Thompson

EMMA Thompson has reunited with a Love Actually and Nanny McPhee co-star for a new show 22 years after the iconic Christmas film’s release.

The heavyweight actors play married private investigators in new Apple TV+ thriller Down Cemetery Road, which sees them drawn into the mysterious disappearance of five-year-old Dinah.

Joe, played by Adam Godley, is tasked with investigating the disappearance which follows a fatal explosion linked to the Ministry of Defence.

In an intriguing first episode, Joe is believed to have taken his own life shortly after accepting the case, and Zoe is seen in a morgue where she identifies her spouse’s lifeless body.

Adam, 61, spoke to UPI about his connection with Emma.

He said: “We have a bit of history.

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“I’ve known Emma slightly for a while, so that was something we could already invest in their relationship and it helped us.

“She’s a glorious human being and a mighty impressive actor and, so, any time I spend with Emma is a good time.”

While filming the aforementioned morgue scene, Adam revealed he laid almost naked underneath a sheet in a cold room with his feet poking out the end.

Highlighting his co-star’s kind nature, he said: “To give you a sense of who Emma is, Emma was standing at the foot of the slab and she noticed my feet were poking out from under the blanket and she assumed my feet would be quite cold, so she just tucked them underneath her jumper, pressed them against her belly to keep them warm.”

In Love Actually, Adam played Mr Trench – a small role in a memorable scene at the end of the film.

Mr Trench leads the Christmas choir which features smitten schoolboy Sam drumming in a bid to impress popular classmate Joanne.

Emma played stay-at-home mum Karen in the film whose heart is broken on Christmas Eve when she discovers her husband has bought his secretary expensive jewellery instead of her.

Three years later, they both starred in Nanny McPhee, with Emma in the lead role as the magical disciplinarian who transforms the lives of the kids in her charge.

Adam played the vicar who officiates a chaotic wedding at the film’s climax.

Life-changing mental health walking and running groups are set to open all over the country in honour of Pride of Britain winner Marcus Skeet

The Mirror’s Pride of Britain Awards 2025 were a night to remember as ordinary people – who have done extraordinary things – were applauded for their hard work by a host of famous faces.

And when Marcus Skeet, the record-breaking charity runner and mental health champion received his Special Recognition Award, he got an extra surprise. After handing Marcus his trophy, pop star Anne-Marie, and podcast duo Pete Wicks and Sam Thompson revealed Pride of Britain had launched a special GoFundMe for mental health charity Mind in Marcus’s honour.

Money raised will pay for special mental health walking and running groups all over the country called Marcus’s Movers. The groups, which include mental health practitioners, cost £2,500 to set up.

READ MORE: Lydia Bright’s poignant foster care connection as she celebrates Pride of Britain kids

Sam and Pete kicked things off with a £5,000 donation on stage, and then Pub Landlord Al Murray took to the floor to persuade some other famous faces to chip in too.

Dragons Den tycoon Duncan Bannatyne donated £20,000, bringing the total raised on the night to £50,000, enough to fund 20 potentially lifesaving Marcus’s Movers groups. A stunned Marcus told Ashley Banjo: “From the bottom of my heart, that means the absolute world. I’m lost for words.”

Now you can help by donating to the GoFundMe to help Mind set up even more Marcus’s Movers groups in communities all over Britain. The Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards with P&O Cruises celebrate unsung heroes like Marcus. His own life was transformed by walking and running – the teenager went from the lowest possible ebb to becoming a record-breaking charity fundraiser and Pride of Britain winner.

He was 12 when his dad was diagnosed with early-onset dementia. Marcus’s physical and mental health rapidly declined and he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and intrusive thoughts which dramatically impacted his life.

At 15 he was in “one of the darkest places”, and attempted suicide after spending months alone in his room with no contact with the outside world. Desperate to turn his life around, Marcus, now 17, started walking short distances at first, before building up distance and speed until he was jogging longer routes. He says: “My mental health was at an all time low so I decided to run, not just for mental health but to raise awareness. Running pushed my body and mind and the feeling after a run was like nothing else.”

Since then, Marcus has raised more than £200,000 for Mind through running, including a run from Land’s End to John O’Groats. The gruelling 874 mile challenge saw him become the youngest person ever – and the first under 18 – to run the entire length of the UK.

Marcus has documented his journey on social media in the hopes of inspiring others who are struggling with their mental health. He says: “Life is brutal, sometimes you feel like you’re in a place you can’t get out of. But I promise you, every road may have speed bumps but you’ll get over them. Mental health is such a big thing, everyone is different but I find running helps mine.”

Find out more about Marcus’s Movers and donate at gofundme.com/f/marcus-movers

“What a horrible story! What a hideous play!” a theater critic for the Daily Telegraph lamented after the London premiere of “Hedda Gabler” in 1891. Victorian audiences were repelled by Henrik Ibsen’s fatally attractive newlywed who appears to have it all — the fancy house, the doting husband — only to be violently bored.

But writer-director Nia DaCosta (“Candyman,” “The Marvels”) and her star Tessa Thompson understand Hedda down to the pretty poison in her molecules. Their rollicking redo, set from dusk to hangover at a drunken bacchanal, is vibrant and viciously alive. With apologies to Ibsen’s ghost, DaCosta’s tweaks have sharpened its rage. I don’t think that long-dead critic would like this “Hedda” any better. I think it’s divine.

