Gandalf but…female? One Lord of the Rings actress asks ‘why not?’ (Picture: New Line/Kobal/REX)
The Lord of the Rings prequel at Amazon Prime is being touted as the next Game of Thrones – and one suggestion from a former Middle-Earth actress could see one of its most beloved and iconic characters changed forever.
Robyn Malcom – who played a Rohirrim woman in The Two Towers – has lobbied the series’ makers to introduce a female Gandalf (played in the original trilogy and Hobbit trilogy by Sir Ian McKellan).
‘Those old legends, those old mythical stories, they’re so based within a patriarchal landscape,’ she told Stuff. ‘Why not look at the magic of a matrilineal world, where the magical powerhouses are women?’
Malcolm’s top picks for the female version of the resurrected wizard include some of the most iconic actresses of their generation.
‘If you need a big star and somebody that everybody knows and everybody already thinks of in Ian McKellen terms,’ she said. ‘Then of course you go to Dame Judi or Eileen Atkins or Maggie Smith.’
And if you think Malcolm was concerned about the backlash of hardcore fans of JRR Tolkein’s original work… well, you would be wrong, pointing out that Lord of the Rings is, first and foremost, a work of fantasy.
Amazn’s Lord of the Rings prequel series will start filming soon (Picture: New Line Cinema)
‘We’ve had female Hamlets,’ the actress pointed out. ‘Why not?’
The Lord of the Rings prequel series will commence production in the coming months.
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Star Trek: Picard will be setting its phasers to stun in 2020, and fans have just been given an exclusive glimpse behind-the-scenes at the new show.
Jonathan Del Arco – who guest-starred in Picard’s originating show Star Trek: The Next Generation – took to Twitter to share the video, which sees him in character as former Borg soldier Hugh.
The time-lapse video shows Del Arco’s arduous process to create a new plaster mould for his character’s head.
‘You’ve all been asking for it but I CAN’T show you Hugh’s new look HOWEVER since it’s TNG’s Birthday here’s what I had to go through to get there…’ the star wrote.
In the original show, Hugh was freed from the shared consciousness of the evil Borg and set out on his own to destroy them. The new show will catch up with Del Arco’s character decades later.
The actor warned fans, however, that he wouldn’t be able to share plot spoilers, but Hugh’s presence in the show all but confirms that the Borg will appear the spin-off. This is something that fans have long since expected, given Jeri Ryan’s return as her own Borg character.
Star Trek: Picard will see Patrick Stewart returning to one of his most iconic roles (Picture: Amazon Prime)
The actor shared the clip to celebrate the anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which debuted on screens 28 September 1987.
Star Trek: Picard drops in 2020 on CBS All Access and Amazon Prime in the UK.
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Rosie, in particular, had a bad time of it after she dramatically dropped her custard tart minutes before the task ended.
Safe to say, it wasn’t the most popular decision.
Speaking after her exit, Helena said: ‘I’m actually okay about it. I’ve had an amazing time. I’ve learnt that I can take criticism and have a laugh with it, and take the positives out of everything.’
What a queen.
Great British Bake Off returns Tuesday on Channel 4 at 8pm.
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The gang is taking to the big screen (Picture: Getty Images)
Friends is officially set to come to cinemas across the UK this December – this is not a drill, people.
The beloved sitcom is celebrating its 25th anniversary by securing a big screen spot, with Showcase cinema unveiling the plans.
Titling the promotion ‘The One With The Anniversary’, Showcase revealed that it will be airing just 12 episodes across three dates – so fans will have to get in quick.
The first four-episode screening will see season one’s The One Where Monica Gets a Roommate, The One with the Blackout, and The One With The Birth, and The One Where Ross Finds Out be screened on 8 December.
The One With the Prom Video, The One Where No One’s Ready, The One The Morning After, and The One With The Embryos, from seasons two, three and four, will follow on 11 December.
The last installment will screen The One With Chandler In A Box, The One With Ross’s Wedding Part 2, The One Where Everybody Finds Out, and The One Where Ross Got High, from seasons four, five, and six.
Friends recently turned 25, making all of us feel incredibly old.
The episode that saw Ross and Rachel’s love story start will be shown (Picture: Getty Images)
Where to begin – the one that kicked it all off? The multiple relationships, marriages and break-ups? Or the finale which left us all completely emotionally unstable?
