show biz

JAY-Z and Beyonce have returned to the Cotswolds just months after calling off a permanent move to the celebrity hotspot.

I’m told the power couple are back in the idylic region ahead of his two huge concerts at the Tottenham Stadium next week.

And while they will be staying in the Cotswolds during their short stay in the UK, my music insiders have told me Jay-Z has locked down a huge music space in East London for his rehearsals.

No expense is being spared, with Jay chartering a helicopter to fly him to and fro every day.

A source said: “It’s like the circus has come to town now Jay-Z and Beyonce have arrived.

“They’re staying on an estate in the Cotswolds but Jay is rehearsing in London.

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“The set-up is massive.

“They’ve taken over a whole unit and have blocked off a car park so Jay’s helicopter can land on the site.

“Yesterday morning there were almost 30 box vans with his crew and dancers arriving on the site.

“Loads of precautions have been put in place to make sure he has total privacy.

“The walk from the helicopter landing site to the entrance Jay is using is only about 30 yards, but there is a van on standby to drive him.

“He likes to have his sets totally locked down and this one is no exception.

“The shows at Tottenham are going to be a real spectacle and Jay will be in rehearsals with his team for the next ten days to make sure everything is perfect.”

Jay-Z will take to the stage on September 4 and 5, his only dates in the UK this year.

He is celebrating two major milestones with the performances — the 30th anniversary of his debut album Reasonable Doubt and the 25th anniversary of his critically acclaimed sixth record, The Blueprint.

Beyonce will be marking her birthday at the first show next Friday, along with the 20th anniversary of her album B’Day.

So I won’t be surprised if she pops up on stage too.

Adela’s Sombr moment

Sombr was joined by special guest Adela to make his grand entrance at Belgium’s Pukkelpop Festival.

They posed for this snap before cameras captured them driving backstage and then making their way to the main stage.

It has become a staple of the American singer’s festival shows to be joined by a “walk-up girl”, with Zara Larsson accompanying him earlier this month.

They are both having huge years, with Sombr still riding high on the success of his hits including Homewrecker, 12 To 12 and Back To Friends.

Meanwhile, pink-haired Adela has just scored a Top 40 hit with Ain’t In LA and will release her debut album Prima on September 4.

Kooks warm up Cruz

Cruz Beckham slotted in a cheeky warm-up ahead of his debut at Reading and Leeds, where he will perform with band The Breakers this weekend.

He joined The Kooks at Rock N Roll Circus Norwich on Saturday as the group marked the 20th anniversary of their killer debut album, Inside In/Inside Out.

Cruz, whose new EP Wear & Tear came out on Friday, surprised fans by coming on stage for a rendition of one of my favourite Kooks tracks, Jackie Big T*ts.

Pussyhat Doll

Nicole Scherzinger enjoyed her last days of peace by taking it easy in Hawaii.

She chilled out ahead of a 16-hour flight to the UK this week, where she will get cracking on Pussycat Dolls rehearsals.

Nicole posed in a lei po’o – the traditional term for a flower crown – as she relaxed at a hotel on the island.

She’s about to do a hell of a lot of dancing when the group’s European tour kicks off in Copenhagen in a fortnight.

Confirming preparations, Ashley Roberts, who is in the current line-up with Nicole and Kimberly Wyatt, wrote on Instagram: “Back to rehearsals with my dolls this week.”

Louis a soprano wise guy

Louis Walsh steered some of the world’s biggest pop acts – but now has his sights set on opera.

The former Boyzone and Westlife manager has jumped on board to guide the career of vocal powerhouse Claudia Boyle.

The Irish soprano was shocked that the one-time X Factor judge came knocking and she said: “I never really watched The X Factor, but of course I knew who Louis was. Who doesn’t? This is a new thing for me.”

With Louis’ showbiz connections, I am sure Claudia will break into the mainstream in no time.

Jordan help for Jade split

Jordan Stephens is getting a helping hand after splitting from Jade Thirlwall – by doing a one-day workshop on “healing through relationships”.

The Rizzle Kicks singer revealed he went on a £175 course with therapist Donna Lancaster, which is aimed at stopping people “repeating the same old negative cycles”.

A blurb on the website says it helps people “understand why you might struggle with certain relationships and offer resources as to how to heal and connect in new healthier ways”.

And it sounds like it’s done wonders.

In a testimonial on the website, Jordan, who has split with the former Little Mix singer after six years, said: “Within 20 minutes of Donna’s relationship workshop, I was spun into awareness seemingly without a choice.

“I left with a sense of understanding and promise.

“I would recommend it to literally everyone.”

Good for him.

Ozzy gig film for Crimbo

A documentary film on Ozzy Osbourne’s last live performance will finally be released in December, nearly 18 months after it happened.

The project centred around the Back To The Beginning show at Villa Park in Birmingham had been slated for release at the beginning of this year.

But the late rocker’s wife Sharon pushed it back as she was finding the editing process difficult.

I am now told the documentary is finished and will be on screens by Christmas.

“It’s going to be a great Christmas gift for fans of Ozzy and Black Sabbath,” my mole explained.

“The film is looking really good and features so many moving moments of Ozzy interacting with his friends and performers.

“It moves around from footage of the gig to artists backstage. It is very powerful because it captures Ozzy’s final moments in the limelight.”

Following the release of the film, Sharon will be looking ahead to Ozzfest next summer.

The rock festival, started by Sharon and Ozzy in 1996, will return to Villa Park.

Charli lake break

Charli XCX looks ready to soak up the sunshine in this bikini during her first holiday for years.

She’s jetted off to Lake Como in Italy with husband George Daniel, drummer with The 1975.

Also there are pals including filmmaker Aidan Zamiri, who she has jokingly referred to as her second husband after they bonded while making mockumentary film The Moment. Charli said on X: “I feel like I haven’t stopped for three years.”

She shared pics of the group on a speedboat, with the caption: “A girl on a lake with her friends and her husbands!”

Charli is back on stage this weekend at Reading and Leeds festivals, and is then set to announce the UK leg of her Music, Fashion, Film tour.

Gotta get a move Ron

Ronnie Wood was forced to rush through his set after the venue threatened to pull the plug.

The Rolling Stones guitarist spent too long on stage at North London’s Kentish Town Forum on Friday, so organisers warned they’d shut him down if he didn’t hurry up.

Ronnie, who was performing songs from throughout his career with the help of Irish singer Imelda May, moaned: “We’ve got to move on or they’re gonna cut the power.”

He then steamed through a series of tracks, including Faces hit Stay With Me and Stones rarity Country Honk, so he could finish the set in time.

Despite the faff, Ronnie was beaming as he headed off stage. He got a hug from his wife Sally, who was watching from the side of the stage with their ten-year-old twins Gracie and Alice.

Dani ads to workload

The countdown to endless celebrity Christmas adverts is on.

Dani Dyer is one of the first out of the blocks to film a new festive campaign.

I’m told the Strictly Come Dancing contestant and ex-Love Islander has landed a bumper pay-day for renewing her deal with high street clothing chain Peacocks.

She’s filmed a telly ad alongside former England footballer Michael Owen and singer Louise Redknapp.

A source said: “The Christmas ads are all being filmed now and Dani’s one for Peacocks is already in the can.

“Louise and Michael are seen getting a bit flirty in a lift, while Dani stays true to form and just snaps loads of selfies.

“It’s the easiest money she’s ever earned.”

I’d say. Peacocks is preparing to roll out the campaign just in time for Strictly, meaning Dani is going to be on the box non-stop this year.

I revealed earlier this year she re-signed for the BBC dancing show after being forced to pull out of last year’s series.

She had been paired with pro dancer Nikita Kuzmin but fractured her ankle during rehearsals, meaning she never got a chance to have a whirl on the dancefloor.

But this time around, I’m told Dani is absolutely nailing her training and is pushing herself to try to lift the Glitterball trophy.

KIM Cattrall has stunned in a very sexy shot for her milestone 70th birthday.

The Sex and the City legend took to Instagram to share a risque snap of herself to commemorate her big day.

In the black and white photo, Kim was seen wearing a white bath robe, which nearly slipped off her bare shoulder.

She sat beside a bathroom sink as she crossed her leg and smiled for the camera in the sexy shot.

The actress proved that age is just a number as she showed off her toned legs as she seduced the camera.

Kim captioned the post: “My heart is full!! Thank you for all the sweet birthday wishes!”

Her loyal fans flocked to the comments section to wish her well on her special day.

One person gushed: “70 has never looked so good. I hope you had a beautiful one Kim. Our forever Samantha Jones.”

Another follower enthused: “Happy birthday to THE icon.”

Somebody else commented: “Happy birthday to one of our greatest inspirations.”

Yet another said: “Happy Birthday to the best of the best. Beauty, Brilliance, Talent, Humour, Empathy #icon.”

While a fifth fan added: “Happy birthday queen. 70 and fabulous.”

Kim got married to her toyboy boyfriend Russell Thomas, 54, in London in December last year.

The ceremony took place at Chelsea Old Town Hall with only 12 guests in attendance.

She wore a stylish suit by Dior for the nuptials, which were described as “quiet” and “understated”.

The couple met almost 10 years ago in 2016 when Kim appeared on an episode of Woman’s Hour to talk about insomnia and Russell was working as a sound engineer.

This is Kim’s fourth marriage, having first tied the knot in 1977 to Larry Davis, but the union was annulled after two years.

Her second marriage was from 1982 to 1989 to Andre J. Lyson, with the couple residing in Frankfurt, Germany.

Then in 1998, she tied the knot for the third time with Mark Levinson, but that ended in divorce in 2004.

BBC star Hamza Yassin hopes to inspire the younger generation with his new film about the birds of prey he discovered in Africa, amid fears children know more about the Kardashians

Strictly Come Dancing winner Hamza Yassin believes natural history is so important that he’d like to see every child studying it in school.

The BBC wildlife cameraman, who has a new BBC special called Hamza Yassin: African Birds of Prey, said that if he was in charge he’d put the subject on the national curriculum.

‘“I’d rather a kid tell me about five different names of trees than the five Kardashians,” he declared. “If I was Prime Minister, I would make it compulsory that we educate the children of this nation about the natural history that we have here in this country and around the world.”

In the documentary, he says he would not make it another subject to be tested on, but something children could experience and discover for themselves. His hope is that the audience, particularly younger viewers, develop the same sense of wonder that has driven his own career.

“The moment that someone knows information about natural history is the moment they will start caring about it. If they know they’re damaging something, they’re more likely to not do it. So yes, 100%, kids need to learn more, and then I can stop being Prime Minister.”

At the heart of Hamza’s film is an emotional journey through Kenya, as he spends six weeks travelling more than 5,000 kilometres and bringing audiences extraordinary access to some of Africa’s most elusive and spectacular birds of prey.

He works with local conservation rangers, scientists, communities and Maasai people who understand how important the wildlife and land are. Hamza, who moved to the UK From Sudan as a child with his family, in 1998, said: “I’m just a guest in their world. It’s Kenyans looking after Kenyan birds. That, for me, is the hope.”

There is also a moving visit to the Soi Sanbu Raptor Centre, where Hamza sees birds being rehabilitated after accidents and injuries, many caused by human intervention, including electrocution and collisions with power cables.

The film take viewers up close to rarely seen and spectacular birds, including African fish eagles, martial eagles, owls, vultures and the elusive African crowned eagle, which the team eventually find on the final day of filming.

One of Hamza’s most memorable encounters is with a young martial eagle known as K9, which had already fledged and needed to be briefly caught so scientists could fit it with a tracking tag.

For me, it was phenomenal to be able to get the chance to hold this chick. Everyone might have held a chicken before. Times it by about four or five. This thing’s huge,” he explained.

