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JO Whiley has revealed the creepy written message she received from rapist Russell Brand after he appeared on her show makes her shudder.

Brand, 51, was this week sentenced to ten-and-a-half years behind bars after he was convicted of raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others.

Speaking on her podcast Dig It, DJ and radio presenter Jo, 61, recounted an uncomfortable note that Brand had once penned to her.

She explained to co-host Zoe Ball: “I’ve got a show book, people sign my book when they come on the show.

“I’ve got a signature from Russell and it just refers to me as a MILF.

“I keep looking at the bookshelf, it’s like it’s burning a hole in my bookshelf at the moment.

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“I’m going to have to tear the page out and burn it, I really am. It just makes me shudder. It makes me shudder.”

The acronym MILF stands for “Mother I’d Like To F**k”.

At Brand’s sentencing earlier this week, Mr Justice Bennathan told the shamed star: “About 20 years ago, Russell Brand, you were becoming famous.

“You were clever – and in many people’s eyes, funny and charismatic.

“You had also become a sexual predator.”

Meanwhile, The Sun revealed Brand is set for a move to the “Monster Mansion” prison.

The disgraced ex-Hollywood star is being assessed for the switch to HMP Wakefield.

Sources said the Category A prison is safer for Brand as staff are seen as better equipped.

One said: “Brand is being risk-assessed for a move to Wakefield.

“There are still some hoops to go through but staff at the prison are expecting him.

“He is still at Category B Wandsworth at the moment but is likely to be moved in the next few days or weeks. And Wakefield is the most likely place.”

HMP Wakefield is one of eight Category A high-security men’s prisons in England.

Lostprophets paedo Ian Watkins was stabbed to death there in October 2025 — and child killer Kyle Bevan was murdered a month later.

When Vanna White drove into Los Angeles in 1980, she had a dream. “I wanted to be on TV,” says White, co-host of the syndicated game show, “Wheel of Fortune.” Growing up in the small town of North Myrtle Beach, S.C., that dream led her to a career in modeling before she and a friend headed to Hollywood, driving a 20-foot U-Haul truck.

In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.

“Just driving into Burbank, seeing Warner Bros., the studios, the Hollywood sign, the Hollywood Walk of Fame,” she recalls. “Oh my goodness, I thought. I’m here, in Los Angeles. It felt like I was exactly where I needed to be. It gave me inspiration to follow my dream of becoming a star.”

Two years later, White auditioned for “Wheel of Fortune” and made her television debut on Dec. 13, 1982. She went on to star in more than 8,000 episodes of various iterations of the show, turning letters on the puzzle board, cheering on contestants and modeling outfits every night.

Her passion for crocheting and helping children led to launching her own yarn line, called Vanna’s Choice. Half of White’s personal sales proceeds go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where $2 million has been donated to date.

Today, White lives in Beverly Hills with her husband, John Donaldson, and calls weekends “a time to chill out.”

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

5 a.m.: Wake up and exercise

Usually, I wake up around 5 a.m., have my coffee and work out.

7:30 a.m.: Get on the trails

I love hiking. There are great hiking places in Los Angeles because we’re in this big city, and suddenly you’re in nature. There are beautiful trails to go to, just to calm down and get away from all the craziness. One of my favorite hiking places is Fryman Canyon in Studio City. The views are great. I love being among nature with lots of trees. There’s a trail, so I’m not going to get lost. It’s beautiful and peaceful, so I’ll go for a long hike.

9 a.m.: French toast for a treat

For breakfast, I like going to Blu Jam. They have several locations, but after Fryman Canyon, I’d go to the one in Sherman Oaks. I get their Crunchy French Toast, which is French brioche, battered and rolled in cornflakes. It’s so good. I don’t do this stuff at home. I only do it as a treat after my big hike.

If not Blu Jam, I’d go to Jinky’s in Sherman Oaks where I get the Flaky French Toast.

10:30 a.m.: Time for some shopping

After breakfast, I would either go back home, or go to the mall and see what’s going on. On the Valley side, you have Fashion Square. Topanga Canyon has a huge mall. Sometimes I’ll go there. If I’m on the city side, Beverly Hills has Neiman Marcus. It’s fun also to walk down Rodeo Drive and window shop.

Noon: Lunch in Beverly Hills

I love going out to eat. There are so many incredible restaurants in Los Angeles.

One of my favorite places is the Polo Lounge, which is iconic. They have the McCarthy Salad, which I get every time I go there. It’s finely chopped lettuce, cheese, smoked bacon, grilled chicken, avocado, beets and egg. I’ve been having that salad for 40 years.

2 p.m.: Rest, or hang out with the kids

I can always just sit back, watch a show on TV and crochet to relax. If it’s the golf season, I like watching golf on TV, as well as playing golf. Sometimes, though, my kids come over on Sundays, and we play games and hang out for a few hours. Or, my son, Nikko Santo Pietro, my daughter, Gigi Santo Pietro, husband and I might go to Venice or the Santa Monica Pier. It’s fun to walk along the boardwalk in Venice. It’s relaxing to just stop, sit down, listen to the ocean, and take in the fresh air. The beach has a different vibe. There, just being by the ocean, you can turn around and see the mountains. You can’t do that everywhere.

6:30 p.m.: Family dinner night

We all love Italian. I love old-school places that have been here forever, like Peppone in Brentwood. I would order chicken piccata, one of my favorites. Dessert is a group decision. We often get the tiramisu. My all-time favorite dessert is banana pudding, which you can’t get at Peppone, so sometimes I’ll run into Magnolia Bakery to get their banana pudding to take home.

If not Peppone, we might go to the Smoke House Restaurant in Burbank. When I first moved to Los Angeles, I lived in the Oakwood apartments, which is right in the neighborhood of the Smoke House. It was one of the first restaurants I ever saw in Los Angeles. I usually order the barbecued baby back ribs with BBQ beans and creamed spinach. They have a large menu. You can get a little bit of everything there.

8 p.m.: Early to bed

After dinner, we’d go home, take a shower and go to bed. We put the TV on, but once I get horizontal, give me five minutes and I’m out. Sometimes if I’m watching a show and I want to stay awake, I’ll crochet while I watch TV. Otherwise, I’ll fall asleep. Sunday is like medicine before Monday morning starts.

When “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County” premieres Thursday as the first spinoff of the popular but mired flagship series, it faces a test tougher than learning a viral TikTok dance: figuring out if the reality TV property that became an unexpected hit can successfully franchise beyond its Utah backdrop — and baggage.