The One With Ross’s Tan ultimately came out on top, according to Comedy Central.
The One Where Everybody Find Out, The One With The Routine, The One in Vegas and The One With Ross’s Sandwich were all close contenders.
Previous polls revealed Ross’ ‘PIVOT!’ meltdown was their favourite moment of all time, even though the problematic paleontologist is universally referred to as the most hated member of the gang above Rachel, Monica Geller/Bing, Chandler Bing, Joey Tribbiani and Phoebe Buffay.
Friends is available to stream on Netflix.
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Priya has become the latest person to leave the competition (Picture: Channel 4)
Priya has become the seventh contestant to be eliminated from The Great British Bake Off.
This week bakers were faced with tackling desserts, where they were tasked with creating layered meringue cake in the signature challenge, and six identical verrines in the technical.
The showstopper challenge saw them create a bombe dessert, filled with multiple layers and dressed in elaborate decoration.
Steph was announced as this week’s star baker, after Paul Hollywood described her bombe dessert as ‘perfect’.
While both Michael and Henry appeared in trouble, Priya was announced as the latest baker to leave the tent, prompting some tears during her closing speech.
Speaking about leaving the show, Priya said: ‘It’s felt like such a privilege to be in the tent and, of course I’ll cry, but I left work a year ago and I was kind of a bit stuck and I thought I’m just going to do the things I enjoy.
‘It’s meant to me that if you just start with the things you really enjoy you can’t go wrong.’
Priya was left teary as she made her closing speech (Picture: Channel 4)
The latest elimination follows last week’s dramatic double dumping, where Helena and Michelle were given the boot to shock from viewers.
Henry paid a special tribute to Helena in the episode too, by wearing a spider broach which reduced many to tears before the baking even began.
Those given the boot previously include Phil, Amelia, Jamie and Dan.
The Great British Bake Off continues Tuesday Channel 4 at 8pm.
It’s still one of the most beloved sitcoms (Picture: Getty Images)
Friends has definitely upheld its reputation as one of the most beloved sitcoms in history despite some pretty problematic characters (we’re looking at you, Ross Geller).
And the gay club definitely isn’t alone – here are some of the worst stories that thankfully never saw the light of day.
The gay bar
In a new book, Generation Friends: An Inside Look At The Show That Defined a Television Era, author Saul Austerlitz claims Matthew, 50, shut down a plot which would have seen Chandler dine out in a gay bar because they do the best tuna melts.
Presumably, a straight man in a gay bar being was going to be the butt of the joke.
Saul simply explained: ‘Perry said no, and the story was shelved.’ And it seems that was that.
However, luckily Matthew spotted the gay bar story line before it had the chance to go terribly wrong.
Matthew Perry wasn’t here for the gay bar storyline (Picture: NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
Rachel moving in with Gunther
Ah Gunther. Known mostly for lurking creepily behind the counter of Central Perk and lusting after Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston), he was one of the show’s best enigmas.
‘It never went through but they were going to have Rachel move in with Gunther,’ James exclusively told Metro.co.uk.
‘I remember reading the first draft of that script and thinking, “Oh man, they’re never going to make this work.”
‘It just didn’t read, even to me. I was not ungrateful that it didn’t work. Through no fault of Jennifer or myself or the writing, it just felt contrived and everything else that happened in the series, and continues to be, was quite organic.’
James Michael Tyler opened up about the less than ideal roommate situation (Picture: NBC via Getty Images)
The show was originally set to see Chandler and Monica (Courteney Cox) heading off on their honeymoon before being detained by security when the prankster sees a sign reading: ‘No joking about bombs.’
‘You don’t have to worry about me ma’am, I take my bombs very seriously,’ he quipped, before being marched away.
The deleted scene was later uploaded to YouTube – with fans going wild for it.
Phoebe and Joey were hooking up the whole time
With Chandler and Monica and Rachel and Ross getting their happy endings, it might have seemed a bit weird that Joey (Matt LeBlanc) and Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) was the ship that never sailed.
‘Towards the end we actually pitched the idea that Joey and Phoebe had been having casual sex the entire time,’ he explained.
‘We’d go back and shoot all the historical scenes and just before a moment that everyone recognises, there’s Joey and Phoebe coming out of a broom closet together. But they were like, “Nah”‘.
