show biz

MELANIE Sykes has revealed a new look with a wig – after shaving her head amid her alopecia battle.

The 56-year-old, who revealed her autoimmune disease diagnosis last year, took to her Instagram page to share the stunning selfie with fans.

According to NHS Inform, alopecia is a “general term for hair loss”.

The TV star has proudly been showing off her new shaved head look after previously being left “two thirds bald”.

But she recently was all smiles as she posed for a picture while rocking a brunette bob.

Melanie captioned the post: “Options………….. #chameleon #wigstagram.”

MODEL STAR

Mel Sykes stuns in first photoshoot since shaving her head amid alopecia battle

BRAVE MEL

Melanie Sykes shows off her bald head after alopecia battle

Earlier this month Melanie, looked radiant as she went back to her modelling roots for the first time since losing her hair.

And just days before she showed off her bald head in her “Monday Motivation” post.

Throughout Mel’s alopecia battle she has been open and honest about the impact it has had on her.

She previously explained how her autoimmune condition had progressed over time and had left her with noticeable bald patches across her head.

Mel told how she was in “so much pain” after spending a long period of time unwell.

The star said at the time: “I’ve got an autoimmune condition, I am losing my hair, I keep having crazy inflammation all over and I am working on healing.

“In the last three months, I’ve done a meditation teacher training course.

“I was too ill to finish it, like the last two days of it I couldn’t do.

“It’s meditation teacher training, I don’t necessarily want to teach, but I can do…

“Mostly I’ve been living a very, very very spiritual existence.

“I’m two-thirds bald, really. Every time I say I’m bald I laugh, I don’t know why… Thank god I can laugh.”

Just after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade in 2022, ending the nationwide right to legal abortion, Olivia Rodrigo walked onstage at the Glastonbury festival in the United Kingdom, sad and furious but also galvanized. “I’m heartbroken over what happened in America yesterday,” Rodrigo said onstage then. “I’m devastated and terrified that so many women and so many girls are going to die because of this.”

Four years later, Rodrigo has a new festival of her own this weekend, Daisy Chain Fields in Irvine’s Great Park, that’s entirely in service to those causes of women’s rights and reproductive autonomy.

“I remember being at Glastonbury that day with the most exciting opportunity to perform on that stage, but at the same time, being shaken to my core knowing that women’s rights were being stripped away,” Rodrigo told the Times via e-mail just before the festival. “I want people to walk away from here feeling hopeful and feeling like they can effect change. That was the entire thesis of this festival. I do think we can. We’ve seen it happen before, and we’re seeing some change now.”

Daisy Chain Fields is an ambitious escalation of Rodrigo’s activism in this sphere, which has paralleled her chart-topping success after debuting as a teenager with her LP “Sour” in 2021. The festival — with similarly-aligned acts including Chappell Roan, Doechii, Bikini Kill, Katseye and others — will be a globally-prominent cultural event, underlining the urgency for reproductive and women’s rights work amid the current right-wing backlash. It raises funds to benefit 10 like-minded advocacy groups, and intertwines her music career and women’s rights advocacy in ways few pop artists at her scale are attempting.

“We are ecstatic to have Olivia supporting our work, not only financially, but using her voice and reach to shine a light on these urgent issues,” said Nancy Northup, president and chief executive of the Center for Reproductive Rights, which challenged abortion bans in 11 states, and filed the first lawsuit on behalf of women denied abortions in 50 years. “Women are continuing to suffer under these bans, and that won’t stop until abortion is federally protected once again. Her support will help us continue filing lawsuits and advocating for laws that expand reproductive rights, both in the U.S. and globally.”

Olivia Rodrigo performs during the opening night of her Guts tour at Acrisure Arena on Feb. 23, 2024, in Palm Desert, Calif.

(Michael Blackshire / Los Angeles Times)

Rodrigo’s public work in activism began in earnest on the tour for “Guts” in February 2024. That tour coincided with the launch of Rodrigo’s Fund 4 Good, a nonprofit (under the fiscal sponsorship of the 501(c)(3) group Entertainment Industry Foundation) that steered $2.5 million in profits and donations from that tour to a range of global groups working in women’s rights, health and reproductive care. These included Jhpiego — a Johns Hopkins-affiliated global women’s health NGO — along with Women’s Shelters Canada, Women Against Violence Europe, and the Korea Foundation for Women.

“She did something. She could have played it safe, but she acknowledged that she has the power to make stuff happen, and she’s going to use it for good,” said Kathleen Hanna, founder of the legendarily activist punk group Bikini Kill, who will play Daisy Chain Fields on Saturday. While Hanna recalled feeling initially skeptical about the all-women Lilith Fair in the ’90s, she respects how Rodrigo learned about that fest’s communal, radical goals from a recent documentary, and sought to update it for her fans’ generation.

“What’s awesome about that is that it’s not that rare” for artists to be outspoken on these issues now, Hanna said. “Look at Megan Thee Stallion, Hayley Williams — all I see is women who are like ‘This is bull—.’ In a fascist era, we need to be meeting each other and opening friendship circles instead of isolating ourselves.”

Rodrigo’s advocacy hasn’t always gone smoothly. While on tour for “Guts” in 2024, Rodrigo brought abortion rights groups under the National Network of Abortion Funds to canvass at shows, and some groups handed out free condoms and emergency contraceptives to fans. Those efforts upset conservatives in states like Missouri, which had enacted a near-total abortion ban, and where state legislators sought to ban the morning-after pill. Fearing political backlash, Rodrigo’s management team at the time reportedly asked the groups to refrain from passing out contraceptives, but still encouraged them to canvass on-site.

“I don’t think demanding that women and girls be safe and have ownership over their own bodies is a radical idea,” Rodrigo said. “I was raised by parents who encouraged that belief in me.”

At Daisy Chain Fields, Rodrigo will likely face little resistance — but the show arrives in an ever more challenging time for women’s health and rights.

The return of President Trump to office has resulted in legislation like the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that slashed funding for healthcare; decimated funding for groups like USAID; and saw controversial, conspiracy-pushing figures like Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. brought into government. Crucial issues in women’s health risked being ignored or exacerbated.

“It is a fraught moment” said Angela Aina, co-founder and executive director of the Black Mamas Matter Alliance, one of the groups supported by Daisy Chain Fields. Aina said that American Black women die in childbirth at three times the rate for white women, and 87% of these deaths were preventable.

“What matters most to us is that the festival is showing people the organizations that are doing this work and pushing solutions,” Aina added. “Black maternal health has too often been treated as a niche concern, something discussed among public health professionals and then set aside.” But when these topics underpin a massive, sold-out festival of music with an audience of young women, it becomes “part of ordinary civic life,” she said.

These organizations said Rodrigo made a real effort to connect personally with their teams and more closely learn about their issues and strategies. Some, like the National Institute for Reproductive Health and Planned Parenthood, focus on reproductive justice. Baby2Baby supports mothers in poverty while Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health focuses on Native and First Nations community healthcare; FreeFrom responds to the epidemic of gender-based violence, while the National Domestic Workers Alliance advocates for care workers, the vast majority of whom are women.

“It’s really extraordinary,” said National Domestic Workers Alliance President Ai-Jen Poo. “[She’s] making the time to come to meetings and learn about each organization directly from us, offering to think through different ways that she can lift up our work even beyond the festival.”

Part of NDWA’s mission is to change the cultural conversation around domestic labor — “We as a culture often refer to it as ‘help,’ as opposed to the profession that it is for millions of workers,” Poo said — an undertaking Poo said Rodrigo understands well.

“I think that she is a great storyteller herself through her music, and she knows that great storytelling is at the heart of what moves people and what creates change for people,” she said.

Olivia Rodrigo speaks at the beginning of the July 14, 2021, daily briefing at the White House in Washington, where she was filming a video to promote vaccines.

(Susan Walsh / Associated Press)

The National Women’s Law Center works across virtually every issue affecting women and girls in the United States. “One of the things I like to say is that our fingerprints are on the lives of women in this country in ways that they’re probably not even aware of,” said Uma Iyer, NWLC’s chief external affairs officer.

