The new outing will continue to follow the rivalry between Campbell-Black and Lord Tony Baddingham (David Tennant), while treating viewers to more tantalising romps.
Essex-born actor Hassell’s character may spend a lot of time in the nude, but the star’s famous wife once warned him about avoiding nude scenes.
The 45-year-old star previously told inews that his wife said to him him he’d better stop “before I get a name for myself”, going on to say he’s “not particularly body shy”.
Here is all you need to know about the star’s famous wife and how they met.
Who is Alex Hassell’s wife?
Hassell, from Southend, is married to actress Emma King and the pair tied the knot in January 2011.
King has previously taken on guest roles in Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop, The Vanishing and The Cry, and she often appears alongside her husband at red carpet events.
The pair met at drama school but didn’t get together until years later, after King went to see one of Hassell’s shows by his theatre group, Factory.
He explained to Square Mile: “She came to see a Factory show and we both asked for each other’s number off the same person.”
They have since worked together on multiple occasions, including at RSC productions and on an episode of Cowboy Bebop.
The publication went on to say his wife is “thrilled about Rivals”, which has become an international hit.
Hassell and King had a rather private wedding in front of friends and family, both preferring to keep their relationship out of the spotlight.
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However, King has previously shared plenty of photos of the pair on her Instagram account and she wrote a sweet tribute to her husband on their tenth wedding anniversary.
Next to a collection of snaps from their big day, she said: “Happy anniversary @alexanderhassell I never knew it was possible to feel this loved or to love this much.
“I don’t always know what I’m doing but I know I couldn’t do it without you.”
JASON Statham and Rosie Huntington-Whitely have decided to build their grand ‘forever home’ right next to a popular nudist beach.
They’ll be in for an eyeful whenever they open their curtains though, as the gorgeous sea view is much-loved by naturists according to the Daily Mail.
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Jason Statham and Rosie Huntington-Whitely are building their new home by a popular nudist beachCredit: GettyThe property cost them £20million and further renovations are estimated to cost another £5millionCredit: Getty
The movie hardman and his supermodel fiancee opted for a 20-acre spot on the south coast to house the £20million property.
But it’s estimated to cost the couple a further £5million for additional building works.
Greg Davies has been called up to host the BAFTA TV Awards for the first time1
16:18, 10 May 2026Updated 16:19, 10 May 2026
Greg Davies said he’s looking for a wife(Image: Rex)
Greg Davies is back on our screens tonight as he hosts the BAFTA TV Awards for the very first time.
The 57-year old, known for co-hosting the hit comedy gameshow Taskmaster, follows in the footsteps of Graham Norton, Lenny Henry and Michael Parkinson in his MC role and said it was an opportunity he could not turn down.
“I used to watch Stephen Fry at the Baftas and marvel at his cool, intellectual charm. I won’t be bringing that,” laughed Greg ahead of the show.
The 6ft 8in funnyman shot to fame after starring as headteacher Mr Gilbert in The Inbetweeners and has since become a regular fixture on our screens, thanks to his TV roles in The Cleaner, Brassic, Cuckoo and Man Down.
Speaking as a guest at the BAFTAs last year, Greg gave a rare update on his personal life as he said he was ‘ready for a wife’.
The Taskmaster star and his co-host Alex Horne were nominated in the Entertainment category for their Channel 4 programme alongside The 1% Club, Michael McIntyre’s Big Show and Would I Lie to You?
Speaking on the red carpet, Alex said: “We’re an unlikely couple,” with Greg piping up: “That’s why we’re a good team.”
Alex then added: “And I would like to thank my wife for getting us here tonight,” before Greg joked: “I don’t have a wife so maybe I can thank Alex’s wife.”
Tom insisted he could meet his wife at the star-studded event, with Greg responding: “Maybe I will, I’m open to it. It would be so lovely, it’s been too long and I’m ready now.”
Alex simply quipped: “Lonely”,” as Greg added: “Oh god, the horrible hot lonely tears.”
The Cleaner star was in a relationship with Labour Party politician Liz Kendall between 2007 and 2015, but usually keeps his love life under wraps.
Liz told previously The Mirror about their romance: “I am not going to be the sort of politician who does all that stuff about their private life because it’s very precious to me and really important to me that I have that space that’s personal and just to me. We are not together any more but we remain really good friends.”
In the past Greg has made jokes about his disastrous single life and previously said he ‘gave up’ on romance while on The Graham Norton Show.
Greg said his grandfather once caught him in an embrace with his first girlfriend and the experience left him mortified. “It’s not for me, romance… that was the day I gave up on romance,” he explained. However, Greg counts one ex-girlfriend of changing the course of his life. His former partner, who he has not named, convinced him to switch from his teaching career to one in comedy. Speaking to The Times, he said: “I’ve been doing comedy for about 15 years now. I always wanted to do it, I just never had thick enough skin.
“A girlfriend I had while teaching was a pragmatist and always told me that if you want to do something, then go for it. So eventually I made the switch. Comedy is definitely where I’m happiest.”
Mortified Greg recalled: “I met Janet Ellis once in a fish and chip shop. I used to have a terrible crush on her, all throughout my childhood. Then I finally met her and said something humiliating, I think chips-based, that guaranteed I would never end up in the relationship I craved.” He added: “I met her daughter Sophie on a show once and told her I fancied her mum and she rolled her eyes and said ‘everyone does’.”
While he was known for playing doting dad Ken in the sitcom Cuckoo, the actor himself does not have any children. He does, however, have lots of experience looking after kids as he was a secondary school drama and English teacher for 13 years before moving into comedy.
That’s not Greg’s only transformation. In recent years the funnyman has admitted to using Ozempic to lose weight after receiving concerning health news from his doctor.
The host claimed to have lost three stone – and named the diabetic medication in an interview. Ozempic is not designed as a weight loss drug and is used instead as a treatment for type 2 diabetes in adults – however, many patients have experienced weight loss as a side effect.
