surprises

The winners moved celebrities, politicians and stars to tears with their stories of courage, bravery and brilliance at the Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards

It has been celebrating the very best of everything British for more than quarter of a century. And once again it was the children of courage and incredible stories of bravery in adversity which moved a host of celebrities, actors and sport stars to tears at the 26th Daily Mirror Pride of Britain awards, with P&O Cruises.

The Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was there with his wife Victoria to pay tribute to the long line of unsung heroes as they received the recognition they so richly deserve. At just 12 years old, Luke Mortimer typified what the night is all about when he received his Child of Courage trophy.

Luke had all his limbs amputated after contracting meningococcal meningitis septicaemia in 2019. Yet still he thought of others. The audience at the Grosvenor House Hotel gave him a huge round of applause as they heard how he had donated thousands for children with disabilities, through his extraordinary fundraising activities.

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In 2024, he climbed Pen-y-ghent with his mum Christine and brother Harry, 15, meeting his dad Adam and a team of 19 who were climbing the National Three Peaks and Yorkshire Three Peaks. They raised almost £20,000 to help fund prosthetics for Luke and help other child amputees. He told his loved ones that we should all “concentrate on the future” as he set about helping others.

His favourite TV stars Ant and Dec sent a special message to Luke, who told host Carol Vorderman of his motto when life was tough: “Hope for a good time and try and make it happen.”

His dad Adam added: “We are massively proud of him, he takes everything in his slightly smaller stride.”

Marcus Skeet, 17, became the first person in the UK to run from Land’s End to John O’Groats as he fought back from a suicide attempt at the age of 15. He had obsessive compulsive disorder, and became a carer for his dad, who was diagnosed with early onset dementia.

Marcus admitted: “It shattered my heart.” After his suicide attempt, it was a ‘miracle’ that he had survived. Known as ‘the Hull Man’, with 350,000 followers on social media, he watched cars go by as he got caught in a rainstorm, with 790 miles to go in his epic run.

Marooned in a layby, soaked through, he still became a record breaker, raising £164,560 for mental health charity Mind, with his dad there to see him at the end. “I will remember that for the rest of my life,” said Marcus.

His incredible feat took a combination of supreme dedication and endurance and he joked: “I hate running.” Dr. Sarah Hughes, CEO at Mind paid tribute, saying: “His story reads like a film script, courage, loss, hope, and relentless determination.

“But Marcus isn’t a character; he’s a real-life hero.” Pub landlord comedian Al Murray revealed he had been inspired by Marcus to raise money for Mind. Looking for donors in the audience, he said: “Whether you are an actor or a rock star, you cannot fail to be moved by this night.”

Personal trainer Javeno McLean, 40, met his heroes as his work for the disabled, ill and elderly was recognised with the P&O Cruises Inspiration award.

Former world champion heavyweight David Haye joined legends of the ring Frank Bruno and Barry McGuigan to hand over the coveted trophy. They heard how Javeno has been offering free fitness sessions to the needy at his J7 Gym in Manchester.

At 16, he offered to train a boy in a wheelchair who was struggling in the gym. Since then, Javeno has been devoted to creating a friendly and inclusive gym space for all. He told the judges: “When you include people you empower them.”

Haye said it was an ‘honour’ to be chosen to give him the award. On a night of awe-inspiring stories, PCs Yasmin Whitfield, Cameron King and Inspector Moloy Campbell were recognised for their extraordinary bravery.

They answered an emergency call on an ‘ordinary’ working day which almost turned out to be their last. By the time they confronted sword attacker Marcus Arduini Monzo in Hainault, East London on April 20,2024, he had already killed Daniel Anjorin, 14.

Despite having no Taser or pepper spray, Pc King drew his baton and stood between the killer and Yasmin, who suffered horrific slash injuries.

Insp Campbell also suffered a slash wound to his hand after he confronted Monzo in a car park and ran at him, baton drawn. Other officers were able to deploy their Tasers and subdue the killer. PC King ‘stood between Yas and Monzo’, who ran off, before being cornered by cops. He said: “I remember just thinking, I can’t let him finish her off’. I put myself between Yas and him. I thought ‘we’re going to die in this alleyway.'” Insp Campbell admitted: “When I challenged Mr Monzo, I knew it may be the last decision I would ever make.” Monzo was later jailed for life with a minimum term of 40 years. In 2016, footy coach Asha Ali Rage 46, set up her community club, determined to use sport to protect youngsters from gangs. The aptly named Dream Chasers FC in Small Heath, Birmingham has since become a vital hub for her local community.

