teen

A FORMER Disney heartthrob looks unrecognisable 17 years after he found teen fame on the channel.

This actor is known for appearing alongside the likes of Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez and Zac Efron.

You may remember him from Sonny With A Chance, 17 Again, Hannah Montana or even his own Disney movie, Starstruck.

It’s Sterling Knight!

The actor, now 37, looks a far cry from his days on Disney Channel now.

Sterling now sports a full beard and longer mousy brunette hair – as opposed to the choppy blonde locks he was known for.

KATIE’S HEARTBREAK

Katie Price hit by ‘devastating news’ saying ‘cherish every moment’

next step?

JoJo Siwa fuels engagement rumours as she tries on diamond rings

He is still acting and appeared in new movie 40 Dates and 40 Nights just this year.

Sterling is also on video platform Cameo, where fans can pay for a personalised video shoutout from him.

The star has just shy of 250,000 followers on Instagram and regularly shares updates with his fans.

He appears to not follow former co-stars such as Demi, Selena or Miley – suggesting their on-screen chemistry hasn’t lasted since their Disney days together.

Sterling’s Sonny With A Chance character famously had a relationship with Demi’s on-screen character, with the relationship becoming a focal point of the show.

The pair were known to be close friends off screen, too.

Child star Sterling, who hails from Texas, began acting aged 10 and had his breakout role in 17 Again – where he played the teenage son of Mike and Scarlet O’Donnell (played by Matthew Perry/Zac Efron and Leslie Mann).

Michael Gray, who played the teenager who could turn into a superhero in the 1970s live-action Saturday morning children’s TV series “Shazam!,” has died. He was 75.

Gray died Oct. 16 from natural causes in Palm Desert, a representative for the actor announced Thursday. No other details were provided.

Based on the comic book superhero Captain Marvel, who first appeared in an issue of Whiz Comics in 1939, “Shazam!” aired for three seasons on CBS from 1974 to 1976. Gray starred as Billy Batson, a teenager who could transform into a grown-up superhero by saying the magic word “Shazam!” In his enhanced form, Captain Marvel possesses powers such as superhuman strength and speed, heightened intelligence and the ability to wield lightning. The character has since been renamed to Shazam.

“It was a lot of fun,” Gray said of the role in a 2012 interview with Fanboy Planet. “I didn’t know how much I would like it until years later when I found out how much of an influence my character was, and the show was, in people’s lives.

“There were such good moral values to the show,” he added. “I meet people 1792821573 who say, ‘You have no idea what you did for me as a child. You helped me get through life.’ … I didn’t know the show had that much strength and power back then.”

Born Sept. 2, 1951, in Chicago, Gray grew up in Miami Beach before making his way out west to pursue a career in Hollywood. He would frequently grace the covers of teen pop magazines, including Tiger Beat, thanks at least in part to his manager Charles Laufer, the magazine’s publisher.

“The teen idol angle was orchestrated to some degree,” Gray said during a Q&A event in 2012, according to Comic Book Resources. “I was interviewing for ‘The Brian Keith Show’ with Warner Brothers, and they also owned a news company that produced a lot of magazines. They wanted me to be the next David Cassidy. I was on the front cover of ‘Tiger Beat’ and it worked.”

Among Gray’s earliest screen credits were appearances on shows such as “Room 222” (1969), “The Flying Nun” (1970) and “Marcus Welby, M.D.” (1970). His first recurring role was on “The Little People,” also known as “The Brian Keith Show,” where he played a student doctor named Ronnie Collins. Gray also appeared in an episode of “The Brady Bunch” as Marcia’s boyfriend, Jeff.

Gray left acting not long after his run on “Shazam!” after feeling typecast in the roles that were offered to him. His later pursuits included work in children’s theater education and men’s fashion and owning a West Hollywood flower shop.

More recently, Gray’s legacy from “Shazam!” pulled him back into Hollywood. He voiced a version of himself as Sterling Archer’s childhood hero in four episodes of FX’s adult animated series “Archer” from 2015 to 2019. He also appeared in a cameo in the 2023 film “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” where he interacted with the latest incarnation of the superhero played by Zachary Levi.

Gray is survived by his wife, Stacy Benon Gray; his stepchildren Ryan Cooper and Laurel Cooper; and son-in-law Lee Barker.

A teenager who travelled from Norway to the UK to carry out a “hit” for an organised crime group has been sentenced to 20 years’ detention.

Johannes Natland, 19, was arrested in a hotel room in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, with two working guns and 19 rounds of live ammunition in March 2025, the Old Bailey previously heard.

During his retrial, a jury heard the teen was “recruited” by the Foxtrot Network, which was described as a Swedish organised crime group backed by the Iranian regime.

Natland, who had admitted to possession of the firearms and ammunition, was unanimously found guilty of conspiracy to murder and sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday.

The Foxtrot Network has been sanctioned by both the UK and the US for its close links to the Iranian government, with Natland’s target remaining unclear.

Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, said: “We haven’t been able to establish exactly who the intended victim was.”

The Foxtrot Network is known for pioneering a relatively new phenomenon of hiring teenage killers that Europol has called “violence-as-a-service” (VaaS).

At the sentencing hearing, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb told Natland: “The Foxtrot Network is an organised crime group which has developed an arm’s-length method of recruiting young people to carry out violent crimes.

“You were recruited to travel to England to kill an unidentified target.”

Natland flew into Manchester Airport on an emergency passport on 17 March 2025, shortly after his 18th birthday.

