagement, prosecutors said Thursday at the couple’s arraignment on felony reckless endangerment, burglary and other charges.

The couple, who go by Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus, said little as they left court, though Beerkus responded to a journalist’s question about the stunt by saying, “We believe in love.”

Authorities said the two — who were the subject of the 2024 Netflix documentary “Skywalkers: A Love Story ” about their “rooftopping” exploits and budding romance — created not only a spectacle but also a danger by ascending the famed skyscraper’s broadcast antenna Wednesday.

After reaching the top, 1,454 feet above Midtown Manhattan, the climbers displayed a black banner reading, “When the power of love beats the love of power the world knows peace,” news helicopter video showed.

Then they collected the banner and descended to a slightly lower ledge, where an apparently successful marriage proposal unfolded. Nikolau posted images of the escapade on her social media accounts, including a photo that modeled an engagement-style ring above a bird’s-eye view of Manhattan.

Police waited about half an hour for the antenna to be powered down before Emergency Services Unit officers started ascending and eventually intercepted the climbers on their way down, according to the court complaint, which noted the danger to officers who climbed about 1,250 feet above the ground. The court document identified the two by their formal names, Angelina Nikolau and Ivan Kuznetsov.

“Skywalkers: A Love Story” follows Beerkus, now 32, and Nikolau, 33, as they make often unauthorized ascents of tall structures, sometimes posing as construction workers to sneak in.

The court complaint said police found a broken lock on a security door on the Empire State Building’s restricted-access 104th floor, which provides access to the antenna. The highest public floor is the 102nd, where there’s an observation deck. Going higher requires a key card, according to the court complaint.

The Empire State Building’s management has called the climb “unauthorized” but hasn’t answered questions about what interactions, if any, the daredevils had with security workers. Visitors to the skyscraper are screened and told not to bring large packages, sports equipment, costumes or masks, among other items.

Beerkus and Nikolau were released without bail, in accordance with New York laws that restrict when monetary bail can be set. Their attorney, Jason Krinsky, said outside court that once prosecutors provide evidence, he and his clients would assess it and determine next steps.

“What a way to propose — something you can only dream of,” Krinsky said. “So you’ve got to, you know, give him some credit for that.”

Other daredevils have climbed the antenna and other parts of the Empire State Building. Those ascents have largely been unauthorized, but actor and musician Jared Leto was allowed to climb up to the base of the antenna from the 86th floor in 2023 to promote a tour.

Peltz writes for the Associated Press.

SINGER Rita Ora has all hands on deck as she enjoys a holiday refresh with friends.

The 35-year-old wore a black bikini as she crawled on a boat in one snap, while in another she lounged on board in a silver bikini.

She was joined on her getaway to Greek island Mykonos by pals including hair salon owner Jade Rae Williams, with the pair posing for a selfie.

Rita posted on social media: “Needed a soul refresh — sun, bikinis and music.”

Recently Rita looked stunning as she soaked up the sun in Greece and flashed her bum on the high seas.

Her toned body and rock hard abs were on full display during her summer holiday which saw her sail onboard a luxury yacht.

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Rita and her crew visited the famous party island of Mykonos where she shared a traditional meal at restaurant Scorpios and also sailed on a luxury yacht.

She put on a cheeky display in a metallic bikini onboard the yacht and flashed her bum as she rode aboard a paddle board.

The singer was spotted enjoying the blue waters including diving and jumping off the yacht in beautiful style.

Her close friend and former Towie star Vas J Morgan holidayed with Rita and was close at hand to supervise her leap into the sea.

While on Mykonos, Rita also rocked a retro style leopard print halter bikini and which she accessorised with ruby coloured chandelier earrings and a black hair bandana.

The Black Widow singer showed off her impressive collection of swimsuits as she relaxed on a sailboat, feasted with friends and took in the sights.

The singer shared a video montage of her on the island of Hydra which included scaling down stone steps, admiring the island’s cats and sunbathing on the sailboat as they cruised over crystal blue waters.

Rita is one of many celebrities known for stripping down to their birthday suits in the hopes of avoiding tan lines.

Former Little Mix star Jesy Nelson was in tears as cameras caught the moment she was given her twin daughters’ devastating SMA diagnosis

Jesy Nelson has candidly shared the devastating moment her twin girls were diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) sobbing: “I don’t know how I’m going to do this.”

The heartbreaking scenes were captured as she filmed for her upcoming documentary, Jesy Nelson: Life Changing. The Amazon Prime Video cameras were on hand to capture the former Little Mix star’s reaction to the awful news as she said she “can’t believe this is happening”.

Doctors revealed the tots’ tests had come back positive. According to the NHS, SMA is “a rare genetic condition that can cause muscle weakness”. The organisation says the condition gets worse over time.

She revealed her whole life has changed, and she was predicted to struggle with the diagnosis. And Jesy is seen with her head in her hands as she says: “I don’t know how I’m going to do this. I feel like I’m going to be heartbroken for the rest of my life.”

But she says she refuses to let anyone else feel her pain and is determined to change laws and regulations surrounding SMA testing. And she has continued to update her followers on her twins’ condition online as the documentary gets ready to air later this month.

In the caption for the trailer, Jesy wrote: “I’m really not sure where to start with this one…All I can say is that I urge everyone to watch this documentary. It’s the most heartbreaking series I’ve ever had to make, but it’s one that needed to be made if we’re ever going to see real change.

“This is only a small glimpse into what my girls have to go through every single day. It’s the reality that so many children born with SMA have to endure and this is only the beginning of their lives.

“I truly hope this helps people understand why the heel prick test and treatment from birth are so incredibly vital. Early diagnosis can change EVERYTHING. I’ll keep saying it until no family has to experience this again: no future babies born with SMA should have lives that look like this.”

She ended with a plea: “Please if you watch one thing, let it be this: “Jesy Nelson: Life Changing” on @primevideouk, streaming from July 17th.”

Last month, Jesy was in Parliament as MPs debated whether to test all newborns for spinal muscular atrophy. She joined forces with the Mirror to highlight her petition which was signed by over 150,000 people demanding all newborns are checked for spinal muscular atrophy.

Scotland introduced screening in March. However, a similar scheme for England will only have a limited roll-out. And Jesy expressed frustration after public health minister Sharon Hodgson defended the staggered launch.

Jesy said: “I cannot believe we are still debating this. You are basically telling me that if you live in a certain postcode, you’re not as important. It’s outrageous.”

The decision, though, was defended by the public health minister, who had said limited testing facilities were preventing a full roll-out of screening for SMA.

The singer highlighted how late diagnosis of her own one-year-old twins meant they began treatment too late after irreversible nerve damage was done. She has since been told they will never walk.

Jesy Nelson: Life Changing will be shown on Prime from July 17

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The BBC has confirmed that Winterwatch is coming to an end after 14 years on our screens, with the nature show set to be replaced by a new Naturewatch podcast

A beloved BBC programme has been replaced after 14 years on air.

Winterwatch, a spin-off from the massively popular Springwatch, is the latest show to face the axe after the broadcaster recently confirmed that 2,000 members of staff would be losing their jobs.

The series is set to be replaced by a weekly video podcast called Naturewatch, which will run all year round. Springwatch will continue as normal and is due back on our screens in May 2027.

