sights

Married At First Sight UK is introducing three more couples to the chaotic E4 experiment, with The Mirror revealing a first look at one of the nervous couples

Married At First Sight UK is well underway, but the E4 programme likes to keep things interesting by introducing several new couples almost two weeks after the experiment begins. Three more couples will join the chaos of the already tense series, which has many of the couples struggling to get along.

In a first look shared with The Mirror, Abi, 34, is seen with her new hubby, John, 38, taking professional photos. John has been single for five years and calls himself a ‘Romantic Romeo’, claiming he’s single as he gives off ‘single man energy’. Meanwhile, Abi revealed she’s never had a relationship that lasted longer than a year.

The clip starts with John asking his wife whether she walked down the aisle with her mother, to which she confirmed that she did.

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She then said: “Just to warn you, she’s never liked any of my previous partners. She’s quite hard to please. So you might have a bit of a grilling from her.”

During a confessional, a determined John said: “I would try to and prove myself to Abi’s mum. It’s scary, really, before Abi separately confessed that her mum “isn’t afraid to say how she feels”.

A teaser clip that aired on Sunday night gave fans a glimpse of Abi’s mother’s “honesty”. John said in the voiceover: “Today is now or never, everything is riding on this.”

The narrator then teased drama and says: “But will an over protective mum derail the first new couple’s first day?”

Abi’s mum insisted she “will not see her hurt again” during the confessional and later told the groom: “The last thing I want to be is upset by some arrogant person that comes along.”

Her mum said to the camera in another clip: “I am the one that vets everybody, I am the bad guy. Beware.”

Other new intruder latecomers to the show include April, who has been single since 2023, and Leisha, who hopes to settle down and start a family.

Meanwhile, Leo, 31, calls himself bombastic and a “yes man” who has been single for five years, while Reiss, 33, is a painter and decorator who has been unattached for six months.

The three new couples arrive as the original contestants continue to navigate their difficult relationships.

Married At First Sight UK continues at 9pm on E4.

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“I can definitely do that.”

Tiah-Mai Ayton, 19, has set her sights on becoming the youngest ever undisputed champion in the four-belt era across both genders in boxing.

America’s Gabriela Fundora was just 22 when she held all the world titles in the flyweight division in November 2024.

Ayton clearly isn’t shy when laying out her ambitions, but why should she? In over 300 fights across Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, kickboxing, jiu-jitsu and boxing, just three of those have been defeats – which she later avenged.

She will contest her second professional boxing bout against Lydie Bialic on Saturday.

When the Bristol fighter was told about Fundora’s achievement, her eyes lit up: “I could do that. I can definitely do that.

“That’s going to be a new challenge for me. I’ve got a long time.”

Ayton is right. She does have a long time, but women’s boxing also moves fast – just look at compatriot Nina Hughes.

She won a world title in just her fifth fight as a professional.

Not only is Ayton setting her sights on records, but she’s got her eyes on gold and plenty of it.

“I want to be undisputed in bantamweight and super-bantamweight and then it goes featherweight and super-featherweight,” said Ayton.

“I want to do those four categories, and I want to be undisputed in all four. It’s high expectations but I think I can do it.”

Only one boxer, Claressa Shields, has won all four world titles in three different weights, no one yet has managed it in four.

The likes of Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano have paved the way for women boxers to earn millions of pounds but Ayton isn’t getting carried away despite her youth.

When asked what she would purchase with her first healthy fight purse, the teenager opted against a flash car.

“I want a farm. I want cows, sheep, goats and chickens. That’s my dream,” Ayton said.

“I’ll just live a quiet life on my farm and then when I train, I’ll go into camp, and then go back and be peaceful.”

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Sunday threatened to expand his military deployments to more Democratic-led cities, responding to an offer by Maryland’s governor to join him in a tour of Baltimore by saying he might instead “send in the ‘troops.’”

Last week, Trump said he was considering Chicago and New York City for troop deployments similar to what he has unleashed on the nation’s capital, where thousands of National Guard and federal law enforcement officers are patrolling the streets.

Trump made the threat to Baltimore in a spat with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a Democrat who has criticized Trump’s unprecedented flex of federal power, which the Republican president says is aimed at combating crime and homelessness in Washington. Moore last week invited Trump to visit his state to discuss public safety and walk the streets.

In a social media post Sunday, Trump said Moore asked “in a rather nasty and provocative tone,” and then raised the specter of repeating the National Guard deployment he made in Los Angeles over the objections of California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom.

“Wes Moore’s record on Crime is a very bad one, unless he fudges his figures on crime like many of the other ‘Blue States’ are doing,” Trump wrote. “But if Wes Moore needs help, like Gavin Newscum did in L.A., I will send in the ‘troops,’ which is being done in nearby DC, and quickly clean up the Crime.”

Moore said he invited Trump to Maryland “because he seems to enjoy living in this blissful ignorance” about improving crime rates in Baltimore.

“The president is spending all of his time talking about me,” Moore said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday. “I’m spending my time talking about the people I serve.”

After surging National Guard troops and federal law enforcement officers into Washington this month, Trump has said Chicago and New York City are most likely his next targets, eliciting strong pushback from Democratic leaders in both states. The Washington Post reported Saturday that the Pentagon has spent weeks preparing for an operation in Chicago that would include National Guard troops and, potentially, active-duty forces.