Iyer said that the “constant conversation” between law, policy and culture change is at the heart of the NWLC’s work, and Rodrigo’s advocacy keeps that conversation urgent.

“We’ve seen that in how #MeToo played out. That spawned litigation, but it was also a big global cultural moment,” Iyer said. “You’re talking about it at kitchen tables and movie theaters and on talk shows, and that discourse really matters when you’re trying to effect change.”

Each of the nonprofits will have a physical presence at the festival in Irvine’s Great Park. For their station, Poo said the NDWA will set up a space for visitors to learn about care work and pay tribute to the caregivers in their own lives through artwork, which will all knit together “in a big chain of care” by the festival’s end.

“We’re really excited about all the people who will come to our tent and have a conversation with us and stay involved in our movement long afterwards,” she said. “We feel like Daisy Chain is almost like a catalyst for really growing this movement for care in our country.”

Several organizers said the recognition and opportunities for connection that the festival brings are just as meaningful as whatever financial support it generates.

While the festival’s total donation pool is yet unclear, Rodrigo has said that all artists on the lineup are performing for free, though production and staffing costs for a fest this size will be substantial.

What money the nonprofit groups do receive will go right back into “continuing the work,” Iyer said. “The work of gender justice in whatever form it shows up for any of these 10 organizations is really the work of protecting our democracy.”

Money generated by Daisy Chain Fields will be “flexible dollars,” Iyer explained, usable for anything an organization needs to fill in the gaps. “Those are critical dollars for nonprofits to be able to survive and do the work,” she said. Beyond the impact for populations the organization serves, Iyer said the promise of Daisy Chain Fields has boosted morale among NWLC staff during an extremely difficult time in America.

“When you have this big festival with people you love to hear, who bring you joy and bring you comfort and peace and entertainment and laughs and love, and they’re all banding together because this one incredible person asked them to, because she believes it’s the right thing to do — it makes the work a little less hard.”

The work seems to be catching on. Roan, long outspoken on LGBTQ+ rights issues, will throw the Super Graphic Spectacular concert at the Shrine in Los Angeles on Oct. 21-22, benefiting trans youth through Roan’s Midwest Princess Project. Last year, Doechii told the audience at the GLAAD Media Awards in L.A. that as ”hard-won cultural change and rights for transgender people and the LGBTQ+ community have been threatened,” the superstar rapper was “disgusted” by the revanchism.

“Olivia’s involvement is such a gift, because she is reaching and educating young people who may feel checked out or hopeless on these issues,” Northup said. “Olivia is giving us a chance to meet young people where they’re at, and she’s approaching it with positivity. Her message is not about what we’ve lost, it’s about what we can accomplish if we channel our collective power as women and girls.”

Rodrigo just followed up her acclaimed LP “You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love” with a new single, “Serena Joy,” titled after a character in Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” who complies with an oppressive theocracy.

“If they do it to them, they’re gonna do it to you,” Rodrigo sang, with a fury that brooks no room for despair.

“There’s a growing sentiment among young people and women that we have to create change, and hopefully people are inspired, whether it’s by engaging with some of our NPO partners or simply finding whatever way feels right to them,” Rodrigo said. “There is no doubt in my mind that protecting women and girls, and ensuring they have ownership over their own bodies, has to be a priority for all of us.”

Dolly Parton may be gone, but her spirit of self-expression is still making waves — this time in a Texas federal court.

U.S. District Judge David Hittner on Tuesday cited the late artist in his decision to strike down Senate Bill 12, a 2023 law that sought to restrict drag shows. His decision, which blocks the Texas attorney general from enforcing the law, noted that the prohibition was “an unconstitutional restriction on speech.”

Just as many people “chastised Dolly Parton as a voluptuous sex symbol because of her big hair, flamboyant clothes and breast exposure … there are erotic elements in countless popular performances that could be subject to both civil and criminal penalties under S.B. 12,” Hittner wrote in his decision.

And because the law doesn’t specify who determines whether a performance “appeals to the prurient interest” or that the work be considered as a whole, a single sexual or erotic moment in a performance could result in penalties, he wrote. Those penalties include civil fines of up to $10,000 for businesses and a misdemeanor charge that carries up to a year in jail for participating individuals.

Hittner’s decision came down on the same day Parton, the 80-year-old legendary songwriter, actor and businesswoman, died following a brief battle with cancer.

Parton was referenced several times in court records associated with the case. One of the plaintiffs, Brigitte Bandit, a drag queen and longtime activist, frequently performs as the Grammy-winning artist.

In an Instagram post on Tuesday, Bandit wrote that Parton had been a “huge influence” on her life and her drag performances. She even brought a children’s book about Parton to testify at the Texas Capitol, which eventually got back to the country music star, who then gifted Bandit a signed rhinestone-covered guitar.

“Dolly has shaped much of my life as a drag artist,” Bandit wrote on Instagram, calling her a “queen who has changed the world with her love, artistry, and GLAM! my diva forever.”

After the 2016 mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla., Parton called herself a “patron saint” of the gay community in an interview with Billboard.

“All those drag queens, sometimes I see some of them look more like me than I do,” said the star, who famously lost a Dolly Parton lookalike contest.

Tuesday’s ruling wasn’t the first time the law, widely touted as a “drag ban,” has been deemed unconstitutional by the courts.

Hittner initially struck down the law in September 2023, just a few months after the Texas Legislature passed it. In November 2025, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the lower court’s injunction and returned the case to district court with instructions on how to reconsider it.

In the end, the high court’s directions did not change Hittner’s determination that the law violates the 1st and 14th amendments.

Hittner wrapped up his decision with a suggestion for those who oppose or are offended by the performances: “[T]he solution is relatively simple … just don’t go.”

SANDRA Bullock has shown off her new tattoo after her partner’s sad death, as she wowed on the red carpet for the premiere of Practical Magic 2.

Last night, Sandra, 62, and co-star Nicole Kidman, 59, both looked incredible at the star-studded screening in London for the hotly-anticipated sequel to the 90s classic film.

But one thing that was noticeable on the much-loved actress’ shoulder was a small tattoo that read: “L B”

Although Sandra is yet to comment on her new inking, it is understood that the “L” stands for her two children – son Louis, 16, and daughter Laila, 12.

While the “B” is believed to be a tribute to her late partner Bryan Randall who died in 2023 at 57, following a three year battle with ALS – the most common form of motor neurone disease.

Sandra first met Bryan, who was a model-turned-photographer, when he photographed her son Louis’ birthday back in 2015.

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Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman reunite for Practical Magic 2 premiere

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Speaking two years before his sad death, the actress told Red Table Talk: “I found the love of my life.

“We share two beautiful children – three children, [Bryan’s] older daughter. It’s the best thing ever.”

The Hollywood star also has another small tattoo, which she had inked over her heart in tribute to her late mum.

Sandra was joined by her Practical Magic 2 co-star Nicole on the red carpet last night.

The pair both looked glamourous as they posed together for photos at the film‘s premiere in London’s Leicester Square.

Sandra and Nicole also showed off their timeless good looks, as they appeared to have not aged a day since the first film, almost 30 years ago.

Practical Magic originally came out in 1998, and was a huge film for both Sandra and Nicole.

Based on the novel of the same name by Alice Hoffman, the film follows the life of two witch sisters – Sally and Gillian Owens – who are bound by a curse that prevents them from finding forever love.

The new film, which sees Sandra and Nicole reprise their leading roles, picks up from the last one, and this time sees Sally’s daughters affected by the curse.

Practical Magic 2 hits cinemas on September 11 in the UK.

TWILIGHT star Taylor Lautner’s wife Taylor has revealed their unborn baby could ALSO be called Taylor.

She admitted the parents-to-be, who are expecting a baby girl, hadn’t ruled out the moniker – and confirmed it is “in the mix”.

The couple revealed they were expecting their first child in March.

During a chat on the Call Her Daddy podcast, registered nurse Taylor was asked about potential baby names.

Host Alex Cooper asked: “Was there any consideration of naming your child Taylor?”

Taylor replied: “It may be in the mix.