The 36-year-old became a household name after winning Strictly with pro partner Jowita Przystał in 2022. He says they are still friends. “I still dance with Jowita every now and then – whenever we get the chance,” he said.

“I’m very busy, but we’re constantly chatting and whenever we meet up she goes, ‘Do you remember the dance?’ I’m like, ‘I think I do.’ ‘You do the counting, I’ll do the steps.’”

– Hamza’s African Birds of Prey, Sunday 30th August, 7pm, BBC1

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EMILY Atack has shared a behind the scenes look at her “beautifully chaotic” family wedding held in her garden.

The Rivals actress tied the knot with Alistair Gardner in an intimate ceremony over the weekend at her home in Bedfordshire.

As the blushing bride continues to bask in her happiness, she’s taken to her Instagram to give her fans a sneak peek into the big day.

She looked incredible in a tailored bespoke wedding gown as she took to her feed to thank the designer.

In a series of photos, Emily appeared to be the picture of happiness as she wowed in her dress, complete with high-shoulders, lace detailing and of course, a veil.

The 36-year-old penned: “A moment for the dress.. The biggest thank you ever to Caroline at @eveliebridal and @josephinescottlondon @avenuebyjosephinescott.. beautiful detailing.

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“Tailored bespoke by @kulitabespoke and shoes by @charlottemillsshoes.”

The happy couple had a McDonald’s van parked up outside their home as the date was etched on the top of it.

It also got a personalised touch with “Mr and Mrs Garner” written on it as McFlurry’s were served to their guests.

The bride and groom posed in front of the van as they enjoyed a smooch.

Emily wrote: “Gifted the most amazing van for the day. Let’s face it. It’s all you want after about 23 glasses of champagne.”

The couple opted for two personalised cakes which included a showstopper with realistic looking figurines of Emily, Alistair and their two-year-old son Barney.

The trio are surrounded by plenty of greenery to replicate the forest theme of the garden wedding.

A second cake looked like something straight of Bridgerton, complete with a pink base, ruffled blue and white icing and adorned with pretty flowers.

The final personalised touched included an ‘E & A’ wooden cake topper.

Emily’s long-time pal Mario did the catering for the big day as she shared a snap of him serving up the delicious looking food.

The Inbetweeners icon said: “I really hope you are bollocking me about something mental I’ve done here @mariogdigiorgi.

“15 years of friendship and feeding us the most insane food.”

Her sister Martha took to her own stories to recall the wedding as she ran around after her nephew.

Sharing a photo of herself in a pretty Summery dress with Barney, she penned: “Maid of honour duty #52: Chase sticky nephew around the garden.

Martha also called it “our beautifully chaotic family garden wedding.”

Emily announced yesterday that she was a married woman as she told her followers on the social media platform.

“Yesterday we officially got married among close family and friends. It was absolutely perfect,” Emily wrote on Instagram.

“I can’t believe we get to do all that again in a few weeks time. Christ, we have fun don’t we @dralistairgarner.”

The Channel 4 challenge has said goodbye to two more celebrities

Two ‘gutted’ Celebrity Hunted stars have been forced to leave the hit show.

A new season of the Channel 4 programme is well underway, challenging a fresh group of stars to go on the run and hide from expert hunters.

The team of hunters is led by Ray Howard and they have a mixture of police and military backgrounds at their disposal. Ray’s agents are also allowed to use everything from CCTV to helicopters in their hunt for the famous faces.

Several contestants have already been captured, including stand-up comedian Jen Brister and actor Laura Smyth, as well as Love Island duo Chris Taylor and Toby Aromolaran.

And the hunters added two more victims to their list just minutes into Monday’s (August 24) episode. They caught disability advocates JJ Chalmers and Sophie Morgan following a heated car chase.

The duo originally tried to evade the hunters by driving away, but they eventually accepted defeat. Following their capture, Sophie admitted that she was “sad” but still spoke highly of her experience.

Sophie said: “I’m gutted we got caught. We did really well and we just slipped up at the end. Not because of our disabilities.

“If anything, I think it aided us at times. I think it’s been a really lovely experience to just feel [like] disability doesn’t always get in the way.”

JJ also reflected on the challenge fondly, adding: “What I take away from this, more than anything, will just be the kindness of strangers. If you ever doubted that there was goodness in the world, there is more good in this place than there is bad.”

But viewers at home have been left divided by the pair’s eviction.

Some felt they gave up too easily, with one X user posting: “Why didn’t JJ Chalmers and Sophie Morgan just lock the car doors and stay inside the car when the hunter reached the car door? They could have avoided capture yet. #CelebrityHunted.”

Meanwhile, others praised their decision to forfeit: “Sensible decision by JJ and Sophie. They weren’t going to win in a car chase. Well played though. Lovely people. #Hunted #CelebrityHunted.”

Following the latest capture, there are five fugitives still at large including father-daughter duo Brian and Lucy Conley, Strictly’s Amy Dowden MBE and Carlos Gu, as well as lone wolf Scarlette Douglas.

Celebrity Hunted is available to stream on Channel 4.

Rachel Cusk is not a people pleaser. The prolific, award-winning British author’s novels are often plotless, discursive and frustratingly obtuse. Yet Cusk has found a large fan base for her work, mainly because she is a deft excavator of the human psyche, a writer who can articulate emotional states with uncanny precision and insight.

On a formal level, Cusk’s new book, “Life Of M,” closely adheres to the rigorously calibrated approach that has been so successful for her across 11 novels. In classic Cusk fashion, “Life of M” unfolds from the inside out. It is resolutely internal and hermetic, told from the point of view of a highly observant and self-conscious narrator. When Cusk writes that a character’s smile “had a sweetness that almost seemed to reproach those who looked at it for their dim and suspicious view of life,” it’s that “almost” which saves the line from sinking of its own weight, one of Cusk’s nuanced brushstrokes that give her prose lift and bounce.

“Life of M” is a two-hander. The primary driver of the narrative is an unnamed writer who has approached a famous actor — the M of the title — with the proposition of ghosting her autobiography. This is the extent of Cusk’s setup. The novel is about as stark and stripped of biographical details as a Samuel Beckett story. Cusk is far more interested in how the writer’s identity is unmoored by the actor, and how the world bends to M’s will and thus changes its shape in her presence: “Standing in the street, I realized that I could not be myself around M. She was friendly, generous, disarmingly modest, yet everything I did or said in her company was false. It was as if I was acting, while M came across as authentic and real.”

Author Rachel Cusk

(Siemon Scamell-Katz)

Interspersed between these scenes are chapters that shift time and tone. They appear at first to be the writer’s own story, reflections on the past and life apart from M; the “we” in these sections might be referring to siblings or partners. But they are too strange to be memoiristic: “In the evening we flower; like strange nocturnal plants we put out our display.” Then: “Even if we spend the evening at home this feeling of integration, or our interior and our exterior fusing together, occurs.” Are we in M’s head? Is the collective pronoun meant to be a proxy for her private and public selves? These sections are the least effective parts of Cusk’s book, as they are frustratingly indeterminate and hazy.

As the writer and the actor spend time together, and the narrator tries to pry open some small window into M’s psyche, the process of gathering material is constantly being thwarted by M’s casual instructability. It seems M has perfected the art of using candor as a carapace, so that the image of her authentic self recedes the more Cusk’s writer spends time with her. M is not governed by the usual impulses of the civilian; she has no use for love or hate, desire or abnegation. “Acting involved pretending to be other people, whose own emotional states —such as she understood them — could preoccupy her for a time,” writes Cusk. “Once they were completed, she was as locked out of these recordings as the millions of other eyes that watched them.”

M and the writer move through highly mediated spaces that amplify certain features and downgrade others, a kind of edited, hyperreal landscape. M researches a part in a mansion that has been meticulously art-directed to resemble the house of a family who in fact never lived there. Cusk describes these spaces in great detail, as if they were fetish objects. The mansion’s interior is “not heavy or dark,” she writes, “rather it is light and mellow and the panels have finely carved patterns around their edges.” It is the seduction of surfaces Cusk is exploring here, the ways we are taken in by so much that is chimerical: lavish interiors, actors, our own doubled selves.

Cusk has previously explored this gap between truth and signifiers of truth in her “Outline” trilogy. But “Life of M” feels different, perhaps because the world feels far different than it did eight years ago, when “Kudos,” the last book in the trilogy, was published. Now that we have fallen straight through the looking glass of the internet, that gap has narrowed to the extent that we are having far greater difficulty discerning reality from its uncanny simulations. Sadly, we are complicit in this occluding of authentic experience. Millions of us toggle so frequently between our real lives and the well-curated fantasyland of our social media personas that it’s scrambled our neural pathways. We are living the double consciousness of public figures no less readily than a celebrity like M. The notion of a “complete inversion of internal and external that fame brings about” is no longer exclusive to the famous.

According to internet gossip, Cusk’s M is in fact a shadow portrait of Natalie Portman. And there are strong hints in the text that indicate this might be the case. But to think of this novel solely as a journey to the center of Portman’s mind is not only irrelevant; it cheapens Cusk’s project. What the novelist is getting at here resonates far beyond a single celebrity. This is a short, potent book that has much to say about the spiritual rot of our present culture.

Weingarten is the author of “Thirsty: William Mulholland, California Water and the Real Chinatown.”

DANNY Cipriani and AnnaLynne McCord’s bid to crowdfund their wedding failed after friends refused to pay for booze at the reception.

The couple tied the knot on Saturday in Los Angeles in what was described as an “elegant bohemian” ceremony in their back garden.

However, just weeks before they were set to marry, they raised eyebrows when they asked their guests to help them pay for their wedding.

They used US site Honeyfund — a platform specifically designed to help couples pay for things like flowers, catering, music and a cake.

The couple asked for cash donations between £75 ($100) and £450 ($600) to go towards their wedding and honeymoon.

However, the website, which is open to the public to view, still has remaining slots that were not contributed to.

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Among the remaining asks are eight £440 ($600) slots for the wedding venue construction, five remaining slots for reception beverages at £146 ($200) and seven remaining slots for the reception catering at £183 ($250).

Adding to this are five unpaid slots for the wedding photography at £220 ($300) and two remaining slots for the rehearsal dinner at £366 ($500).

Guests did in fact fork out £73 for their marriage licence, £91 for the music at their reception, £440 for the wedding cake and £440 for the floral arrangements.

After their crowdfunding idea was released, the pair were said to have received death threats.

Speaking from a hotel in Hollywood, AnnaLynne told The Sun: “I was told I was despicable — and that I was trying to extort money from my wedding guests.

“People actually donated ten dollars towards the wedding so they could write on the site that Danny and I were disgusting.

“There were even death threats.”

The 90210 actress, 39, stunned a see-through white lace dress and a veil embroidered with flowers on the big day over the weekend.

Meanwhile, rugby ace Danny, 38, looked dapper in all black suit.

Their wedding came 10 years after they first met on dating app Raya which kickstarted a four-year on/off relationship.

They then rekindled things in 2024 after Danny split from his wife Victoria Rose.

Incidentally, it was Danny calling AnnaLynne in 2020 to tell her that he’d got Victoria pregnant that led to their initial time together ending. The following year he married the neuroscience practitioner.

When Danny’s split from Victoria made headlines, AnnaLynne decided to make her feelings known and reached back out to him.

She told us: “He told me he loved me since the day he met me.”

Danny proved his love on Christmas Day when he dropped to one knee in front of the tree in AnnaLynne’s home.

Fox News co-host Emily Compagno is jumping from the network’s daytime chatfest “Outnumbered” to join “The Five,” the most-watched program on cable news.

The conservative-leaning news network announced Monday that Compagno will fill the seat vacated last year by Jeanine Pirro, who left “The Five” in May to join the Trump administration as interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia before her Senate confirmation three months later.