Thompson’s Hedda is a clever, status-conscious snot raised to believe that her sole purpose is to be a rich man’s wife. With no hobbies or career and no interest in motherhood, her only creative outlets are squandering money and machinating the success of her milquetoast husband, middlebrow academic George (Tom Bateman), who has such a flimsy hold on his bride that his last name might as well be attached to hers with Scotch tape. (It’s Tesman and it’s pointedly rarely used.) Hedda doesn’t love George. In fact, she seems to think he’s a whiny little worm. But she’s dead-set on securing him a promotion to afford her expensive tastes.

If Hedda had been born a man, she’d be leading armies into battle like her late father, General Gabler, who spawned her out of wedlock. Instead, she takes out her aggression on civilians. Using her charm offensive, Hedda goads naive spouses to cheat, recovering alcoholics to drink and depressives to wander off into the darkness with a revolver. Some of her havoc is calculated, most of it is out of pique that others are living braver, more fulfilling lives. All of it feels like a cat tipping over water glasses just to see them shatter. Like the nasty seductress of “Dangerous Liaisons,” she’s a warning that frustrated women aren’t merely a hazard to themselves — they’re a menace to the society that made them.

Inspired by her antihero, DaCosta manipulates Ibsen to suit her own goals. She’s updated the play’s setting to 1950s England, a similar-in-spirit era in which well-bred women were kept domesticated. (I can’t wait for someone to do a version among the tradwives of Utah.) From there, DaCosta has smartly tightened the narrative, which used to have a key scene at an off-stage bachelor party to which Hedda was pointedly not invited. “What a pity the fair lady can’t be there, invisible,” Ibsen’s Hedda grumbled at being left home while the men got to carouse.

In DaCosta’s version, the whole drama unfolds during a martini and cocaine-fueled rager at Hedda’s mansion, a party she’s throwing to impress George’s potential new boss, Professor Greenwood (Finbar Lynch), who she hears has a bohemian streak. At her own happening on her own turf, Hedda couldn’t be more visibly in command. She rallies the guests to hurl her former classmate, Thea (Imogen Poots), a wretchedly earnest drip, into a nearby lake and gets the whole room grooving to a dance band’s cover of “It’s Oh So Quiet,” the swinging hit that the Icelandic pop singer Björk would popularize a half-century later. It’s a great song pick with manic crescendos — You blow a fuse, zing boom! The devil cuts loose, zing boom! — that capture Hedda’s feverish mood shifts.

We know this evening will go wrong from the film’s opening shot of Hedda facing down two policemen who keep interrupting her explanation of the last 24 hours. “Where should I start?” she says with smothered exasperation. As we cut back to watch the night unfold, a shot of Hedda surveying the crowd from an upstairs landing feels like she’s looking at a game board — Clue, perhaps? — with a weapon stashed in every room. Which threat is most pressing? The pistols she keeps in a leather box, the precarious crystal chandelier or the lake’s deep waters outside?

Thompson is marvelous in the role. Even the way she chomps a cherry off a cocktail toothpick has menace. I first saw her as the lead in “Romeo and Juliet” at a 99-seat theater in Pasadena when she was barely 20 years old (there’s so much talent in our small stage scene), so it’s a nice reminder that the funny and soulful actor of the “Thor” and “Creed” franchises is also a hell of a good classical performer and a worthy star on her own.

She wears Hedda’s lovely mask with confidence — red lips, lush cheekbones, cool demeanor — and periodically allows it to slip. Editor Jacob Schulsinger often allows Hedda a tiny hesitation before she charges ahead ruining people’s lives, long enough to know that she’s considering the consequences. “Sometimes I can’t help myself, I just do things all of a sudden on a whim,” she admits to the nosy Judge Brack (Nicholas Pinnock), revealing a sliver of weakness. She’s almost (nearly) asking for help. Yet, the judge just wants to maneuver her into bed. How tedious.

DaCosta boldly layers race and sexuality on top of Ibsen’s tale. She’s gender-swapped Hedda’s ex-lover, Eilert, into a lesbian named Eileen (a swaggering Nina Hoss), a brilliant, openly norm-defying author who is George’s job-seeking competition (and the only person Hedda enjoys kissing). If earlier incarnations of Hedda didn’t dare defy social rules when she was white and straight, being Black and queer adds so much additional peril that the script barely needs to say out loud. The new tension is there in just a few whispers, as when Hedda overhears a guest murmur that their hostess is “duskier than I thought she would be.” Hedda doesn’t acknowledge the slight. That would mean admitting vulnerability. She simply starts destroying the speaker in the very next scene.

What’s wiser? Eileen’s determination to face down the boys and be accepted for her full self or Hedda sneaking around and steering everyone’s fates behind the scenes? They can’t team up — they’re doomed to tear each other to shreds. And as much glee as we get watching Hedda’s rampage, it aches to see these two formidable women reduce each other to hysterics (to use the medical diagnosis of the day).

From our 21st century perspective, they both have a right to be mad and they both might be mentally ill. DaCosta doesn’t offer a verdict, but she plunges us so deeply into Hedda’s headspace that we can hear how certain things set her off. Insults hit her with a knife-like hiss of air; fresh schemes get her charging around to Hildur Guðnadóttir’s tumultuous, percussive score.

Costume designer Lindsay Pugh has done incredible work outfitting the film’s central female roles. Hedda wears bullet-like strands of pearls that choke her neck and a jade-colored gown that seems to molder into a festering, jealous shade of green. When her rival, Poot’s Thea, arrives underdressed, Hedda forces her into a hideous frock with fussy bows and an ungainly skirt. Poots, her nose raw and red, her character kicked when she’s down, gamely looks a fright, trusting that moral fiber will expose Hedda’s ugly insecurities.