Head of Commissioning, Specialist Factual Jack Bootle said: “Nature never stops – and neither should we. Every week, Naturewatch will give Springwatch fans – and all wildlife lovers – a new way to stay connected to the natural world, whether that’s on TV, iPlayer or Sounds.

“The BBC is committed to celebrating British nature across all our platforms, and we hope this new series will encourage audiences to fall in love with the natural world around them.

“By expanding the Watches brand we are making the BBC’s brilliant Natural History content even more accessible.”

Winterwatch first aired in 2012 as a means of capturing the tenacity of British wildlife as creatures across the UK battled the harsh winter conditions, reports the Daily Star.

The announcement follows news that Escape to the Country’s Jules Hudson was recently forced to pull out of a work engagement due to a family crisis.

He took to social media to tell fans: “It’s with huge regret that owing to a sudden and serious family illness we’ve had to postpone my evening this Friday at the Blake Theatre in Monmouth.

“Your tickets can of course be refunded, but we have agreed a new date, Saturday the 12th September.. It’s hugely disappointing to have to change plans, but I hope you’ll understand on this occasion, and hopefully we can all get together in a few short months.

“With thanks, and apologies once again, Jules.”

After hearing news regarding the show’s cancellation, some viewers were not happy, with one writing: “Such a shame to lose Winterwatch. I hope Chris Packham, Michaela Strachan and Iolo Williams will still be involved with the new format. BBC confirms end of Winterwatch after 14 years as show to be replaced with new format.”

A century and a half ago, Richard Wagner was running out of cash as he was preparing to stage his four momentous nights of opera known as the “Ring Cycle” when he got a message from the Women’s Centennial Executive Committee in Philadelphia. It offered him a princely $5,000 (around $150,000 today) to write a triumphant 12-minute orchestral score to open the Centennial Exposition in Fairmont Park celebrating the 100^th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

On May 10, 1876, Theodore Thomas, perhaps America’s most famous conductor at the time (he would go on to head the New York Philharmonic and help found the Chicago Symphony), led the premiere of Wagner’s “Grosse Festmarsch” with a 150-member orchestra, its brass and percussion so impressive that the addition of cannon fire Wagner suggested was not needed. The crowd was said to number well over 100,000. President Ulysses S. Grant attended and invited Emperor Dom Pedro II of Brazil to join him along with members of Congress and Supreme Court justices for what remains a unique Declaration of Independence spectacle and debacle.

The “Centennial March,” as it came to be known, turned out to be dreck. Even Wagner, who carelessly tossed it off in a couple of weeks, said the best thing about the score was the fee, which he had demanded to be paid in gold. But what sounds like something AI might come up with if asked to write a pompous march in the style of Wagner began the American obsession with celebrating the Declaration of Independence, the words and deeds of our presidents, our very democracy with the assist of the symphony orchestra and opera.

One hundred years later, the country was awash with federal, state, city and philanthropic funding for a music-happy bicentennial of exceptional ambition. “With millions available in hand and more money to come,” Time Magazine wrote in 1975, “the Bicentennial is the biggest bonanza for the American composer since Hollywood discovered the musical.”

And so it was. The centerpiece was the National Endowment for the Arts Bicentennial Orchestra Commissioning Project. That funded America’s six top orchestras to each commission a major work that all six would play. In addition, the NEA offered further support to 34 American orchestras for dozens more new scores.

Everyone got into the act. The New York State Council of the Arts alone sponsored 68 commissions. Orchestras everywhere came up with striking projects. The Pittsburgh Symphony, for instance, premiered L.A. composer John LaMontaine’s opera/oratorio “Be Glad Then America” that featured the folk singer Odetta as the Muse of Liberty and enlisted ROTC students to reenact the Battle of Lexington overhead the orchestra.

The National Symphony commissioned symphonies from Roy Harris and William Schuman as well as Alan Hovhaness’ “Ode to Freedom,” a lovely short violin concerto written for Yehudi Menuhin. The list goes on.

We are obviously not seeing or hearing much like that in a semiquincentennial year when our government’s green gets the most attention for promoting algae. Even so, the NEA does indeed have an “America250” project (though it does little to publicize it, let alone fund it on the scale of 50 years ago) that is promoting more than 50 artworks. In music, they range from the Montgomery Symphony’s premiere in February of Nkeiru Okoye’s oratorio “A Time for Jubilee,” commemorating the 60^th anniversary of the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery civil rights marches, to a New West Symphony premiere last weekend of Michael Christie’s “A Ronald Reagan Portrait” at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum.

The major East Coast orchestras are paying some attention. The New York Philharmonic premiered David Lang’s luminous “the wealth of nations.” The National Symphony got the most attention in its attempt to commission Philip Glass’ “Lincoln” Symphony, which the composer pulled in opposition to an un-Lincoln-like presidential takeover of the Kennedy Center. Glass then gave the rights to the Boston Symphony for a July 5 first performance.

The National Symphony did pull off the premiere of Peter Boyer’s “American Mosaic,” and it was to the Altadena composer that Philadelphia, this time around, entrusted its Declaration of Independence commemoration. Boyer’s multimedia oratorio, “A Hundred Years On,” was given its premiere by the Philadelphia Orchestra last month at the orchestra’s outdoor summer home, the Mann Center.

Upcoming will be a few repeat performances. Next month, “the wealth of nations” lands at the Aspen Festival, as does the “Lincoln” Symphony at the Cabrillo festival (with an L.A. Phil performance next season). “American Mosaic,” of which the Pacific Symphony was a co-commissioner, had its West Coast premiere in Costa Mesa last month and was scheduled to be performed at the Hollywood Bowl by the National Symphony in August, but that has now been replaced by Dvorak’s commonplace “New World Symphony.”

None of this comes close to comparing with the attempted civic zest of 1976. The NEA made it a matter of admirable policy that commissioned new works get multiple performances. Yet despite several of these being substantial works by some of our most noted and venturesome composers, few bicentennial commissions have survived. Even odder is that many of the composers did not necessarily feel compelled to explore nationalist themes. For them, American liberty implied freedom to simply write the kind of music they cared about.

The six works for the six orchestras were David del Tredici’s irresistibly over-the-top “Final Alice” (Chicago Symphony), Elliott Carter’s arrestingly impenetrable-on-first-hearing “Symphony for Three Orchestras” (New York Philharmonic), John Cage’s irrepressibly come-what-may “Renga” (Boston Symphony), Morton Subotnick’s brilliant electronic-landscaped “Before the Butterfly” (Los Angeles Philharmonic), Leslie Bassett’s introspective “Echoes From an Invisible World” and Jacob Druckman’s abstract-modernist “Chiaroscuro” (Cleveland Orchestra).

No orchestra has brought back its commission over the last half century, and only Chicago and New York recorded their commissions. No recording at all exists of L.A.’s, although Subotnick’s inventive uses of electronic music with a standard symphony orchestra went on to have considerable influence. None of these works, it appears, are likely to be heard anywhere in America this year, with one sort-of exception.

An explanation for that may be that, while 1976 was a fraught time for America — the country was recovering from the Vietnam War, we had a president and vice president who were not elected, there was runaway inflation, etc. — the music of the time represented optimism. Many works around the country explored new electronic music technology. It was the year Glass wrote “Einstein on the Beach” and Steve Reich created “Music for 18 Musicians” — the composers’ first masterpieces — demonstrating that Minimalism mattered.