MOMENT OF TRUTH

Twilight’s Taylor Lautner reveals gender of his unborn baby in sweet video

DAD TO BE

Twilight’s Taylor Lautner reveals wife is pregnant with their first child

“We will find out when the baby comes”.

She then added: “I feel like if I don’t name my baby Taylor, the Internet’s literally gonna cancel me.

“I’m gonna get cancelled”.

Taylor added the name had been in line if the duo had learned they were welcoming a little boy, too.

She added: “We used to always joke that if we’re having a boy, we’d name him Taylor and call him T.J”.

In their baby reveal actor Taylor, 34, shared a sweet snap of him planting a kiss on his wife’s blossoming baby bump.

The glowing couple also posted a baby scan in an adorable family photo.

Taylor cheekily captioned the post: “What’s better than two Taylor Lautners?” – a nod to the fact his wife shares his first name and surname.

The two tied the knot in a lavish November 2022 wedding.

KYLIE Jenner has confronted her BFF Stassie in a tense podcast moment as they addressed weeks of fighting and fall-out rumours.

It’s been speculated that the once inseparable pair have been feuding as fans were left convinced they’d fallen out.

Now the two women have finally addressed the rumours as Kylie, 29, has appeared on a new episode of Stassie’s Better Half podcast, which he hosts alongside Victoria Villarroel.

A teaser clip of the episode has been shared on their Instagram and it looks like fans are in for a wild ride.

In a heavily-edited video, the ladies are seen putting it all out on the table as dramatic music plays in the background.

Mum of two Kylie says: “I think we’re just going down different paths.”

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The words “It’s time to clear the air,” appear on the screen in a pink fancy font.

Stassi expresses: “I just think you were being such a b***h,” as Kylie adds: “That really rubbed me up the wrong way.”

“I think we’re at a different phase of life from each other,” Stassi, also 29, tells her bestie as she agrees.

Kylie shoots back: “I just don’t like how…,” before the clip dramatically ends.

Fans have been left unconvinced by the clip and think Kylie and Stassie are rage-baiting them.

One person commented: “Oh pleaseeeeeeeeeee. Cute acting.”

Another follower expressed: “Ya’ll play too much.”

Somebody else stated: “I love that you guys rage bait like this.”

Yet another penned: “I can’t wait to click on this clickbait.”

While a fifth added: “Don’t play with us like this.”

Earlier this month, Kylie threw herself a party to commemorate her 29th birthday but Stassie was noticeably absent from the festivities.

Instead, she was in Ibiza with her new pal Alix Earlie as Kylie partied with Kim Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, Hailey Bieber and many more.

This raised eyebrows as fans flocked to social media to share their thoughts.

“Stassie is currently in Ibiza with her new bestie Alix & will not be attending Kylie’s birthday party. Another one bites the dust,” said one fan on Reddit.

Another fan added: “Maybe Stassie got tired of paying for everything. Didn’t she say that Kylie always forgets her wallet whenever they go out.”

“Alix is more famous than Kylie now imo. Gen Z or A doesn’t care about Kylie,” added a third.

“Kylie having no real friends left is very telling. Her former assistant and lash tech are her besties how pathetic,” slammed a fourth.

MODEL Kaia Gerber serves up a fashion treat at the US Open in New York.

The beauty, 24, looked fab in shades and a black dress at a Roger Federer exhibition tennis match.

Kaia, daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford, watched with Homer Gere, 26, above, her co-star in TV thriller The Shards.

His actor dad Richard Gere dated Kaia’s mum in the 1990s.

Now that’s two great matches.

Kaia, who stars in the new FX series The Shards recently claimed she was possessed as a child before undergoing an exorcism.

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HANNAH HOPE

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She told The Mitch Churi Chat Show podcast: “I do feel as though I attract beings from the other dimension, in a very casual and chill way.”

The star then revealed the bizarre way in which the ancient ritual was performed.

“They played a didgeridoo all over me.

“That’s how they did the exorcism,” Kaia revealed.

“I’ve never talked about it, but it actually did happen.

“I’m all healed.”

TOKYO — Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, who splashed her signature polka dots on paintings, sculptures and museum installations around the world, has died, her company said Thursday. She was 97.

Kusama died Aug. 14 at a hospital in Tokyo, Yayoi Kusama Studio said in a statement.

Kusama, one of Japan’s most respected contemporary artists, was widely exhibited around the world, including at the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

Repetitive motifs in various shapes were her trademark, resembling netting, swirls or worms, but most often dots, dancing proudly on her canvases or as sparkling balls or dots of light in her installations in all their vibrant, psychedelic glory.

Yayoi Kusama’s “Infinity Mirrored Room — The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away,” 2013.

(EPW Studio / David Zwirner, New York)

In 2017, the Los Angeles Times wrote about the first U.S. museum survey of the Tokyo artist’s Infinity Mirror Rooms at the Broad. The rooms generated “Hamilton”-scale hype.

Kusama told The Times: “I believe that people are attracted by the infinite mysterious beauty that the artwork has. I am also attracted.”

Now two of Kusama’s pieces on permanent display at the Broad draw, on any given day, a line of visitors to see the immersive art pieces for mere moments. “Infinity Mirrored Room — The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away,” on the first floor, requires reservations to stand for one minute in a small mirrored room full of bouncing LED lights that make you feel like you’re floating in the Milky Way. “Longing for Eternity,” on the third floor, also draws lines but does not require a reservation to peek inside a chamber that gives off a purple disco dance floor vibe.

Both conjure a sense of awe, of boundless imagination. Millions have entered the “Souls” room, snapping photos and video that elicit floods of Instagram likes, since its opening in 2017.

Kusama, known for her fiery red wig, lived by choice in a Tokyo psychiatric hospital for decades. She had opened her own museum in Tokyo yet remained very private, granting limited interviews.

Kusama insisted she drew the way she saw the world — covered with spots, part of the hallucinations she said she had from childhood. She was one of the first Japanese women to go to New York to pursue her art, in 1957.

Although soft-spoken and shy in her mannerisms, she was always unabashedly bold in the assertion of her dotty vision, not only in sticking to the style for decades but also in making it accessible to the masses.

In her later years, as the times caught up with her art, she enjoyed fame. She signed on with fashion brands such as Louis Vuitton as well as other licensed products including teacups, T-shirts and key chains with her illustrations and replicas of her likeness that were used in show windows and other marketing.

In 2008, Christie’s auctioned her work for $5.8 million. In 2016, she won the most prestigious award Japan gives its artists, the Order of Culture.

Upon receiving the award, she told reporters she was more determined than ever to pursue her art, stressing that the sincerity and devotion she had demonstrated in her personal life were crucial parts of her artistic legacy.

“I feel there is little left in my life, but I am now still fighting to the death for my art,” she said. “I am giving all I have so that many people will continue to be interested in my art, even after I am dead.”

Kusama was called pop, avant-garde, feminist, just to name some of the categories thrown at her, most of which Kusama brushed off as not quite representative of her art.

She was born in a middle-class family but felt misunderstood, as her parents wanted her simply to get married. They wanted to buy her kimono, not paints and brushes. She knew she had to get away. She chose America.

When she arrived in New York, the fad was “action painting,” characterized by dribbles, swooshes and smears, not dots. She suffered years of poverty and obscurity. But she kept painting dots.

She put circles of paper on people’s bodies, and once a horse, in “happening” antiwar performances in the late 1960s, which got some people arrested for obscenity but helped get media attention for her art. While in New York, she befriended artists including Andy Warhol, Georgia O’Keefe and Joseph Cornell, who praised her innovative style.

Over the years, Kusama has made quirky but stunningly celebratory works such as “Macaroni Girl,” a female figure plastered with macaroni, which expresses the fear of food; “The Visionary Flowers,” giant sculptures of twisting tulips; and “Mirrored Corridor,” a room with mirrors that delivers an illusion of a field of phallic protrusions speckled with dots.

Kusama, who has also made films and published several novels, said she wasn’t sure where she got her ideas. She just picked up her brush and started drawing. The process was so mysterious sometimes she surprised herself, she told the Associated Press.

