terrifying

TWO years on from the terrifying ordeal which saw Holly Willoughby fearing for her life, the former This Morning presenter has said she’ll ‘never be the same’ in a teary admission.

Stalker Gavin Plumb was sentenced in July 2024 for soliciting Holly’s murder, kidnap, and the commission of rape in a horror plot.

The Security Guard was caught by an undercover police officer in a chatroom, who believed there was ‘immediate threat’ to Holly – who, thankfully, was never harmed.

In a candid new interview, Holly admits the situation has left her scarred.

“Things have changed, I’ve changed – certain things will never be the same,” she told The Times, admitting: “You can’t not change with something like that.

“And in some ways, I am stronger. And in some ways, I’m not.”

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Holly then broke down into tears as she discussed the situation, stumbling on her words as she began: “I still find it hard to…”

“I can’t… I’m sorry…” she admitted.

Holly continued: “I just don’t really have the words for it. It’s hard to explain…”

She added that the horror plot made her feel “vulnerable in a way that you haven’t ever imagined feeling vulnerable. And I don’t think you’re meant to test that, that vulnerability.”

In 2024, Plumb was jailed after being convicted of soliciting murder, incitement to kidnap and incitement to rape.

He was handed three concurrent life sentences – one for each of the offences – with a minimum term of 15 years.

It was found that he hatched a sinister plan to ambush his so-called “fantasy” Holly at her home and “stupefy” her using chloroform.

The 35st security guard then wanted to tie the star up and take her to a “dungeon” where her screams would not be heard “for miles”.

His twisted plans were only foiled when he divulged all the chilling details to an undercover cop on a site called Abduct Lovers.

Holly, who worked at the helm of This Morning for 14 years, stepped down from her role on the ITV show shortly after the chilling plot was uncovered.

It came after a tumultuous few years for her, with the exit of her longtime co-host Phillip Schofield and the shocking news of his affair with a young male staffer on the show.

She has now returned to work with a brand new show, Together, which airs on YouTube.

HOLLY Willoughby has admitted she knows “what real fear is” after a terrifying kidnap plot as she opens up on experiencing a “really difficult time”.

The presenter, 45, is gearing up to relaunch her career with her brand new show on YouTube.

But the last few years of her life haven’t exactly been plain sailing after she was the victim of a horrific kidnap, rape and murder plot back in 2023.

Security guard Gavin Plumb was charged in October of that year for soliciting murder and inciting kidnap and rape and was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 16 years.

Speaking about the difficult time of her life, she told Grazia in a new interview: “Everybody knows what happened and it was difficult. It was a really difficult time.

“It did set me back and made me realise, ‘Right, well of course you haven’t got everything figured out. Of course life is going to keep throwing challenges at you.”’

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“When something like that happens, suddenly everything else gets put into perspective and you know what?

“I don’t fear what people think because I know what real fear feels like.”

Last month, The Sun on Sunday reported that Gavin was caught with a sinister stash of pictures of her in his prison cell.

The disturbing haul was found by prison officers hidden under a mattress.

A source said: “Plumb is still obsessed with Holly. The pictures were taken from magazines.

“He should not have been allowed access to images of her.”

Despite everything she’s been through, Holly is focusing on the next chapter of her life as she moves on with her career relaunch.

Her new YouTube show ‘Holly Willoughby Together’ is set to launch on July 28.

Speaking at her launch event earlier today, she said: “The YouTube idea obviously I’ve been away for a little while and my kids, watching my kids how they use stuff now, you know they watch stuff on YouTube they watch stuff on Netflix that’s how they do things.

“I was like right how am I watching stuff now and I was walking the dog and I’d be listening to Spotify or a podcast and I’d come in and I’d start cooking lunch and then I’d be like oh watch that now.”

“You suddenly realise that the way you see and view things and watch things is very very different.

“I don’t feel like it’s just me, I feel like everybody’s doing the same sort of thing,” added Holly.

The mum-of-three explained she feels as though mainstream TV isn’t the only place that can breed success.

She said: “You see what Gary Lineker has just done with the World Cup, you know collaborating with Netflix and with music, people will go on Radio 2 but then they’ll also go on a podcast.”

Holly added: “I think being a little bit braver and not just going for the obvious options, is the thing that really got me and then I thought ‘yes.’

“I thought ‘that’s it, that’s what I want to do.’”

Holly stepped down from This Morning in October 2023 and despite appearing briefly on Dancing On Ice the following year, she has largely taken a break from the spotlight.

Her glitzy lifestyle YouTube series, which starts on July 28, has a similar format to ITV‘s This Morning.

She will drop two episodes every week, and they will include sections on cookery, lifestyle, fashion, beauty and real life stories, as well as celebrity guests.

The telly legend has already confirmed appearances from actor Stanley Tucci, Spice Girl star Emma Bunton, All Saints singer Nicole Appleton, and comedians Joanne McNally and Katherine Ryan.

IT was seen as total madness by many and a charade by others.

