wife

Usually private, Melania Trump steps into the spotlight after the midterm election

There’s a scene in Melania Trump’s documentary in which she enters the room as Donald Trump is rehearsing his inaugural address.

When he says the line about how “my proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker,” she offers a quick, verbal edit.

“Peacemaker and unifier,” she tells her husband to say instead.

But Melania is the Trump who is credited with recently bringing peace, if only for six days, to one war-torn city in southern Ukraine — an unusual intervention into an active war by an American first lady. Two days after Republican losses in the midterm elections knocked the president out of the spotlight, Melania Trump hosted Russian and Ukrainian officials at the White House to celebrate the temporary ceasefire.

It’s part of a burst of public activity by a first lady regarded as among the most private women to hold the role, and it comes just before the Nov. 20 release by Prime Video of “Melania: The Series,” a follow-up to the first lady’s documentary from January.

On Thursday, the first lady headed to Alabama to address U.S. troops — her third big event since the election. It follows a trip to Louisiana last weekend to announce a multimillion-dollar private endowment to fund scholarships for college students once in foster care.

Military families are a focus for Melania Trump

The first lady has made support for military families part of her portfolio. Her latest trip has taken her to Fort Rucker, an Army post in southern Alabama, with Usha Vance, the wife of Vice President JD Vance, a former Marine.

Before a backdrop that included a duo of Apache and Blackhawk helicopters, both women during the early Thanksgiving visit on Thursday thanked an assembly of hundreds of soldiers and their families for their service to the nation.

“The sacrifices of military families don’t make the headlines, but you are the foundation for the world’s most capable military,” Melania Trump said, urging Americans who will spend the holidays with loved ones to “take a moment to think of America’s service people.”

After their remarks, both women spoke with members of the crowd, pausing to shake hands and take photos.

Later, they would spend time with elementary students attending school on the base. Last year, both women marked the Thanksgiving season with a similar visit to Marine Corps members in North Carolina, thanking them for their service and recognizing the sacrifices their families make.

On Wednesday, they both accompanied their husbands to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, for the annual Veterans Day observance.

Melania Trump says she was involved in the plans for Oleshky

The White House announced in late October that the first lady had brokered a temporary ceasefire in the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky in southern Ukraine as it faced a starvation crisis. The pause gave time for about 800 people to leave the city and allowed for deliveries of humanitarian aid to those who chose to stay.

On Thursday, Usha Vance called the first lady “a powerful voice for peace.” Last week, Melania Trump brought together at the White House officials from Russia and Ukraine who helped implement the ceasefire and talked about her role.

“I was involved in every stage of the planning,” she said. “I reviewed demining plans, aerial images, assessed roadways and discussed evacuation routes, hospital access, vehicles and medical resources. I was made aware of the preferred dates and timing of the operation.”

She thanked the Russian and Ukrainian presidents for their cooperation and said Oleshky could be the model for peace between their countries.

“Let Oleshky be the modest spark that grows into a lasting flame of peace,” she said. This week U.S. officials held talks with Russian and Ukrainian counterparts in the United Arab Emirates, but there was no breakthrough.

After the White House announced her role, President Trump said his wife is “doing better than the professionals” on his team whose shuttle diplomacy between Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy has yet to bring the nearly 5-year-old war to a close.

Her work on Oleshky followed her outreach to Putin last year as she took on the matter of helping reunite children and families separated by the war. She so far has helped return nearly three dozen children to their families.

She’ll be on the red carpet for a premiere of the Melania series

The first lady will head to New York City next week for the world premiere at Lincoln Center of “Melania: The Series.” The two new Prime Video episodes are billed as showing new aspects of her roles as wife, mother and first lady that weren’t in her documentary.

The first lady described the episodes in an interview on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” as having “more conversation, one-on-one, with me.”

The episodes, which begin streaming Nov. 20, are supposed to include some surprises, too.

“There are some private questions that I will answer that people never heard before,” she said in the interview. “So it’s kind of exciting.”

Superville writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Meg Kinnard contributed from Columbia, S.C.

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Netflix refuses to pull Russell Brand doc where rapist makes sick joke about wife giving birth to baby daughter

NETFLIX is refusing to remove a Russell Brand documentary in which the convicted rapist makes a sick joke about his wife giving birth.

The streaming giants will not remove the disgraced comedian’s show, titled Re-Birth, which features a vile comment about his daughter’s birth.

Russell Brand speaks onstage holding a microphone and notes.
Netflix is refusing to remove a Russell Brand doc in which the convicted rapist makes a sick joke about his wife Laura giving birth Source: Getty
British actor and comedian Russell Brand arrives with his wife Laura Brand outside a court.
The disgraced comedian arriving at Southwark Crown Court with Laura Source: Reuters

Fallen comic and actor Brand, 51, was jailed for ten years and six months at Southwark crown court on Monday.

He was convicted last Thursday of raping a woman he met at one of his gigs in 2009.

The fiend was also found guilty of sexually assaulting three other women at the height of his fame between 2004 and 2009.

The Christian convert was cleared of two further counts of rape and one of attempted indecent assault.

Sentencing him, Mr Justice Bennathan branded Brand “a sexual predator” who had used his fame to prey on fans.

Brand, who denied all charges, has been held at HMP Wandsworth in South London since his conviction.

Inmates are said to have marked Brand’s arrival with chants of “there’s a new n***e on the wing” about him.

More to follow… For the latest news on this story keep checking back at The Sun Online

Thesun.co.uk is your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping pictures and must-see video.

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Is Russell Brand’s wife wrong to stand by him? VOTE NOW

Russell Brand Trial

RUSSELL Brand’s wife Laura Gallacher has continued to stand by her husband despite him being jailed for ten years and six months for rape and sexual assault.

The mum-of-three travelled more than 4,000 miles from the couple’s home in Florida to support the disgraced comedian throughout his trial at Southwark Crown Court.

Five weeks ago Laura entered the court looking optimistic, hand-in-hand with her husband Source: Getty
Yesterday however, she had to be practically held up as she walked into court looking ashen faced Source: Shutterstock Editorial

She was also the only person to give evidence in his defence, describing him as an “amazingly attentive husband” and a “wonderful father”.

Laura, 39, told the court she felt “entirely cared for” by Brand and said she loved him very much.

Prosecutors warned jurors the man Laura knew at home was “a completely different person” from the one at the time of the offences.

Brand, 51, was convicted of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault before being handed his lengthy prison sentence yesterday.

FAMILY FEARS

Brand ‘brainwashed wife Laura as family say they’re concerned about her’


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I watched Brand’s trial destroy his wife…her shock appearance floored me

Laura testified in court, telling jurors Brand was an ‘amazingly attentive husband’ Source: Darren Fletcher
Laura and Brand married in 2017, after first meeting in 2006 Source: Getty

Laura was visibly devastated as he learned his fate, shaking and fighting back tears in court.

She was also heard telling him “I love you” as he prepared to learn his sentence, before leaving court surrounded by supporters.

Relatives worry that Laura has been so “brainwashed” by rapist Brand that she refuses to accept the evidence against him.

The couple first met in 2006 when she was 19 and he was 31.

They rekindled their romance in 2015 after Brand’s brief marriage to pop star Katy Perry had ended, and married two years later.

Brand was jailed for ten years and six months.

So is Laura wrong to stand by him? Have your say in our exclusive poll and fill out the form below for a chance to win a £100 voucher.

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Russell Brand ‘brainwashed wife Laura into believing he was innocent as family say they’re deeply concerned about her’

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

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

Brand’s devastated wife Laura is said to be ‘in two minds’ over attending rapist husband’s sentencing Source: Reuters
Brand is facing years in jail after being found guilty of raping a 21-year-old woman and sexually assaulting three others Source: Getty

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

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

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

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

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Laura has vowed to stand by her disgraced husband following his guilty verdict Source: Getty
Laura’s father, legendary golfer Bernard Gallacher, supported her on Monday last week Source: Shutterstock Editorial

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Laura’s sister, sports presenter Kirsty Gallacher, hasn’t commented on Brand’s charges Source: Getty
Laura testified in court, telling jurors Brand was an ‘amazingly attentive husband’ Source: Darren Fletcher

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Laura and Brand married in 2017, after first meeting in 2006 Source: Getty
Brand, pictured in 2001, will be sentenced on Monday at London’s Southwark crown court Source: PA

Brand’s verdicts in full

Count 1 
Brand was charged with raping a woman in her hotel room after meeting her at cabaret show he was performing in on the fringes of the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth in 1999.
He was found not guilty of rape. 

Count 2
He was accused of trying to drag an MTV worker into a toilet at her London offices in 2001 
He was found not guilty of attempted indecent assault.

Count 3
Brand was accused of grabbing the breasts of an MTV worker he met at a friend’s party at Nordic Bar in London’s Soho in 2004 within seconds of meeting her.
He was found guilty of sexual assault.

Count 4
He was accused of dragging the same MTV worker he groped at the bar into the toilets and orally raping her.
He was found not guilty of rape.

Count 5
Brand was accused of kissing and groping a Choice FM radio worker in around 2004 or 2005 in front of his entourage.
He was found guilty of sexual assault.

Count 6
He was charged with raping a fan at his London home after they met when he invited her backstage after one of his gigs at the Hammersmith Apollo in February 2009.
He was found guilty of rape.

Count 7 
He was charged with sexually assaulting a Channel 4 staffer by shoving his face in her groin when his entourage allegedly asked her to give him a massage in 2009.
He was found guilty of sexual assault.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Jeff Brazier’s ex wife Kate hard launches hunky new man 12 months after marriage split

JEFF Brazier’s ex-wife Kate has gone Instagram official with her hunky new boyfriend, almost a year after her marriage to the TV presenter ended.

The PR executive, 36, shared a string of holiday snaps from South Africa, giving followers their first glimpse of her new man.

Jeff Brazier’s ex-wife Kate has gone Instagram official with her hunky new boyfriend, almost a year after her marriage to the TV presenter ended Source: Instagram/@katebrazierpr
The PR executive, 36, shared a string of holiday snaps from South Africa, giving followers their first glimpse of her new man Source: Instagram/@katebrazierpr

In one picture, her dark-haired boyfriend looked relaxed in sunglasses as he enjoyed a ride on the famous Franschhoek Wine Tram.