Born from a confession that took off online by influencer Taylor Frankie Paul about “soft swinging” — an arrangement she and her then-husband had with other couples that involved group drinking and intimacy short of intercourse — “Mormon Wives” turned intrigue about a salacious suburban scandal into a reality TV hit. Suddenly the time-honored reality TV format built on documenting the personal lives and social dynamics of women, pioneered by Bravo’s “The Real Housewives” franchise, underwent a modern makeover in Hulu’s series by casting its lens on a group of Utah-based TikTok influencers known as #MomTok.

It premiered in September 2024 — showcasing a messy cocktail of flexuous faith, fracturing friendships and fascinating marriage dynamics — and was such a hit that four more seasons have been pumped out in the time since. Now the original show is facing cast departures and internal fallout driven by outside career moves, deteriorating friendships and serious domestic abuse allegations involving Paul, which led to filming disruptions and renewed scrutiny over reality TV casting standards. The Times requested to speak with executive producers of the series — Jeff Jenkins and Lisa Filipelli — for this article but were told they were not available .

Can “Orange County” and the group of nine women it features brighten its outlook?

“I haven’t watched all of it; I’ve watched snippets of it,” says Jen Affleck, a main cast member of the original series who anchors the spinoff. “It was hard watching it back. It was the first time that I watched back a season where I actually felt like ‘this is me’ … I was really just looking for community. This year has been the hardest year of my life, and you’ll see watching the season why having a group of supportive women around you is so important.”

The lore behind how the group of women was cobbled together is explained by Affleck in the season‘s opening moments. She and fellow “Mormon Wives” star Whitney Leavitt were in California as contestants on Season 34 of “Dancing With the Stars,” and they each became friends with different women who had ties to the Mormon church. Post-”DWTS,” Leavitt went on to pursue opportunities on Broadway, while Affleck decided to move to Orange County and, as she tells it, combine the two friend groups for this new series. Finding “community” is a recurring sentiment expressed by the women throughout the season.

Jordan McClanahan, from left, Jen Affleck, McCall DaPron and Chandler Higginson in “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County.”

(Ashley Rose / Disney)

The group is a mix of active Latter-day Saints, former or non-practicing members, and non-Mormons with nominal ties — each with varying degrees of social media presence: McCall DaPron is an active member of the LDS church — and staunch defender of the church’s traditional practices; she’s also the sister of original “Mormon Wives” cast member Mayci Neeley; Jordan McClanahan, who converted after reconnecting with her high school sweetheart (now husband) and grew close to the faith while attending addiction recovery programs through the church; Madison Bontempo, an active churchgoer who made her name as a family YouTuber; Salomé Andrea, a content creator with more than 1.6 million TikTok followers who was raised in the church but is currently inactive; Aspyn Ovard, a prominent lifestyle, beauty and fashion YouTuber and influencer who was baptized in the church but does not identify as Mormon now; Ashleigh Pease, an Austrialian-born active member of the church and fitness instructor; Avery Woods, a former pediatric ICU nurse turned full-time content creator and podcaster who has never been a member of the church; and Bobbi Althoff, a longtime social media creator and popular podcaster who hosts “The Really Good Podcast” and is not Mormon, but whose brother is and she occasionally attended LDS church services growing up.

On a recent afternoon, the cast members are sitting alongside each other (minus Andrea, who was absent that day) inside a West Hollywood hotel room — the site of their press junket — a week before the show‘s premiere. And it’s hitting them that they’re about to face a new level of attention.

“Especially after seeing the billboard,” McClanahan says. “We were driving in our party bus or whatever you want to call it.”

Althoff interjects: “I saw one by my daughter’s preschool.”

“We saw two different ones,” McClanahan says. “We got out the second time when we saw it and tried to take photos.”

Many in the group, as high-profile online personalities, already know what it’s like to be perceived by the public. When the spinoff was announced, the opinionated takes came swiftly — either because the casting skews away from the premise in the title, or the fact that not all the women actually live in Orange County. But in reality TV, buzz is buzz.

“There’s so many people that have commented that are like, ‘Oh, I’ll never watch this,’ ” Pease says. “And then they see the trailer and they’re like, ‘Actually, maybe I will.’ ”

There’s no going back now, whatever the response.

The spinoff doesn’t have cameos of massive Swig cups with dirty soda concoctions (Diet Coke with fresh lime is the vibe here) or interstitials of group TikToks (yet). Fans who lamented the amount of screen time the husbands (and the like) commanded in “Mormon Wives” will see only nominal signs of that with their shore-side counterparts; and there’s is a Chase McWhorter jump scare because — spoiler alert — he has a history with one of women. But much like its predecessor, there’s plenty of petty clashes and misunderstandings. The merging of the two friend groups, early on, triggers clique dynamics that splits the cast into opposing camps — the so-called “Molly Mormons” and the non-Mormons or loosely affiliated influencers — and drives much of the season’s drama.

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1. Jen Affleck, left, and Avery Woods. “This year has been the hardest year of my life and you’ll see watching the season why having a group of supportive women around you is so important,” says Affleck, who recently filed for divorce. 2. Madison Bontempo, right, and Ashleigh Pease of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County” during the show’s press junket in West Hollywood. (Ian Spanier/For The Times)

“Some people were religious and some people weren’t,” DaPron says.”It was like natural formation. It was who we felt comfortable around because a lot of the Mormon girls, minus Madison, weren’t influencers. It was just a different world for us.”

“Everyone was cast for a reason,” Woods says. “That’s what makes it so different from the original show … we have such a different storyline where we challenge each other and we learn more about each other and our beliefs, our moral values.”

They also insist they aren’t trying to be #MomTok 2.0. There will be no emergency meetings or votes to determine who is in or out of the group or jockeying over who runs the pack. They’ve even sworn off making digital digs at each other — though, only time will tell how long that lasts.

“We made it clear early on that we didn’t think a leader was necessary in a friend group at our age,” Woods says. “We also have had open discussions about online hate and coming at each other online, which we feel is unnecessary.”

“I also feel like that’s a normal friend group,” Affleck chimes in. “OG MomTok was not a normal friend group.”

“Yeah, I would never go online about my friends in real life,” Althoff adds. “So, I’m not gonna like do that with any of them. That was a decision we all talked about too. We all obviously spend a lot of time together. We have problems sometimes. We can all handle that offline without destroying each other online.”

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1. Bobbi Althoff, left, Aspyn Ovard of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County.” 2. Mccall DaPron, right, and Jordan McClanahan. (Ian Spanier/For The Times)

Like the original series, the spinoff contrasts its superficial drama and feuds by exploring the deeply personal struggles and lifestyle choices its cast is navigating. A pregnant Affleck shares that her marriage is at its breaking point and she wants to move forward with a divorce from her husband, Zac — a situation and life decision she’s mulled before and documented on the original series. (She filed for divorce last week, the day of the show’s premiere event.) Ovard, meanwhile, is divorced and in a polyamorous relationship with a married couple, while also managing the emotional load of having a terminally ill child. Later in the season, a cast member’s past on OnlyFans is revealed by another, setting in motion the season’s first emotional walk-off.