But Pugh’s stroke of genius is putting Eileen not in some sort of mannish suit but in a bombshell dress that highlights her curves like a primal goddess. It’s pure feminine power — just like the film itself — and when Eileen struts into a room of her all-male colleagues, that dress exposes how fast the tenor can shift from awe to jeers and how little wiggle room she or any woman has for error.

Chelsea’s dominant victory over Paris FC was lit up by the newest member of their attack, Alyssa Thompson, who traversed the Stamford Bridge pitch with agile runs and eventually got the rewards her efforts deserved.

Thompson may be just 20 years old, but her arrival at Chelsea was accompanied by lofty expectations arising from the club record price tag. Now, in her seventh appearance, she has finally got off the mark.

She darted down the wings and led her side’s counter-attacks, showing expert positioning to put herself in the right place to be able to set up Johanna Rytting Kaneryd’s goal, and tapped home an excellent Keira Walsh delivery to get her first goal for the club.

It was an impressive display, but, says manager Sonia Bompastor, the best of her is still to come.

“A young player, a lot of talent, but I think we haven’t seen yet the best of her, but hopefully we will see that soon,” said Bompastor.

“She is coming from abroad, she speaks the language, which helps, but again, it’s a new environment, a new club, she needs to learn to connect with new players on the pitch, new team-mates, so hopefully, even sooner, we will see an even better version.”

Thompson’s first goal is one which will put her at “ease”, says Brighton forward Fran Kirby, who previously spent nine years at Chelsea.

Former Scotland captain Rachel Corsie added that now Thompson has scored, she imagines the “floodgates will open”.

“She’s been a real bright spark,” Kirby said on BBC Radio 5 Live. “I think against Tottenham she looked really sharp, it was probably that final product.

“Today, getting that assist and goal will make her feel a little bit more at ease going into the next game. A little bit of pressure off.”

It was a moment that should have been celebrated on both sides of the Atlantic. What could prove to be the most expensive transfer in women’s soccer history — and already is the largest outgoing transfer in NWSL history — had sent Alyssa Thompson from Angel City and the NWSL to Chelsea of England’s Women’s Super League.

It was a monumental deal, one that could come to define Thompson’s career and help repair Angel City’s brand as a rich club that has mostly bumbled its way through its first four seasons.

It was a massive win for the player and both clubs.

Yet before the ink on the agreement had dried Angel City was already tarnishing what it should have been cheering. Coach Alexander Straus refused to even say Thompson’s name, opening a conference call with reporters Thursday by insisting he would not answer questions about “a certain player” or “a certain transfer.”

It was the second time in four days Straus refused to acknowledge his team’s best player.

Thompson, of course, has never been “a certain player” or “a certain transfer.” She’s a player Angel City moved heaven and earth to draft and sign in 2023, giving her a contract worth an estimated $1 million, then one of the richest in the NWSL. She’s a player who went on to become the club’s all-time leader in goals and rank sixth in appearances.

The least the coach could do is say her name.

Then three hours after that conference call, and about an hour after Thompson’s transfer became official, the club muddled things even further by reaching out to anyone who would listen to say it had done everything it could to keep Thompson, who had professed her desire to stay with Angel City when she signed a long-term contract extension just nine months earlier.

Thompson has the right to change her mind when a better opportunity comes along, of course, and Chelsea offered exactly that. Just 20, Thompson has already proven to be one of the most dynamic players in the world but she hasn’t come close to realizing her full potential and it’s unlikely she would have stayed in the NWSL.

The transfer was necessary for Thompson to find out how good she can be. And just as important is the fact that Thompson, who lived with her parents for the first year of her professional career, will now be on her own for the first time. How she adapts will no doubt have a major influence on her career as well.

But the club’s admission it did everything it could to keep her — a message aimed at fans angry at seeing the team’s best player go — simply confirmed what many in Thompson’s camp had thought since Chelsea first approached Angel City with a transfer offer last month: the club was more interested in blocking the deal than facilitating it.

“She wants to go to Chelsea and made it very clear,” a Thompson confidant said late in the process. “ACFC has to respect her.”

Angel City forward Alyssa Thompson competes against the San Diego Wave on March 16.

(Kyusung Gong / Associated Press)

For the club to suggest it had tried to hold up the transfer was the exact wrong message to send and one that — along with Straus’ lack of respect — won’t soon be forgotten by ambitious young players Angel City may approach in the future.

Thompson was one of eight players on the Angel City roster aged 20 or younger. Many, if not all, of those young women must be confident the club won’t stand in their way if they have a chance to move on and develop their talent on a bigger stage.

That’s the way soccer works. It’s why clubs allow players to leave in the middle of a season to play for their national teams despite the risk of injury. It’s unfortunate the transfer happened now, hampering Angel City’s final push for a playoff berth. But as long as the NWSL plays on a different calendar from the rest of the world, the transfer windows will always be awkward.

Yes, Angel City should — and it did — fight hard for every last penny in the transfer talks. The team recruited Thompson, signed her, paid her good money and gave her an opportunity and a platform to play both professionally and in a World Cup.

By all accounts, the team was masterful in its negotiations with Chelsea and it was rewarded with a record-breaking transfer fee. They deserve a huge pat on the back for that.

Just which records the deal broke depends on how you look at it. Multiple sources involved in the talks confirmed the transfer’s value at $1.65 million, which would make it the most expensive transfer in women’s soccer history.