Another showed him sitting indoors in a black T-shirt and light trousers, holding a bottle as he gazed off to the side.

Kate also shared a romantic picture of the couple standing arm in arm beside a picturesque stretch of water, and she appeared to be making the most of her sun-soaked getaway, posting a snap of herself relaxing beside a swimming pool.

The loved-up pictures come almost 12 months after The Sun exclusively revealed that Kate and Jeff, 46, had separated following seven years of marriage.

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The loved-up pictures come almost 12 months after Kate and Jeff, 46, separated following seven years of marriage Source: Instagram
The presenter raised sons Bobby and Freddy following the death of their mother Jade Goody in 2009 Source: instagram

The former couple tied the knot in 2018, having first got together in 2013, but their relationship endured a number of ups and downs.

They previously separated briefly in 2022 before deciding to give their marriage another chance.

However, last November, sources told The Sun that the couple had grown apart following a difficult year, with Kate reportedly moving out of their marital home.

At the time, Jeff hinted at a fresh start of his own, sharing pictures of his new countryside home and telling followers he was embracing a calmer chapter in his life.

The presenter, who raised sons Bobby and Freddy following the death of their mother Jade Goody in 2009, has continued his television career, including his work as a football presenter.

Jeff’s eldest son Bobby, 23, has also carved out a successful showbiz career, starring in EastEnders and reaching the final of Strictly Come Dancing in 2023.

Kate has not yet shared the name or more details about her new boyfriend.

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Oscar-winning director Sebastián Lelio, 52, found dead at home by wife as family pay tribute to ‘wonderful person’

OSCAR-winning filmmaker Sebastián Lelio, who directed the critically acclaimed A Fantastic Woman, has died aged 52.

The Chilean director passed away at his home in Santiago, Chile due to “health reasons”, said his partner, actress Amalia Kassai.

FILES-CHILE-CULTURE-CINEMA-DEATH
Oscar-winning filmmaker Sebastian Lelio has died aged 52 Source: AFP
Sebastian Lelio
The beloved Chilean director was behind several groundbreaking films Source: AP

She reportedly called police after finding Lelio at his home in the city’s Las Condes district.

“We are going through a very painful time, and his memory will remain with us forever,” Amalia wrote in a touching tribute on Instagram.

“He was a wonderful person who contributed to Chilean culture during important moments in its history.”

The statement, signed by the Lelio Kassai and Campos Watt families, continued: “As a family, we ask for respect for our privacy and consideration during these difficult times.”

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Lelio’s 2017 film A Fantastic Woman starred Daniela Vega as a trans woman implicated in the accidental death of her older boyfriend.

The groundbreaking movie took home the Oscar for best foreign language film in 2018 and led to reforms for trans identification in Chile.

It also won the Independent Spirit Award for best international film.

Lelio also received critical acclaim for directing English language features such as The Wonder and Gloria Bell.

The latter was a remake of his earlier film Gloria, which took home numerous awards and was selected as Chile’s Oscar entry for best foreign feature.

It starred award-winning actress Paulina Garcia as a 58-year-old woman who starts dating a decade after getting divorced.

Lelio’s 2017 film Disobedience starred Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams and follows a woman who reunites with a childhood friend at an Orthodox community.

The late filmmaker was born in Argentina, before his family moved to Chile when he was two.

He launched his career in 2005 with La Sagrada Familia after directing several short films and music videos.

Lelio also directed two seasons of the documentary series Mi mundo privado (My private life), which earned two Emmy nominations.

His third film, The Year of the Tiger, was set in the aftermath of the catastrophic 2010 Chile earthquake and follows an escaped prisoner as he travels through the worst-affected regions of the country.

Lelio’s 2022 flick The Wonder was a critically acclaimed adaptation of Emma Donoghue’s novel The Wonder and starred Florence Pugh.

He told The Guardian: “I love working with actors, and need to know they trust me and can explore, get lost, be foolish or brave, and I’ll take care of them.

“I love working on set – it is where the sparkle is.”

His final film was 2025’s The Wave, a musical protest drama that premiered at Cannes.

“Making a film is like a gift you leave somewhere – you then hide and see what happens,” Lelio said.

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Russell Brand’s family: From wife Laura Gallacher and his parents to how many children he has

RUSSELL Brand has been found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault following a four-week trial at Southwark Crown Court.

The disgraced former comedian, 51, was remanded in custody after the verdicts on Thursday and is due to be sentenced on Monday.

Russell Brand court case
Russell Brand is married to Laura Gallacher Source: PA
Russell Brand Guilty
Brand was found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault on November 5 Source: Priscilla Coleman/MB Media

Russell Brand was found not guilty of two further counts of rape and one count of attempted indecent assault.

His wife Laura Gallacher supported him throughout the trial, while his father Ron Brand was also present at court.

Who is Russell Brand’s wife Laura Gallacher?

Laura, 39, is an author, illustrator and entrepreneur who founded The Joy Journal – a business focused on creativity and activities for families.

She is the daughter of former Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher and younger sister of TV presenter Kirsty Gallacher.

read more on russell brand

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Laura and Brand first met at the Edinburgh Festival in 2006, where she attended one of his comedy shows.

They started dating but split in 2007 after she discovered he was seeing other women.

Brand went on to marry American singer Katy Perry in 2010, before the pair divorced in 2012.

He rekindled his relationship with Laura in 2015, and they married at a church near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire in August 2017.

Laura accompanied her husband to Southwark Crown Court during his trial and gave evidence for the defence in October.

She described him as an “amazingly attentive husband” and a “wonderful father”, telling jurors: “I love him very much.”

Laura was in the public gallery when the jury returned its guilty verdicts and appeared visibly distressed as the judge told Brand he faced a significant prison term.

Who are Russell Brand’s parents?

Brand is the only child of Barbara Elizabeth Nichols and Ronald Henry Brand, known as Ron.

His parents separated when he was just six months old, leaving his mother to raise him in Grays, Essex.

Barbara suffered three bouts of cancer during Brand’s childhood, and he sometimes stayed with relatives while she underwent treatment.

The last period of treatment coincided with Brand leaving home at the age of 16.

In 2006, he told the Observer: “I loved my mum madly, but I had a lot of prohibiting, inhibiting things around. My feeling about my childhood was that it was lonely and difficult.”

His father Ron worked as a photographer and was largely absent as Brand was growing up, although they maintained contact.

Ron attended Southwark Crown Court when his son was convicted on November 5.

Speaking to the BBC following the verdicts, he said he was “bemused and shocked”.

He added: “I just didn’t expect this – it’s wrong. It’s devastating.”

How many children does Russell Brand have?

Brand and Laura have three children together – two daughters and a son.

Their eldest daughter was born in November 2016, followed by another girl in July 2018.

The couple welcomed a son in 2023, and have largely kept their kids’ lives out of the public eye.

Laura confirmed during her evidence that they were raising three children together.

Following the emergence of allegations against Brand, the family relocated to Florida in 2024.

After the guilty verdicts, Brand’s barrister Ian Winter KC asked the judge to grant bail as an “act of humanity” so he could say goodbye to his little ones.

However, the request was rejected and he was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing.

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Matt Damon reveals his wife suffered a brain aneurysm

Matt Damon revealed that his wife of more than 20 years, Luciana “Lucy” Barroso, suffered a brain aneurysm.

The revelation came during an interview with GQ, when “The Odyssey” star opened up about a time he felt a tinge of FOMO watching the Oscars from bed with his wife and then-newborn baby.

It was the 79th Academy Awards in 2007 and Martin Scorsese was nominated for best director for “The Departed,” which was also up for best picture. Damon portrays a corrupt police officer in the film.

“Lucy and I were laying in bed watching it and so nervous for Marty,” he told the magazine. “And then when he won, I was jumping up and down in the bedroom and I remember being really excited. And then the next category was best picture, and The Departed won. And I realized in that moment I hadn’t even considered that that could happen. And I turned to Lucy and I was like, ‘S—, we should be there!’ … I totally blew it.”

After the experience, Damon said his wife wouldn’t let him miss out again, even in the wake of serious medical trauma.

In 2024, “Oppenheimer” was up for best picture. In the movie, Damon plays Col. Leslie R. Groves, head of the Manhattan Project. The film won the award, and this time, Barroso had a surprise in store, an Oscar-worthy dress ready to go for the big night even though she’d just had surgery after suffering a brain aneurysm.

“She’s totally fine, thank God,” he said. “But [she] had this brain surgery the week before the Oscars. But it was the first night she felt good enough to get up and had her energy back. And she surprised me and got a dress and we went out to the after-party, because she remembered that the last time it happened, I didn’t do it. And she was like, ‘This time we’re going out.’ And it was pretty f— heroic of her to do that and really meaningful.”

The Argentine-born Barroso and Damon tied the knot back in 2005. They had met two years earlier, and during a 2011 appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” Damon said that meeting his wife was a complete stroke of luck.

He was filming “Stuck on You” in 2002, with the Farrelly brothers at the helm. “We were supposed to shoot in Hawaii, and then the movie got moved to Miami . . . and I’d never really hung out in Miami,” he told DeGeneres, adding that in the middle of the shoot a couple of the guys from the crew invited him to grab a beer at a local watering hole. “They kind of dragged me along, and we ended up at a bar where my wife was the bartender, and I literally saw her across a crowded room, literally.

“And eight years and four kids later, that’s my life,” he joked. “I don’t know how else our paths would have crossed if that didn’t happen.”

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Sir Rod Stewart, 81, issues health update ahead of farewell tour and reveals habit wife Penny ‘tells him off for’

IT’S Monday lunchtime on London’s Old Bond Street and I’ve been invited to Dolce & Gabbana to hang out with the legend that is Sir Rod Stewart.

As the doors swing open, he walks in with two pairs of trousers under his arm and chirps in his trademark ­Cockney twang, “They’re too long in the leg”, before adding: “And a bottle of perfume for the lady, please.”