“You kind of have no choice when that’s your real life and you sign up to do something like this,” Ovard says. “What choice do we have? We’re going through what we’re going through, and it just is life. This is my first time sharing my story. I am newer to Orange County and didn’t have community here, and it’s been really great and life changing to form this friend group and just have each other and be able to lean on each other.”

Affleck says, for now, she’s staying offline, dodging all chatter — supportive or not — about the end of her marriage.

“I don’t want people rallying around me,” Affleck says. “Zac is the father of my kids, and I will have to co-parent with him for the rest of my life. I just try to stay offline because I know that can mess with our heads [because] there’s also the other side of people saying like, ‘Oh, she chose fame over her marriage.’ I know that I gave everything to my marriage.”

Avery Woods, left, Salome Andrea, McCall DaPron and Bobbi Althoff in a scene from a cast trip in the first season of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County.”

(Ashley Rose / Disney)

For the women who already live some of their lives online, joining a reality show can seem redundant and risky, inviting fresh vitriol that could add more emotional stress or threaten their carefully built brands. But Woods sees it as “the next best thing in my career,” to show more of who she is to her online fanbase. Still, their decision to join the show came before the events that cast a shadow on the franchise. Cameras began rolling in April, just weeks after domestic violence allegations involving Paul and her on-again, off-again boyfriend Dakota Mortensen surfaced.

“I kind of separated the two a little bit,” Bontempo says. “I just saw Taylor as an individual, as a [woman] that just needed help and going through a hard time.”

Reality TV fans might notice the spinoff also arrives at a broader inflection point for a genre built on the lives of complicated women. “The Real Housewives of Orange County” — the blueprint for a television empire that’s kept viewers rapt with everything from chaotic sprinter van excursions and friendship fallouts to messy divorces and fraud investigations — celebrated its 20th anniversary this year along with a 20th season of the series. Yet that milestone, as some fans have expressed, acutely exposed the show’s fatigue. And it’s not the only one. Bravo has rebooted the show in some cities across its lineup to mixed results. The expansion of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” into Orange County will test whether the region can deliver another hit, and whether the TikTok generation’s brand of voyeuristic soap can carry the torch.

While the bigger existential reality TV crisis can be debated by philosophers, the cast members are reflecting on a much simpler question: What surprised them most about the experience?

“How exhausting it would be,” Woods says. “It was emotionally and mentally draining.”

“I was going to say something positive — like the friendships,” adds Althoff. “Obviously going into it, it is a job. We’re all doing it to get paid at the end of the day. I didn’t expect to find so much community here and friendship. I didn’t expect to ever like some of these people. Now I really enjoy McCall and Jordan. Me and McCall … went on a trip together after the show, and it wasn’t filmed, and we sat together for 10 hours and got to know each other. By the end of it, I text someone and was like, ‘I think I like McCall now.’ ”

“If you see the show, that will blow your mind,” DaPron says.

Longtime “Days of Our Lives” actor James Reynolds revealed he has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

Reynolds, who has portrayed Abe Carver on the long-running daytime soap for 45 years, discussed his experiences with the disease and the decision to incorporate his diagnosis into Abe’s storyline in an interview Tuesday with Entertainment Tonight.

“Well, it kind of goes back to when I thought I was hiding it,” Reynolds said in his sitdown with the outlet’s Nischelle Turner. “The writers also wanted to incorporate it because it was obvious. It was obvious. We play life here [on ‘Days’], and there are many other characters who have gone through real-life issues that then are mirrored on the show.”

The interview includes clips of Abe navigating his Parkinson’s diagnosis. While Reynolds admits the storyline is one born a bit out of necessity, he believes his character is well-suited for it.

“I feel like the the value of Abe [is] as a character who overcomes a lot, has tremendous amount of strength, deals with a lot of things with with humor as well as understanding,” the actor said.

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive disorder of the nervous system that affects movement. Symptoms can include problems with balance, uncontrollable shaking of one’s hands and stiffness.

The actor had kept his diagnosis private for “more than a few years,” telling only a few people including his wife and son. So Reynolds previously found himself apologizing as he tried “all these different ways” to unsuccessfully hide his symptoms.

“You could see my hand shaking. You could see different things,” Reynolds said. “You’re playing that game with yourself.”

Reynolds said that his “Days” colleagues have been “super, super just extraordinarily helpful and supportive” since he’s opened up about his diagnosis.

“It couldn’t be a better atmosphere. People are just so wonderful and that makes it a lot easier,” he said. “I do have more energy when I’m at work than in any other place.”

THE official line-up has only just been confirmed, but fans are already convinced that one participating star will struggle on the new series of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!

The long-running ITV show will return to the Australian wilderness with twelve new celebrities for its twenty-sixth consecutive series from November 16.

And with stars including former footballer Wayne Rooney, actress Joanne Page and singer Ricky Wilson all expected to make a big impact, one TV regular is giving fans pause for thought before he’s even set foot in camp.

Leigh Francis, known to millions as irreverent Celeb Juice host Keith Lemon, is widely tipped to be the show’s late arrival after fans noted his absence from recently released ITV shots of the participating cast.

But a chaotic 2023 guest appearance on World’s Most Dangerous Roads, during which Leigh and actor Will Mellor struggled to navigate treacherous mountain terrain in rural Albania, has cast doubt over his suitability for the show.

Commenting on Reddit, one fan wrote: “I suspect Leigh Francis is going to find this hard!

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“I watched him in that comedians drive dangerous roads programme and he was the opposite of what I expected – afraid of everything and only eats like two foods. I can’t fathom why he’s doing this. Must need the money.”

A second added: “I’m interested to see Leigh Francis as himself & not as Keith Lemon.

“Like, I’m not saying he needs to bring Keith back, but I do wonder how different this year’s I’m A Celeb would be if Leigh came in as Keith & not as himself.”

Tipped latecomer Leigh and the rest of the I’m A Celeb campmates could be in for a tough start, with a weather warning put in place and giant hailstones expected to batter the entire area.

ITV bosses are currently monitoring the camp, which is situated in rural Murwillumbah, New South Wales.

A statement from the Australian government read: “A thunderstorm likely, possibly severe with damaging winds, large hail and heavy rain which may lead to flash flooding.”  

Commenting on the weather warning, a source added: “ITV put everything into getting the camp ready for the celebrity arrivals.

“A storm with giant hailstones and flash flooding was not on the agenda but the team is prepared for everything. 

“Producers are hoping that the rain clears before the celebrities enter camp or it could be a very soggy start to jungle life.”