He told The Times: “[I] lost three stone on the old Ozempic, in about four months, before putting most of it back on.” The interview also notes that his doctor warned him that if he was shorter, he would “look obese” – and that he is now considering turning to fasting in an attempt to maintain his weight.
Noting that he is not concerned about ageing, he added: “I think that’s probably good in my game, isn’t it?”
I’m going to start this story on a quiet tree-lined street in Mar Vista, where a couple I met with on Thursday — the day after the L.A. mayoral debate — have a problem.
It’s not an unusual matter, as things go in Los Angeles. On both sides of the street, the sidewalk rises and falls, uprooted and cracked by shallow roots because over many decades, the trees were not properly maintained.
John Coanda, 61, who grew up in Los Angeles, was never bothered by torn-up sidewalks as a kid.
“In fact,” he said when he first emailed me about his predicament, “my friends and I sometimes used the ramping pavement as jumps for our bicycles.”
But his wife, Barbara, was diagnosed in 2024 with ALS, and she uses a wheelchair. When John pushes her, they can’t use the sidewalk if they want to go to the store or meet with friends, or just enjoy a nice pass through the neighborhood without getting into a vehicle.
So John pushes Barbara’s wheelchair in the street, which creates an obvious safety problem. And despite John’s best efforts to get City Hall to fix the sidewalks, he’s not expecting help anytime soon.
I’ll circle back to this story in a bit, but first, about that debate.
I recruited a half-dozen L.A. residents to watch and send me their thoughts about how the candidates tackled the important issues. And then I felt guilty for having done so, because the candidates didn’t do much tackling at all.
Candidate Spencer Pratt is shown on a television while journalists work during the 2026 Los Angeles mayoral debate at Skirball Cultural Center.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
They hit their talking points, for sure, and Mayor Karen Bass, Councilmember Nithya Raman and TV personality Spencer Pratt each had their moments. But by the end of the debate, and two straight nights of gubernatorial debates as well, I came away thinking there were no clear winners, but there was a definite loser.
Voters.
This is the fault of the format more than of the candidates themselves. The deck is stacked against meaningful, substantive discussions, especially when moderators ask — as they did several times — for one-word answers.
“Moderator questions are so meaningless … and they make it easy for candidates to take potshots at each other,” said longtime political sage Darry Sragow. “The format is guaranteed to elicit nothing that matters.”
It’d be better to have single-issue debates, and to have candidates pressed for details by journalists who cover those issues and can push back against unrealistic promises and expose a lack of depth.
My debate watchers did some of that themselves. CSUN librarian Yi Ding had praise and criticism for each candidate, but was looking for concrete plans and didn’t get many.
Ding was also disappointed that two other mayoral candidates — Ray Huang and Adam Miller — were not invited to the debate, and I agree with her. Both have been polling low, but with so many undecided voters, and such high unfavorability ratings for Bass, they should have been in the mix.
Mike Washington, a retired pharmacist and West Adams resident, said Bass has done better than previous mayors on homelessness and he didn’t think Raman or Pratt came off as worthy of bumping her out of City Hall.
“The public would have benefited from more questions related to the challenges young people are facing,” said Juan Solorio Jr., president of the San Fernando Valley Young Democrats club. His colleague David Ramirez agreed, saying he was hoping for “more discussion about the cost of living for young adults,” but he and Solorio are both backing Bass.
West L.A. software developer Mike Eveloff asked the million-dollar question in one of his many observations during the debate:
“Why is LA spending record amounts on homelessness, fire, police, and infrastructure while results deteriorate? Streets and sidewalks crumble. Even the city emblem right in front of City Hall is deteriorated. With the World Cup and Olympics approaching, voters need to know: Do these leaders have the financial discipline and operational competence to manage a fourteen billion dollar city?”
Venice resident Dennis Hathaway, author of “An Octogenarian’s Journal,” said he thinks “these kinds of debates are pretty non-edifying.” And, as someone I wrote about two years ago regarding busted sidewalks in his neighborhood, he shared this lament about Thursday’s debate:
“No mention of broken sidewalks, potholed streets, other deteriorated infrastructure. To me, that’s a much more important subject than non-citizens voting in city elections.”
(Bass did say during the debate that there was a new infrastucture plan in place, and that’s a step in the right direction. But there was no discussion, and when you read the details, 2028 Olympics projects will be prioritized, and it’ll take years to figure out how to fund thousands of additional much-needed fixes.)
The Coandas live not far from Hathaway, and their lives have been upended first by Barbara’s diagnosis and then by John getting laid off in February from his job as a data analyst. Barbara still teaches French via Zoom, and John is tending to her needs. They started a Gofundme campaign to help pay their bills.
With Barbara in a wheelchair, John contacted the city’s Safe Sidewalks L.A. program last fall, and I think it’s fair to say that name is somewhere between a misnomer and a bad joke.
The “program” responded by email on Halloween, appropriately enough, informing him that under the City Council-approved “Sidewalk Repair Program Prioritization and Scoring System,” his request for help merits only 15 points out of a possible 45.
“Currently,” he was informed, “the estimated wait time for completion of an Access Request with a score of 15 is in excess of 10 years.”
Happy Halloween.
Over the years, responsibility for sidewalk repairs has shifted between the city and homeowners. There’s a rebate program available to people who repair their own sidewalks, but it’s capped at an amount that doesn’t always cover the costs. And ruptured pavement is keeping lots of lawyers busy with trip-and-fall lawsuits that cost the city millions each year.
Barbara Durieux Coanda, who has ALS, and her husband, John Coanda, make their way down the ramp in front of their home in Mar Vista.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Coanda told me he doesn’t have the funds at the moment to pay for repairs, and even if he did, there are several more sidewalk disaster zones on both sides of his street, so he’d still have to push his wife’s wheelchair in the street even if he fixed the cracks in front of his own house.
