This Morning

TELLY host Eamonn Holmes’s ­girlfriend Katie Alexander says she’s had a “love” call from the star, who is still in hospital following a stroke.

It comes after we revealed she had moved out of his flat earlier this month.

Katie posted a video last week as she went for a stroll along a marina in a vest top, shades and headphones, adding a message: “When your man phones you to tell you he loves you.”

Tanned and relaxed Katie, 45, filming herself using a selfie stick, added the hashtags “you and me”, “meandE” — a ­reference to Eamonn — and “Lovewins”, with a heart emoji.

She also posted other selfie snaps from her sunshine break.

She wrote: “There is a quiet kind of strength in becoming comfortable with who you are.

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“No longer needing to prove, explain or seek validation — just choosing peace, protecting your energy and finding beauty in the life you’re creating.”

The £1.3million Surrey flat where they were living has now gone on the rental market.

The pair began dating in 2024 before Katie started staying at Eamonn’s home.

We revealed in April that Eamonn, 66, was found at his flat by a carer after a stroke.

He was previously wed to TV host Ruth Langsford, his former co-presenter on ITV1’s This Morning.

Janette Manrara spoke about her husband becoming the latest person to get eliminated from the BBC show.

Aljaž Škorjanec and Melanie Walters were the latest couple to get eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing.

Now former professional dancer on the BBC show, Janette Manrara, has shared how her husband Aljaz is feeling after he wasn’t saved by the judges during Sunday’s results show (October 11) with his celebrity partner Melanie Walters.

While she appeared on This Morning to speak with Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley about her role in a new play, the 42-year-old discussed balancing motherhood alongside her demanding career, particularly while Aljaz features on the BBC programme. The couple are parents to three-year-old daughter Lyra.

After praising their family and support network, she said of combining work and home life: “As long as you plan, if you’ve got a plan and you need the village. Between the two things, you can make it work. Aljaz has no clue, by the way, he just says, ‘Where is she today and who’s got her?'”

She continued: “He’s an amazing dad. At the moment, obviously, he’s left the competition now with Melanie (Walters). He’s sad about leaving the show, but he’s also super happy because he’s going to spend so much time with her (Lyra) now, which is nice.”

Although Aljaz is no longer in the running to lift the Glitterball trophy, he’ll still appear in the professional group dances. Elsewhere, Janette spoke candidly about her feelings upon missing out on the presenting role on the BBC show, reports Wales Online.

When veteran hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman departed from their positions on the BBC programme, speculation was running wild about who might step into their shoes.

While many had tipped Janette as a frontrunner — having previously been a professional dancer on the show before leaving to front spin-off programme It Takes Two — it emerged that she had auditioned for the role but was unsuccessful. The presenting duties ultimately went to Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and Johannes Radebe.

Ben noted that Janette had previously been forthright about feeling ‘heartbroken’ at being overlooked for the role. She responded: “Yeah, I’ve talked about it on Jamie Laing’s podcast, it was (tough) because Strictly was such a huge part of my life, I was there for almost 14 years.

“Aljaz is still in the show, so I just hoped that it would go in that way for me. But, it didn’t, and that’s ok because I think life finds a way of still giving you that magic that is needed for you. I really wanted to act. I had been working on my acting skills for the last couple of years, actually.”

She continued: “Then, I did Roxie Hart in Chicago on tour, and I got the bug for serious acting, so I really started to push that narrative. I think life has a funny way of closing one door and opening another, and that’s exactly what happened.

“Now I watch Strictly and watch Aljaz and everybody on the show, and I’m just buzzing for them. I’ve been there, and I know how exciting that feeling is.”

This Morning continues weekdays on ITV from 10am. Strictly Come Dancing airs Saturdays on October 17 from 6:15pm.

The parents of Leah Croucher spoke to This Morning hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard on Tuesday

Leah Croucher’s dad has made a heartbreaking admission.

The disappearance of the 19-year-old became one of Britain’s highest-profile missing person cases, after she vanished on her way to work in Milton Keynes on February 15, 2019. Leah’s body was eventually found more than three years later, just minutes from where she was last seen.

However, while the family were desperately searching for answers, they were wrongly targeted by online sleuths, and accused of being involved in her death. Leah’s parents, John and Claire, have now chosen to tell their story in a new documentary that shares the devastating impact that the case has had on their lives.

Ahead of the documentary airing tonight (Tuesday, October 13) at 9pm on U&W, John and Claire appeared on the This Morning sofa, where they spoke to hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard about the ordeal they’ve faced. During the interview, John spoke about his son, Haydon, who struggled to cope in the aftermath of his sister’s disappearance.

Haydon was Leah’s half-brother, who took his own life in November 2019 – nine months after Leah’s disappearance. On today’s This Morning, Cat Deeley said: “The other person it hit really hard was Haydon. When all the investigations started happening, he handed out leaflets, he tried his very, very best, but it affected him mentally in the end, didn’t it?”

John then explained how close Haydon was to his sister, Leah. “He just couldn’t cope. It destroyed him mentally, and the people played with him online. They tormented him, and it was just horrific to watch. There was no getting through to Haydon to try and calm him down.

