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JOHN Leeson – best known for voicing the beloved robodog K9 in Dr Who – has died aged 83.

The actor, born John Ducker, passed away after a “summer of illness” his family revealed earlier today.

Leeson was the iconic voice behind the metal dog K9 as well as working on TV shows including Dad’s Army, Sorry!, Crown Court and Longitude.

Earlier this year he reunited with Dr Who co-star Tom Baker to starr as Doctor Watson alongside Baker as Sherlock Holmes in the audio drama Sir Sherlock: The Red Letter Day.

Sharing news of his father’s death to Facebook, Guy Ducker said: “I regret to announce the death of my father, John Ducker, a.k.a. John Leeson, at 3:03pm today after a summer of illness. The end was peaceful.”

Guy added a William Shakespeare quote saying: “Good night, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”

Tributes for the actor have poured in from co-stars, colleagues and fans.

Dr Who writer Russell T Davies said it was “impossible to imagine anyone else” in the role of K9 and praised John as “a fine, fine actor”.

Reminiscing on his performance as the beloved robodog, he added: “What a character: a posh dog, uppity, haughty, wry, but somehow innocent too, and so funny. ‘Maximum defence mode!’ God he was good.”

He ended his heartwarming tribute writing: “A true gent, and a great loss. Good night, sir. Affirmative!”

John played the role of K9 for the majority of the show’s run over six decades – starting in the 1977 episode ‘The Invisible Enemy’.

He has been remembered as “the voice, heart and soul of K9” and a “firm favourite of countless fans”.

“John was a stalwart of the Dr Who universe and is going to be much missed, particularly since literally millions of us can’t think of or hear the word ‘Affirmative’ without hearing it in K9’s voice” said one fan under Russell Davies’ post.

“Such an important part of Doctor Who. Such a sad loss”, added another.

“So soon after sir Patrick Stewart. Terrible time for sci-fi fans.”

One wrote: “Such sad news. John was a true icon. invested K9 with so much charm, character and nobility – he was absolutely integral to K9’s appeal.”

Leeson reprised the role in several Dr Who audio dramas and spin-off series, including CBBC’s The Sarah Jane Adventures, before returning to the original programme after its revival.

His other credits include The Bill, Vanity Fair, Doctors and Blake’s 7, and he was also regularly heard as a continuity announcer on Channel 4.

He also portrayed the original Bungle the Bear in the children’s TV series Rainbow.

JOANNE McNally has revealed the regimental methods used to remove banished players from The Celebrity Traitors castle.

Asked by Vogue Williams on their podcast My Therapist Ghosted Me, Joanne explained precisely what happens once they are asked to leave the round table.

“When you leave, what happens? You just left and go home?” asked Vogue.

“So you get off the podium, they rush you out the side door and you’re bundled into a van like Whitney Houston in the Bodyguard,” Joanne explained. “You have a little backpack there, it’s like an emergency backpack in the castle at all times so that if it’s the night that you do go you have your essentials.

“And then you’re taken to a different hotel.”

Joanne – who was banished on the penultimate episode of the second season of The Celebrity Traitors, after the other players wrongfully accused her of conspiring against the Faithful – explained that she was then sent back to the castle the next day.

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“You actually have a full day’s work to do in the castle because you have to do all your B-shots and there was a video of me in the bath, so it’s all that stuff and your final interviews.

“I always wondered why in the castle if you needed to go to the bathroom or anything it’s this big kind of production.

“It’s because they have to make sure the castle is clear and there’s not people who’ve been banished the night before because they were in the castle doing all their extra last bits of work.

“So they were making sure no one crossed paths. It’s such a huge production and they run it so military!”

Meanwhile, co-star James Acaster has revealed the moment he “should have walked out” of the show before filming was halted.

The comedian left viewers shocked in the penultimate episode when he changed the whole game by outing himself as a Traitor in a tense round table – after Michael Sheen pointed the finger at him and Maya Jama.

James’ shock admission that he was a Celebrity Traitor on the show left him so distraught filming was halted.

Welfare staff checked on the comic before the Round Table vote but he crumbled as Faithful Michael Sheen finally ­rumbled him — forcing producers to step in.

Now, James has revealed that he had considered quitting the castle even earlier in the series, when the celebs took part in a mission that forced them to be buried alive in coffins.

James shared that he was “really scared” during the coffin mission and should have gotten out then.

He told Far Out Magazine: “I was lying there thinking, actually, I think I’m really scared of this. As soon as the soil was heaped on top, Bella did say, ‘Imagine if they can’t get us out.”

During the mission, Jerry Hall decided to quit the mission, and James said: “She didn’t like it. She didn’t like, well, none of us liked it. 

“I respect Jerry the most because Jerry just went, ‘I’m not doing this.’ Like, are you kidding me? And the rest of us were just like, ‘We want to win Traitors in our coffins, idiots.’

