villain

Emmerdale’s April Windsor is set for worrying scenes on the ITV soap, as a villain of sorts, Callum, ‘returned from the dead’ in a twist on Wednesday, and April has no idea

There was a dark twist on Emmerdale on Wednesday, as a murdered character was confirmed to be very much alive.

It’s bad news for April Windsor to some degree, as she’s been allowed to believe the person is still dead. This will continue too, with her kept in the dark about the character’s true fate.

Last week we saw April left in danger, as drug dealer Ray Walters sent her on a job with a client. When he tried to force her into sleeping with the client to pay off her debt, she was horrified.

When April told Callum, the client, she couldn’t go through with it, he turned on her. Grabbing her and trying to force himself on her, he said there was no escape and he’d “do it anyway” even after her stating she did not want to have sex with him.

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Fighting for survival, April ended up slamming him over the head with a vodka bottle in self-defence. Shaken, she escaped and told Ray and Celia Daniels that Callum was dead.

Ray headed to his home to check on Callum and when he returned to the village, he confirmed to a distressed April that he was in fact dead and she’d killed him. Both Celia and Ray taunted April about her being a murderer and said she’d go to prison.

When she declared she needed to report her crime and threatened to expose them, the criminals made it clear that if April spoke out, she and her family would be in danger. So April is now struggling to come to terms with being a killer.

Of course she has no idea, and fans didn’t either until Wednesday, that Callum isn’t dead. He’s injured but he’s absolutely fine, and survived the attack.

So Ray’s claims that he disposed of Callum’s body and that April killed him are a lie, and he and Celia know it. They’re now using it against April to keep her doing as they say, meaning more bad news ahead for April when she has to stay in line, but also if Callum reveals his fate, he could get her in serious trouble.

In a twist at the end of the episode, Callum was with Ray in his car and he talked about his head hurting. Ray told him to stay silent and take some pain relief, making it clear he couldn’t do anything about April.

Viewers were stunned by the twist but many said they “knew it”, having figured out Ray would lie to April to target her. Taking to social media, one fan said: “I knew it, I f***ing knew it.”

Another fan said: “I didn’t think he would be.” A further fan posted: “I KNEW he wasn’t dead!!!!!”

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

Coronation Street fans witnessed the moment Becky Swain and DI Costello met up onscreen, weeks on from us finding out he helped her fake her death as she was ‘in danger’

There was a moment on Coronation Street on Friday night that left fans convinced they’d seen Becky Swain’s true colours.

After weeks of speculating about her intentions and what she might be hiding, viewers finally saw a tense exchange between her and DI Costello, the man who helped fake her death four years earlier. Becky rocked up and shocked her ‘widow’ Lisa Swain recently, as well as their teen daughter Betsy Swain, with both of them led to believe Becky had died in the line of duty.

It’s clear Becky is trying to get her family back, with Corrie boss Kate Brooks confirming Becky is keen to oust Lisa’s fiancée Carla Connor out of the fold. Carla is suspicious of Becky, but she’s not the only one with Kit Green involved too, not to mention fans being convinced there’s more to why Becky went into hiding, and what she and Costello have been up to.

So when Betsy found herself arrested on Friday, it soon became clear there was more to the tale. It all stemmed from Betsy’s social media post that featured Becky in, with Becky meant to be keeping a low profile.

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With Lisa worrying about where her daughter had been, Becky offered to help track her down only for Kit to drop some big news. Betsy had been arrested, accused of wrecking a car and resisting arrest. Of course it didn’t take Becky long to realise Costello was behind this.

As Becky offered to be there for Lisa, worming her way into the house amid their daughter being stuck in a cell, fans believed she was doing the unthinkable. Some fans claimed Becky wasn’t even bothered about poor Betsy’s ordeal, instead using it as a means to get closer to a troubled Lisa.

Not only that but some fans feared Becky could have orchestrated it, while this seemed not to be the case as Becky appeared shocked when she figured it all out. That said, she still managed to come up with a plan to threaten Costello who was admant she must return to Spain.

She told Costello that she’d go but only if she went with Lisa and Betsy, telling him he needed to make this happen. So while Betsy was still in a cell fearing for her future and Lisa was in turmoil, leading to a clash with Becky, Becky herself was a little preoccupied trying to turn it into a way of getting her family back and away from Weatherfield.

Fans suggested we were seeing Becky’s true colours and intentions, amid soap boss Kate confirming Becky was “a bit of a villain”, and we would soon learn what she was fully capable of. One fan tweeted: “So much for Becky fearing for her safety and needing to keep a low profile, just walking down the cobbles and then meeting Costello in the alley. Yeah she’s not fearing for her life it’s all an act and lies.”

Another viewer said: “So maybe Becky didn’t orchestrate Betsy getting arrested but when she found out Costello did as leverage to send Becky back to Spain, she was okay with letting Betsy spend the night in jail to get some alone time with Lisa. Give her the Mum of the Year award.”

A third fan commented: “Becky knew Costello stitched Betsy up and she made a plan to stay the night with Lisa and conveniently brought a bag.” A fourth added: “Becky and Costello scenes. Remember those are just the tip of the iceberg with these two.”

Coronation Street airs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and ITV X. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

On Nov. 26, 1983, six men robbed a warehouse serving London’s Heathrow Airport. Hoping to find £1 million worth of foreign currency, they found instead 6,800 gold bars, worth £26 million in 1983 money — a record-setting robbery at the time — under the temporary supervision of Brink’s-Mat. (A union of the American security firm and a British transport outfit.) This event has been transmuted into “The Gold,” an involving British drama premiering here Sunday on PBS.

The robbery itself takes up little screen time; the question on the criminal side becomes how to turn three tons of gold into cash, and for the police, one of recovering the loot and bringing the villains to justice. The cops and the criminals overlap here and there, a point screenwriter Neil Forsyth does not want you to miss, and is a particular bee in the bonnet of upright Detective Chief Superintendent Brian Boyce (Hugh Bonneville), self-contained but always ready to speak his mind. (He is also “infuriated” by what people get wrong about jazz, which he likens to police work.)

Recruited by Boyce to a special task force are detectives Tony Brightwell (Emun Elliott), historical, and Nicki Jennings (a charismatic Charlotte Spencer), invented, who are good company for the viewer and generally for each other, though as people who spend long hours sitting together in cars waiting for something to happen, they have their moments of friction, played for humor. As a created character, Jennings — who, as a woman, has to outline the many steps and hard work it took to achieve her position — offers an opportunity for emotional elaboration, notably in scenes (affectionate, prickly) with her father, Billy (Danny Webb), “by a country mile the worst villain in England,” his criminal career sidelined by ill health.

Though one of the actual robbers, Micky McAvoy (Adam Nagaitis), gets a good deal of attention, the bulk of the series involves three criminals subsequently processing the gold and laundering the money. Kenneth Noye (Jack Lowden) is “a fence with protection,” owing to his friendship with police officers through membership in the Masons. (When Boyce brings Jennings and Brightwell onto his team, he sets the rules as “no overtime, no drinking at lunchtime, no freemasonry.”) John Palmer (Tom Cullen), a dyslexic dealer in gold and jewelry, has a handy portable smelter in his yard. And the invented Edwyn Cooper (Dominic Cooper), an up-from-the-streets solicitor with posh airs and a rich wife whose snooty parents treat him with barely disguised disdain, finds himself working for “a group of businessmen who have a lot of money that needs to be made respectable,” in the words of liaison Gordon Parry (Sean Harris, sinister).

Stretched over six episodes, it’s not a speedy telling, and, in fact, a second series covering a long tail of aftermath has already aired in the U.K. Apart from some surveillance, tailing suspects, one fatal encounter and an occasional chase, there’s little in the way of capital-A Action, mostly just a lot of talk — inquisitive, instructive, threatening, discursive, domestic or speechifying. Though the production is naturalistic — in a way that ties it to an earlier, golden era of British productions — the dialogue can sound highly composed. Characters are given little monologues, often to explain how they became the person they are, that play as the sort of thing that might occur late in the last act of a stage drama: Jennings found the sirens outside her window comforting, which led her to police work, “so that kids like me will be safe”; Boyce had a life-changing moment involving a pair of red leather shoes while fighting in the so-called Cypriot Emergency. Some dialogue might have been lifted whole from a 1930s gangster film. Critiques of British class structure and bad actors within the police department are raised high enough to be impossible to miss.