“I think, ‘Oh, I drew that? I was thinking that,’” she said.

She appeared happy to have her art be the focus of media attention and praise, reading one of her poems to a reporter or tackling her artworks with gusto for photos.

But she was also a charmingly disarming mix of vulnerability and defiance — at one moment declaring herself “an artistic revolutionary” and then, the next, mumbling: “I am so afraid, all the time, of everything.”

Times staff writer Deborah Vankin contributed to this report.

Zoe Ball appeared on Wednesday’s Celebrity MasterChef as a guest judge, where she set the contestants a food challenge

Celebrity MasterChef welcomed Zoe Ball on Wednesday’s episode.

During the latest instalment, the second round of heats continued, with five celebrities facing two more culinary challenges as they battled for a place in this week’s quarter-final.

First up, it was the return of the mystery box before the Who’s Coming to Dinner? round, where each week, a special guest sets a culinary brief for the celebrities. On Wednesday’s episode, Zoe, 55, entered the MasterChef kitchen as a guest judge, asking the celebrities to create the ultimate pudding. It comes as Zoe recently admitted fears for her new radio job.

Hosts, Grace Dent and Giorgio Locatelli, were delighted over Zoe’s appearance in the kitchen with Grace calling her a ‘hero’ of hers.

Talking in a VT about appearing on the show, Zoe joked: “I am so honoured to be in the MasterChef kitchen, but I am a terrible cook. I mentioned to my kids that I might be visiting the studio and the looks of horror.

“[They said] ‘What? They’ve allowed you in?’ So the only way I could ever come here was to be a guest judge. So I’m thrilled and I’m ready to be impressed.”

Talking about setting the ultimate pudding task, Zoe quipped: “A meal is not complete without a pudding. It’s a little bit of naughtiness, a bit of indulgence. I will often order pudding before I’ve even thought about the main.”

She added: “I’ve always been a pudding kind of girl. My family are pudding people. A meal is not finished until you’ve had pudding.

“Puddings make me happy. They’re creamy, they’re rich, they’re a little bit naughty and things that are naughty are good for you, in my opinion.”

Taking to Twitter, now X, viewers were all quick to say the same thing about Zoe’s appearance on the show. One person said: “Zoe’s like a breath of fresh air! Best celeb judge! #MasterChefUK #CelebrityMasterChef.”

A different account wrote: “Loving Zoe’s positivity giving encouragement. She realises these celebs are not professional chefs. #CelebrityMasterChef!” while another viewer said: “Zoe Ball seems really nice. #celebritymasterchef.”

Another fan commented: “Seeing #zoeball on #celebritymasterchef just made me think, #zoeball should have been one of the new presenters of #strictlycomedancing!” while a different viewer added: “Zoe Ball feels like a natural presenter for this show #CelebrityMasterchef!”

At the end of Wednesday’s episode, it was sadly comedian and influencer Tom Simons aka TommyInnit who left the kitchen.

Celebrity MasterChef continues on BBC One and BBC iPlayer

In death as in life, Parton left us one of the few spaces where Americans can still unite under a single banner. The banner of Dolly.

Flags are flying at half-mast to honor singer Dolly Parton, who died Tuesday at the age of 80.

There are few artists, let alone individuals of any stripe, whose loss compels a national day of mourning. Especially now, when it can appear there is little to agree upon and everything to debate.

But in death as in life, Parton left us one of the few spaces where Americans can still unite under a single banner: The banner of Dolly.

Her music was borderless, disarming and genuine. Simply put, it was a reflection of the woman who wrote and performed the songs. Her outsized personality, warmth, compassion and charm made her more than a country music star. Parton was an icon whose music, philanthropy and authenticity superseded genre, class, sexuality, color and politics.

She ingratiated herself to the public in bigger-than-big wigs, “trashy” outfits (her words) and with an unfailing sense of humor about herself. When I interviewed Parton in 2001 upon release of her album “Little Sparrow,” she expounded on her fashion sense.

“Just ‘cause I’m singing about a farmer doesn’t mean I have to come out in overalls,” she said. “Or just ‘cause I’m singing about a woman having a baby doesn’t mean I have to wear a maternity smock. But if I did, I’d put rhinestones on it.”

Parton’s self-effacing jokes made her immense talent less threatening in an entertainment industry that often reserved the title of “genius songwriter” for men. And women’s contributions were often minimized by putting the focus elsewhere.

In 1977, when she appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” the most powerful man on television asked what her ample bustline would have been called back home. “Healthy,” he joked? She laughed it off. He then said he would give a year’s pay to “peek under there.” She was quick with a comeback, “I paid good money for these.”

Parton was a master at meeting wisecracks about her shapely figure with her own one-liners. When Carson’s successor Jay Leno asked if her breasts were real, Parton replied, “They’re real big!”

The boob jokes were predictable during her frequent appearances on talk and variety shows. But the of-its-time sexism was neutralized when she’d pull out her acoustic guitar and perform a song as comfortably as if she were sitting on the porch of her childhood home in Appalachia. The audience was then reminded that it was her indelible songs like “Coat of Many Colors” or “Jolene,” and the home-spun beauty of Parton’s voice, that made her a star.

The fourth of 12 children born to a poor sharecropper in a one-room cabin on the banks of the Little Pigeon River in Pittman Center, Tenn., Parton over six decades sold more than 100 million records to become one of the bestselling music artists of all time. She expanded her audience when in 1980 she played an overworked, underappreciated secretary alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in “9 to 5.” The title track she wrote and performed for the film is an enduring work anthem, no matter the generation.

Despite Parton’s huge pop successes, which also included “Here You Come Again” and “Islands in the Stream,” she always came back to her roots. “When I came out of the Smoky Mountains, I tried to make a living doing [mountain music], but I couldn’t,” she said back in 2001. “I had to prostitute myself in certain ways musically in order to make a living. It’s almost like I had to get rich in order to sing like I was poor again.”

But it was largely what Parton did and said outside the recording studio and film set that made her such an inspiring and beloved figure, especially in communities that had been overlooked, marginalized or demonized.

She spent her lifetime giving back to Appalachia and other regions of her home state, sponsoring literacy programs and building the Dollywood theme park to attract tourism and create jobs. She covered tuition and related college expenses should Dollywood employees enroll in higher education. It was also reported that Parton had anonymously paid for the band uniforms for a number of Tennessee high schools for years.

When Whitney Houston popularized the country singer’s song “I Will Always Love You,” Parton used her songwriting royalties to buy property in a historically Black Nashville neighborhood, and moved her own business offices into the complex rather than in the city’s corporate or music-row districts. Functioning as a local commercial building and office space, it allowed her to invest directly in the surrounding community. Parton referred to the property as “the house that Whitney built.”

Parton was also known for her long history of openly supporting the gay community. She raised money for HIV-related charities, and her production company, Sandollar Productions, co-produced the Oscar-winning documentary “Common Threads: Stories From the Quilt,” which honored people lost to AIDS. She also publicly came out in support of same-sex marriage in 2009 and voiced her support for the trans community after several anti-trans measures came into law in Tennessee in 2023.

Communities across the political and cultural spectrum, and countries overseas, are now remembering and honoring Parton with drag parades, New Orleans brass band tributes and even a King’s Guard rendition of “9 to 5” outside Buckingham Palace.

Parton’s acts weren’t political. They were empathetic. And unifying. Even in death.

When Dolly Parton sang, “Working 9 to 5, what a way to make a living,” it was an understatement.

The legendary country singer, who died Tuesday after a brief battle with cancer, “worked up until the day she died” on multiple projects, her longtime manager Danny Nozell said in a statement to The Times.

“She loved seeing her dreams come to life, and loved knowing her work brought people joy,” Nozell said. “Ever the planner, Dolly worked with the team that she handpicked, for the past several years to build a project roadmap that will guide us for decades to come.”

The projects vary from a line of Dolly Parton dolls, which will launch online Sept. 15, to a biopic and a docuseries with release dates to be revealed later. A scripted show and an animated series based on Parton’s “Billy the Kid” book franchise are scheduled to be released on a date to be determined.