Yet that’s not what Angel City deposited in the bank last week. Whether Chelsea will pay the full amount will be determined by non-disclosed escalators, mainly based on Thompson’s performance, that were included in the deal. For the time being, however, Angel City will have to get by with about half a million less, putting the initial value of the transfer somewhere between the nearly $1.1 million Chelsea paid the San Diego Wave last January for defender Naomi Girma and the $1.5 million the Orlando Pride paid Mexico’s Tigres for Lizbeth Ovalle last month.

Either way it’s the largest fee for an outgoing player in NWSL history and probably enough for Angel City to keep the lights on. So on Friday morning the club sent out a tepid three-paragraph statement announcing a transfer everyone else knew was done.

“We thank Alyssa for her contributions to Angel City and are grateful for the mark she has left on our team and the city of Los Angeles,” it read.

At least they said her name.

⚽ You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the “Corner of the Galaxy” podcast.

Angel City winger Alyssa Thompson left for London on Wednesday afternoon as negotiations continued on a transfer that would send her from the NWSL to Chelsea of the Women’s Super League. But she might be running out of time since the WSL transfer window closes at 3 p.m. PDT Thursday, less than 24 hours after she boarded her flight.

“She wants to go to Chelsea and made it very clear she wants to leave,” said a person close to Thompson, who would speak only on condition of anonymity for fear of disrupting the delicate negotiations. “The rest is out of our hands.”

Thompson’s agent, Takumi Jeannin, declined to speak about the negotiations on the record while Angel City did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The speedy Thompson, 20, has already said goodbye to her Angel City teammates and did not suit up for the team’s win over Bay FC on Monday. She reportedly spent two days waiting to fly to London, where the transfer would be announced, only to repeatedly be told the deal had hit a snag.

If the transfer is agreed to, the fee for the U.S. international and World Cup veteran is expected to top $1 million and could smash the record $1.5 million the Orlando Pride paid Mexico’s Tigres for Lizbeth Ovalle last month.

USWNT defender Naomi Girma was the first $1-million transfer in women’s soccer history when she went from the San Diego Wave to Chelsea last January. Canadian Olivia Smith broke that record in July, going from Liverpool to Arsenal for $1.3 million.

Thompson was still an 18-year-old senior at Harvard-Westlake High when she became the youngest player taken in the NWSL draft, going to Angel City with the No. 1 pick in January 2023. That summer she became the second-youngest player to appear in a World Cup game for the U.S.

Thompson signed a three-year contract worth an estimated $1 million after the draft in 2023, then agreed to a three-year extension in January. She is the club’s all-time scoring leader with 21 goals in all competitions and she ranks sixth in appearances with 74. Her six goals in 16 games this season ranks second behind Riley Tiernan’s eight and she also has three goals and three assists in 22 games with the national team.

Thompson leaving Angel City would also mean leaving her sister and roommate Gisele, 19, a national team defender who was signed by Angel City in December 2023.

For Angel City, meanwhile, losing Thompson would strike a significant blow to the team’s playoff hopes. The club, which has won two straight and is unbeaten in its last four, is a point out of the league’s eighth and final postseason berth with eight games to play. But Angel City already lost two players — midfielders Alanna Kennedy and Katie Zelem — on transfers to London City of the WSL for undisclosed fees last month. And the week before that it traded forward Julie Dufour to the Portland Thorns for $40,000 in intra-league transfer funds and an international roster spot.

In addition, the club is without Scottish international Claire Emslie, who is on maternity leave, defender Savy King, who is on medical leave, and U.S. World Cup champion Sydney Leroux, who has stepped away from soccer to deal with her mental health.

After Monday’s win over Bay FC, Angel City coach Alexander Straus said the uncertainty over Thompson’s future with the team has been distracting.

“If I’m being honest, the last couple of days, it’s been difficult,” he said.

Straus said he learned Thompson would not be available just a day before the game.

“It’s been hard for me in my position when things change,” he said. “It changes our plans and changes the plans for the players.”

“But none of us is bigger than the club,” he added. “We focus on that, what is our value together. And if somebody leaves at some point — or somebody has left a couple of weeks ago — I think it does something to a group. It’s not easy, but it’s how you manage it.”

While the loss of a player like Thompson would hurt Angel City on the field, the likely seven-figure transfer fee would help ameliorate that. The same might not be true for NWSL, whose success and its marketing has long been built around the personalities playing in the league.

Yet in recent years it has lost Alex Morgan to retirement while national team stars including Girma, Crystal Dunn, Emily Fox, Lindsey Heaps (nee Horan), Catarina Macario and Korbin Shrader (nee Albert) have left to play in Europe.

Losing Thompson would be another blow.

As for Chelsea, it is the most successful club in the WSL, having won a domestic treble last season in Sonia Bompastor’s first season as coach. Bompastor replaced Emma Hayes, who left to take over the U.S. national team.

Chelsea will open its WSL season on Friday against Manchester City.

Maiara Niehues scored the go-ahead goal on a header in the 77th minute to give Angel City a 2-1 victory over Bay FC at BMO Stadium on Monday.

Riley Tiernan also scored for Angel City (6-7-5), which won its second straight after an eight-game winless streak.

Angel City’s Alyssa Thompson was an excused absence for the game as rumors swirled that Chelsea was in talks to acquire the 20-year-old winger. The transfer deadline in the English Women’s Super League is Thursday.

Any fee for Thompson is likely to exceed $1 million. The Orlando Pride recently paid an international record $1.5 million transfer fee for forward Lizbeth Ovalle from Mexico’s Tigres.

Bay (4-9-5) is winless in its last seven matches.

Tiernan took a pass from M.A. Vignola and ran it down field before cutting inside and dancing around Bay defenders before firing a shot past Bay goalkeeper Jordan Silkowitz in the 12th minute.