There are a lot of moving parts in “The Gold,” represented in sometimes brief alternating scenes, and it may take a while, among the crooks, at least, to get a handle on things, to sort out where you are, who’s who, who’s married to whom, and what part each plays in the caper. Though Noye is arrogant enough to root against, Forsyth wants to show, as much as each character allows, the just-folks elements of his bad guys, psychologically relatable sorts who have, from early experience, a lack of opportunity, or a certain kind of genius, decided that the path to freedom is best paved with other people’s money. (“If it wasn’t for people trying trying to break out of the lives they’ve been given,” observes Boyce of his country’s social stratification, the police would be out of a job.) This may be soft-pedaling matters somewhat — to read the historical accounts might give you a different picture — but as drama it pays dividends.

As a period piece, it doesn’t oversell the era. There are old cars, of course, and more mustaches than we are currently accustomed to. But apart from the pop songs that run over the end credits, nothing screams These Are the ’80s. (Compare, for example, the “Life on Mars” sequel, “Ashes to Ashes.”) It’s more a question of what isn’t there. The detectives have a computer, but only Brightwell has an idea of what it’s for or how to use it. No cellphones, but there are walkie-talkies. A tracking device, apparently the only one in all of British law enforcement, has to be imported from Belfast (and sneakily at that). There is a refreshing absence of guns — none of those Kevlar-clad teams going in with pistols raised. (Just truncheons.) And the remodeling of East London into a gentrified glass forest, a minor plot point, has only just begun.

It’s like a vacation from now, and who can’t use one of those?

Emmerdale revealed this week that newcomer Celia was the mastermind behind the County Lines dealing currently targeting the teens on the ITV soap, and she’s linked to dealer Ray

The latest episode of Emmerdale may have teased who could bring down villain Celia, following a war of words with her secret ‘son’ Ray.

Viewers were left stunned this week when they found out farmer Celia was actually the mastermind behind the drugs operation, led by Ray, going on in and out of the village. With teens Dylan and April dragged into it and facing huge debts, it was thought that sinister Ray was in charge, while he did refer to a ‘boss’ who we had not met.

Thursday saw Celia turn dark though, after weeks of her claiming to be one of the good ones… sort of. She befriended Moira Dingle and targeted the Tates, but this whole time she has been running a corrupt scheme in a shocking County Lines storyline.

With it set to continue, Thursday’s episode saw Celia reveal she was in charge and calling all the shots, as she lectured Ray and reduced him to a terrified wreck. He referred to her as being his mum this week, with it confirmed that she raised him from a young age and dragged him into this world.

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With Dylan groomed and manipulated into Ray and Celia’s criminal ways, more recently it was April who was targeted while it seems Ray has experienced the same. A scene on Friday saw the pair clash as Ray and Celia came to blows over “Ray’s mess”.

April had accidentally dropped some pills at her home before heading out to do a drop at Ray’s request. Her younger brother Leo was rushed to hospital after taking one, while April was forced to lie to the police about Celia.

This mess with the police and their drugs left Celia acting fast and scolding Ray, blaming him. On Friday, Ray called his ‘mum’ out for the “nasty” things she said before implying she had been violent towards him in the past.

Talking about her “lashing out” he said: “I’ve got the scars to prove it.” He then made a death admission about her, making it clear he wanted rid of her.

He said: “I wish I could leave home. Actually, I wish I could stay and you’d be dead.” Celia wasn’t even unnerved, telling Ray: “Finally, growing a pair.”

Ray went to storm off but Celia grabbed him, telling him: “You wouldn’t last five minutes.” She then kissed him on the cheek and he stormed out. But will Ray act on his threat?

Could we see Ray trigger the downfall of Celia after years of being forced to do her dirty work, and hints of abuse too? Maybe he will take a deadly revenge. We’ll just have to wait and see!

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

ITV’s Coronation Street aired shock scenes on Monday night which saw a villain killed off without any warning after subjecting two characters to a load of abuse

Coronation Street aired shock scenes on Monday night in which a villain was killed off without any warning. Richard Winsor, 43, has been playing homophobic church clerk Noah Hedley on the long-running serial for the past few months, and was placed at the centre of a controversial storyline.

When Theo Silverton (James Cartwright) made his debut on the programme, he was introduced as a married man who had two kids with wife Danielle (Natalie Anderson) before it was revealed that he had been put through conversion therapy earlier in life. After his wife left him once his affair with Todd Grimshaw (Gareth Pierce) was exposed, she struck up a relationship with Noah, and he has been on a campaign of hate ever since.

In the latest trip to the nation’s favourite street, viewers watched as Theo geared up for a custody hearing concerning his children Millie and Miles, with Todd and Noah sitting in on the whole thing in court as well. Throughout it all, Noah made homophobic comments , which led to an outburst from Todd. He left and waited at home, where Theo told him he had been granted a ‘shared care agreement order,’ and the pair went to the Bistro for lunch.

READ MORE: Coronation Street’s William Roache reveals two-year feud with legendary co-starREAD MORE: Coronation Street’s Todd Grimshaw left on verge of tears after vicious attack

However, Noah turned up and things between them immediately got heated as he subjected Todd and Theo to a torrent of abuse as he revealed that Danielle was set to appeal the decision.

He told them: “I’m concerned. People like you are allowed to live near kids, twisting their little minds so they end up like you.” Todd interjected with, ‘That’s enough!’ but Noah shot back: “I don’t think it, not while disgusting perverts like you are allowed to do what they want.” He labelled homosexuality as ‘a form of mental illness,’ and when Theo simply told him he ‘couldn’t get to them’ now, Noah simply said: “We’ll see…” and walked out.

A short time later, Todd and Theo had been joined in the Bistro by Todd’s adoptive daughter Summer (Harriet Bibby) and Dee Dee Bailey (Channique Sterling-Brown) to celebrate. But things took another dramatic turn when Natalie burst into the restaurant that Noah had died.

Looking for answers, she demanded: “What did you do to him? What did you do to Noah?! He’s dead! The last I heard he was coming to see you.” When asked how Noah had died, she explained through tears: “I found him in his front room, I called 999. The paramedic said he’d had a heart attack.”

Dee Dee assured Danielle that no one could make someone have a heart attack and it must have been an underlying condition. Danielle, hysterical by this point, then proclaimed: “This is all my fault. I did all this! Come on, Theo, you hate me!” but he insisted that was not the case, and they will always be connected in some form because of the children they have together.

Back at their flat, Theo had burst into tears over the shock news and admitted there was a time in his life that he ‘loved’ Noah. He explained: “He wasn’t always the bad guy. He was my friend. Maybe the best friend I’ve ever had. That’s why it was so much harder when he started to change. I loved him. I looked up to him. I thought he cared about me but maybe it was never real. Do you know what? I hate myself for saying this but I miss him. I always will.”

In recent weeks, viewers have seen Todd become a victim of control as he was forbidden from seeing former boyfriend Billy Mayhew (Daniel Brocklebank), and in disturbing scenes that aired last month, Theo grabbed hold of him and forced him to eat a kebab. The night before Noah’s death, Todd had thrown a small gathering to celebrate moving into their new flat together, but Theo took issue with the whole thing and made Todd sleep in the spare bedroom.

At the end of Monday’s episode, Theo told Todd: “I can’t do this without you. I mean it. If you ever left me…” before Todd assured him he wouldn’t. Theo warned him: “You’d better not!”

Coronation Street runs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1. Episodes can also be downloaded on ITVX.

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This article contains spoilers for the finale of Prime Video’s “The Girlfriend.”

After reading the pilot for “The Girlfriend,” Robin Wright could see how the entire series would unfold. She was initially approached to direct the first episode, but she was so entranced by the adaptation of Michelle Frances’ 2017 novel she came on board not just as a director, but as an executive producer.

And when it came to casting Laura, a fierce matriarch committed to protecting her son, Daniel, from his new girlfriend, everyone she pictured in the role was unavailable.

“My dream was Tilda Swinton,” Wright says, speaking from the Ham Yard Hotel in London alongside her co-star Olivia Cooke, whose Prime Video series premiered Wednesday. “The time crunch was getting narrower, so Jonathan Cavendish of Imaginarium [Productions] finally said, ‘Would you consider playing Laura? You know her so well.’ What interested me was expanding on each character and developing this show beyond the book, which was already very full and rich.”

Cooke was Wright’s first choice to play Cherry, Daniel’s working-class girlfriend, who may or may not have suspicious motives and a violent past. The actors hopped on a Zoom call at the end of 2023 and were immediately on the same page about the thriller series. Both were intrigued by the idea that each episode depicted the characters’ individual takes on the events, forcing viewers to frequently change their allegiance about who is right. Is Cherry deviously trying to push Laura aside for better access to Daniel, or is Laura paranoid and overbearing?