Other projects announced were Dolly’s Tennessean Travel Stop — a travel center in Cornersville, Tenn. — which will celebrate National Truck Driver Appreciation Week beginning Sept. 13; and Dolly Parton’s SongTeller Hotel in Nashville, where patrons can book stays starting Sept. 14, with a grand opening scheduled for Sept. 29.

The Parton estate will open the 20,000-square-foot Dolly’s Life of Many Colors Museum at the SongTeller Hotel on Sept. 29 and launch Dolly’s Cup of Ambition Coffee online on the same day. The coffee line will be available at retail stores starting spring 2027.

Dolly’s Dog Treats are on the calendar for early 2027, along with Dolly Bedding & Home Decor debuting in the third quarter of next year.

Broadway previews for “Dolly: A True Original Musical” will begin in December, with opening night scheduled for Jan. 19, 2027. The estate is also collaborating again with fashion designer Kendra Scott for a “9 to 5” jewelry collection.

Nozell guaranteed Parton’s fans that if any unreleased music, products, books, experiences and campaigns are launched through the official Dolly Parton channel, each was personally stamped on by the singer.

“As the leader of the team responsible for overseeing her legacy, we will ensure the many dreams she had yet to fulfill are brought to life,” Nozell said. “Many projects were in various stages of development, and we want to be transparent with her fans about this fact.”

After Tim Curry finished playing the flamboyant Dr. Frank-N-Furter — first onstage, then in the 1975 film “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” — the actor never returned to the role that made him famous. Not once, over decades of “Rocky Horror” revivals from the West End to Broadway, did he ever put those fishnets back on.

For Curry, who died Tuesday at 80 in Los Angeles, there were too many characters to play, and too much fun to be had, for him to spend much time looking back.

“I’ve always moved on,” Curry told me last year, sitting in the Roxy Theatre on the Sunset Strip, where he’d played Frank to great acclaim in 1974, after originating the role in London. “That was part of the attraction of being an actor. I really didn’t want to come out of the same box every time.”

Last year, as “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” was being celebrated for its 50th anniversary, he agreed to meet at the Roxy, which he called “another home for me.” The stage show there had been a local sensation, and it was clear he still had pride and great affection for his role in the movie adaptation, which remains the longest continuous theatrical release in film history.

A stroke in 2012 left him partially paralyzed, interrupting a busy acting career. But he was quick to laugh and joke as he remembered playing Frank, including his nightly entrance at the Roxy, marching down a catwalk in heels and Dracula cape. The long life that “Rocky Horror” has enjoyed as a midnight movie, with shadow casts of costumed fans lip-syncing along, was a surprise to everyone.

Frank-N-Furter was a vivid invitation to fans to let their own freak flag fly. Even amid the era’s accelerating glam rock movement, “Rocky Horror” pushed the boundaries of mainstream pop culture as an outré musical about a mad scientist with a theme song called “Sweet Transvestite.”

“It was part of the sexual revolution, really,” Curry said of the film and its audience. “Experiment was in the air and it was palpable. I gave them permission to be who they discovered they wanted to be. I’m proud of that.”

He was also pleased with other roles that showed off his gifts, including a 1982 film version of “Annie,” directed by John Huston. Curry was the playfully crooked Rooster Hannigan, and had a standout scene singing and dancing in a pencil mustache and slicked back hair to “Easy Street,” alongside Carol Burnett and Bernadette Peters.

Tim Curry, left, in the 1985 movie “Clue.”

(American Cinematheque)

In 1996’s “Muppet Treasure Island,” Curry was a duplicitous but layered Long John Silver, a wild-eyed pirate motivated by greed but with a hint of humanity, as he sang songs and grappled with the strange, felt-covered puppet heroes.

“I love the Muppets,” he said last year. “One of the things that used to fascinate me was that the Muppeteers, when they had the Muppet on their hand, would only speak to you as the character. If you said, ‘Hello’ or ‘What’s the weather like outside,’ they would tell you as the character.”

Never humorless, Curry played the ruthlessly villainous Cardinal Richelieu in the 1993 adaptation of “The Three Musketeers.” Conceived as a vehicle for several Brat Pack actors of the time including Charlie Sheen and Kiefer Sutherland, the film nonetheless belonged to Curry, who relished every line of villainy. The actor again stole the show with theatrical flair as the Lord of Darkness in Ridley Scott’s bleak 1985 fantasy “Legend,” playing a demonic horned figure opposite Tom Cruise.

Curry brought the same energy to more relatable comedic roles in the beloved ensemble mystery “Clue” as the highly suspect Wadsworth the Butler, and “Home Alone 2,” as a four-star hotel concierge outmatched by a 10-year-old boy hero.

“Rocky Horror” gave him a film career and even led to a music sideline, with the 1979 radio hit “I Do the Rock.”

“When I did ‘Hair’ in London, my first gig, I was not sure whether I wanted to be a singer or an actor,” Curry told me. “And doing that show kind of postponed the decision long enough and I realized that I really wanted to be an actor more than anything, and I took it very seriously. And worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company. I saw myself having the trajectory of a serious English actor.”

The roles turned out wilder and more varied than he might have expected but his seriousness and sense of fun never faded, pushing boundaries and himself. No one was ever bored watching Tim Curry onscreen.

“It’s not a man. It’s IT!”

Stephen King’s epic novel “It” injected a devilish twist on the traditionally joyful image of circus clowns with his introduction of Pennywise, a deadly clown who feeds on children. The murderous entity has earned iconic status in pop culture thanks to its central role in “It,” “It: Chapter Two” and HBO’s “It: Welcome to Derry.”

But though Bill Skarsgård’s eerie portrayal of Pennywise in the films and TV series has won high acclaim, it’s Tim Curry’s Pennywise in the 1990 ABC miniseries “It” that is considered by some horror buffs to be the most iconic version of the creature — or at minimum, the most memorable.

Curry, who died Tuesday at 80, made a gleefully evil turn as a clown that sparked nightmares for legions of Gen X and millennial viewers that continue to haunt to this day. His Pennywise is among the career-defining roles that showcased the actor’s uncanny ability to morph into a villain, whether it was as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” the Lord of Darkness in “Legend” or Rooster Hannigan in “Annie.”

Curry’s performance is even more impressive given his limited screen time — his scattered appearances as Pennywise total less than 20 minutes over a three-hour running time. But he makes all of his brief scenes count, whether he’s in a storm drain, emerging from the drain in a shower room or standing in a marsh, and his gravelly voice layers a number of chilling moments.

The two-part adaptation of “It” aired on ABC in November 1990, and drew a huge audience, attracting a reported 30 million viewers. The project starred several top stars of the time, including John Ritter, Richard Thomas, Tim Reid, Annette O’Toole, Harry Anderson and Dennis Christopher. Curry’s on-screen credit reads “special appearance.”

With a massive shock of red hair, bone-white makeup and oversized brow, Curry looked like a hellish Bozo the Clown. He would charm his victims with light banter and offers of a balloon before moving in for the kill, armed with a deep guttural voice and razor-sharp fangs.

In one of the series’ most terrifying scenes, Pennywise comes to life inside a black-and-white photo of Derry 200 years ago when it was a mining town. As the young members of the Losers Club look on in horror, the clown addresses them directly with a lethal glare.

“I am every nightmare you’ve ever had,” he tells them. “I am your worst dream come true. I’m everything you ever were afraid of.” A gloved hand comes out of the picture to grab them.

In a later confrontation, Pennywise tells the youths, “You all taste so good when you’re afraid. I am the eater of worlds, and of children.”

Matt Lucas has opened up about his new look, joking about his ‘bizarre’ beard

Matt Lucas appeared on Wednesday’s The One Show.

The actor, 52, was on the BBC One show, which also aired an emotional tribute to Dolly Parton, to talk about playing Fagin in Lionel Bart’s musical Oliver! for six weeks only at the Gielgud Theatre in the West End.

As well as Oliver!, Matt will also appear on Taskmaster alongside the likes of Richard Ayoade, Isy Suttie, Chloe Petts and Nina Conti.