A separate show source said: “The production team are the best in the business and are used to working in all weather conditions. 

“There are contingencies in place for all weather scenarios.”  

OVER the last 20 years, Russell Brand has openly been making female celebrities uncomfortable on TV.

Chilling clips of the rapist have resurfaced since the beast was jailed, illustrating his red flag behaviour over the years.

Brand has been jailed after he raped and sexually assaulted multiple victims as part of a depraved campaign to sleep with 5,000 women.

The disgraced comedian, 51, became a “ruthless, calculated and manipulative” predator as he sought to satisfy his “voracious” sexual appetite.

Brand preyed on women between 1999 and 2009 and used his growing fame – from presenting Big Brother’s Big Mouth and Hollywood movies – to target the victims in a range of locations.

He showed no emotion as he was jailed for ten-and-a-half years on Monday.

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In the wake of his court trial, a series of disturbing videos have been shared on social media.

‘We’re not rapists’ comment

In 2007, Brand joked about rape with Noel Fielding while on the show Big Fat Quiz of the Year.

The episode saw host Jimmy Carr welcome Rob Brydon, David Mitchell, Jonathan Ross, Noel Fielding and Brand onto the panel alongside singer Lily Allen, who was 21 at the time and the only woman on the show.

Jonathan Ross initially told Carr in the clip: “You’ve put the only attractive young lady near to two of the best known coxmen in the business.

“I’m going to move over here. And then Lily [Allen] might go home with her dress still on.”

Noel Fielding said: “How dare you, we’re not rapists.”

Jimmy Carr then replied: “Why are you wearing a cape if you’re not a rapist.”

A grinning Brand said: “What if, horror of horrors, he ain’t even done a rape. You could ruin his career.”

He then casually asked Fielding: “Have you done a rape?”

‘Creepy’ body language on Jonathan Ross Show

Another clip shows Mean Girls actress Lindsay Lohan on The Jonathan Ross Show in London in October 2014, alongside Brand.

Social media users pointed out that Brand appeared to “belittle and subdue” the actress.

He is seen to move his arm close to the actress and points his body at her.

She is seen to “retreat” onto the other end of the sofa as the TV comic moves closer and touches her arm.

Lorraine Kelly ‘grope’

In 2023, Lorraine Kelly quit X the day after she appeared on TV discussing an encounter with Brand.

The Scots telly legend announced that she was taking a break from the social media platform – saying it has “all gone a bit dark”.

Lorraine spoke about the “uncomfortable” moment Russell Brand touched her thigh and called her a “s**t” during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show in 2007.

She was later targeted by cruel trolls on the social media platform following the discussion.

The footage shows Brand placing his hand on Lorraine’s thigh before he comments: “Are you wearing suspenders? Jesus,” before going on to say: “Yes, I have been in other films but it doesn’t seem so important now that I know Lorraine Kelly’s a s**t.”

Lorraine told journalist Paul Brand and Mirror editor Alison Phillips the encounter is now “uncomfortable” to watch and questions whether the moment would be aired now.

Brand asks Vanessa Feltz if he can have sex with her daughter

Another chilling clip shows the moment Brand asked Vanessa Feltz if he could have sex with her 15-year-old daughter on his chat show.

The uncomfortable moment happened when the TV presenter and broadcaster appeared on Brand’s chat show, 1 Leicester Square, back in 2006.

In the clip, Brand asked if he could “have it off” with Vanessa’s two daughters to which the TV presenter firmly said “no you may not”.

Doubling down, Brand declared: “Come on, some of them are adults.”

Appearing visibly more offended, Vanessa then struck a more serious tone, telling Brand: “I’ve got two daughters, the answer is no.”

But Brand did not relent with his vile request and she replied: “Will you stop it.”

He pressed again, saying: “Hold on, you’ve two whole daughters and I can’t even have one. Selfish.”

Vanessa retorted: “When you have your own daughters, you’ll know why I said that.”

Vile Brand grinned as he said: “Well I won’t sleep with them.”

An uncomfortable Vanessa then replied: “I’m not sure about that.”

A laughing Brand then tried to play it off by saying: ‘I’m only mucking about, I’m not actually going to sleep with my own kids. It’s only a joke. It’s only words.”

Vanessa has spoken about the clip on several occasions since and remained vocal about Brand’s “chilling” behaviour.

Recalling the incident, she told This Morning on Friday that his comment was “a  pretty revolting thing to say to anyone, especially a mum.”

She added: “I was quite friendly with him. I found him vastly entertaining. I was absolutely mesmerised by the stream of words, the charisma. I’d never seen a presenter anything like him.

“He just announced, in this unbelievably dispassionate way, that he would like to have sex with me and both my daughters. The younger one was 15 at the time.

“I couldn’t pretend I thought that was funny. It didn’t seem to be a joke.

“I realised then that there was something extremely chilling about him. Something very ruthless and a bit scary and intimidating.

“What he really relished was power over women. He wanted to have sex with the ones who didn’t want to have sex with him, rather than the very many who did.”

Brand pulled singer onto his lap

US singer Katharine McPhee also appeared on The Tonight Show in 2013 alongside Brand.

Host Jimmy Fallon looked shocked as the St Trinian’s actor grabbed McPhee and started bouncing her on his lap.

He told her “you’re beautiful” as she walked out.

The singer previously said: “I know nothing of what you are trying to claim here, but this specific incident was over 10 years ago and it was harmless.”

Brand repeatedly licked actress’s arm

Another video shows Brand interrupting as a presenter reads out a list of “non-acceptable language” on Rove McManus’ show Rove LA in 2012.

As the guests are told there are to be “no graphic or sexual acts”, Brand says: “Rove, at the risk of disrupting your item, would it be considered a graphic or sexual item for me to lick inside Kristen’s arm curtain?”

He then turns and repeatedly licks actress Kristen Schaal’s upper arm.

She shouted “no” three times and shrunk away from the sleazy comic.

A Chinese defence-linked university bought two H200 chips last month, as scrutiny grows over Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s affair with an alleged spy for Beijing.

A Chinese university with ties to the army bought Nvidia’s powerful H200 AI chips last month despite being on a US export blacklist.

Northwestern Polytechnical University, a member of China’s “Seven Sons of National Defense” group of elite defence-focused universities, bought two H200 chips last month for 874,700 yuan ($123,000), according to an October 21 procurement record on its website, the Reuters news agency reports.

The chips were bought for its management school from Shaanxi Bosuan Network Technology rather than directly from Nvidia, the record showed.

The Reuters investigation comes as Nvidia and its CEO Jensen Huang face mounting scrutiny in Washington, DC, over his lobbying for looser ⁠⁠restrictions on sales of AI chips to China, following reports alleging he was targeted by a Chinese spying operation.