That sense of liberation is clearly behind Del Tredici’s “Final Alice,” an hourlong romp around the ending of “Alice in Wonderland” for superhuman soprano and orchestra. It is so obsessively and addictively wild that its tamest moments sound like Richard Strauss on LSD. It does have a cult following although performances are few and far between.

Cage’s score is an abstract work based on the Japanese form of collective poetry known as renga, in which each poet attempts to write a line that is as distant as possible in meaning from the preceding line. Cage translates that to an independence of instrumental parts. While “Renga” can be performed alone Cage further suggests it be played along with an actual bicentennial work he wrote separately, “Apartment House 1776.” That is what Boston and the other orchestras did.

Indeed, “Apartment House” got the lion’s share of bicentennial attention and ridicule. When Zubin Mehta conducted it at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the L.A. Philharmonic did not take it seriously and many walked out on it.

The work features four vocal soloists who represent Native American, Sephardic, African American and Protestant religious traditions, along with instrumental music based on early American hymn tunes. Everything is cut up and put together through chance operations into what Cage called a Musicircus. Under the circumstances “Renga” was hardly noticed, although two decades later, “Renga” came into its own when Michael Tilson Thomas famously conducted it with the San Francisco Symphony and the surviving members of the Grateful Dead.

Still the idea that “Apartment House” need not stand alone, that our traditions and those of long-ago Japan belong together, represented for Cage a future for America. We need not act like a superpower, he noted, but merely be one nation, no more and no less, among many.

We are obviously not that nation. A half-century later, “Apartment House” tends to exist mainly in its own right. An excellent London new music ensemble calls itself Apartment House. Detroit Opera recently staged it with a 2026 need to give the singers the opportunity to select their own music rather than reflect on our heritage. If American music in 1976 represented a collective, inquisitive, inventive American spirit of discovery, the semiquincentennial in the age of social media has become more about the individual identity.

As a sign of how we think about ourselves, the Los Angeles Philharmonic begins its Hollywood Bowl season five days after the 4^th with a program of American music conducted by Thomas Wilkins that opens with Valery Coleman’s “Fanfare for Uncommon Times,” which was written five years ago.

But for now, the work that stands out is Lang’s “the wealth of nations.” It balances harsh thoughts of how the promise of capitalism has failed society and how racism remains with music of stunning beauty and glory, to gently but forcefully show us, in our age of American dissatisfaction, the direction in which we might go to make us proud again. It needs many performances.

AMANDA Holden flashed her underwear in a very daring see-through lace dress in central London on Thursday.

The Britain’s Got Talent judge, 55, looked incredible in the mint coloured outfit as she left the Global Radio office.

Amanda dressed to impress for her shift in the stunning outfit which nipped her in the waist perfectly with a bow belt.

She accessorised with a pair of white court shoe heels and a matching tiny handbag.

Amanda accessorised with gold bangles, oversized sunglasses and some rings.

The TV favourite completed the look with some loose waves and a huge smile on her face.

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It comes after Amanda looked incredible as she flashed her toned figure in a bright red bikini while on a swing.

The star looked relaxed as she swayed in the sunshine.

Amanda rocked the two piece swimwear with oversized sunglasses and a great tan.

She styled her hair into loose waves.

Over the years, Amanda has appeared in a number of different TV shows, but arguably is most known for starring on Britain’s Got Talent.

The star is a judge alongside Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon, and KSI.

Recently she’s also starred in Amanda & Alan’s Greek Job and Amanda & Alan’s Spanish Job.

She’s also hosted Cheat: Unfinished Business and The Inner Circle.

Decades of Hollywood empire-building ended with a quake in 2017 when Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch decided to sell much of his Fox entertainment holdings amid the rise of Netflix and other tech giants.

This week, another titan who has been instrumental in shaping American media and telecommunications began to unwind his Hollywood holdings.

Brian L. Roberts — who with his father built Comcast into a cable TV and internet colossus — announced his company would spin off its prestigious NBCUniversal unit into a separate publicly traded company sometime next year.

The move reverses Roberts’ purchase of NBCUniversal in 2011 — a bold bet that created a behemoth with popular programming and cable pipes to pump that content into consumer homes.

Comcast’s breakup marks the close of a Hollywood era, one dominated for 40 years by a class of maverick moguls: Murdoch, CNN founder Ted Turner, Viacom’s Sumner Redstone, cable titan John Malone and the Philadelphia-based Roberts family.

Now, a new crop of leaders has emerged, reflecting Silicon Valley’s vast influence over the film and and TV business, which has been upended by streaming and, now, artificial intelligence.

“There was a time that Murdoch, Malone and Brian were really industry leaders who could affect change,” said Bank of America managing director Jessica Reif Ehrlich in an interview. “That’s not true any longer.”

Analysts widely believe Monday’s announcement is a prelude to eventual sales of both Comcast and NBCUniversal, a theory that Comcast rejects.

Roberts, 67, told analysts he will remain involved in both NBCUniversal and Comcast after the separation. Still, he plans to relinquish his chief executive role after 25 years and a half century at Comcast. Roberts has picked trusted associates to run each firm, and his family will continue to hold controlling shares of both companies.

But the shift underscores a dramatic loss of clout by Comcast and other traditional media enterprises. Netflix, Apple, Amazon and Google’s YouTube have diminished the industry’s financial pillars — box office receipts and cable programming fees — and given consumers control over when and how they watch programming.

Murdoch was the first to flee. In 2014, he was rebuffed in his $80-billion bid to beef up his 21st Century Fox by buying HBO, CNN and other Time Warner assets. Murdoch’s defeat led to the Fox asset sale to Walt Disney Co.

Last fall, Comcast made a run for the same properties with a plan to unite NBCUniversal with Warner Bros.

Instead, 43-year-old tech scion David Ellison — with help from his billionaire father, Oracle software co-founder Larry Ellison — scooped up the prize for a staggering $111 billion.

The pending blockbuster merger of Ellison’s Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery is expected to reshape the industry and leave NBCUniversal increasingly vulnerable to a takeover.

“It looks like Comcast’s NBCUniversal was left standing on the dance floor without a partner,” MoffettNathanson media analyst Robert Fishman wrote in a Tuesday note to investors.

Paramount’s play for Warner Bros. came a month after Ellison finalized his family’s purchase of cash-strapped Paramount from Shari Redstone. The one-two acquisition punch would propel the Ellison family to top-tier moguls with influence over CNN, CBS News, HBO, Turner Classic Movies and two historic Hollywood studios.

“It’s a flagging industry. … The industry will have to consolidate to survive,” said C. Kerry Fields, a USC Marshall School of Business economics professor. “Those who have content plus [streaming] distribution are going to be the winners.”

Roberts knows distribution. His father in 1963 bought his first cable TV system in Tupelo, Miss. It was a quirky bet for Ralph Roberts, who figured his belts and suspenders business would soon be toast as beltless polyester pants became the rage.