Barbara graciously said she thinks the city has other, higher priorities, but in November her husband contacted the office of Councilmember Traci Park, saying he was told that he would have to wait 10 years for repairs.
“Sadly,” he wrote, “I don’t think my wife will live that long.”
A Park staffer wrote back, saying, “The turnaround time does sound realistic given the budgetary crisis the city finds itself in.” But, the staffer added, maybe the council member’s office could “help move the needle on this request.”
Coanda said he’s been too busy with his wife’s issues to follow up. But Pete Brown, Park’s communications director, told me Friday afternoon that the office is exploring ways to pay for fixes that don’t take 10 years, including the use of discretionary funds.
I don’t know how that might play out, but I do know that L.A. doesn’t need another debate like the last one.
We need a mayor and council members who refuse to accept that it takes 10 years to create safe passage for a wheelchair.
In the national capital of broken sidewalks, we need concrete plans.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Every Kentucky Derby evokes emotion in the winning horse’s team, but the 1990 race brought it to a level even beyond a Hallmark movie.
Trainer Carl Nafzger famously described Unbridled’s stretch run to 92-year-old owner Frances Genter, whose eyesight was failing.
“He’s taking the lead. He’s on the lead, Mrs. Genter. He’s on the lead. He’s gonna win. He’s gonna win. … He’s the winner. He’s the winner, Mrs. Genter. … You won it. You won the Kentucky Derby. Oh, Mrs. Genter, I love you.”
As Al Michaels said on ABC, “You couldn’t get it to look that way in a movie if you did 50 takes.”
Kentucky Derby entrant So Happy works out at Churchill Downs on Monday in Louisville, Ky.
(Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)
Some 36 years later, Mrs. Genter could have company Saturday if So Happy wins the 152nd Derby at Churchill Downs.
The Santa Anita Derby champion is trained by Mark Glatt, a genial but quiet native of Washington state who in February endured tragedy: the heart failure and sudden death of his wife of 25 years, Dena. She was 57, four years older than her husband, with whom she had three children.
Glatt, who wears a bracelet containing some of Dena’s ashes “so she’ll always be with me,” unsurprisingly was emotional after the Santa Anita Derby last month. It was the first victory by the colt since his wife’s death, and it also meant the Monrovia resident would have a horse in the Kentucky Derby for the first time.
“It’s pretty hard to describe,” he said then. “We have had an overwhelming amount of support, and it’s helped us get through this very, very tough time. She got that horse there today.”
For the most part since, including during an interview Thursday morning at his barn at Churchill Downs, he politely has declined to discuss his wife, saying he just doesn’t feel comfortable. But he has opened up a bit on rare occasions.
“I absolutely think she’s above and pushing us through this and hopefully enjoying the ride along with us,” Glatt told reporters this week. “She would be happy for me and all the hard work. She’d be happy for all of the connections. I think she’d be very proud of an accomplishment like this.
“We’re still together, even if it’s just in spirit.”
Hans Maron, one of So Happy’s co-owners along with his wife, Ana, and Robbie Norman, paused to gather himself Thursday when asked how much Dena Glatt would have enjoyed being at the Derby for the first time.
So Happy runs on the track during Kentucky Derby training Thursday at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.
(Andy Lyons / Getty Images)
“She is here,” Maron said.
Asked if he has allowed himself to dream about what it would be like if So Happy won, Maron said, “I’m not arrogant, but I envision it. I mean, I believe. I’m not a homer but I’m a believer. I really think he’s gonna take us there. I think he’s the right horse at the right time.”
Early wagering seems to indicate the public believes So Happy is a major contender. He was co-sixth choice on the morning line at 15-1 — a surprising number, given his speed figures for the Santa Anita victory were comparable to almost anything his competitors have posted this spring — but as of Friday evening, he was the 6-1 co-second choice along with Commandment and Further Ado, just behind Renegade at 5-1.
It’s hard to find a trainer who isn’t happy with their horse at this point, and Glatt is no different: “Nothing’s told me that he’s not sitting on a really good race,” the trainer said.
Those who doubt So Happy point to his breeding: His sire, Runhappy, was a champion sprinter not known for producing horses who can run more than a mile. But Runhappy’s sire, Super Saver, won the 2010 Derby, and So Happy’s grandsire on his mother’s side is Blame, who captured the Breeders’ Cup Classic later that year at Churchill Downs.
“If you watch him train,” Maron said, “he’s long and he covers a lot of ground. He’s just a really smart horse, actually. That’s the biggest thing. He uses his energy when it’s needed.”
Maron, a co-founder of Fairlife Milk (which was sold to Coca-Cola), said he has been a racing fan since he was 14 but never dreamed of owning a horse, let alone being in the Derby. The Marons, who live in Arizona, have been with Glatt for about five years, and they were close friends with the trainer and his wife. Glatt has credited the couple with supporting him emotionally the last few months.
They’ll all be together Saturday for the race that elicits emotion like no other. Even So Happy’s jockey, 60-year-old Mike Smith, who has more Derby experience than any other rider, including two wins, struggled to explain what a victory would mean.
“I wish I had some words to tell you what it would mean, but those are just things that you’d have to just feel and see to really understand it,” said Smith, who would be the oldest jockey to win the Derby (Bill Shoemaker was 54 in 1986).
Glatt paused a long time before saying he has not allowed himself to think about what it would be like to win.
“That’ll all hit if … you know, I don’t want to get ahead of myself,” Glatt said. “I’m sure that would all hit me if we would be so fortunate.”
One more scratch
Right to Party was withdrawn Friday morning with what state veterinarians said was lameness in his right front leg, moving Robusta into the field and giving trainer Doug O’Neill two (long shot) chances for his third Derby win. O’Neill, who also has Pavlovian as a starter, named Cristian Torres to ride Robusta because Emisael Jaramillo had commitments at Santa Anita.
Weather outlook
The last rainfall here was Wednesday and there is none in the forecast for Saturday. It’s not warm, though: The high temperature the last couple of days barely touched 60, and the post-time forecast calls for 55 degrees with fairly light winds.