But pop duo Wham!’s 1985 trip to China for two special concerts in the newly opened communist state turned out to be a stroke of genius.

The gruelling ten-day trip saw Wham! become the first Western band to perform in Communist China, and helped fast-track school pals George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, now 63, to superstardom.

During their illustrious time together they sold more than 25 million records worldwide and clocked up five UK No1 singles including Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, I’m Your Man and Last Christmas.

Crucially the trip helped the duo crack America and, armed with their catalogue of hits and flanked by a camera crew, it was filmed for what would have been a gritty documentary about the band leading a Western revolution in the country.

Speaking in the documentary, George, who died on Christmas Day 2016, recalls: “It was historic. There were only a few things that you can do as a pop band that haven’t been done before.

“It was a great privilege being the first people to play real Western pop music to those people.

“I wouldn’t have missed it for anything. It’s just that it was a pretty hard couple of weeks.”

Wham!’s manager, Simon Napier-Bell, initially believed that getting renowned British director Lindsay Anderson on board to make the film was a massive coup which would add credibility.

But, it quickly became apparent they had completely different visions for the documentary.

George and Andrew just wanted to make a glossy concert film, while Lindsay, who openly criticised the group, was focused on a hard-hitting documentary about the westernization and opening up of Communist China.

And due to these creative differences the documentary was never shown and the tapes were archived.

Now, for the first time, the incredible footage has been unearthed and the historic trip is told in George and Andrew’s own words in the 90-minute film, Wham! 10 Days In China.

While often unpredictable, the late singer was by all accounts far better at playing the media game than his bandmate.

At a VIP screening at Soho House in London, Andrew told The Sun: “Frankly, I behaved like a bit of a t**t, honestly.

“We were relatively young, but we had also had a good two or three years worth of experience with the press.

“We knew the game. We knew what was at stake. We knew how to behave and how not to — but I just chose not to.”

The band had formed just four years earlier, releasing their debut single Wham Rap! (Enjoy What You Do) in June 1982.

Andrew knew going to China was a “risky” move for the famous duo, who had experienced phenomenal success but were yet to reach the international stardom they eventually went on to achieve.

He adds in the film: “Wham! In China . . .  I was cynical. Untried. Untested. Risky.

“I didn’t really like it. Landing in China, I felt we were there on false pretences. It was a circus. Wham! in China was more than just the shows.

“A show had to be made of Wham! in China and that meant official events, interacting with our hosts. It was just part and parcel of being there.

“Being dragged around to contrived scenes was not something either of us was particularly comfortable with.”

However they took the risk, determined to break the US market as quickly as possible.

Andrew continued: “To break the States was a huge ambition for any act — and George’s ambition overrode everything.

“However, he had suffered with his voice breaking down.

“He had undiagnosed polyps on his vocal cords at that point and so he didn’t want to spend months touring small venues. We wanted to fast-track Wham! straight to the top. Something was going to have to be done.”

Run like a royal tour, as well as the two concerts in Beijing and Guangzhou, the trip included a number of photo opportunities and government-organised events.

The whole tour was masterminded by Napier-Bell, who saw the opening of China as a way to make history and fast-track the boys to the top.

In return, China got foreign investment.

Alongside the more obvious choices, such as a trip to the Great Wall of China, Wham! were guests of honour at a State Dinner and a garden party at the Ambassador’s house inside the British Embassy.

Publicly, the pair put on a great show, making small talk and mingling with dignitaries.

But amusing new footage reveals the stars oscillated from finding the whole thing hilarious to being sick to death of being wheeled out to all and sundry.

During the dinner, they were presented with an intricate tapestry, prompting George to whisper to the camera like a naughty schoolboy: “It’s a bath mat. We will cut it down the middle. My mum can have one half and Andrew’s mum can have the other half.”

The long, drawn-out trip to the Ambassador’s house almost pushed them too far.

Andrew recalls: “Our schedule was such that we were being pulled in a variety of different directions.

“The Ambassador’s residence was a bit of 1930s Blighty transported into Peking. They seemed to exist in this colonial microcosm. It’s quite strange.

“There was nowhere to hide in there. I thought I would be polite and play the game, but Yog [George’s nickname] didn’t feel the same way. He thought it was an utter charade.”

George was so fed up with parts of the trip that he upped sticks and left Andrew in the middle of a cassette signing with fans.

His bemused bandmate was forced to make up excuses that George was feeling sick and needed a lie-down to cover up the fact the star had simply had enough.

In historic footage of the moment, seen for the first time, a baffled Andrew says: “He’s left me in the lurch before, but once bitten, twice aware — or twice as aware.”

Grilled as to how he would describe his partnership with George, he added: “Stormy, but mostly on the fair side. He’s a nice enough chap.”

While the band split in 1986, the pair went way back before fame, having known each other since 1973, after meeting on their first day at Bushey Meads School, Herts.

Asked if he found watching footage of his late friend difficult, Andrew added to The Sun: “Sometimes it catches me out.

“The moments that really appeal to me are scenes like the one where we are bickering in the back of the car — just two youngsters, two friends.