Brian Roberts joined Comcast as a high school intern, setting up supermarket promotions. In 1975, he became a trainee cable installer, climbing poles and stringing cables. He joined Comcast full time in 1981 after graduating the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

For more than 30 years, he worked in tandem with his dad. With key associates, they built the nation’s foremost cable TV service — then the entertainment gateway — and grew stronger by offering internet, phone and then wireless service.

Analysts credit the 2011 purchase of NBCUniversal as a huge success; Comcast rescued a company that was on the ropes due to General Electric’s under-investment.

Over the years, Comcast rebuilt NBC and Spanish-language Telemundo, writing big checks for the best sports rights, including the FIFA World Cup, NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball.

Comcast also recognized value in theme parks and invested heavily, building Universal Studios as a formidable rival to Disney. NBC finished the season in first-place among traditional TV broadcasters and its L.A. film studio is an industry leader.

But the world has changed.

“One of the defining characteristics of this company has always been our willingness to look ahead, embrace change, and position ourselves for the future,” Roberts told analysts during a Monday call.

Reif Ehrlich, the Bank of America analyst, said Comcast needed to do something — or watch its stagnant stock sink farther.

Wall Street has punished the company amid steep losses in its cable TV and broadband internet units, and because NBCUniversal has historically generated its biggest profits from its cable channels.

In January, Comcast spun off those networks, including CNBC, MS NOW, USA Network and Golf Channel, to create a new entity called Versant.

But the move failed to boost Comcast’s battered stock, which dropped 3.3% on Wednesday to $23.73.

Five years ago, Comcast stock topped $50 a share.

“It was just a very challenged market on both sides, and it’s getting worse, not better,” Reif Ehrlich said.

Comcast faces competitors beyond traditional telecommunications firms, including AT&T and T-Mobile. SpaceX’s Starlink provides satellite internet service.

NBCUniversal must jockey alongside other well-capitalized players, including Amazon, Netflix and Disney. NBC’s streaming service, Peacock, has struggled to get traction. It counted 46 million paying subscribers as of the first quarter, a fraction of Netflix’s 325 million and the nearly 132 million subscribers of Disney+.

“It’s kind of a subscale player,” Reif Ehrlich said. “It’s just a real battle, and NBC has expensive sports rights.”

Roberts conceded the difficult landscape on the analyst call.

“The world is changing faster than ever,” Roberts said. “Technology, consumer behavior, competition, capital requirements are all evolving at an unprecedented pace … When we acquired NBCUniversal, more than 15 years ago, the industry looked very different.”

He will retain control for at least three years. The NBCUniversal spin-off is envisioned as a tax-free transaction for shareholders, providing a short-term buffer from deal-making to preserve that structure.

NBCUniversal could be up for grabs by 2029 — a pivotal year when the NFL is expected to open negotiations for a new round of broadcast rights. That auction is expected to draw heavy interest from Amazon and other streamers — not just veterans Fox, NBC, Disney’s ESPN and Paramount’s CBS.

“Brian Roberts has already proven his willingness to play the long game and with continued control should be the end decision maker,” Fishman said.

Much like Murdoch, who is now 95 and partially retired.

“Rupert was the smartest guy in Hollywood — he got out at the top,” Reif Ehrlich said.

He entrusted power to his 54-year-old son, Lachlan, who has been busy remaking Fox after the 2019 sale to Disney, which included Fox’s film and TV studios, streaming service Hulu and the FX and National Geographic channels. Fox also unloaded its regional cable sports networks — a savvy move before that business cratered.

The Murdochs kept Fox Sports, the Fox broadcast network, TV stations, Fox News Channel and the studio lot.

The company has been expanding. Lachlan Murdoch led Fox’s purchase of Tubi, which provides free TV channels and movies for smart televisions, keeping Fox in the streaming game. The company launched Fox News and weather products, and subscription service Fox One, which streams the company’s sports and news.

Earlier this month, Lachlan Murdoch stunned the industry by agreeing to pay $22 billion for Roku, a leading streaming platform that reaches 100 million viewers worldwide. Murdoch called the proposed purchase “a defining moment for Fox.”

OLIVIA Attwood has revealed the ‘real reason’ why she was cuddling Pete Wicks in those cosy yacht pictures from last year.

The former Love Island star, 35, was seen pictured looking very close to Pete, 37, while lounging on a boat in Ibiza in August 2025.

Olivia and Pete went public with their relationship in March this year.

And it comes after she split from her ex husband Bradley Dack, who she tied the knot with in 2023, in January 2026.

In the most recent episode of the Olivia’s House podacst, the ITV star and pal Mark Johnson discussed the trip, and the pictures of her and Pete.

“Okay, let’s talk to my listeners about the yacht pictures with Pete,” Olivia said.

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“Because there is a funny story here. Just as a subtext, okay I was obviously leaning back on him like on the yacht, but nothing happened.”

Mark then told her: “Tell the whole story!”

Olivia continued: “But the pictures, the actual came back was funny, right? So I am lent back on him and whatever…”

Mark chimed in: “Yeah, but let’s go first, when that woman dunked you! Do you remember? Rebecca is her name. She dunked. Do you remember?

“She slipped drunk and dunked you.”

Olivia confessed that she didn’t remember and Mark explained: “What the hell? You were getting out off the board, you know that board, where you jump? Do you not remember? Where were you?!”

“Did she give me concussion?! Because I don’t remember,” Olivia told him.

Mark continued: “So when you were getting out of the water, you know when you get in that board bit.

“You were getting out and she was rotten, fell down the stairs, slid and dunked you.”

Olivia asked: “So is that why he was cuddling me?”

Mark told her: “Yeah so when you were getting out, you were crying, and I was laughing.”

“I remember hitting my head, but I thought I hit it inside,” Olivia confessed.

Mark said: “No. It was when you got dunked under the water. And you were crying. I don’t see you cry at all.

“So I thought it was funny!”

Olivia then went on to explain the other part of the story.

She said: “Our friend Megan Elliot, who we love, we adore her. She is my second sister. She is my blood, my family.

“But love her, sometimes, she is a couple of sandwiches short of the whole picnic. Sometimes she comes out with things, we go “Oh, shut up, Megan!”

“So anyway, she goes, we’re in the middle of the ocean, right? And not posted anything for days.

“There’s a catamaran, so if you don’t know what a catamaran is, it’s one of those boats that has two bits, and then the middle bit is like, it’s a weird boat.

“She goes, “Someone is taking pictures of us off that boat! I saw a flash, it was massive.”

“And we go “Shut up, Megan!” We were all taking the p**s. Someone is taking pictures of us. Who do you think you are? Jennifer Aniston?!

“We were actually mocking her for it. And then she was like “No I swear!” We carried on about our business, next day we’re at the pool and I’m so hungover, I think I’m going to die.

“I’m on the back. I’m on the bed, and she comes in and she goes “Told you.” And then she was going all like “I told you, I told you”.

“She’s scrolling through and she goes “I knew it, I knew it. I saw…”

“She had her t*ts out.”

TV star Olivia had kept tight-tipped about her romance with Pete after being pictured snogging the hunk and leaving a hotel together after the Brits.

But in March, in a statement accusing her ex Bradley of cheating on her multiple times over their 10-year relationship, Olivia admitted she’s trying to move on.

“Yes, I’m dating,” wrote Olivia.

“Yes, I’m getting up every single day even when I have cried all night to film the shows I love filming, record my podcast, record my radio show, shoot campaigns and somewhere in there TRY to move on.”