WHEN pop superstar Justin Timberlake started dating actress Jessica Biel, they quickly became Hollywood’s hottest couple.
But now, after 14 years of marriage, their relationship is going through a positively chilly phase. For long-suffering Jessica, 44, has drawn a line in the sand following a relentless string of public embarrassments, serving her husband with a brutal ultimatum to clean up his act, or she is out.
Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake have been married for 14 years after tying the knot in Italy in 2012Credit: GettyJustin’s mugshot following his 2024 drink-driving arrestCredit: Rex
From the humiliating release of bodycam footage showing Justin’s June 2024 drink-driving arrest to fresh whispers of intoxicated antics at a Las Vegas golf tournament just weeks ago, the Cry Me A River singer’s fall from grace has pushed his wife to the edge, according to reports.
But the drama doesn’t stop there. Insiders tell The Sun that Justin pulled the plug on a $100 million NSYNC reunion, in a last stand bid to save his marriage.
Behind closed doors, those who work closely with the couple say Jessica has been the “glue” holding the family together.
A well-placed Los Angeles producer, who has worked closely with Jessica, tells The Sun that the actress’s marriage can sometimes be a far cry from the fairytale Justin sold the world in the 2010s.
Justin was pictured in 2019 getting close with co-star Alisha Wainwright, later apologising publiclyCredit: BD1Jessica continued to work on her drama The Better Sister despite Justin Timberlake’s arrestCredit: Splash
The insider says: “Jessica is a superwoman. For the last decade, she has run the home, carried and raised two boys, continued acting and enjoyed success with a production company in Hollywood. Where she has found the time and energy to balance is staggering. She has been the glue.”
The couple’s permanent relocation to the luxury Yellowstone Club in Montana was Jessica’s way to shield their sons, Silas, 11, and Phineas, 5, from the downsides of fame.
“She took huge pride in being a hands-on mother, ensuring that her kids would be raised in the most normal way and not be impacted by LA life or Hollywood temptations and dramas,” the insider explains.
“Her boys are the most important thing in her life, and she will do her utmost to protect them. That would have absolutely been made clear to Justin.”
The couple share two sons, Silas, 11, and Phineas, 5Credit: GettyIndustry figures were shocked when Justin didn’t walk the red carpet to support Jessica during the awards seasonCredit: Instagram/ Jessica Biel
But while Jessica thrives in the tranquillity of the mountains, Justin remains obsessed with the spotlight.
His gruelling Forget Tomorrow world tour, which finally wrapped last summer after more than 100 gigs, kept him away from home for massive chunks of time and put a strain on their marriage.
Our source adds: “When the lights go out, Jessica is still a devoted, hard-working mum wanting to do the best for her kids.
“Justin is committed, but is also balancing this battle to remain a pop star and entertainer. In today’s world, if you disappear for too long, you become forgotten or irrelevant. That is something Justin would never let happen.”
This desperate need for validation, however, has come at a steep personal cost.
Jessica’s own career has been flying high. She poured her heart into her production company, Iron Ocean Productions, and her acclaimed 2025 series The Better Sister earned her a prestigious 2026 Critics’ Choice Award nomination for Best Actress.
Yet, when her big moment arrived in January, her husband was absent from the red carpet.
“Many industry figures were shocked that Justin didn’t walk the carpet to support her,” the producer notes.
“She had been there for him over the previous seven months. Regardless of his recent scandals, it would have been a great public display of unity.”
Justin’s erratic decision making hasn’t just alienated his wife; he has also managed to infuriate his oldest friends.
The Sun can reveal that the singer recently blew a chance to catapult himself back centre stage by walking away from an epic NSYNC 30th anniversary reunion.
The highly lucrative comeback – which included proposals for a live comeback show, a lucrative Las Vegas residency, and a documentary – could have netted the five bandmates a staggering $100 million.
A top music executive, who was intimately involved in the proposals, claimed Justin’s refusal to commit has caused bitter “disdain and disappointment” among his former bandmates.
They said: “Justin let the boys down, and really killed the chance for a special 30th anniversary adventure. The other boys were the driving forces with everyone on board initially… well, that is what they believed.”
“Pinning down Justin just could not be done. It wasn’t so much that he was saying outright no, but more just not committing. There was a real hope for something momentous and exciting to play out, which could have really put them back to the top of the music world again.”
The insider notes that the bond between the five men, who were once like brothers, has been severely damaged.
“Those five men have been friends through many highs and lows. But this took something away from that bond. Publicly, of course, they will always support Justin, but this was really seen as a wasted chance to make magic happen.”
But those close to Justin say that walking away from the NSYNC reunion was an attempt to rebalance his work with his family life and repair his relationship with his wife.
Justin’s reluctance to embark on a massive boyband tour was also undoubtedly influenced by his latest health battle.
Last summer, the singer revealed he had been diagnosed with Lyme disease, a debilitating bacterial infection that wreaked havoc on him both mentally and physically.
Jessica, ever the dutiful wife, stepped up to the plate.
Our source says: “Last summer Jessica really urged her husband to slow down, recover fully and seek the best medical advice. There was a huge sense that Justin really had a tough time on the road doing the dance moves and powering through so many shows with his medical issues.”
“Jessica was really kind, caring, and sympathetic. Justin’s mood and outlook was hit quite hard at the diagnosis. The reality is that his entire future as a performer is potentially on the line given how debilitating Lyme disease can be.”
Even the music executive admitted that the health crisis “must have played a key factor in him stepping back” from the NSYNC tour, though they noted that “there were projects like a doc film which would not have needed him to dance or perform”.
Despite her immense sympathy for his health struggles, Jessica’s patience with Justin’s headline-grabbing antics is running dry.
It’s not the first time he has embarrassed his wife. In 2019, The Sun revealed pictures of him drinking and holding hands with his Palmer co-star Alisha Wainwright.