“They are the ones where you can see the essence of real friendship. They are the things I miss, as we are unable to share them now.

“Anyone who had his company and his friendship for an extended period of time will know he was a deeply caring chap, and we all miss him. To have lost the best friend I have ever had is difficult, as they are irreplaceable. A childhood friend who you have spent all those years with.”

The trip wasn’t without drama.

During an internal flight, one of the band’s trumpet players suffered a breakdown — stabbing himself in the stomach and forcing his way into the cockpit.

For the first time, backing singer Shirlie Kemp — who went on to become one half of Pepsi & Shirlie along with Helen DeMacque — speaks about how she was left terrified and covered in her bandmate’s blood.

Shirlie said: “It was one of the most scary experiences of my life.”

Despite the mile-high terror, Wham!’s trip was hailed a success, both in terms of winning over the Chinese with their music and cracking America.

Chatting to The Sun, Andrew says he believes his late pal would be most proud of the fact the gigs helped inspire a generation of children in China to get into music, many of whom had never even danced in public before attending the Wham! gig.

Andrew told us: “I think George would feel very much the same way as I, in that the legacy that exists for the Chinese people who were at the show is the most meaningful and substantial of all the legacies.

“It achieved what it was supposed to. The trip was designed to raise our profile in the US, as we didn’t want to do a long tour. Yog didn’t like being away from home for extended periods.

“He would find the fact that there are Chinese artists whose careers may exist only because they saw Wham! incredible.”

• Wham! 10 Days In China will be in cinemas from July 28 and will then air on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer in August.

AUGUSTA, Maine — The Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who shot a Colombian man in Maine this week is an Army veteran who has struggled with serious mental health issues since early childhood and never should have been given a badge and gun to patrol American streets, several of his close relatives told the Associated Press.

David Brouillette has a history of terrifying and violent behavior, according to those relatives. They accuse him of attacking women in his life over the years, and one shared a voicemail with the AP from last winter in which he told her that he thought someone should slit her throat.

Brouillette’s troubling past further challenges how thoroughly the Department of Homeland Security has vetted recruits as it went on a hiring spree to help carry out President Trump’s immigration crackdown.

At least 10 people have died in encounters with immigration agents since Trump launched the crackdown after retaking office, including 25-year-old Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a Colombian national who was shot and killed by Brouillette on Monday while in his car near his home in the coastal Maine city of Biddeford.

DHS, which hasn’t released the name of the officer who killed Durán Guerrero, has said the “vehicle attempted to flee the scene and, fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon.”

Brouillette didn’t respond to text messages or an email seeking comment. Three relatives who said they had spoken to him since the shooting, including an ex-wife and daughter, said he told them he acted in self-defense.

When reached for comment about Brouillette’s record and his role in Monday’s shooting, ICE spokesperson Lauren Bis said in a statement that “[w]e will never confirm or deny attempts to dox our law enforcement officers,” and that “[t]he ICE officer in question has nearly a decade of federal law enforcement experience with required training including use of force training.”

The White House referred all questions about the shooting and Brouillette to ICE.

A new career in ICE

Brouillette, 37, told his ex-wife Ashley Brouillette late last year that he had been hired by ICE. She said that because of his long history of psychiatric issues, she thought he was having a mental health episode and she didn’t believe him. She didn’t realize he’d been telling the truth until this week, when videos began circulating online of the moments surrounding the shooting.

Ashley Brouillette told the AP that she spoke to her ex-husband in a Facebook audio call, and he acknowledged that he had killed Durán Guerrero. Their 18-year-old daughter, Madison Brouillette, also told the AP that her father called her Wednesday and said that he shot and killed Durán Guerrero.

David and Ashley Brouillette were high school sweethearts who got married in 2007. She said she divorced him in 2009 because he had become physically violent with her, which began after she got pregnant with their daughter.

According to Ashley Brouillette, he once threw boiling water at her while she was holding their child — an incident her mother, Avis Collins, also recounted.

The abuse continued after she left him, she said.

David Brouillette doesn’t appear to have a criminal record in Maine, as a check with the Maine Department of Public Safety returned no records for him.

But hundreds of family court records obtained from the Augusta District Court clerk’s office detail years of allegations of physical and verbal abuse raised by his second ex-wife on behalf of herself and his daughters.

The ex-wife — whom the AP is not identifying because she fears retaliation — alleged that he had stalked and harassed her and physically and verbally abused his daughter, according to multiple requests for temporary protection orders. Brouillette tackled his teenage daughter and smashed spaghetti in her hair, and during another outburst, he dragged his daughter around the house as she cried, she said.

“Dave needs counseling or something for his PTSD & depression,” she wrote in an application for a temporary protective order on behalf of his teenage daughter that a judge granted in 2021.

In court filings, David Brouillette said that his second ex-wife had slandered him.

His oldest daughter, Madison Brouillette, said she also witnessed her dad’s volatility.

“I watched my dad struggle a lot with a lot of things,” she told the AP. She said she came home from school once and he told her he had been sitting on a tree stump with a gun to his head.