He was guided by videos on the messaging app Signal to Huddersfield, where the guns, a stolen car and a stash of cash were hidden.

He was prevented from carrying out the hit after Norwegian police arrested the teenager who had recruited him for the Foxtrot Network and found messages about the UK plot on his phone.

There was then a race against time to find Natland before he located his unknown target in England.

Addressing Natland, the judge said: “At the heart of this case is a stark fact. You agreed to assassinate another human being, a stranger to you, in a foreign country.

“You knew nothing of that person’s life or circumstances. You were just 18 years old when you placed yourself in readiness to murder for money.”

Coworker alerted police after receiving disturbing messages from 19-year-old suspect.

A ‌teenager arrested in a Chicago suburb had shared a document expressing ⁠white supremacist ⁠views and outlined an alleged plan to carry out a mass shooting, potentially targeting a Hindu place of worship, police in the US state of Illinois have said.

Alexandros Paporakis, 19, of Palatine, was arrested on Sunday after an individual reported receiving concerning electronic communications from him, Palatine police said on Wednesday. It was not ⁠immediately clear whether he had legal representation.

Detectives searched Paporakis’s home and recovered a rifle, multiple loaded rifle magazines and hundreds of additional rounds of rifle ammunition.

“Among the recovered items was a tactical vest containing body armor and a patch displaying imagery associated with white supremacist extremism,” a police statement said.

Paporakis’s coworker reportedly told police that he openly identified himself as a white supremacist at work and said he “couldn’t wait” to kill Indian people, according to prosecutors from the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office.

Detectives recovered a document called “Why I fought: A.K.A.: (Aurora Shooter’s Manifesto)” which had sentiments expressing white supremacist and extremist ideologies, referencing violence towards South Asians, specifically Indians.

Authorities believed Paporakis was planning to carry out his attack on Sunday, possibly targeting a Hindu temple in Aurora, 40 miles (65km) southwest of Palatine.

“However, the specific intended location has not been confirmed and remains under ⁠investigation,” the police said, adding the FBI was assisting in the probe.

Police said Paporakis is facing felony charges of “making a terrorist threat” and possessing an unlawful weapon.

The suspect appeared for a detention hearing on Wednesday and his next court appearance is scheduled for the end of October.

Human rights advocates said hate against South Asians has surged in the United States in recent years due to rising anti-immigration policies and a rise in white supremacist ideology.

KATIE Price told social services she feared her then husband Kieran Hayler had groomed and sexually abused his alleged child rape victim, a court has heard.

The 39-year-old is accused of three counts of rape and one count of sexual assault against the girl between June and October 2016, when she was 13.

Katie told a social worker in 2018 that Hayler, 39, had been grooming the girl since she was 13 in a list of agreed facts read in Lewes Crown Court yesterday.

She alleged that Hayler had been grabbing the teen’s bottom, trying to kiss her and said he was falling in love with the girl, jurors heard.

The social worker then informed Sussex Police about the allegations.

Authorities contacted the mother soon after but she told police her daughter did not want to talk about it or take the allegations any further.

SCHOOL SHOCK

Olivia Bowen’s son, 4, almost loses his eye after becoming impaled on stick

TRUE WARRIOR

Moment Celine Dion falls over live on stage – but doesn’t miss a beat

Defence barrister Arlette Piercy asked the mother if she had betrayed her daughter’s trust by going to Katie Price with her allegations in 2017 – nearly a year before she reported them to social services.

She asked: “You said you felt you had to tell Katie Price. “You went behind your daughter’s back?

The mum – who cannot be named for legal reasons – responded: “Yes, she probably didn’t want anyone to ever know.

“It probably did cause arguments. We did have a big fall out.”

Asked if the girl was “OK” about her telling Ms Price, the mum said: “No, she wasn’t OK about it.

“But I said to (the girl) because the marriage situation (with Kieran) had broken down, it was only fair that I let Katie know.”

The child told her mum that Hayler had “done everything” to her during a conversation in 2017 – almost a year after his last alleged attack, jurors were told.

The woman then informed former glamour model and mum-of-five Ms Price, 48, weeks after she was told.

Speaking about when she told Ms Price, the woman said she told her: “I think Kieran has done something to (the girl).”

She told the court: “She was shocked and probably swore.”

The mum said she felt “like I have to” tell Ms Price, who was having marriage problems with Hayler at the time.

She added: “She was quite angry and I didn’t feel that she was particularly upset for (the girl).

“I just felt that she was angry and feeling revengeful towards Kieran for the situation they were in.

“And she said, ‘Well, you could get him into trouble if you told somebody’.”

The woman – who said her daughter did not want to tell authorities about the allegations – continued: “I said we have to respect her wishes, she doesn’t want anybody to know, we have to just look after (the girl).”

The girl – now aged in her 20s – denied making up the claims and became emotional, leaving the courtroom at one point as she faced questions from Hayler’s legal team.

The court was shown a video of her police interview from 2021 where she recalled the alleged abuse, sobbing as she said “I thought it was my fault for ages”.

Jurors previously heard Hayler allegedly begged the girl to not tell anyone and told her to “take it to the grave”.

The court also heard previously that before the first alleged rape, Hayler told the schoolgirl he really liked her and began speaking to her about sex – he is accused of raping the girl again on two further occasions.

The girl, who is not a member of Hayler or Katie’s family, contacted the NSPCC in December 2021 when she was aged 18, which prompted an investigation, it was said.

Former stripper Hayler denies all the allegations, which are said to have happened at an address in West Sussex.

The trial at Lewes Crown Court continues.