We actually wouldn’t have been too mad about this one…
We don’t hate it (Picture: NBC)
Friends airs every day on Comedy Central.
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Hannah Roberts’ fate was revealed in The Capture’s latest episode (Picture: BBC)
Warning: Contains spoilers for The Capture episode five.
The Capture delivered more twists and revelations in the fifth episode, answering the question of who killed Hannah Roberts.
Since her disappearance in the first episode, The Capture has danced around the question of Hannah’s existence after she was found dead in the back of Shaun Emery’s (Callum Turner) best friend’s car.
Hannah (Laura Haddock) made a return via flashback sequences in episode five before the incident, where it was revealed how she’d teamed up with the Pilgrims to expose the practise of ‘corrected’ footage.
Their plan was to get British soldier Shaun out of jail by exposing the flaw in the Afghanistan footage, only to then use their own ‘corrected’ footage to frame Shaun for assault and the disappearance of Hannah. To make the dodgy dealings of the authorities clear, Hannah would then walk into court alive to expose how the authorities were using the technique all along.
Frank was responsible for Hannah’s death (Picture; BBC)
This whole plan went perfectly in motion, with Hannah disappearing into a remote safe house after jumping on the bus undetected – with CCTV monitor Becky (Sharon Rooney) watching the edited footage they had filmed earlier with help from the Pilgrims.
This went wrong however when the footage was flagged as ‘suspicious’ by the CIA, which caused Shaun to be released and stopping their chance of strolling in court to pull off their planned stunt.
The Pilgrims decided to plant evidence so Shaun would be rearrested which was unsuccessful. While the CIA attempted to bury the story, DS Nadia Latif (Ginny Holder) illegally leaked the fake footage onto the internet.
So in a bid to make the footage ‘true’, Frank Napier (Ron Perlman) decided to kill Hannah and frame Shaun themselves in order to keep their secret hidden.
If that wasn’t enough twists, after Shaun was framed he was rescued by the Pilgrims who then revealed how they planned to surrender him into police custody in a bid to get their big ‘trial reveal’ back on track.
Shaun, however, broke free from this plan and is now laying low with Rachel and DS Patrick Flynn, who also know the truth about Hannah’s real killer.
As Frank asks for the location of Shaun’s daughter, however, it looks like things are about to get even more complicated, and tragic, for next week’s finale.
Georgina was left in tears by Richard Madeley(Picture: Channel 4)
Richard Madeley left Georgina in tears as he bid farewell to The Circle, making an emotional speech as he revealed his identity to her.
The 63-year-old presenter has been pretending to be ‘Judy’ throughout his stint on The Circle, but as he was blocked from the chat – Richard had the chance to meet one member of the group in person.
Following his private chat about her ileostomy bag and suffering with Crohn’s disease, Richard chose to meet Georgina – who was slightly surprised, and delighted, to find him on her doorstep.
‘What on earth,’ Georgina said. ‘I didn’t think you were Judy. My mum loves you guys, she’s always spoke about you guys.
‘My mum’s going to die when she sees I’m sat on the sofa with you.’
Turning focus to their previous chat, Richard made an emotional plea to make her realise everything he said to her as ‘Judy’ was true during the exchange.
‘I want to explain something to you,’ Richard said. ‘I came in and my brief was to be on a secret mission and pretend to be a 27-year-old girl. Can you imagine what it felt like coming in to be told I had to be someone your age basically?
‘I’ve been lying all week, I’ve been pretending all week, I’ve been making it up all week, I’ve been completely off the leash. But I want you to understand this, when I spoke to you yesterday, you and I had our private chat, I had to still be Judy obviously but everything I said to you was from the heart.
Richard Madeley on The Circle (Picture: Channel 4)
‘That was actually me talking. Our conversation was totally real, it wasn’t pretend at all. And it wasn’t for effect and I wasn’t telling fibs or anything, everything I said to you about your bag and everything and your bravery in wearing it and putting it on camera. That was genuine.
‘It was the only genuine thing I’ve done all week. I just thought it was the bravest thing I’d ever seen.’
Georgina in tears, replied: ‘That means so much. Thank you so much.’