Compagno will be on daily starting Sept. 8 alongside fellow co-hosts Greg Gutfeld, Dana Perino and Jesse Watters. Jessica Tarlov and Harold Ford Jr. rotate their appearances in the lone liberal seat on the program.

“Emily is a highly accomplished host whose energy and talent have made her a standout across FOX News Media, and we are thrilled to officially welcome her to the show,” Fox News Media Chief Executive Suzanne Scott said in a statement.

Compagno’s chair on “Outnumbered” will have guest co-hosts after she departs the program.

“The Five” has been a ratings juggernaut for Fox News in recent years, scoring audience levels that rival live viewing for hit broadcast network shows. In the second quarter of this year, “The Five” averaged 3.6 million viewers according to Nielsen, capturing more than 64% of the cable news viewing audience in the 5 p.m. Eastern hour.

Before joining Fox News as a contributor in 2018, Compagno practiced law in criminal defense and civil litigation and later served as a federal managing attorney and Acting Director at the Social Security Administration.

She also served as a Senior Judge Judicial Extern for the late Hon. John T. Noonan at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Compagno served as captain of the cheerleading squad for the NFL’s Raiders when they played in her hometown before moving to Las Vegas. She served as an ambassador for the league overseas, visiting U.S. troops in Iraq and Kuwait on a USO tour.

She is also the author of “Under His Wings: How Faith on the Front Lines Has Protected American Troops,” which was released on the network’s publishing imprint FOX News Books and debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list.

If you’re looking for a new binge watch this autumn, than ITV have exciting news for you

ITVX is set to welcome a bestselling thriller, and viewers will be able to stream the series for free.

ITV has lined up an adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s 2018 bestselling thriller Nine Perfect Strangers that stars a stellar cast.

The chilling psychological series from Hulu and Amazon Prime Video tells the story of nine strangers from different backgrounds who attend a wellness centre named Tranquillum House.

The group of stressed-out city dwellers plan to spend 10 days at the retreat to find a better way of living, and each has a unique, sometimes heartbreaking, background. However, the more time they spend at the remote resort, the more they realise that nothing is as it seems.

As the group begins their healing journey, they are watched over by the mysterious host, Marsha Dmitrichenko, played by Nicole Kidman, who is on a mission to reinvigorate their tired minds and bodies.

The eight-part drama is full of suspense, punctuated by lighter comedic moments, and explores how far people will go to confront their personal demons on their journey of self-improvement.

Joining Kidman in the series is a star-studded cast, including Melissa McCarthy, Michael Shannon, Luke Evans, Bobby Cannavale, Regina Hall, Samara Weaving, Melvin Gregg, Asher Keddie, and Grace Van Patten, who all play the strangers on the retreat.

Nine Perfect Strangers originally aired on HULU and Prime Video in 2021, and will arrive on ITVX on Sunday, September 27.

Since its launch, fans have been taking to Rotten Tomatoes to praise the series, with one person calling it: “Healing, great acting, profound and meaningful.”

A second stated: “One of the best TV shows I have ever watched really moved me”, while a third chimed in: “Recommended, not bad!”

“Well, I didn’t know what to expect when I started the show, but it amazes, and it pushes the envelope! Can’t say enough good things about the acting and the story!!! Keep you guessing every step of the way”, shared one fan.

“The story was brilliant, the cinema beautiful, and I really liked the acting. Highly recommend!”, added another.

One viewer confessed: “I loved every single bit of it. The depth of the characters, the lesson in its story. A completely fresh take on ‘you’re the director of your own life’. A take so new and strong it smashes in and leaves you teary-eyed and inspired.”

Nine Perfect Strangers will stream on ITVX from Sunday, 27 September

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are reportedly moving back across the pond, six years after their dramatic exit from the Royal family stunned Americans and Britons and exposed scandal in Buckingham Palace.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will return to British soil along with their two young children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, for an extended period starting this month, People reported last week. While the pair’s decision may be unsurprising to some, Prince Harry and Meghan made clear in 2020 that their personal Brexit was because of several factors, ranging from severe scrutiny by the British media to alleged racism and bullying from the royal family.

Meghan, during the couple’s memorable tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021, spoke plainly of her experience among the royals: “I just didn’t want to be alive anymore. And that was very clear and real and frightening.”

King Charles III is aware of the plans for his son and Meghan‘s U.K. return and “welcomes the opportunity to see more of the Sussex family in a private and personal capacity,” People reported. The spouses are also said to retain their property in the affluent Santa Barbara enclave of Montecito, and vacation home in Portugal while also making a “private, non-royal” home in Britain. This retrospective tracks the early years of the highly scrutinized pair’s relationship, the fallout from their royal exit, their media ventures and more.

When Harry met Meghan

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry attend a Wheelchair Tennis match during the Invictus Games 2017 at Nathan Philips Square in Toronto, Canada.

(Vaughn Ridley / Getty Images)

“Personally, I love a great love story.”

That’s what Meghan Markle, formerly of “Suits” fame, told Vanity Fair in October 2017. By then, more than a year of media speculation and rumors surrounded the L.A.-raised actor and activist’s romance with Britain’s Prince Harry, younger brother to Prince William and the second son of Charles and the late Princess Diana, who was killed at age 36 in 1997 after the car she was in crashed while fleeing paparazzi in Paris.

Meghan and Prince Harry kindled a romance in 2016 at that year’s edition of his veteran-centered Invictus Games, held in Orlando. Markle quickly found herself in the beloved “bad boy” Royal’s orbit — including the tireless swarm of tabloids and paparazzi who have captured almost his every move from childhood. The pair was already subject to media frenzy early in their relationship, prompting Harry via Buckingham Palace to plead with reporters to respect his then-girlfriend’s privacy and to condemn the “outright sexism and racism” in online comments. Markle had also remarked early on that she was disheartened that so much coverage of her romance focused on her ethnicity.

News of their engagement in 2017 further raised eyebrows among the public and even more so with established British tabloids, including the Daily Mail, which had once described the pair’s relationship as a “VERY unlikely romance.” In the context of the longstanding (and almost exclusively white) British monarchy, Meghan was an outsider: American, mixed-race (she is half white and half Black), an outspoken public figure and a divorcée (she was previously married to film producer Trevor Engelson).

Prince Harry and Meghan married in May 2018 and were named Duke and Duchess of Sussex. At the time, Prince Harry was sixth in line to the British throne. During the wedding ceremony, the Rev. Michael Bruce Curry heralded the pair’s union with calls for justice and equality — amid the country’s early steps into leaving the European Union — and made references to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

“When love is the way, there’s plenty of room for all of God’s children,” Curry said during the ceremony. “When love is the way, we actually treat each other — well, like we are actually family.”

Between the newlyweds and the British royals, family ties proved only so strong.

Buckingham Palace faces a new era of controversy

As new parents, the Duchess and Duke of Sussex pose with their newborn son, Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, at Windsor Castle on May 8, 2019 in England.

(WPA pool / Getty Images)

Marrying into British royalty did not shield Meghan from criticism, speculation and attacks by the press — it appeared to have the opposite effect. Sound familiar?

British tabloids and several media personalities continued taking aim at Meghan, portraying her as a rude “trailer trash” personality amid a rumored riff with Princess Kate and using racist imagery to mock the arrival of her firstborn son, Archie, in 2019. The public ridicule remained ceaseless, but alleged tension was also brewing behind palace walls.

Less than a year after their first heir’s arrival, the Duke and Duchess announced in a shocking personal statement in 2020 that they would step down as senior members of the royal family and would work to become financially independent. They also announced at the time that they would split their time between the U.K. and North America. A year later, the spouses announced they would not return to royal duties. Shortly after, they memorably shed light on their decision in a bombshell CBS interview with Oprah Winfrey, unleashing a disturbing look into their life as members of the royal family.

Meghan claimed that while pregnant with Archie, she and her husband were informed their son would not have the title of prince or princess, which she said deviated from longtime protocol, and would not be entitled to security. The actor also implied that during discussions about her son’s title, there were “also concerns and conversations about how dark his skin might be when he’s born.”

“They were concerned that if he were too brown, that that would be a problem?” Winfrey asked.

“If that’s the assumption you’re making,” Meghan replied, “I think that’s a pretty safe one.” She did not identify the person who made the remarks: “I think that would be very damaging to them.”

Winfrey later clarified that Harry said neither his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II or his grandfather Prince Philip “were a part of those conversations.”

Meghan also spoke about her struggles with her mental health while part of the royal family. She revealed that she was suicidal while pregnant with Archie, citing isolation and helplessness amid ceaseless attacks by the press.

“I just didn’t want to be alive anymore. And that was a very clear and real and frightening constant thought,” she said, adding that she went to the palace’s corporate institution for help. “I was told that I couldn’t, that it wouldn’t be good for the institution.” At the time of the interview, Harry and Meghan revealed they were expecting a baby girl. Lilibet was born June 2021.

“The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement responding to the spouses’ interview. “The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately.”

Royal fallout

Prince Harry with Meghan, standing behind Prince William and Kate, during the funeral service for Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022.

(WPA pool / Getty Images)

In addition to Harry and Meghan’s self-demotion, Buckingham Palace faced tragedy and additional criticism in the following years. Prince Philip died in April 2021 and long-reigning Queen Elizabeth II died in September 2022 at age 96. Prince Harry and Meghan both attended the queen’s funeral, but under close watch by the British media.

Charles ascended to the throne after Queen Elizabeth’s death, marginally moving up Harry and his children with Meghan — the children later received their royal titles of prince and princess. — in the line of succession to the British throne.

When 2023 arrived, so did a fresh batch of revelations about the Windsors. Prince Harry published his memoir, “Spare,” providing readers an unflinching look at his family but an even more unforgiving description of the paparazzi. In the book he recalled needing to ask his grandmother’s permission to propose to Meghan, wrote that older brother Prince William had “been pretty discouraging about my even dating Meg” and accused queen consort Camilla of making shady deals with the press.

Months after the memoir’s publication, Prince Harry and Meghan were asked to vacate their British home of Frogmore Cottage on the grounds of Windsor Castle. Reportedly, King Charles began the eviction process the day after his son published the memoir.

Meghan, left, and Chrissy Teigen in an episode of Netflix’s “With Love, Meghan.”

(Jake Rosenberg / Netflix)

As Meghan and Harry moved to separate themselves from the royal family and from life in the U.K., they settled down in California in the affluent neighborhood of Montecito and into new business ventures. Among their earliest post-palace endeavors was the creation of multimedia company Archewell Productions, which in September 2020 inked a multiyear deal with Netflix to produce series, docuseries, documentaries and other programming.

For Netflix, the spouses have put forward numerous projects, including documentary series and reality shows “Harry & Meghan,” “Heart of Invictus” and cooking show “With Love, Meghan.” The pair opted last year to maintain its relationship with the streaming giant, signing another multiyear, first-look deal.

Additionally the ex-royals’ Archewell Audio inked a multiyear deal with Spotify to produce podcasts and shows for the platform in a deal that was reportedly worth $20 million. Archewell Audio released a 30-minute holiday special in 2020 and one audio series — “Archetypes” — hosted by Meghan in August 2022. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex‘s podcasting endeavor at Spotify ended in 2023.

Unsurprisingly, Prince Harry and Meghan, who have also busied themselves with various philanthropic causes, faced backlash for their Spotify departure. Meghan was also accused of faking some “Archetypes” interviews.

In addition to big-swing media ventures, Meghan launched a lifestyle and food business that had undergone multiple name changes. She initially launched her brand under the moniker American Riviera Orchard, specializing in artisan jams she notably gifted to celebs, including Kris Jenner, Chrissy Teigen and Mindy Kaling. She later rebranded the line to As Ever, following a minor roadblock with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

“I was figuring it out in real time,” she told People of the naming debacle in 2025. She also said she now sees herself “as an entrepreneur and a female founder.”