Matt said of his new theatre role: “I’m growing this bizarre beard” to which host, JB Gill, said: “It looks good!” while co-host Clara Amfo, quipped: “Well, let’s talk about that. I don’t think we’ve ever seen you this way.”

This prompted Matt to admit: “Well, I’ve never ever tried. I grew a moustache for three weeks in the pandemic, but I mean, I, you know, I’ve talked about this before. I have alopecia. Lost my hair when I was six, shortly after that photo [a picture on screen] was taken, actually.

“So seven weeks ago, when I knew I was doing this, I went, ‘Right, what happens if I don’t shave?’ And this is what, so my aim is to keep growing it down to my ankles.

“And then when I’m at the football and it’s freezing in the winter. Wrap it as a scarf!” with Clara joking: “I love that. Function and fashion. Fantastic.”

Taking to Twitter, now X, viewers were also quick to comment on and praise Matt’s new look.

One person said: “Didn’t recognise Matt Lucas, quite a change since I last seen him. Looking good though. #theoneshow!”

A different viewer wrote: “Matt Lucas looks like a different person. #theoneshow” while another show watcher joked over how unrecognisable Matt looked: “They definitely said Matt Lucas was on #theoneshow tonight …. still waiting.”

Meanwhile, a different show watcher added: “Cant wait to see @RealMattLucas take on fagan in @OliverOnStage #theoneshow.”

It comes as Matt, who shot to fame on Little Britain and has more recently returned to the comic relief role of Thenardier in Les Miserables for the musical’s mammoth 40th anniversary celebrations, recently received his OBE for services to theatre.

The One Show airs on weeknights at 7pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer

JESY Nelson has shared a loved up snap with her new boyfriend Ben Davies after they were caught up in a bar row last week.

The former Little Mix star, 35, took to her Instagram stories on Wednesday evening to post the sweet picture.

In the photo, Ben could be seen driving as he had one hand on the steering wheel and the other interlocked into Jesy’s hand.

He was sporting an all-black look with a Givenchy t-shirt and a matching cap.

The pair appeared to be loved-up as she posted the picture during their outing together.

The Sun first linked Jesy to landscape gardener Ben earlier this month.

ROW-MANCE

Shock moment Jesy Nelson caught in bar row as new man ‘gets in people’s faces’

DIGGING IT

Jesy Nelson snogs gardener boyfriend as couple are seen together for first time

The two were spotted together at the London venue Jin Bo Law after appearing to grow close, with the singer later sharing a picture of a tattooed arm as she enjoyed drinks on a rooftop.

An eyewitness who saw them together at the time said Jesy “looked like she was having a great time”, adding that it was “massively deserved after everything she’s been through”.

She’s been through an incredibly tough time over the past year and a half after her twin daughters Ocean Jade and Story Monroe were diagnosed with the muscle-wasting condition Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1.

The rare and severe condition causes muscle weakness and can affect movement, breathing and swallowing.

Jesy has been documenting her daughters’ health battle and has spoken openly about the emotional toll of watching them undergo treatment.

Jesy has previously described the girls’ health journey as one of the hardest experiences of her life.

She recently revealed to her followers that her little girls had undergone a “terrifying” operation.

The X Factor star split from her ex Zion Foster in January this year and they continue to co-parent together.

Last week, Jesy and new beau Ben were caught up in a heated confrontation as she enjoyed some well-earned time off from mum duties.

The pair were asked to leave rooftop bar Madison in St. Paul’s, which caused a face-off with the security present.

Jesy attempted to calm the situation down as she de-escalated the argument.

Video footage obtained exclusively by The Sun showed Jesy and members of the group interacting with a bouncer as they appear to discuss the situation.

Kate Winslet and Maxine Peake staring in Netflix drama in one of many new shows.

Kate Winslet will team up with Maxine Peake to play two sisters on the run in new Netflix drama The Unheard.

The five part series was announced at the Edinburgh TV Festival and has been written by Jack Thorne who co-wrote the critically acclaimed Adolescence for Netflix.

Teasing the series Anne Mensah VP of content UK on Netflix said: “Maxim Peake and Kate Winslet are coming to join us in The Unheard. It is the best script with the best talent, we couldn’t be more happy about it.”

The two sisters, played by Winslet and Peake, go on the run “after an act of vengeance goes wrong”.

Netflix bosses have also signed up Gary Lineker and Richard Osman to be involved in live darts show Beat Luke Littler.

Lineker will host with Osman helping with stats as World Champion Littler takes on 20 top amateurs. If anyone can beat him over a leg they will take home £501,000.

In 2027, there will also be two stand alone series from the world of hit drama Top Boy which ended in 2023. Barry Keoghan is reprising his role as Jonny in five part series ‘Jonny Boy’. And ‘Jaq’ will be a new series centered on the character of Jaq with Jasmine Jobson set to return.

Jig, is a new six part mockumentary comedy series from Derry Girls Creator Lisa McGee. It is set in the high-stakes world of competitive Irish dancing, will shoot in Northern Ireland next year.

Netflix will also go into the world of Roald Dahl with a new series based on the author’s short stories for adults. The cast for the untitled drama includes ‘Bridgerton’ star Nicola Coughlan, ‘The Crown’s Imelda Staunton, and ‘The Wire’ actor Dominic West with filming beginning in Manchester this month.

Writer Danny Brocklehurst said: “The short stories of Roald Dahl were what first made me want to become a writer. His enthralling, macabre and always unexpected tales gave life to vibrant, larger than life characters like The Landlady, Mister Boggis and the mysterious Fingersmith. To be given the chance to bring these characters to life in a contemporary setting is a dream come true. I couldn’t be more thrilled to be partnering with Orchid Pictures, Netflix and this outstanding cast.”

And Bella Mackie’s bestselling novel How To Kill Your Family is being made into a Netflix series with a cast which includes Clive Owen, Orlando Norman and Anya Taylor Joy.

Mensah added: “In the amazingly competitive UK landscape, it’s not good enough to be just ok. You need to swing for exceptional.

“Across drama, comedy, entertainment, live and factual programming, our slate underscores the risks we are happy to take and the extraordinary UK creativity we are proud to champion. Bring on 2027, we can’t wait.”

She would not be drawn on the Duchess of Sussex appearing in The Gentlemen series three, saying: “Everybody has talked about it, I am boring by comparison.”

Pushed on Megan’s possible appearance, Manda Levin, director of scripted series added: “All bets are off.”

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

BBC’s Escape to the Country saw couple Matt and Jamie embark on a house hunt in Devon, where they were wowed by a clever country house feature

Escape to the Country host Sonali Shah admitted she was “obsessed” with one property as the BBC show accompanied two new house hunters to Devon.

As the property series supports prospective buyers, it was down to Sonali to help Matt and Jamie find their rural dream home in and around the idyllic county of South West England during Wednesday’s (August 26) episode of the BBC series.

Jamie, an NHS genetic counselor based in the Oxfordshire town of Wantage, and her partner Matt, an aerospace engineer living in Eastleigh, Hampshire, had a budget of £550,000 to purchase their property together, with hopes of the house becoming a family home in the future.

When Sonali visited the third property on her list, she shared her excitement and said: “Our mystery house is all about location, and I can’t wait to see their reaction about being smack bang in the middle of the village. The house itself, oh my word.”

The host later confessed to Jamie and Matt: “I’m going to be straight, I am obsessed with this house,” before Jamie later confirmed it was a “dream home.”

The handsome Georgian house, situated in Ipplepen, offered four bedrooms and two reception rooms, nestled in the very heart of the village, and was priced at £530,000.

As Matt and Jamie explored the charming home, they were particularly struck by one standout feature — a first-floor laundry room.

Matt said, “It’s a clever use of space, actually,” as Jamie replied, “It is a really smart idea. You’re not having to lug washing baskets up and down the stairs every five minutes. I don’t know why everyone doesn’t do that.”

Despite Jamie highlighting the “perfection” of the property’s interior design, she noted the garden offered no room for a workshop — something that could prove a dealbreaker. Matt conceded the home fell short of their “practical needs”, yet remained keen.