Asked why she didn’t upload the photo with her bag, Georgina replied: ‘I thought people are going to see that picture first off and I want people to see Georgina first, rather than Georgina with Crohn’s disease.
‘I want them to see Georgina who has Crohn’s disease. So I wanted them to get to know me first off and then show it. It wasn’t something I wanted to hide.’
As a result, everyone watching was an emotional mess.
Wow how emotional was it watching Georgina and Richard! 😭 #TheCircle
True crime fans, assemble! (Picture: Bristol County Sheriff\’s Office via AP, File)
Sky is due to launch a brand new channel called Sky Crime.
Sky Crime will be launched on October 1 – just in time for you to creep yourself out with true stories about sinister disappearances and serial killers in the run-up to Halloween.
Here’s what you need to know about the new channel before it hits Sky boxes all over the country…
What is the Sky Crime channel?
Sky Crime will do very much what it says on the tin – it will be a hub for all things true crime.
It will be available to anyone with a Sky membership at no extra charge.
You’ll also be able to watch Sky Crime programmes if you have a NOW TV Entertainment Pass.
Warning: The content in this trailer is graphic.
Sky Crime will soon be showing the likes of I Love You, Now Die, which follows the trial of 17-year-old Michelle Carter, Kemper on Kemper, which details serial killer Edmund Kemper’s first-hand accounts of his killings, and The Disappearance of Susan Cox Powell, with follows the case of a missing and presumed murdered mother as her husband is named a person of interest in the investigation.
Warning: The content in this trailer contains references to suicide.
Sky Crime launches on Sky on October 1, 2019.
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Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly will discover some ‘shocking’ revelations about their past (Picture: PA)
Ant and Dec are set to investigate their ancestral history for new show Ant & Dec’s DNA Journey.
The new ITV two-part special will see the duo explore their maternal and paternal bloodlines guided by expert genealogists and historians.
Along with travelling to Ireland and the US, including The United Nations Headquarters, they will also meet relatives they didn’t know beforehand in the flesh – unlocking what’s touted as ‘truly shocking revelations’ about their history.
Among these discoveries is a Royal connection for one of the pair, a great grandfather who is a war hero, a DNA cousin who is former US female wrestling promoter, and an ancestor’s bones who were deemed ‘of historical importance’.
Speaking about the show, Ant said: ‘I’m a bit of a geek when it comes to historical events, so to get the chance to research our family history using our DNA was too good an opportunity to pass up.
‘What we find out is mind-blowing and nothing either of us could ever have imagined. It’s something that will stay with us both forever.’
Ant & Dec are digging into their family tree (Picture: Dave J Hogan/Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
Dec said: ‘A huge part of this was to find out my heritage, especially on my dad’s side. I always thought I knew a fair bit about where I came from but it turns out I was wrong!
‘Whilst it was incredible to find out about the past, what was hugely overwhelming was to meet relatives neither of us knew we had. It was a truly amazing experience.’
Siobhan Greene, who commissioned the show when she was ITV’s Head Of Entertainment Commissions, said: ‘This documentary captured Ant and Dec at an intersection of their lives.
‘I feel sure the ITV viewers will be on the edge of their seats watching twists and turns of their DNA journey unfold, and their honesty and openness, will leave a lasting heart print.’
Or will it be branded a rip off of BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? We’ll have to wait and see.
Ant & Dec’s DNA Journey will air on ITV later this year.
Richard Madeley made his last bow on the show (Picture: Channel 4)
The Circle’s latest episode packed both emotional highs and bizarre lederhosen as Richard Madeley’s reign came to an end.
After generally being unpleasant to the group as ‘Judy’, Richard revealed his identity to all to a mix of hilarious despair and surprise tears.
So what went down in The Circle? Here’s what you need to know from the latest episode.
Richard Madeley makes heartfelt speech to Georgina
Georgina was left in tears (Picture: Channel 4)
Richard chose to meet Georgina face to face as his last hurrah from the show, which resulted in a particularly heartfelt speech following their private chat about her Crohn’s disease.
‘I’ve been lying all week, I’ve been pretending all week, I’ve been making it up all week, I’ve been completely off the leash. But I want you to understand this,’ Richard said.
‘When I spoke to you yesterday, you and I had a private chat…. Everything I said to you was from the heart.
