The radio host and her producer boyfriend kept their relationship on the down low but are now celebrating their happy news.
Eve Wagstaff Social Newsdesk Reporter
14:39, 21 Dec 2025
Congratulations., Kemi! The star is engaged to her boyfriend Thomas(Image: @kemirodgers/Instagram)
Congratulations are in order as Kemi Rodgers, host of I’m A Celebrity: Unpacked, has announced she is engaged after her boyfriend Thomas Hannett proposed during a trip to Australia.
The radio presenter, 30, shared the happy news with fans over the weekend, posting a series of photos to Instagram showing off her engagement ring. In one snap, Kemi beamed as she held up her hand, while another captured the couple enjoying their time abroad.
Kemi, who hosts Unpacked alongside Joel Dommett, was in Australia for the duration of the series, which started on 19 November and ended on 7 December with YouTube star Angryginge taking the crowd.
She captioned the post: “I said yes.” Friends and celebrity colleagues were quick to flood the comments with congratulatory messages. Coronation Street actor Colson Smith wrote: “Congratulations Kemi!”
Capital FM star and This Morning host Sian Welby reacted with excitement, posting: “OMGGGG INCREDIBLE.” Former X Factor contestant Sam Lavery added: “OMG YESSSSS.” While Capital FM presenter Jordan North also shared his delight, commenting: “OMG! Congratulations guys.”
Thomas, who is a senior producer at Capital, and Kemi’s engagement comes just weeks after she revealed that they had actually been dating for over a year. The couple only went public with their relationship in September, when they shared photos from a romantic trip to Paris.
At the time, Kemi explained they had chosen to keep things private before stepping into the spotlight together.
In a short video shared on her Instagram page, Kemi and Thomas could be seen in Paris having a drink at a low-key restaurant as they enjoyed the weather.
They used the famous TikTok audio featuring a person’s voice saying: “Are you happy to be in Paris?”, which Thomas lip-synced before Kemi, 30, said: “Oui.” In the caption, she wrote: “Wine drunk in paris and thought the best way to hard launch my boyfriend on the grid was with the iconic nicki minaj ‘oui’ video loooooool.”
She added: “Full bottle of sancerre in the sun truly is the key to my heart.”
Friends and fans were delighted by the launch and took to the comment section to congratulate the pair. One pal wrote: “The hard launch we’ve all been waiting for,” and another said: “Finally.”
Last year, Kemi joined Sam Thompson and Joel Dommett in hosting a I’m A Celebrity spin-off show called Unpacked, four years after companion show Extra Camp was axed.
Emmerdale fans have a lot to look forward to on the ITV soap this Christmas – and this is when they can tune in as all the drama unfolds over the festive period
There will be plenty of drama in the Dales over the Yuletide period
Emmerdale fans are looking forward to tuning in on Christmas Day – and it’s looking like quite a dramatic time during the festive time on the farm. Viewers of the long-running ITV soap, which first aired in 1972, would expect nothing less from the programme but it’s already been quite the year for the residents of the Yorkshire-based village.
This Christmas, there’s concern for Robron as a threat looms for newly reunited Aaron Dingle and Robert Sugden. When news of a possible return is shared not everyone is immediately happy about it, sparking a new feud. Ross Barton is blindsided when he finds out Aaron and Robert are planning to bring Robert’s son Seb back into their lives. Ross was Seb’s stepfather and helped raise him, until Seb’s mother Rebecca White sadly passed away.
What’s more, someone will be showing lurking in the shadows with intent and their reign of terror is only just getting started. When the trees outside his flat are set alight, Aaron once again blames Ross, only for Robert to uncover who the real culprit is. Will he be able to stop them? As Christmas Day arrives Aaron is puzzled when Robert heads off on a mystery errand. Soon there’s serious concern when he doesn’t return – so what has happened to Robert?
What time is Emmerdale on Christmas Day? What happens?
But when exactly will fans be able to catch all the Yuletide drama? Traditionally, the soap airs weeknights at 7:30pm in a half-hour slot, often just before Coronation Street. Eager fans can also watch the latest instalment from 7am on the day of broadcast by logging onto ITVX.
However, on Thursday 25th December, the festive special of Emmerdale will air at the significantly earlier time of 6:15pm. Prior to that, the programme will hit screens at 6:55pm on Christmas Eve and once the big day is all over, the soap air again at 6:30pm on Boxing Day.
Emmerdale will then resume its ordinary slot in the days after Christmas, and conclude the festive period with an hour-long special on New Year’s Day.
There’s lots more for fans of Emmerdale to look forward to this Christmas, as evil mother-and-son duo Celia Daniels and Ray Walters are fearing the game is up and they may need to flee, amid their shocking drug schemes being exposed. But with Ray growing closer to Laurel Thomas, could he dare to dream of starting things afresh away from his evil mum?
Kim Tate’s recent near-death experience leaves her pushing people away, and soon Joe Tate is furious by a confession from Lydia Dingle. Joe returns to Home Farm to patch things up with Kim but she sends him packing.
But when she falls and hurts herself, she calls for help only for Lydia to arrive and help her. Kim immediately dismisses her, and she’s soon facing Christmas alone.
Wrapping up Christmas, there’s a public marriage proposal happens, Paddy is missing his father Bear as he remains on Celia’s farm, and Vanessa and Charity are strong-armed into spending Christmas Day together. When Vanessa gets drunk, Charity fears the beans will be spilled as a threat looms.
The entire festive schedule for the ITV soap is as follows: :
Monday December 22 – 7.30pm (30 minutes)Tuesday December 23 -7pm (30 minutes)Wednesday December 24 (Christmas Eve) – 6:55pm (30 minutes)Thursday December 25 (Christmas Day)- 6:15pm (One hour)Friday December 26 (Boxing Day) – 6:30pm (30 minutes) Monday December 29 – 7:30pm Tuesday December 30 – 7:30pmWednesday December 31 – 7:30pmThursday January 1 (New Year’s Day) 7pm (One hour)Friday January 2 – 7:30pm
Actress Roxy Shahidi’s final scenes aired earlier this year with fans heartbroken at the character’s exit, when she bid farewell to Leyla Harding after several years in the role
Eve Wagstaff Social Newsdesk Reporter
23:00, 20 Dec 2025Updated 23:00, 20 Dec 2025
One Emmerdale star admits she lost her identity following her exit from the soap
One Emmerdale star admits she lost her identity following her exit from the soap. Former Emmerdale actress Roxy Shahidi has spoken candidly about the emotional impact of leaving the ITV soap, admitting she struggled with her sense of identity after her character was written out.
Roxy played Leyla Harding, a long-standing and much-loved character on the show, first appearing in 2008 before returning full-time in 2013. After more than a decade on screen, Leyla met a tragic end earlier this year in dramatic scenes that saw several characters plunged into icy water following a limousine crash.
Although Leyla initially survived the accident, viewers later learned she died in an ambulance before reaching hospital, marking the end of Roxy’s 17-year journey on the soap.
Nearly a year on from leaving Emmerdale, Roxy has reflected on the transition and how it affected her personally. In an emotional Instagram post, she admitted stepping away from the role was far more challenging than she anticipated.
“This time last year, I was coming to terms with having to leave this lot behind. Not just colleagues, but friends and family,” she wrote.
She went on to explain how deeply intertwined her character had become with her own sense of self, adding:
“Playing Layla wasn’t just a job; she was a huge part of my identity, and some days I spent more time being her than being myself.
“Losing that sense of identity was hard, but long walks with Mr Cooper [her pet cockapoo] gave me space to breathe, reflect and stay hopeful.”
Since leaving the soap, Roxy has shifted her focus towards wellbeing and has been teaching yoga online. She revealed the practice helped her process the emotional fallout of the change.
“Yoga once again became my anchor on the hardest days, moving my body helped me move through grief, loss and uncertainty,” she continued.
Adding that her yoga platform has helped her build a new chapter in her life, she went on: “Now YogaRox has grown into a new home, a new family, and a new sense of self.
“I don’t know exactly how I’ll get there, but I know where I’m going. Thank you to everyone who’s supported me through a year of challenge, growth, and transformation; here’s to 2026.”
Her post was quickly flooded with supportive messages, including from former Emmerdale co-stars. Laura Norton, who plays Kerry Wyatt, commented: “You’re amazing. You are very missed. Sky is the limit.”
Fellow soap stars Claire Sweeney, Isobel Hodgins and Ross Adams also shared messages of love.
Fans echoed the sentiment, with one writing: “You are still so missed by us Emmerdale fans. But you are smashing it now with your new projects, you are amazing!! Xx”
Another added: “I miss seeing you shine on my screen every night but being able to see you absolutely smashing the yoga is everything, heres to an amazing 2026 and I hope the new year brings you nothing but happiness and big achievements.”
Rita Simons has admitted she would happily sit down with EastEnders bosses to discuss a return even though her soap character was killed off almost a decade ago
Rita Simons has admitted that she would consider a return to EastEnders(Image: Getty Images)
Rita Simons has admitted that she would consider a return to EastEnders. The actress, 48, became an instant fan-favourite on the BBC soap when she arrived to play Roxy Mitchell in 2007, turning up alongside Samatha Womack as her on-screen sister Ronnie.
The pair were involved in multiple dramas over their decade-long stay in Albert Square, but it all came to a fatal head on New Year’s Day 2007 when Roxy drunkenly jumped into a swimming pool, and Ronnie jumped in to save her, only to be weighed down by her wedding dress as they both drowned.
Despite being killed off, there have been rumours of a return in one way or another, and Rita initially made a brief reappearance as Roxy in the form of a hallucination in 2023, where she comforted her on-screen daughter Amy. But almost a decade since being axed, Rita, who recently enjoyed a stint in Hollyoaks as Marie Fielding, has admitted she is always asked about a comeback and would happily discuss the idea with soap bosses.
She said: “It just doesn’t, it doesn’t stop! Someone, I won’t name them, said to me the other day ‘the resilience of your fans is impressive. And it is. Listen, if it was a meeting, we’d be there. But no, I’ve been having lots of very sort of, I’m looking at the gritty dramas, the comedies, the gangster stuff.
“Of course, if EastEnders came knocking, we’d definitely have a conversation.” After leaving EastEnders, Rita starred in a UK tour of the musical Legally Blonde and then competed in the I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! jungle.
Speaking to The Sun, she added: “I think that’s kind of another reason I knew it was time to leave Hollyoaks because I knew that I always wanted to do more drama. And I think it’s easier to transcend when you don’t hang around too long,” before noting that she’d “hung around long enough” in the BBC soap that a comeback might be possible.
Rita’s on-screen sibling Samantha has also enjoyed a successful career on screen and stage since leaving EastEnders, and recently admitted during an appearance on Loose Women that she had been through “all sorts” personally amid her time on the soap and was “terrified” at the thought off leaving, but it altered her outlook on life, especially after facing a battle with cancer.
She said: “When you’re in a place for nine years and you’re playing that character every day, and you’re embedded in that family structure, so you believe that the people who are your sisters, brothers, uncles, cousins, whatever, then you believe that they really are because you see them every day.
“You go through all sorts of emotional things together, the birth of your children, funerals, and this is with the crew as well. You get to know such this wonderful group of people for such a long time and then Ronnie drowned in a pool.
“I thought it was shot beautifully. In retrospect, it’s very easy to hold onto safety, isn’t it? Particularly in our game, being self-employed is terrifying. I don’t know if it was a favour [killing me off], but my whole outlook on life has changed.”
“I got diagnosed with breast cancer and survived it for no,w but the beauty of everything that happens to you, the ups, the downs, is the beautiful chaos of it all and what you’d miss if you weren’t here.”
Earlier this year, the former Mount Pleasant star admitted that she started saying no to a lot of opportunities after her treatment, but knew she needed to do something to get back to earning a sustainable income. She told The Mirror: “After my year-and-a-half of treatment, I started turning down a lot of stuff – and I didn’t have the bank balance to match that confidence, trust me.
“It was me saying the word ‘no’ and my bank account creaking. But there was empowerment in that because I thought, ‘OK, I need to go through this, spend time with myself and figure out stuff that I’ve never figured out – maybe stuff I’ve buried under a rug.’”
Emmerdale fans think they have worked out how it will all end for Celia and Ray ITV soap after a tense scene played out during Wednesday night’s episode of the Yorkshire-based serial
22:10, 17 Dec 2025Updated 22:10, 17 Dec 2025
Emmerdale fans think they have worked it out(Image: ITV)
Emmerdale fans think they have worked out who will see to the end of Celia and Ray the ITV soap. The villainous farmer, who has been played by Jaye Griffiths over the last few months, has been carrying out a reign of terror across the Yorkshire village alongside Ray as she heads up a drug dealing operation and slavery ring.
Celia hasn’t acted alone, having recruited teenagers April Windsor and Dylan Penders into her evil scheme. But, mainly, she orchestrates the whole thing with her foster son Ray Walters, whom she took in off the streets several years ago.
The pair may have been a duo for decades, but after Celia scuppered Ray’s romance with Laurel Thomas in the latest episode of the ITV soap by making out he was something he was not, she had her foster son in tears during a tense seen that came at the end.
After slapping him straight across the face, she said: “You think she’ll make you life easier? She won’t! You need someone to keep you real, someone who will stop you drifting off into these fantasies of yours.
“She doesn’t know you, she doesn’t want you the way you think she does because you are weak, Ray. You need someone to tell you when to speak, how to feel, how to exist. And aren’t you lucky that I am still here doing exactly that.”
Ray promptly burst into tears, and Celia coldly said: “Cry if you want to. But wipe your face before anyone sees you. They already pity you, let’s not confirm why.” Celia then left the room and Ray punched the wall in a fit of rage.
Fans of the soap will know that Celia is set to leave Emmerdale after a relatively short stay in the village but have been left puzzled how Ray and Celia have yet to be exposed.
One fan wrote on Reddit: “Ross, Mackenzie, Lewis and Robert all know that Ray is a drug dealer after he wanted Lewis’ weed. Surely one at least one of them would have seen Ray still sniffing around in the village or seen him with Laurel? What’s the likelihood of all 4 of them not seeing Ray still sniffing around in the village? I know Ross saw him a few months ago but that didn’t lead to anywhere apart from Ross warning him to stay away from the village.”