The H200 is among Nvidia’s most capable chips for training and running advanced AI systems and is subject to US export licence approvals, which are normally denied for blacklisted institutions such as Northwestern Polytechnical.

Northwestern Polytechnical also bought access this year to H200 ‌‌chips and other powerful Nvidia AI processors through five contracts for rented computing capacity from Chinese companies, procurement records show.

Nvidia CEO Huang has argued that continued US sales to China would preserve US technological leadership and keep Chinese customers reliant on its technology.

However, some US lawmakers say access to Nvidia’s most powerful AI chips can speed China’s development of AI systems for weapons design, intelligence analysis and military modernisation.

US blacklist

Based in the northwestern city of Xi’an, Northwestern Polytechnical conducts research related to military aircraft, missiles and satellites.

Washington’s Department of Commerce added the university to its trade blacklist, known as the Entity List, in 2001 over the institute’s alleged involvement in missile-proliferation activities, and its military research. Washington tightened the restrictions in 2019, making licences for exporting controlled US technology to the university subject to a policy of denial in most circumstances.

Northwestern Polytechnical’s purchases show how Chinese institutions with military ties continue to obtain US AI computing power through domestic suppliers, either by buying chips outright or renting access to servers containing them.

A Reuters review of 26 Chinese procurement and corporate records from this year found universities and research institutions buying US-restricted Nvidia chips or renting access to Nvidia-powered computing services ⁠⁠that use such chips through domestic suppliers.

Several had close links to China’s defence industry or military research.

US President Donald Trump’s administration began allowing some H200 exports to China on a case-by-case basis in January. But that policy did not lift the separate restrictions applying to Entity List organisations such as Northwestern Polytechnical.

Both Democrats and Republicans in the US Congress have urged stronger controls on China’s access to advanced AI ⁠⁠chips, such as chip-tracking requirements, and greater congressional oversight of exports.

The Huang affair

This comes at a time of increased pressure on Nvidia’s Huang. Republican US Senator Kevin Cramer from the Senate Banking Committee called on Huang to step down as CEO after his intimate relationship with Alice Huang, accused of working for Chinese intelligence, plunged the company into crisis.

“The potential for extortion is so tremendous that something as sensitive as Nvidia chips, I ⁠⁠just think he’s got to go,” Cramer told Politico late on Tuesday.

Three Republican congressional committee chairmen have requested a briefing with Huang on November 18 over his reported contacts with the alleged Chinese intelligence operative.

Jensen Huang – who cofounded Nvidia, the world’s second-most valuable company after Apple, more than three decades ago – admitted on Sunday to being unfaithful to his wife, but the company said it has no reason to believe US national security or confidential information has been compromised.

Nvidia’s board announced an independent investigation on Sunday into whether the 63-year-old Taiwan-US dual national had been targeted by a foreign intelligence operation after media reports linking him to Alice Huang, a former executive at a Singapore-based data centre company.

Gavin and Stacey legend Joanna Page has revealed how her four kids really feel about her signing up for I’m A Celebrity – and the one thing they can’t wait for

Gavin and Stacey legend Joanna Page says her four kids are thrilled to see her on I’m A Celebrity – but only for Ant and Dec.

The ITV jungle show is back with a string of famous faces, including football legend Wayne Rooney. Actress Joanna has left her four kids behind to experience the jungle first hand, and whilst most kids can’t wait to see their mum taking on the trials, her kids are excited for another reason.

“They can’t quite believe that I’m doing it, because we are huge fans of the show. But at first, they were a bit worried, saying, ‘Oh my gosh, mummy, you won’t be able to do the trials.’ I assured them I would be ok and I’m hoping I will make them proud,” she said.

“I know they’re going to be tuning in every night. They are also very excited, because they want me to get Ant & Dec’s autographs! I am just an inroad to get them to Ant & Dec!”

For fellow campmate and Love Island star Chloe Burrows, the jungle will be worlds away from her reality TV past. Asked if she might take a dip in the infamous jungle shower, she said: “No, I’m done being in a bikini. I am so looking forward to this. It’s going to be like a digital detox and I think I’m going to come out zen!

“I’m so excited to do a show where it’s just about coming together, getting through it and making loads of friends. No dating, no bikinis – just massive rats, spiders, and snakes!”

Kaiser Chiefs singer Ricky Wilson is good friends with Tony Blackburn, who won the first series, and said the radio star was instrumental in him finally signing up for the show.

“Everyone I know has always said it has been a life changing and brilliant experience. I am good friends with Tony Blackburn (who won the first series) and he kept telling me I should do it,” he said.

TV star Ade Adepitan has confessed he feels slightly overwhelmed to making history as the first wheelchair user on the show. “For me, this is a moment in time. Even if I go out in the first week, I will always be remembered as the person in a wheelchair. I am slightly overwhelmed. It’s never been done before, and it never crossed my mind I would be the first,” he said.

Content creator and Beta Squad star Sharky is ready to take on the jungle. Despite him not necessarily being known by the wider audience, he has a huge following online – but he knows his fellow YouTube stars will be calling everyone to vote for him.

“They will be leading the charge online. They are all really excited for me to go on this show. But I am actually looking forward to doing a trial. They are the funniest moments on the programme,” he shared.

He’s hoping to emulate the success of last year’s winner Angry Ginge. He said: “It is big boots to follow. But Ginge is a great guy and he was made for something like this. I am not surprised he won, but I don’t feel any pressure. I want to do my own thing and be myself.”

Big Brother star and TV presenter AJ Odudu – who is heading to the jungle just days after ITV reality show Big Brother ended – is excited about having the tables turned on her for once.

“It is definitely going to be my scariest TV project I’ve ever taken on. It also feels quite weird the tables have turned on me. One minute I’m watching all the housemates and people unravel, now I’m the one out of my comfort zone!” she said.

Whilst most celebrities would want to avoid the eating trials, stand-up comedian Jack Skipper is quite literally chomping at the bit! He said: “I would most like to do the eating trial. I am never going to have another opportunity to eat testicles, so let’s do it!”

Model Leomie Anderson isn’t looking forward to camping after lasting just one day at Glastonbury. “I went to Glastonbury once and I was going to stay there for five days. After day one, I had to drop out. It rained so much, the water spoiled my glamping tent!” she said.

However, she has been preparing for the show in a unique way – by going skydiving. She said: “I have done some indoor skydiving just in case. You never know what is going to happen. Mind you, it didn’t go very well!”

Coronation Street star Claire Sweeney said she signed up to the show after some encouragement from fellow soap star Alan Halsall, who plays her on-screen son Tyrone. A super fan of the show, Claire has wanted to do it for years. “I’ve got loads of mates who have done it before. Alan said it was one of the best things he’d ever done,” she said.