Cherry (Olivia Cooke), Daniel’s working-class girlfriend. (Christopher Raphael / Prime)

Laura (Robin Wright) is suspicious of Cherry and her motives. (Christopher Raphael / Prime)

“I was enticed by the dual perspectives and delving more into that reality because that is how we operate,” Wright says. “That is the human condition. You perceive [something] in a different way than I do. We’re all a hero of our own story and of our own perspective, but we could be the villain in someone else’s perspective. That’s what happens with Cherry and Laura. Jealousy turns into a power struggle.”

“It’s really fun to dial up the maliciousness and the duplicitous nature of a woman,” Cooke adds. “To play all these different sides and all these different faculties. And both our characters contain them all.”

“It was almost like having the variety pack of being a female,” Wright continues. “It’s easy for the viewer to go back and forth, where you’ll be in favor of this one and then not in favor. And it’s always rooted in true emotion. Wherever Laura or Cherry is coming from, that’s her truth. That’s her story.”

“You’ve always got to champion the characters you’re playing in order to play them honestly,” Cooke says. “I completely understood where Cherry was coming from. A lot of that is lack and fear and scarcity. Not having a parachute or a safety net, and having to constantly strive and move forward. She’s a survivor and she’s scrappy, and she will be the quickest and most ferocious to her own defense.”

The conflict between Laura and Cherry aggressively ratchets up over the course of six episodes. After a rock climbing accident that puts Daniel (Laurie Davidson) into a coma, Laura convinces Cherry that he’s died. Cherry later threatens Laura with a knife — or does she? Cooke says she loved “having the excuse to go f— feral.”

“What’s fun about Laura’s perspective is Cherry seems completely unhinged and that there’s a real malevolent undertone to her behavior,” Cooke says. “But in Cherry’s perspective, it’s all coming from a place of just scrambling. She’s tried to put her best foot forward when she meets Laura for the first time and she’s tried to cover up her past a little bit by saying the odd white lie. And a mum sniffs that out immediately.”

“What’s fun about Laura’s perspective is Cherry seems completely unhinged and that there’s a real malevolent undertone to her behavior,” Olivia Cooke says. “But in Cherry’s perspective, it’s all coming from a place of just scrambling.”

(Jennifer McCord / For The Times)

Cooke describes Cherry as an “underdog trying to claw herself up.” “I want the audience to really be of two minds about her,” she says. “And women usually have to be so buttoned up.

“It’s always, ‘You can’t say that or don’t emote that,’” Wright chimes in. “This gave us an opportunity to do what a lot of women would like to say or do, but they can’t. You always have to be a diplomat. This was about being a human being. Women are very layered individuals. We can do 16 things at once. That’s why we can carry children for nine months and then raise them. I wanted to show all of those colors of a woman.”

The role gave Cooke the chance to showcase her range and expressiveness.

“Even just for my own personal life, it felt really cathartic to be able to be angry and be able to scream and be a person who wears their emotions so closely to the surface,” Cooke adds. “Cherry is effervescent. It’s always there waiting to come out. She’s so reactive. And I’m hypervigilant for the warning signs before I react. This was like a rage room.”

In the tumultuous finale, Laura drugs Daniel to keep him away from Cherry. After Cherry breaks into Laura’s house, the duo find themselves in a physical altercation in the basement swimming pool. An addled Daniel discovers them fighting and jumps in to protect Cherry, accidentally holding his mother under the water for too long. The immediate interpretation is that Laura dies at the hand of her son, which is what the actors shot on set in London last year.

“There was an aerial shot of mom dead in his arms,” Wright says. “It was beautiful. He was holding her and he looks at Cherry and mom was dead in his arms in the way I had held him in Spain. But the [producers] cut it out because it showed that she had died.”

Laurie Davidson, who plays Daniel, and Robin Wright in a scene from “The Girlfriend.”

(Christopher Raphael / Prime)

The decision to have Daniel accidentally kill (or not kill) Laura resulted from a “big discussion,” as Wright puts it. The obvious conclusion was to have Cherry purposefully murder Laura, but Wright pushed against that.

“I said, ‘It needs to be the son that kills his mother because he will never get out of her clutches when she’s alive,’” Wright says. “He’s going to be in the middle of this war zone for the rest of his life. When he comes down [to the pool], he’s in a stupor. He’s almost hallucinating. When he dives in the pool and he sees [Laura] trying to drown his girlfriend, he doesn’t know what’s happened prior to that moment, which is she’s tried to kill mom. He has no sense of time and space because he’s under the influence.”

Cooke says she didn’t play the scene as Cherry wanting Laura to die. “Maybe people will read it as that, but I didn’t,” Cooke says. “She knows it’s gone too far. That’s what I played in the moment, shouting at Daniel to snap out of it. But, you know, she did get the house.”

Shooting the pool altercation was a challenging day. Much of the series was filmed in a private house in London’s St. John’s Wood neighborhood, which had an actual swimming pool in the basement. Although the pool was supposedly heated, the actors didn’t experience any warmth.

“It was f— hard,” Wright recalls. “For me, it was like waterboarding. People think, ‘Oh, my God, so much fun to act in those scenes.’ No, it’s not. It’s really tough. We were all drowned rats and freezing cold.”

Still, Cooke says it was enjoyable to go to such intense limits emotionally.

“It’s fun being able to go to the very edge of your emotional capacity in a very safe, fun, embracing environment,” she says. “We wouldn’t have been able to do that in the pool, and be able to try and murder each other and then laugh, if it wasn’t built on trust and love. … These characters do very heightened, crazy stuff, but it’s still seeped in honesty and naturalism, which you need in order to go on this journey.”

Robin Wright recalls how difficult shooting the pool scene was: “For me, it was like waterboarding.” Nevertheless, Olivia Cooke says it was “fun being able to go to the very edge of your emotional capacity.” (Jennifer McCord / For The Times)

At the end of the finale, Cherry and Daniel move into Laura’s mansion with the blessing of Daniel’s father, Howard (Waleed Zuaiter). Daniel discovers a voicemail from Laura recounting how Cherry’s mother, Tracey (Karen Henthorn), warned of her daughter’s malicious motives. But while Daniel is clearly in trouble, Wright says you’re not necessarily meant to interpret it as Laura being completely out of the picture.

“We wanted to leave it a little bit open,” she says. “You see the pregnant family living in the Sanderson house and mommy’s gone. Could Laura still be alive? Did she really die? Has she just been shunned to the priory?”

Wright says they wanted to leave it to the audience to decide what happened.

“But Daniel is awakened,” she adds. “If Laura is alive, he could go back to her and say, ‘I now believe you and now I’m with a crazy woman and afraid she’s going to kill me in my sleep.’ There are many iterations where it can go if there is a Season 2.”

As of this interview, no announcement has been made about another season. Cooke, who also stars as Alicent Hightower in “House of the Dragon,” says she would have to get permission from HBO to be part of a concurrent episodic series. Plus, as Wright notes, it’s all about the algorithm. “You always have to wait and see if it’s a semi-success,” Wright says. She adds, turning to Cooke, “If there is a Season 2, I think you should kill the cat in Episode 1, gut it and wear it as a hat.”

For Wright, that’s part of the appeal of being an executive producer — she could brainstorm all the unhinged things that could happen between the characters. She loved coming up with story ideas and character backgrounds, and helping to sculpt the ending, which differs from the novel, was pure joy.

“This was my first opportunity to develop something from the ground up,” says Robin Wright, who executive produces and is a director on the series. “I took a bunch of personal stories, things that I’ve heard, and threw them in there.”

(Jennifer McCord / For The Times)

“This was my first opportunity to develop something from the ground up,” Wright says. “I took a bunch of personal stories, things that I’ve heard, and threw them in there. Like Laura kissing her son on the lips — that came from a friend of mine. And Laura spraying Cherry with her perfume in a shop and saying, ‘Daniel loves this,’ came from someone on set. Things were constantly percolating.”

Wright directed the first three episodes, setting the visual and thematic tone for the series, while Andrea Harkin took on the latter three. The actor says there was a real freedom on set, which was helped by the rehearsals the cast was able to do before filming. She made it a point to always give the actors their own take for each scene.

“Generally, I’d use the take where they went for a free-for-all,” she says. “You get locked in a box as actors. We all do. You pick a choice and you stick with that choice. But when you throw that out the window, the s— that comes out of actors is amazing. That’s what’s so beautiful about being able to direct and being an actor myself. I love watching how it evolves and the light that comes out of them and the emotion that’s brought to the surface.”

“I’ve never acted opposite my director before,” Cooke adds. “The chain of command was so short. Robin was acting with me, but also watching to see what I do and changing her performance to my reaction, which was amazing. It makes it very alive and kinetic.”

Ultimately, it’s up to the viewer to decide whether Laura or Cherry is the villain of “The Girlfriend.” And, as Wright says, it’s simply a matter of how you see things.

“You as the viewer get to decide: Is there a truth, or is it just subjective?” she says. “Because it is subjective for each of our perspectives and we own it. It happened the way you personally know it happened. But the truth lies somewhere in between.”

I Fought The Law has had viewers in tears and as Sheridan Smith’s triumphant return to the screen plays out, she is joined by a host of other familiar faces

I Fought The Law has had viewers in tears in recent days after the ITV drama first began to air. The four-part series follows the remarkable true story of the story of Ann Ming, a mother-of-three from Billingham, County Durham, who battled for 15 years to see her daughter Julie’s killer brought to justice after he was initially acquitted.

Julie Hogg, aged 22, was a mother to three-year-old son Kevin and wife to husband Andrew. She vanished after working a late shift at a local pizza parlour.

Heartbreakingly, Ann found Julie’s body hidden in the bathroom of her home in January 1990. 80 days earlier, the murderer had concealed Julie’s body behind the bath panel.

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READ MORE: Filming locations for Sheridan Smith’s ITV drama I Fought The Law revealed

Despite extensive searches by police forensics teams after Julie’s disappearance, they failed to locate Julie’s body.

The brand new drama features a stellar cast, headed up by none other than British TV legend Sheridan Smith, who has been a regular face on screens for decades. She started her career as Janet Smith on the BBC Three sitcom Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, which she appeared on alongside the likes of Ralf Little, Natalie Casey and Beverley Callard.

During the show’s lengthy run throughout the 2000s, she also appeared on Fat Friends opposite Emmerdale star Lisa Riley as well as sunny sitcom Benidorm and BBC favourite Gavin & Stacey. She then turned to musical theatre, winning an Olivier Award for her portrayal of Elle Woods, the character made famous by Reese Witherspoon, in the West End production of Legally Blonde.

Further stage credits in Funny Girl and, more recently, Shirley Valentine and Opening Night followed.

But it’s gritty dramas that Sheridan has really made her mark. In 2014, she starred as Cilla Black in Cilla, played a cleaner with a gambling addiction in Cleaning Up and also starred in a number of true crime dramas with her the mother of a young gay man killed by Stephen Port in Four Lives, and as Karen Matthews’ friend Julie Bushby in the BBC drama The Moorside.

But Sheridan is not the only famous face to be starring in the much-anticipated drama. She is joined by Enzo Cilenti as DS Mark Braithwaite. He previously starred in Jekyll & Hyde for ITV alongside Hollywood star Richard E. Grant and Strictly Come Dancing’s Natalie Gumede. He also had a main role as Aubrey Hackett in The Last Tycoon opposite Lily Collins, Matt Bomer and Kelsey Grammar and can also be seen alongside Olivia Colman and Dominic West in the 2019 BBC version of Les Miserables.

Esteemed actor Andrew Lancel makes an appearance as Guy Whitburn QC in I Fought The Law, but soap fans are likely to remember him as the villainous Frank Foster on Coronation Street. He appeared as the business associate of Underworld manager Carla Connor (Alison King), and subjected the factory boss to a horrific act of rape.

He was later found dead on the factory floor and it turned out that he had been murdered by his own mother Anne, who was played by Heartbeat favourite Gwen Taylor, after she discovered what he had done. Prior to his stint on the cobbles, he had appeared on Bad Girls and Queer as Folk and has also carved out an illustrious career in theatre having starred in tours of The Sound of Music and Cilla.

The cast is rounded out by Victoria Wyant, who plays the victim in question, as well as Rivals star as Rufus Jones. The actor recently starred as Paul Stratton in the hit Disney+ series and has also starred in The Casual Vacancy and appeared in the likes of Inside No. 9, Beyond Paradise and Black Ops over the years. Fans of Hollyoaks might also recognise Kent Riley, who played Zak Ramsey in the Channel 4 soap.

CBBC fans might also recognise Aimee Kelly, who plays Judith Morden in the drama series. The actress first found fame as a teenager when she played Maddy Smith in the hit supernatural series Wolfblood opposite Bobby Lockwood.

Since she quit the supernatural series more than a decade ago, she has appeared in episodes of Call The Midwife, Grantchester and Holby City. In 2024, she played Sasha in the psychological thriller Platform 7. Others set to appear in the programme, which finishes its run on September 8, are Jack James Riley, Bryony Corrigan, and Buddy Wignall-Ho.

Ann, unhappy with the Cleveland Constabulary’s investigation, took it upon herself to challenge senior officers in a bid to uncover the truth about her daughter Julie’s murder and bring the culprit to justice.

William Dunlop was twice put on trial for Julie’s murder, each time denying his guilt. On both occasions, the jury failed to reach a verdict, leading to his formal acquittal and release.

In 1999, while serving a seven-year sentence for violent offences, Dunlop confessed to a prison officer that he had murdered Julie. At the time, due to the double jeopardy rule, he could not be retried for the murder following his acquittal.

Ann, who also serves as a consultant on I Fought the Law, expressed her support for the ITV series and shared her delight that actress Sheridan would be portraying her, stating she was “overwhelmed”.

“I am very pleased that Hera Pictures will tell the story of my campaign to overturn the Double Jeopardy Law. My daughter’s killer was wrongfully acquitted, and a number of years later confessed to her murder, for which he could only be prosecuted for perjury due to the 800-year-old Double Jeopardy Law. I wasn’t going to let this stand in my way of getting justice for Julie.

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John Middleton takes a bold step as he goes from vicar to villain in C4 soap Hollyoaks. The former Emmerdale legend has spoken about his time on set and his role as Froggy Black.

He played much-loved vicar Ashley Thomas in Emmerdale for 20 years, but now John Middleton has taken on a much darker role as Fraser “Froggy” Black – grandfather to villainess Grace Black and her sister Clare Devine – in Hollyoaks.

After years in Longmere Prison, Froggy is finally out – and heading straight back into the heart of his fractured family. “He does want to bring the family together,” John, 71, says. “For what purpose, that’s yet to be revealed. But he wants to restore the relationship between Clare and Grace.”

One of the highlights of his new role, John says, is working with Tamara Wall and Gemma Bissix, who play Grace and Clare. “They ask me, ‘What do you tell your wife when you go back home?’”, John shares.

“I say, ‘I don’t tell her anything. I sit in a corner, occasionally hugging my knees and rocking backwards and forwards,’” he jokes. “They’re a laugh to work with!”

READ MORE: Scottish brand has shoppers ‘stop using shower gel’ for natural alternative

Froggy made his first appearance in the Chester-based show in early August, seen behind bars with Tom Cunningham, whom he’d taken under his wing as a financial advisor.

When his granddaughters were arrested for their part in Clare’s husband’s trafficking ring, the reunion was icy. Still, Froggy was determined to win over Grace – despite his hatred for Clare.

Now, John teases that Froggy could blow the village apart. “He knows things, particularly about one particular person,” John says. “The past being revealed would be catastrophic for their present.

He knows something about people he’s most closely working with, which is going to be revealed. He knows a lot of secrets, he knows where all the bodies are buried – quite literally.

His past is possibly murderous, his present is possibly vengeful. Froggy is totally unpredictable. You never know what he’s going to do next.”

With secrets come enemies – but Froggy isn’t fazed. “He’s an incredibly manipulative person so the fact he’s got enemies doesn’t bother him,” John admits. “The fact that he has control over his enemies is essential to him.”

This isn’t John’s first brush with Hollyoaks . In 1997 he popped up as Cindy Cunningham’s doctor – a role he admits he’d forgotten about.

His soap career was then peppered with cameos. In the 1990s he appeared twice in Coronation Street – first as John Hargreaves, the driver who accidentally killed Lisa Duckworth, and later as a hospital consultant. Even Emmerdale wasn’t entirely new to him when he took on Ashley’s role.

“I was a policeman about a year and a half before becoming Ashley,” he says. “But Froggy is a completely different character, which is why I’m doing it.”

John says the whole Hollyoaks team made his transition easy. And though he still struggles with nerves, executive producer Hannah Cheers has assured him he’s in the right place.

“You adjust quickly to it and it was helped because everyone here is lovely,” he says. “My first few scenes, I was nervous. I was completely reassured when I bumped into Hannah and she said, ‘I really love what you’re doing.’ That was a great relief!”

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NOTHING screams luxury like a top-notch yacht, so it’s no wonder Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has been hosting Max Verstappen on his boat in a bid to woo the popular driver away from Red Bull.

The Formula One World Champion, 27, has been spotted sunning himself topless on the vessel just off the coast of Sardinia.

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In photos that emerged last week, he was seen enjoying the heat as he laughed with Toto, 53, who was dressed all in white.

The luxurious yacht, named Mangusta 165, is believed to have cost the racing boss £20million and spends most of the time moored in Monaco when not in use.

F1 is currently on its summer break, with the next race not until August 31 in Zandvoort.

Max’s break with the Mercedes boss has refuelled rumours that he might move to the team when his contract with Red Bull is up.

The four-time world champion told RacingNews365: “I’m in the middle. Maybe it’ll be good, maybe it’ll be bad – we’ll see.

“I’m very open-minded, honestly. I don’t even think about it too much – I’m just enjoying the moment. 

“When I sit in the car next year, we’ll figure it out. I’m not making the rules anyway.”

Toto has owned his yacht, which is 50m in length and has a top speed of 25 knots, since 2023.

It boasts five bedrooms and can host 12 guests, who can also enjoy use of the jet skis and a hot tub.

The Mercedes boss isn’t the only F1 star to own a fancy yacht. Here we look at battle of the boats.

Max Verstappen

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He might have spent the beginning of his summer break on Toto’s yacht, but the F1 driver has his own boat – which has been described as a ‘Bond villain’s weekend getaway’.

He owns 33million yacht Unleash the Lion, which is thought to be worth £11million.

It can hold up to 12 guests alongside five crew, meaning Max and partner Kelly Piquet have ample space for entertaining as well as room for their daughter, Lily, born in May.

It has an open deck to the rear which is fitted with white couches and is thought to have an area to store a speed boat.

He also has a large stateroom inside, but little else is known about the pricey vessel’s interior.

Max moored the yacht in Monaco this year when he was competing in the principality’s Grand Prix but he hasn’t posted photos since its purchase earlier this year.

George Russell

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British F1 ace George, 27, is the latest driver to join the yacht owner’s club with his Pershing 6X.

He splashed out £2.2million on the luxurious vessel following his success on the track.

The boat might be smaller than grid rival Max’s, but it’s not tiny either.

It has four bedrooms, four bathrooms, a kitchen and a spacious upper deck living area.

And he’s been showing the yacht off on his social media with girlfriend Carmen Mundt, 26, and a host of friends on board.

They also have a stash of pricey water toys and the racer has posted videos of him and others on a hydrofoil skimming across the sea.

Like rival Max, George is also spending his summer break from the circuit on the boat off the coast of Sardinia.

Fernando Alonso

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Spanish driver Fernando, 44, has owned a Sunreef Power Eco 60 since 2023 after signing an order for it back in 2021.

Each yacht from the brand is a bespoke creation for the buyer.

The 18.3m long vessel is solar-powered, giving the boat eco-friendly credentials that most yachts don’t have.

“I think [Sunreef] is the only company that takes sustainability to a very serious level,” said Alonso during an interview with BOAT International.

“To have a fully electric catamaran powered by solar panels made perfect sense to me.”

The solar panels cover 68.6m squared across the yacht, including the roof and hull sides.

It’s equipped with two 360kw electric motors and a set of 990kwh batteries which are solar powered – making the yacht essentially silent when moving.

One of the smaller yachts owned by an F1 star, it can accommodate up to six guests and four crew.

But, for Fernando, size doesn’t matter.

Alonso said: “On board, all that matters is peace of mind, fresh air, and good company. Yachting should not be about ego.

“For me, it’s about sharing good moments and being respectful towards the environment.”

Lawrence Stroll

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Billionaire Lawrence, 65, has splashed some of his enormous fortune on a 262-foot long floating mansion for a cool £184.5million.

The Aston Martin F1 team owner downsized from his original yacht, Faith, to Project 714 in March – and has now also renamed it Faith.

The upper decks, enclosed in glass, contain a swimming pool, a games deck and a helicopter landing pad with a hangar below, according to Luxury Launches.

Inside, there are seven guest cabins which can hold up to 14 people as well as space for 20 crew members.

It’s thought the large vessel, which has a top speed of 17knots, has annual running costs of up to £20million.

Lawrence’s previous boat could host up to 18 people across nine cabins and had a crew of 34.

It also boasted a private cinema, nine-meter swimming pool plus a spa and plunge pool.

He sold it to business tycoon Michael Latifi when he decided to downsize to a slightly smaller vessel.

Lewis Hamilton

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British driver Lewis, 40, is also a member of the F1 yacht club with Sunseeker 90, which he is thought to have bought in 2009 for around £2.9million.

And when he’s not feeling like being on his own boat, he charters other vessels that boast a bigger range of rooms and activities.

Sunseeker 90 is 91.9feet and can sleep up to eight guests. It boasts a top speed of 30 knots meaning it’s a speedy boat.

The yacht is normally moored in Monaco, where Lewis resides during the off season.

It features American walnut carpentry, air-conditioning, a huge kitchen and an entertainment area with a shower where guests can rinse off after a dip in the sea.

He was seen entertaining model Bella Hadid, 28, on a yacht back in 2017, but it’s not clear if he used his own boat or rented one for entertaining.

Lewis has also been spotted entertaining pals over the years, including former teammate Nico Rosberg and his own family.

Charles Leclerc

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Ferrari driver Charles, 27, appears to be a big fan of spending time on both his yachts – because who would have one when you could have two?

He owns a Riva 66 Ribelle named Sedici, which is Italian for sixteen – his race number – and a Riva Dolceriva open cruiser.

Sedici is a 20m sports yacht that can reach speeds of up to 37 knots and has three cabins inside.

He brought it to the Monaco Grand Prix this year, like many of his fellow drivers.

It seems to be his favourite of the two boats, as he often shares snaps from holidays on it, many with it in the background while he swims.

His second vessel is named Monza after the world-famous racing circuit – and is a speedy boat.

Charles paid approximately £1.5million for it back in 2020 and reportedly bought it to commemorate winning the Grand Prix at Monza the year before.

It’s 48ft long and can accommodate up to four guests across two cabins.

The lower deck has an L-shaped sofa with a coffee table in the centre. The master cabin has a huge king-sized bed as well as an ensuite.

Terence Stamp, the English actor who played the arch-villain General Zod in Superman films, has died at the age of 87.

In a career that spanned six decades, the Oscar-nominated actor starred in films including The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Far From the Madding Crowd and Valkyrie.

Stamp died on Sunday morning, his family said in a statement to Reuters news agency.

“He leaves behind an extraordinary body of work, both as an actor and a writer that will continue to touch people for years to come,” they said.

Born in Stepney, east London, to working-class parents on 22 July 1938, Stamp attended grammar school before pursuing a career in advertising.

After securing a scholarship to go to drama school, he shot to fame in the 1960s, making his debut playing the titular role in Billy Budd, a 1962 film about a naive young seaman in the 18th century.

His performance earnt him an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor and a Golden Globe for best newcomer.

He soon made a name for himself as a villain, with stand-out performances in Superman and Superman II as General Zod and Sergeant Troy in the 1967 Far From the Madding Crowd.

Emmerdale spoilers have appeared to confirm who new villain Ray will target in the village, as next week on the ITV soap it’s someone other than Dylan he has a job for

There was a worrying Emmerdale hint on Tuesday night about who Ray may be after next, after initially targeting teen Dylan Penders.

Now a new spoiler for the ITV soap may have confirmed the twist and who Ray will really be targeting over the next few weeks. On Tuesday we saw Dylan trying to get out of working for the dealer who had been giving him money, pretending to be his friend.

Bond or not, Ray has Dylan exactly where he wants him and is getting him to do his dodgy dealings. We’ve seen Dylan hiding drugs and sneaking off for drop-offs and whatever else Ray has for him. It comes after fans learned Ray had targeted Moira Dingle off the back of his deal with Robert Sugden.

READ MORE: Emmerdale ‘lets slip’ who Aaron ends up with in Robert scene and it’s bad news for JohnREAD MORE: Coronation Street star announces abrupt exit as character ‘killed off’ without warning

So far on the show, Dylan’s return led to the news he was in cahoots with Ray. Ray had sent him and someone else to scope out Moira’s farm to check if Robert was lying about there being no more weed in the barns.

Dylan was injured and is now recovering at the home of Mandy and Paddy, who have taken him in. They of course no idea about his secret visits with Ray, who is giving him money and lining him up with dodgy jobs.

Dylan clearly wants out though and on Tuesday, fans saw the character rumbled over his link to the break-in at Moira’s. He was confronted but it was agreed that the police, and Moira, would not be told.

As for Ray, Dylan told him about Paddy and Mandy as well as his blossoming relationship with April Windsor. Claiming he didn’t want to take advantage, he also wanted to spend some time in the village.

So he told Ray he didn’t want to do the latest job on offer. Ray seemed fine with it as Dylan told him he wouldn’t be able to help this time, with Ray agreeing to ask someone else.

But when Dylan was away from him, it was clear Ray was spying on him and April. His true intentions became clear when Ray was shown on the phone, telling someone that “sweet and innocent” April would be “of use” to them.

So Ray is now targeting April to get her involved in his criminal world – but will she be lured in? Spoilers for next week confirm Dylan reveals April has been offered a job by Ray.

It seems that there is an agreement that if April does the job, Ray will leave Dylan alone. At least that’s what the teens believe, and soon April is tasked with a drug drop by a manipulative Ray. But will she go through with it, and will Ray leave them both alone?

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

When Terry Bollea, more commonly known as Hulk Hogan, showed up in an evening slot at the 2024 Republican National Convention, reactions were mixed.

Then-candidate President Trump and his supporters, both in and outside the hall, were clearly delighted, especially when Hogan, in a signature move, ripped off his T-shirt to display a Trump/Vance tank. Others reacted with disgust, decrying the “cheap” theatrics of a stunt in which Trump courted fans of professional wrestling and Hogan tried to regain national relevance.

In either case, it was mutual benediction. Trump won by leveraging a popular culture that Hogan, who died Thursday at 71, played a significant role in shaping. From the popularity of scripted reality television to the celebration of “real Americans,” Hogan’s career catalyzed and mirrored the shifting zeitgeist.

Forty years ago, he began leveraging an in-your-face patriotism (complete with “Real American” as his theme song) and a naked demand for dominance to become a self-spun celebrity who helped turn pro wrestling from a niche form of entertainment into an international billion-dollar industry.

He created the template for reality-star brand management when Kim Kardashian was still in diapers; he amassed millions of devoted followers by speaking to them directly, and in all caps long before social media was invented. He was canceled (for racist language), only to be uncanceled after a successful apology tour.

He not only survived the release of a sex tape, he sued (with the help of billionaire Peter Thiel) the media site Gawker for publishing it and won, putting Gawker out of business and striking fear into the heart of the free press. He thwarted unions, starred in movies, had a restaurant chain and co-owned his own brand of beer.

Tap any portion of modern celebrity culture — good, bad and ugly — and there’s Hulk Hogan, all handle-bar mustache and “Let me tell you something, brother.” The take-no-prisoners combative style that made him stand out in the 1980s has become just as mainstream as professional wrestling.

Even those who would rather eat glass than watch pro wrestling know who he was; he was a pioneer of personality as profession.

Six foot eight and built like a tank, Terry Bollea became a professional wrestler in 1977 and cultivated the kind of self-aggrandizing personality that had made Gorgeous George (George Raymond Wagner) a star decades earlier. But Hulk Hogan cast himself as a hero, unleashed to lay the bad guys flat. He spoke directly to his audience, including children, and soon gained national, and then international, fame, for himself and the World Wrestling Federation.

Hulk Hogan cast himself as a hero, helping to popularize pro wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation, which would later become World Wrestling Entertainment.

(Universal History Archive/ Universal Archive / Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

So much so that, in 1993, the World Wildlife Fund sued the organization over its initials, forcing it to change its name to World Wrestling Entertainment — WWE. The name change made perfect sense — pro wrestling has always been more about entertainment than sport. Yes, the participants are super-fit and strong and their bodies endure all manner of injury, but their brawls are not true competitions.

The matches are carefully choreographed, with winners chosen beforehand (though the outcomes are kept from the audience). With its reliance on over-the-top personas categorized as “faces” (good guys) and “heels” (villains), pro wrestling, like many modern reality programs, was all about audience preference.

In many ways, Hulk Hogan was the first reality TV star, a champion not because he was a better wrestler (or at least not in the nonprofessional sense) but because he was a better performer, pushing back against the rise of the new, gentler, feminist man of the 1980s with his physicality and bravado.

Not that he was above modifying his persona for increased popularity — in his early years, he was a “face” before becoming a “heel,” a growling villain renamed Hollywood Hogan. “I did it to upset the fans,” he told The Times in 2019. “But it didn’t really work. They still loved me.”

By the late 1980s, “Hulkamania” was everywhere, feeding off Hogan’s signature colors (yellow and red), moves (the leg-drop) and catchphrases (“Whatcha gonna do when the Hulkamania runs wild on you, brother?”). Not even an admission that he used steroids, after years of claiming otherwise, derailed his popularity.

Everyone wanted a piece of him, and Hogan began showing up in film and television. In 1982, he played Thunderlips, a version of himself, in “Rocky III,” taking on Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa in an exhibition match.

Hogan would also show up on the small screen in “The Love Boat,” “The A-Team,” “The All New Mickey Mouse Club” and, more recently, “The Goldbergs”; he made some terrible movies, including “Suburban Commando” and “Mr. Nanny,” did voice-work for video games and appeared, of course, in countless WWE productions. He set the stage for other pro wrestlers to become actors, including the Rock, John Cena and Dave Bautista.

In 2005, he went full-bore reality, starring in “Hogan Knows Best” which focused on his family life with wife Linda, son Nick and daughter Brooke. (Hogan agreed in part to support Brooke’s burgeoning singing career.) As with many celebrity family-based series, it ended after four seasons, when actual reality, including the couple’s divorce and Nick’s involvement in a car crash for which he was charged with reckless driving (and later sentenced to prison), made it impossible to continue.

Despite his many wrestling titles and iconic matches, Hogan’s most famous battle occurred in a courtroom. In 2012, Gawker published portions of a sex tape in which he appeared. Hogan sued. Or rather Terry Bollea sued (with the financial support of Thiel, who had his own ax to grind with Gawker for outing him years earlier). He claimed that while Hulk Hogan was a public figure who often spoke of his sexual prowess, Bollea was not, and therefore publishing the tape, which had been made without his consent, violated his privacy.

In 2016, the jury found for Bollea and awarded him $115 million; Gawker folded a few months later and Hogan found himself in the middle of a debate about the 1st Amendment and the decreasing popularity, and profitability, of the press.

More damaging, however, were leaked portions of that tape in which Hogan used racist slurs, including the N-word, when discussing his daughter’s boyfriend. In 2015, the WWE terminated Hogan’s contract and removed all mention of him from his website. Hogan’s subsequent apology tour led to him being reinstated in 2018.

These were not the only scandals in which Hogan was involved — in the late 1980s, he was instrumental in preventing an attempt by other wrestlers to unionize; his divorce from Linda was messy, and he and his daughter were estranged for years. His appearance at the RNC convention last year divided his fans. In January, he was booed by members of the crowd gathered for the Los Angeles premiere of Netflix’s “WWE Raw,” which many, including Hogan, saw as a condemnation of his support for Trump.

Not that he seemed too concerned. In a culture where hate-watching is courted and toxic conversation applauded, the only real enemy is silence. As Hulk Hogan taught us, for better and worse, a face is as good as a heel and a boo is as good as a cheer, just as long as the crowd continues to make some noise.

Emmerdale has signed up EastEnders and Slow Horses actor Chris Coghill who will play new character Kev, who has a secret link to another villager paving the way for huge scenes

A new Emmerdale character has been confirmed, with a former EastEnders star signing up for the role.

New mystery character Kev will debut on the ITV soap in September, and it’s soon revealed he is linked to another villager. Not only that, but more than one character will feature in big scenes as Kev’s arrival has “major repercussions”.

Actor Chris Coghill, who played EastEnders villain Tony King, has confirmed he will be playing Kev as he teased what was on the cards. Soap producer Laura Shaw also promised big scenes ahead, as the character first appears to be someone who is lost.

He’ll be shown looking for directions, and soon enough we learn who he is looking for and why he wants to see them. The character, yet to be revealed, is said to have “a strong connection” to Kev in a storyline yet to be detailed.

There’s clearly a past between them, but fans will just have to wait and see who it is and what Kev wants. Fans can expect “shockwaves” to hit the village in another big plot for the ITV soap.

READ MORE: EastEnders schedule shake-up sparks ‘technical error’ as fans spot Jack Branning blunder

Speaking about joining the show, actor Chris teased his mysterious character would “shake things up”. He said: “I am really happy to be joining the cast of Emmerdale. Kev is definitely going to shake things up a bit and I’m looking forward to getting cracking!”

Soap producer Laura spilled: “We are delighted that someone of Chris’ calibre has joined our cast. I think the viewers will be intrigued to see how the character of Kev will cause shockwaves this autumn.

“Kev has a strong connection to one of our characters and it’s safe to say his arrival is going to be a massive surprise that will have major repercussions for some of our villagers.” More will be revealed closer to the time.

As well as his well known stint in EastEnders, actor Chris has also had other big roles in shows including Slow Horses, The Bay and Shameless. He’s now heading to the Dales, and fans can see his debut at the end of September.