‘That was actually me talking. Our conversation was totally real, it wasn’t pretend at all. And it wasn’t for effect and I wasn’t telling fibs or anything. Everything I said to you about your bag and everything and your bravery in wearing it and putting it on camera. That was genuine.’
The whole exchange left Georgina teary, who was granted immunity by Richard from the next blocking.
Everyone else can’t quite believe ‘Judy’ was Richard
Tim was in tears over the reveal (Picture: Channel 4)
As Richard revealed his identity to the rest of the group, nobody could quite believe ‘Judy’ was actually, firstly a man, and secondly a celebrity.
One person who was surprised and slightly perplexed was Woody, who had flirted with ‘Judy’ on multiple occasions.
‘I can’t believe I was flirting with Richard Madeley,’ Woody exclaimed.
After Tim had a mild bust-up with ‘Judy’, he was later seen crying discovering he had actually fallen out with Richard Madeley.
But will anyone trust anyone ever again? The Circle, ladies and gentlemen.
The gang celebrate Brooke’s 25th birthday through Oktoberfest
What is going on? (Picture: Channel 4)
After the group all signed a card for Brooke’s birthday, causing everyone to become analytical over handwriting, the group were greeted with a German-themed message alerting them to new attire on their doorstep.
Equipped with German-inspired gear, and even some instruments in Tim’s case, the gang had a special Oktoberfest celebration in Brooke’s honour – including a game where they had to identify Bratwurst from Brad Pitt.
It was surreal, absurd, and that’s even before the dancing segment. As Tim deciphers the handwriting on Brooke’s card, however, has he figured out who is playing catfish?
New arrivals
The Circle has some new arrivals join the party (Picture: Channel 4)
At the end of the episode, two new contestants were revealed to be entering The Circle to cause a stir.
But who are they? And what will they be tasked with? We’ll have to wait and see.
The Circle continues Wednesday on Channel 4 at 10.15pm.
Lord Sugar thinks people are ‘too easily offended’ (Picture: Getty)
Lord Sugar has blasted the ‘promotion’ of non-binary gender pronouns.
The star of The Apprentice feels there is ‘a small bunch of people’ who promote it and should be ‘shipped out of the country’.
His comments come in the wake of singer Sam Smith coming out as non-binary and revealing they wanted to be referred to they or them.
‘They need to pack it in, it’s nonsense. The people promoting it need to be shipped off to Mongolia,’ he said.
‘Send them away, get them out of the country. Go away. It always boils down to a small bunch of people that promote it.’
The businessman also feels people are ‘too easily offended’.
‘It is absolutely crazy, you can’t say anything nowadays without offending somebody with how they look, dress, the colour of their skin or whatever,’ he told The Sun, adding that it was ‘sickening’.
Lord Sugar is back for a new series of The Apprentice (Picture: BBC)
Sam Smith recently came out as non-binary (Picture: Getty)
The 72-year-old has been accused of racism in the past over a tweet about a Chinese child being upset in an iPhone factory.
Ahead of the new series of The Apprentice airing, which he has presented since it began in 2004, Lord Sugar said he wants to get a further five series under his belt before calling it a day.
However, he is only attached to the show until 2020.
‘We’ve got one more series that I’m contracted, it will be the 16th series,’ he said at the exclusive press screening for the new series.
Lord Sugar continued: ‘The format director is sat over there and he’ll be eagerly chasing us after the end of the 16th series.
‘I might do it to 20, 20 sounds a round figure.’
The Apprentice starts tonight at 9pm on BBC One.
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Ah, The Apprentice boardroom, the place where Lord Alan Sugar infamously grills his contestants before scarily wagging his finger and firing one hopeful from the competition for good.
The notorious blame game scenes only last 15 minutes on-screen, but the business mogul himself revealed to Metro.co.uk that they actually last several hours.
Yep, we wouldn’t even want to put our worse enemies through the ordeal.
‘What you get is an edited version of a five-hour session in the boardroom,’ Lord Sugar told us. ‘If you saw the other four hours and 30 minutes, you’d see that I don’t have much patience. We don’t have much tolerance and we do get a little bit excited ourselves. We’re quite used to it now.’
But what don’t audiences get to see from the incredibly long meetings that get left on the cutting room floor?
We caught up with Karren Brady to find out exactly what scenes are cut out for our benefit.