“We should have just done what – as soon as I heard Jerry got out, I should have said to Bella, ‘I’m getting out, forget it.’ If it’s a free-for-all now, we should all get out. They can’t stop us all. We could all do it.”

Tributes for Patrick Stewart are flooding social media after the news of the British actor’s death at 86.

Stewart, who played “X-Men” mutant headmaster Professor Charles Xavier across nine Marvel films, died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles “in the loving care of his beloved wife Sunny, following a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia,” his longtime spokesperson Kelly Bush Novak said in a statement.

The acclaimed actor, whose career spanned 60 years in film, television and stage, cemented his place in the hearts of audiences and his peers in the industry.

Hugh Jackman, who played Wolverine in more than 10 Marvel films, penned a tribute on Instagram.

“We lost one of the greats of stage and screen today,” Jackman wrote. “And, in my book, a tremendous friend and man. I learned so much from him. I will miss you, Patrick Stewart, all of my days.”

“Logan” and “The Wolverine” director James Mangold emailed The Times a statement, writing, “A generous and kind man, Patrick was very dear to me but also a towering, magnificent talent. There is no ‘Logan’ without his brave portrayal of Charles Xavier. He is the beating heart of our film and our collaboration will be a cherished gift in my life.”

Stewart’s co-star in the “Star Trek” universe, Jonathan Frakes, wrote in an emailed statement to The Times, “There’s no one on this planet that I have acted with or directed more often than my late great friend Patrick Stewart. He will be with me forever. May he rest in Peace.” Frakes played Cmdr. William T. Riker opposite Stewart’s Capt. Jean-Luc Picard in the series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “Star Trek: Picard” and four “Star Trek” films.

William Shatner, who played Capt. James T. Kirk in “Star Trek: The Original Series” and its subsequent films and who lost another former co-star in the “Star Trek” franchise, Walter Koenig, this week, posted a photo of an embrace with Stewart alongside a tribute.

“What a heartbreaking week it has been,” Shatner wrote. “Sir Patrick Stewart was a friend, a colleague, and a magnificent actor. From the stage to the bridge of the Enterprise, he brought intelligence, grace, and a deep sense of humanity to everything he did. Captain Picard stood for the best of us, and so did the man who played him. I was filled with affection and admiration for him and his work.

“My heart goes out to Sunny and his family. He will be deeply missed.”

Rebecca Romijn, who starred in both “X-Men” and “Star Trek” films alongside Stewart, posted a video on Instagram memorializing the actor. “Heard the very sad news about the passing of my dear friend Patrick Stewart,” she said.

“I feel so grateful to have known him for the last 25 years … both as a fellow mutant and as a fellow member of Starfleet. He was positively delicious, hilarious, naughty, incredible sense of humor, and that booming voice of his that always spoke to the very back of the room, as every classically trained Shakespearean great needs to master. … Rest in peace, Patrick.”

Minnie Driver, who acted alongside Stewart in the 2017 romantic comedy film “The Wilde Wedding,” posted on Instagram, “Is this year some kind of portal to a much, much better place that all the greatest people know about and so have gently made their exits? Dearest Patrick. Who always had the best advice, the funniest story, the patience to listen. I’m just bereft. All love to your family, and you, in my heart forever.”

Stewart also starred in the AIDS-era 1995 romantic comedy film “Jeffrey” alongside actor Bryan Batt.

“Heartbroken at the news of Sir Patrick’s passing,” Batt wrote on Facebook. “He was one of the most talented, kindest, and generous actors I’ve ever had the honor of working with. I was lucky to play his lover in the film of Paul Rudnick’s JEFFREY. Even though I created the role on stage, it was my 1st film and needless to say I [was] a bit anxious. Patrick took me under his wing and guided me along, teaching me so much. A wonderful giving actor and true gentleman of the theatre. Flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.”

Rock star and author Patti Smith also commented on the announcement of Stewart’s death on Instagram, writing “Tears of love.”

Marvel’s Kevin Feige told The Times in a statement, “I’ll never forget the first time I saw Sir Patrick Stewart on the set of the first X-Men. After years of knowing him as the inimitable Captain Picard, I was in awe — and he turned out to be everything I had seen on screen and more: brilliant, charming, warm, generous, with a quiet strength and gravitas. Away from the cameras, he was even more remarkable, with a wonderfully sharp sense of humor.

“It was a true privilege to know him and to work with him. His legacy lives on not only in decades of extraordinary work, but in the many, many people he mentored. He will be deeply missed.”

Marvel also posted a tribute to Stewart, who was held dear by audiences who saw themselves in the mutants cared for and protected by Stewart’s Charles Xavier.