Loose Women star and journalist Mariella Frostrup wants to fly the flag for the older women by facing her fears and signing up for the show – and feels now is finally the right time.

“A good 50% of the reason that I am doing this is I am constantly telling other women we should grab our chances. We shouldn’t allow ourselves to be written off at a certain age,” she said.

“So, I think this is me having a taste of my own medicine! I am putting myself through something I am frightened of. I have been wary in the past but this time is right. I want to test myself.”

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In late October, two non-Equity touring musicals opened on the same night at two of L.A.’s largest theaters: “Tommy” at the Hollywood Pantages and “The Music Man” at Center Theatre Group’s Ahmanson. The shows — which operate outside of the Actors’ Equity Assn., the union that represents more than 51,000 professional stage actors and managers nationwide — reignited a contentious debate about whether a major regional nonprofit like CTG should host nonunion shows.

Critics questioned whether these productions threaten CTG’s artistic mission and if Angelenos should pay top dollar for nonunion shows. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, what should matter more, a theater’s bottom line or its core values? The underlying implication in much of the criticism was that non-Equity shows are subpar and that hosting them implies a tacit acceptance of the mistreatment of actors.

Savannah Stevenson, who plays Mrs. Paroo in the national tour of “The Music Man,” would like to banish those concerns.

“We should completely dispel the notion that because we’re a non-Equity tour, we’re somehow put through the wringer,” Stevenson said during a phone interview from the Airbnb she was sharing with three cast members. It was a few hours before curtain during the final days of the show’s nearly two-week run in downtown L.A., before it departed for the Capitol Theatre in Yakima, Wash.

Touring small towns like Yakima is a big part of why non-Equity shows exist. The tours began popping up in the 1990s after the rise of the Broadway megamusical, to bring shows to places that would otherwise go without. Before its arrival in L.A., “The Music Man” was in Senatobia, Miss., with a population of about 8,500. A major union show like “The Lion King” will never stop in Senatobia, but the people there can enjoy a bit of River City thanks to Stevenson and the rest of “The Music Man” cast.

“The biggest difference in my mind is, frankly, the schedule. As a non-Equity tour, we do significantly more one-nighters or short engagements,” Stevenson said. “But we also all knew that when we signed up for it. And that is what allows us to share this particular piece of musical theater and musical theater history with such a wide swath of the country.”

Many professional actors choose to remain non-Equity for a variety of reasons, Stevenson said. Jobs are more plentiful for non-Equity actors, she noted, especially if you make a living working at regional houses outside of major cities, which often book only a handful of Equity actors per show. Stevenson recently shared a dressing room and top billing with an Equity actor in a Connecticut show — and other than the fact that the Equity actor was paid more, their treatment was the same, she said.

“We worked side by side every single day, had equally large parts, and I don’t think that anyone coming to that show would have said, ‘Oh, well, gosh, the Equity girl was the real standout in that show,’” Stevenson said gamely.

Elizabeth D’Aiuto, left, Addie Jaymes and Savannah Stevenson in the touring production of Meredith Willson’s “The Music Man.”

(Marshall Meadows)

Stevenson spoke in the wake of a review by Times theater critic Charles McNulty, which called “The Music Man” a “community-theater-level production,” and slammed CTG for “damaging its stature as a nonprofit theater leader by offering such an important showcase to this second-tier touring production.”

The public reception for “The Music Man” was quite warmer. The show ranked above “Amélie, A New Musical,” “Latin History for Morons” and “Paranormal Activity” in audience surveys, according to CTG, and late last week it was on track to outsell “Parade,” “Life of Pi” and “Paranormal Activity.” CTG’s Artistic Director Snehal Desai said each year fans ask for a classic musical and this season only two such shows were on tour: “The Sound of Music” and “The Music Man.” The former (an Equity tour) went to the Pantages, which is run by the for-profit Nederlander organization. That left the latter available to CTG.

The uproar resulting from the non-Equity “The Music Man’s” arrival at the Ahmanson ties directly into the ongoing — and at times overheated — conversation about the future of the American nonprofit theater movement that erupted in late July when the Public Theater’s Artistic Director Oskar Eustis announced his intention to step down after 23 years, declaring the movement “over” and “not coming back.” Since then, theater leaders, including Desai, have been casting around for a brand new way of building a sustainable future. In Desai’s case, that meant attempting to stay in the black — a course of action that is not always looked upon kindly.

Equity vs. non-Equity

The decision to book non-Equity shows was less about saving money than it was about the Tetris-like planning required to keep the Ahmanson gainfully booked, Desai said. The cost of hosting an Equity versus a non-Equity show is about the same for CTG. Non-Equity shows get paid a flat-rate guarantee that is less than what Equity shows seek, but that’s just one piece of the pie, Desai said. CTG also must factor in overhead and local labor costs, production and marketing expenses, and more. This year there are 25 touring Equity shows and 24 non-Equity shows (a number that has stayed fairly steady for the last eight years, with the exception of the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when Equity tours shut down completely). More than 20 available Equity shows went to the Pantages — along with at least five non-Equity shows. This left only a few Equity shows for CTG to choose from, and Desai had to make sure those fit into the schedule.

Aliya Grace in the North American tour of “Boop!,” which is coming next year to the Ahmanson Theatre.

(Matthew Murphy)

This season will see three non-Equity shows: “Clue,” “The Music Man” and Boop!,” which is the rare show to go straight from Broadway to a non-Equity tour.

“The three [non-Equity shows] that we programmed were what was available to us,” Desai said, adding that the shows came from producers CTG had worked with before so he was confident that “they’re maintaining a certain quality. That they’re taking care of the companies. That they’re adhering to standards.”

Daniel Sher, the president of Big League Productions, which is producing “The Music Man” tour, said the organization does its best to follow union rules that are “reasonable.” Big League has produced mostly non-Equity touring shows for about 35 years, and Sher noted that the show’s crew is union, so the production adheres to many union rules by proxy. The Ahmanson is a union house, with its own union crew — so those rules also apply. Sher wishes he could provide health insurance for his actors, but that is cost-prohibitive, so he gives a small health stipend instead.

“I think there’s just a lot of non-Equity work now,” Sher said. “So it’s kind of like it’s a natural market force. As long as there remains this kind of vast amount of work, there are actors who will choose to remain non-Equity.”

Broadway hits will almost always start as Equity tours, he said, but once they stop being money-making juggernauts, they often go nonunion by necessity. That’s the case with “The Music Man,” he said, noting that a show of its size and scope would be financially impossible to stage as an Equity tour in the current marketplace. He would love for the union to consider allowing a mix of union and nonunion actors on national tours — like it does for regional theaters: “There’s a world where the producers and Equity could try to find a way, but the economics just have to work.”