Since then, the pair haven’t been able to keep their hands off each other.

They were spotted smooching on a sun lounger while on Nikki Beach in St. Tropez.

Olivia and Bradley first met in 2015, dated for three months, and then went their separate ways.

After Olivia went on Love Island in 2017, and split from ex Chris Hughes, the pair got back together in 2018.

Bradley proposed to the star in 2019, and they tied the knot in 2023.

Meanwhile Pete has dated the likes of Maura Higgins, Megan McKenna and Chloe Sims.

Worst Neighbor Ever is now available to stream on Netflix

The chilling calls to emergency services after a huge insurance scam explosion have been revealed in a brutal true crime documentary series.

This week, Netflix dropped anthology series Worst Neighbor Ever, which follows on from Worst Ex Ever and Worst Roommate Ever.

This time, it explores real life neighbour disputes that take a fatal turn. Plunging viewers into a series of events including intimidation and violence, it uses real life bodycam footage and CCTV to highlight what occurred.

As well as hearing heartbreaking accounts from victims, the true crime series also stands out with its use of animated re-enactments to tell the stories.

An official synopsis reads: “You think you know your neighbors? Think again. This new series features firsthand accounts of violence, intimidation, and harassment that are more shocking than ever.

“Through compelling testimonials, startling body cam footage, and animated reenactments, Worst Neighbor Ever proves the people next door aren’t just a nuisance – they’re lethal.”

The second episode plunges viewers back to 2012 when a huge explosion wreaked devastation on one tight knit community in Indiana. On November 10, 2012, Monserrate ‘Moncy’ Shirley’s home exploded, leaving two people in the vicinity dead and many others injured, destroying dozens of homes.

But when investigators find the real cause, lives were changed forever. The episode hears from the neighbours who were at home that evening as well as revealing what Moncy was really like, as well as her new boyfriend at the time Mark Leonard.

Following the huge explosion, one neighbour can be heard saying: “At first, we thought we were being bombed. Our whole house lifted up off the foundation.”

Another said: “It was like one of those mortar fireworks going off right next to your house.”

Showing chilling video footage of the explosion and the flames, the documentary also showcased some of the heartbreaking calls made to the emergency services.

In one phone call, a neighbour said: “Something literally just exploded”, as another asked: “What just happened?” A third said: “We had a large boom, I don’t know if it was a bomb, a gun went off or what.”

Detailing the aftermath, one resident said: “The flames were just massive. The street looked like it had snowed, but this bright light of fire is in the distance.”

A call between emergency services continued: “We’ve had an explosion at a house, we’re going to need medics, IFD, it’s going to be a major incident control.”

The episode explores how Moncy, her boyfriend Mark and his brother had plotted to start a fire that would result in an insurance payout, however, their plan resulted in a huge explosion that wreaked devastation for years afterwards.

Worst Neighbor Ever can be streamed on Netflix

The historic 1920s tower that once housed the beloved Ace Hotel is entering a new era just in time for the summer.

Two years after opening in the iconic Spanish Gothic building on South Broadway, Stile Downtown Los Angeles has unveiled its multimillion-dollar renovation and its expansion from a limited-service hotel to a full “creative hub.” The makeover adds a 24/7 membership-based creative lab with state-of-the-art music studios, co-working lounges, an updated rooftop bar called Somewhere Special, a restored theater and a curated retail shop for the community.

“We don’t really want to call it just a hotel — it’s more of a hub,” says Jaisun Ihm, CEO of AJU Continuum, the investment company that purchased the historic space.

Throughout the space are throwback touches — for instance, hotel guests can borrow a Walkman and browse the curated cassette library with titles like Sade’s “Promise,” Paula Abdul’s “Forever Your Girl” and the Isley Brothers’ “Between the Sheets.”

Behind the massive overhaul is South Korea-based AJU Continuum, which purchased the property in 2019 but didn’t change the name until 2024. The project marks the investment company’s first U.S. expansion.

“We don’t really want to call it just a hotel — it’s more of a hub,” says Jaisun Ihm, CEO of AJU Continuum, which is best known for its culture-forward Ryse Hotel in Seoul. With Stile, Ihm says their mission was to “connect L.A. to Seoul.”

Ryse, Ihm says, encapsulates today’s eclectic lifestyle hotel: “It’s grounded in street culture. We say it’s iconoclastic. It’s youthful in nature.”

AJU Continuum teamed up with L.A. architecture and interior design studio Design, Bitches — the group behind the chic Checker Hall in Highland Park and Verve Coffee Roasters in the Arts District. Ihm didn’t care that it was Design, Bitches’ first hotel venture. After working with several firms over the years, he was tired of seeing the same aesthetic everywhere and wanted to work with a team that would bring a “bold” perspective, he says.

When the creatives at Design, Bitches got the invitation, they were all in. “I’ve always wanted to do a hotel,” says RA Rudolph, the studio’s co-founder. “I love hotels and I have opinions,” she adds laughing.

For Angelenos who frequented the Ace Hotel, a maverick venue that helped revitalize downtown L.A. for a decade beginning in 2014, walking through Stile will feel both familiar and new. While the building’s bones remain intact — a requirement of its historic-cultural monument designation — the space has an industrial-modern twist inspired by L.A.’s creative spirit.

For example, the United Theater on Broadway, which was once the 1927 flagship movie palace for the influential United Artists collective (Mary Pickford, Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith), now features fresh carpet, modernized sound and stage equipment and roughly 125 new light fixtures inspired by the lobby’s original Spanish Revival-style chandelier. As a nod to the building’s legacy, where Hollywood’s earliest icons broke away from major studios to control their own work, AJU Continuum has launched its own in-house booking team for the live entertainment venue. Also, the giant neon “Jesus Saves” sign that has sat atop the building since its days as a church is still there — and the owners have no plans to remove it.

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1. A clawfoot tub inside the Loft King Suite. 2. Lounge chairs inside the Loft King Suite. 3. Hotel guests lounge in the rooftop pool. 4. Adriana Castellanos and friends hanging out in the lobby bar. 5. Photos taken in the photo booth at the Somewhere Special rooftop bar.

Some of the most significant changes can be found in the hotel lobby, which features a curated convenience store called the Goodie Shop, which is adorned with throwback boomboxes. Located next to the front desk, which was significantly condensed, the store is filled with a selection of California-sourced snacks and beverages, lifestyle goods, Stile-branded merch and travel essentials (phone chargers, toothpaste, hair care, etc.).

On the opposite side of the lobby is SparkHouse, a private members club and creative hub for up-and-coming musicians and creatives. The two-story space features professional recording studios, podcast and video suites, co-working lounges and meeting spaces, which are slated to open by early next year once permits are approved, Ihm says. SparkHouse’s cafe and bar is open to the public and sells tea, coffee (try the honey matcha latte), wine, beer cocktails and small bites. Ihm says programming at SparkHouse will include listening sessions, live showcases and even a mentorship program for rising artists.

“I’ve always wanted to do a hotel,” says RA Rudolph, the co-founder of Design, Bitches.

The rooftop bar, which offers stunning skyline views of the city and a pool, is now called Somewhere Special. The design team removed about 90% of the plants that used to pack the area to maximize space for dancing and mingling. Also, the pool area, now painted in a playful shade called Carrot Orange, has more seating and a photo booth nearby.