“All of us at Marvel Studios are deeply saddened by the passing of Sir Patrick Stewart,” Marvel wrote on social media. “Sir Patrick brought Professor Charles Xavier to life with extraordinary grace, intelligence, and humanity, defining the character for generations of fans, from X-Men to Logan to Avengers: Doomsday. He was a singular talent, a generous collaborator, and a true gentleman. Our hearts go out to his wife Sunny, his children, his friends, and the countless fans around the world whose lives he touched with his art.”

TO say this Hollywood star looked unrecognisable would be an understatement after she transformed into a giant severed hand for her annual Halloween bash.

The supermodel, famed for her bizarre costumes, disappeared inside the grotesque creation, with only her eyes and mouth giving the game away.

As usual, Heidi Klum pulled out all the stops dressing up as an enormous severed hand featuring glossy red nails, rings and an ultra realistic mangled wrist.

The 53-year-old’s face peered through a gruesome opening in the back of the hand, with streams of fake blood running down the prosthetic skin.

Two of the giant fingers housed her legs, which allowed the Project Runway host to walk in the crazy creation.

The elaborate outfit was a supersized replica of her own left hand, complete with recreations of her engagement and wedding rings.

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It even featured her tattoo of husband Tom Kaulitz’s name.

The musician was unable to join the festivities because he was on tour, but was was still represented in her costume.

Heidi spent around five to six hours getting into the creation and admitted carrying the enormous outfit was a challenge.

She said: “Hands down, the hardest thing is carrying it. It’s quite heavy.”

The Halloween queen unveiled the grisly look as she celebrated 25 years of her iconic celebrity parties.

This year’s bash took place at Cathédrale at New York’s Moxy East Village on Saturday night.

Famous guests included Little Mix star Jade Thirlwall, NSYNC’s Joey Fatone, Twin Peaks actor Kyle MacLachlan, Taylor Momsen, Paris Jackson and rapper Ice-T.

But while her latest transformation might take some beating, Heidi has plenty of experience making herself impossible to recognise.

Last year, she turned herself into a terrifying Medusa, with snakes crowning her head and green scales covering her body.

Tom joined her as a soldier who had been turned to stone.

In 2024, the couple opted for an extraterrestrial transformation, arriving as elaborate versions of E.T.

Perhaps her most famously bonkers outfit came in 2022, when she arrived as a giant worm.

Completely encased in the ridged costume, Heidi appeared on the end of a fishing line in a look that became a viral sensation.

Her previous Halloween creations have also included Jessica Rabbit, Princess Fiona from Shrek and a skinless human body.

Unless you’re writing for a major national magazine or shooting video for Architectural Digest, it’s rare for a reporter to be invited into a celebrity subject’s home. More likely, it’ll be some neutral space like a publicist’s office, or coffee shop, or hotel room; even more likely, over the phone or Zoom. But Patrick Stewart, when I interviewed him in 2023 at the end of “Star Trek: Picard,” the “The Next Generation” sequel series in which he starred, asked to meet at his house.

Stewart, who died Wednesday at 86, was 82 then, friendly and dapper and emanating a youthful sense of wonder and readiness. He spoke of wanting to learn to play the piano and speak French — ironic for an actor perhaps best known as Jean-Luc Picard. He had written a memoir, “Make It So,” titled for a Picard catchphrase. And he was excited about the house, located on a leafy, McMansion-free, comparatively modest street in what real estate agents would call Hancock Park, where he’d been living with his wife, Sunny Ozell, since just before the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.

“We were safe,” Stewart said of the COVID days. “We felt protected here. It was just a walk that way or a walk that way to some shops. I walk to a little post office and my pharmacy is on 3rd Street, and I always take the backstreets. It’s a fabulous neighborhood, it really is. No two houses are the same. I mean, I never thought I’d live in a house that had just got archways everywhere — no doors! Sitting here, you see one, two, three, four, five, six archways.”

From sheer weight of screen time and franchise muscle, “Star Trek: TNG” — which ran for seven seasons (on first-run syndication, a dynamic format that no longer exists), plus four films — and the “X-Men” movies have dominated coverage of Stewart’s death. (Confession: I have possibly seen one “X-Men” movie, though long before there were “X-Men” movies, I read the comics — so I am familiar with Professor Charles Xavier, a part for which Stewart did not need to shave his head, as well as his nemesis Magneto, played by Stewart’s good pal Ian McKellen.) But there’s more to the story.

Patrick Stewart’s Picard comes face-to-face with Alice Krige’s Borg Queen in the 1996 film “Star Trek: First Contact.”

(Elliott Marks / Paramount Pictures)

Stewart’s 70-year career does neatly divide into BST and AST — before and after “Star Trek,” which arrived in 1987 at its chronological midpoint. The first half is dominated by theater. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1968, after a decade on regional stages, and was a core member until 1982. “So that was my daily experience,” he told me. “Shakespeare and his contemporaries and other great 19th century, 20th century playwrights. It was home to me.” In 1982, he took part alongside fellow RSC members, including David Suchet, Ben Kingsley, Judi Dench and McKellen, in director John Barton’s illuminating series “Playing Shakespeare,” demonstrating the relation of text and performance. You can find it all on YouTube from the Shakespeare Network and really should.