Later in the episode, which originally aired in 2024, Jamie and Matt unveiled the outcome of their property search on Escape to the Country.

The couple delightedly announced they had placed an offer on the very first property, with Matt saying: “After seeing the second and third one, the first was the best fit for us.”

Their offer had been accepted, and Matt and Jamie had successfully purchased a property in Mutterton which was on the market for £550,000. The 19th-century cottage boasted three bedrooms, an annexe, and a sizeable kitchen.

Escape to the Country airs on BBC One and is available to stream on iPlayer

British actor Tim Curry, who famously commanded attention as the seductive mad scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter in cult classic oddball musical “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” has died. He was 80.

The Daytime Emmy-winning actor’s longtime manager and friend Marcia Hurwitz confirmed that Curry died Wednesday at his home in Toluca Lake, in a statement shared with The Times. A cause of death was not revealed. The Cheshire native suffered a stroke in 2013, impairing his ability to walk. Though he remained in a wheelchair until his death, the actor continued working through his final years.

“Though widely known for his inimitable, flamboyant characters and colorful stage performances,” the statement said of Curry, “his greatest legacies to those who knew him were his curious, expansive mind and generous, gentle heart, both of which remained open and filled with anticipation until his final breath.”

Curry is best known for originating the role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, the self-proclaimed “Sweet Transvestite” and purveyor of pleasure who guides a stranded young couple — and audiences — through an unpredictable evening of sexual exploration and liberation. He debuted the offbeat experimental musical in fishnets and pearls in 1973 on the tiny stage upstairs at the Royal Court Theater in London, where it first became an underground sensation.

“The Rocky Horror Picture Show” hit the big screen in 1975, with Susan Sarandon as Janet and Barry Bostwick as Brad. A rock ‘n’ roll take on sci-fi and horror B-movies, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” became the original midnight movie that endeared generations of audiences with its flamboyant characters, spawned interactive screenings across the country and secured its spot in the pop culture lexicon.

“It was part of the sexual revolution, really,” Curry told The Times in 2025 upon the film’s 50th anniversary. “Experiment was in the air and it was palpable. I gave them permission to be who they discovered they wanted to be. I’m proud of that.”

Curry flexed his versatile acting through more than Frank-N-Furter’s showy elevator debut and his vulnerable “I’m Going Home” finale. He was also a sinister Pennywise in the miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s “It,” a secretive butler named Wadsworth in “Clue,” and the evil Lord of Darkness in “Legend.” A screen chameleon capable of morphing from the supernatural to the pedestrian, Curry was also known for his work as fabled pirate Long John Silver in “Muppet Treasure Island” and as a skeptical hotel concierge in “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.”

He was a prolific voice actor known for the environmental classic “FernGully: The Last Rainforest” and TV series “The Wild Thornberries,” “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” “Over the Garden Wall” and “Aaahh!!! Real Monsters.”

Timothy James Curry was born April 19, 1946, to father Jim Curry, a Navy chaplain, and mother Maura Curry. After losing his father at age 12, Curry earned a scholarship to the Kingswood School in Bath. Curry’s grandfather took him to music halls, fostering his love for the art.

“I was really taken with the great Technicolor musicals; it’s the form that’s closest to my heart in a way,” Curry told The Times in 1992. “It’s the most comfortable synthesis of all the things I do.”

School productions eventually led Curry to the University of Birmingham, where he studied drama and English from 1965 to 1968, according to his website.

Curry made his professional debut in 1968 in the original London production of “Hair.” He had fibbed about having previous professional experience and an Equity card, but the production team thought Curry’s talents were reason enough to sponsor him. After he starred in several productions including “Titus Andronicus,” “Cinderella” and “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” co-star Richard O’Brien in 1973 invited the actor to audition for a new work — one that would later solidify Curry as a generational screen and stage icon.

With Curry anchoring as Frank-N-Furter, O’Brien’s “Rocky Horror Picture Show” first came to life at the Royal Court’s Theatre Upstairs. Then larger venues overseas included L.A.’s Roxy Theatre. Eventually, with the support of producer Lou Adler, the show made it to the screen. The same year “Rocky Horror Picture Show” hit cinemas in 1975, its Broadway run at the Belasco Theatre shuttered after 45 showings and negative reviews. Over the years, harsh criticism proved no match for “Rocky Horror Picture Show’s” unexpected staying power.

The musical had been revived numerous times in New York and London, including in 2001 with the Broadway revival earning multiple Tony Award nominations including a nomination for revival of a musical.

The “Rocky Horror Picture Show” film and Curry’s melodramatic Frank-N-Furter have remained cultural touchstones, spawning the popular “anticipation” online meme and inspiring spoofs on “Glee,” “The Simpsons” and a beloved character (with hormone-manipulating abilities) in the popular Japanese manga and anime “One Piece.”

To Curry, Frank-N-Furter was more than just that “sweet transvestite” obsessed with manufacturing the perfect man.

“He’s a fairly complex guy,” he told The Times in 1974. “He just takes anything he can get. He’s not fussy, really. Though I think he’s something of a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am.”

Through the late 70s to early aughts, Curry balanced stage commitments with screen projects and musical endeavors. His stage resumé includes productions of Tom Stoppard’s “Travesties” for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the title role in playwright Peter Shaffer’s “Amadeus” (that would earn him a Tony nomination) and Joseph Papp’s take on “Pirates of Penzance.” All the while, he gained fame for roles in “Annie,” “Clue,” “Home Alone 2” and “Addams Family Reunion.” As a recording artist, Curry released three albums between 1978 and 1981: “Read My Lips,” “Fearless” and “Simplicity.”

In 1988 Curry returned stateside for a U.S. tour of “Me & My Girl,” which he followed with a residency at the Pantages. It was then the actor decided to permanently return to Los Angeles as a resident. His move to Southern California coincided with the beginning of his Emmy-winning voice acting career, which started with a role for Hanna Barbera’s animated adaptation of “The Creation.”

Curry won his Daytime Emmy Award in 1991 for voicing Captain Hook in “Peter Pan and the Pirates” and earned a Grammy nomination in 2002 for the audiobook of “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.” He performed voice roles for video games including television and film tie-ins “Brutal Legend” and “Dragon Age: Origins.”

The British star primarily worked in voice roles after he suffered a major stroke in 2013. Since then, Curry had been in a wheelchair, with on-screen cameos including as the criminologist in the 2016 TV remake of “Rocky Horror.” Still, the image of Curry’s fierce Frank-N-Furter continues to pervade pop culture — even if that wasn’t his original intention.

“None of it was planned, really. I just knew I had to take risks,” he told The Times in 1974. “Life is like acting in that way. You’ve got to take risks. If you take big risks, it’s then up to you whether or not you pull it off.”

More than 50 years after that interview, Curry told The Times that he had no doubt in what he was doing. Revisiting his home away from home, the Roxy Theatre, in the fall of 2025, Curry said it had become “my stomping ground.”

“I had to appear as though I owned it — and I kind of did.”

LONDON — Prince Harry and his wife Meghan arrived in the United Kingdom on Wednesday, as they make a fresh start in Britain after six years in the United States, U.K. media reported.

The news comes less than a week after the couple surprised fans and critics alike with plans to return to Britain. The return was reported by media such as the BBC and the Daily Telegraph, with the newspaper reporting that their plane landed at Birmingham International Airport around noon.

Flight tracking websites showed a private charter flight from Van Nuys, arrived at the airport at 11:56 a.m.

The couple’s children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, have already enrolled at British schools and will start classes in September. The family plans to live at a private, nonroyal residence outside of London, but haven’t said exactly where that will be.

Harry and Meghan gave up their royal duties and moved to California more than six years ago to earn their living through lucrative contracts with Netflix and Spotify.

Relations with the rest of the royal family quickly soured as the couple said palace staff had been insensitive to Meghan’s mental health and leveled charges of racism and media manipulation at members of the royal family.

Harry recently expressed an interest in reconciliation so he could spend more time with his father, King Charles III, who is being treated for an undisclosed form of cancer. But relations with his brother, Prince William, who is heir to the throne, remain tense.