Stevenson’s goal is to keep performing. She was an Equity member at the beginning of her career, then took 18 years off to practice law before returning to acting — this time without an Equity card.

“Whether you are a presenter or a producer or an actor or a member of the crew, or an audience member, we are all aligned around the notion of ensuring that the theater industry does not continue to contract in the way that it has, particularly since the pandemic,” she said. “So if we can ensure that we’re keeping a variety of shows alive and reaching more corners of the country, then we have to make room for both Equity and non-Equity tours.”

The 2025 North American tour of “Clue,” which played at the Ahmanson Theatre during a non-Equity tour.

(Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade)

Even Actors’ Equity has changed its approach to non-Equity shows. In 2001 the union picketed a previous non-Equity tour of “The Music Man” and in 2014 it ran an ad campaign urging theatergoers to “Ask if it’s Equity,” before buying tickets. That campaign, along with more demanding rules around how an actor could join the union, were scrapped in 2023 out of concern for “small ‘e’ equity and justice, and who should have the decision to join the union,” said Actors’ Equity Assn. sopkesperson David Levy.

Prior rules relied on the employer to decide whether an actor was worthy of joining the union, “and we wanted to put that power back in the hands of the actual members themselves,” Levy said. Actors’ Equity currently has an “open access” policy that allows anyone who has worked in any kind of professional theater in the U.S. to join.

“The quality of the talent in these tours is not any less than the quality of talent on any union stage,” Levy said. “What’s at issue is how that talent is treated, how they’re paid, what the workplace safety rules are, what accommodations they’re given as they travel, whether they get appropriate rest time.”

While the union would prefer that every theater show operate under an Equity contract, it’s aware that this may not be financially feasible in all situations, Levy said, noting that nonunion shows might be the only viable option for smaller towns across the country without rich and diverse theater ecosystems.

“We would never want to deprive those audiences of having that transformational opportunity of seeing singers and dancers and actors and musicians do their thing,” Levy said, adding that L.A., unlike less populous cities, doesn’t have a dearth of theater offerings. “Now, in a perfect world, that job would come with both standardized wages and work rules and benefits, as well as the safety guarantees of a union contract.” He paused, “We do not live in a perfect world.”

The future of nonprofit theater

CTG came perilously close to financially bottoming out in 2023 when it closed the Mark Taper Forum for almost a year and a half. This happened just before Desai took over from Michael Ritchie as the third artistic director in CTG’s history, arriving just in time to pick up the pieces following the COVID-19 pandemic. When CTG finally reopened its theater doors after an astonishing 56 weeks, its staff was decimated, tickets sales had plunged and the cost of putting on productions had skyrocketed. CTG’s staffing still remains more than 20% down from its pre-pandemic high, although its subscriptions are on the rise — up 226% over last year.

“We used to talk to donors about how CTG valued union-only productions, even though they are more expensive, because CTG valued more than just the bottom-line,” former CTG board chair Kiki Ramos Gindler wrote on Facebook in response to McNulty’s review. “Unlike the Nederlander Organization, a for-profit theatre business keenly focused on profits. … The mission is to support our community, not to find ways to keep from going out of business. If this is a path to staying in business, it’s a wrong path and maybe time to take a final bow rather than completely throw away core values.” (Nederlander declined a request for comment on the issue.)

In late September the DeVos Institute of Arts and Nonprofit Management, which was founded at the Kennedy Center in 2001 and supports arts groups nationwide, hosted a nearly two-hour Zoom forum called “Is the American Nonprofit Theater Movement Over?” About 17 major theater leaders spoke on the call that had 800 participants, including Eustis and Desai, all seeking to examine what elements of “a historical model for producing and presenting nonprofit theater in America” have ended, and which remain relevant.

Center Theatre Group’s Mark Taper Forum in 2019, four years before it was temporarily closed due to a financial crisis.

(Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)

“When I first became an artistic director, there were two words that I had never heard before that became my mantra for years: cash flow. These days, a lot of my conversations seem to be focused on three words: minding the gap,” Desai said. “There are so many gaps confronting our field right now. There is the gap between what a production costs and the revenue it can generate. The gap between the impact of the work we make and the value we assign it. The gap between the origin stories of our institutions and the communities we serve. And perhaps, most importantly, there is the gap between the models we inherited and the world we actually live in.”

For CTG, that means keeping the 2,000-seat Ahmanson Theatre booked with revenue-generating shows in order to afford to continue producing work the company does at the Taper and at Culver City’s Kirk Douglas Theatre. “Phantom of the Opera” ran for 4½ years straight at the Ahmanson from 1989 to 1993, a commercial success that enabled a golden age at CTG under founding Artistic Director Gordon Davidson that included the 1992 premiere of Tony Kushner’s groundbreaking two-part play “Angels in America.”

The Ahmanson needs to be that commercial vehicle again, if CTG is to continue pushing artistic boundaries, Desai said. CTG-produced shows are always Equity, while major touring shows arriving at the Ahmanson sometimes aren’t.

“When a show doesn’t meet its goal, it is a huge swing. It is millions of dollars. And so we have to be super careful about what we’re programming,” Desai said. “And I’m also trying to take care of the audience that I’m building in line with the artistic vision.”

Thousands of people joined a silent march through central Krakow on Monday night, in memory of those killed and injured when a gunman went on a violent rampage at the weekend.

The crowd were led by Poland’s president and prime minister, the bitter political rivals putting on a rare show of unity after the country’s deadliest attack in modern times.

As they reached the historic Market Square, a bugler played from the tower.

Many people were carrying flowers or candles to leave at the shrines that now dot the cobblestones, one marking each spot where someone died.

Fiercely proud of its reputation for safety, Poland has been profoundly shaken by this attack. It has left people struggling to make some kind of sense of what happened.

The alleged gunman has been named as 24-year-old Michal Oksinski by local media.

Critically injured in a shoot-out with police, he did not regain consciousness and died in hospital early on Monday.

Initially, the interior minister claimed that Oksinski was driven by far-right, extremist views. The national prosecutor’s office now says that it’s too soon to say he was “inspired” by any ideology.

“The minister wanted to win domestic political points. That’s not responsible behaviour,” Dr Pawel Musialek of the Jagiellonian University suggests, in a country where politics is highly – and often viciously – polarised.

“So far we’ve seen no clear message that this guy was strongly ideological, and that it’s not more like something from the darknet.”

There’s been no mention of any letter or manifesto that Oksinski left. One neighbour told Polish news site Onet that the 24-year-old was a “bit of a loner” but few who knew him well have spoken publicly.

LESS than a week after Married At First Sight UK was axed amid rape allegations behind-the-scenes, bosses of the Australian version of the show fear it will meet the same fate.