Justin was forced to admit he had been drinking alcohol during the encounter, describing it as a “strong lapse of judgement” but insisted “nothing happened”.
He also added a grovelling apology to his family, writing: “I drank way too much that night and regret my behaviour. I should have known better. This is not the example I want to set for my son.”
“I apologise to my amazing wife and family for putting them through such an embarrassing situation, and I am focused on being the best husband and father I can be.”
Then in 2024, Justin was arrested for drink-driving. The police bodycam footage was released earlier this year, and shows the slurring singer complaining to cops that they were ruining his “world tour”.
Jessica distracted from the embarrassing footage and posted a loved-up snap with her husband on February 1st, captioning it: “Happy 45th to a true original. I love you baby.”
But then last week on April 18 eyewitness reports say that Justin once-again appeared intoxicated at a golf tournament in Las Vegas.
Since then, Page Six reported Jessica was ready to “pull the trigger” on the marriages, with an insider adding: “There’s not much more she can take.”
Now with an ultimatum on the table it appears Jessica is officially done playing the doting wife.
Our source said: “Knowing what a straight shooter she is, there is no way she would hold back on telling her husband exactly how she feels.”
If Justin doesn’t clean up his act, it could be Jessica saying “Bye Bye Bye” to their marriage once and for all.
Jessica and Justin’s representatives were contacted for comment.
BOISE, Idaho — Former Idaho Gov. and U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne has died at age 74, his family said in a written statement Saturday.
Kempthorne died Friday evening in Boise, the statement said. No cause was given. He had been diagnosed with colon cancer last year.
“Beyond his public service, he was a devoted husband, father, and grandfather whose greatest joy came from time spent with family and the people he met along the way,” his family said. “He had a rare gift for truly seeing others — remembering names, stories, and the small details that made each person feel known and valued.”
Kempthorne, a moderate Republican, was elected mayor of Boise in 1985 at age 34, and he was credited with revitalizing the downtown by securing an agreement to build a convention center and promoting other development. He served seven years before winning the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Sen. Steve Symms in 1992.
During his time in Washington, he authored legislation — signed by Democratic President Clinton — to end unfunded federal mandates on state and local governments.
Rather than run for reelection in 1998, he entered an open election for governor, trouncing his Democratic opponent by garnering more than two-thirds of the vote.
President George W. Bush appointed him Interior secretary in 2006, a position he held until the end of Bush’s presidency — and during which he lived on a houseboat docked in the Potomac River.
“Dirk was one of the finest public servants I ever knew because he was one of the finest men,” former President George W. Bush said in a written statement Saturday. “He was considerate, smart, and capable. Dirk loved our lands and waters, and as Secretary of the Interior, he was an effective steward of our natural resources.”
He protected polar bears
Environmentalists often found Kempthorne too accommodating to industry, citing his efforts to push oil and gas development in the Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska. More than 100 conservation groups opposed his nomination as Interior secretary, saying that as a senator he had voted to eliminate federal money for recovery of the endangered wolf, to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas exploration, and to sell off federal public lands.
Yet in 2008, he bucked other advisers in the White House by insisting that the polar bear should be listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act because of the loss of sea ice in the Arctic. He was prepared to resign over it when Bush decided to back him.
“As Governor, Dirk left an enduring mark on our state,” Idaho Gov. Brad Little said in a written statement. With the partnership of his wife, Patricia, Kempthorne “championed children and families, strengthened public education, and led transformational investments in our transportation system that will benefit Idahoans for generations.”
After leaving the federal government, he became the chief executive of a trade association of life insurance companies.
He helped Afghan refugees
In a 2023 question-and-answer session with the George W. Bush Presidential Center, Kempthorne recalled helping evacuate nearly 400 U.S. citizens and Afghan allies from Afghanistan two years earlier, as many were being sought by the Taliban following the U.S. military’s chaotic withdrawal. Kempthorne and others worked frantically for months to raise money and garner the support of diplomatic channels to charter buses and an Airbus A340 to help resettle the evacuees in the U.S. and Canada.
At one point, with the flight fully booked, the organizers received a list of more people who needed to leave urgently.
“That night, at a total loss for answers, alone, I knelt in prayer,” Kempthorne recalled. “I said, ‘Dear God, we cannot leave these people behind, please give a path forward.’”
He said he then had a vision of Mother Mary holding the infant Jesus. It gave him an idea: The babies on the flight didn’t need their own seats, as their parents could hold them. The organizers confirmed that with the airline and were able to add an additional 50 people to the flight, Kempthorne said.
Kempthorne was born in San Diego and grew up in Spokane, Wash. His father was a regional representative for Maytag, the appliance company. His mother, a homemaker, once worked as a secretary for the Legislature in Nebraska, her home state.
Kempthorne attended San Bernardino Valley College in California before transferring to the University of Idaho, where he served as student body president and met Patricia, his future wife. After graduation he worked as executive assistant to the director of the Idaho Department of Lands before joining the Idaho Home Builders Assn. as the executive vice president.
Kempthorne is survived by his wife, as well as their children Heather and Jeff and their families.
Johnson writes for the Associated Press. Johnson reported from Seattle.
Peter Andre’s wife Emily has shared a series of sweet snaps with her rarely seen kidsCredit: InstagramTheo, aged eight, was seen inspecting bluebells with Arabella, aged twoCredit: Instagram
And while mum of three Emily made sure they were facing away from the camera in her latest snaps, their fun adventure to the park was clear.
Theo and Arabella were seen inspecting bluebells in the grass, with the little girl’s short dark hair and trendy outfit captured in one image.
Another picture saw the youngsters scooting towards a lake on their bikes, joined by Millie in a turquoise helmet, before they stopped to admire the view.
Emily then took a selfie showing her cycling in the countryside in a white top, with her youngest in a bike carrier and donning a pink helmet.