The British game show was first hosted by the legendary Cilla Black before Paul O’Grady took over

The reboot of eighties game show Blind Date has finally found its host.

Originally hosted by the late Cilla Black, the show saw total strangers getting to know each other on stage with a barrier between them. The format saw three aspiring daters quizzed by a single contestant of the opposite sex with a live audience watching on.

Over the course of the episode each contestant would reveal more about themselves and eventually one of the three would be chosen to go on a date. Only then would the newly-matched pair be revealed to each other face-to-face.

The show sparked some iconic moments which still go viral today, including no-nonsense host Cilla’s brutal takedown of a Cosmopolitan journalist who had gone undercover on the show for an article.

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“I feel awfully, deeply saddened by this,” Cilla began while the cameras were still rolling. “But you don’t work as a temporary secretary, I know for a fact that actually you’re an undercover journalist and you’ve robbed somebody of coming on a proper blind date,” prompting boos from the live audience.

Cilla hosted the original series from 1985 until 2003, with Paul O’Grady cast as host when it was once against revived in 2017. Now, Disney Plus are rebooting it again and this time Love Island, I’m A Celebrity and Traitors US star Maura Higgins will be at the helm.

Irish TV personality Maura shot to fame on the fifth series of ITV2 reality show Love Island back in 2019. She shared the iconic villa with the likes of Molly-Mae Hague and Tommy Fury – who went on to marry – as well as the season’s eventual winners, Amber Gill and Greg O’Shea.

Announcing the news today (August 26), Angela Jain, Head of Content, Disney+ EMEA, commented: “Maura is the perfect match for our version of ‘Blind Date’. Her distinctive straight-talking humour, coupled with her experience as a reality dating show contestant, means we know she has the gravitas plus the wit to bring ‘Blind Date’ to new audiences. We’re very much looking forward to Maura helping our daters navigate their own journeys to find love as she steps into the famed ‘Blind Date’ host role.”

Meanwhile, speaking at Edinburgh TV Festival, Sean Doyle, Vice President of Unscripted Originals at Disney+ also confirmed: “We have Maura Higgins hosting Blind Date which is great.”

He continued: “I was concerned that we had such a great track record of hit shows and dating shows is such a crowded market.

“I thought it was risky launching a brand new dating show and I think bringing Blind Date to Disney+ is head turning and will feel completely different to the original format.”

Disney Plus announced it was rebooting the hit game show back in 2025. At the time they teased that it would “bigger, better and bolder than ever.”

Its synopsis continued: “The new series will begin in a secret Blind Date location, where contestants must choose between three potential suitors, hidden from view behind the legendary Blind Date wall, the only thing standing between them and their potential true love just metres away.

‘With a host of unique, innovative and head-turning format twists, our daters will see if forever love can truly grow as they spend the summer living together but potential new partners are always lurking behind the wall…”

A release date for Blind Date is yet to be announced.

A new drama following Nicola Sturgeon and her estranged husband’s fall from grace has been commissioned as television movie for Channel 5 following his embezzlement scandal

Nicola Sturgeon and her estranged husband’s dramatic fall from grace is to be turned into a movie length drama for TV.

Channel 5 announced today they will make a 90 minute factual drama about how Sturgeon’s husband, Peter Murrell, embezzled £400,000 from the SNP over a 12 year period.

Called ‘To Nicola, Love Peter’ it will follow the channel’s success with Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards. The drama creators say they will draw on an extensive range of factual sources including evidence gathered by Police Scotland, The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service as well as extensive TV and newspaper interviews with Nicola Sturgeon and interviews with other key protagonists.

Ben Frow, Chief Content Officer, 5 said: “This is an epic tale of Shakespearean proportions. An extraordinary tale of power, envy, deception and greed.

“It’s both a high-stakes political melodrama and bizarre domestic drama that has dominated headlines and gossip columns. We will be pulling together the events and characters involved to create a compelling revealing drama, as well as answering that very important question – why would anyone pay £2,600 for a pair of salt & pepper grinders…?!”

In June, former SNP chief executive Murrell was sentenced to five years and three months in jail after he admitted to embezzling more than £400,000 from the party.

Murrell – the estranged husband of Nicola Sturgeon – used the funds to buy goods ranging from cars and a motorhome to kitchenware and toiletries.

The Glasgow home he shared with Sturgeon was searched as part of the police operation, as was the SNP headquarters in Edinburgh.

Murrell’s largest single purchase, in 2020, was a £124,550 luxury motorhome, paid for entirely with party funds. When it was seized by police three years later, it had only ever been driven four miles.

Murrell also used party funds to buy further items including a £3,223 coffee machine, a £3,000 robotic lawn mower, £2,600 salt and pepper grinders and a £425 gold pendant that Sturgeon was photographed wearing.

Sturgeon has said she was not aware that Murrell had purchased many of the high-value items listed in court documents. The former first minister has consistently insisted that she had no reason to believe that Murrell had not used his own money for the items he was buying.

Sturgeon had stepped down as first minister in March 2023 and was arrested In June 2023. But she was later told she was not being investigated.

Last year Sturgeon announced that the pair were ending their marriage. She appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe earlier this month and in an on stage interview told the audiences she “feels like a mug” for caring about estranged husband Murrell.

She also claimed he “lied right up until he pled guilty”, and said she won’t be visiting him in prison.

Sturgeon also said: “Over the years, he never really levelled with me. The day he pled guilty, I was still learning about some of the detail of what he had done for the first time. I suddenly realised I had been living with somebody that I never really knew properly.”

Casting for ‘To Nicola, Love Peter’ is currently underway with filming likely to begin later this year. it is expected to air on 5 in 2027.

Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards pulled in almost two million viewers when it aired earlier this year on 5.

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A contestant on The Great British Sewing Bee has shared an emotional statement after their exit.

A contestant on The Great British Sewing Bee has broken their silence after being forced to leave the competition. The beloved BBC show has returned with its 12th season, with Esme Young and Patrick Grant reprising their roles as judges, whilst comedian Sophie Willan replaced Sara Pascoe as presenter.

The episode airing Tuesday, August 25, saw the remaining amateur sewers “hit all the right notes” for music week, for a place in the quarter-final. In the Pattern Challenge, they paid homage to the original Material Girl, making cone bras inspired by the Jean Paul Gaultier creations Madonna wore in the 1990s.

The Transformation Challenge saw the sewers tested in teams, as they had to use bedroom furnishings to create outfits for two different pop acts. And the theme was DISCO for Made-to-Measure, with the sewers creating outfits inspired by the genre that defined 1970s pop music.

However, sadly, one sewer was forced to leave the competition, with primary school teacher Adele going. She’s now addressed her exit on social media and been supported by a new legion of fans.

The 36-year-old shared: “My incredible Sewing Bee journey has come to an end. What a fantastic experience it has been, with memories I’ll cherish forever. (Watch to the end for my favourite photo EVER!) I have 11 special sewing friends for life! We all supported and looked after each other. Our little Bee family.

“I am so proud that I pushed myself to do it, despite the overwhelming nerves. It’s so terrifying putting yourself out there, but I really wanted to encourage others to give it a go too!

“A huge thank you to my supportive husband Steve, who has encouraged me so much and held the fort at home with the kids, even though I said I’d probably be sent home after the first episode! Also, a big thank you to my mum, who helped look after the kids so I could practice all the made-to-measure last summer.

“Thank you to my beautiful models @amygr.y (Team Ginger!) and the lovely Janvii, who absolutely nailed it and really encouraged me.

“Never in a million years did I think I’d reach episode 7. I only started dressmaking 5 years ago, after being encouraged by the Sewing Bee to start. What a dream come true.”

As part of her post, Adele shared snippets from her Sewing Bee journey, and added: “It’s been the BEST experience of my life. I hope I’ve made everyone at home and my children proud. Believe in yourself and have confidence to chase your dreams. See what magic you can create.”

Adele was showered in support after sharing her post. One follower wrote: “You are amazing, and my son and I have loved watching every moment of you on the Bee and cheering you on. You should be so so proud of yourself.”

The Great British Sewing Bee is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.