The Apprentice boardroom scenes actually last five hours (Picture: PA)
The Apprentice is back tonight (Picture: PA)
Lifting the lid, Karren began: ‘You don’t see a lot of longwinded explanations because it’s for Alan’s benefit as he’s not there [for the task].
‘You’ve seen how it all unravels, from him setting the task right the way through to the task finishing.
‘He [Lord Sugar] hasn’t been there so he has to run through every element of the task with everybody and they tell him everything they did, which is then condensed because what you wouldn’t want to see the task and then a running commentary of what you’ve just seen.’
Karren continued: ‘It’s them saying what they did and how they did it and us saying, “No.” Then us saying, “You made a decision, you speak up.”
‘We’re just encouraging people to talk and get a story out.’
Seems like an excessive amount of time to chat, but when there’s £250,000 at stake it kinda makes sense.
The Apprentice begins Wednesday 2 October on BBC One at 9pm.
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Josh O’Connor and Emma Corrin filmed scenes from The Crown season four (Picture: Enrico Borracuda)
The Crown stars Josh O’Connor and Emma Corrin look scarily like Prince Charles and Princess Diana as they filmed scenes for season four.
The actors were spotted shooting the new season in Almeria, Spain at the weekend as their royal characters.
The scenes were a reenactment of Charles and Diana’s trup to Australia in 1983.
Josh, 29, and Emma, 23, were wearing the same clothes worn by the royal couple way back when.
The God’s Own Country star wore a light khaki safari suit and his hair styled with a side-parting just like the Prince of Wales’ was back then.
Meanwhile Emma looking the spit of the late princess in a knee-length white dress with a matching handbag and Diana’s recognisable bob.
The trip to Australia was the couple’s first one with their baby son Prince William, two years after they wed in 1981.
Josh O’Connor and Emma Corrin were filming on location in Spain (Picture: Enrico Borracuda)
Caption: Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales visited Australia in 1983 (Picture: Getty)
Looking at pictures of the actors along side their real life counterparts shows that the Netflix drama has got their casting pretty spot on, and props to their costume department too.
Emma’s previous credits include roles on Grantchester and Misbehaviour alongside Keeley Hawes and Keira Knightley.
Speaking about being cast, she said: ‘I have been glued to the show and to think I’m now joining this incredibly talented acting family is surreal.
Work has started on season four (Picture: Enrico Borracuda)
Almeria, Spain, stood in for Australia in the scenes (Picture: Enrico Borracuda)
‘Princess Diana was an icon and her effect on the world remains profound and inspiring. To explore her through Peter Morgan’s writing is the most exceptional opportunity and I will strive to do her justice.’
It was also recently announced that Gillain Anderson had been cast as former prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
The X Files star shared a photo from the set of her trailer door, that had a sign with her character’s name on the front.
When her casting was confirmed, Gillian said: ‘I am so excited to be joining the cast and crew of The Crown and to have the opportunity to portray such a complicated and controversial woman.
‘Thatcher was undoubtedly formidable but I am relishing exploring beneath the surface and, dare I say, falling in love with the icon who, whether loved or despised, defined an era.’
The Crown season four stars Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II, taking over the role from Claire Foy.
Tobias Menzes will take over Matt Smith’s role of Prince Phillip, while Helena Bonham Carter is the new Princess Margaret, replacing Vanessa Kirby.
The Crown season three drops on Netflix on 17 November.
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Preston C. Howell blew the judges away at 14-years-old (Picture: NBC)
The Voice US judges had one heck of a shock during a blind audition on Tuesday night’s episode.
While sat facing away from the stage, Gwen Stefani, Kelly Clarkson, Blake Shelton and John Legend were all as equally impressed with the contestant they were hearing.
And while they had no idea who he was, all four of the celebs turned their chairs for the 14-year-old singer, Preston C. Howell.
That’s right, the youngster managed to win over every last one of the A-listers with his rendition of Ozzie Nelson’s Dream A Little Dream Of Me.
And, after squealing at his age, the Hollaback Girl hitmaker beamed: ‘How are you 14 and your voice sounds like that?’
The 49-year-old was clearly trying to win Preston onto her side, as she gushed: ‘My son [Kingston] is 13, and his his voice is like ”rawrrr,” cracking all over the place.’