American audiences might have gotten a look at him in David Lynch’s “Dune” or PBS-imported British TV productions like “I, Claudius” and “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” or as Claudius opposite Derek Jacobi in BBC’s “Hamlet” — but for many Stewart appeared new and fully formed in September 1987 on the bridge of the USS Enterprise. (This paper, reporting on his casting, apparently called him “an unknown British Shakespearean actor,” a fact you will see printed many times over in the wake of his death, and which Stewart liked to repeat.) With a handsome, sculpted head unencumbered by hair and a rich musical baritone, he exuded compassionate authority. You felt you could trust him, not just because it was in the script. With his classical training, he could make the most mundane line sing as if it were written in iambic pentameter, and do it without sounding hammy. He was a fit 47 when the show premiered. And he rocked his body-hugging Starfleet uniform.

After “Star Trek” made him Hollywood-famous, making way for his “X-Men” role — which he reprised for his final film, “Avengers: Doomsday,” coming in December — other projects followed. As an established personality there were opportunities for self-mockery and oddball choices. In Ricky Gervais’ “Extras,” playing himself, he describes a screenplay he’s writing in which his character has the power to make women’s clothes fall off (“and I’ve seen everything”). In Riz Ahmed’s “Bait,” which premiered earlier this year, he was the hallucinated voice of “Pigtrick,” a decapitated pig’s head that is somehow also Patrick Stewart. He donned a bad wig to portray John Oliver on “The Daily Show” and was a regular voice on “American Dad!” More traditionally, he played Captain Ahab, Ebenezer Scrooge and Captain Nemo.

Patrick Stewart as Macbeth and Kate Fleetwood as Lady Macbeth in “Macbeth,” the film version of Rupert Goold’s production.

(Manuel Harlan / Illuminations TV)

Did success on the screen boost his stage career? Or was it just a different route to the same place? With McKellen he starred in Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” and Harold Pinter’s “No Man’s Land” in repertory. He adapted Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” into a one-man show and played George in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” But it always came back to Shakespeare. Returning to the RSC, he played the Ghost and Claudius to David Tennant’s “Hamlet” and the lead in “Macbeth” (both were filmed and broadcast) as well as Prospero in “The Tempest.” He stayed busy as he aged, if not always as busy as he would have liked — the actor’s lot — and when the pandemic killed regular work, he went onto social media and spoke directly to the people in the language he loved so well, reading and commenting on all of Shakespeare’s 154 sonnets — “A Sonnet a Day” — from March to October 2020 (they’re available on CD).

“We play this game often,” he told me. “I played it when I was a kid: If you could go back in time, where would you go? And I’ve worked on my answer to that question — I want to be in the audience at the very first performance of ‘Hamlet, Prince of Denmark,’ that’s all, because I know Shakespeare would be there.”

ONE of TV’s most glamorous women looks totally unrecognisable after transforming into Sir Mo Farah for Halloween – but can you guess who it is?

The presenter pulled out all the stops to become the sporting legend, donning a bald cap, fake eyebrows and beard, and a Team GB running kit.

She posed for a series of fun snaps including running across the finishing line in front of Buckingham Palace, holding a Union Jack flag and striking Sir Mo’s iconic ‘Mobot’ pose.

And if you haven’t been able to guess by now, it’s Maya Jama!

The Love Island host and Celebrity Traitors star took to Instagram on Saturday night to show off her incredible transformation.

She captioned the snaps: “This year I wanted to pay homage to @sirmofarah our Olympic champ and all round legend (and I think we look alike lowkey) .

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“HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! Can’t wait to skin out tonight & thankyou Mo for sending your actual Olympic outfit and real medals hero!!! Let’s partyyyy.”

Maya also shared a video of the moment she video called Sir Mo, 43, while dressed as him.

Seeing Maya in her full Mo get up, Sir Mo looked shocked and said: “Oh my days!”

An excited Maya said: “I’m transformed! Don’t we look alike!”

Sir Mo replied: “I swear down I thought that was me for a second!”

Maya’s Celebrity Traitors pal Leigh-Anne Pinnock wrote: “SO GOOD.”

I’m a Celeb’s Scarlett Moffatt, who was on All Stars with Sir Mo, added: “This is epic haha!”

Geordie Shore‘s Holly Hagan commented: “Hahaahah you win.”

At five wickets down with 125 required off 79 balls, Pakistan were teetering on the edge of yet another batting collapse when Arafat Minhas walked in to bat in the final of the One-Day International (ODI) tri-nation cricket series against Sri Lanka.

An expectant home crowd in Lahore was on tenterhooks as the 21-year-old all-rounder began his batting partnership with Hasan Nawaz under the floodlights of the Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday.