“If you don’t really, truly take care of yourself, there’s no way you can protect other people. And with my dad, he never wanted to get help,” she said.

An immediate relative of David Brouillette who spoke on the condition that their name not be used said he was diagnosed with severe bipolar disorder and attention deficit disorder as a child — a diagnosis that Ashley Brouillette confirmed. The immediate relative described him as “extremely mentally ill” and said he attempted suicide twice at age 12 and was hospitalized multiple times.

The relative said they’d been estranged for years after they broke off contact because they feared he would harm them. He did not respond to their outreach this week, the relative added.

A military deployment and law enforcement aspirations

Growing up in Gardiner, a city of about 6,000 people roughly 60 miles northeast of Biddeford, where Monday’s shooting occurred, David Brouillette was enchanted by law enforcement and the military, his relatives said.

High school yearbook photos show he was a member of the school’s Naval Junior ROTC, and he wrote that he planned to go to college and become a police officer.

Brouillette was initially rejected by military recruiters because of his mental health diagnoses, but recruiters encouraged him to go off his medications for a year and reapply, which he did, his immediate relative said.

He was eventually able to enlist.

According to U.S. military records, Brouillette enlisted as a chemical equipment repairer in the Maine Army National Guard but then changed jobs to be a medical logistics specialist. He was in the Guard from November 2007 until January 2010, according to records provided by the Pentagon.

A 2009 article in the Kennebec Journal listed Brouillette as a private in the Maine Army National Guard’s 152nd Maintenance Company in Augusta.

In January 2010, he joined the regular Army as a human intelligence collector. Brouillette deployed to Afghanistan from May 2012 to February 2013 and eventually left the Army as a sergeant in December 2015.

His immediate relative believes Brouillette’s time abroad worsened his emotional struggles: “Afghanistan destroyed him — trained him to be a killing monster, a machine. They took someone who was extremely mentally ill and turned him into a killing machine.”

Life after the Army

After his discharge, Brouillette held a hodgepodge of jobs — some in or adjacent to law enforcement — and was injured in an accident while training to become a firefighter, public records and court documents show.

Brouillette worked for the Maine Correctional Center — a medium-security prison — and for the state’s Health and Human Services Department, spending less than a year at each.

In 2019, court documents show, he was a police officer at a Department of Veterans Affairs medical center near the state capital, Augusta. A Veterans Affairs department spokesperson on Thursday referred questions about Brouillette’s employment to DHS.

But by the end of 2021, he wrote in a text message included in court filings, he was broke, going to school full time and making money delivering food for DoorDash.

Brouillette was enrolled in a firefighting program at Southern Maine Community College and was struck in the head by a steel beam while unloading a trailer at a training facility, according to a lawsuit he filed over his injury.

He sustained a concussion and post-concussive syndrome, with symptoms including impaired memory, cognitive deficits, headaches, vertigo and light sensitivity, and was unable to complete the program, according to the lawsuit, which was settled out of court.

In recent years, court filings show, he was collecting disability pay through the VA. He also drove a truck but quit in January 2025, citing health issues.

In March 2025, Brouillette passed an exam to become a real estate sales agent. His license was active until December. In a Facebook post, Realty of Maine announced Brouillette would be working in the firm’s Bangor office.

“David lives in Maine after retiring from the United States Army,” said the post, which has since been deleted. Brouillette is no longer listed as an agent on the firm’s website. Messages seeking comment were left for Realty of Maine.

In March, the Maine agency that handles child support matters filed a lien against him, public records show. The filing suggests that Brouillette may have been in line for a permanent impairment or disability settlement.

‘I don’t think he sees himself as a killer’

In late 2025, around the time he joined ICE, his ex-wife Ashley said he left a three-minute voicemail mocking her for taking out a restraining order against him. According to the message she shared with the AP, he repeatedly called her “disgusting” and suggested that she and the other women and girls in her “bloodline” should die.

“And all of you should have your f— throats cut,” the voicemail said. “Yeah, you should. Am I threatening that I’m gonna do that? Nope. Nope. But do I think that you should have your f— throats cuts? Or should have had them cut? Yep.”

She said she broke off contact with him until Wednesday, when his picture began circulating online.

Ashley Brouillette reached out to his current wife on Facebook and they spoke on the phone for several minutes. Her ex-husband spoke with her, according to cellphone screenshots of the phone exchange she shared with the AP. He acknowledged he had fatally shot Durán Guerrero.

“He was asking if I could tell them that he was a good person and not to talk about the abuse and stuff that I had endured while with him and he said that the most important thing is his character right now,” she said.

She said he told her he is now hiding in protective custody.

“I asked him why he did it,” she said. “He said it was a justified shooting. The guy was trying to run him over with a car.”

His daughter also said he told her it was justified.

“I don’t think he sees himself as a killer,” Madison Brouillette said.

“I think he thinks that he genuinely did the right thing,” she added. “All he said was that he did what he had to do. He said that he had to protect himself.”