It was Tiernan’s team-leading eighth goal. She moved into second for most goals ever by an NWSL rookie.

Rachel Hill scored the equalizer for Bay, scoring on the rebound off her own shot on Angel City goalkeeper Hannah Seabert in the 37th minute.

Niehues broke the stalemate on a header off a corner kick.

On Bay FC’s side, Asisat Oshoala was also an excused absence amid numerous reports of a move to Al Hilal Saudi Women’s Premier League.

LOUISE Thompson has broken down in tears and shared her “anxiety” over her son Leo’s “abnormal” behaviour.

Not only this, but despite wanting to grow her family, the former Made In Chelsea star, 35, also revealed she would “never carry another child.”

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The mum-of-one nearly died while giving birth to her three-year-old son and spent a month in intensive care with ‘serious complications’ followed by years in and out of hospital.

Now, speaking on a recent episode of her He Said She Said podcast with fiancé Ryan Libbey, Louise sobbed after seeing Leo speaking to what she assumed was an imaginary friend. 

Tearfully recalling the moment, she said: “I saw Leo on his bike perched up against a wall, and he was talking to himself as if he had an imaginary friend, and it made me fall in love with him so much.

“But equally and probably one of the reasons why it’s jerking tears is because, I guess for a second I thought, ‘oh god is this because he doesn’t have any siblings?’’.

As Ryan attempted to reassure his emotional partner, she revealed her first time mum fears that Leo’s behaviour was “abnormal.”

He reflected: “I think that’s very normal for kids, I’m pretty sure I had imaginary friends.”

To this, Louise shared: “I guess Leo’s our only child and we’re still first-time parents and navigating all of those milestones for the first time.

“And you don’t really know what to expect when you have one child, you have nothing to compare it to, so I didn’t know whether that was normal.”

However, she then claimed a fan had got in touch with her to tell her that a child having an imaginary friend was a “sign of intelligence.”

Alongside the podcast clip, Louise wrote: “First-time parenting really is just learning on the go, isn’t it? 

“Every week there’s something new, something that makes you stop and think. 

“It can feel scary, but it’s also the most rewarding thing in the world.” 

I worried that it was because we haven’t been able to give Leo a sibling yet

Louise Thompson

Opening up about the support from fans, the brunette beauty wrote: “One of my followers messaged me to say that having an imaginary friend at a young age is a sign of intelligence.

“That was really kind of her because as an anxious first time mum navigating this whole world as each milestone passes, I worried that it was because we haven’t been able to give Leo a sibling yet.”

Numerous other fans followed and eagerly rushed to the comments to share their support and reassure Louise that Leo’s behaviour was in fact “normal”, as one said: “Bless though wonderful mummy tears. That raw protective emotion we feel is unmatched to one another.”

A second chimed in: “All the only children I know are so smart, great with people of all ages and very capable and independent thinkers.”

Meanwhile, a third penned: ”I have a daughter, only child, and I still worry and she’s 33! She is the kindest, most grounded girl and I’m so proud of her….. you’re doing an amazing job.” 

At the same time, one mother explained: “Our 5-year-old daughter used to have an imaginary friend called Boxy. I was worried at first but it’s very normal and also a sign of great imagination. I love her for it.” 

With the desire to extend her family in the future, Louise has also spoken of difficulties and admitted she will “never carry another child.” 

Our 5-year-old daughter used to have an imaginary friend called Boxy. It’s very normal and also a sign of great imagination

Instagram user

She told Grazia: “For a long time I was so triggered by babies – I couldn’t look at people’s babies and pregnancy announcements and those sorts of things.

“The tricky thing for us is that this just isn’t really possible in the conventional way because I’m not going to carry another child. 

“I really wanted to freeze my eggs and some embryos last year, but I was overcoming my stoma surgery for a good chunk and then that was when I started to feel really well.

“And I feel like I slightly missed the boat but I can’t put the blame on myself because there wasn’t really an appropriate time before I started taking a bit of a dip again.”

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Alyssa Thompson scored in the 86th minute and Angel City snapped an eight-game winless streak with a 1-0 victory over the Orlando Pride on Thursday night at BMO Stadium.

Angel City (5-7-5) had not won a match since May 9. Thompson’s goal was her sixth of the season, second most on the team.

It was Alex Straus’ first win as Angel City coach and the franchise’s first win against the Pride since 2023.

“It felt really good. I feel like I haven’t had a goal in a while,” Thompson said. “So being able to get those goals that I’ve been working on, and just the positions that I’ve been in, in training. It was really nice.”

Orlando (8-5-4) is winless in its last five matches. The Pride were without top scorer Barbra Banda, who injured her hip in the team’s scoreless draw with the Kansas City Current last week. Banda has eight goals this season.

Orlando announced earlier Thursday that they had signed Lizbeth Ovalle from Mexico’s Tigres UANL for a record transfer fee. Ovalle, known as Jacquie, is set to play in the Liga MX Femenil All-Star game this weekend before joining the Pride.

Angel City welcomed back defender Ali Riley, who was available on the bench for the match. Riley was placed on the season-ending injury list midway through the 2024 season because of a chronic leg injury that threatened her career.

The Made in Chelsea star discovered the truth about his real name in the latest episode of ITV’s DNA Journey, which saw him team up with pal Marvin Humes

Sam Thompson has been left gobsmacked after a family history exploration on ITV’s ‘DNA Journey’ presented him with a surprising revelation about his name, only to discover it wasn’t quite true.