All 182 guest rooms were given a fresh coat of dusty rose paint, new custom carpet, furniture and upgraded bathrooms. In each room, you’ll find Korean amenities like face masks, a custom robe by a local brand called Room Service Los Angeles and books from the former Los Angeles University Cathedral that occupied the space from 1991 to 2011. With the hotel motto being “stay by your own rules,” Rudolph says it was important for them to make the rooms adaptable to each guest’s needs and to prioritize comfort. The result is uncommon room layouts like the tri-suite king room equipped with two twin-sized beds and a king bed split by a privacy divider that doubles as a playful art installation. Rudolph, who used to travel often with her now-adult children, says that’s the type of room she always wished had existed.

Stile’s arrival comes at a precarious moment for downtown L.A. In recent years, the neighborhood’s once buzzy hospitality and nightlife scene has experienced dwindling foot traffic, slow pandemic recovery and increased vacancies. Some business owners say crime and neglect are driving away customers. Nearly 1,000 businesses left downtown in 2024. Launching a high-concept lifestyle hotel is a bold gamble.

The Goodie Shop, a new curated convenience store, is filled with a selection of California-sourced snacks and beverages, lifestyle goods and travel essentials.

But Ihm says he hopes that Stile will help rejuvenate the area and create an ecosystem that will support neighboring businesses as well. Rudolph says she’s already starting to see that change.

“It’s been nice to see that in the last year that I’ve been coming here to work on the project, it’s livened back up again,” she says. “Especially this block, it feels better.”

Former Big Brother presenter Davina McCall and Sarah Hiscox have been best friends for 40 years

Davina McCall was left in tears as she opened up on her addiction battle live on air.

The beloved TV presenter, 58, admitted she “wouldn’t be here” without the help from close friend Sarah Hiscox.

The duo, who have been best friends for 40 years, appeared on Thursday’s (July 2) episode of Lorraine Kelly’s ITV chat show as Sarah promoted her new book, The Beginning and End of Everything, that looks into her devastating drug addiction.

At the time, Sarah’s addiction was so bad that it cost her both her marriage and custody of her two sons. Now, after 25 years sober Sarah is now back with her family and she says she couldn’t have done it without Davina.

In a heartfelt moment, Davina was tearful as she admitted: “I’m so unbelievably proud of her. In so many ways she put herself out there. She wrote a book that was very painful for her to write.”

Visibly moved, she continued: “Behind all of it is the sweetest most beautiful love story ever.. I’m going to start crying. Sarah’s husband is an amazing man and what they went through together and where they are now.”

In an emotional moment, Davina went on to explain how Sarah ‘saved her life’. The former Big Brother presenter started drinking during her teenage years before developing a heroin habit, but she became clean and has maintained sobriety for over three decades.

She admitted: “She got me clean – I wouldn’t be here without her. I really wouldn’t. I was desperate and I was pretending and I was trying to fake everything was fine.”

Turning to Sarah she continued: “She (Sarah) was honest with me and I hated her for it. She locked me in the car.”

Sarah jumped in: “I loved her and I could see this incredibly vital woman that I loved. You know, she’s family to me. I could see her just disappearing. She was running clubs at the time and everybody wanted to be on the guest list for one of her clubs so no one would dare confront her.”

She explained: “So I locked her in the car and I said listen…” Davina joked: “I thought I was going to a Santana gig.”

Lorraine said: “You were getting a right talking to.” Davina admitted: “Yes I was.” Lorraine went on: “But isn’t that the thing about how much you need your pals because when the tables were turned, Davina you helped.”

Turning her attention to Sarah’s book, Davina pointed out: “You know what I also think is an important message for anybody watching is that I read this book and I had to call you (Sarah) every five pages because I didn’t know.

“I was best friends with her when we were 19, but I was kind of taking drugs recreationally. It was getting quite out of control but I was so self obsessed and wrapped up in myself, I didn’t know how broken she was.”

She added: “You’ve got to ask people how they are, check in and make sure they’re ok. Double check in – ‘How are you really?’ – because I never knew.”

Lorraine airs weekdays from 9.30am on ITV1 and ITVX.

ESPN is pulling up stakes from downtown Los Angeles and heading to the NFL’s headquarters at Hollywood Park in Inglewood.

“We look forward to all of ESPN’s L.A. based studio content, originating from a single location, further enhancing creativity and collaboration with expansion possible in the future,” the Walt Disney Co.’s sports media unit said Wednesday in a statement.

ESPN produced “NBA Today” and “WNBA Countdown” out of the L.A. Live location, which opened in 2009. A late night edition of “SportsCenter” was produced there until last year. The productions will move into the NFL’s Los Angeles headquarters near SoFi Stadium.

ESPN’s local radio outlet, KSPN, will continue to broadcast out of the L.A. Live location adjacent to Crypto.com Arena.

The NFL took a 10% equity stake in ESPN last year. As part of the deal, ESPN oversees the NFL Media, including the NFL Network and the RedZone channel, which has its production facilities at the Hollywood Park location that opened in September 2021.

The moves, expected to be completed by early September, come ahead of ESPN producing its first Super Bowl, which will air on ABC in February 2027 from SoFi Stadium.

Although a new round of layoffs is reportedly expected at ESPN, a person familiar with the matter who could not comment publicly said there will be no job cuts related to the move to Hollywood Park.

About 160 employees work at the L.A. Live location. People involved in ESPN’s productions will relocate to Hollywood Park while others will move to a Disney location in Glendale, Calif.

“The World Cup is ruining my life,” a neighbor recently said with a laugh. “I’m supposed to be working; instead I’m watching World Cup. I’m supposed to be doing chores; instead I am watching World Cup.”

I laughed in guilty recognition. We had met on the street by chance while I was walking the dog. Having just spent the last two hours watching, then celebrating Lionel Messi’s hat trick during Argentina’s first-game victory over Algeria, I had less than an hour to get back in time to watch Austria play Jordan.

That was on Day 6, and it’s only gotten worse. If I had to calculate my own ratio of work done to soccer watched … well, as I am not a sports reporter, I don’t think my editor would be thrilled. (Though I’m sure she appreciated the England/Congo updates I provided as I finished this piece.)

Like millions worldwide, my family and I have been deeply, and in our case, weirdly, engrossed in this year’s games. “Weirdly” because we do not follow men’s soccer. The World Cup is different, of course — going in, I figured I would check out the U.S., keep an eye on Messi, then tune into the final few games. Perhaps my husband would join (but only if he at least pretended to understand the offside rule), but with our two oldest children out of the house, it is, with the exception of the Super Bowl, unheard of for our family to concurrently view any sporting event in real time.

Until this World Cup. I’m not quite sure how it happened, but suddenly we’ve got game times written onto our calendar. Entire days have been spent in front of the TV with at least one child and the others watching from their homes, our family texts studded with “are you watching…?,” “did you just see that?” and, of course, “OMG MESSI!”

(I would attempt to calculate my recent ratio of chores done to Messi videos watched if I weren’t legitimately concerned that my family would have me committed.)