“He suffered from bipolar, which made him worse, [and] paranoia. He was getting so angry, and I had to step back for Claire’s sake, for my own sake, to try and find Leah. It was like, ‘Haydon, you’re going to have to go and get help, [your] mum’s going to have to help you.'”

He went on: “Because his mother’s also a victim in all of this, which people forget. They all look at me and Claire, but Haydon has a mother. She’s suffering. How do you console a mother who has to read this evil stuff online about her son.”

Ben Shephard then said: “Tragically, it was too much for Haydon in the end as well, wasn’t it? So, you lost Leah and you lost Haydon. At that stage, you still didn’t know what had happened to Leah.”

Speaking about his daughter’s funeral, John later shared: “We had months to plan Leah’s funeral. If you lose a loved one, it’s days to weeks. Ours was months because of forensic tests that had to be done on Leah.

“We couldn’t dress Leah like you would dress your loved one. We’re never going to be able to give her a wedding, we’re never going to be able to do the normal things a family could do. So, I said to Claire, because Claire was so upset, ‘We can’t dress her, so let’s dress her coffin. Let’s make this the biggest thing we can ever do for her. Our princess. Let’s give her a princess funeral.’ And that’s what we did.”

Mourners lined the streets for Leah’s funeral back in 2023, which Claire said was “heartwarming”. She added: “It was crazy how many people came to pay their respects.”

This Morning airs weekdays on ITV at 10am, while The Search for Leah Croucher: A Parent’s Nightmare will air on Tuesday (October 13) and Wednesday (October 14) at 9pm on U&W

When life is difficult, Samaritans are available day or night, 365 days a year. You can call them for free on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org

Claudia Winkleman is known for her bold fringe and dark eyeliner

Recognised almost as much for her bronzed complexion, striking fringe and dramatic eyeliner as for her razor-sharp humour, Claudia Winkleman is adored by millions of television viewers. Claudia, 54, made her comeback to screens earlier this month for the second series of Celebrity Traitors on the BBC.

Claudia, who stepped down from her position as Strictly Come Dancing co-host last year, alongside Tess Daly, has previously joked that her distinctive look is what secures her work. She said: “I think it’s the only reason I get work. I’m sure TV producers go, ‘Who’s the one with the fringe? We’ll have her’.”

Claudia inherited her passion for a sun-kissed appearance from her mum, journalist and editor Eve Pollard, previously revealing: “Like me, my mum loves an orange glow, so I remember her swirling huge brushes of orange over her face and thinking it was the most glamorous thing ever.”

Looking like a ‘real-life’ pirate

She also told Closer Magazine: “I think my fringe starts at the back of my head, it’s got more weight to it than a tonne of bricks. They gave it to me and I knew that was that.

“You have to make much less effort when you have a really heavy fringe. I love eyeliner, but you don’t even need makeup really. If you’ve got a very heavy fringe, you’re wearing some old, battered, buckled-up boots and you’re holding a book then you’re done. You look like a real-life pirate”.

And while she undoubtedly possesses a distinctive style, a rediscovered photograph reveals Claudia sporting a more understated look.

In the image, captured for Red Nose Day in 2003, Claudia holds a giant cheque and appears without the heavily tanned complexion she’s recognised for, alongside lighter hair styled to one side.

While Claudia is currently most recognised for presenting The Traitors and Strictly, she launched her career conducting celebrity interviews on ITV’s This Morning. She also fronted several gameshows throughout the 90s.

ALISON Hammond has hit out at critics of her 22-year age gap with her Russian boyfriend, saying it’s insulting to give her a “wildlife classification” by calling her a “cougar”.

The This Morning host, 51, has been dating massage therapist David Putman, 29, for three years and insists they are happy together because they “make each other laugh.”

However, she said she faces more criticism as a “cougar” – a slang term for a woman dating a younger man – than older men who date younger women.

Asked about whether she found the term offensive, she said: “It depends who’s saying it and how they’re saying it.

“Sometimes I think it’s funny. Sometimes I think, ‘Darling, I’m not a cougar. I’m a whole safari!’

“But there is definitely a double standard. A man dates a younger woman and everyone goes, “Good for him.”

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“A woman dates a younger man and suddenly she’s been given a wildlife classification. Let women enjoy themselves!”

Speaking in the November/December issue of Attitude magazine, which is on newsstands today, she was also asked whether she has a message for those who judge their age difference.

The Great British Bake Off host said: “Mind your business! No, genuinely, I think people spend far too much time worrying about other people’s relationships.

“If two consenting adults are happy, loved,respected and making each other laugh,what exactly is the problem? People will always have an opinion.

“I’ve learned that you can’t live your life according to everybody else’s opinions because you’ll end up exhausted and miserable. Love who you love.”

Praising her partner further, she explained: “I love that we can make each other laugh. That’s the big thing for me.

“Life is too short to be in a relationship where you can’t laugh together. We’re different in lots of ways, but sometimes those differences are exactly what makes it interesting.