Gwen Stefani tried to win him over (Picture: Getty Images)
But it seems as though the rising star has an old soul, as he explained he’d been brought up on Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin – and fancies his chances at being the next Michael Buble.
Not backing down, Gwen told the talent: ‘I have a 13-year-old boy. I can mother you!’
But despite her best efforts, it was John Legend who won over Preston after he excitedly praised him on his voice.
‘At your age, to do a song that most people wouldn’t have the cojones to do, is such an audacious undertaking,’ he said.
It was John Legend who managed to scoop the youngster (Picture: NBC)
John replaced Jennifer Hudson in 2018, and went onto win his first first show earlier this year with Maelyn Jarmon.
He told the winner at the time: ‘You could have chosen any of us to coach you and you chose me.
‘It’s been such a wonderful, thrilling experience to work with you.’
And it seems their feelings were mutual, as she added: ‘You have been absolute dream to work with.
‘This has gone above and beyond my expectations.’
The Voice US will return with more blind auditions Monday on NBC.
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Priya O’Shea’s son found watching mum on Bake Off a tough watch (Picture: Channel 4)
After five weeks of slogging away in the Great British Bake Off tent, Priya O’Shea became the sixth casualty of 2019. But the 34-year-old writer admitted her eldest son often found the series a difficult watch.
With Paul Hollywood’s brutally frank criticism and pressure soaring far beyond limits we could ever imagine in Dessert Week, watching mum getting stressed out on national television was a lot.
‘My children have enjoyed my journey on Bake Off – the older one used to get concerned when he watched it on TV and worried if I seemed stressed in the tent,’ Priya revealed following her elimination.
‘He also found the concept of a baker going home quite sad. I have had to reassure him that we are all still friends and we still speak to each other all the time, even if they aren’t in the show.
‘The younger one is too young to really understand, but he got very excited when he saw Mummy on television.’
The aspiring chef had ‘dreamed’ of baking for Paul and Prue Leith for years, and auditioned for the 2018 series.
Priya had a dessert disaster in Bake Off last night (Picture: Channel 4)
‘The best bit for me was just having the opportunity to bake in “THE Tent”,’ she enthused.
‘It was something that I had dreamed about for years being such a huge fan of the show, so seeing that dream come to life was nothing short of incredible.’
‘My goal was to make it past halfway so while I was sad to leave when I did, I was proud to have made it this far,’ Priya continued.
‘Knowing that you are now part of the ‘Bake Off’ family, to be part of that amazing club is such a huge personal achievement for me, and I will treasure my time and experience in the tent…
‘I remember saying when I was leaving that although I was gutted to go when I did, so many people dream of getting on the show and don’t make it. Not everyone gets a dream come true, and I did. I would take six weeks over nothing at all any day!
‘I didn’t get in last year, and I would advise amateur bakers who are passionate about baking to keep applying.’
Last night’s Bake Off was a particularly emotional affair as viewers were left ‘broken’ by Henry Bird’s tribute to Helena Garcia following her elimination last week.
Great British Bake Off continues next Tuesday at 8pm on Channel 4.
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Good Morning Britain presenter Sean Fletcher accused Conservative Party Chairman James Cleverly of ‘putting party over his race’ in the ‘blackface’ row involving Sir Desmond Swayne.
He added that the reason he wouldn’t wear blackface again is because ‘you have to go to some trouble to get it off’.
Cleverly told Good Morning Britain on Wednesday that Swayne’s response to the row was ‘funny’.
Speaking to presenters Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid, he said: ‘Well look, it’s not something I would do, obviously, but the point is that we’ve seen Prime Minister Trudeau doing this. I know it wasn’t done maliciously.
‘I know Desmond really really well, we are really good friends. We served together in the reserve forces. And while I completely understand how some people can take offense to it, he’s a great guy. He wouldn’t mean any offense with this.’
He added that Swayne’s answer was ‘a light-hearted response’.
Sean Fletcher said he was ‘surprised’ at Cleverly’s reaction (Picture: ITV)
Sean Fletcher said Conservative Party Chairman James Cleverly was ‘selling out’ (Picture: Getty)
Piers asked: ‘As a black man, do you find that funny?’ Cleverly replied: ‘Yes I do’.