Minhas, who had gone wicketless in Sri Lanka’s innings, showed few signs of the pressure mounting on the young batting pair and began the repair job.

Within a few overs, the run chase swayed back in Pakistan’s favour but the final remained tense.

With the hosts needing 39 runs from 27 balls, Sri Lanka’s Dasun Shanaka bowled a delivery at length, angling the ball into Minhas.

Unnerved by the occasion and his own lack of experience, the batter swung his bat across the line and sent the ball soaring over midwicket for six to ignite the crowd and rekindle lost hope.

Following this defining moment of his innings, Arafat coolly went on to hit four more sixes, finish with 61 runs off 31 balls, help Pakistan clinch the trophy and bag himself the player of the series award.

He ended the series with nine wickets and 149 runs, including two half-centuries.

Commentators on the host broadcast ran out of superlatives for the promising all-rounder, who admitted that he “enjoyed the pressure” of the final run-chase and tried to remain calm.

“The team needed someone to believe that we could achieve the target.”

‘Complete all-rounder’

Before shining with the bat in the final, Arafat produced one of the finest bowling performances of his fledgling international career against England in Rawalpindi on October 10.

After scoring 59 off 58 balls to help Pakistan recover from 81-4 and post 302-9, Minhas took six wickets for 40 runs as England were bowled out for 215, handing Pakistan an 87-run win.

England were at 91 without losing a wicket before Arafat dismantled their batting order.

Among his victims was swashbuckling batter Harry Brook, who was bowled for five by a delivery that turned past his attempted defensive shot and hit the stumps.

The England captain was left stunned at the crease and in the post-match media talk.

“Is he under 21? I didn’t know,” Brook said after the match.

More plaudits poured in as Minhas showed his all-round skills on the field.

“A half-century, six wickets and a run out. Mike Hesson wants all-round cricketers and he’s found one in Arafat Minhas,” former England captain Nasser Hussain said during the broadcast.

The performance made him the third Pakistani to score a half-century and take at least five wickets in a men’s ODI after Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq.

On his ODI debut against Australia in May, Arafat took 5-32, becoming the first Pakistani to claim a five-wicket haul on debut, as well as winning the player of the series award.

“I prefer not to label players as batting or bowling all-rounders,” Minhas later said in an interview with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). “I’d rather be seen as a complete all-rounder.”

An early foundation

Thirteen years earlier, Minhas dreamed of becoming a fast bowler like every other aspiring Pakistani cricketer.

But the then-eight-year-old was handed a leather cricket ball and instructed to take up left-arm spin by his father, Kashif, who spent years helping Arafat develop the all-round skills that are now helping Pakistan win matches.

Kashif had represented his hometown team, Multan, in under-19 cricket but was forced to give up on his dream – “with a heavy heart” – by his father, who urged him to take over the family’s car showroom business.

Years later, watching his sons play with toy eggs and plastic balls, Kashif saw a spark.

“When I observed them, I saw their playing style wasn’t ordinary; it seemed like a natural gift and a blessing from God,” Kashif told Al Jazeera. “I thought: ‘why not train them for professional cricket’?”

He would go on to buy full kits for his sons, setting them on the path towards professional cricket.

“My father handed me a hard ball when I was about eight or nine and I’ve bowled left-arm spin ever since [but] In tape-ball cricket, I used to bowl fast,” Minhas explained when asked about his control on his bowling variations.

Minhas rapidly progressed through Pakistan’s age-group system, becoming the country’s best under-16 player in his final year before breaking into the under-19 team.

In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown threatened to interrupt his sons’ development, Kashif built a cricket practice facility on the rooftop of his house in Multan.

A net, a mat pitch and floodlights were installed to ensure that “practice wouldn’t stop”.

In 2024, when Pakistan reached the semifinals of the ICC Under-19 World Cup and lost to Australia by one wicket, Minhas played a key role in the team’s progress in the tournament.

Given his standout performances, the young all-rounder’s elevation to the senior team seemed inevitable.

Brothers living a father’s dream

Minhas’s younger brother, Sameer, is a prodigious right-handed opening batter who has also made significant progress.

Last week, he was included in Pakistan’s Test squad for the two-match series against Sri Lanka in November.

Playing his first season of first-class cricket, Sameer scored 405 runs in seven matches, following his own promising spell with Pakistan’s under-19 team. Their youngest brother, Abdullah, is also pursuing cricket as a left-handed batter and leg-spinner.

“To move forward, I’ll improve and put in whatever extra work is required,” Minhas said after the England match. “This isn’t the final goal. The ultimate goal is much further ahead.”

Kashif’s ambition extends beyond one son’s career. He wishes for all three boys to play together for Pakistan and win an international trophy – a dream that would give a new ending to the cricketing journey he had to abandon.