Sir Rod Stewart in Vegas last year for his residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace Source: Denise Truscello
Rod, second left, in 1974 with his group the Faces, who would sink drinks before gigs Source: Getty

With me looking like a ropey Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, Rod escorts me upstairs and a beautifully gift-wrapped, £280 ­perfume bottle is handed to me en-route.

Turning his attention to a £3,800 silver sequinned jacket, Rod laments: “It’s lovely, but it’s far too heavy for the stage.”

Then, he ushers me to a posh sofa to discuss his last hoorah.

The Final Encore will mark Rod’s retirement from touring after six decades on the road.

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Two extra dates have been added to the almost sold-out UK run thanks to the phenomenal demand for tickets.

Set lists are still being finalised, but fans can expect a spectacular trip down memory lane, with hits from Rod’s incredible back catalogue of 11 No1 albums — which include 25 Top Ten hits.

“At 81, it’s quite remarkable,” he says of the ticket sales for his farewell tour.

“I can’t jump around like I used to when I was 32. But I think the audience knows that, vocally, I’m better now than I’ve ever been.

“A few of the big voices have gone. Paul McCartney’s has gone a bit. I treat my voice like the crown jewels. Pavarotti said, ‘I’m a prisoner of my voice’, and you are. You wake up, you say, ‘Oh, I’ve got an itch. I’m f***ed. I’ve got to cancel’. I’m totally paranoid about runny noses now. “Now, when I go out, I wear white gloves like Michael Jackson. He did it to stop him catching colds and flu.”

Rod puts his remarkable good health down to a strict exercise regime which sees him training like an athlete — and getting lots of sleep.

“When you’re in your 20s and 30s, you don’t even warm up,” Rod laughs.

“You drink whatever you want, do the drugs, get on the stage.

“In the old days, we used to get p***d as farts with [band] FACES. Now, when I go on, I’m absolutely sober, then I’ll have a rum and Coke after the third song or so.

“Plus, I have an hour’s workout before I go on — stretching, cycling, stationary bike, massaging, warming up the voice, just getting yourself in the zone.

“It is like being an athlete.”

Of his regime at home, Rod adds: “Three times a week, I cycle for a mile, lots of uphill stuff, and I do a load of swimming.

“Frank Sinatra told me about that. He said, ‘If you just do underwater swimming as much as you can, holding your breath till you want to burst, because then your lungs will get bigger. And they’ll get used to you holding your breath and singing’.”

Rod with Penny at last month’s Sinatra charity gala in London Source: Getty
Sinatra told Rod: ‘If you just do underwater swimming as much as you can, holding your breath till you want to burst, because then your lungs will get bigger’ Source: Corbis – Getty

Rod’s pipes, I can attest, are back on top form after a scary ­incident this summer in Utah.

At an amphitheatre 4,300ft above sea level, Rod needed oxygen after almost fainting on stage.

Keen to reassure his fans he’s now fine, the Maggie May singer explains: “I had a bout of illness, which was bad luck. I’d just had bronchitis at the same time as I was playing above altitude. I was in a right state.

“The geezer who worked for me didn’t tell me. I said, ‘Are we above sea level?’. He said, ‘Nah, of course we’re not’.

“So, I ran out and did three fast songs. All of a sudden, I was like, I couldn’t breathe. I got through the show, but it was painful.

“If I’m performing above altitude, you go out and do a mid-tempo one and a slow one, then do a fast one. Not three off the bounce, jumping about.”

Rod, with his electric blonde hair and bronzed skin, could pass for a man 20 years younger.

A decade after being diagnosed with prostate cancer, he is still all-clear from the disease.

Grinning, he says of his health tests: “My PSA levels are at 0.02. You’ve got to keep an eye on it.”

But cackling, he adds of the old-style check for prostate problems: “Finger up the bum, no harm done. That’s what most men don’t like. The old finger up the bum. But just get on with it.”

Like any good musician, Rod has his vices and cannot resist a drink . . . even if his wife Penny Lancaster warns him off it.

“I wish I could curb my drinking, but I love wine with an evening meal,”

Rod says: ‘I’ve got a great chef and I can’t drink water with a good meal’ Source: Getty
Rod said: ‘Penny says, ‘You must cut back, darling’. I only have a couple of glasses. But then sometimes, I’ll get on the Apple Martinis and I can really knock those back’ Source: Getty

Rod explains. “I’ve got a great chef and I can’t drink water with a good meal.

“Penny says, ‘You must cut back, darling’. I only have a couple of glasses. But then, sometimes, I’ll get on the apple martinis and I can really knock those back.

“I have these conversations with my kids. I stress to them that I can have a drink, you know, because it’s show business, I drink whenever I want. Not that I drink a lot. But, you know, one of my sons goes out and gets all pd on a Sunday night and he’s got to go to school the next morning.”

Laughing, he adds: “I’ve let the cat out of the bag there, haven’t I? There’s only one going to school.”

The Final Encore will kick off its UK leg in Glasgow on April 29 at the OVO Hydro, after Rod turned down a farewell gig at his beloved Celtic Park in the city.

“It would have been just, like, 90 minutes and I’d say goodbye,” he explains. “I thought, ‘If I can have it for three nights, I can really get into it and indulge myself in it’.”

By next summer, Rod’s touring days will be over — but he says that, inspired by artists such as Adele, he is planning smaller, residency-style shows in future.

“I made the album [Swing Fever in 2024] with Jools Holland, which got to No1 and, when I do my last show, that’s what I’m going to do. I’ve talked to Jools.

“I don’t know if he wants to do it with me, because I think he’s afraid of losing his identity. If he doesn’t, I’ll form my own big band. I’d like to do the London Palladium for a few nights, then maybe the Albert Hall.”

Rod’s fans also have a top-secret documentary to look forward to next year, after the star confessed he’s just done a tell-all interview with his old foe, Sir Elton John.

The pair, who are now good pals, traded comedy barbs over the years, with Rod admitting to me he was miles better at football than Elton when they trained together at Watford FC.

“I nearly signed for Brentford,” Rod says proudly. “I only finished playing when I was 68.

Rod with Sir Elton John Source: Getty
Rod with his sons Alastair, Liam and Aidan Source: instagram

“But Elton, I was miles better than him when we trained together. The documentary we’ve done should be out at the ­beginning of the year. At the end . . . he kissed me on the lips. And we caught it on film.”

Rod added of Elton’s kids Zachary, 15, and Elijah, 13: “His boys are wonderful. I don’t know whether they were putting it on for me, but they came in from school and went, ‘Daddy, Daddy, oh, Mr Stewart, we are so glad to meet you, Mr ­Stewart’. They are so well spoken.”

Looking back at his six-decade career, Rod knows it won’t be easy to retire from touring.

He says: “Carly Simon found it stressful going on stage. I don’t. I am absolutely raring to go out there. I absolutely love it.”

Stepping back will, however, give Rod more time to focus on Penny and his one other true love — his model train set.

Covering 156 square metres and featuring a 275-metre track that runs through a city landscape, it has kept Rod busy for decades.

“I want to open it to the public and give the money to charity,” he explains.

“I think I’ll be able to get permission. I would like to share it with the world.”

Politics is another keen passion of Rod’s, although he admits he’s more likely to keep his views to himself these days for fear of being misunderstood.

One subject we speak passionately about, however, is the plight of the people of Ukraine — who Rod has publicly supported since Russia invaded in 2022.

“I just hope it’s not too late for Ukraine,” he says.

“They’re going into winter now, and this could be the turning point. It’s scary.

“They’re bombing the fuel and water supplies. Putin is a b*****d.”

Another topic of contention is US president Donald Trump, who Rod has no time for.

“I stand by what I told Kind Charles,” he says.

“I said, ‘Trump’s a pig’. I could tell the King wanted to laugh.”

Rod will, undoubtedly, use his Final Encore shows to urge fans to champion all that’s good in the world — despite still coming to terms with his own global impact.

“I haven’t twisted anybody’s arm or threatened to kill them if they don’t give me money,” he tells me.

“I’ve earned it off my own back.

“I want to thank my public for this. They’ve given me the most glorious, unimaginable lifestyle.

“When I was at school, I never dreamed that when I started singing, it would end up like this.

“Me, performing on stage at 81.

“It’s been the best life and I am so grateful.”

Sir Rod with Ellie Henman Source: Supplied

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Big Brother star and Emily Atack’s ex announces he’s going to be a dad as wife is pregnant just months after US wedding

BIG Brother star Liam McGough has revealed he’s set to become a dad for the first time just months after tying the knot in New Orleans. 

Tree surgeon Liam, 42, shot to fame on the eighth series of the reality show in 2007 and had a seven-month romance with actress Emily Atack in 2022. 

Big Brother star Liam McGough and wife Sloane are expecting their first child Credit: Instagram
The proud dad-to-be revealed they are having a baby girl Credit: Instagram

Now he and wife Sloane Coe have shared the exciting news they’re expecting their first child together – telling fans they’re having a baby girl. 

Liam took to social media to share a sweet snap of him cradling Sloane’s bump as he embraced her from behind. 

He wrote: “Huge news!! Biggest ever tbh. Me and Sloane are going to have a baby girl. 

“It’s been so hard to keep it quiet. Even harder for my dad who hasn’t managed haha. I found out on day 3 of the fringe. Never felt prouder in my life.”

‘SO ROMANTIC’

Big Brother legend marries fiancée in bash with brass band and police escort

Liam shot to fame on the eighth series of Big Brother in 2007 Credit: PA
He dated actress Emily for seven months before they split in December 2022. Credit: GOFF / SplashNews.com

In August Liam opened up to The Sun about their incredible wedding in the Deep South, confessing he’d “never experienced anything like it”. 

He said: “The wedding was amazing — small and intimate, with only close friends and family. We got married right in the heart of New Orleans, Louisiana, and it was incredible. I’ve never experienced anything like it.

The celebration was so romantic and personal, and then, for the party afterwards, we were marched around the area by a full brass band in what’s called a Second Line.