Joining Marvin Humes on the popular ancestry show ‘DNA Journey’, the presenter and reality TV favourite set out to trace his lineage, uncovering some unexpected tales along the way.

Starting off in sunny Jamaica, Marvin uncovered moving stories about his ancestors’ migration to Britain, while he was stunned to learn that his mate Sam had no clue about his own family’s past.

Feeling rather sheepish, the ex-‘Made In Chelsea’ star confessed: “I really don’t know why I haven’t asked,” as he mused over the potential awkwardness brought by the show’s posh image. “When you grow up with – I was on a show called Made in Chelsea, it’s the posh thing. You almost don’t want to know because you almost feel a bit bad.”

He also revealed that Thompson isn’t his full surname. The family name is actually De Courcy Thompson and the former Made in Chelsea star explained the decision to drop part of it, reports the Manchester Evening News.

Sam, 32, candidly expressed his views on having a hard-to-spell name and feeling pretentious, cheekily remarking: “We have a signet ring!”.

Upon uncovering family history, Marvin flipped the script, cautioning Sam with a mixture of jest and solemnity: “It can’t be as nice and fluffy and unicorns and rainbows as it’s been in Jamaica, and I’m sorry to say it, but it’s looking like it’s going to be you.”

Alarm flickered across Sam’s face when learning about his ancestor Charles Thompson’s stint in Jamaica in 1815, while Marvin played up the tension, saying: “This is going to get deep.”

As historical connections were drawn, Sam anxiously responded: “That doesn’t sound good. That sounds really bad.”

But, to Sam’s delight, the true legacy of Charles Thompson unfolded; he was not what Sam feared but rather a notable figure in defeating Napoleon at Waterloo. An elated Sam exclaimed: “Oh my god, I’m so happy! Oh, you really scared me! You were all thinking it…”

The revelation continued that it was Charles’ son Lesley who crafted the De Courcy surname for his own son Sydney, giving the family a veneer of distinction.

Sam laughed as he said: “We faked it and I’m over the moon. I’ve got a signet ring and it doesn’t mean anything. We just gave it to ourselves. It’s like those people who buy a knighthood just to call themselves sir or lady. That’s us!”

You can catch up on DNA Journey on ITVX

Brazilian international Lorena stopped a penalty kick and countrywoman Bia Zaneratto scored to keep the Current perfect at home on Friday night.

The 1-0 victory secured a sixth consecutive win for Kansas City, which remained atop the NWSL standings. The Current (11-2-0) have won all six of their games at CPKC Stadium. Kansas City hasn’t dropped a game at home since a July 2024 loss to Orlando.

With the score tied 0-0, Lorena leapt to her right to parry a spot kick by Angel City forward Alyssa Thompson in the 56th minute. The ball was tipped onto the crossbar before bobbling out for a corner kick.

It was Lorena’s first penalty save and Thompson’s first failed conversion in the NWSL.

Reigning NWSL MVP Temwa Chawinga broke away on a dribble and had her low shot saved by Angel City goalkeeper Angelina Anderson, only for Zaneratto to scoop up the rebound and the tuck the ball away in the 69th minute.

Zaneratto has five goals, tied for the second-most of any Current player behind Chawinga with eight.

Angel City (5-5-3) is winless in its last five games, and has secured one tie and two losses since Alex Straus took over as coach three weeks ago.

LOUIS Tomlinson displayed “playground mentality” towards love rival Sam Thompson during Soccer Aid training.

It comes after Sun revealed yesterday that the former Made in Chelsea star, 32, had been ruled out of playing in this year’s match where he was due to play on the same team as Louis, 33.

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Sam was due to play in the same England side as One Direction star Louis, 33, who is now dating his ex Zara McDermott.

The former couple split in December, with Zara quickly moving on with Louis.

The two men were both due to take part in Soccer Aid tomorrow, but it was revealed exclusively by The Sun yesterday that the I’m A Celeb champ had pull out due to injury.

However, before Sam was forced to quit, he was he was pictured training with Louis this week at Soccer Aid HQ in Tring, Herts, where the England and Rest of the World teams have been preparing for the match.

After looking at the pictures in detail, a body language expert believes that Louis displayed a “playground mentality” towards Sam on the pitch.

Expert Judi James said that while Sam was smiling and happy, and get along with the other players, One Direction star Louis seemed “glum” and “separate”.

She told The Mail: ‘There seems to be more of a playground dynamic growing from the body language here.

“Sam seems to be very much part of the core group, sitting central and being the center of their attention while Louis walks by looking glum at times and rather peripheral to the social interaction.

“As the guys club around Sam, who looks deep in the discussion, Louis seems to glance over with a rather hard-looking stare. 

“His eye direction might not be exclusively aimed at Sam, but he does seem to be checking the group out with an unsmiling facial expression.”

Continuing she said: “When the two men meet on the pitch there is an unsmiling, reflective-looking gaze from Louis.

“This shouldn’t be over-dramatized into any form of specifically directed ‘hard stare’ as his eye direction does not seem to be aimed directly at Sam, but there could be seen to be a hint of some kind of ‘atmosphere’ brewing here. 

“With his hands on his hips, Louis does look really down and perhaps rather uncomfortable.”

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SAM QUITS SOCCER AID

Meanwhile, yesterday The Sun exclusively revealed how Sam was no longer able to take part on Soccer Aid tomorrow.

The popular star pulled out due to injuries sustained in his epic marathon challenge, in which he made the gruelling 260-mile trip from Stamford Bridge to Old Trafford via foot and bike.

A source told us: “Sam is gutted he can’t play, but the match has just come too soon since his efforts.

“He’s still going to be a presence and play a big part in the coverage but he won’t be able to compete on the field.”

They added: “There is a small blessing in his withdrawal as the focus on him and Louis will disperse.

“Their every move will be watched so it’s a relief in some ways they won’t be on the pitch together.”

Sam will play a “ceremonial role” in tomorrow’s match, kicking off the game before heading into the stands.

Soccer Aid kicks off tomorrow night at 7.30pm on ITV and ITVX

England team and coaching staff

Here is a look at the full team for England for Soccer Aid 2025…

Team:

• Steven Bartlett (Entrepreneur)
• Alex Brooker (TV personality)
• Jermain Defoe (Former footballer)
• Toni Duggan (Former footballer)
• Angry Ginge (YouTuber)
• Tom Grennan (Musician)
• Bear Grylls (TV personality)
• Joe Hart (Former footballer)
• Steph Houghton (Former footballer)
• Aaron Lennon (Former footballer)
• Dame Denise Lewis (Olympic gold medallist)
• Paddy McGuinness (TV personality)
• Sir Mo Farah (Former Olympian)
• Gary Neville (Former footballer)
• Sam Quek (Former hockey player/TV personality)
• Wayne Rooney (Former footballer and manager)
• Paul Scholes (Former footballer)
• Jill Scott (Former footballer)
• Sam Thompson (King of the Jungle)
• Louis Tomlinson (Musician)
• Michael Carrick (Former footballer)
• Phil Jagielka (Former footballer)
• Roman Kemp (Radio host)
• Jack Wilshere (Former footballer)
• Bella Ramsey (Actor)

Coaches:

• Wayne Rooney (Former footballer and manager)
• Tyson Fury (Boxer)
• Harry Redknapp (Former football manager)
• Vicky McClure (Actor)
• Goalkeeping coach: David James (Former footballer)

For years, Los Angeles City Councilmember John Lee declined to publicly discuss a fateful Las Vegas trip he took in 2017 with his then-boss Mitch Englander and a trio of businessmen.

That trip led to an FBI investigation of Englander, then a City Council member, who accepted an envelope of cash in a casino bathroom from one of the businessmen and later pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators.

Last week, in court to address allegations from the L.A. Ethics Commission, Lee finally broke his silence, divulging details of the high-rolling trip and insisting that he paid for his share.

There was his comped Aria hotel room — a standard room, not a suite, he said. There was the Hakkasan Nightclub, where he sipped whiskey and danced as hostesses paraded out $8,000 bottles of booze. And there was the casino, where he played blackjack — after losing $1,000 at the baccarat table — because he preferred the lower-stakes game.

Over and over, Lee, who was then Englander’s chief of staff, denied accepting gifts in violation of city ethics laws. Under grilling by a city enforcement officer, Lee described stuffing $300 into the pocket of one of the businessmen, Andy Wang, to cover his share at the nightclub. At dinner earlier that night, he said, he paid for his own drinks.

“I believe I made a good-faith effort to repay what I consumed that night,” Lee testified.

In 2023, the Ethics Commission accused Lee, who occupies Englander’s former seat representing the northwest San Fernando Valley, of accepting “multiple gifts” in violation of ethics laws, including free hotel rooms, poker chips and food, from a businessman and a developer during the Vegas trip.

The businessman and the developer were not named in the complaint, but details indicate that one was Wang and the other was Christopher Pak, both of whom testified as witnesses.

The commission has also accused Lee of helping Englander backdate checks to repay the businessman who comped the hotel rooms.

Federal prosecutors never criminally charged Lee, and he has said he was unaware of any wrongdoing by Englander.

At the time, city officials, including high-ranking council aides, could accept gifts with a value between $50 and $470 from a single source but had to disclose them, according to city and state laws. They were not allowed to accept gifts over $470 from a single source.

The Ethics Commission alleges that Lee violated both provisions.

Attorneys for Lee, who denies the allegations, have repeatedly tried to block the commission’s case, arguing that the statute of limitations had expired.

Witness testimony concluded last week, and Administrative Law Judge Ji-Lan Zang is expected to make a recommendation about what, if any, ethics violations Lee committed.

Then, a panel of ethics commissioners will vote on whether violations occurred and what the financial penalties, if any, should be.

In 2023, Englander agreed to pay $79,830 to settle a similar Ethics Commission case.

At last week’s hearing, city enforcement officer and attorney Marian Thompson sought to cast doubt on Lee’s version of events. She zeroed in on his insistence that he joined the group at an expensive Chinese restaurant, Blossom, but didn’t eat because he arrived late.

She read aloud the bill for the nearly $2,500 dinner — Kobe beef, Maine lobster, Peking duck, sea bass and more. Surely Lee, who had previously described himself as a “meat and potatoes” guy, liked Kobe beef? Thompson asked.

Lee said he tried only the bird’s nest soup. He described taking a spoonful of someone else’s bowl and saying, “Absolutely not” — it was “gelatinous,” he told Thompson.

Lee acknowledged drinking at the restaurant, giving someone — he couldn’t remember whom — $100 to cover the tab.

According to Englander’s 2020 federal indictment, a “City Staffer B” received some of the same perks as Englander during the Vegas trip. That staffer was widely presumed to be Lee, prompting calls for the newly elected council member to resign. Since then, questions about the Vegas trip have dogged Lee, though he easily won reelection in 2024.

Englander was sentenced to 14 months in federal prison. In his plea agreement, he admitted lying repeatedly to federal investigators and receiving a combined $15,000 in cash — $10,000 in a casino bathroom in Las Vegas, plus $5,000 at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa from an unnamed businessman.

That man, Wang, ran companies that sold cabinets and home technology systems, was seeking relationships with real estate developers and others to increase his business opportunities in the city.

During his testimony last week, Lee said he followed city ethics laws during the Vegas trip. At the Aria hotel-casino, Englander showed Lee poker chips that Wang had given him, Lee testified.

“I told him immediately that he needed to give those chips back to Andy,” Lee said.

Lee also said he gave Englander a blank check with the understanding that Englander would reimburse Wang, who had comped Lee’s room.

But in a declaration in the ethics case, Englander wrote that neither he nor Lee reimbursed Wang “for any of the gifts we received at the Aria,” including the room, meals and drinks.

“While in Las Vegas, NV, Lee did not give me a check to reimburse Wang,” Englander added.

Thompson asked Lee about Englander’s statements.

“He’s lied before,” Lee replied.

In addition to Wang, two others — Michael Bai, a lobbyist who formerly worked at City Hall, and Koreatown developer Pak — came on the Vegas trip. Bai also testified as a witness last week.

Lee and Englander gave Wang separate checks for $442 on Sept. 14 that year. The ethics commission has accused Lee and Englander of backdating the checks to Aug. 4 — before they were interviewed by the FBI.

Lee disputed that during the hearing, saying he gave Englander his check on Aug. 4, after he said Englander had lost the earlier one.

At the Hakkasan club, Wang spent $24,000 on bottle service, with Pak spending an additional $10,000.

According to an estimate by the commission, the share Lee drank was worth $5,666.67.

But Lee’s attorney, Brian Hildreth, challenged that assertion. Dozens of revelers streamed through the group’s VIP booth that night, Lee and Pak both testified.

Lee said he had only two to four drinks and suggested that many people drank from the bottles.

Addressing questions about the casino, Lee acknowledged accepting $1,000 in poker chips from Wang, saying he thought he was playing on Wang’s behalf. Lee said he would have given any winnings to Wang.

But Lee testified that he didn’t know how to play baccarat and warned Wang that he wasn’t doing well, ultimately losing all the chips.

During questioning by Hildreth, Lee described withdrawing a total of $1,500 from ATMs in Vegas, with a bank statement listing the three withdrawals over two days.

Lee testified that he wanted “to make sure that I had my own money and paid for everything that I was a part of.”

Thompson pursued a counternarrative, describing the spectacle of nightclub hostesses bringing out bottles.

“You got VIP treatment?” Thompson asked.

“Treatment I’d never received before,” Lee answered.

Sam Thompson gets emotional ahead of Soccer Aid which will see him play on the same team as ex-love Zara McDermott’s new boyfriend Louis Tomlinson

Playing with their football heroes is a dream come true for the stars taking part in Soccer Aid – but raising money for UNICEF is the real prize for stars including Sam Thompson and Louis Tomlinson. Since singer Robbie Williams created the event in 2006, over £106 million has been raised. This year’s match takes place at Old Trafford and will see Wayne Rooney playing for England alongside his former Manchester United teammates Gary Neville and Paul Scholes, plus Lionesses Jill Scott, Steph Houghton and Toni Duggan.

Joining them is a cool crew of celebs including Paddy McGuinness, Sam Quek and Tom Grennan. While the World XI team includes Richard Gadd, Edwin van der Sar, Martin Compston and Tony Bellew.

Sam has got a dual role: as well as playing on the pitch, he’s also been running and cycling 260 miles to hand-deliver the ball to Old Trafford and raise more money in a challenge called Matchball Mission for Unicef.

“One of the most special things about Soccer Aid for UNICEF is the togetherness that it brings out,” says Sam, 32. “I’ll never forget being sat at that training dinner table watching the television screens of UNICEF’s great work. People were shedding tears – everyone’s in it together. When we realised we’d helped to raise a record milestone of over £100 million since the game first began, the cheer that went up was bigger than the cheer of winning the actual game, which I think is quite telling.”

Tears also played a part when Sam crossed the finish line on Friday as he delivered the match ball to Old Trafford and got a congratulatory message from Prime Minister Kier Starmer.

He told the Mirror it’s “mad” that the Prime Minister said he was “inspiring”. “I can’t believe the prime minister knows my name,” Sam said. “I’m on double codeine and paracetamol… I am not going to lie, it hurts a lot,” Sam admitted as he walked to a nearby hotel.

The 32 year old, who has already raised over £1.5 million from the challenge, confessed: “I am totally broken – but so happy . The fact this challenge has grabbed everyone’s attention is just so incredible and I have just been blown away!”

And yesterday he was crying again on This Morning yesterday as he recalled the feat, telling Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley: “I’ve gotto stop crying! You’re making me so emotional, so many tears man.”

Soccer Aid host Dermot O’Leary is also returning and says half-time is his favourite part of the match because he gets to play pundit. “You have these special moments, it’s a laugh and you’re watching a game of football and you’re seeing goals,” says the 52-year-old.

Former One Direction star Louis lists playing with Ronaldinho as one of his greatest Soccer Aid memories, but for Jill, it’s buddying up with Football Factory star Danny Dyer that makes her day.

“He’s my type of player,” grins Jill, 38. “Strong tackles, probably swears a little bit too much, but I love that passion and football aggression!”

Soccer Aid for Unicef 2025 airs on Sunday at 6pm on ITV1. Join The Mirror’s WhatsApp Community or follow us on Google News , Flipboard , Apple News, TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads – or visit The Mirror homepage.