Brook, Sisak, Swinhart and Galofaro write for the Associated Press. AP reporter Will Weissert contributed to this report.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has issued a warning to passengers about the dangers of packing power banks in hold luggage after a surge in lithium battery incidents on UK flights

UK-based airlines have prohibited a common electrical device labelled the ‘number one safety risk to aircraft’ after footage emerged showing it erupting into flames inside a cabin. Passengers on flights are being urged not to place power banks or vapes in their checked luggage as the busy summer holiday travel season gets underway across parts of the UK.

Several carriers have begun implementing outright bans on power banks that travellers use to charge their phones and tablets amid mounting safety concerns. Generally, power banks are permitted only in hand luggage, not checked baggage, because of worries they could explode and catch fire mid-flight.

Power banks house rechargeable lithium batteries, which pack a considerable amount of energy into a compact space, and when defective can trigger fierce fires that spread rapidly.

On BBC Breakfast today, correspondent Katy Austin described it as a ‘terrifying situation’ on a recent flight. She said: “Flames broke out in the overhead baggage compartment of an Air China plane last October. The cause is thought to have been a lithium battery. They’re in loads of commonly used devices like laptops, vapes, phones, and power banks. They can store a lot of energy in a small space, but if they overheat or are defective, this video of a test in a lab shows just how quickly a fire can start.

“Last year, UK authorities were informed of 643 incidents where lithium batteries were detected packed in hold bags. That’s nearly twice the number the year before. Reports of devices overheating or malfunctioning also nearly doubled to more than 200. Most were in the cabin where crew could deal with the situation. The fear is that incidents in the hold could not be discovered until it’s too late to control.”

“It contains a lot of energy in a very small space, which is fantastic for, you know, our devices. It means we can use them for longer. But the problem with that is when things go wrong, the fires can be quite ferocious and you can’t put these fires out in the way you can with a normal fire that you might have because these fires are like self fueling.

“The advice for plane passengers is to take items like mobile phones, vapes, and power banks on board with you. Never charge power bank on a flight and turn off laptops completely if they’re going to be put in check-in bags.”

The CAA revealed that reports of passenger devices overheating or malfunctioning last year were almost double the figure from 2024. Instances of lithium battery-powered gadgets being wrongly packed in hold baggage surged by 91% during the same timeframe.

CAA director of aviation safety Giancarlo Buono said: “Pack right for a safe flight, and that means don’t put your batteries in your checked bag. Take them into the cabin with you. This simple tip will make your flight safer for you, and the other passengers you’re flying with.”

Research involving airline passengers revealed that 36% have no idea about the risks associated with packing batteries in hold luggage.

easyJet

EasyJet enforces stringent rules stipulating that all lithium-ion batteries, spare batteries and power banks must be carried in cabin hand luggage only, with a blanket ban on hold luggage due to the risk of fire. Power banks below 100Wh (approximately 27,000mAh) are permitted without prior approval; those between 100-160Wh require authorisation from the airline.

Portable electronic devices containing batteries must be transported exclusively as carry-on baggage.

Should any of these items find their way into checked baggage, steps must be taken to prevent accidental activation and to safeguard the devices from harm; all devices must be completely powered down (not left in sleep or hibernation mode). EasyJet imposes a limit of 15 portable electronic devices per passenger.

Portable electronic devices housing non-spillable batteries must not exceed 12V or 100Wh, and passengers are permitted to carry a maximum of 2 spare batteries. When bringing smart baggage into the cabin, travellers must be able to quickly and easily detach and remove the lithium battery/power bank, although it may remain inside the bag.

Smart baggage will not be accepted for travel if the lithium battery/power bank cannot be readily detached and removed by the passenger. If smart luggage is to be checked into the hold, the lithium battery/power bank must be removed from the smart luggage at Bag Drop and taken into the cabin.

Any exposed terminals must be protected against short circuits. The lithium battery/power bank must be detachable, so if it cannot be removed from your luggage, the bag will not be permitted on board.

For more information, click here.

Ryanair

Passengers may carry up to 15 personal electronic devices (this includes but is not limited to: smartphones, tablets, laptops, cameras, handheld game consoles, headphones, power banks). Spare lithium batteries (including power banks) must be individually protected to prevent short circuits by placing them in their original retail packaging, or by otherwise securing terminals by taping over any exposed terminals or putting each battery in a separate plastic bag or protective pouch, and must only be transported in carry-on baggage.

Passengers are also permitted to bring up to 20 spare lithium batteries, as long as they don’t surpass 100Wh each. Spare lithium batteries, including power banks taken into the cabin, must not go beyond 100Wh and mustn’t be used to charge or power other portable electronic devices during taxi, take-off or landing.

They must not be placed in cabin baggage stored in the overhead locker. Rather, they ought to be kept in cabin baggage under the seat in front of you, or carried on your person.

Devices or batteries exceeding 100Wh are banned in both the cabin and hold, apart from electric wheelchair batteries. Spare batteries, including power banks, are not allowed in checked baggage.

For more information click here.