“My ultimate dream is to see all three of my sons play together in the Pakistan playing XI and bring home an ICC trophy for Pakistan. That’s the day my dream will be complete, and that void will truly be filled.”

Selma Blair is apologizing following an alleged violent medical episode that unfolded on a Delta airlines flight earlier this month.

The “Cruel Intentions” star posted a video on Instagram on Friday acknowledging that she has “been quiet for a couple of weeks since October 11th.”

“You deserve to hear from me directly, and I’m sorry that it’s taken this long,” Blair said. “There is a legal matter going on, and my lawyers have asked me to not say anything about that day, and I’m listening to them, and I take this very seriously.”

Blair was arrested and taken to a hospital for evaluation late on Oct. 11 after allegedly becoming violent with a Delta flight staff, according to the New York Port Authority. The Port Authority Police Department responded to a call from Blair’s flight, traveling from Los Angeles International Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport. Two flight attendants needed medical assistance after an alleged altercation that unfolded mid-flight and one was transported to a hospital for further evaluation.

According to dispatch audio, obtained by TMZ, a flight attendant suffered a bloody nose, and Blair is alleged to have “bashed her head” against an overhead compartment. Representatives for Blair told The Times that “Selma experienced a medical emergency that led to the alleged conduct.”

The star has been candid about her battle with multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic neurological disorder and autoimmune disease, since 2018.

In Blair’s social media mea culpa, she said her intention wasn’t to harm anyone. “What I can tell you, though, is very simple and the truest thing I know about myself, and that not one day ever have I intended to hurt or frighten anyone a day in my life, and so to the people that I disappointed, that I hurt, that I frightened, alarmed, I am so sorry,” she continued.

“And to the people that have written, or called, or sent wishes of love or caring, it has meant everything to me and my son, who is my world. . . So right now, I’m going to be taking care of my health and my son, and thinking of you all with gratitude and love.”

The FBI is investigating the incident, and the agency issued the “Legally Blonde” star a notice charging her with assault, per a federal law enforcement official who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Additionally, the Queens district attorney swiftly filed charges against Blair, which included two counts of second-degree assault. According to an affidavit obtained by The Times, Blair wiggled a leg free and repeatedly kicked a police officer who was attempting to secure her to a stretcher.

Hours later, Blair allegedly kicked a Jamaica Hospital Medical Center nurse in the chest, according to the affidavit.

Representatives for Blair emailed a statement to The Times, writing that “the public account of what happened to Selma aboard a flight to New York has been built almost entirely on a police statement and a decade-old headline.”

Blair’s rep decried reports that have circulated regarding the details of the mid-flight episode, writing to “correct the record.”

“There was no attempt to open the door of the aircraft,” the statement continued. “The suggestion by anyone, that Selma does not have multiple sclerosis is outrageous. Her diagnosis has been public since 2018. What Selma has been able to do physically in the years since is nothing short of a miracle. She still has bad days, and she lives with pain daily. Selma also has pseudobulbar affect, a neurological condition secondary to her MS, which bears directly on how a medical episode presents to people who do not know her. For the same reason, she travels with a service dog who doesn’t leave her side, and the authorities took her dog from her.”

Times staff writer Alexandra Del Rosario contributed to this report.

BACK in 1988, this actor found fame as a child in one of the most terrifying horror films of the decade.

Fast forward 38 years, the movie star, who is now 45, looks completely unrecognisable – but can you guess who it is?

The star in question is Alex Vincent, who played Andy from Child’s Play, which was the first ever Chucky film.

Now all grown up, he looks a far cry from his horror movie days as a kid, as he promoted a recent fan event on Instagram.

The actor was just six years old when he starred in the terrifying movie about a doll that comes to life and goes on a killing spree.

Alex went on to star in all three of the Child’s Play films which ran until 1991.

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The film star then appeared in the 2013 film, Curse of Chucky, and six years later he starred in the TV show reboot.

These days Alex can often be found doing horror movie conventions, where he gets to meet fans of the famous franchise.

The original Child’s Play movie was released in 1988 and it went on to become a series with six sequels.

The plot centres around Chucky, a serial killer called the Lakeshore Strangler, who performs a voodoo ritual to transfer his soul into a toy doll.

Alex’s character Andy is relentlessly terrorised by Chucky throughout the Child’s Play franchise, with the doll framing him for his murders.

Speaking about being the main star in such a terrifying film at a very young age, the actor told Indiemacuser.com: “The content didn’t matter much to me, in terms of scaring me.

“I was a bright kid… And nothing about being on that set was scary.”

The former child star added: “It was an incredibly fun and exciting experience for me at six-years-old.

“I got to leave school for a couple months and go work with a super cool electrical puppet in Chicago and LA.”

However, despite being known for one of the most famous scary films ever made, Alex made a surprising revelation.

“I’m not the biggest horror fan!” the star admitted.