He isn’t the only new face in the village, with recent arrivals including new villain Ray played by actor Joe Absolom, and new farmer Celia played by actress Jaye Griffiths. Both characters have brought trouble to the village, and this is set to continue over the next few months.

There’s also a big episode on the way featuring characters Aaron Dingle and Mackenzie Boyd this September. A huge plot will air across a big week of episodes, with it said a special set has been built for filming.

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

Emmerdale spoilers have teased a very big week ahead on the ITV soap, as Joe Tate faces a villain in a revenge twist, while there’s a double hospital dash and drama for Robert Sugden

There’s big twists and turns on Emmerdale next week, including a shocking return, revenge drama and danger for more than one resident.

Joe Tate finally learns who’s been targeting him with a harassment campaign, resulting in horrifying scenes next week. It sparks the return of a villain, with Joe possibly facing serious danger.

He’s not the only one, as two characters face trouble in a car incident as one of them faints behind the wheel. There’s also schemes and threats as Robert Sugden takes action, while there’s plenty of decisions and big moments ahead.

Let’s kick things off with the return of Joe’s former accomplice and now nemesis, it seems, Dr Crowley. We last saw Crowley after he got dragged into Joe’s schemes when he needed a new kidney.

He was paying Crowley to help him find a donor and then perform the operation, which he did. What Crowley wasn’t banking on though was Joel having his uncle Caleb Miligan stabbed, before being forced to remove the kidney and transplant it into Joe.

READ MORE: Emmerdale cast say heartbreaking scenes will give fans ‘goosebumps’ after sad twist

With the police snooping around Crowley fled and he has not been seen since. But it seems he’s out to get Joe, after weeks of harassment and he’s not working alone.

As the villain makes a comeback it seems he’s more dangerous than ever, blackmailing Joe. As he’s revealed to be behind Joe’s ordeal, he demands £100,000 to be placed in the kitchen at Home Farm.

Fearing Shaun is behind it, Joe sacks him leading to the character turning threatening. Joe plots to flee the village fearing he isn’t safe, only to be knocked out by a shovel-wielding Shaun. That’s not the worst of it though as he wakes up in a makeshift hospital room to a menacing Crowley looming over him.

So what does Crowley have planned and will Joe make it out alive? Two other characters face danger next week, when Gabby’s crash diet ahead of her wedding leaves her and Sarah Sugden in a bad way.

Sarah is still recovering from her emergency hysterectomy when the pair go for a drive as mechanic Sarah offers to ensure Gabby’s car is fine after some issues. She’s trying to take her mind off things, clearly struggling and refusing to rest as suggested by the doctors.

But having barely eaten for days, Gabby faints at the wheel meaning Sarah has to quickly grab the wheel to bring the car to a stop. Sarah is left in agony at having to stretch out amid her wounds from her operation.

As they both end up in hospital, Sarah collapses. When joined by her grandfather Cain Dingle, an emotional Sarah admits the accident made her realise how badly she wants a family of her own so he suggests surrogacy.

When Charity Dingle fears Cain is raising their granddaughter’s hopes, Cain says he’s determined to help her. As for Gabby, she’s given the all clear but as fiancé Vinny Dingle supports her, he continues to hide his concerns over their relationship and continues to question his sexuality.

Gabby’s stepmother Laurel Thomas overhears Vinny talking with pal Kammy and demands a private chat. She encourages him not to marry Gabby if he’s unsure about the relationship but what will he do?

Finally next week, Robert Sugden causes more trouble when he avoids discussing plans for Annie’s field after a deal with Moira Dingle. But when Ross Barton confronts him about the missing weed, Robert threatens to cancel the land deal with Moira, forcing Ross to back down temporarily.

Kim Tate prepares to share all about her new man, and Tracy Robinson fumes at Cain over Nate’s memorial. Lewis Barton gets a job at the café and proves to be a hit.

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

Emmerdale fans will see the arrivals of two new characters next week, both causing trouble on the ITV soap, with danger, betrayals, discoveries and secrets under threat

There’s plenty of carnage coming up on Emmerdale, with two new faces, secrets under wraps and a brutal attack.

One iconic character faces death after a violent attack, with him rushed to hospital in a life-threatening condition. Someone is double crossed, and it could have serious repercussions.

A character is nervous over their recent near-kiss with someone else as he fears it could be exposed, while a feud rumbles on too. Kicking things off, there’s a horrifying twist for Paddy Kirk next week.

Paddy, who has been on the soap for decades, is brutally attacked and left lifeless, as his dad Bear races to save him. Amid a time of conflict between the father and son, Bear battles to save his son’s life when the vet is injured badly by a dog.

Paddy is trying to rescue a sheep caught in the fence on the land of new farmer Celia, only to be caught and bitten by an aggressive dog. Bear manages to save him, but he’s left traumatised by the incident. As Paddy’s loved ones gather at the hospital, he emerges from surgery.

READ MORE: EastEnders Shane Richie addresses Alfie ‘exit’ and teases huge Zoe Slater twist

But he and wife Mandy Dingle are reeling when Bear launches a verbal attack on his son’s character. Taking the words to heart, a heartbroken Paddy sobs silently before struggling in the fallout. Soon he heads for Celia’s farm to confront her about the attack but it doesn’t go well.

He blames Bear for this and the pair are further apart than ever before. Telling his dad to move out, he’s clear he wants nothing to do with him but will this be it for them amid Bear’s own mystery worrying storyline?

Celia isn’t the only new arrival to the show next week, as newcomer Ray, a new villain, also makes his mark. As Ross Barton and his brother Lewis Barton’s secret weed hustle continues, Mack Boyd makes a horrifying decision amid his own involvement in the plot.

With Moira Dingle still facing financial issues and struggling to keep the farm, with Mack still thinking he’s to blame, they consider whether to sell the weed to a dealer for a huge sum of money. When Lewis refuses, Mack goes behind their backs and agrees to sell up to Ray.

Lewis assumes his brother Ross has betrayed him and their relationship falls apart as Mack feels guilty over what he’s done. Mack is left desperate though without the brothers on board, as he struggles to meet the dealer’s demands.

So when all the plants go missing from the barn, Ross accuses Mack of stealing it and selling it all to Ray but he protests his innocence. So who has taken the weed and where is it now?

Vinny Dingle also faces turmoil next week after he recently tried to kiss his pal Kammy Hadiq. While Kammy has said he won’t tell anyone including Vinny’s fiancée Gabby Thomas, Vinny can’t help but fear it will be exposed.

He’s avoiding his pal so when Gabby invites Kammy to their engagement party, Vinny is in turmoil. Finally next week Sarah Sugden supports her grieving grandfather Cain Dingle who’s upset when the whole family is barred from his son Nate Robinson’s funeral by Tracy.

Emmerdale airs weeknights at 7:30pm on ITV1 and ITVX, with an hour-long episode on Thursdays. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

The 2025 Tony Awards winners are being announced in a telecast hosted by Cynthia Erivo, and it’s a night in which so many major categories remain tossups. Three musicals — “Maybe Happy Ending,” “Buena Vista Social Club” and “Death Becomes Her” — are tied with the most nominations, with 10 each. The best play frontrunners are an eclectic bunch too: Cole Escola’s crowd-pleasing romp “Oh, Mary!” Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’s Pulitzer Prize-winner “Purpose” and Kimberly Belflower’s “John Proctor Is the Villain,” a reexamination of “The Crucible.”

Hollywood’ invasion of Broadway is reflected in a starry list of acting nominees that includes George Clooney, Sadie Sink, Sarah Snook, Mia Farrow, Daniel Dae Kim, Darren Criss, Bob Odenkirk, Conrad Ricamora and Jonathan Groff. The performance that cut the deepest for Times theater critic Charles McNulty was six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald as Rose in George C. Wolfe’s revival of “Gypsy,” which he called “a harrowing reexamination of the musical through the historical prism of race.”

Here’s how to watch the Tony Awards, but if you can’t, check back here often. This list of winners will be updated in real time Sunday.