TUI

TUI’s regulations forbid passengers from packing loose lithium batteries, power banks, or spare batteries in checked-in luggage. These items must only be carried in hand luggage.

Power banks must generally not exceed 100Wh, and terminals must be safeguarded against short circuits. Devices shouldn’t be recharged while on board.

Dry AA(A) batteries (type Alkaline, NiMh, NiC) for small personal items such as a pocket torch or a radio are permitted, provided they’re inside the device or contained in sturdy packaging. When devices are placed in hold baggage, measures must be taken to protect the device from damage and prevent accidental activation; the device must be completely switched off (not in sleep or hibernation mode).

Spare batteries and power banks should be individually protected against short circuits by keeping them in their original packaging, with terminals covered in tape or placed in a plastic bag in hand luggage.

Airline approval is always required for medical devices. For further information, see section Baggage – Medical baggage.

TUI fly requires that all power banks must be carried in hand luggage, never in checked baggage. They must be packaged to prevent short circuits (original packaging or terminals covered with tape).

Generally, capacity is limited to 100 Watt-hours (Wh) per battery, with power banks not permitted to be used for charging devices or recharged while onboard.

• Hand Luggage Only: Due to fire risk, all lithium-powered battery packs must be in the cabin. Capacity Limits: Power banks up to 100 Wh (roughly 27,000 mAh at 3.7V) are generally permitted.
• Safety Requirements: Terminals must be protected against short circuits, such as by taping them or keeping them in individual plastic bags.
• In-flight Usage: Power banks cannot be used to charge phones or laptops during flight, nor should they be recharged using aircraft power outlets.
• Storage: Keep them in your seat pocket or under your seat, not in overhead bins

For more information click here.

Anna Maxwell Martin takes on an intimidating new role that’s miles away from Motherland in this gripping Apple TV drama

The new Cold War thriller features some very recognisable names.

Apple TV’s highly anticipated For All Mankind spin-off Star City is finally here and has received rave reviews across the board.

Taking viewers back to the 1970s in this alternate version of history in which the Soviet Union won the space-race, the series picks up with the Russian politicians, engineers, cosmonauts, and KGB agents overseeing more missions to the Moon.

While the USSR is still basking in the victory of becoming the first nation to put a man on the Moon in 1969, tensions are running high as the threat of the US still looms large during the Cold War.

The series begins today (Friday, 29th May) with six more episodes coming each Friday until a riveting finale on 10th July.

But who is in the cast of Star City? From a major sitcom star to actors from some of the most acclaimed dramas of the past few years, let’s take a closer look at where you’ve seen them before.

Star City’s main cast

Rhys Ifans – Chief Designer

Welsh film and TV icon Rhys Ifans portrays the secretive figure at the head of the Star City program, known only as the chief designer.

You’ll have seen him recently as Otto Hightower in House of the Dragon, HBO’s popular Game of Thrones spin-off, as well as portraying Xenophilius Lovegood in the Harry Potter franchise and as Curt Connors/The Lizard in The Amazing Spider-Man, a role he reprised in Spider-Man: No Way Home.

His performance as comedy legend Peter Cook in Channel 4’s Not Only But Always won him a BAFTA TV award, and he is also well-known for his role as Spike in Notting Hill opposite Hugh Grant.

Anna Maxwell Martin – Lyudmilla Raskova

Anna Maxwell Martin plays the head of Star City’s KGB surveillance department, Lyudmilla Raskova, in a performance the Guardian has described as “terrifying”.

Martin has appeared in a huge range of popular British dramas, including Line of Duty, Ludwig, and ITV’s Until I Kill You, which won her an International Emmy Award.

She has also won BAFTA TV Awards for her roles in Bleak House and Poppy Shakespeare and is well-known among comedy fans for playing Julia Johnstone in the hit BBC sitcom Motherland.

Agnes O’Casey – Irina Morozova

Irina Morozova, a recent KGB recruit at Star City, is portrayed by English and Irish actress Agnes O’Casey.

O’Casey has landed supporting roles in major dramas in the 2020s, including Dangerous Liaisons, Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, and Netflix’s Black Doves.

On the big screen she has appeared in Small Things Like These with Cillian Murphy and in The Miracle Club, Dame Maggie Smith’s final film.

Alice Englert – Anastasia Belikova

Anastasia Belikova is an untested female cosmonaut in the Soviet space program and portrayed by Australian actress Alice Englert.

Previously best known for her film roles, she has appeared in Ginger & Rosa with Elle Fanning, Beautiful Creatures with Alden Ehrenreich, and Netflix’s The Power of the Dog with Benedict Cumberbatch, which was directed by her mother Jane Campion.

Englert also appeared with O’Casey in Dangerous Liaisons, as well as BBC’s The Serpent and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, and made her directorial debut with the 2023 film Bad Behaviour starring Jennifer Connelly.

Solly McLeod – Sasha Polivanov

Sasha Polivanov is described as “a reckless cosmonaut who has yet to live up to his potential” and is portrayed by Solly McLeod.

McLeod is a British actor known for playing the title role in ITV’s adaptation of Tom Jones, and has also played Ser Joffrey Lonmouth in two episode of House of the Dragon with Star City co-star Ifans.

He is also set to appear in the major upcoming films Practical Magic 2 and Anxious People, adapted from the bestselling novel by Fredrik Backman.

Adam Nagaitis – Valya Mironov

In contrast to Sasha, Valya is a respected cosmonaut in the Star City program brought to life by British actor Adam Nagaitis. Nagaitis previously portrayed a Russian firefighter in HBO’s acclaimed miniseries Chernobyl.

He has also appeared in the film The Last Duel with Matt Damon and Adam Driver, as well as TV series The Responder, The Agency and A Thousand Blows.

Ruby Ashbourne Serkis – Tanya Mironova

Ruby Ashbourne Serkis is the actress daughter of The Lord of the Rings star Andy Serkis and will be portraying Tanya, the wife of one of Star City’s cosmonauts.

She has previously appeared in TV series Shardlake and I, Jack Wright, as well as two recent Cillian Murphy films; Netflix’s Steve and the Peaky Blinders movie, The Immortal Man.

Josef Davies – Sergei Nikulov

Josef Davies portrays Sergei Nikulov, a young engineering prodigy working at Soviet Ground Control. Davies is best known as Sören in Young Wallander and he has also appeared in Andor, Grace, and Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials, as well as the hit WWI film 1917.

Supporting cast and guest stars

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Star City also features an extensive cast of supporting stars. They include:

• David Dencik (The Assassin) as Maxim Tarasov
• Eliot Salt (Rivals) as Vika Yegorova
• Ellie Piercy as Galina
• Robin Berry as Rem Balabanov
• Chris Leaney as Viktor
• Eadie Johnson as Zoya Morozova
• Aurelijus Pocius as Zhenya

There are also some major names and rising stars making guest appearances throughout the first season. They include:

• Niamh Algar (The Iris Affair) as Yana Akhmatova
• Jenny Walser (Heartstopper) as Leonova
• Sam Strike (Outer Range) as Pavel Fetisov
• Ian Drysdale as Doctor Borovsky
• Sam Wilkinson as Alexei Leonov
• Neringa Bulotaité as Natalia Ivanovna
• Sean Gilder as Vladimir Belikov
• Jamie de Courcey as Stanislav Kalinsky
• Fadily Camara as Celine
• Michael James as Galytzin
• Šarūnas Datenis as Arkady
• Priya Kansara (Bridgerton) as Lakshmi, a gifted scientist

Star City continues Fridays on Apple TV.

THE UK’S tallest spinning pendulum ride has officially launched at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, and I was lucky enough to climb aboard before it opened to the public.

Called Aviktas, the £9million attraction made its debut on 21 May after more than a year under construction.

Spinning riders 138ft in the air, it is the biggest gyro-swing in the UK — nearly double the height of the previous record-holder, Maelstrom at Drayton Manor, Staffs, which tops out at 74ft.

The ride has been built on the former site of the Bowladrome, a popular arcade and bowling spot that had been part of the Blackpool seafront since the 1960s before closing last year.

Now that space is home to four enormous legs, each weighing 16 tons, which anchor Aviktas’s towering structure.

At the end of a swinging arm sits a circular gondola, where 40 riders are strapped into outward-facing seats.

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From there, the pendulum swings up to 120 degrees over the Blackpool coastline.

So what did it actually feel like to ride?

Aviktas was far more intense than I was expecting.

As you are strapped in, a thumping soundtrack composed especially for the ride pumps out from all directions, helping to build the suspense.

But what sets Aviktas apart is the lack of over-the-shoulder restraints — the only thing holding you in here is a lap bar, which really ramps up the fear factor.

Before you know it, the floor below you drops to leave your feet dangling, and the swinging begins.

It is gentle at first, but as each swing climbs higher than the last, so does the G-force — with the rush of air pushing your cheeks back as you plummet between arcs.

But the best bit comes right at the top.

For a few seconds at the peak of each swing, you feel weightless, as if floating in mid-air, while the crowds stare up at you from below.

Then you whoosh back down and do it all again on the other side.

It is terrifying but exhilarating — made worthwhile by the views, which offer glimpses for miles down the coast, right down the promenade to Blackpool Tower and beyond.

This is a proper stomach-churner but, if you are anything like me, you will be eagerly queueing up to ride it again before your feet hit the ground.

It is surely the best ride of its type in the UK right now — but it is also just one of many reasons to head to the Lancashire coast this summer.

The new ride arrives during a big year for Pleasure Beach, which celebrates its 130th anniversary as the UK’s oldest amusement park, having first welcomed visitors in 1896.

It has remained family-owned ever since.

Earlier this year, it was named one of the world’s best theme parks by Tripadvisor, the only UK park to make the top ten.

Last season saw the revamp of Launch Pad (formerly Ice Blast), and River Caves is also on the list for an overhaul soon.

What is more, the Pleasure Beach is one of the cheaper big theme-park days out in the country, with standard prices starting from £28 for kids and £30 adults.

For those who like to keep their feet on the ground, there is a new ticket type called Flex Pass.

Costing £18, it is aimed at non-riders and includes park entry, a ride on the Pleasure Beach Express, and the option to buy individual ride tickets as you go.

Looking for somewhere good to stay nearby?

The award-winning Boulevard Hotel sits right under the massive drop of the Big One coaster.

Just a one-minute walk from the park, it boasts rooms with sea or park views.

They start from £85 a night and even include free Pleasure Beach tickets.

With overseas travel looking a bit less certain this summer than it has in recent years, more of us are looking for staycation fun at the British seaside.

Trains from London run to Blackpool in just over three hours.

From Manchester, it is barely more than an hour.

There is also the Sandcastle, the UK’s largest indoor waterpark, which celebrated its 40th birthday earlier this year with a £500,000 refresh.

Inside are a dizzying 18 slides and a huge wave pool, kept at an inviting 30C no matter what the weather is doing outside.

Tickets start from £24.95.

Throw in Blackpool’s Tower, the Illuminations, and fish-and-chips for good measure, and you have a budget break for the family that can more than match any excitement abroad.

The BBC star finds it ‘heart-breaking’ that her great x3 grandfather had such a difficult start in life – and was later declared ‘destitute’.

Zoe Ball was famously the top-earning presenter at the BBC, earning a high of £1.4million a year as host of the Radio 2 Breakfast show back in 2021. But in the new series of Who Do You Think You Are?, the radio star discovers that her great x3 grandfather James Temby, a Cornish miner, was deported from Guernsey as a young father for being “destitute”.

He and other members of the family, who had travelled there to start a new life with the promise of work in the granite quarries, were ordered out after two years. And this came after he’d already had a particularly tough start in life – spending six weeks in Bodmin jail as an illegitimate two-year-old after his single mother Julia was locked up for six weeks in 1851 for an “assault” an another woman.

On hearing how the pair of them would have spent time in the pitch black at the Cornish reform prison, which restricted access to light in order to encourage better behaviour from inmates, Zoe is horrified. “It’s heart-breaking isn’t it?” she says.

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Standing in the tiny, draughty cell – which could have been the very one where her ancestors were incarcerated – she also learns that the prison was silent, and so all speaking was banned, and that the inmates also had their heads shaved to prevent lice.

Zoe gasps: “That’s tough living isn’t it? It’s pretty devastating to think of a two-year old living in these conditions. Must have been terrifying for both of them.”

Jess Marlton, general manager of The Bodmin Jail which is now a hotel and museum, agrees: “Trying to keep a two-year-old quiet I should think was quite a challenge.” But she explained: “There was nowhere else for him to go and no other means to support him.”

Zoe stays the night in one of the converted cells and admits she had to “sleep with the light on”. Afterwards there is happier news when she discovers that James went on to marry her great x3 grandmother Mary Ann at the age of 19 and, despite the setback in Guernsey, he and his family fared better once they returned to England. They were initially sent to Plymouth in 1869 but by 1875 had moved 400 miles north to County Durham, which is where Zoe’s late mother Julia grew up.

James successfully secured work in the coal mines and they also ran a greengrocers shop. By the time he died 40 years later, at the age of 73, he was said to be held in the “highest esteem” by the local community. Shown a picture of the shop, based in Hunwick, Zoe says of Mary Ann: “There she is, she’s got her pinny on ready to work. It’s so wonderful to see their faces.” The couple had five children who all went on to marry.

Zoe – who’d speculated at the start of the film that she was descended from “a long line of wrong ’uns” – is thrilled to see that James was “respected in the end”. She admires the “strength and resilience” he showed in moving around to find work and support his family and feels she was actually “quite wrong” about the family history journey she’d expected to go on.

Zoe, 55, also tells the programme that she was brought up by her dad, former TV presenter Johnny Ball, from the age of two when her parents divorced, and didn’t have any contact with Julia for 14 years – which was “pretty tough”. Having fully reconciled with her mother in her later teenage years, she says that Julia’s death, in 2024, made her take a long hard look at her own life. “It really made me step back and reevaluate what’s important,” she explained. Speaking of her 15-year-old daughter, Nelly, she said “I really just want to be mum and be around for her, before she’s grown up and off into the big wide world like her brother.”

In the programme the former Radio 2 breakfast star also learns that her impoverished maternal grandmother was a serial fantasist who had “delusions of grandeur”and was sent to a mental hospital.

Margaret ‘Peggy’ Minto was committed for acute mania after being put on trial for shoplifting. Poor Peggy’s fantasies continued even while she was undergoing treatment, which included electroconvulsive therapy – an electric current passed through the brain.

Zoe’s only regret is that Julia did not live long enough to find out the fascinating details of their shared ancestry. “It’s been hard to do this without Mum,” she sighed. “I want to ring her up – I know she’d be really chuffed.”

– Zoe Ball’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? airs on BBC1, May 26 at 9pm.

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