Emily’s eldest child Millie could be seen on her bike in a turquoise helmetCredit: InstagramArabella showed off her trendy spring outfit on the day outCredit: InstagramPeter and Emily hide the faces of their children on social media snaps to protect their privacyCredit: Instagram/@peterandrePeter is also dad to Princess, 18, and Junior, 20, from his marriage to Katie PriceCredit: Getty
Speaking out in a 2021 YouTube video, Peter said: “So Emily’s point is that they weren’t born into the media – no one has ever seen their faces so she doesn’t really want anyone to see their faces.
“So when they go to school no one can really recognise them at that.”
The Mysterious Girl hitmaker then explained that the situation with his two children; Junior and Princess, from his marriage to Katie Price is different as they were “documenting” their lives.
“Obviously from J and P from day one, we were documenting our lives and they were part of that so I think they have always been in the media,” he added.
“And that’s the reasoning for it.
“So I have to respect Emily for that. She hasn’t done it. She says once you do cross that, there’s no going back so I’m like, ‘OK, no problem’”.
On March 28, a sunny Saturday in southwestern Utah, Jack Hoopes and his wife, Lorna, brought their homemade signs to the local “No Kings” rally.
The couple joined a crowd of 1,500 or so marching through the main picnic area of a park in downtown St. George. Their signs — cut-out words on a black background — chided lawmakers for failing to stand up to President Trump and urged America to “make lying wrong again.”
After about an hour, the two were ready to go home. They got in their silver Volvo SUV, but before pulling away, Jack Hoopes decided to swing past the demonstration, which was still going strong. He tooted his horn, twice, in a show of solidarity.
That’s when things took a curious turn.
A police officer parked in the middle of the street warned Hoopes not to honk; at least that’s what he thinks the officer said as Hoopes drove past the chanting crowd. When he spotted two familiar faces, Hoopes hit the horn a third time — a friendly, howdy sort of honk. “It wasn’t like I was being obnoxious,” he said, “or laying on the horn.”
Hoopes turned a corner and the cop, lights flashing, pulled him over. He asked Hoopes for his license and registration. He returned a few moments later. A passing car sounded its horn. “Are you going to stop him, too?” Hoopes asked.
That did not sit well. The officer said he’d planned to let Hoopes off with a warning. Instead, he charged the 71-year-old retired potato farmer with violating Utah’s law on horns and warning devices. He issued a citation, with a fine punishable up to $50.
Hoopes — a law school graduate and prosecutor in the days before he took up potato farming — is fighting back, even though he estimates the legal skirmishing could cost him considerably more than the maximum fine. The ticket might have resulted from pique on the officer’s part. But Hoopes doesn’t think so. He sees politics at play.
“I’ve beeped my horn for [the pro-law enforcement] Back the Blue. I’ve beeped my horn for Black Lives Matter,” Hoopes said. “I’ve seen a lot of people honk for Trump and for MAGA.”
He’s also seen plenty of times when people honked their horns to celebrate high school championships and the like.
But Hoopes has never heard of anyone being pulled over, much less ticketed, for excessive or unlawful honking. “I think it’s freedom of expression,” he said.
Or should be.
Jack and Lorna Hoopes made their own protest signs to bring to the “No Kings” rally in St. George, Utah.
(Mikayla Whitmore / For The Times)
St. George is a fast-growing community of about 100,000 residents set amid the jagged red-rock peaks of the Mojave Desert. It’s a jumping-off point for Zion National Park, about 40 miles east, and a mecca for golf, hiking and mountain-bike riding.
It’s also Trump Country.
Washington County, where St. George is located, gave Trump 75% of its vote in 2024, with Kamala Harris winning a scant 23%. That emphatic showing compares with Trump’s 59% performance statewide.
St. George is where Hoopes and his wife live most of the time. When summer and its 100-degree temperatures hit, they retreat to southeast Idaho. The couple get along well with their neighbors in both places, Hoopes said, even though they’re Democrats living in ruby-red country. It’s not as though they just tolerate folks, or hold their noses to get by.
“Most of my friends are conservative,” Hoopes said. “Some of the Trump people are very good people. We just have a difference of opinion where our country is going.”
He was speaking from a hotel parking lot in Arizona near Lake Havasu while embarked on an annual motorcycle ride through the Southwest: four days, a dozen riders, 1,200 miles. Most of his companions are Trump supporters, Hoopes said, and, just like back home, everyone gets on fine.
“Right?” he called out.
“No!” a voice hollered back.
Actually, Hoopes joked, his charitable road mates let him ride along because they consider him handicapped — his disability being his political ideology.
Hoopes is not exactly a hellion. In 2014, he and his wife traveled to Africa to participate in humanitarian work and promote sustainable agriculture in Kenya and Uganda. In 2020, they worked as Red Cross volunteers helping wildfire victims in Northern California.
Virtually his entire life has been spent on the right side of the law, though Hoopes allowed as how he has racked up a few speeding tickets over the years. (His career as a prosecutor lasted four years and involved three murder cases in the first 12 months before he left the legal profession behind and took up farming.)
He’s never had any problems with the police in St. George. “They seem to be decent,” Hoopes said.
A department spokesperson, Tiffany Mitchell, said illicit honking is not a widespread problem in the placid, retiree-heavy community, but there are some who have been cited for violations. She denied any political motivation in Hoopes’ case.
“He must’ve felt justified,” Mitchell said of the officer who issued the citation. “I can’t imagine that politics had anything to do with it.”
And yes, she said, honking a horn can be a political statement protected by the 1st Amendment. “But, just like anything else, it can turn criminal,” Mitchell said, and apparently that’s how the officer felt on March 28 “and that’s the direction he took it.”
The matter now rests before a judge, residing in a legal system that has lately been tested and twisted in remarkable ways.
Jack Hoopes’ case is now before a judge in St. George, Utah.
(Mikayla Whitmore / For The Times)
As he left an initial hearing earlier this month, Hoopes said his phone pinged with a fresh headline out of Washington. Trump’s Justice Department, it was reported, was asking a federal appeals court to throw out the convictions of 12 people found guilty of seditious conspiracy for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection.