However, Alex added: “But I know a lot of horror icons personally, so I am familiar with their films.”

THE REAL Housewives of Beverly Hills alum Lisa Rinna looked even younger than Kylie Jenner herself as she dressed up as the cosmetics queen for Halloween.

Lisa, 63, absolutely glowed in the iconic orange gown Kylie, 29, wore on the Marty Supreme premiere red carpet last December with her boyfriend, Timothee Chalamet.

Fashionista Lisa looked like a 20-something brunette beauty in the cut-out dress designed by Chrome Hearts.

She wore the look for an appearance on Live with Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos on Friday.

Live executive producer Michael Gelman dressed up as Timothee opposite Lisa’s Kylie.

Fans absolutely loved the costume, and went wild in her Instagram comments.

“You so nailed this that I had to keep checking to make sure it wasn’t really her,” one follower marveled.

“Honestly this is scary!” said another.

Kylie herself even said, “I thought this was me.”

Lisa joked to Kelly and Mark she “aged way down” for the outfit.

Lisa went on the morning show to promote her turn in It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play on Broadway, which kicks off in November.

“It’s just fabulous,” the actress gushed of the new role, which will be opposite her real-life husband, Harry Hamlin.

Ian McKellen is saying goodbye to his dear friend Patrick Stewart.

Stewart, the storied actor whose performances spanned comic book films, Shakespearean stage productions and sci-fi TV, died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles after a battle with Alzheimer’s disease and Lewy body dementia. He was 86. While tributes from former co-stars across the “X-Men” films and “Star Trek” franchise poured in, fans of Stewart were keeping a close eye out for McKellen’s remarks, as the two had a famously close friendship, often on full display with red-carpet smooches and pally interviews.

On Thursday, McKellen posted a tribute to Stewart.

“Before everything else, Patrick was defined by being born and bred in Yorkshire, the proud county in the north of England which he loved to the end,” McKellen’s statement began. “You could hear it in his accented voice and in the stern honesty with which he told you what he thought and felt. Yorkshiremen have no truck with half-truths or avoidance of big issues. He wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and in my case, love.”

Although the two had known each other since they were young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 1970s, Stewart said he initially was too shy to approach McKellen, but was “impressed.” Stewart said the two had “X-Men” to thank for their close bond. On set, the two had trailers that were next door to each other, and with time to kill between filming, they would head next door and chat for hours.

“It was a delight for me to find that the enthusiasms and passions that I’d had all my life were shared by Ian,” the late actor said in a 2014 interview. When asked to write a hashtag that summed up their bromance, Stewart wrote #Aren’twelucky, and McKellen wrote #eternal.

In addition to playing rivals across multiple “X-Men” films, Patrick and McKellen starred together in “Waiting for Godot” and “No Man’s Land” on Broadway and London’s West End.

“We first met as ambitious young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company half a century ago but we weren’t in the same productions,” McKellen’s tribute continued. “My first strong memory was a few years later, meeting him in the street in central London when he told me about an offer to take over a leading part in ‘Star Trek.’”

McKellen recalled saying, “But Patrick think of your stage career in the UK. Do you really want to risk—getting lost in Hollywood for years and years?”

“Well, he took the risk and thank goodness for us all that he did for not just his devoted Trekkies but film and theatre audiences, who marvelled at his using international celebrity to star in a string of cinema successes (‘X-Men’ of course) and in great classical plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, Arthur Miller, Peter Shaffer, Pinter and Beckett at Stratford-upon-Avon, in London’s West End and on Broadway.”

In 2014, Stewart admitted to Broadway.com that he was envious of McKellen for both his university education and his hair.

“Ian knows and he thinks I’m foolish to feel this way,” he said. “Ian went to Cambridge and my formal schooling ended when I was 15. I envy that, but I also envy your head of hair. If only because in the two plays you don’t wear a wig and yet you manage to make your hairstyle look completely different … I envy that whereas I have to stick on a wig.”

McKellen responded by telling Stewart that he was gorgeous with and without the wig.

In 2013, Stewart married longtime girlfriend Sunny Ozell in a Lake Tahoe ceremony that McKellen officiated.

“America was his adopted home, where he met his adored Sunny who has cared for him through sickness and health, through thick and thin. But he never forsook his origins: and the proudest achievement of the most respected and beloved actor of his generation on either side of the Atlantic, was his appointment as Chancellor of Huddersfield University in Yorkshire.”

McKellen and Stewart star together again in the forthcoming “Avengers: Doomsday,” which hits theaters Dec. 18.

Patrick Stewart was an imposing figure, on screens big and small, and on stage in the many theatrical productions he starred in over his long career. Depending on the role, his baritone voice could command a legion of Starfleet officers, superhero mutants or a royal court. The actor, who died Wednesday, will be best remembered for the iconic characters he portrayed, particularly in the “Star Trek” and “X-Men” franchises, but over the course of his career, he proved his versatility, playing comedic roles as brilliantly as his dramatic ones. Here, our writers detail some of his most memorable onscreen work.