Asha received her award from England’s ‘Golden Gloves’ World Cup keeper Mary Earps who has done so much to raise the profile of sport for women; Asha’s Special Recognition Award was for “changing the lives” of the young stars of the future. Leanne Pero MBE, 30, won another recognition award for The Movement Factory community dance company which she founded when she was just 15. Londoner Leanne, who survived breast cancer, also started Black Women Rising, a cancer support group that has raised more than £1m to fund support and advice. She said of surviving cancer: “The worst part was finishing treatment.” Teenager of Courage winner Eagling Zach, 14, who has cerebral palsy and epilepsy, also donated to the Epilepsy Society by walking laps of his garden in the 2020 lockdown. After trolls bombarded him with flashing images to try to trigger a seizure, he campaigned for legislation to protect people with epilepsy online. Zach’s Law was introduced across England, Wales and Northern Ireland in Sept., 2023, making it a criminal offence, with a maximum five-year jail term, to troll anyone with epilepsy to deliberately cause a seizure. Zach has now launched a petition to ‘make a difference’ and try to ensure public transport is more accessible for disabled people. For Sally Becker, 63, helping those most in need in society has been her life’s work.

She first went to Bosnia in 1993 to help the victims of war. Tasked with taking aid to a hospital, she found herself evacuating sick and injured children in an old Bedford van.

She has now spent more than three decades helping children in besieged areas, such as Gaza, Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine.

In 2016, she founded Save a Child, providing medical treatment for kids in conflict areas. And she launched a mobile tele-medicine programme connecting local doctors with paediatric specialists. She said: “We have saved thousands of children.”

Georgie Hyslop, 15, was thrilled to be made the Good Morning Britain Fundraiser of the year. In 2023, when Georgie, then 15, was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare cancer in the bones, she donated her tissue to Cancer Research. She raised more than £55,000 for hospitals and charities.

Through 14 rounds of chemo and 33 of radiation, Georgie gave cards with encouraging messages, known as “pocket hugs”, to fellow patients, and dressed up as Spider-Man to cheer up a four-year-old patient having radiotherapy.

Georgie, 17, from Ardrossan, Ayrshire, went into remission in July 2024, but the cancer returned earlier this year. She said: “I have lots of fundraising planned and lots to look forward to.”

Set up by three music teachers at an additional needs school in 1995, the Ups & Downs theatre group in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, is for young people with Down’s syndrome as well as their families.

Now led by Lorna Leggatt, whose son Ellis, 26, has been a member since he was five, Ups & Downs offers inclusive activities, including music, dance and drama, to around 70 members, who have Down’s syndrome or a sibling with the condition. Audiences leave their shows ‘deeply moved’.

Fellow PoB winner Harry Byrne lost his mother on Christmas Day; her death caused Harry, then 11, to descend into mental health problems, addiction and homelessness. Harry, 24, was helped by local homelessness charity St Basil’s and discovered The King’s Trust Get Started in Outdoor Leadership programme, landing a job in Coventry.

Now supporting young people facing difficulties, through outdoor activities, he hopes to run his own therapy-based coaching service. Harry said: “I didn’t have many role models or access to the support I needed when I was younger. I’m passionate about getting up every morning and providing just that for the next generation.”

RAF hero John Nichol, 61, the navigator from North Shields, North Tyneside who was shot down and captured in Iraq during the first gulf war of 1990, has attended every single one of the Pride of Britain’s 26 award nights. A good friend of the late awards founder Peter Willis, he said: “I was next to Gary Barlow on that first night and had to give him my hankie. I think there is only me and Carol Vorderman who have been to every one.

“Nobody knew what to expect, but it has become the best of the lot.”

Pictures: Rowan Griffiths, Adam Gerrard, Andy Stenning.

* Watch the Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards with P&O Cruises on Thursday October 23 at 8pm on ITV1.

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Emmy nominations arrived Tuesday morning, and if you made the list, it’s a “White Lotus” Full Moon Party vibe, full of celebratory cheers, toasts with your beverage of choice (it’s still early, maybe some of that Thai Red Bull?) and techno music playing loud enough to have Interpol banging on your door.

And if you didn’t hear your name called, well, you’re feeling like poor Pornchai watching Belinda sail away into the sunset. Or maybe you’re like Saxon, compartmentalizing the whole thing, pretending it never happened. We feel you.

With Emmy submissions down this year, there aren’t as many slots available to salute all the worthy work, leading to some sad omissions — which, for the sake of alliteration and search engine optimization, we’ll call “snubs.” There were also some surprises, some worthy, some about as welcome as one of those poison piña coladas Jason Isaacs blended up in the “White Lotus” finale.

Grab something to eat (maybe an item from the Old School Hollywood buffet table) while we run down the morning’s notables.