“Yeah one of them would have seen him at least once around the village, in the cafe or the pub. Just so happened that when he’s been in the cafe Nicola has just seen him,” a second added. A third penned: “Did Mackenzie and Lewis meet him? Ross did confront him and he played it off. The only one who could know is Robert but he may not know the range of Ray’s drug business, he’s also not part of Laurel’s social circle,” with another fan responding: “Yep they all met him. It was one of his first appearances in the village. Mackenzie was actually the one who brought Ray to the village.”
Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays.
Coronation Street viewers blasted one character’s sudden exit storyline as they struggled to believe it could happen and labelled the whole thing as a ‘disaster’
22:52, 16 Dec 2025Updated 22:57, 16 Dec 2025
Dee Dee Bailey looks set to wave goodbye to Weatherfield for good (Image: ITV)
Coronation Street fans described Tuesday’s episode as a “disaster” after Dee Dee Bailey announced her plans to leave. The lawyer, who has been played by Channique Sterling-Brown, 28, since 2022, decided on the latest episode of the world’s longest-running TV soap that it was time to move on from the Weatherfield backstreet.
The programme normally airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays but there was a slight schedule change owing to ITV’s upcoming coverage of the the Carabao Cup. It has been known for some time know that Dee Dee was set to leave the show, and in newest episode, she revealed she had been offered a new job – but there was a catch.
At first, she was hesitant to tell her father Ed about it, but over a celebratory lunch with him and her brothers at the Bistro, she revealed that it was in Singapore.
Fans will know that Dee Dee is mother to baby Laila, who was born in March, but there had been a lot of back-and-forth over whether her brother James would take on the guardianship. Once James realised what this meant, he raged: “A creche in Singapore, 24/7? You really think that’s in her best interests? What do they even speak out there?”
Pleading her case, Dee Dee said: “I have agonised over this. And yes, it’s the right thing for me, but I’m sorry, it is also the best thing for Laila. A job where I can make a difference!” James raged: “I was there for you. I was there for Laila. I provided a solution. This was your idea! This was always, always going to happen.”
He then told his sister that she had “timed” everything to make sure things turned out this way and when he and Michael were in the pub later on, things had still not calmed down. When Dee Dee walked in, she offered to buy James a drink but he refused. He then headed into the pub toilets where he burst into tears, and text on/off lover Carl Webster to see if he wanted to meet up.
As details of Dee Dee’s exit plans came to light, fans took to social media to share their reaction. One wrote: “Losing Dee Dee but keeping the rest of the Baileys is such a disaster,” whilst another said: “So Dee dee has been a solicitor in New York Wethersfield and now Singapore. Where next Seaham Harbour?”
A third added: “I like Dee Dee but I wish this new job was a bit more believable. She is going to Singapore alone, no support, with a baby. If she took a job near her ‘gone to look after her aunt and never seen again mother’, I could believe it,” and a fourth wrote: “Dee Dee never spends any time with her kid now when she’s surrounded by family, so she’ll probably never see her in Singapore. She’ll be fobbed off to a nursery or nanny.”
Actress Channique, 28, announced her departure to The Mirror and other press, explaining for the first time her reasons for stepping down from the role. Channique said it felt like the right time “to be brave” and try new roles, as she got tearful in her exit chat.
Becoming emotional, she revealed she would miss her character, as she explained her decision that she made months ago. She said: “I made the decision in spring, and it wasn’t a rash decision. You know, I really took a couple of months from being offered my next year contract to actually even respond.
“I felt really torn, but I really just had, you know, the sense that it just felt like the time. I feel like I’ve been so privileged, and I’ve got to tell some great stories, and it’s been so wonderful. And obviously I’m very led by my faith as well.
“So I just really took my time over it and prayed into it. And I think, yeah, I found a real sense that I had done what I’d come to do, if that makes sense, not that I ever knew exactly what it was, but it just felt like I had achieved what I was sent here to do, so it was time to be brave.”
She told us: “I think Dee-Dee has changed a lot. She’s been through a lot. She was so ditsy and all this stuff when she came. But I think she very quickly, like we saw her heart with her being with Paul a lot, and we saw her strength standing up to Adam.
“We saw her, you know, soft side with all the stuff with her dad and the gambling. So I think, you know, she, she still has all those things. I think she’s definitely, obviously a bit worse for wear.
“But I think she’s finding her way back to herself at the minute. I think that’s really lovely, where we see her on screen. She’s finding some happiness. She’s finding herself again. And I think that’s life, isn’t it? You obviously change and things shape you, but it’s how many times you get back up? That’s what counts.”
Coronation Streetairs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on