Asked about the Post report, the White House pointed to Trump’s earlier comments discussing his desire to expand his use of military forces to target local crime.

“I think Chicago will be our next,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday, adding, “And then we’ll help with New York.”

Trump has repeatedly described some of the nation’s largest cities — run by Democrats, with Black mayors and majority-minority populations — as dangerous and filthy. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott is Black, as is Moore. The District of Columbia and New York City also have Black mayors.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, speaking during a religious event Sunday at Howard University in Washington, said the Guard’s presence in the nation’s capital was not about crime: “This is about profiling us.”

“This is laced with bigotry and racism,” he later elaborated to reporters. “Not one white mayor has been designated. And I think this is a civil rights issue, a race issue, and an issue of D.C. statehood.”

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, said there is no emergency warranting the deployment of National Guard troops in Chicago.

“Donald Trump is attempting to manufacture a crisis, politicize Americans who serve in uniform, and continue abusing his power to distract from the pain he’s causing families,” Pritzker wrote on X. “We’ll continue to follow the law, stand up for the sovereignty of our state, and protect Illinoisans.”

Cooper and Askarinam write for the Associated Press and reported from Phoenix and Washington, respectively.

Jennifer Dodds is aiming for back-to-back Winter Olympic gold medals, with the curling teams the first officially confirmed Team GB athletes for Milan-Cortina 2026.

And, with a silver medal on their debut, Bruce Mouat and his rink are aiming to go one better in Italy next year.

Mouat, along with Grant Hardie, Bobby Lammie and Hammy McMillan Jr, were narrowly beaten by Sweden in the 2022 final.

Dodds teamed up with Eve Muirhead, Vicky Wright and Hailey Duff in Beijing as Britain topped the podium for the first time in 20 years.

This time, she will be joined by Rebecca Morrison, Sophie Sinclair and skip Sophie Jackson.

“Winning gold last time was a dream come true, so I’m excited to get back there, obviously with a new team,” Dodds told BBC Scotland.

“We’ve been building a lot over the last couple of seasons and I’m excited to see where the trajectory of our performance can go over the next eight months.

“I’ve known a couple of the girls for quite a while, but that’s the thing, we probably had to build that teamwork, build the friendships and I feel like we’ve done that really well. I think you can see in our performances, our teamwork has improved, and a big part of that is communication and understanding each other.”

Mouat’s Scotland rink won World Championship gold for a second time this year, having been European champions on four occasions.

Now the Edinburgh curler wants to add Olympic gold to their list of achievements.

“We were close last time,” he said. “It came down to a matter of centimetres in the final. It was tough at the time but we’ve really bounced back and got our two world championships and now we’ve got 10 Grand Slam titles, so we have a lot of momentum.”

Maxwell, known as one of the game’s most powerful hitters, is calling time on his one-day career with Australia.

Explosive Australian batsman Glenn Maxwell has announced his retirement from one-day cricket, but will continue in Twenty20 cricket with his eye on next year’s World Cup.

The 36-year-old, who played 149 One Day Internationals (ODIs), blasting 3,990 runs, said he was starting to feel the physical toll of the 50-over game.

“I felt like I was letting the team down a little bit with how my body was reacting to the conditions,” said Maxwell on Monday, who was nicknamed “Big Show” for his all-action entertaining style of play.

“I had a good chat with [chair of selectors] George Bailey and I asked him what his thoughts were going forward.

“We talked about the 2027 [50-over] World Cup and I said to him, ‘I don’t think I am going to make that, it’s time to start planning for people in my position to have a crack at it and make the position their own’.

“I didn’t want to just hold on for a couple of series and almost play for selfish reasons.”

His last game was Australia’s Champions Trophy semifinal defeat to India in early March, after which fellow veteran Steve Smith also quit the 50-over format.

The mercurial Maxwell’s strike rate of 126.70 is the second-highest in ODI cricket, where he has crunched four hundreds and 23 half-centuries.

His rate of scoring is second only to West Indian heavy hitter Andre Russell. Maxwell has also taken 77 wickets with his off-spin.

An ODI career for the ages

In a career littered with many magic moments, perhaps his most memorable innings was at the 2023 World Cup against Afghanistan in Mumbai, when he was batting with Australia reeling at 91-7, chasing 293 to win.

In a high-pressure situation, and battling a severe cramp in searing heat, Maxwell took control, slamming 201 from just 128 balls to take his team to victory.

He scored 179 of those runs in an unbroken 202 partnership with Pat Cummins, who contributed just 12 after coming at number nine.

Australia went on to win the tournament, beating favourites India in the final at Ahmedabad.

Maxwell was also part of the Australia team that lifted the 2015 ODI World Cup.

“Glenn will be known as one of the one-day game’s most dynamic players, who had key roles in two ODI World Cup victories,” said Bailey.

“His level of natural talent and skill is remarkable. His energy in the field, under-rated ability with the ball and longevity has been superb.

“What else stands out is his passion for and commitment to playing for Australia.

“Fortunately, he still has much to offer Australia in the T20 format. All things going well, he will be pivotal in the next 12 months as we build toward the World Cup early next year.”