According to recent reporting, Meghan can add “actor” back into that description. She is reportedly in talks to join the third season of Guy Ritchie’s Netflix series “The Gentleman.” That would be her first acting gig since the end of “Suits” and marrying into the royal family.

The Gentlemen’s future “felt inevitable”, according to director Guy Ritchie.

Netflix is finally bringing back The Gentlemen and teasing an even darker side of Eddie Halstead.

More than two years ago, The Gentlemen on Netflix became a global phenomenon, attracting more than 100 million views worldwide and reaching the number one spot in 75 countries.

Now, once again back for eight more action-packed episodes, The Gentlemen season two is set to premiere on Thursday, September 3, on Netflix.

And just to give a little taste of what’s to come, the streamer has released the official trailer and this time, Eddie Halstead (played by Theo James) is biting back.

It begins with him telling Geoff Seacombe (Vinnie Jones): “Four hundred years ago, this estate spread out as far as the eye can see. I want it all back.”

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It doesn’t take long for the The Gentlemen season two teaser to welcome newcomer Hugh Bonneville into the fold as Eddie asks for his help to “decriminalise marijuana”.

Elsewhere, Susie Glass (Kaya Scodelario) shares her concerns that “The Duke” is evolving into “something volatile”, with a follow-up clip showing Eddie strangling someone.

But the trailer really escalates when, after Bobby Glass (Ray Winstone) calls him a “snake”, Eddie unexpectedly screams in his face: “Don’t you f*****g talk to me like that!”, leaving everyone stunned.

Clearly excited to see what’s to come, one YouTuber user commented: “When the world needed The Gentlemen most, they returned.”

Someone else exclaimed: “Guy Ritchie masterpiece”, as another added: “I know this is going to be epic”, a third pleaded: “Please give us four more plus seasons. Guy Ritchie is the goat.”

Thankfully, the viewers have got their wish as on top of releasing the new series two trailer, Netflix has confirmed that The Gentlemen has already been renewed for season three.

Addressing the good news, Ritchie remarked: “The ambition of The Gentlemen has accelerated, the world has expanded and the consequences carry weight. A third season felt inevitable, and I’m looking forward to pushing the boundaries of it further.”

As of yet, no further details of The Gentlemen season three have been released but given that series two hasn’t even dropped yet, it is still very early days.

Nevertheless, a teaser for what’s coming up has been confirmed by its official synopsis: “It’s been one year since Eddie and Susie joined forces to work together in Bobby’s criminal empire overseas.

“As they drive to expand their enterprise, the decisions Bobby is making seem to be increasingly unsound. Now Eddie and Susie must decide whether to take action or risk losing it all, but unfettered ambition never ends well…”

On top of Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville joining the cast, The Gentlemen season two will welcome Dune’s Benjamin Clementine, The Housemaid star Michele Morrone and Love Island icon Maya Jama.

The Gentlemen season two premieres on Thursday, September 3, on Netflix.

Under the hot lights of the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, the five members of Santos Bravos stood center stage, ready to stake their claim to international stardom. It was the first night of KCON — a three-day festival of Korean pop culture, held every year since 2013 — and on Aug. 14, Santos Bravos became the first Latin American act ever to grace the bill.

Despite the band having debuted less than a year ago, the crowd was buzzing with excitement, but its energy heightened as the slashing knife sounds of “Hooligan,” a song off BTS’ latest hit album, “Arirang,” began to ring out. Because of their popularity, BTS songs are frequently covered by groups at KCON, but newcomers Santos Bravos, who are under the same parent label, Hybe, had more to prove to this audience.

Santos Bravos, a Latin American boy band based in Mexico City, performs on the Artist Stage on Aug. 14 at KCON at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

(Arwen Clemans / Los Angeles Times)

“Hooligan” was produced by Spanish producers Fakeguido and El Guincho (who worked on two records with Rosalía), as well as South Korean producer Ghstloop and American producer Jasper Harris. The multicultural song, with lyrics in both Korean and English, was an apt choice for Santos Bravos — between the five members, they speak and sing in three languages and represent several Latin cultures.

For BTS fans, nothing less than near the performance level of the superstar group is acceptable. But as Santos Bravos sang the opening verses in English, the crowd roared with approval — especially as lead vocalist Kauê Penna, who hails from Brazil, slid onstage to take on the high parts of BTS lead Jungkook.

While artists from different backgrounds working together is nothing new, Santos Bravos, like the Hybe x Geffen girl group Katseye, are part of an effort to bring K-pop training, marketing methods and fandom culture to other regions of the globe.

Fans watch as members of Santos Bravos walk off the stage and into the crowd during a performance on Day One of KCON.

(Arwen Clemans / Los Angeles Times)

Off the global success of BTS, Hybe evolved from a mid-sized label into one of the biggest music and entertainment players in South Korea. Santos Bravos operates under a division called Hybe Latin America, which is based out of Mexico City, where the band calls home. They are the first Hybe group to be based in a region outside of the United States or Asia.

Selected from 17 finalists on a 2025 competition reality show called “Santos Bravos — La Serie,” the contestants had vied to become part of Santos Bravos. Along the way, they received feedback and coaching from Song Sun-deuk, BTS’s longtime former choreographer and performance director. They also worked closely with Miami-based Cuban American choreographer Cultura, who has previously worked with Maluma, J Balvin, and Karol G, among others.

The final five debuted as a group at the show’s finale in October of 2025, where they performed before an audience of 10,000 at the Auditorio Nacional Mexico. Santos Bravos’ members are Penna, 19, from São João de Meriti, Brazil; Kenneth Lavíll,16, from Veracruz, Mexico; Gabi Bermúdez, 21, from San Juan, Puerto Rico; Alejandro Aramburú, 22, of Lima, and Drew Venegas, 26, from L.A. County.

The selected members were no starry-eyed amateurs: Both Lavíll and Aramburú were professional actors in their countries, while the honey-voiced Penna won the fifth season of “The Voice Kids, Brasil” in 2020. Bermúdez, the effusive mood-lifter of the group, was gunning for a career as a soloist when he entered the ring. Venegas, a dance specialist who had performed as a backup dancer for BTS, had a brief stint as a member of the Future X, a co-ed group formed by Simon Fuller that featured members of the queer community.

Not even a year into their formation, Santos Bravos topped Billboard’s new Latin music poll. In January, they performed alongside Mon Laferte and Feid in Willy Chavarria’s Paris Runway show, “Eterno.” In June, their debut EP, “Dual,” made it as high as No. 17 on the Billboard Top Latin Pop Albums chart. That same month, the group won its first award, the fan-voted artist duo or group at the 2026 Premios Tu Música Urbano Mix.

“We’re very disciplined,” said Venegas, who called West Covina home before joining the band. I met the band inside the Los Angeles Convention Center on Saturday, after their KCON breakout moment.

“One day of training was equivalent to one week of training,” he added. “I think combining all of our cultures together, then keeping our Latin essence with the K-pop methodology, [brings] something very new and very fresh for the eye.”

1/5

Santa Monica , CA – August 17: Drew Venegas of Santos Bravos at Hybe America on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026 in Santa Monica , CA. (Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)  (Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

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Santa Monica , CA – August 17: Kaue Penna of Santos Bravos at Hybe America on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026 in Santa Monica , CA. (Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)  (Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

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Santa Monica , CA – August 17: Ale Aramburu of Santos Bravos at Hybe America on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026 in Santa Monica , CA. (Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)  (Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

4/5

Santa Monica , CA – August 17: Kenneth Lavill of Santos Bravos at Hybe America on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026 in Santa Monica , CA. (Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)  (Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

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Santa Monica , CA – August 17: Gabi Lopez of Santos Bravos at Hybe America on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026 in Santa Monica , CA. (Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)  (Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

Although the group doesn’t perform in Korean — unless it’s for fun — they cater to K-pop fans, which is easy to do since they too are K-pop fans. They’ve paid a visit to the Hybe headquarters in Seoul, collaborated with bands like Le Sserafim and BoyNextDoor and livestreamed to fans via Hybe’s proprietary social platform Weverse. They’ve even performed on Korean television.

But for the members of Santos Bravos, the cultural exchange goes beyond marketing.

“In Mexico,” Venegas said, “when you’re eating we say, ‘Buen provecho,’ which is like ‘Enjoy your food,’ No matter who it is, no matter who you’re walking by. Food is a big part of acknowledging somebody, and that’s what we have in [common with Korean culture].”

Mostly talking to each other in Spanish — both Venegas and Penna learned to speak it as a second language — they occasionally forget which language they are speaking to each other in.

“Sometimes I find myself talking to Kenneth or Kauê in English when I don’t need to,” interjected the soft-spoken Aramburú, who plays the guitar — and, in between his shifts as a pop star, is finishing up his music degree at USC.

“The fact that we learn so many languages opens so many doors for us,” Aramburú said. “Personally, wherever we go, I love to learn the language. I’m on Duolingo learning Korean right now.”

Penna sees language as a way to not only open doors for Latin artists, but also reach people through their music.

“Thank God Latin America is being watched,” said Penna. “You know, people can see what we’re doing, and people also are interested in in our languages, in our culture. And in every country we [visit], we try to learn as much as possible about the culture. Now we’re focusing on Portuguese” — a language they test-drove in the song “Velocidade” — “and of course, English.”

Venegas has found that his experience as a Mexican American who didn’t grow up speaking Spanish resonates with some people.

“There were a couple of fans who came up to me who were of Mexican descent, but they didn’t get the chance to learn like me growing up,” he said. “And immediately, they were at a loss for words and kind of filled with emotions. I started getting emotional because I can feel the heartache and … feeling scared, like you don’t belong … and that’s what I felt like. Being able to speak with them and hear what they say made me feel like I’m not alone and like I do matter. Hearing, ‘OK you didn’t grow up getting spoken to in Spanish, but you were still called mijo like I was called mijo.’ ”

Asked why some people struggle to grasp multiracial Latino identity — Cardi B is brought up as an example — Penna weighed in.

“Being in Santos Bravos as an Afro Latino is something so important to me,” said Penna. “I feel like this ‘thing’ of being this or being that… It’s just cultural differences. I’m also working to understand how another culture sees me. As Brazilians, we are very mixed. Of course, I have my Afro side, my mom’s side, I have my Indigenous side… but of course, I am very open and very proud [with] what I’m representing in Santos Bravos.”

“People in general like to categorize,” said Bermúdez, who grew up idolizing Puerto Rican singer Chayanne. Raised in Puerto Rico by parents with both Boricuan and Cuban heritage, Bermúdez bristles at attempts to divide Latinos.

“We as Santos Bravos want to transmit to the world that Latin America is one,” he said

Santos Bravos

(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)

On the Monday after KCON, I met up a second time with the members of Santos Bravos, who were milling about in the Hybe America offices in Santa Monica. Venegas scrolled through his phone while Penna shuffled past us to grab a drink from the office fridge. I ask whether he’s tired. “A little” he replies, but he’s good.

Upstairs, walking past a large poster of BTS, I met with Juanse Arenas, president of Hybe Global Label Services, who promotes artists outside of their home markets. He said the company looked closely at data and research when conceptualizing the group.

“Mexican regional music became really big, Bad Bunny himself went global,” Arenas said. “You have Karol G, J Balvin, all these massive artists who come from our countries. Latin music is no longer just Latin; it’s global, right? Now, there is a methodology that exists in K-pop that has produced very successful groups. But you can’t just apply that methodology blindly to new regions and to new places — you have to [consider] where the members are coming from, what makes them tick, what drives them and the audience they’re speaking to.”

After posing for individual promo portraits, they gathered for a group photo before singing an acapella version of the uptempo ballad “MHM” for social content. They also greeted their fans on the Weverse livestream, where they expressed sadness over leaving L.A.

“Nos vamos pronto de L.A., mi gente,” said Lavíll to fans. “Y estamos tristes.”

Netflix’s new brutal crime drama comes from the creator of ITV’s Gone and Netflix’s Lupin

The latest crime drama from Netflix is already being hailed as a ‘masterpiece’.

One of the most recent releases from the streaming giant has become a huge hit amongst fans. Many have admitted that they can’t stop watching the five-part series Blood Sacrifice, as proven by its surge up the platform’s charts.

It has kept millions of viewers hooked and as a result has claimed the third spot in the top 10 series in the UK at the time of writing. It is behind new seasons of Outer Banks and Love Is Blind UK.

According to its synopsis, the Swedish produced drama is set during summer time in Stockholm, when the darkness never really creeps in. An emergency call is received following an apparent home invasion.

Two police officers are sent to the address, a summer house in the archipelago. However, they find that there is no one there, at least not that they can see. The next day the bodies of the officers are found as part of a brutal crime.

This is the start of a series of terrifying murders, all seemingly targeting police officers. The lead detective needs to ask his father, a retired detective, for help in cracking the case.

It comes from George Kay who is also the writer behind other gripping series. Previously, he has created ITV’s Gone, Apple TV+’s Hijack with Idris Elba and Netflix’s Lupin. He also wrote episodes of My Mad Fat Diary, Killing Eve, true crime drama Litvinenko and made Criminal: UK.

Blood Sacrifice, or Blodsoffer to give its original Swedish title, has become a sensation among Netflix fans. It’s been reported that it has proved to be a breakout hit across the globe where it has earned the number one spot in other countries, including the US.

It is believed that with the five episodes adding up to just over four hours duration overall, is helping it become an easy one or two day binge watch. That seems to be the case with some fans who have shared their recommendations so far.

Such as one person who claimed: “ Dark, intense, and absolutely addictive. Blood Sacrifice had me hooked from beginning to end. It’s a dark, intense, and incredibly engaging series, with the perfect atmosphere for anyone who enjoys crime thrillers. For me, it was one of those shows you start watching and simply can’t stop.”

Another agreed: “Unique. Little creepy. Excellent storyline. I loved this show. Only five episodes so it starts off fast and is edgy the whole time. This was put together very well and was a very enjoyable watch from start to finish.”

Meanwhile one critic called it “a crime thriller masterpiece that is the biggest show in the world.” Someone else said: “There are grim scenes and a deep look into personal relationships of a father and son, and others who are involved in solving the murders.”

However there have been some concerns shared about the ending. Without sharing any spoilers, one person suggested: “An intriguing mystery, few episodes, a well-developed script, and a solid cast. I found the final episode rather lacklustre and anticlimactic, I expected more. Still, I recommend it, it’s a good way to pass the time and a short series that’s quick to binge-watch.”

Blood Sacrifice is streaming on Netflix.

SAMANTHA Fox has been forced to cancel her upcoming show on ‘medical advice’ after suffering from ‘ongoing pain.’

She became one of the country’s most famous women almost overnight after her debut on The Sun in February 1983.

Her Page 3 career also became the launch pad to a world of lavish celebrity parties and later for her global success as a pop star, with 30million record sales.

Samantha, 60, continues to perform and was set to appear at Hard Rock Live in Florida at the end of August alongside a string of other stars.

However, she has cancelled her appearance and took to Instagram to share a statement with fans.

She captioned the image: “Sorry, I’m truly so upset about doing this, I think in 40 years this is only the 3rd time I’ve had to cancel a show.

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“Getting the right treatment now but the worst is the pain, love you Foxys. I’ll be fighting fit soon love Sammy.”

In the statement, Samantha explained that she had been struggling with ongoing back and hip pain for some time and following medical advice, it wasn’t possible for her to make a long-haul journey.

She explained: “I absolutely hate letting my fans down, as well as everyone who worked so hard and was looking forward to the show.”

Samantha also revealed she was heartbroken to withdraw from the event as she was so excited to be back performing in America.

She added: “This isn’t goodbye America, I am determined to get myself properly fit and well.

“I very much hope to return to the USA for a live show again very soon.”

Fans flocked to comment and one wrote: “I hope you get better soon and sending you so much love and positive energy!

“Us fans in the US will be here with open arms when you return someday, until then, I hope you stay healthy and get well.”

Another said: “Sending lots of love and well wishes!”

“Your health is the most important! I wish a speedy recovery for you,” wrote another fan.

A fourth added: “I am so sorry that you have to cancel but your health is the most important! Get well soon.”

While we might look to other eras, or, you know, epochs (hi, Paleo people) for wellness inspiration, none is quite as dramatic and as “Princess Bride”-esque as LA.’s fencing community. At its center is Swordplay LA. The Burbank-area club is sporty but approachable, leaning into fencing’s cultural impact — and its fantasy — by extending a pointed invitation (see what I did there?) to make friends, be merry and break a sweat.

Alex Blugerman suits up with protective gear before a class at Swordplay LA.

Since the 12th century BC, fencing has been a source of both combat and entertainment. Egyptians in antiquity engaged in sword combat for warfare, but also for competition — Romans utilized swords in gladiator events, rituals and duels. During the Renaissance, Italians refined fencing into its modern form, and soon fencing schools began popping up all over Europe. Fast forward to the 1800s, when fencing’s popularity was so widespread that it became one of the five original games at the 1896 Olympics, where it continues to be a beloved summer event.

And yes, while the Olympics are one point of public familiarity, that’s just one small part of our collective cultural consciousness around the sport.

“Everyone has some kind of relationship to fencing,” said Mary Sola Spohn, the owner of Swordplay LA. “It’s mostly like, my kid saw this movie, or I love this character. It’s the stories around fencing that bring people in.”

Spohn cites “Game of Thrones,” “Lord of the Rings,” “Dungeons & Dragons,” “Star Wars” and even “The Parent Trap” as some of the more popular cultural inspirations for newbies. While clearly rooted in some serious history and tradition, according to Spohn, fencing’s representation in media is its most powerful draw.

Swordplay LA owner Mary Sola Spohn shows off the gym’s fencing gear. Spohn has trained the likes of Academy Award-winning actors and Olympic athletes.

“And ‘Wednesday,’” Spohn adds, of the influx of interest after the Netflix series debuted. “I’m not gonna say that ‘Wednesday,’ you know, saved the day, but, it is very interesting how certain things in pop culture kind of influence the interest level.”

Spohn should know. As a 7-year-old, she was mesmerized by the swordplay in “Hook” and “Peter Pan.” A native Angeleno, she started taking classes at Swordplay LA and soon became a nationally-ranked fencing youth. She participated in the U.S. Olympic trials and was recruited to Northwestern University’s Division 1 fencing team. After college, she worked as a stunt actor, fight choreographer and action designer specializing in European weapons. Spohn was training famous actors, athletes and Olympians (one of her favorite experiences was teaching Charlize Theron rapier for the film “Old Guard 2)” when she was given the opportunity to own the very business where her love of the sport began — and she took it.

Seven years later, Spohn is less interested in high competitive stakes than she is in fostering an all-inclusive, supportive community for her students at Sportsplay L.A. Participants come from all over Los Angeles and range in age from 7 to 85 years old. And she’s succeeded: nearly 170 members and hundreds of classes later, Swordplay LA is now one of the longest established fencing clubs in Los Angeles, with diversified offerings like stunts, pro-wrestling and historical European martial arts (or HEMA, for short) that offer some of the most unique workouts in the city.

Alex Blugerman, left, and Aiden Kelly duel during a class at Swordplay LA.

En garde! Inside the sword-fighting gym

Entering Swordplay LA’s large Burbank headquarters, I was worried I was in over my head. Like many beginners, I had no idea about the reality of fencing: the rigorousness, the gear, the clientele. Would I be the only woman there? Would I injure myself, or someone else? Should I have dressed preppier, like the quick-reflexed, collegiate fencing villains in the movies?

Immediately, my worries were assuaged — there were, in fact, women there. There was also a weapons wall, “Game of Thrones”-style wood accents and a prominently placed map of Middle-earth. While it’s definitely sporty, Spohn has carefully curated Swordplay LA’s atmosphere to be about storytelling — acknowledging the books, TV and films that inspire the club’s clientele.

“I put a lot of thought into the way this place looks and feels. I wanted it to still feel like an athletic facility, but with a creative, artistic side to it. Leaning into what brings people here,” she said.

Everyone was extremely friendly and on the fashion front, no popped collars in sight — only gym clothes and cool-looking fencing gear: mask, chest protector and underarm protector.

Swordplay LA participants Jonathan Proft, left, and Traviss Nguyen strike their weapons.

I did, in fact, feel cool when I put on said gear. I felt even cooler holding my sword, knees bent, feet wide, ready and waiting in my “advance” stance.

While we see lots of depictions of fencing, the rules are, in fact, fairly intuitive: Staying in the narrow playing area, or “piste,” two athletes wield their swords, trying to be the first to make contact with the other while avoiding being hit (and yes, you do get to shout “en garde,” before you advance). Like yoga or dance, the experience is a workout that feels in alignment with the body’s natural movements, at an intensity appropriate to wielding an ancient weapon.

“There are so many natural elements to it,” Spohn assured me during our lesson. “You know, in a very basic sense, how to hold it, what to do with the sword. Everyone has a vision of what that looks and feels like, and people get it.”

At the end of our 30-minute intro class, we actually engaged in combat. Empowered, I leaned in, like a sweaty extra in Nolan’s “The Odyssey,” feeling none of the danger but all of the drama.

Vibe: Boxing gym meets “Game of Thrones.”

Effort: It’s an hourlong full-body workout that, for beginners, can be a bit more intense on the hands and wrists; the gear can be hot and take some getting used to. But the combat happens in short spurts, allowing a fair amount of downtime for recuperation, conversation and enjoyment of the sport.

X factor: It’s uniquely cool to be wielding weapons with so much history, whose use has been perfected over thousands of years. There’s also an immense amount of drama to the sport; leaning into that truly transports the student away from a club experience and into a kind of delicious, LARP-y fugue state.

Swordplay LA

Where: 130 W. Isabel St., Burbank

Cost: $40 for a single drop-in class, memberships range from $50-$450 per month

Info: splafencing.com

NS&I has just improved the prize draw odds but the personal finance expert has warned over the best place for money

Personal finance expert Martin Lewis has told anyone with Premium Bonds about the ‘£5,000 rule’ and warned about the chances of actually winning anything. The ITV and BBC star has said that unless people have at least £5,000 in there, the statistics suggest they might be wasting their time.

Premium Bonds are a government-backed UK savings product issued by NS&I (National Savings and Investments). Instead of earning regular interest, a person’s money buys unique £1 bond numbers that are entered into a monthly prize draw to win tax-free cash prizes ranging from £25 to £1 million.

Mr Lewis has spoken out about the bonds, and last week, in a new update, NS&I said that there will be an increase to the Premium Bonds prize fund rate and improved odds from the September 2026 draw. There will be an estimated £63 million of extra tax-free prizes in September, compared to August 2026, NS&I said. There is also an immediate interest rate increase for around 428,000 Direct Saver and 222,000 Income Bonds customers.

More than 22 million Premium Bonds holders will see a boost to the prize fund rate to 4.35%, up from 3.80%, for the September 2026 draw. At the same time, holders will have even more chances to win, with the odds shortening to 21,000 to 1 from 22,000 to 1. The Premium Bonds prize fund rate and odds were last improved in July 2026.

However, Mr Lewis has said that people would have a much better return with normal savings – if they don’t put enough money in – because of the odds. He explained that premium bonds are only worth getting if you have a certain amount of money. In particular, he advised that many grandparents would be better off giving grandchildren cash via normal savings accounts.

He said: “For years, many people, especially grandparents, have gifted their children premium bonds. And frankly, in my view, for many they would’ve done better sticking with normal savings. Premium bonds are government-backed savings, where the interest is based on a prize draw. The current prize fund rate is just 3.6 per cent, yet even that overestimates what most people will actually win with typical luck.”

Martin said that premium bonds are typically only worth buying if you have more than £5,000, to give you a chance of winning the prizes. He noted that premium bonds are “best for”: Those with larger savings, say over £5,000, as then you’ve a better chance of earning closer to the published prize fund rate. “With less, the odds are you will win little or nothing”, he said

Those who pay tax on their savings interest, who have used up their ISA allowances, as premium bond winnings are always tax-free

He added: “As most children have small amounts of savings and aren’t taxpayers, premium bonds are particularly unsuitable. Of course, there’s the ludicrously small chance your child will win a million, but they could also toss a coin and it land on its edge.”

“So if you’re thinking of putting £1,000 or less into premium bonds for a child, it’s worth noting that with average luck our premium bonds probability calculator shows they are likely to win nothing over a year (give it a try based on your scenario).”

He has also delivered his assessment of Premium Bonds in general: “Premium Bond prizes aren’t taxed, which means that if you’ve larger savings in cash, and have maxed out your £20,000 a year ISA allowance and earn enough interest to exceed your PSA, Premium Bonds are probably a decent choice… if you can accept the random nature of the ‘interest’.

“For everyone else, cash ISAs – savings accounts you never pay tax on – are still likely to be the better choice. The top easy-access cash ISA rate is currently 4.4% – slightly lower than the standard non-ISA rate, but tax-free and offering a guaranteed return that’s higher than the current Premium Bond prize rate of 3.6% (which you need to be lucky to get).”

He also said the prize rate – 4.35 per cent from September up from 3.80 per cent is the average return. He said: “The smallest prize is £25. So what happens on £100 is a lot of people get nothing and a few get £25.” He said the mena average, which is 4.35 per cent from Sept, but more important: “Is the median average which is zero on £100 in Premium Bonds over a year.

“Median is if you lined everybody up who had £100 in Premium Bonds from those who win the most to those who win the least what would the person exactly halfway along win.

“The first thing to say is someone with typical luck will always win less than the mean average. What affects the amount you win, generally, is the amount you’ve got in. The more you have in the closer you will get to the mean average on typical luck.”

However, the ‘tax-free’ nature of Premium Bonds could offer a benefit, he suggested: “Most people do not pay tax on savings. That’s because, as well as your normal personal allowance up to £12,570 a year you can earn from any source, most people are getting either a £1,000 personal savings allowance – so that’s £1,000 of interest they can earn a year without paying tax on it – or £500 personal savings allowance if you are a higher rate taxpayer.”

If someone has a lot of savings, it could mean they’re paying tax on the interest, and if that’s the case, he said people should consider making sure their ISA allowance is full.

He said: “If you’ve got a cash ISA allowance available, I’d be putting it there. Then, if you’re paying tax on your savings and you’ve filled up your cash ISA allowance, and especially if you’re higher rate taxpayers which means you’re going to be losing 40 per cent off your savings interest on any that you pay tax on, at that point, Premium Bonds even on typical luck at around 3.2 3.3 per cent after tax start to look good value.”

Mr Lewis also urged people to place their savings in high-yield accounts. For those who relish the excitement of potentially winning big, he proposed purchasing a small Lotto ticket: “To all those people who say ‘what about the thrill of winning’, yes there’s the thrill of winning but, you know what, if you put savings account, you’re going to win interest each month and you’ll know exactly how much you’ll be getting and it’ll probably be bigger.

“There is a chance of winning a million, but if you really want to talk about the thrill of winning, then it’s probably far more sensible and more effective for those people who don’t pay tax on savings and who aren’t higher rate taxpayers, to go and put their money in top savings and then take a couple of quid out and put it in the National Lottery and then you get your thrill of winning anyway but you get more return on the underlying savings.”

NS&I responded at the time: “Premium Bonds remain one of the nation’s favourite savings products and are a flexible and fun way to save. They offer the excitement of potentially winning tax-free prizes every month, the safety and security of the 100% government guarantee, and easy access to withdrawals.

“Every Premium Bond has a separate and equal chance of winning a prize each month, however the more Bonds you buy, the better your chances of winning.

“Each month we pay out millions of prizes ranging from £25 to £1 million. In our most recent draw, there were more than 6.1 million prizes worth over £403 million.”

“It Ends,” a microbudget marvel by 20-something writer-director Alexander Ullom, has a straightforward premise that expands in your imagination.

Four school pals — go-getter James (Phinehas Yoon), drop-out Tyler (Mitchell Cole), anxious Fisher (Noah Toth) and creative Day (Akira Jackson) — pile into a Jeep just after college graduation. The car turns onto a dark road that, to the youngsters’ growing unease, appears to stretch on forever through an infinite forest. There’s no safe place to pull over, no signs pointing toward escape, no assurance that their lives have a destination. Stop moving and a horde of desperate, violent strangers sprint from the woods to try to steal their car. Keep going … for how long? Is this hell, purgatory or just a cosmic punchline?

“It Ends” premiered at SXSW in the spring of 2025, over a year before audiences stormed Kane Parsons’ “Backrooms,” yet the two breakout filmmakers share a suspicion that our seemingly ordinary existence hides something very, very wrong. The scale of the peril is hard to comprehend and harder to articulate; they’re more curious to explore the crisis than find a fix. What matters is that humanity feels lost.

Everyone in the car already seems to sense it even before this particular ride goes awry. Yoon’s dour James has impressively (and depressingly) mapped out his next few money-making decades down to his eventual diminished sperm count. To him, the future “seems like it sucks ass.” Weary Tyler has resigned himself to blue-collar work. Fisher and Day can’t even secure jobs, stuck literally and metaphorically frittering away their youth in the back seat.

The first act has a visceral, terrifying sequence with panicky close-ups of extras sprinting pell-mell toward the car. (The credits list as many background actors as crew members.) Matthew Robert Cooper’s unnerving ambient score bleeds into the relentless dink-dink-dink of the Jeep’s strobing hazard lights.

For several minutes afterward, the images are so disorienting that we can’t even make out where anyone in the car is sitting. Then cinematographers Evan Draper and Jazleana Jones along with Ullom, who also edits, take a steadier hand with evocative montages that emphasize the passage of time.

With rare exception, the camera stays tethered to the vehicle. The blur outside becomes enveloping and unfathomable; the universe inside the car evolves as the friends invent tension-defusing rituals to keep from screaming at one another. The mood toggles between cozily habituated and heavy. How long have they been driving now?

Early on, I kept a running tally of the hours until that began to feel naive. The days blend together with no time stamps, although Ullom occasionally reveals how many miles the car has gone. I did some back-of-my-notepad math and realized you can drive massive distances faster than I would have guessed. Then I pictured myself in their seats. Excruciating.

Evading plot holes, “It Ends” paves over the obvious biological needs. The foursome discover they no longer need to eat or drink. Likewise, the car no longer needs gas. The characters check off every idea you want them to try in the small space of the car, plus other brilliant brainstorms. Bursting through the confinements of movie logic, “It Ends” untrains audiences out of their certainty that every crisis has a solution. Does it even matter what they do?

Dread runs through “It Ends,” yet I’m hesitant to frame it as a horror movie. Scares fall by the wayside when it shifts into a more philosophical gear, vibrating with questions about how to live a meaningful life: Should these victims accept their fate or keep struggling? At least one will leave the car, never to be seen again as Ullom shrewdly refuses to reveal whether that choice was right. I think the filmmaker has an answer for himself, but he’d rather ask how we feel about it. Keep an open mind. Your opinion may change more than once.

This car setting taps into our cultural belief that speeding ahead is progress, an opinion shared by films as varied as “The Fast and the Furious,” “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Two-Lane Blacktop,” and “Thelma & Louise.” Like actual religion, to continue on versus stopping becomes a question of faith. Some find comfort deciding on an answer, any answer. Others are driven by the spiritual quest itself.

The cast of unknowns is fantastic. It’s a major feat to shoulder a movie sitting still. Yoon’s prickly, unlikable James is the character many will align with, to their chagrin. Cole’s Tyler acts practically while collapsing into a black hole of cynicism. You’ve met a dozen guys like him who all claim “So what?” is the only sensible reaction. The jokers Toth and Jackson, bless them, keep things endearing and funny.

I’m bored of studios and indie financiers forcing filmmakers to stick to so-called bankable names. From “Heated Rivalry” to “Obsession,” this has been a phenomenal year for discovering fresh faces. Hopefully Hollywood won’t misunderstand the lesson in those projects’ success. It’s not to add Connor Storrie and Inde Navarrette to that stifling shortlist — it’s how much more talent there is waiting for a shot. (And it’s worth mentioning that Yoon and Cole also direct their own movies.)

Some of Ullom’s richest themes need only a casual mention, like Fisher muttering that he has fewer photos of his family on his phone than stupid memes. The friends are passingly concerned that they’ve outsourced too much of their mental stimulation to the internet. Now that they don’t have Wi-Fi, will they run out of topics to discuss? In these murmurs, Ullom wonders how much modern technology has led us astray. Obeying GPS has trapped them on this road in the first place, and may have done the same to those wretches in the woods, each so individually fixated on carjacking the Jeep that it never occurs to them to team up. A material goal devolves people into savages. At least Ullom has a slight optimism that society can turn things around.

Climbing into my car after “It Ends” felt like a sick joke. Was I really steering straight back to work? When was the last time I pulled over for an ice cream? But I kept on driving until I made it to my desk to start this review. That’s how excited I was to share the news of Ullom’s staggering debut. It’s a thrill to see his generation of filmmakers take the wheel.

Talent runs in Downton Abbey star Phyllis Logan’s family as her husband is a fellow actor

Downton Abbey’s Phyllis Logan isn’t the only famous member of her family.

The 70-year-old actress is best known for playing the resolute yet compassionate housekeeper Mrs Hughes in the hit period drama.

She played the character across all six seasons of the ITV series and also returned for the subsequent feature films, including Downton Abbey (2019), Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022), and Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale (2025).

Mrs Hughes, also known as Elsie Carson, ran the entire servant branch of Downton Abbey alongside Thomas Barrow (Rob James-Collier), after he replaced her husband, Charles Carson (Jim Carter), as butler.

The character was involved in a number of memorable storylines during her time in Yorkshire, including a cancer scare, and her slow-burn romance with Mr Carson.

It turns out that talent runs in actress Phyllis’s family, as her husband is also an actor who appeared in Downton Abbey. Phyllis is married to English actor and writer Kevin McNally. They met in 1994, before marrying in August 2011.

Kevin began his acting career in the BBC’s TV adaptation of I, Claudius, but is best known for playing Joshamee Gibbs in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

That’s not all, as he also shared the screen with his wife in Downton Abbey. Kevin notably played Horace Bryant in the series, who was the father of Major Charles Bryant (Daniel Pirrie).

Charles fathered a child with housemaid Ethel Parks (Amy Nuttall) before dying in the war. Horace initially refused to acknowledge or support the child, before later stepping in.

Fans have been left speechless after realising Phyllis’s real-life connection to Kevin, whose Downton Abbey character looks completely different from his role in Pirates of the Caribbean.

“Just found out that Phyllis Logan (Mrs. Hughes) is married to Kevin McNally (horrible Mr. Bryant)!!” one person wrote on Reddit. Another added: “The dude from Pirates of the Caribbean? That’s awesome,” while a third said: “I had no idea they were the same person. He looks so different in DA.”

Someone else wrote: “I had to google who Mr Bryant was as I’d forgotten and wow I didn’t recognise the actor at all,” with another similarly sharing: “The fact that so many are amazed at how different those two characters are attest to McNally’s acting skill.”

Downton Abbey is streaming for free on ITVX

BBC Breakfast viewers were left distracted from the headlines by a major new format change.

BBC Breakfast viewers noticed a major change moments into the programme.

BBC Breakfast returned on Monday, August 24, with Ben Thompson joining Sally Nugent as he stepped in for Jon Kay.

Headlines of the day focused on the Middlesbrough crash on Saturday that left seven people, including two police officers, dead, as well as the return of the Premier League, with a tribute to Kevin Keegan during Newcastle’s match against Liverpool.

However, viewers were left distracted by a BBC Breakfast format change, with the graphics on screen given a major revamp.

Instead of the red timebox and headlines running at the bottom of the screen, the studio background graphics are in blue, while the taglines at the bottom of the screen are now also in a red to blue gradient, and highlighting what is coming up in the show.

“Can’t the producers decide on ONE colour for graphics?” one person fumed. Another said: “These captions are annoying, get rid, if I want captions I will turn the subtitles on.”

“Why have they tried to make the graphics look like a mobile phone? They look ridiculous,” a third seethed. Another replied: “That’s what I thought. And I don’t like it.”

Someone else said: “I can’t concentrate on two things at once so I’m either trying to read that extremely small text or watching the news report.”

“Someone been at the crayons.. what’s with the colour scheme?” yet another said, as someone else wrote: “So weird.”

Another viewer said they “hated” the change, as one person added: “Might just as well watch ITV now they’ve put this s**t on the screen and dumb down completely.”

Someone else called it “really rubbish”, as another fumed: “Ffs – get rid of these annoying captions! They are very distracting & totally unnecessary!”

One added: “#bbcbreakfast have obviously misjudged the demographic of their early morning viewers with this new format.”

This comes after the BBC Breakfast team celebrated National Television Award nominations, during an edition of the show last week.

As two nominations include heartfelt documentaries from the BBC Breakfast team, Jon shared how “honoured” they were.

Meanwhile, BBC Breakfast’s rivals Good Morning Britain have been nominated in the Daytime category alongside James Martin’s Saturday Morning, Loose Women, Scam Interceptors and This Morning.

BBC Breakfast airs daily from 6am on BBC One and iPlayer.

In 2013, Coronation Street aired a dramatic episode which saw some of the residents take part in a Full Monty-style striptease and now one former star has revealed the lengths some actors went to on set

One former Coronation Street actor has recalled the great lengths his co-stars went to to appear in a set of scenes inspired by The Full Monty.

In 2013, the world’s longest-running TV soap aired a dramatic episode which saw the famed Rovers Return Inn go up in flames, but, as it was all going on, some of the Weatherfield lads, including Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas) and Karl Munro (John Michie), had been approached to do a striptease as a fundraiser nearby at Nick’s Bistro.

Now, Tony Hirst, who played fireman Paul Kershaw, has recalled that some of his co-stars “stopped drinking water” and hit the gym in a bid to look as in shape as possible.

“I remember doing a Full Monty style scene on Coronation Street where we had to be naked,” he began.

“Some of the younger lads purposefully didn’t drink water for two days beforehand so they wouldn’t be bloated, and others were in the gym, trying to look as buff as possible,” he told The Sun.

Just before the striptease reached its finale, Norris Cole burst in to tell everyone that the pub was on fire.

At the time, the Rovers Return was owned by Stella Price, who was played by EastEnders star Michelle Collins, and Karl was her former partner whom she had thrown out after discovering he had had an affair with Sunita Alahan (Shoba Gulati). She then struck up a relationship with Jason, and tried to frame him by setting the pub ablaze in an attempt to win Stella back.

The blaze resulted in the deaths of Sunita as well as Paul’s colleague Toni Griffiths, and Karl was later sentenced to 25 years in prison for his crimes.

Meanwhile, actor Tony Hirst was first introduced to Coronation Street during the soap’s 50th anniversary in December 2010 and was on the scene when an an explosion destroyed the viaduct and caused a tram to come crashing down onto the backstreet.

Almost a year later, he returned to help Eileen Grimshaw (Sue Cleaver) when she got her head stuck in some railings at Underworld factory and quickly became a love interest for him.

It soon transpired that he was actually married to a woman named Lesley (Judy Holt), but she had Alzheimer’s and despite Eileen’s best efforts to look after her, she electrocuted herself when she put a toaster under a running tap.

Following Lesley’s death, Paul and Eileen continued their relationship for more than a year but they called it quits in August 2013 and he departed Weatherfield for good.

Prior to his stint on Coronation Street, Tony played Mike Barnes on Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks. Over the course of his career, he has appeared in Casualty, Holby City and Brassic.

Last year, he played the recurring role of Jerry in Riot Women and also narrates a host of programmes such as How It’s Made and Benefits Street. The soap star recently confirmed that he is now filming new episodes of mystery crime drama Patience for Channel 4.

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Traitors star Freddie Fraser, who found fame when he took part in the third series of the BBC hit, has been supported by fans after coming out and revealing his new relationship

Traitors star Freddie Fraser has been supported by fans after coming out and announcing his relationship. The reality star, 22, found fame when he competed on the third series of Claudia Winkleman’s BBC hit, which aired in early 2025 and was eventually won by Jake Brown Leanne Quigley.

Over the weekend, former politics student Freddie took to social media to announce that he is in a relationship with model Bailey Ramsden, and posted a black-and-white photo strip of them both.

He simply captioned the post with a heart, but several of the TV star’s followers were quick to congratulate him over the happy news. One said: “LOVEEEEE!!!! SO CUTE,” and another wrote: “Gorgeous, so happy for you.”

A third wrote: “this is the best news xx” Amanda Lovett, who appeared on the first series of The Traitors, said: “Aww I’m so happy for you,” whilst former X Factor star Jack Remmington simply left a string of heart-faced emojis.

Freddie, who before finding television fame was a top-ranked sprint hurdle athlete in the years before he signed up for The Traitors, was a Faithful on the BBC show before being recruited as a Traitor by Charlotte Berman in episode 10.

But in a shock twist, he was banished from the castle following a slip up involving Minah Shannon less than a day later, and hastily exited the castle.

When he was banished – and had to reveal he was a Traitor – he told the group it had been “the honour of my life” to take part in the TV series.

Since then, he has carved out a successful career as an influencer, with a combined following count of almost 250,000 across various social media platforms.

His new relationship comes more than a year after it was reported that he had split from Nisha Davenport, whom he had met at university, and it was claimed that his new career had made it tricky to keep things going.

A source told The Sun: “Freddie quietly split from Nisha earlier this year, shortly after a loved-up trip to Budapest. She’d been by his side throughout his Traitors fame but Freddie soon found himself living a showbiz lifestyle that he’d always dreamed of.

“They were also both incredibly aware that after university it would be more difficult than ever to keep the romance going strong. The split was very amicable and there was no drama on either side”.

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It was a television show tailor-made for Los Angeles: a highly anticipated Netflix crime drama about a team of ex-special forces operators who outsource their skills to criminals in the city.

The production was backed by a prominent indie studio and had a critically acclaimed lead actor attached. And with a budget of more than $100 million and a crew of 350, the series seemed like a shoo-in for California’s film tax and TV credit.

But last month, shortly before filming was set to begin, producers were stunned to learn the film didn’t make the cut based on a formula the state uses to rank projects by the number of jobs they produce and their spending levels. After two applications for a tax credit had been rejected, they opted to shoot the series in New Jersey, where it was much easier to qualify for film incentives.

“We were shocked,” said a producer on the project who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter. “This is the birthplace of entertainment. It shouldn’t be so hard to shoot here.”

Despite improvements to the state’s tax incentive program, Los Angeles and California continue to struggle to keep movies, television series and even game shows from fleeing elsewhere. Production levels have failed to bounce back since the pandemic and the labor strikes by writers and actors, and they remain at historic lows.

Film activity in the L.A. region plummeted in the second quarter of this year, with shoot days for feature films and TV productions falling 20% and 30%, respectively, compared with already anemic levels from a year ago, according to FilmLA.

The fallout has been devastating for local film crews and businesses. L.A.’s signature industry has shed some 57,000 jobs in the past four years, while more than 80 film and television production services businesses have closed since 2022. The production crisis has even become a political flashpoint alongside affordability, crime and homelessness in the race for mayor and governor.

The story of how L.A. steadily lost much of its homegrown industry to other locales is a tale of hubris, escalating costs, political inaction and fierce competition from states and countries hungry for a piece of the Hollywood pie. California eventually adopted a very limited film tax credit plan in 2009, but even then production had already gone elsewhere.

Filmmaker Jonathan Nolan, on the set of “Fallout,” has been at the forefront of efforts to keep Hollywood at the center of the entertainment industry.

(Lorenzo Sisti / Prime Video)

This account is based on interviews with more than a dozen producers, studio executives, lawmakers and film industry veterans.

Despite warning signs that runaway production was causing an exodus of talent and jobs, many took for granted that L.A. would remain the epicenter of film and television.

Film activity in Los Angeles has plummeted to historic lows, with devastating consequences for crews and vendors. This series examines how L.A. lost its dominant perch as a film and TV destination and what can be done to bring Hollywood back home.

“I’ve been around long enough … to realize that things kind of die slowly and then they die quickly,” said Jonathan Nolan, a writer, director and producer, whose credits include the HBO series “Westworld” and “Fallout” on Amazon.

Nolan, who championed efforts to get the state to expand its tax incentives, lamented that L.A. once “stood in for everywhere. Now L.A. doesn’t even stand in for itself.”

‘The X-Files’ and the birth of Hollywood North

Like the fall of Rome and the decline of Detroit, Hollywood’s spiral did not happen in a single day, but rather unfolded over decades.

Before World War II, Los Angeles’ production hegemony was uncontested. An abundance of sunny weather and a range of landscapes, along with highly skilled artisans, from set designers to scenic painters, re-created the entire world on Hollywood soundstages and backlots.

That began to change during the late 1940s and early 1950s when studios broke with tradition and filmed abroad, attracted by Europe’s cheap labor and the desire among directors for more realism in movies.

William Wyler’s 1953 classic “Roman Holiday,” starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, was one of the first, shot entirely overseas on the streets of the Italian capital and at Cinecittà studios.

Still, as productions went on location, often for creative reasons, Hollywood remained the center of entertainment gravity.

“Roman Holiday,” starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, was one of the first big American studio films to be shot entirely overseas.

(Paramount Pictures)

In 1993, when there were four broadcast networks, cable TV relied on set-top boxes and streamers were, well, party decorations, a relatively unknown television writer named Chris Carter began pre-production on a new supernatural drama series that he had created.

For the pilot’s opening scenes, he needed a forest, one that was dark and moody. There, a terrified teenage girl would be filmed fleeing before she was consumed by a blinding flash of light and then found dead, bearing unexplained marks on her body.

“It became clear that not only were there not great forests in the ‘zone,’” said Carter, referring to the 30-mile-zone (TMZ) around L.A. that producers try to shoot within to avoid mandatory union surcharges. “But there were better forests in Vancouver.”

As it happened, during the 14-day shoot, Carter, who was working with a tight budget, discovered that Vancouver supplied numerous benefits.

The grim weather naturally provided a spooky atmospheric backdrop while the city “beautifully doubled for almost any place in the U.S. without having to pretend too much,” he said.