Concerns have sparked after a second producer on the series has been stood down by production company Endemol Shine Australia, while an investigation is carried out concerning private messages sent by one of the upcoming contestants were played to his on-screen bride. 

Groom Kayne Buik has issued a complaint, prompting an internal inquiry and corresponding police investigation, according to The Daily Mail.

Buik will appear on the forthcoming season of the show, and is said to have flagged his concerns to the police while filming was underway, stressing that his privacy had been compromised.

Buik alleges that his on-screen bride Kristen Goedecke was played personal audio messages Buik had exchanged with a woman he knew prior to taking part on the show.

The woman is said to have heard about Buik’s involvement on the show via an online article, contacting producers and supplying texts and voice notes, as well as taking part in video interviews.

WED END

The MAFS UK 2026 stars that you’ll NEVER see on screen as entire series axed

FINAL VERDICT

MAFS UK’s Shona Manderson breaks silence on show axe after coming forward

She denied that any other media was provided, telling Inside Mail: “No photos or videos were sent.”

Buik is said to have refused to ignore the matter ahead of the show’s debut, worrying producers that the series will be axed, similarly to the UK version which airs on Channel 4.

NSW Police referred the matter to WA Police, and an investigation was subsequently launched, in which phones were seized from the Endemol Shine Australia office and staff involved were given access to legal representation.

A spokesperson from Australia’s Channel Nine, who broadcast the show, told the Daily Mail that any enquiries should be directed to Endemol Shine Australia, who declined to comment.

Channel Nine counts Married At First Sight as one of its biggest ratings hits averaging 2.76 million viewers per episode across total TV, and is scheduled to air in the first quarter of 2027. 

“There is a lot riding on the new season,” a source told the Mail. “‘No one wants this to be the last season.

“While it might seem unthinkable, all it takes is one big scandal combined with ratings or revenue not being where they need to be and Nine could make that call.”

Contradicting this, a source on the MAFS production team told the publication that the new season is set to be “a change of pace” than previous seasons, focusing on various couples instead of one main pairing.

This scandal comes after one couple on the new season left the show early, after things became “too toxic” between them during filming.

Since the British series was hit by scandal, Australian showrunners are said to be ensuring any “risky” couplings are removed from the process if things look to turn unsavoury in any way.

The Australian version of MAFS will already no longer air on Channel 4 or E4 in the new year, as it has done in the past.

The broadcaster “has no plans” to televise or stream any international seasons of the show after axing the UK’s incarnation of the reality series.

The external investigation into MAFS UK was commissioned by Channel 4 Chief Executive Priya Dogra following serious allegations made by three female stars in a Panorama special.

Two former brides claimed they were raped by their on-screen husbands, while a third accused her show husband of performing a non-consensual sex act.

All three men have denied the claims.

Dogra said she was “very sorry for the distress the women felt” but the review could not adjudicate on their claims.

The decision to drop the show means a full pre-recorded MAFS UK series that was filmed before the review took place will never be broadcast on the channel.

While the programme has been scrapped, the review found that Channel 4 and production company CPL did provide an adequate duty of care and did not breach Ofcom’s Broadcasting Code

Lawyers pored over 20 hours of aired and unaired footage from series three to six, analysed 31,172 documents and carried out 15 interviews with show stars.

It was found that a number of “isolated incidents” didn’t follow the welfare framework fully and that both C4 and CPL could have conducted a more structured long-term review of contributor welfare.

A second part to the review, carried out by ex BBC One Controller Lorraine Heggessey, concluded that the show could run in the future with format adjustments in place.

However, it also stated that the show’s focus on intimacy could put pressure on contributors to be intimate with their partners.

Panorama’s Mafs UK exposé aired in May.

In the programme, one of the brides who claimed she was raped said she had suicidal thoughts for the first time after her series aired.

While another bride, Shona Manderson, who appeared on the show in 2023, said she had an abortion after claiming her on-screen partner Bradley Skelly ejaculated inside her without permission.

She admitted she did not know if the pregnancy resulted from the alleged incident.

The couple stayed together for six weeks after leaving the show, but separated shortly afterwards.

Bradley said he understood Shona had consented to him ejaculating inside of her.

In a statement to the BBC, he said he categorically denied “any allegations of sexual misconduct” or that he was “controlling”.

He said their relationship “was based on mutual consent, care and affection.”

A third bride told bosses she was raped before her series was aired.

She said both she and her on-screen husband had been engaging in consensual sex, but he had proceeded on one occasion after she said no.

Maya Jama has announced she’s quit Love Island after three years and a former contestant is a hot favourite to replace her

A former Love Island contestant is heavily tipped to become the next host of the ITV2 dating show as Maya Jama steps down as host after three years.

Olivia Attwood, who shot to fame in the third series back in 2017 and reached the final with ex Chris Hughes, is the 2-1 favourite with bookmaker Coral to replace Maya. Series five finalist Maura Higgins is 5-2 to replace, while Radio 1 DJ Vick Hope is priced at 3-1.

“As a former contestant, Olivia Attwood is very familiar with Love Island, and we make her the 2-1 favourite to replace Maya Jama,” said Coral’s John Hill.

“Maura Higgins and Vick Hope are likely to be in contention too, while if the show turns to a male presenter, Sam Thompson is the most likely to land the job, according to our odds.”

Maya, who recently appeared on Celebrity Traitors, shared her shock news on her Instagram page on Sunday (November 8) evening in a statement to her fans.

The Bristol-born beauty wrote: “What an incredible era and what an unforgettable time I’ve had, it’s been far too much fun to put into words or a video… but as all good things must come to an end, it’s my time to step down as the host of my beloved Love Island.

“Firstly, I want to thank all of the people who rooted so hard for me to host the show in the first place. I wouldn’t change a thing. To the fans of the show, thank you for every supportive message and every single time you’ve tuned in during my time as host, I’m forever grateful to you all. The show really does belong to the people who watch it and embrace it year after year.

“Biggest thanks to the incredible production team, I’ve seen firsthand how you work your asses off for months every year to bring this iconic show to life.”

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She continued: “I started hosting the show aged 28 and during the nine incredible series met the most wonderful humans along the way. I’ve loved every slow-mo walk, fire pit and live show.

“I’ll forever be grateful for the experience. But I’ve always believed that to truly grow, you have to take a leap every now and then, and now is my time to throw myself into something new.

“While my own Love Island journey has come to an end, I wish the show and the team all the success in the world, I’ll be cheering you lot on from the sidelines forever.”

An ITV spokesperson said: “Maya has been a fantastic and much loved host on Love Island – we thank her for everything she has brought to the show over the last three years and wish her every continued success.”

Love Island is available to watch on ITVX