“We had a police escort blocking the roads as we danced through the streets, with four huge motorbikes and two massive police trucks accompanying us.

“The contrast between the intimate ceremony and this unique, extravagant spectacle left all of our heads spinning in the most amazing way.”

Liam previously dated Inbetweeners star Emily for seven months, with The Sun revealing their split in October 2022. 

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Robert Kelker-Kelly: ‘Days of Our Lives’ actor’s official cause of death

Missouri officials have determined the official cause of death for “Days of Our Lives” actor Robert Kelker-Kelly, who died this month at age 62.

Kelker-Kelly died of arteriosclerotic heart disease, the St. Charles county regional medical examiner of Missouri confirmed to The Times. The actor’s death was deemed natural. Arteriosclerosis occurs when blood vessels carrying oxygen and nutrients from the heart to the body become thick and stiff, according to the Mayo Clinic. The coroner’s report confirms details previously disclosed by law enforcement and emergency personnel.

The actor, who worked as a pilot later in life, died Oct. 3 after he complained of chest pain and became unresponsive, police confirmed earlier this month. Officers reported with paramedics to the actor’s home for a report of an unconscious man who was not breathing.

“Life-saving measures were administered but were unsuccessful,” police said.

Kelker-Kelly’s wife, Allison Kelly, informed authorities the actor complained of pain in his left arm and chest while on the drive home from Spirit Airport, People reported. The actor asked his wife to pull the car over to vomit and said he did not need to go to the hospital. He reportedly continued experiencing pain at home. Kelly found her husband unresponsive, alerted authorities and administered CPR.

Kelker-Kelly was best known for his work in long-running daytime dramas “Another World” and “Days of Our Lives,” where he portrayed the rebellious heartthrob Beauregard “Bo” Brady from 1992 to 1995. He began his turn as Bo, which lasted for more than 586 episodes, following the departure of original actor Peter Reckell, who would return to the show off and on in the following decades.

He debuted in “Another World” in 1987 and appeared in more than 400 episodes in a handful of roles until 1998, according to the actor’s IMDb page. He was also known for his work as Stavros Cassadine in “General Hospital” and its spinoff series “Port Charles.” Kelker-Kelly’s “General Hospital” tenure lasted from 2001 to 2014 and was his final TV role. His television credits also include “Jack’s Place,” “Touched by an Angel” and “Rescue 77.”

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Two secret Ozzy Osbourne tracks all about wife Sharon set to be released alongside blockbuster biopic about his life

HALLOWEEN was Ozzy Osbourne’s favourite day of the year.

And to celebrate, I’ve got some very exciting news to share with his fans.

Ozzy Osbourne secretly recorded a handful of songs with super-producer Andrew Watt prior to his death last summer Credit: Getty
A source said: ‘They worked on the album and Ozzy knew that with the biopic in development he saw an idea for works about his life and romance with Sharon’ Credit: Getty

My insiders have revealed the Black Sabbath rocker secretly recorded a handful of songs with super-producer Andrew Watt prior to his death last summer.

And now those tracks — which were laid down during his music sessions for his 2022 album Patient Number 9 — could soon be getting green-lit to coincide with the blockbuster film biopic about his life.

One of my American music moles told me: “Ozzy had a practical outlook about his medical issues and life.

“He was very excited to be in the studio for the Patient Number 9 sessions because Andrew managed to bring energy and excitement, even though he was struggling with his ailments.

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“They worked on the album and Ozzy knew that, with the biopic in development, he saw an idea for works about his life and romance with Sharon.

“Those tracks have only been heard by Andrew and his musicians.

“The final mixes have not even been finished. They remain works in progress and to be considered for the movie.

“Sharon doesn’t even know what the final mixes will sound like.

Ozzy’s family had a director in mind for the movie, which would tell the incredible life story of the Prince of Darkness Credit: Getty
The source said: ‘Sharon doesn’t even know what the final mixes will sound like’ Credit: Getty – Contributor

“But the likelihood is that they will come to play some part in the biopic, which would be incredible.

“Unheard songs from Ozzy from beyond the grave is something he would have loved.”

I revealed earlier this year how Ozzy’s wife Sharon and his son Jack had a director in mind for the movie, which would tell the incredible life story of the Prince of Darkness.

“The script is being worked on as a final draft with Sony Studios looking for directors,” a source close to the family told me.

“Sharon has been measuring up who could play her and deliver the intensity of her personality while also holding it together while Ozzy goes through his demons on-screen.”

I have no doubt that with Sharon at the helm this film will more than do Ozzy justice.

And the idea of listening to never-before-heard songs from him excites me even more.

JOSH’S MONSTROUS TERROR OF THE TOILET

Josh Brolin has revealed he was too scared to go to the loo after watching Steve McQueen’s horror classic The Blob when he was four Credit: Getty
Josh said: ‘I just remember this substance coming out of the toilet and attacking this person’ Credit: Getty – Contributor

WE all have a scarring childhood memory, but I’ve never heard a confession quite like Josh Brolin’s.

The Running Man actor has revealed he was too scared to go to the loo after watching Steve McQueen’s horror classic The Blob when he was four.

He said: “I just remember this substance coming out of the toilet and attacking this person.

“And when you’re a kid, it’s a new relationship with a toilet. It suddenly gets all up and then you don’t know where to do your business.”

I bet his parents loved cleaning up that mess.

THRILLER RACE FOR TOP SPOT

Michael Jackson’s son Prince hopes to give his late dad a Halloween treat – by backing fans’ efforts to get his 1983 hit Thriller to No1 for the first time Credit: Alamy

MICHAEL JACKSON’s son Prince hopes to give his late dad a Halloween treat – by backing fans’ efforts to get his 1983 hit Thriller to No1 for the first time.

Despite regularly returning to the charts around Halloween, the six-minute track and video failed to hit the top spot.

Prince said: “Thriller is the biggest-selling album of all time but the single has never made it to No1. And so the goal with this Thriller challenge is to encourage people to buy the album, stream it and request it on radio, because those are the metrics that then push it up the chart.

“But we have to recognise that (the album) Thriller has a lot of bangers on there. So he’s kind of competing with himself. My father has an incredible fan base, and they’re so very sophisticated and orchestrated, and this has been the challenge that has been going on.”


lKEITH RICHARDS says he feels like his late Rolling Stones bandmate, drummer Charlie Watts, came back from the grave to watch over the group recording their new single, Who You Callin’ Crazy.

He told how he forgot Steve Jordan was on the sticks behind him, saying: “I do think it’s Charlie Watts behind me.”


ARABELLA: ME ‘N’ MY ’BLUD BUD

RISING star Arabella Lucia is proving she’s got some rock star mates after handing Bizarre a backstage pass to her pal Yungblud’s new B.R.A.T clothes shop.

The punk-rock wonderland in Soho, central London, hosted a cool music show by Arabella this week.

At the cosy gig, she thanked Yungblud for supporting her career, adding: “He’s so cool and he’s so awesome.

“He has given me some great advice about music.

“The songs I am performing tonight, and it being here of all places, is very serendipitous.”

Lily’s gone dotty

Lily Allen dressing up as the Ticketmaster chart of her unsold seats after downgrading her North America tour Credit: Instagram/@lilyallen
Marvin and Rochelle Humes turned back the clock to 2002 as they transformed into Kelly Rowland and Nelly Credit: Instagram/@rochellehumes
Kelly and Nelly in the music video for their hit Dilemma Credit: Getty – Contributor
Bella James has dressed up as Jeremy Clarkson for Halloween Credit: Instagram
She looked genuinely unrecognisable as she transformed into Clarkson thanks to some impressive prosthetics Credit: Getty
North West clearly spent some serious cash perfecting her Edward Scissorhands costume Credit: Instagram/@northwsst

WITH one of the sharpest tongues in the industry, Lily Allen often divides opinions – but no one can argue she doesn’t have a great sense of humour.

Brandishing a thermometer and with the caption “#bluedotfever”, the Smile singer dressed up as a Ticketmaster seating chart, with spots signifying plenty of empty spaces – a nod to the fact she had to downgrade venues on her US tour due to poor sales.

Despite selling out arenas on home soil for her West End Girl tour, excitement for the gigs Stateside was lacklustre.

Meanwhile, Marvin and Rochelle Humes turned back the clock to 2002 as they transformed into Kelly Rowland and Nelly from the music video for their hit Dilemma.

Marvin and Rochelle were just two of many celebrity guests spotted at Olivia Attwood’s Halloween party in central London.

Also going all out for the celebrations was Kim and Kanye’s daughter North West.

The budding singer clearly spent some serious cash perfecting her Edward Scissorhands costume.

But perhaps my favourite costume of all came from influencer Bella James.

She looked genuinely unrecognisable as she transformed into Jeremy Clarkson thanks to some impressive prosthetics.

Clearly I need to up my fancy dress game.


Shed Seven are confirmed as the final headliner for Forest Live, the week-long run of shows in the Cheshire woodlands Credit: Supplied

SHED SEVEN are looking forward to being top of the tree after announcing a huge show in Delamere Forest next June.

The band are confirmed as the final headliner for Forest Live, the week-long run of shows in the Cheshire woodlands.

Having just sold out the biggest headliner show of their career at York’s LNER Stadium, the indie rockers will now headline the show on Friday, June 18, with support from The Lathums and The Lilacs.

Frontman Rick Witter told me: “We can’t wait to headline our first Forest Live show.

“They are always an amazing experience in beautiful surroundings with an electric atmosphere.

“We have played a few over the years, but always as bridesmaids, so it’s great that we can now feel like dizzy brides.”


Celebrity Traitors star has a bash at podcasts

Celebrity Traitors’ Sebastian Croft has launched his brand new podcast series Credit: supplied

JUST in time for Halloween, Celebrity Traitors’ Sebastian Croft has launched his brand new podcast series.

The first episode of The Sunday Scaries With Bash Croft is out tomorrow, with the Heart-stopper actor welcoming guests each week to discuss the highs and lows of the past seven days.

Bash said: “Many people I know find Sundays daunting or lonely and just want to have a laugh and chat about the week before and the week ahead.

“So I want the podcast to feel like you’re sitting on the sofa with us, having honest, unfiltered chats with friends.

“Hopefully, it’ll make everyone’s Sunday feel a little brighter and the week ahead a little less daunting.”

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‘My gorgeous wife died suddenly in Lanzarote – it’s heartbreaking’

Rachel felt a little unwell in the Canary Islands hotel they were staying in in October – then suddenly collapsed

A British mum who thought she had come down with a nasty cold collapsed and died while on holiday abroad. Rachel Weston, 42, was away with her husband, Mark, 41, and two friends when she started to feel unwell.

The carer, from Bury, Greater Manchester, went to a pharmacy and at first seemed to be getting better. However, her condition then deteriorated, leading the couple to arrange emergency flights back home for the next day.

But Rachel then suddenly collapsed in their hotel room in Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote. Hotel lifeguards tried to help before paramedics turned up, but tragically she couldn’t be saved.

Local reports say Rachel suffered a cardiac arrest, though an underlying medical cause hasn’t been publicly confirmed. Mark said: “My world was completely turned upside down with the sudden and heartbreaking loss of my gorgeous wife, Rachel, while we were on holiday.

“Rachel and I were together for 11 years and one day – sadly only married for two of those years, but every single day was full of love, laughter and partnership.”

Rachel was a loving stepmum to Mark’s three children, Steven, 22, Charley, 19, and Mikey, 15. Mark described his late wife as “the absolute heart of our home”, adding that she had poured herself into helping him raise the children.

The couple tied the knot on May 11, 2024 after a memorable on-stage proposal at a Bowling for Soup concert. Mark contacted the band’s frontman, Jaret Reddick, before its December 2022 show in Torquay and was invited on stage during Punk Rock 101 to ask Rachel to marry him.

Rachel worked as a carer at Regency Care Home and had devoted her professional life to looking after others. She was also deeply attached to the couple’s two dogs, Maisie and Padmé. Mark said: “Losing her so unexpectedly is a total nightmare.

“Between planning the funeral and keeping life steady for the kids, it’s a massive weight to carry.” Rachel’s funeral is due to take place on November 6. Mark has launched a fundraiser in memory of his “beautiful wife” to help cover the costs.

He has requested that mourners wear something purple, which was Rachel’s favourite colour. To donate to the fundraiser, visit the GoFundMe web page here.

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Susan Saint James dead: ‘Kate & Allie,’ ‘McMillan & Wife’ star was 80

Susan Saint James, the TV star who shared the screen with Rock Hudson as his on-screen wife in “McMillan & Wife” and co-led the heartfelt, blended family comedy “Kate & Allie” with Jane Curtin, has died.

The Los Angeles native died Monday after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, according to People, which first reported the actor’s death. She was 80.

Saint James’ family remembered the actor for her warm personality and kindness, writing in a statement shared with the magazine, “Every person she met became the most important person in the room at that moment, from a fellow board member to the clerk at the shoe store, who usually walked away knowing her entire life story.”

Her acting career spanned almost six decades — she broke out as Peggy Maxwell in NBC series “The Name of the Game” — from the mid-1960s to the 2020s across TV and film, but audiences know the actor best for starring as Hudson’s detective wife in “McMillan & Wife.” The NBC series, which aired from 1971 to 1977, centered on San Francisco police commissioner Stuart “Mac” McMillan and wife Sally McMillan as they solve a variety of crimes. Saint James earned four Emmy nominations for her work.

She pivoted to film and TV movies after the series ended, garnering roles in “Love at First Bite,” “The Kid from Nowhere,” and “Don’t Cry, It’s Only Thunder.”

After nearly a decade away from the TV series scene, Saint James returned in CBS’ unconventional sitcom, “Kate & Allie.” She starred as Kate McArdle, one of the series’ titular divorcées who decide to raise their children under the same roof. Saint James’ Kate was the modern and no-nonsense counterpart to Curtin’s old-fashioned, sweet Allie. The series aired from 1984 to 1989 and earned Saint James two additional Emmy nominations.

When the stars and creative team of “Kate & Allie” reunited amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, Saint James reflected on how the show was representative of a same-sex household and how mothers raising their own children related to the show’s material. She and her co-stars also said they knew at the time that the series was something special.

“It wasn’t like we went back and said, ‘You don’t know what you got ‘till it’s gone.’ It was just fun,” she said.

Saint James mostly stayed away from Hollywood in the decades following “Kate & Allie,” save for brief appearances in series including “Law & Order: SVU,” “Suits” and “Upload.” She notably found herself in the spotlight again in the early 2000s, but for family tragedy.

Her son Edward “Teddy” Ebersol died at age 14 in a 2004 Colorado plane crash that also claimed the lives of two other people. Teddy Ebersol, whom Saint James shared with husband and former NBC Sports Chairman Dick Ebersol, was aboard a chartered Canadair CL-601 Challenger jet with his father and older brother, Charles, on Nov. 28, 2004, when it crashed during takeoff in light snow and freezing temperatures from the airport near Montrose, Colo. The pilot and a flight attendant were also killed in the crash. Dick and Charlie sustained injuries in the crash, and a copilot was critically injured.

“Here’s the bad part … I’ve never touched his clothes, I’ve never been able to move his things,” Saint James told Oprah in a 2006 interview. She continued to speak publicly about her grief in the following years.

“The thing that could move me on was that I could embrace Teddy finally in a way that was, ‘he’s my kid,’” she said during a 2009 panel on grief. “They can take his body, but I own that boy and I love that boy.”

Beyond her screen work and family tragedy, Saint James was also known for her longtime advocacy in the sports world. Saint James supported the mission of the Special Olympics since an early iteration of the games in California in 1972. The first Special Olympics was held in Chicago in 1968.

In a statement published Tuesday, Special Olympics said Saint James “believed deeply in the power of inclusion” and she served as a board member and a campaign co-chair for Special Olympics Connecticut. Her advocacy included founding the annual Susan Saint James poker tournament fundraiser. The organization’s Susan Saint James Leadership Award honors individuals who “embody her remarkable spirit of leadership, generosity, and dedication to our mission,” the post said.

“Thank you, Susan, for being an extraordinary champion of our athletes,” Special Olympics added in its statement. “Your legacy will live on through the lives you touched and the inclusive future you helped build.”

The actor, born Aug. 14, 1946 and raised in Rockford, Ill., received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2008 and partially attributed her success in the industry to her connection with Special Olympics. Former California first lady Maria Shriver, daughter of Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver, attended the ceremony.

During that ceremony, Saint James said she managed to achieve her dream of becoming a Hollywood movie star “through the good works of a lot of wonderful people that created a loving and home-like environment for me all those years.”

“But the thing that really contributed to my success and happiness with my career was coupling it up with the work that I did with the Special Olympics,” she said, adding, “you can guess that being associated with them turned out to be getting to know some pretty amazing people since I’m now really cozy with the first lady of the state of California.”

Saint James was married three times, first to scriptwriter Richard Neubert from 1967 to 1968, according to People. She remarried in 1971 to makeup artist-turned manager Thomas Lucas. They share two children — daughter Sunshine and son Harmony — and divorced in 1977.

Saint James remarried to then-NBC executive Dick Ebersol after they met in 1981 when she hosted “Saturday Night Live.” They welcomed children Charles, William and Edward (Teddy.)



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‘H3 Podcast’ cuts ties with co-host Ethan Klein amid wife’s claims

The “H3 Podcast” is cutting ties with host Ethan Klein after his wife and co-host, Hila Klein, accused him of having an affair for the past six months.

The crew agreed to not continue working with Ethan or profiting in any way, sharing, “We stand with Hila and will support her every step of the way,” an “H3 Podcast” Instagram post read late Thursday evening.

The podcast’s indefinite hiatus comes shortly after Hila accused her husband of infidelity on her own Instagram account late Thursday night.

“I am living in a nightmare I can’t wake up from. …,” she stated on her Instagram post. “I have been fed lie after lie for months. I am tired of lies. Here’s the truth.

“I could sense something was wrong. I tried to ask him questions and share my concerns and hurt feelings. But I was met with dismissive answers and no action. Things that bothered me continued to bother me, and he did nothing about it,” Hila wrote.

Ethan and Hila have been together for 20 years and married for 14. They met while Ethan was on a Birthright trip to Israel where Hila was doing mandatory military service in the Israel Defense Forces. They maintained regular contact via Skype before Hila moved to Ethan’s college town of Santa Cruz, according to a 2017 video uploaded by the pair to their YouTube channel, h3h3Productions.

“The betrayal I feel is immeasurable. The person I loved and trusted for 20 years evaporated overnight. He was my safe place, my partner in marriage, parenting, and business. My only family on this side of the world. How do I even begin to make sense of this?” the post continued.

Hila shared that she does not know what comes next, adding, “I’m in survival mode, trying to navigate separation, co-parenting, and unthinkable heartbreak.”

Ethan didn’t immediately respond on Friday to The Times’ request for comment. He did, however, post on social media.

”I know a lot of people are understandably looking for a comment from me,” a post to his Instagram Stories read, “but I ask that you please respect my family’s privacy and do not contact them looking for me or asking for their comments. They have nothing to do with this and share in your outrage and disappointment. Thank you.”

Hila and Ethan share three sons ages 7, 4 and 2.

“All I can do right now is focus on taking care of myself and my children, one day at a time,” Hila said. “You’re not crazy. Trust your instincts. Trust yourself. If you’re not being treated right, get up and leave.”

The couple first rose to internet fame through their popular YouTube channel h3h3Productions, which often featured Ethan and Hila in sketches and vlogs. Around 2013, the channel picked up steam as the couple began posting reaction videos to viral social media clips. As of today, they have amassed over 5 million followers.

“H3 Podcast” began in 2017 and first featured guest interviews with internet personalities such as PewDiePie and Jake Paul.

Many online sleuths were quick to pull out clips from Ethan’s past that might have foreshadowed this incident, including in Oct. 2020 when Ethan’s former “Frenemies” podcast co-host Trisha Paytas said to him: “I feel/lowkey wish you could be single while you’re famous and rich because I feel like you didn’t get that out of your system. Like knowing that every girl wants to f— you because you’re famous and rich.”

Ethan responded: “I mean, it would be fun to date, but I’m not interested in that. I’m very happily married.”

The “H3 Podcast” subseries fizzled out in 2021 due to revenue disputes. Paytas married Hila’s brother, Moses Hacmon, in 2021.



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How to have the best Sunday in L.A., according to William Jackson Harper

When William Jackson Harper moved to Los Angeles to star in NBC’s “The Good Place” a decade ago, he himself felt out of place.

“As an actor, I was like I don’t know if this is where I’m supposed to be,” says Harper, who earned an Emmy nomination for his role as Chidi Anagonye, the show’s endearingly panicked and indecisive professor.

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.

“People felt more finished there,” he says of L.A. “I felt like people had sort of come into their appearance, they knew what they were selling. And I was like, you know, I’m much more of a theater guy, New York is probably where I’m going to land.”

He adds, “So I had this idea that I was going to get to L.A. and everyone was just going to laugh at me.”

Quite the opposite happened. Harper leaned into the L.A. experience, exploring the sprawling city, particularly its nature, and connecting with old friends on a deeper level. He soon grew to appreciate it — so much that he continues to split his time between L.A. and New York alongside his wife, Ali Ahn, who is also an actor.

Harper now stars in the dramatic anthology series “American Hostage,” which re-creates the true story of Tony Kiritsis, an Indianapolis man who, in 1977, kidnapped a mortgage broker whose family Kiritsis blamed for his own financial hardships. During a 63-hour standoff, Kiritsis demands that Fred Heckman, a beloved radio reporter played by Jon Hamm, interview him live on air.

“When that script came across my desk, I was like ‘This is insane,’” Harper says of the show, now streaming on MGM+. He was excited to portray Ben Hairston, a reporter and Heckman’s mentee, who attempts to help him navigate the challenging situation.

Harper says he’d been interested in being part of the show set in the late 1970s. Another draw? “I was looking forward to just rocking a mustache,” he says with a laugh. “I was looking forward to just looking like my uncles.”

Here’s how Harper would spend his perfect Sunday in L.A., from a morning hike at Griffith Park to shopping for more French tour jackets at a vintage store in Silver Lake.

7 a.m.: Start with an intense workout

Even though I typically don’t work out on Sundays, sometimes I get a wild hair and do it anyway because I enjoy it. I’ll go to a class around 7 or 8 a.m. I go to Training Mate a lot because the instructors are fun. They’re all, like, beautiful people, but they are dorks, which I find really endearing. They’re really sweet and encouraging. So we’ll do a really tough 45-minute workout an I’ll probably want to go for a hike after that. Griffith Park is one of my favorite places anywhere, so I’d kind of march around there for a couple of hours. I don’t always do the hard [route], I’m already kind of cooked. I just want to be in nature a little bit.

11 a.m.: Bond with friends over breakfast

Then it would be time to eat. I have this tradition whenever I’m in L.A. of meeting with a couple of friends of ours at Fred 62 on Vermont [Avenue]. I’ll get a tofu breakfast enchilada and then we’ll just sit there and talk for a couple of hours. The waiters remember my order even if it’s been months. Or my friends and I will go to some place like All Time, which is really good. There’s always a line and everyone is very done up and I feel really dirty and underdressed when I go, but f— it. It’s like deal with it. I’m old. I can’t be out here flexing.

2 p.m.: Nap to recharge for a shopping spree

All those things make for a powerful wave of sleepiness, so I’ll take a nap. Usually when I have days off like this, I have a shopping addiction, so there’s a few stores that I’ll probably wind up hitting. One of them is this place called Golden Age that has all these old French tour jackets. I have so many [laughs]. I rock those a lot. So I’ll go there, look around and abuse my bank account a little bit. Then there’s this other place on La Brea called General Quarters. It’s got a bunch of work wear stuff.

6 p.m.: Watch a movie at an old-school theater

After that, I might go see a movie at Los Feliz 3. It just reminds me of the movie theaters I grew up going to. I love an old-school, no frills theater that shows cool stuff.

8:30 p.m.: Have a delicious pescatarian dinner

If we are not cooking, we’re going out to eat somewhere. There’s this place in Eagle Rock that we like a lot called Little Beast. One of my favorite restaurants is Bavel. Every time I go there, I’m just like I don’t deserve this meal. I don’t deserve these cocktails. I’ve ordered something different every time. My wife and I are both pescatarian, so we usually load up on the veggies and pick whatever fish dish they have.

10:30 p.m.: Time for bed

After that, we’ll go back home, give our dog Chico another walk and watch Netflix until we fall asleep. My wife falls asleep first. When we are together, I’ll fall asleep earlier between like 11 p.m. and midnight. When I’m by myself, I’m up till 2 or 3 in the morning. I’m just up.

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Billy Crystal review: Comedian’s ‘860’ turns loss into living memory

“860,” the title of Billy Crystal’s tremendously moving new Broadway show at the Imperial Theatre, refers to the address of his house in the Pacific Palisades that was destroyed in last year’s fire.

Crystal re-creates the events of Jan. 7, 2025, as the wildfire that began in the Santa Monica Mountains started making its way down toward his home at 860 Chautauqua Blvd. Video clips of the escalating emergency are shown as a cardigan-clad Crystal, standing in a facsimile of his home office (the conjuring work of scenic designer Scott Pask), re-creates the horror of having to decide what to take with him as the evacuation orders come in.

The photos, awards and other memorabilia aren’t just souvenirs of his storied career. They are pieces of the life he built with his wife, Janice, and their two daughters as well as a record of the friendships that made Hollywood feel like a welcoming community for a wide-eyed Long Island kid.

“860,” impeccably directed by Scott Ellis, occurs in a series of flashbacks. Crystal brings us back to what it was like as he and his wife made their way across a jam-packed Sunset Boulevard in separate cars to the safety of their daughter’s house as smoke and flying embers turned their small-town paradise overlooking the Pacific Ocean into an apocalyptic war zone.

A baseball superfan, Crystal gives us the play-by-play as though he were calling a World Series game that had taken an unimaginable turn. Hana S. Kim and Kylee Loera’s video design turns us into eyewitnesses of that terrible day.

I was in Los Angeles when the Palisades and Eaton fires broke out, but I was far enough away not to feel the immediacy of the threat. Crystal had me in full fight-or-flight mode, as if I were in the car behind him going 5 mph along the only route out of danger.

Billy Crystal in "860" at the Imperial Theatre on Broadway.

Billy Crystal in “860” at the Imperial Theatre on Broadway.

(Avery Brunkus)

Making a show about a recent public trauma isn’t easy to pull off, but Crystal has managed it as perhaps only he could. “860” is a meditation on loss, but it’s also a theatrical memoir of his multifarious career as a comic, actor, filmmaker and celebrated Oscar host. He returns to his days on “Soap,” the controversial nighttime parody of a daytime soap opera created by Susan Harris that featured Crystal in the role of Jodie Dallas, one of TV’s first openly gay characters.

Crystal was living in an apartment in then-smog-filled Hancock Park with his wife and daughters when he was filming the show’s third season. The couple wanted to move to an area that had better air quality for their children, and someone asked if he knew about the Pacific Palisades.

“It was a small town, good schools, beautiful afternoon breezes from the nearby ocean, one main street with some shops, a deli named Mort’s that had lean corned beef and a lot of people who didn’t put mayonnaise on pastrami,” Crystal recounts.

The house they came to see wasn’t for them, but a for-sale sign at 860 Chautauqua caught their eye. The real estate agent told them that the owners “were very motivated to sell because they were very motivated not to be together anymore.”

It was December 1979 when, with a 30-year mortgage in hand, they moved into the house. Two women who grew up at 860 (“Imagine the twins from ‘The Shining’ — but they’re 55”) paid a welcome call to say how pleased they were that their former home was back in the hands of show people.

The original owners were vaudevillians who had a mind-reading act and were passionately into the occult. They socialized with the comic luminaries of their day, including humorist Will Rogers, who would regularly stop by on his horse. Behind a secret wall, Crystal found a hidden room with a cork board that had clippings that suggested maybe it wasn’t such an accident that the house became his.

Crystal, the emcee of all emcees (as his performance at this year’s Hollywood Bowl Opening Night once again proved), tells the story of his home with buoyant humor and charm, turning loss into living memory. To set up the meaning of what was destroyed, he takes us back to his roots, starting with his graduation in 1970 from NYU, where he took a film production class with a young Martin Scorsese, who would critique his work in a manner that Crystal, the Al Hirschfeld of celebrity impersonators, hilariously captures.

Crystal’s comic timing was honed in the clubs doing stand-up. Jack Rollins, the producing titan who managed Mike Nichols, Elaine May and Woody Allen, imparted some wisdom after watching Crystal’s act. Crystal thought he killed it that night, but Rollins told him that he failed to “leave a tip,” meaning reveal something about himself in his jokes.

Opening for Blood, Sweat & Tears in Scranton, Pa., a huge opportunity, Crystal faced a hostile audience. But he won the crowd over and thought maybe he could really make this stand-up comedy thing work. But then he was sent back out onstage after lead singer David Clayton-Thomas decided he didn’t want to perform and had to win the jeering music fans over again — and then a third time. While driving home on the New Jersey Turnpike to his wife and baby that night, he felt his future in front of him, having found not only his calling but also his voice.

Crystal’s luckiest break may have been in not being drafted during the Vietnam War, but a close second was being invited to do his Howard Cosell-Muhammad Ali routine at a televised gala for the boxing legend. Crystal not only crushed it but he made a lifelong friend in Ali, who was already his personal hero.

Bonds forged in comedy, like the one he had with Robin Williams, deepened into a lasting brotherhood. Norman Lear cast Crystal as Rob Reiner’s best friend on “All in the Family,” and life imitated art. Their successful collaborations — crystallized in the fake orgasm scene at Katz’s Delicatessen in “When Harry Met Sally” — were an outgrowth of their telepathic comic rapport.

In reviewing his famous life, Crystal reanimates parts of our own. And it’s this shared history that helps us understand what he lost when his house went up in flames. The magnitude of the devastation is made personal for all of us.

But just when you think things can’t get any worse, something completely unthinkable happens. For Crystal, this occurred at the end of 2025, his annus horribilis, when Reiner and wife Michelle were found stabbed to death at their Brentwood home.

Some things are too painful for words, and Crystal knows that sense cannot be made from senselessness. But he’s already told us so much about this unique friendship that nothing more needs to be said.

Crystal doesn’t wallow in grief or self-pity. He bears the weight of his losses with his wit and generous spirit to help us carry the weight of our own. (When he walked into a store to buy a new wardrobe after the fire, he reports, the salesclerk looked at him and said, “Let me guess … Ozempic?”)

No one gets out of this world without becoming a master of the art of losing, to invoke the poet Elizabeth Bishop. But laughter can sustain us through our losses, and Crystal thinks it’s no accident that one of the few things that was salvaged from the ashes of his home was a stone from his garden with the word “laughter” engraved on it.

I found Crystal’s previous solo show “700 Sundays” to be a touch mawkish, so I wasn’t expecting to be so powerfully moved by “860.” But this is just a brilliantly conceived and executed piece, and I hope it yields Crystal another Tony Award.

But even more, I hope the production finds its way home to where it belongs, Los Angeles. We could really use the fortifying laughter.

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Danny Jones hugs wife Georgia as they share cosy video from Pride Of Britain Awards after working through marriage woes

DANNY Jones shared an affectionate moment with his wife Georgia Horsley at the Pride of Britain Awards after she stood by him through their marriage woes.

The married McFly singer, 40, was caught snogging Love Island star and TV presenter Maura Higgins at the BRIT Awards afterparty in 2025.

Georgia Jones and Danny Jones looked loved-up on the Pride Of Britain Awards red carpet Credit: Getty
The couple’s outing comes a year after his snog with Maura Higgins at the 2025 BRIT Awards Credit: Getty

This led to Danny publicly apologising to Georgia after the drunken kiss – with his wife of 10 years agreeing to stand by him.

Showing they’re united, Georgia and Danny shared a clip of them posing together on the red carpet.

The pair shared a get ready with me clip with Georgia stunning in a burgundy dress and Danny opting for an all black suit.

Danny captioned the post: “Last night at Pride of Britain Awards we celebrated the courageous & extraordinary.

fam first

Danny Jones’ wife announces she is ‘pausing’ podcast to focus on family life


GRACE’S GAG

GK Barry pokes fun at Maura Higgins & Danny Jones after kiss scandal

Danny and Georgia shared a clip as they glammed ug up before the event Credit: Instagram/dannyjonesofficial
Maura is currently thousands of miles away in Los Angeles competing on DWTS Credit: Shutterstock Editorial

“In what can be a very scary world sometimes it’s so important to acknowledge the kindness & selflessness of these individuals.

“Truly inspiring stories and even more incredible & inspiring humans.

“Be kind, always.”

Meanwhile, Maura – who is currently competing on Dancing With the Stars in the US – was thousands of miles away.

On Sunday, Maura sizzled in a white PVC skintight bodysuit and corset as she attended the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in Los Angeles.

The Sun revealed how Danny and Maura, who appeared together in I’m A Celeb last year, shared a brief kiss during Universal Music’s Brit Awards.

The duo then travelled separately to the five-star Nobu Hotel for more drinks.

Last March, Danny made his emotional statement on Instagram, and showed his regret for putting his loved ones “in this situation.”

The dad-of-one, who shares son Cooper with Georgia, 38, wrote: “Hello everyone.

“Sorry it’s taken me a while to post this but I’ve taken some time out to be with those closest to me.

“I want to deeply apologise to my wife and family for putting them in this situation.

“I love them so much and we’ll continue to deal with this privately.”

Danny continued: “I love you guys, thank you for your patience, understanding and support.

“See you all soon, Danny.”

At the time, pals previously said that Danny was keen to draw a line under the scandal, which saw him holding crisis talks with Georgia, his wife of ten years.

A friend said: “Danny wants to draw a line in the sand and move on.

“He has talked with Georgia, and they just want to carry on with their lives.

“His actions were incredibly embarrassing, and he has expressed how much he regrets it.

“Now is the time to move past it and try and get back to normal.”

It came after it was claimed Georgia had issued The Voice panelist with a “final warning.”

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‘DWTS’: Jenna Dewan teases routine with Alan Bersten

Jenna Dewan is “so excited” for her next performance on “Dancing With the Stars.”

The “Rookie” actor appeared in a short video posted Sunday to the show’s Instagram Stories with her temporary partner, Alan Bersten — who is filling in for suspended pro Val Chmerkovskiy — to promote their upcoming routine.

“Hi, everybody,” Dewan said while standing beside Bersten during rehearsals. “It’s ‘Dedication Night’ and we are dancing a Viennese waltz to ‘Unchained Melody’ by the Righteous Brothers, the greatest, most romantic song ever.”

The “Step Up” star shared on social media that she is dedicating this dance to her mother.

“My mom has always been my biggest cheerleader,” Dewan wrote in her Sunday Instagram post. “The one who believed in me before I even knew what was possible for myself. Who encouraged me to dream big, to keep going, and most importantly, to never lose sight of who I am along the way.”

She added: “There’s something so beautiful and full circle about getting to honor the woman who first encouraged my love of dance, through the very thing she helped me fall in love with.”

The short teaser was shared shortly after it was announced that Chmerkovskiy would be suspended for a week for posting a message on TikTok that seemed to reference Will Smith‘s infamous 2022 Oscars slap. That incident involved Smith rushing the stage and slapping host Chris Rock with an open hand after the Oscars host made jokes about Jada Pinkett Smith.

“Keep my wife’s name out your … mouth!” Smith shouted at Rock afterward.

Chmerkovskiy’s since-deleted TikTok post appeared to be in response to judge Carrie Ann Inaba‘s harsh critique of the performance by pro Jenna Johnson, his wife, and partner Harry Shum Jr. during Tuesday’s “Super Bowl Night” episode of the show.

“You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night,” Chmerkovskiy reportedly wrote.

“DWTS” producers BBC Studios responded with a widely reported statement that the “well-being of everyone who works on Dancing with the Stars is non-negotiable. Val’s social media post was inappropriate and does not reflect the values or standards expected of anyone connected with the show. As a result, he will not participate in next week’s show.”

Chmerkovskiy has since apologized for his remark, saying in a statement provided to Deadline that he had merely reacted on “instinct” to “defend [his] wife.”

“In a moment where my instinct was to defend my wife, I made a poor decision to reference a meme to ‘keep my wife’s name’ out of the conversation, without stopping to think through what else that reference could imply, which was genuinely never my intention,” the statement read. “Carrie Ann certainly didn’t deserve to get caught in the middle of my bad judgment, and I hate that she was.”

The dancer also reportedly posted an apology to his Instagram Stories on Thursday.

“I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart for my recent post,” he wrote. “I have reached out to Carrie Ann to apologize directly and personally, and I also want to apologize publicly as I understand my words affect so many outside of our internal DWTS family.”

Bersten, who is filling in this week as Dewan’s partner, was previously paired with celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis before they were eliminated earlier in the season.



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Inside Christian Horner’s 320-page love letter to wife Geri in memoir

AN explosive sexting scandal almost wrecked Christian Horner’s marriage to pop royalty – and a year later, his F1 career was in tatters.

The multi-millionaire racing tycoon, married to ex-Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, was sacked by Red Bull with a £76million payoff after sending hundreds of texts to an attractive aide, pestering her for pics and sexy chat.

Geri and Christian at F1 film premiere in New York last year Credit: Getty
The pair put on a show of unity in Bahrain the day after Christian’s messages were leaked Credit: Getty

Geri was left heartbroken and humiliated by the WhatsApp messages, leaked in 2024 — a day after Horner was cleared of inappropriate, and controlling behaviour towards the woman in an independent probe.

Loyal Geri stood by her man, but Red Bull’s track performance took a hit amid the damning claims.

Now Horner, 52, has written an extraordinary new memoir, Drive, out on Thursday, which is essentially a grovelling, 320-page love letter to his wife of 11 years.

In it, he swerves the awkward reason his marriage nearly hit the skids.

Instead, he praises Geri for steering him through the darkest days of his life — while glossing over the aide who complained about his conduct.

The former Red Bull chief executive was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing, and his book does not link the embarrassing scandal to his sacking after 20 years in the top Formula One job.

Instead, he blames a series of poor results on the race track, and does not attempt to explain or justify why he sent the flirty messages.

Yet Horner DOES recall his wife heroically mustering every ounce of Girl Power as the crisis erupted.

Initially baffled by the allegations levelled against him, Horner writes: “What was going on?

“The lawyer, presumably aware that a wrecking ball was being aimed at my life, explained the situation as my sense of bewilderment rose.

“Geri knew by my face that something was very wrong.

“She fell silent as she listened. We both understood the implications immediately. She looked at me. ‘Just tell your truth’, she said.

The couple with Geri’s daughter Bluebell, their son Monty and Chris’s daughter Olivia Credit: Getty
Drive by Christian Horner is published on Thursday by Penguin Random House Credit: Penguin

“‘That’s all I can do’, I replied.

“She reassured me that everything would be all right.

“Her resilience was remarkable.

“Our lives had been turned upside down, yet she found the strength and conviction to support me through an immensely difficult period, one that was undoubtedly challenging for her as well.

“Her belief in me gave me the determination to move forward. At a time when my confidence was being tested, Geri provided the perspective and stability that I needed most.

“Without her support, I’m not sure I could have navigated those months in the same way.”

Days after Horner was cleared of behaving inappropriately in 2024, Red Bull suspended his accuser on full pay. The woman, who was not named, then agreed to leave Red Bull for a £3million settlement and dropped her claims.

She signed a non-disclosure agreement that prevents her from talking about the scandal.

Her appeal over the outcome of the probe into Horner was thrown out.

Despite landing another job in motor racing, she was dismissed less than a year later amid “trust issues”.

The other glaring omission in Horner’s carefully-curated life story is the bitter feud with his parents.

Garry and Sara Horner were so horrified when their son hooked up with Geri that they refused to attend the wedding.

Geri and Christian on their wedding day in 2015 Credit: Doug Seeburg – The Sun
Christian with ex-wife Beverley Allen in 2012 Credit: Desmond O’Neill Features Ltd

Christian and his previous partner, pub landlady Beverley Allen, had a baby daughter, Olivia, who was 19 months at the time of the nuptials.

In Drive, his relationship with Beverley, who died from cancer aged 58, is dispatched in a couple of swift sentences, and he describes falling for Geri like something out of a cheesy romcom.

He says marrying the singer at Woburn Abbey, Beds, in 2015 was the happiest day of his life.

“It was obvious that Beverley and I were drifting apart,” writes Horner.

“Our relationship was now more of a loving friendship than anything else, and it was clear that what had once brought us together was no longer there. We had never married, though we had a daughter, Olivia, and although our relationship had faded, we remained amicable.

“The following year, my relationship with Geri began. She had a natural warmth and confidence, and she treated everyone the same, whether they were royalty or a road sweeper.

“It was clear there was something between us.” Their controversial courtship and Beverley’s heartbreak are skipped entirely, along with him being such a workaholic that he once missed Olivia’s birth.

Months after he began dating Geri, he proposed while hiking up Mount Fuji in Japan, and became a second father to Bluebell, her daughter from a previous relationship with screenwriter Sacha Gervasi.

Christian describes falling for Geri like something out of a cheesy romcom Credit: Netflix
Christian and Geri at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in 2024 Credit: AFP

He says: “Geri was the woman I wanted to marry. I knew it almost from the moment we started going out. Our connection was undeniable; I had never experienced anything like it before. I had totally fallen for her.

“Within twelve months, we were engaged. I wasn’t planning to propose at the ­time — the thought of buying a ring hadn’t even occurred to me — but the occasion seemed too perfect.

“The sun was dipping behind the mountain, the shadows were lengthening, so I grabbed the moment, and Geri, to my relief, said yes.

“With the emotion of the proposal beginning to sink in, we hitched a ride on a passing dustcart and rode to the bottom, laughing.

“Geri and I later married at a beautiful service. Daniel Ricciardo drove us in a vintage Rolls-Royce to the reception; Daniil Kvyat chauffeured the bridesmaids. Geri’s father had sadly passed away when she was in her twenties, so her daughter, Bluebell, walked her down the aisle.

“I knew that when I married Geri, I’d be taking on responsibility for Bluebell, and I couldn’t have been more pleased with the arrangement.

Loved-up Geri and Christian in the early days of their romanceCredit: Refer to Source
Geri and Christian with their pet dog Credit: https://www.instagram.com/gerihalliwellhorner/

“It was one of the happiest days of my life.” Geri slotted into Horner’s life in the Cotswolds and took to wearing prim, all-white outfits as she embarked on her luxurious role as lady of the manor.

She said in 2019 that her plain wardrobe freed up time and brain space: “I was at a moment in my life when I just needed simplicity.

“Also, if you only wear white, everything matches.”

Within a year of marrying, she was pregnant with their son Monty.

And now, following Horner’s astonishing Red Bull payoff, which was revealed this month, they are considering upgrading their £9.2million Oxfordshire mansion.

They recently viewed Edgcote House, Notts, a sprawling, £45million estate with a private racecourse which featured in the BBC’s Pride And Prejudice. Love-struck Horner might still be unemployed, but he insists the marriage has been all smooth sailing, raving: “I couldn’t have imagined anyone better to spend my life with.

“Geri was unswervingly supportive of what our family wanted to do. In a relationship where both parties were exposed to public scrutiny, she was able to deal with the pressure like it was irrelevant.

“Clearly, years spent at the centre of global fame had given her an extraordinary sense of composure.

“In moments of stress, she had the capacity to compartmentalise the negative emotions and focus on the positives.

“I learned so much from her about how to handle the never-ending stress and cutthroat politics of Formula One.” Horner also bats off the backlash that came his way following his appearances on Netflix’s Drive To Survive.

Last year, he was booed by an angry crowd at the O2 Arena. He was previously dubbed a “Karen” for incessantly complaining about Lewis Hamilton and other teams.

He recalls: “Overnight, Formula One’s audience had grown beyond the traditional fanbase, and with it came a level of scrutiny I’d never experienced before.

Horner as Red Bull boss in 2024 Credit: Getty
Christian with (from left) Red Bull drivers Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo and Chief Technical Officer Adrian Newey Credit: Getty

“Every comment, every expression and every disagreement became part of the story. In creating a bingeable show, Netflix filmed hundreds of hours of footage and naturally presented the juiciest material, which I ­understood.

“But the fact that Red Bull were going up against Lewis, a national treasure in the UK, meant we were sometimes cast as the villains.

“Before long, I had become Drive To Survive  ’s equivalent of Darth Vader.

“Fortunately, Geri understood the fickle nature of public perception better than I ever could. Really, I should have expected it. It wasn’t pleasant, but I accepted it.

“’It doesn’t matter if they boo’, she said. ‘Booing means they care. It’s only a problem when they ignore you’. Fair enough, I thought. To enjoy the rewards of success, I also had to accept the scrutiny that sometimes came with it.”

Horner admits Beverley’s death last summer was tough on their daughter. “As it became obvious that the end was drawing closer, I talked through the situation with Olivia. It was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.

“For the past few years, her mum had been in and out of hospital, and she was growing weaker.

“There was no getting away from what was coming. It all seemed so unfair. I had only recently turned fifty and was lucky enough to still have both my mother and father. I felt upset Olivia wouldn’t have the same experience.

“No little girl should have to go through this, I thought. I wanted to do everything that I could to help.

“But I couldn’t do the one thing she needed most of all. I couldn’t save her mum.”

  • Drive by Christian Horner is published on Thursday by Penguin Random House.



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UK PM adviser’s wife expresses ‘support’ for Palestine Action | Israel-Palestine conflict News

Police reviewing social media post by writer Sarah Helm, wife of Burnham’s National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell.

British police are reviewing a social media post by the wife of National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell in which she appears to endorse Palestine Action, a group proscribed in the country as a “terrorist” organisation.

“God help us authors who support Palestine and Palestine Action,” Sarah Helm, a writer who is married to Powell – Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s national security adviser – wrote on X on Thursday.

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She was responding to a post defending Irish novelist Sally Rooney, who this week announced her books would no longer be sold in the United Kingdom over her plans to use her royalties to support Palestine Action.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson on Friday said Helm’s post is “being assessed to determine whether any further police investigation may be required”.

A government spokesperson cited by the Reuters news agency said the views expressed in Helm’s post “are held by an individual who does not represent the government in any capacity”.

‘Absurdly authoritarian ban’

UK-based activist group Defend Our Juries defended Helm for defying what it called an “absurdly authoritarian ban on Palestine Action”.

“We know of 36 people who have been arrested and had their homes raided for similarly expressing support for Palestine Action on social media,” said a spokesperson for the group.

“We hope Sarah will not face the same treatment for standing up for free speech and Palestinian lives.”

The UK government outlawed Palestine Action in July 2025, after activists from the group broke into a Royal Air Force base and sprayed red paint on two aircraft to protest against UK military support for Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. Being a member or a supporter is punishable by up to 14 years in prison.

Since the ban went into effect, police have arrested more than 3,500 people in the UK for alleged support of the group, many of them for holding up placards, according to rights group Amnesty International.

Palestine Action has contested its proscription, but the Court of Appeal upheld it in June.

The UK’s new Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband last month said the government was “looking at” the Palestine Action ban, adding that he did not believe mass arrests resulting from its proscription were “anyone’s intent”.

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Chronicles of Narnia star weds American Idol partner as he pays gushing tribute to his new wife

CHRONICLES of Narnia star Ben Barnes has tied the knot with partner Aubrey Cleland.

Ben, 45, played the role of Prince Caspian in the titular 2008 film as well as 2010’s Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

Chronicles of Narnia star Ben Barnes revealed he has married Aubrey Cleland Credit: INSTAGRAM/@BENBARNES
Taking to Instagram, Ben shared loved-up photos from the couple’s special day Credit: INSTAGRAM/@BENBARNES

Taking to Instagram, the actor confirmed he and American Idol alum Aubrey Cleland, 33, have wed.

Paying tribute to his bride, Ben penned: “We got married!

“In a world of 8 billion people, it is extraordinary to find someone who feels like your person, someone who matches your sense of humour, curiosity and humanity — with whom you can be effortlessly yourself, feel understood, valued and loved for everything that you are.

“And, speaking for the first time as a proud husband: I married a woman of such rare grace, kindness and beauty, who somehow makes the world feel both bigger and more like home, who finds wonder, joy and laughter in things that might have passed me by, and who makes the ordinary feel momentous.

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The actor shared a sweet message to his now-wife Credit: INSTAGRAM/@BENBARNES
He played Prince (later King) Caspian in the Chronicles of Narnia films Credit: AP:Associated Press,OOther20th Century Fox

“We are so happy and so excited for everything to come.

“Ben & Aubrey.”

Friends and fans soon flocked to the comments section to share their congratulations.

Actress Katherine McNamara wrote: “CONGRATULATIONS!!!”

EastEnders star Robert Kazinsky added: “My best mate got his fairytale!”

Katherine Heigl penned: “Oh my lord!!! Congratulations my old friend I am so so so thrilled and happy for you!!”

A fan shared: “Congrats Ben and Aubrey! Wishing you both so much love and happiness.”

Another remarked: “Could not be happier for you both! You both look absolutely radiant and stunning!!!”

A third chimed in: “Congratulations. Wishing you both a world full of happiness and luck. And a life together filled with love, laughter and creativity!”

A fourth said: “I’m in absolute tears!!! I have NEVER been happier.

“Congratulations you absolutely gorgeous humans!!

“May this next chapter be everything you both ever wished for!!”

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