The fact that my son and his girlfriend live in Kansas City certainly helped spark our newfound fascination. Yes, Los Angeles is also a host city, but L.A. hosts so many things; inevitably we were mostly concerned about what it would do to the traffic. KC, on the other hand, is the smallest and most unlikely of the host cities, and over the last few years we have seen — on visits and through my son’s accounts — all the construction, effort and can-do spirit that has gone into preparing for the event.

We were thrilled when it was announced that Argentina, England, the Netherlands and Algeria would be based in or near KC. We wanted the city to shine, and it has — from nearby Lawrence’s enthusiastic adoption of Algeria to Messi’s historic hat trick at Kansas City Stadium.

Team USA defender Mark McKenzie, left, and Turkey midfielder Baris Alper Yilmaz in the World Cup match at Los Angeles Stadium on June 25.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

But it’s more than vicarious Midwestern pride. When our older daughter began texting out missives from the earliest games and our son sent pictures of fans streaming into Kansas City Stadium, we started watching as a way to stay connected.

First, as a family, and then to our country and the rest of world.

The games have been inevitably exciting, especially as now that they’re in the knockout round, but the overall sensation was unexpected relief, a soul-soothing balm.

At a time when the news cycle seems to serve up nothing but conflict, crisis and woe, the World Cup offers shelter, a truly international event in which conflict is defined by long-term sports rivalries and questionable referee decisions.

We want our national or preferred teams to win, of course, but no matter the outcome, it’s impossible not to be thrilled by the sight of phenomenal play, underdog tenacity and so many adoring and enthusiastic fans.

Soccer is called the beautiful game for many reasons, and hours/days/weeks of sustained beauty is impossible to resist. Even social media has surrendered to spectacular highlights along with tales of Japan supporters cleaning up stadiums, fans of the victorious consoling fans of the defeated and Europeans discovering the glories of free refills and ranch dressing.

None of this changes the realities we face in America and the rest of the world. Grocery and gas prices remain catastrophically high; Iran continues to contradict U.S. claims of diplomatic resolution to an unpopular war. The unnecessarily revamped reflecting pool in Washington remains a swamp of algae and tourist arrests, as the semiquincentennial struggles under the weight of our president’s self-centered hubris.

But for a few blessed weeks, the World Cup offers inspiration, escape and cultural healing.

It has also, thus far, escaped President Trump’s so often internationally insulting social-media notice and more importantly, his presence. Historically, the leaders of host countries attend the opening match; Trump has, apparently, been too busy (including planning and attending the UFC Freedom 250 cage match recently held on the South Lawn.)

Given his tendency to suck the oxygen out of any room (like his recent reception at Game 3 of the NBA Finals in New York), it’s definitely for the best. If nothing else, the World Cup has given us a chance to take a break from politics and talk instead about Messi, France’s Kylian Mbappé, England’s Harry Kane and all the amazing goalkeepers, including Cape Verde’s now-iconic Vozinha.

Never before have I so understood the therapeutic power of sport.

Who wouldn’t want to at least take a break from rising measles cases, the latest federal or Supreme Court decisions and primary tea-leaf readings to lose themselves in a game where exquisitely patient passing suddenly bursts into spectacular feats of speed and footwork? Where a well-defended ball can suddenly become a goal with a nearly undetectable flick of a foot, or a perfectly placed shot blocked by a goalie’s incredible ability to launch into space? Where an outcome that seems assured can be overturned in the final minutes to the collective roar of an international cast of thousands?

Vozinha of Cape Verde makes a save during the World Cup match between Spain and Cape Verde at Atlanta Stadium on June 15.

(Justin Setterfield / Getty Images)

Like many Americans, I have been occasionally embarrassed by the World Cup’s exposure of my world-geography ignorance — I know where Bosnia and Herzegovina lies on a map, but until recently, I couldn’t place Cape Verde, Curacao or, if I’m being completely honest, Cote d’Ivoire.

Isn’t it wonderful, though, to have a reason to reacquaint yourself with a world map that isn’t related to war, natural or man-made disaster or economic and political tension? The current U.S. administration may seem to be at odds with just about everyone, but visiting World Cup fans are here to remind us of all we share, beneath our crazy wigs and face paint, our cheers, groans and chants.

And we, as hosts, have shown them that America is so much more than the sum of our current government’s policies and posturing.

Watching all this happen, in real time, has been magical, miraculous and magnetic.

Not every moment, of course. Various visa issues created unnecessary and embarrassing drama; high ticket prices and transportation issues were blamed for empty seats at some of the early games. Members of the Iranian team and its coaching staff criticized the way they were treated (though the team left a handwritten note in the dressing room of Los Angeles Stadium, thanking L.A. for its hospitality). The controversial hydration breaks, and the extra commercials they accommodate, can be irritating (though when it’s close to 100 degrees in many stadiums, quite necessary). And though it didn’t matter in terms of standing, watching the U.S. lose to Turkey wasn’t much fun for American fans (though the Turkish exuberance was pretty infectious).

Overall, the 2026 World Cup has done exactly what it was supposed to do: create, in this country, a stage for the finest teams and players in the world’s most popular sport and, more important, carve out five weeks in which we can all spend a few hours removed from the political and cultural divisiveness that threatens to define us.

It’s space in which we can cheer, gasp and leap out of seats along with our families, friends and all the millions we will never meet but to whom we are connected all the same.

Now if you’ll excuse me, the next game is about to start.

FIRST REVIEW CONFESSIONS II

★★★★★

AS one of the most talked-about, celebrated and frequently derided pop stars of all time, returning with her first album in seven years is a high-stakes move for Madonna.

The Queen of Pop has never left it so long between albums in her 43-year career. And she has taken an even bigger risk by recording a ­follow-up to her much-lauded 2005 dance-pop opus, Confessions On A Dancefloor.

But rather than playing it safe, ­Confessions II sees her doing just that — confessing.

She addresses everything from how she failed her eldest daughter Lourdes to her regrets over her relationship with her late brother, Christopher Ciccone.

And also, surprisingly, how her first husband, Sean Penn, 65, made her feel during their short-lived marriage.

The most venom-tongued track is titled Bizarre, in which she squarely attacks the Hollywood A-lister, who she was married to from 1985 to 1989.

She references the 1968 Shelby GT500 convertible she gave him as a wedding gift and his conviction for reckless driving in 1987.

And she also lays into how Penn was “threatened” by her and claims he resented her while they were together.

Madge sings: “Love is the strangest thing. Just when you think you’ve finally let go, it comes back to you.

“Movie star, deep blue eyes. In Hollywood, we’re a perfect prize.

“He drove way too fast, Shelby Cobra wasn’t meant to last.”

Earlier the lyrics had turned to anger, as she sings: “Roll out the carpet for us, but you don’t share it.

“All ’cause you’re threatened by me, you won’t admit it.

“The little things that you do don’t make me want you. Who knew love could be so bizarre?”

And in a later verse, she adds: “I know I left you behind and you resent me.

“A thousand reasons why you could never have me.

“The thought of being with you is so indecent. I guess you’ll never know my dirty little secret.”

Penn isn’t the only subject of her scorn, with Betrayal appearing to be about her stepmum Joan, who died in 2024 while the album was being made. Madonna did not attend her funeral.

The singer was five years old when she lost her mum — who she was named after — to breast cancer. Three years later, in 1966, her dad Silvio married Joan, who worked briefly for the family as a housekeeper.