“We have a president that pardons people that broke into the Capitol and defecated” in the hallways and congressional offices, Hoopes said. “Police officers died because of it, and yet I get picked up for honking my horn?”
Hoopes’ next court appearance, a pretrial conference, is set for July 15.
JENNIFER Aniston has shown support for her ex Justin Theroux after he welcomed a baby with his younger wife.
The actor, 54, and his other half Nicole Brydon Bloom, 32, became parents for the first time on Saturday with the arrival of their baby boy.
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Justin Theroux and his wife Nicole Brydon Bloom welcomed their first childCredit: GettyHe was supported by his ex Jennifer AnistonCredit: GettyJustin shared an adorable snap on InstagramCredit: Instagram/n.brydonbloom
The couple took to Instagram to share a black and white photo of the tot lying on his dad’s chest.
They captioned it: “He’s here. We are so in love.”
As hundreds of their fans flocked to like and comment on the post, one of the well-wishers was his ex-Jennifer, 57, who showed her subtle support by pressing like on it.
The Hollywood star didn’t comment but her like shows she’s happy for her ex as he celebrates this milestone moment in his life.
Pictures published by TMZ, showed Justin in a cream jacket and black bow tie kissing Nicole, who looked great in a backless white wedding dress.
The bride went barefoot on the sand and at one point was twirled around by smitten Justin.
The couple began dating in early 2023 but didn’t go official until December of that year.
They got engaged in Summer 2024 in Italy, while Justin was on the promo trail for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice at the Venice Film Festival.
The pair posed for pictures at the glitzy event and a huge diamond ring could be seen glistening on Nicole’s finger.
The actress is the daughter of late journalist David Bloom who died from a blood clot in 2003 while covering the Iraq war.
Justin and Jennifer first met in 2007, before beginning their relationship in 2011.
They married in 2015, announcing their split two years later and their subsequent divorce.
The couple got married last yearCredit: Getty
“This decision was mutual and lovingly made at the end of last year,” the two shared in a statement.
“We are two best friends who have decided to part ways as a couple, but look forward to continuing our cherished friendship.”
Justin eventually opened up to the New York Times about the divorce, saying, “The good news is that was probably the most — I’m choosing my words really carefully — it was kind of the most gentle separation, in that there was no animosity.
“Again, neither one of us is dead, neither one of us is looking to throw hatchets at each other…. It’s more like, it’s amicable.
“It’s boring, but, you know, we respected each other enough that it was as painless as it could be.”
He added: “It was heartbreaking, only in the sense that the friendship would not be the same, as far as just the day to day.
“But the friendship is shifting and changing, you know, so that part is something that we’re both very proud of.”
Jennifer and Justin got divorced in 2017Credit: Getty
Moorpark athletic director Rob Dearborn officially has a new title: president elect of the Southern Section.
The Southern Section Council elected him on Thursday. He will serve as president elect under the new president, Alexis Barile, the former principal at Corona Centennial, for 2026-27 and 2027-28 before taking over a two-year term.
Dearborn, 62, a former track and football coach, is in his 40th year participating in high school sports. He started out at Newbury Park before moving to Moorpark. He directs the Southern Section track and field championships at Moorpark. His wife, Denise, ran track at UCLA.
Asked if his wife will now salute him, Dearborn said, “No, I still salute her.”
It’s a two-year term to preside over Southern Section Council meetings.
“I grew up with Southern Section sports that have been a big part of my life,” he said. “It’s exciting.”
His son is football coach at Moorpark.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
Paul W. Downs can’t help it that even on the weekends, his life intersects with “Hacks,” the HBO comedy he co-created and co-showruns with his wife, Lucia Aniello, and their friend Jen Statsky. (He also appears on the show as Jimmy LuSaque Jr., the besieged manager of its two stars, played by Emmy winners Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder.) The fifth and final season of “Hacks” premiered last week, but on Downs’ days off, he often finds himself at its previous filming locations or hanging out with cast members who have become like family.
In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.
Downs moved to Los Angeles in 2011, but soon after, he and Aniello were hired to write (and for him to act) on the über-New York show “Broad City,” keeping them away from the West Coast for years. Now the couple live in Los Feliz, which they enjoy with their young son.
“I love Los Feliz because it’s a real neighborhood with restaurants and bars, but also feels close to nature with Griffith Park,” Downs says. “Also it’s very central to my Eastside friends and Westside agents.”
And if he had to live at a local mall, like the character Ava Daniels did in the third season of “Hacks,” which would he choose?
I’m sleeping in if I can, which I can’t because I have a toddler, but let’s say I can sleep ’til 10. That would be insane.
Then I’m making coffee at home. I’m making it with my 4-year-old because he likes to make my coffee now. He always wanted to help, now he really wants to do it on his own. I’m still there to supervise, but he does do a lot of it.
I do batch brew. I’m doing Verve Coffee that I’m grinding there, and then I’m brewing four cups because I need my coffee. I had a Moccamaster for a long time, but I recently got a Simply Good Coffee. There’s no plastic — it’s all glass and metal.
11 a.m.: Chocolate croissants for everyone
We’re driving to Pasadena and we’re going to [Artisanal Goods by] CAR, which is the place to get the best chocolate croissant, I think, in the world. I don’t just think in L.A., I think they’re better than Paris. I’m going there with my wife and my kid and I’m having another coffee and some pastry. We’re ordering three [chocolate croissants]. We’re not doubling up.
11:45 a.m.: The family business
We’re driving to Fair Oaks in Pasadena. There’s a place called T.L. Gurley. We shot “Hacks” there, actually. Not only in Season 1, but also full circle in Season 5. We’re going to shmay around and look at antiques. My kid is going to want to play a vintage pinball machine. We’re going to find a little piece of art for the house or what have you. It’s not necessarily that I’m on the hunt. It’s to pass the time and to have some fun. If I could do anything and have a leisurely day and take my mind off work, that’s what I’m doing.