Lead actress in a play

WINNER: Sarah Snook, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
Laura Donnelly, “The Hills of California”
Mia Farrow, “The Roommate”
LaTanya Richardson Jackson, “Purpose”
Sadie Sink, “John Proctor Is the Villain”

Original score

WINNER: “Maybe Happy Ending” (music by Will Aronson, lyrics by Will Aronson and Hue Park)
“Dead Outlaw” (music and lyrics. by David Yazbek and Erik Della Penna)
“Death Becomes Her” (music and lyrics. by Julia Mattison and Noel Carey)
“Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical” (music and lyrics by David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts)
“Real Women Have Curves: The Musical” (music and lyrics by Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez)

Costume design of a musical

WINNER: Paul Tazewell, “Death Becomes Her”
Dede Ayite, “Buena Vista Social Club”
Gregg Barnes, “Boop! The Musical”
Clint Ramos, “Maybe Happy Ending”
Catherine Zuber, “Just in Time”

Costume design of a play

WINNER: Marg Horwell, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
Brenda Abbandandolo, “Good Night, and Good Luck”
Rob Howell, “The Hills of California”
Holly Pierson, “Oh, Mary!”
Brigitte Reiffenstuel, “Stranger Things: The First Shadow”

Scenic design of a musical

WINNER: Dane Laffrey and George Reeve, “Maybe Happy Ending”
Rachel Hauck, “Swept Away”
Arnulfo Maldonado, “Buena Vista Social Club”
Derek McLane, “Death Becomes Her”
Derek McLane, “Just in Time”

Scenic design of a play

WINNER: Miriam Buether and 59, “Stranger Things: The First Shadow”
Marsha Ginsberg, “English”
Rob Howell, “The Hills of California”
Marg Horwell and David Bergman, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
Scott Pask, “Good Night, and Good Luck”

Lighting design of a musical

WINNER: Jack Knowles, “Sunset Blvd.”
Tyler Micoleau, “Buena Vista Social Club”
Scott Zielinski and Ruey Horng Sun, “Floyd Collins”
Ben Stanton, “Maybe Happy Ending”
Justin Townsend, “Death Becomes Her”

Lighting design of a play

WINNER: Jon Clark, “Stranger Things: The First Shadow”
Natasha Chivers, “The Hills of California”
Heather Gilbert and David Bengali, “Good Night, and Good Luck”
Natasha Katz and Hannah Wasileski, “John Proctor Is the Villain”
Nick Schlieper, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”

Choreography

WINNER: Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck, “Buena Vista Social Club”
Joshua Bergasse, “Smash”
Camille A. Brown, “Gypsy”
Christopher Gattelli, “Death Becomes Her”
Jerry Mitchell, “Boop! The Musical”

Orchestrations

WINNER: Marco Paguia, “Buena Vista Social Club”
Andrew Resnick and Michael Thurber, “Just in Time”
Will Aronson, “Maybe Happy Ending”
Bruce Coughlin, “Floyd Collins”
David Cullen and Andrew Lloyd Webber, “Sunset Blvd.”

Sound design of a musical

WINNER: Jonathan Deans, “Buena Vista Social Club”
Adam Fisher, “Sunset Blvd.”
Peter Hylenski, “ Just in Time”
Peter Hylenski, “Maybe Happy Ending”
Dan Moses Schreier, “Floyd Collins”

Sound design of a play

WINNER: Paul Arditti, “Stranger Things: The First Shadow”
Palmer Hefferan, “John Proctor Is the Villain”
Daniel Kluger, “Good Night, and Good Luck”
Nick Powell, “The Hills of California”
Clemence Williams, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”

Book of a musical

WINNER: “Maybe Happy Ending,” Will Aronson and Hue Park
“Buena Vista Social Club,” Marco Ramirez
“Dead Outlaw,” Itamar Moses
“Death Becomes Her,” Marco Pennette
“Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical,” David Cumming, Felix Hagan, Natasha Hodgson and Zoë Roberts

Musical

“Buena Vista Social Club”
“Dead Outlaw”
“Death Becomes Her”
“Maybe Happy Ending”
“Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical”

Play

“English” by Sanaz Toossi
“The Hills of California” by Jez Butterworth
“John Proctor Is the Villain” by Kimberly Belflower
“Oh, Mary!” by Cole Escola
“Purpose” by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Revival of a play

“Eureka Day”
“Romeo + Juliet”
“Thornton Wilder’s Our Town”
“Yellow Face”

Revival of a musical

“Floyd Collins”
“Gypsy”
“Pirates! The Penzance Musical”
“Sunset Blvd.”

Lead actor in a play

George Clooney, “Good Night, and Good Luck”
Cole Escola, “Oh, Mary!”
Jon Michael Hill, “Purpose”
Daniel Dae Kim, “Yellow Face”
Harry Lennix, “Purpose”
Louis McCartney, “Stranger Things: The First Shadow”

Lead actor in a musical

Darren Criss, “Maybe Happy Ending”
Andrew Durand, “Dead Outlaw”
Tom Francis, “Sunset Blvd.”
Jonathan Groff, “Just in Time”
James Monroe Iglehart, “A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical”
Jeremy Jordan, “Floyd Collins”

Lead actress in a musical

Megan Hilty, “Death Becomes Her”
Audra McDonald, “Gypsy”
Jasmine Amy Rogers, “Boop! The Musical”
Nicole Scherzinger, “Sunset Blvd.”
Jennifer Simard, “Death Becomes Her”

Featured actress in a musical

Natalie Venetia Belcon, “Buena Vista Social Club”
Julia Knitel, “Dead Outlaw”
Gracie Lawrence, “Just in Time”
Justina Machado, “Real Women Have Curves: The Musical”
Joy Woods, “Gypsy”

Featured actor in a musical

Brooks Ashmanskas, “Smash”
Jeb Brown, “Dead Outlaw”
Danny Burstein, “Gypsy”
Jak Malone, “Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical”
Taylor Trensch, “Floyd Collins”

Featured actress in a play

Tala Ashe, “English”
Jessica Hecht, “Eureka Day”
Marjan Neshat, “English”
Fina Strazza, “John Proctor Is the Villain”
Kara Young, “Purpose”

Featured actor in a play

Glenn Davis, “Purpose”
Gabriel Ebert, “John Proctor Is the Villain”
Francis Jue, “Yellow Face”
Bob Odenkirk, “Glengarry Glen Ross”
Conrad Ricamora, “Oh, Mary!”

Direction of a play

Knud Adams, “English”
Sam Mendes, “The Hills of California”
Sam Pinkleton, “Oh, Mary!”
Danya Taymor, “John Proctor Is the Villain”
Kip Williams, “The Picture of Dorian Gray”

Direction of a musical

Saheem Ali, “Buena Vista Social Club”
Michael Arden, “Maybe Happy Ending”
David Cromer, “Dead Outlaw”
Christopher Gattelli, “Death Becomes Her”
Jamie Lloyd, “Sunset Blvd.”

James Corden played a caretaker in the early days of the soap.

The former American TV host doesn’t have much positive to say about his time on the soap, claiming it was “hell on earth.”

Since his short-lived time on the show he has gone on to bigger things including smash hit comedy Gavin and Stacey.

Rachel Shenton joined the soap as aspiring glamour model Mitzeee Minniver in 2010.

Over two years her character was sent to prison, got pregnant and had a number of romantic affairs.

Since leaving Hollyoaks she has won an Oscar for best live action short film, The Silent Child. 

Rachel has also starred in White Gold and All Creatures Great and Small

Emmett J. Scanlan played gangster turned anti-hero Brendan Brady.

Emmett played the love interest of Steve Hayes, with their romance delighting fans until it turned violent.

Since his departure Emmett has appeared in Peaky Blinders, The Fall, Gangs of London and even appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy

Emma Rigby joined Hollyoaks when she was 15 as Hannah Ahsworth.

Hannah’s eating disorder storyline was the first of it’s kind on TV while other plots included being caught in a fire, gangland drug dealing and running away.

Since leaving the soap in 2010 Emma has gone on to star in ABCs Once Upon a Time in Wonderland as the Red Queen. Other roles include guest appearances in Death In Paradise, Ripper Street and Fresh Meat

Nico Mirallegro got his big break with Hollyoaks starring as emo Barry ‘Newt’ Newton.

Nico’s main storyline in the soap was developing schizophrenia which culminated in a suicide pact.

He left the soap in 2010 and went on to star in My Mad Fat Diary, Our Girl, Rillington Place, The Ark and Common, Penance, as well as the Mike Leigh movie Peterloo and was nominated for a Bafta for his role in period drama The Village.

Ricky Whittle used Hollyoaks as a stepping stone to break America.

He played one of the soap’s resident hunks, Calvin Valentine, from 2006 to 2011 – when he was killed off at his wedding.

After leaving the soap Ricky cracked America starring in teen drama The 100 and America Gods.

He also appeared in Strictly Come Dancing in 2009.

Warren Brown joined Hollyoaks in 2005 for a year as evil Andy Holt.

His stint on the show consisted of date rape storylines and a crime spree, before eventually being killed off.

After leaving Hollyoaks, Warren became a big hitter in TV playing DS Justin Ripley in Luther, as well as major roles in a number of dramas including Liar, The Responder, Homefront and Good Cop.

Wallis Day played Holly Cunningham in the soap for years before leaving.

In 2021 Wallis won the role of Batwoman in DC’s series, taking over from Ruby Rose.