In the opening verse of Betrayal, Mad­onna sings: “This is a story of betrayal. You couldn’t see your fall from grace.

“So take the hammer, hit the nail. You’ll never take my mother’s place.”

And later in the track, she adds: “You betrayed me, you enslaved me.”

But Madonna, 67, shows her softer side on The Test, which sees her and Lourdes, 29 — the eldest of her six kids — open up about their at-times difficult relationship.

On how her daughter was thrust into the limelight because of her own fame, Madonna sings: “Little star, I tried to put you on a pedestal, you didn’t ask for all the flashing lights.

“I didn’t think of how we could disturb, or how it hurt. I wish I knew the pain I caused.”

She continues: “Sometimes I think you wish I’d go away, but the shadow stays, and it’s OK to be yourself.”

Madge also appears to touch on her 2023 brush with death, when she was found unresponsive at her New York apartment and placed into a coma after suffering from an infection that led to sepsis.

Lourdes, 29, who Madonna had with fitness trainer Carlos Leon, was among those that rallied around her in hospital.

Madonna sings: “You made me whole when I was broken, too. I hope and pray I can do the same for you.”

Paying tribute to her mum, Lourdes sings: “You are my reason to be, what I want or look like, what I wear, all the clothes on my back, and what I attract.

“I trace the line of what you have sewn. Keep my own design. Make it a landscape. Make it alive.”

Elsewhere on the album Madonna makes peace with Christopher, who she was accused of “dropping” as her creative director in the early-2000s, and who later wrote a book titled Life With My Sister Madonna.

The once-close pair never fully repaired their relationship and he died of cancer at the age of 63, in October 2024 although she says he now visits her in her dreams.

On the song Fragile, she sings: “We shared a name, a home. We shared a fragile bond, now you’re gone.

“We laughed, we cried, we held each other’s hands. We had each other’s eyes and they belonged

“This is the time I hate the most, the words inside my heart

“I know you’re fragile ’cause you’ve been hurt, been let down.”

At the end of the track, she adds: “Late last night I was fast asleep, you came to me in a dream.

“You said don’t forget about me, don’t forget to be happy.

“So I hope you found a higher ground.”

The 16-track album clocks in at almost 64 minutes, and is a metaphor for a night out, starting with the heavy, pulsating beats of a club.

Then the final five songs represent the evening winding down, with Madonna spilling out her deepest feelings with the bravery and vulnerability that comes from a night of loud, messy partying.

When she reaches the last track L.E.S. Girl — about her life pre-fame on the Lower East Side of New York — you can hear traffic beeping, signalling she is finally on her way home as the morning rush hour starts.

It’s a neat arc for the ambitious album, which she once again made with English producer and songwriter Stuart Price, who she teamed up with on the first Confessions album.

But this record is much darker, heavier and grown-up.

And as well as being symbolic of a single night out, Madonna uses it to represent key parts of her life and the moments that have made her.

The most brilliantly bombastic highlight comes in Danceteria — named after the New York nightclub where she found her friends in the industry and where DJs played her music for the first time.

It’s a feel-good number with a Vogue-style rap and namechecks for everyone from her pal Debi Mazar to artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and even The B-52s.

Another highlight comes with Love Sensation, which appears to be a tribute to her boyfriend, Akeem Morris, 30.

She started dating the former football player in 2024, two years after ending a three-year romance with dancer Ahlamalik Williams, 31, and they now live together in London.

Madonna sings: “When I feel alone I always want to bring you near ’cause you bring a smile right here. You chase away my darkest hours.”

And in the chorus she continues: “Baby, come and get with me, there’s something that I gotta do.

“Baby, when you’re here with me, there’s nothing that we cannot do.”

So far in her career Madonna has sold 450million albums, and counting.

And with this project, she proves there is still plenty of passion, ambition and talent.

Undoubtedly it is her most cohesive and accomplished album since the original Confessions, 21 years ago.

And long may the Queen of Pop ­continue to reign.

LOVE, BETRAYAL AND ECSTASY ON SWEET 16

I Feel So Free: The opening track, released in April, is a throbbing song with breathy vocals and a sample of the 1989 Lil Louis acid house track French Kiss, complete with orgasm. It’s a statement of what’s to come as she says: “On the dancefloor, I feel so free.”

Good For The Soul: Heavy-sounding verses make way for a buoyant and optimistic pop chorus, all about how important letting your hair down is. It was written on her first session for the record.

One Step Away: Madonna dives headfirst into house music on this pulsating track about the release she feels in a nightclub. Over the beat, she utters: “The dance floor is not just a place, it’s a threshold. A ritualistic space where movement replaces language.”

Bring Your Love: The credibly cool lead single features Sabrina Carpenter, uniting two generations of pop stars who are resolute in their determination not to be swayed by naysayers. In the chorus they say: “Bring your love ’cause you cannot shake me. Bring your love ’cause you’ll never break me.”

Danceteria: “Everyone here is a work of art,” Madonna sings on this wonderfully poppy single, inspired by the New York nightclub she went to as a youngster.

Read My Lips: Spanish guitar and a guest appearance from Colombian singer Feid give this a different feel, though there’s a Latin trap beat to keep the party going. It’s clear Madge isn’t happy on it, though, singing: “You cut me with your lies, ’cause you hurt me with your kiss.”

Everything: It opens with strings reminiscent of her 1992 track Deeper And Deeper, but evolves to have regular house music breakdowns fit for a packed Ibiza dancefloor. And she’s worked up, spitting: “It’s not OK, I don’t f*** with it.”

Love Sensation: Pop makes a return on this heart-warming crowd-pleaser. “There’s nothing that we cannot do,” she repeats as the track builds to euphoric choruses. This is destined to be a future single.

Love Without Words: An ode to partying, starts with the sound of smoke being pumped on to a dance floor. “Call it trance, call it house, call it love without words,” she sings.

Bizarre: Madonna teamed up with super-producer Martin Garrix for this revenge track about her ex Sean Penn. The melody, complemented by strings and hints of EDM production, is enough to have people throwing their hands in the air.

School: “I can make moves on the dance floor, I can make love on a man’s floor,” she breathlessly coos on this track, on which her vocals are heavily distorted. It’s one of the weaker songs.

Fragile: There’s a major change of pace with break beats and strings, as she sweetly sings about her late brother Christopher. Her voice truly takes centre stage here.

My Sins Are My Savior: She is joined by Belgian rapper Stromae on this dark and moody track, which wouldn’t sound out of place on 1992’s Erotica album. Reflecting on the criticism in her career, she sings: “I was not lost, I was just broken. They tried to take me down, they tried to take my crown.”

Betrayal: She teams up with producer Mirwais, who she first worked with in 2000, on this 90s-inspired track, featuring brass and piano over bleak and mournful vocals.

The Test: Madonna has said Lourdes approached her about working together to heal their rift, and it certainly sounds cathartic. Her daughter’s voice here is far smoother, but they blend exquisitely.

L.E.S GIRL: It’s the end of the night, Madonna is on her way home and she’s reflecting on when she was a “Lower East Side girl, lost in a fragile world.” It’s a tear- jerker, and triumphant look back at how far she has come. The perfect ending.