Carter’s pilot became “The X-Files,” the wildly popular and groundbreaking 1990s TV series that ran for nine seasons (plus two revival seasons), redefined the science fiction genre and spawned two feature films.

The success of “The X-Files” propelled Vancouver’s reputation as “Hollywood North.”

(Associated Press)

“As David Duchovny said, ‘two weeks became five years,’” quipped Carter.

While other productions such as “Wiseguy” had filmed in British Columbia years earlier, “The X-Files” unintentionally cemented Vancouver’s reputation as “Hollywood North,” fueled by Canada’s favorable exchange rates, skilled crews, lower labor costs and, eventually, tax credits.

The show’s colossal success helped create the model still in play 33 years later for outsourcing movie and television production to regions where tax incentives are higher and production costs are lower.

“It was simply a choice I made for the location, not for the financial benefit,” said Carter. “It wasn’t part of my calculus, but it ended up being a fact of life.”

Throughout the 1990s a steady stream of TV shows and movies shot in Canada. The 1994 adaptation of “Little Women” starring Winona Ryder was largely filmed in Vancouver, with a stand-in for Orchard House, Louisa May Alcott’s home in Concord, Mass., built in a local forest.

But, at the time, few saw what was happening as an existential crisis in the making.

For one thing, L.A. was in the midst of a production boom, prompting the development of the $77-million Manhattan Beach Studios, a 22-acre production facility in 1996. (The studio is now fielding offers by its bank lenders after its owner, the real estate investment firm Hackman Capital Partners, defaulted on over $2 billion in mortgages on several studio facilities it had acquired in recent years.)

Losing the ‘golden goose’

Canada’s booming film business inspired other U.S. states to get in on the action. Louisiana became the first to pass a film tax incentive, enhancing it in 2002; New Mexico and Georgia followed with their own programs.

Helping to fuel the film tax credit frenzy was none other than the Motion Picture Assn. The Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group for the major film studios and streamers for years aggressively lobbied lawmakers and even governors in other states to adopt their own film programs.

Eventually, nearly 40 states and some 80 countries and territories were offering film incentives in the form of transferable tax credits, grants or rebates.

“Everybody thought, ‘We are Hollywood. Why do we have to do anything?,’” said Lori Balton, a top location manager, whose list of credits spans nearly 40 years and includes such films as “Heat” and “Once Upon a Time in … Hollywood.”

“They always thought that they had the golden goose. And it was going to keep laying eggs and instead, it packed up its bags and moved.”

Earlier this year, while speaking at Burbank City Hall chambers, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) dropped some sobering data: 45% of all U.S. films and scripted television shows were shot abroad in 2025, up from 33% in 2022.

Like most filmmakers, Miles Millar would prefer to work in Los Angeles, where he lives, but he hasn’t done so for 25 years, since he was a co-producer and writer on the CBS action series “Martial Law.”

“It is not financially viable to shoot the kinds of shows we do here,” said Millar, whose work includes “Smallville” and “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.”

It was too expensive to film in Los Angeles, so the Netflix hit “Wednesday” shot its first season in Romania before relocating the show to Ireland.

(Netflix)

When Millar and his “Wednesday” co-creator and co-showrunner Alfred Gough began pre-production on the first season of the Netflix hit series about five years ago, L.A. as a location wasn’t even discussed.

They settled on Romania. Tim Burton, “Wednesday’s” executive producer and primary director, “loved the idea,” said Millar, noting that the director was predisposed to its gloomy and gothic wonders, having once visited Dracula’s castle in a Transylvanian mountain village with rocker Alice Cooper.

“We built the whole town of Jericho and six standing sets at a huge scale. There was no way you could even begin to construct the level and scale of sets that we did, in L.A.,” he said. “We’re talking about the difference of tens of millions of dollars.”

Still, the former Eastern Bloc country had its challenges. The crew didn’t speak English and its promised tax rebates never materialized.

When “Wednesday” was picked up for a second season (it is now filming its third), the show moved to Ireland, where it received more than $23 million in tax credits last year, according to the country’s Tax and Customs office.

“The last thing I want to do is shoot thousands of miles away from my family for nine months, year after year,” Millar said. But it has come down to “where do we get the most bang for the buck?”

Outsourcing scores and VFX

Other critical components of filmmaking, including visual effects and musical scoring, have also been outsourced over several years.

L.A. was once home to 18 film scoring stages that could accommodate full symphony orchestras. Today only three remain, driven away partly by high labor costs and cheaper overseas competition.

Similarly, many visual effects studios have moved elsewhere. Vancouver alone has dozens of visual effects studios, including Sony Pictures Imageworks and a major branch of Industrial Light & Magic.

“We’ve allowed that piece of the market to leave,” said Marielle Abaunza, president of the California Post Alliance, an advocacy group backing a state bill offering post-production firms their own tax breaks, similar to what New York offers.

“For 16 years, places like New York have slowly been building up their talent, their facilities, their relationships with filmmakers and their relationships with studios,” Abaunza said.

Even as other states and foreign governments invested in their own film industries and began luring away productions from California, lawmakers in Sacramento were initially skeptical of giving tax breaks to producers. Some critics saw them as little more than a handout that diverted resources from more pressing needs such as healthcare and education.

“If you’re on the outside looking in, there is this false sense that everyone who works in Hollywood has to be rich whether you’re crew or not,” said Amy Baer, a producer and former Sony executive who now runs Artists Equity, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s production company.

As production losses mounted in L.A., a coalition of labor and industry groups lobbied then governor and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger to take action.

Schwarzenegger, a longtime champion of tax credits, was able to get a program passed as part of an economic stimulus provision of the state’s 2009 budget. It was dubbed “The Ugly Betty” bill, named after the ABC show that had relocated from L.A. to New York.

Though hailed as a significant step, the new film sweeteners had some key limitations. The pool of money was small — capped at $100 million annually over five years. And it couldn’t be applied to offset the cost of actors’ salaries, a key driver of budgets.

In reality, the program was too small and restrictive to compete with a growing crop of rivals that had larger tax breaks and fewer restrictions.

Chief among them was the United Kingdom, which soon began to attract a number of big-budget movies thanks to a hugely popular 25% cash rebate on production expenses, including money spent on actors’ salaries and other above-the-line costs.

In a paradigm-shifting move, Warner Bros. purchased Leavesden Studios outside of London in 2010, investing more than $160 million into the facility. Much of the blockbusters “Wonder Woman” and “Barbie” were filmed there.

Although the California program was tripled to $330 million annually starting in 2014, it did little to halt the continued exodus of film work. Marvel Studios began moving its production operations to Georgia, enticed by the state’s uncapped tax credits that could be used for actors’ salaries. Both “Black Panther” and “Avengers: Infinity War” were filmed largely at Trilith Studios in Fayetteville, Ga. Another historic town east of Atlanta attracted so many movies and TV shows it became known as “Hollywood of the South.” (Last year, Marvel shifted most of its operations to the U.K. in search of even bigger cost savings.)

Marvel Studios, which filmed blockbusters such as “Black Panther” in Georgia, has since shifted operations to the U.K.

(Film Frame / Marvel Studios)

While numerous studio facilities lay empty here, streamers and studios have built major production hubs outside of L.A. Though it still shoots dozens of productions in L.A., Netflix has spent billions to operate production hubs abroad while constructing massive facilities in places like New Jersey and New Mexico.

“Everyone kept saying, if we have more tax credits, then at least we’ll be able to bring production back,” said Monica Levinson, a veteran producer who has worked on FX’s “Love Story” and the movie “Zoolander.” “Well, that didn’t happen. And the crews got better and better out of the country.”

Rising costs

As the rest of the world courted Hollywood, L.A. did little to help itself.

Despite recent improvements to streamline and reduce costs, the city’s film approval system remains a maze of multi-layered permitting, fees and complex logistics, location managers say. The Greater L.A. area has more than 100 jurisdictions, many of which have their own rules, regulations and permitting fees for filming.

Filming in L.A. also has become more expensive compared with other film hubs due in part to higher labor costs and mandatory staffing requirements, such as paid on-set fire safety monitors, and traffic and parking controls.

What’s more, unlike New York, the city doesn’t have its own film commissioner who could advocate for the industry.

An L.A. commissioner would be “somebody that is beating the drum 365 days a year that is not aligned with a special interest other than creating more production in California, which makes our state and our people prosperous,” said Scott Budnick, a producer on the wildly successful “The Hangover” franchise who lobbied for the state’s enhanced film tax credits.

For a time, the loss of market share was masked by a surge in local TV shoots as studios spent heavily to supply content to their new streaming platforms.

But the pandemic and back-to-back strikes by actors and writers roiled the industry. Studios laid off thousands, cut back on films slates and slashed TV spending and it never rebounded. Film incentives became even more critical for those deciding where to shoot.

By the time Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a plan in October 2024 to more than double funding for the film and TV tax credit program, to $750 million annually (closer to New York’s annual allocation of $800 million, although it retained annual caps and doesn’t count actors’ salaries), the industry outlook was bleak.

“I think there was a tipping point between COVID and the strikes that shone a very bright light on the fact that the majority of production had fled the state,” said Baer, the producer.

There are a few bright spots, however.

The critically acclaimed HBO hit medical drama “The Pitt” is filmed almost entirely on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, and has injected tens of millions into the local economy while sustaining nearly 1,000 jobs. Two other Emmy-award winning series, Apple TV’s “The Studio” and HBO’s “Hacks,” which just ended, also shot locally.

At Jonathan Nolan‘s urging, Amazon agreed to relocate his post-apocalyptic series “Fallout” to Los Angeles in 2024 after filming its first season in New York, Utah and Namibia. The show received $67 million in California tax credits for its second and third seasons.

Walton Goggins plays the dual role of Cooper Howard and The Ghoul in Amazon’s post-apocalyptic series “Fallout.”

(Courtesy of Prime Video)

“We want to keep shooting here,” Nolan said. “I don’t want to pack my kids off to the back end of beyond just for the privilege of being able to continue doing what I’m doing.”

To build support for the expanded credits, Nolan last year allowed state lawmakers to visit the sets of “Fallout,” including at the Melody Ranch in Santa Clarita.

“I think they were struck by just how big an endeavor this is,” said Nolan, whose brother Christopher is director of “The Odyssey,” (The epic film was shot across Greece, Sicily and several other countries.) “These are hundreds or thousands of jobs on one production alone, hundreds of millions of dollars being put in the local economy.”

Nolan and others in the industry admit the California program is imperfect.

Mayor Karen Bass, who backed the tax credit program in 2009 when she was speaker of the California Assembly, has touted the success of the expanded incentives, saying they’ve created “thousands of good-paying union jobs … right here in Los Angeles, bringing direct investment to our community.”

Since the expanded program went into effect last July, 179 projects have generated $7.2 billion in direct production spending, bringing nearly 38,000 cast and crew jobs to the state, according to the California Film Commission.

“We remain committed to supporting the entertainment industry here and feel optimistic and energized by the response from the community to the program’s modernization and enhancements,” Colleen Bell, the commission’s executive director, said in a statement.

Bass, who is up for reelection, said she would redouble efforts to remove tax credit caps and further reduce film permitting fees “because this industry is core to the history, culture and economic power of Los Angeles.”

The question, however, is whether L.A. is still core to the film industry.

Earlier this year, writer and director Ryan Coogler, who won an Oscar for his “Sinners” screenplay, began filming the pilot for a reboot of “The X-Files.”

During the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast, Coogler called the drama “one of the most beautiful American television shows ever made” and assured fans that while he planned to put his own stamp on the seminal series, his version would pay homage to the original.

“We intend on having both monsters of the week and also the overarching conspiracy,” he said.

And like the original series, it was shot in Vancouver.