SURPRISE: The all-encompassing love for “The White Lotus”

Yes, as you could tell from my intro, the third season of Mike White’s deep dive into miserable white people and fabulous brand collaborations gave us much to discuss, even if discourse was often centered on complaining about the show’s slow pace and dearth of plot. I don’t begrudge some recognition for a series that dominated the pop culture landscape for its two-month run, but nominating seven of its regular cast members reveals a lack of imagination among voters. Pity the poor ensemble member not nominated. I’m not even going to name them and put that FOMO out into the universe.

SNUB: Any actor from “The Pitt” who wasn’t nominated

Conversely, just one nomination for the supporting crew at the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center — for Katherine LaNasa as charge nurse Dana Evans — is an act of voter negligence. I get it. There were a lot of interns and residents and nurses working that 15-hour shift. And just about every one of them was a more fully realized character than anyone on “The White Lotus.” Maybe voters had a hard time focusing their attention with so many choices. I’ll console myself with the knowledge that it’ll win the Screen Actors Guild drama ensemble award next year.

SURPRISE: “Paradise” (drama series)

The dystopian drama that asked the question, “Would you want to be trapped in an underground bunker with the likes of these people?” I can’t think of anything more frightening and enough Emmy voters agreed.

SNUB: “The Four Seasons” (comedy series)

You kind of hated these wealthy, entitled boneheads, and not in ways that were intended or even fun.

SURPRISE: Colman Domingo “The Four Seasons” (comedy supporting actor)

Because even if the show is mediocre, it’s impossible to ignore Domingo in any season.

SNUB: Natasha Lyonne, “Poker Face” (comedy actress)
To quote Lyonne’s human lie-detector Charlie Cale, that’s “bulls—.”

SNUB: “The Rehearsal” (comedy series)

How could a show about airline safety produce more laugh-out-loud moments than any other comedy series this year? How could a show so funny, insightful and, yes, occasionally terrifying not be nominated for comedy series? (Also, and not completely unrelated: How could it take this long for the TSA to let us keep our shoes on?)

SNUB: Selena Gomez, “Only Murders in the Building” (comedy actress)

Gomez earned her first Emmy acting nomination last year, but with the category trimmed to five nominees from six, something had to give. Detractors fault her flat, monotone delivery, though if you’re acting opposite Martin Short and Steve Martin, you need to find your own lane. Arguably, Gomez has. Look for that debate to continue next year when the show returns for a fifth season.

SNUB: Kate Hudson, “Running Point” (comedy actress)

The Lakers can’t win anywhere, can they?

SNUB: Bridget Everett, “Somebody Somewhere” (comedy actress)

Somebody, somewhere voted for Everett, so tender and vulnerable and utterly charming on this now-ended HBO series, one that seems destined for a long life of cult appreciation along the lines of “Enlightened,” created by (yes) Mike White.

SURPRISE: Kristen Bell, “Nobody Wants This” (comedy actress)

Not a surprise that’s she’s nominated — everyone watched this show in one sitting. But a surprise that this is her first nomination ever. Well-earned, even if I’m not convinced Adam Brody’s rabbi would throw everything away for her character.

SNUB: Steve Martin, “Only Murders in the Building” (comedy actor)

How do you nominate Martin Short and not Steve Martin? Big always wins over subtle. You have to wonder if voters forgot, or didn’t watch, the show’s last season — it has been awhile — which had Martin carrying the plot’s emotional weight as his character grieved the loss of longtime stunt double and friend, Sazz (played by Jane Lynch).

SNUB: Megan Stalter, “Hacks” (comedy supporting actress)

If her star turn in Lena Dunham’s “Too Much” had dropped during the voting window, Stalter might have secured her first Emmy nomination. Or maybe not. (Dunham is polarizing.) At any rate, Stalter might have two shots next year, provided “Hacks” premieres its next (and last) season in time.

SNUB: Meryl Streep, “Only Murders in the Building” (comedy supporting actress)

Only a “snub” because it’s Streep and she’s nominated for everything.

SNUB: “Your Friends and Neighbors” (limited series)

As the Jon Hamm series went along, it felt more like a Patek Philippe ad than any kind of comment on the empty lives of the wealthy. (Are there not any rich people out there leading fulfilling lives?) By the end of its run, we were checking our watches, and voters didn’t give it the time of day. (Sorry.)

SNUB: “Disclaimer” (limited series)

What a disappointment. Alfonso Cuarón’s highly anticipated seven-chapter psychological thriller premiered at the Venice Film Festival last August, screening four episodes over two nights. It then went to Telluride, Toronto and London. It was an event … until people saw it and were left baffled. How could the filmmaker behind “Children of Men,” “Gravity” and “Y tu mamá también” make something so dull that few people could to finish it?