‘Dune’ (1984)

Even in the wake of Denis Villeneuve’s mega-productions, David Lynch’s dreamy version has found its fandom of acolytes. To watch Stewart commit to the director’s vision is to wish he had more film opportunities outside the shadow of Capt. Picard. He’s playing Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin does the role in the new movies), a war advisor to young Paul Atreides, and Stewart brings gruff family-friend vibes to his few scenes, which have become legendary in the Lynch pantheon. When Kyle MacLachlan’s Paul says he’s “not in the mood” for combat training, Gurney explodes at him: “Mood’s a thing for cattle and loveplay, not fighting!” Later, you can watch Gurney charging into planetary battle holding — what’s this? — a sweet-looking pug. They must be symbolic to House Atreides. The dogs don’t appear in Frank Herbert’s novel. Lynch just added them. It’s how I choose to remember Stewart. — Joshua Rothkopf

Patrick Stewart as Captain Picard in “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”

(Elliott Marks/Paramount)

‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ (1987-1994)

Whichever captain in the “Star Trek” franchise you fancy — Janeway, Kirk, Sisko, Pike, etc. — Jean-Luc Picard was always in the conversation. He was serious, stern, smart, curious, with the hint of whimsy that it takes to soar among the stars with theoretical science and a diplomatic flair with alien races. Undoubtedly, Stewart’s Shakespearean training helped him look past the costumes, sets and CGI into the humanity of what the writers and Gene Roddenberry intended. Though “Star Trek” was set hundreds of years into the future, Stewart gave the character a sense of now, with some of the same problems we face today. Indeed, one of his most famous quotes from the show, from the fifth-season episode “The Inner Light,” embodied how he kept Picard in the present: “Seize the time … live now. Make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again.” — Jevon Phillips

‘Robin Hood: Men in Tights’ (1993)

My nascent cinephilia was nurtured by movies on VHS. One tape (and eventually DVD, then Blu-ray) we often found ourselves watching was Mel Brooks’ “Robin Hood: Men in Tights.” The spoof of early Hollywood’s swashbuckling action-adventure movies is one of the comedy titan’s most quotable films, thanks in large part to the timing of the cast. Stewart, in a cameo at the end of the film, plays a regal King Richard who returns from the Crusades to chastise his younger brother Prince John (played by a scene-stealing Richard Lewis). Stewart gets one of the film’s best jokes, delivering one final indignity to Prince John with the panache that only a formally trained actor of his caliber could. — David Viramontes

James Marsden, left, and Patrick Stewart in “X-Men.”

(Attila Dory / 20th Century Fox)

‘X-Men’ (2000)

Casting Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier in Bryan Singer’s “X-Men” must have seemed almost too easy. He looked remarkably like the bald, wheelchair-using Marvel comic-book character and had already spent seven seasons playing a similarly cerebral, principled leader as Capt. Picard on “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” But Stewart brought more to the role than a physical resemblance and a voice that could make a grocery list sound like a royal decree. As the powerful telepath who ran a school for young mutants and believed they could coexist peacefully with humans, his Xavier barely needed to raise an eyebrow to command attention, even when surrounded by characters who could sprout claws, control the weather and shoot beams from their eyes. Playing opposite Ian McKellen as Xavier’s old friend turned rival Magneto, Stewart brought a touch of Shakespearean gravitas to the fledgling franchise, returning to the role for seven more films over the next 22 years. He’ll reprise the role a final time in “Avengers: Doomsday” in December. — Josh Rottenberg

Patrick Stewart and Hugh Jackman in the film “Logan.”

(James Mangold / Marvel / Twentieth Century Fox)

‘Logan’ (2017)

Previous installments of the “X-Men” films are more typical of the superhero genre, with grand CGI battle sequences and a foe or foes that must be defeated. But “Logan,” which centers on the titular character, a.k.a. Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), is different, with a grounded, gritty story set in 2029 in the desert of Northern Mexico near El Paso. Logan is now a limousine driver addicted to prescription painkillers and he’s a caretaker, along with fellow mutant Caliban, for an elderly Charles Xavier. Ten minutes into the film, we see the professor not in his usual dignified manner, dressed in a sharp suit; instead, we see him thin and frail, in a dirty T-shirt, zooming around in circles in his motorized wheelchair repeating the lines of a Taco Bell commercial. Logan attempts to medicate him so that he and Caliban can rest, but Xavier fights him off, falls out of his wheelchair and has a telepathic seizure that begins to affect everyone around him. “What are you doing to me?” he whispers in a scared voice as Logan tries to inject him. It’s a scene that Stewart imbues with terror and sadness as we see the formerly stoic Xavier shrivel in his hospital bed, reminded of his ailments and his mortality. — Maira Garcia