“And let’s be honest, I bring the life experience and he brings the youth. It’s basically a human multi-generational home!”

She received the Honorary Gay gong at Wednesday evening’s Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards at London’s Roundhouse, but missed the event after suffering a health scare last Friday which saw her rushed off This Morning to hospital.

In a comment on Instagram on Monday she admitted she “thought it was a heart attack, it was very scary,” although she has since been given the all clear.

JOOLS HOLLAND is recording a one-off TV special with Fontaines D.C.

Their fans crashed the website after he hinted at the band’s new record, Dopamine Chamber, without naming them as he announced the intimate show in London on October 12.

A mum of nine-year-old conjoined twins Callie and Carter has spoken about her decision to not separate them yet.

The mum of a set of conjoined twins has shared her decision to not separate them.

Idaho mum Chelsea and her conjoined twin daughters Callie and Carter appeared on This Morning on Friday, 2 October.

They told hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary about their life together, how they enjoyed playing together and how they learned to walk.

Chelsea also opened up about the experience of raising them, and what it was like for her after finding out that she was carrying conjoined twins. When Callie and Carter were born in 2017, they were initially given just 24 hours to live, but have defied medical odds.

She told Alison and Dermot: “I was 8 weeks 3 days when I found out I was having conjoined twins. The initial reaction from the doctors were just really like quiet at first, and once they came in, they told us our kids were stuck together.

“We were just shocked, we didn’t know what to think, we didn’t know how to feel. It was complete shock.” Talking about the first couple of days after giving birth, she went on: “The first 24 hours I wasn’t able to see them because I was recovering from my big surgery that I had with them.

“The first 24 hours were really hard because I didn’t see them until about 18 hours, I was a little worried that I didn’t have enough time with them. But they just kept thriving and kept going, and eventually, I was able to see them and we were able to tell them home.”

At the time, Chelsea and her partner were advised by doctors when the twins were just three days old to not separate them. She continued: “We had the big decision to make to see if we were going to separate them while they were little girls, so they didn’t remember but we decided to ultimately give them the option when they became older and understood the risks.”

Chelsea and her partner Nick previously appeared on This Morning when Callie and Carter were born, and addressed a possible separation in the future.

She said at the time: “I know definitely it will always be there. Whether it be a medical issue is my main worry or the point that the girls are like ‘we don’t want to be together anymore’.

“Of course we’ll have to see if there’s a medical issue that arises or if the girls do want to be separated we would consider a separation for their health. It’s their lives and they’re living it, we’re just aiding in the whole thing.”

This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1 and ITVX.

ITV This Morning star Ashley James has opened up about needing surgery for her health condition.

This Morning star Ashley James has spoken about needing surgery after suffering with incontinence.

Ashley, 39, frequently appears on the ITV programme alongside the likes of Ben Shephard, Cat Deeley and Nick Ferrari. However, instead of discussing the day’s headlines on Wednesday (September 30), Ashley spoke about issues she’s been dealing with.

Over the weekend, the former Made in Chelsea star opened up about suffering with incontinence in a post on social media. She said: “Lots of you will know that since having Alf I’ve lived with various birth complications, and one of them is incontinence.”

She went on: “Our bodies go through huge, sometimes permanent sacrifices to bring children into the world, and we deserve support, not shame.”

Ashley added: “I’m still doing my pelvic floor training, still putting off the surgery, but in the meantime I’m not letting it stop me living my life.”

She was widely supported for her post, and has now opened up on This Morning about the condition. Ashley explained how she’d been in Paris to see Celine Dion with her partner, and had left her washbag on the Euro Star which contained pads.

Without them, Ashley feared she wouldn’t be able to go out, as she said: “When you experience something like incontinence, you have to plan your days and evenings around this physical thing that nobody on the outside really sees but you know can happen. I try not to feel shame or embarrassment around it.”

Ashley explained how the incontinence began after the “traumatic” birth of her son, nearly six years ago, where she had both bladder and bowel incontinence.

“The reason we are so shamed into silence, it doesn’t help anybody, it doesn’t help women. And it is something where you feel you’re the only person going through it, or you’re embarrassed,” she went on.

Ashley explained that she had prolapse after giving birth to her son, which she didn’t realise she could have so young. After she gave birth, during check-ups, she didn’t have her stitches checked and admitted she felt like an “after thought”.

But when she returned to exercising, she received a message from a physio who had treated her from pelvic girdle pain, who diagnosed her with prolapse. It was then that Ashley was told that the faecal incontinence she was suffering from was “not normal”.

She continued: “I think because of so much secrecy and mystery around birth, I just assumed, in the ‘mother and baby doing fine’ that maybe everyone goes through this but no one talks about it because it’s really embarrassing and humiliating.”

Ashley was referred back to hospital, where she discovered she’d been not stitched up all the way, as well as the prolapse, confirming she now has to have surgery.

She added: “For anyone that experiences incontinence, it’s not something you have to put up with. And I will have to have surgery.”

This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV1 and ITVX

For more information, visit https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/bowel-incontinence/