SNUB: Renée Zellweger, “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy” (limited series/movie actress)

When “Love Island” defines romantic-comedy for a lot of people, she didn’t stand a chance.

Shaun Wallace, also known as The Dark Destroyer, will take part in a new brand new ITV show called The Great Escapers, which will see celebrities compete to plan the best day out

The Chase star Shaun Wallace has announced a new move away from the ITV programme.

Shaun, who has been one of “the chasers” on Bradley Walsh’s quiz since 2009, told fans he was “very excited” to be filming for a new show called The Great Escapers. In a video posted on X, which was called Twitter, Shaun, 65, described the project as “a wonderful, exciting holiday adventure”.

The post read: “Very excited to be filming in Rhodes for a new show called ‘The Great Escapers’ with Mark @MarkLabbett and Jenny @jenlion. Looking forward to having a lot of fun with those two. Doing a spot of fitness in the sunshine, before we get going.”

Mark Labbett and Jenny Ryan are also experts on The Chase. However, it is understood neither Shaun, Mark or Jenny are leaving the quiz as, often, regulars on ITV entertainment programmes appear as guests on other shows.

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Shaun, who is also a barrister, excited his 89,000 followers on X with the candid update. One fan gushed: “Have a swell time,” while another commented: “Hope you win your episode, Shaun!”

Each episode of The Great Escapers will see celebrities from different backgrounds compete to plan the best day out. Other episodes will feature stars from Coronation Street and Loose Women, among other shows and fames, it is understood.

Katie Rawcliffe, Director of Entertainment and Daytime ITV said: “We’ve got some of ITV’s best-known faces flying out to the most gorgeous destinations in this brand-new series. We can’t wait to see the cast of Corrie, I’m A Celeb…, The Chase and Loose Women in all of their holiday glory!”

READ MORE: Chaser Paul Sinha shares sad reason he went straight back to work after two heart attacks

The Great Escapers is in partnership with Jet2, one of the UK’s largest tour operators. The series will air on ITV1, ITVX, STV and STV Player later this year, according to Express.co.uk.

Shaun, known as The Dark Destroyer on The Chase, is one of the original “chasers” on the teatime show. He and Mark, 59, have appeared in each of the 18 regular series, and 14 celebrity seasons.

Last month, fans of the programme were furious because it was taken off air due to ITV’s coverage of Royal Ascot. The Chase missed several episodes so the broadcaster could accommodate the racing event. Loose Women was also affected, as it was taken off air for three days; Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, for the races.

The Chase first graced our screens in 2009 and swiftly became a staple on ITV. It features regular contestants vying against each other, testing their general knowledge for the chance to bag a hefty cash prize.

Danny Miller joined the Loose Women live from the Emmerdale studio this morning, as he seemingly ‘confirmed’ a return for Robert Sugden during his wedding to John Sugden

It’s set to be a huge week in Emmerdale this week with the wedding of Aaron Dingle and John Sugden. However, we’ve all watched enough soaps by now to know that weddings never come without drama. Aaron actor Danny Miller has ‘confirmed’ it will be the exact same for his.

For weeks, rumours have been spreading that Aaron’s ex husband, and John’s brother, Robert Sugden (Ryan Hawley) would be making his return to the soap. The character was last seen in the soap in 2019 after being written out of the show in an “explosive” storyline involving the death of Lee Posner, his sister Victoria’s rapist.

The character was sentenced to 14 years in jail, but as we know, anything can happen in soap land. Could he be released from jail early? Theories have been flying around, and now Danny seemingly confirmed his return while being grilled by the Loose Women.

Denise Welch wasn’t letting Danny go without speaking about the rumours, as she asked the actor: “Is there likely to be a RobRon rerun?”

A nervous Danny chuckled: “It’s so weird, the line’s just gone down as you’ve asked that question,” as the whole studio burst into laughter. Although he wasn’t giving too much away, Danny assured Emmerdale fans they can expect many surprises during the week.

“What I will say is there are some surprises, whether that happens or not, I don’t know. But certainly what I can say is that originally when this idea was pitched and thought about, Robert, whoever that is, wasn’t part of the plan.”

Danny then seemingly confirmed he was now part of the plan as he continued: “But..” before stopping. He then continued: “You’ll just have to wait and see. That’s the idea of me being here. Otherwise it would be boring if I told you either way.”

Danny then laughed: “I can’t remember.” However, nothing was getting past Janet Street-Porter, as she responded: “It’s obvious! This storyline is so complicated your getting confused yourself.”

The star recently announced that his wife Steph was expecting their third baby, as he told the Loose Women: “We’re so lucky. We had days where we thought we’d never have a baby and now we’ve got three.

“Steph is the most amazing mum and amazing wife. I’m very lucky to have her.”

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays.

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