People love to interact with my kid when he’s there. We’re really training him to appraise things at a young age. My parents are part-time dealers of antiques. My grandmother bought and sold antiques. It’s kind of a family business.
Then we’re going to Chevalier’s Books. What’s sad is that I’m often not looking for leisure material. I’m looking for something that I’m interested in learning more about or writing about, or that they’re turning into a show I want to audition for. But we’re also doing Little Golden Books for my son. He’s obsessed. We’re not huge on screen time, so we really encourage the book-buying.
2:30 p.m.: Cast pool party
We’re having some family fun in the pool and we’re doing that until evening. We invite people over all the time. My sister-in-law is a New Yorker, but she actually wrote last season on “The Rooster” and she’s often writing on shows in L.A., so she’s often here and she’ll have a couple friends come over. I know this sounds like a piece of PR or something, but we’ll really literally have Hannah [Einbinder] and maybe Mark Indelicato from “Hacks” come over to swim. Jen, our co-creator of “Hacks,” will come over.
6:00 p.m.: Family dinner
Sometimes we’ll order Grá to the house, which is a pizza place in Echo Park — excellent sourdough crust pizza. But if we don’t do that, an ideal evening is an early dinner at All Time on Hillhurst in Los Feliz. We’re ordering the ceviche and my son is having all of it and not sharing with anybody at the table.
8:45 p.m.: A thrilling ending to the day
After putting my kid to bed, my wife and I, in an ideal world (full disclosure: we haven’t done this in two years), we’ll watch something together that we’ve been meaning to watch. We have a long list of movies and we either want to revisit or that we haven’t seen that we need to watch.
We don’t watch a lot of comedies. It’s a dream to watch a “Black Bag” or a little espionage thriller. We really like that because it’s so different than the stuff that we’re working on in the day.
Often the things we watch are things that we admire. We like deconstructing it as fans of film and television. We do like talking about the making of it, but it’s less of a critique and more of a listing of the things we appreciated about it.
10:30 p.m.: No work tomorrow
And then it’s lovemaking ’til morning on a perfect Sunday. If it’s a perfect Sunday, there’s also a Monday that’s off.
Victoria Beckham is speaking out about her rift with son Brooklyn Peltz Beckham.
In an interview with WSJ Magazine, the former Spice Girl shared insight into her relationship with her son, although she did not refer to him by name.
“I think that we’ve always — we love our children so much,” Beckham said. “We’ve always tried to be the best parents that we can be. And you know, we’ve been in the public eye for more than 30 years right now, and all we’ve ever tried to do is protect our children and love our children. And you know, that’s all I really want to say about it.”
The response comes after Peltz Beckham took to his Instagram Story in January to accuse his parents of “endlessly trying to run” his relationship with his wife, Nicola Peltz Beckham. The 27-year-old claimed his parents “repeatedly pressured and attempted to bribe” him into signing away the rights to his name, that his mother “hijacked” the first dance during his wedding and that his family “values public promotion and endorsements above all else.”
“My wife has been consistently disrespected by my family, no matter how hard we’ve tried to come together as one,” Peltz Beckham wrote. “Family ‘love’ is decided by how much you post on social media, or how quickly you drop everything to show up and pose for a family photo opp, even if it’s at the expense of our professional obligations.”
Peltz Beckham ended the post writing, “I do not want to reconcile with my family. I’m not being controlled, I’m standing up for myself for the first time in my life.”
After the Instagram bombshell, fans believe David Beckham broke his silence while speaking about the power of social media during an interview in January on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
“They make mistakes, but children are allowed to make mistakes. That is how they learn. That is what I try to teach my kids,” David Beckham said. “You sometimes have to let them make those mistakes as well.”
During Peltz Beckham’s birthday in March, his parents wished him happy birthday and shared that they love him on their Instagram Stories.
1 of 3 | Virginia Lieutenant Gov.-elect Justin Fairfax arrives to speak at the official Democratic watch party at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., in 2017. Fairfax and his wife, Cerina, died by murder-suicide Thursday. File Photo by Pete Marovich/UPI | License Photo
April 16 (UPI) — Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax and his wife, Cerina, are dead from an apparent murder suicide in their home in Annandale, Va.
Justin Fairfax, 47, shot and killed Cerina in the home and then shot himself, police said. The couple’s two teenage children were home, and their son called 911 shortly after midnight Thursday.
Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said the same gun appears to have been used in both shootings.
The couple had been in an ongoing domestic dispute from “what seems to be a complicated or messy divorce,” Davis said. Fairfax had recently been served paperwork that said when he was next scheduled for court in the divorce, Davis said.
Detectives have reviewed footage from inside the home that came from “a lot of cameras” that were set up as part of the divorce, Davis said. He added that a January call to police alleging his wife assaulted him were not corroborated.
“So tragic for the children to lose both parents, extra tragic for them to actually be in the home when it occurred,” Davis said. “Certainly a fall from grace for a relatively high-profile family that seemingly had a lot of things going in their favor.”
Family members are caring for the children with help from the Fairfax County Police Department’s victim services division, Davis said.
“Half of America probably goes through divorce proceedings at some point in time and very, very rarely, thankfully, does it ever end up like this,” Davis said. “So, very sad for this community … a lot of people who know the Fairfax family — everybody’s shocked. We’re shocked.”
Fairfax, a Democrat, was lieutenant governor under Gov. Ralph Northam from 2018 to 2022. He ran for governor in 2021. He faced sexual assault allegations in 2019.
After his time in office, he returned to practicing law. Cerina Fairfax was a dentist.
First lady Melania Trump speaks during a House Ways and Means Committee roundtable discussion on protecting children in America’s foster care system in the Longworth House Office Building near the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. The bipartisan group of lawmakers are looking to address challenges children in foster care face, including barriers to education and educational advocacy, housing, employment opportunities, financial independence, and technology. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo