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RUSSELL Brand’s family are said to be deeply concerned for his wife and fear the disgraced comedian “totally brainwashed” her into believing he is innocent.

Besotted 39-year-old Laura Gallacher is said to remain fiercely loyal to her sicko husband – despite him being convicted of rape and three sexual assaults.

Relatives worry that Laura has been so swayed by rapist Brand that she refuses to accept the evidence against him, the Mail reports.

It comes after The Sun revealed that Laura – who has stood by her hubby throughout the trial – is in two minds about attending the sentencing hearing tomorrow.

Sources close to her family claim she has been left convinced that the 51-year-old is innocent, and is even determined to support an appeal against his convictions.

One family friend told the Mail: “Russell gets what Russell wants. He has that charm and swagger, and Laura is besotted with him.

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“She goes along with what he wants, it’s like he has totally brainwashed her.”

They added that his absence could give Laura the opportunity to step away from his influence and reassess their relationship.

Brand faces a “lengthy” prison sentence after being found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault following a trial at Southwark Crown Court.

The offences involved four women and took place between 2005 and 2009.

He was also acquitted of two further counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault.

But the split verdict is understood to have strengthened Laura’s belief that her husband was wrongly accused.

A friend told the Mail she believes the jury’s decision to clear him of three charges proves the other allegations were also untrue.

Laura had attended court throughout the trial, sitting in the public gallery as six women gave evidence about their experiences.

She was regularly seen arriving alongside Brand, holding his hand as they entered and left the building.

The mother-of-three also took notes as the women described the allegations against her husband.

Those close to her reportedly noticed what they believed was growing anger as she listened to the evidence, which they claim she dismissed as lies.

In videos shared on the couple’s online show, Sunday Service With The Brands, Laura also spoke about the emotional strain of attending court.

During one recording, she described putting on her “armour” before entering the building.

She said she would begin to feel nervous as soon as she approached the street where the court was situated.

Brand, who has reinvented himself as a born-again Christian, regularly features alongside Laura in the online broadcasts, which include Bible readings, prayers and discussions about family life.

The couple have been married for nine years and share three children- two girls aged nine and seven, and a three-year-old son.

Laura, the daughter of former European Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher, is said to have found the guilty verdict particularly difficult to accept.

Brand was remanded into custody at HMP Wandsworth after the verdict, leaving his wife to leave court without him.

Sources claim she was shocked and extremely upset by his imprisonment and believes he has been badly treated.

Laura is understood to have taken comfort from the three charges on which he was acquitted.

The family are now said to be rallying around Laura and the children as they face an uncertain future.

Her older sister, former Sky Sports presenter Kirsty Gallacher, is among those supporting her.

Bernard and his wife Lesley are also said to have been left heartbroken by the scandal.

The family are particularly concerned about what comes next, with cops continuing to investigate further allegations against Brand.

The comedian faces separate rape allegations involving two more women, including a girl who was 16 at the time.

The Metropolitan Police investigation could lead to further charges and another trial.

Despite his convictions, Laura is reportedly determined to stand by her husband and support him through any future legal proceedings.

The couple had spent much of their time living in Florida before Brand’s trial, but Laura is now expected to remain in the UK while he serves his sentence.

Relatives are said to hope she will spend more time closer to them in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.

One family friend told the Mail: “You can’t help thinking life would have been way less painful for Laura if they had never met.”

A CLIP of Katherine Ryan discussing outing an industry “predator” on a show has resurfaced after Russell Brand’s conviction.

Ryan shared the screen with disgraced Brand on the Comedy Central series Roast Battle in 2018, before he was axed.

After he was yesterday found guilty of rape and sex attacks on a string of women, a video of Ryan discussing an abuser thought to be Brand has blown up.

In a 2018 podcast with Louis Theroux, she claimed to have confronted the unnamed man “again and again” while they worked together and referred to him as a “predator”.

When Theroux asked her what she meant by that term, the 43-year-old said: “I mean perpetrator of sexual assault.”

Ryan added: “But it is very dangerous for us to have this conversation. I’m happy to have it, but it is a litigious minefield.

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“Lots of people have tried to nail this person down for their alleged crimes and this person has very good lawyers.”

Ryan added word of the notorious abuser was an “open secret” in the industry as she told the shameful star to his face he was a “predator”.

When she was pressed for more details, she said simply that it was “not her story to tell” but that she had heard the allegations from “very credible” sources.

It is widely speculated the Canadian comic was referring to Brand, but she has not confirmed said predator or named the show she was working on.

However, following Brand’s conviction she has publicly said she feels “grief and relief”.

The stand-up star added there are “a lot of women speaking privately and quietly” following the verdict, who feel “a very nuanced mix of emotions”.

On her podcast Telling Everybody Everything, Ryan said: “It really made me feel just quite dysregulated again, caught off-guard, emotional, in awe of the survivors who also had nothing to gain.

“They came forward despite Russell Brand having fame, power, money, and a legion of fans ready to attack them.”

She added: “I will never be someone who like, dances on graves. There has been some justice done today. There’s a level of relief, but there’s grief alongside relief.

“Everything’s nuanced, and it was proved in court that a terrible thing happened, and that means that a terrible thing happened.

“I just think again and again about people who have been hurt, and who have to carry that, who’ve carried that around long enough, and will continue to carry that in some way, regardless of what justice is done.

“This verdict came because women were hurt, and I worry as well about what happens next.

“Because he’s obviously spent a long time cultivating this idea that the establishment have invented these claims against him, and he’s martyred himself to a growing audience who really still think that it is the courageous survivors who are the villains in this story.

“I just… I don’t know if you can podcast from jail. I hope not.”

Ryan also slammed Brand’s barrister Ian Winter KC who launched a foul-mouthed tirade at Sunday Times journalist Rosamund Urwin as he was leaving the courtroom.

He said to her: “I hope you are pleased with yourself”, and she was heard replying: “I’m pleased justice has been done”.

 Mr Winter said during the clash: “Well, it wasn’t. You f***** it.” “Congratulations,” he added.

Ryan said: “That was so unprofessional, so inappropriate, so aggressive. Really sickening.”

The “ruthless, calculated and manipulative” predator Brand is facing years in jail after he preyed on women between 1999 and 2009.

At a new luxury yacht club, boats will be outfitted with slatted decks, hulls and portholes, but they won’t be bobbing in a marina. Instead, they will be anchored to the dusty desert floor — in Joshua Tree.

Lucky Find Hospitality, a boutique hotel development and management firm, says the company is less than a year away from breaking ground on Compass Yacht Club, a nautical themed hotel where guests will stay in yachts designed to serve as hotel rooms. These rooms — specifically, 30 two-level luxury yachts and 28 boat houses — will be arranged in a circle around a central clubhouse that will feature a restaurant, bar and swimming pool, all just a five-minute drive from the entrance to the national park.

A rendering of one of the 58 boats that guests could book during their stay.

(Compass Yacht Club)

“You fall asleep in a yacht, wake up in the desert with a view of the mountains, and you’re a few minutes from one of the most beautiful national parks in the country,” said Nick Ovanessoff, managing director of the firm. “It sounds a little crazy, and that’s exactly why we love it.”

The improbable nautical-themed resort has been a long, hard labor of love, said Lucky Find Hospitality’s CEO, Rigel Bitterman. Born in Idyllwild and raised on a sailboat in San Diego, Bitterman grew up camping and rock climbing in Joshua Tree National Park. After helping to launch close to 40 boutique hotel projects around the globe, his company purchased a 23-acre parcel across the highway from Auto Camp in 2023. The team has been working ever since to clear the many geotechnical, biological and cultural hurdles that make developing anything in the high desert so challenging.

“It’s wild how long it takes to get things done out there,” Bitterman said.

A rendering of the interior of a room.

(Compass Yacht Club)

The property was already zoned for commercial use when Lucky Find Hospitality purchased it, but a section of the parcel is in a FEMA flood zone, which meant that the company had to work through the federal government as well as local municipalities to obtain permits and entitlements. Lucky Find has also prioritized environmentally friendly development processes, spending extra time to ensure that the Compass Yacht Club will use minimal water and be constructed of sustainable materials. To cause minimal impact on the environment, the yachts will be built off-site and placed on the desert floor by a massive crane.

Yet another challenge came from the local community, which has historically been hostile to new development. Bitterman has tried to play nice, hosting ongoing quarterly town hall meetings to keep locals abreast of the project and receive feedback from them, but the meetings are inevitably confrontational.

“I’m tarred and feathered every time,” he said.

One community member described the project as “gentrification at its finest” at a town hall last December. Another suggested that Lucky Find Hospitality replace the hotel’s yacht theme with something more appropriate for the desert: spaceships.

It seemed to be a popular idea.

“The whole room started chanting ‘Spaceships, spaceships,’” Bitterman said.

Each luxury yacht will be constructed of sustainable materials.

(Compass Yacht Club)

Despite the expected — and unexpected — challenges, Bitterman is confident the project will move forward. Approval on the final conditional use permit should be coming by the end of the year, which will allow portions of the property to open to the general public in addition to hotel guests. If all goes according to an already elongated schedule, the team will break ground in 2027 and Compass Yacht Club will open by the end of 2030. In the meantime, Lucky Find Hospitality together with its design partner Rad Labs, has a modular yacht hotel room design ready to go.

Over the past 10 years Lucky Find Hospitality has helped launch hotels where guests sleep in yurts, treehouses, glamping tents and Airstreams and. But Bitterman said Compass Yacht Club has been the company’s wildest, hardest and most dear to his heart projects yet.

“It’s partly my origin story, growing up on a boat and always being fascinated by boat design,” he said. “Everything we do is small and unique, but I’ve never been able to bring something to market quite like this.”

A CHART-TOPPING British band has revealed their “bittersweet” decision to split.

The country music duo, whose partnership has spanned 13 years and six albums, have confirmed their current tour will be their last.

The Shires, formed of Crissie Rhodes and Ben Earle and known for tracks such as Watching You Watching Me, hinted there could be a potential for a comeback and said: “Maybe one day we’ll be making music and touring again.”.

In a lengthy statement posted to Instagram, it stated Crissie would be “taking a well deserved break” for family life.

The band, who originally formed on Facebook, broke the news in a message which read: “After a busy 13 years together and six albums’ worth of stories shared on stages all across the world, we’re going to be taking time away from The Shires.

“With two young daughters at home, Crissie will be taking a well-deserved break to focus on family life and spend more time with her quickly-growing girls.

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“It’s a bittersweet decision, one that Ben completely understands and supports as a parent himself.

“We’ll both be cheering each other on for whatever our next chapters hold and who knows, maybe one day we’ll be making music and touring again.

“But for now, this will be our final tour as The Shires for the foreseeable future.

“We can’t wait to sing, dance and make some beautiful memories together on this tour, as we celebrate the amazing journey we’ve all been on together.

“Thank you for all the love you’ve given us, we’ll hold onto it forever. B&Cx”

Radio 2 DJ Bob Harris wrote: “…and we love you right back xx”

Country music singer Shania Twain then put: “Sending congratulations for everything you have achieved and all the best for what’s to come guys”.

On his personal Instagram page, Ben admitted he was struggling with the decision to split.

He told fans: “I completely respect and understand Crissie’s decision but truthfully it’s been a big adjustment for me and something I’ve been processing and working through.

“That’s why I’ve found it a bit tough to show up on here recently.

“I’m definitely turning a corner with it all though”.

The Shires’ 2026 UK tour will kick off in Glasgow on November 3.

It will wrap in Bristol on November 20.

Previously, Crissie said her pals feared the duo were “too young” for country.

She told us: “Our friends thought we were crazy and too young for country but we really believed there was a calling for country music over here.

“I was a wedding singer before, and I performed at functions and I sang everything I could possibly do, but I always loved country music.

“When we started working on this music, within eight months we had two record deals on the table. It was pretty amazing”.

Their 2015 release Brave peaked at Number 10 on the UK Albums Chart, making history as the first Top 10 album by a UK country group.