Later Sean was asked how he felt about Swayne’s comments as a black man.
Sean said: ‘I’m really surprised. James Cleverly is putting the party before his race. Clearly he’s backing the party isn’t he? Clearly he’s been told that he needs to back his fellow man. But that for me is selling out big time.
Sir Desmond Swayne said he had no regrets over his James Brown costume (Picture: Getty)
And he’s talking about young kids will look at politics and think I don’t want to get in because I might get abuse for being called a coconut or whatever. If you see a man blacking up and then his response…’
Addressing Piers he added: ‘I don’t agree with you most of the time but I completely agree with everything you were saying there.’
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV.
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Rami Malek and Lucy Boynton looked effortlessly cool on the red carpet (Picture: Getty/Rex)
Rami Malek and Lucy Boynton looked way cooler than you at the premiere for the final season of Mr Robot.
The show has been away for a while, but now it’s back to put us on edge again with new episodes of the techno-thriller.
The show will continue to follow computer programmer Elliot (Malek) and Mr Robot (Christian Slater) as they ‘embark into dangerous territory in their mission to target the one percent’.
As always the Bohemian Rhapsody star looked effortlessly chic on the red carpet in a black pinstriped suit, a black and white patterned shirt and his trademark intense stare.
The 38-year-old was joined by his girlfriend Lucy Boynton who looked just as glam as her man in the red carpet pictures.
The actress wore a short black dress and black pumps, finishing her look with vampish red lipstick.
The couple were joined by Mr Robot executive producer Kyle Bradstreet on the night.
Rami Malek was supported by girlfriend Lucy Boynton and producer Kyle Bradstreet (Picture: Getty)
Rami promoted the final season of his show Mr Robot (Picture: REX)
Rami looked dapper in a pinstripe suit (Picture: Monica Schipper/WireImage)
Rami Malek posed with co-star Christian Slater (Picture: REX)
Rami also caught up with his co-stars Grace Gummer and Carly Chaikin.
Malek has already revealed his character Elliot might be ‘crossing a line’ down a never-ending dark path as the series comes to a ‘very, very climatic’ ending.
His co-stars Grace Gummer and Carly Chaikin posed up on the red carpet (Picture: Getty)
Mr Robot has been a massive cult hit for the streaming service, receiving a Golden Globe – both for the show itself and Slater – and its actors winning a number of Emmys.
Since the show started Rami has gone to become a big star, winning an Oscar for his performance as Freddie Mercury in the Queen biopic.
If you can’t wait to see the new season, some eerie teasers dropped last month so fans can whet their appetite before it returns.
Mr Robot season 4 is released on 6 October on USA Network.
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Naga Munchetty looks delighted after BBC overturn ‘racist’ Trump row ruling (Picture: Sophie Walker)
Naga Munchetty was all smiles after the BBC overturned a ruling that the presenter had breached their guidelines.
The star made headlines this week when she called out Donald Trump for telling Democrats of colour to ‘go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came’.
However, after being investigated following a string of complaints, BBC’s director-general Tony Hall overturned the decision made by BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit (ECU).
And the 44-year-old couldn’t have looked more delighted.
Taking to Twitter, the reporter shared a picture of herself beaming into the camera while sat with her friend Sophie Walker.
Her pal had originally tweeted out the snap, alongside the caption: ‘@BBCNaga proving why she works @BBCBreakfast and I do not.
‘Thank you @_NessWalk for looking after us all this week.’
And it seems her followers were more than happy to see Naga’s grin as they commented: ‘Happy for you,’ while another added: ‘Great to see you all smile after some tricky days! Full support Naga.’
The controversy started when Naga commented on the President’s tweets, saying: ‘Every time I have been told, as a woman of colour, to go back to where I came from, that was embedded in racism.
She called out the President (Picture: AP)
BBC’s director-general Tony Hall overturned the decision (Picture: BBC)
‘I’m not accusing anyone of anything here, but you know what certain phrases mean.’
After being further probed by her co-host, the journalist said she was ‘absolutely furious a man in that position thinks it’s okay to skirt the lines by using language like that’.
However, Mr Hall wrote to all members of staff on Monday explaining he personally reviewed the ECU’s ruling and concluded there was no finding against the star.
According to Sky News, he said: ‘I don’t think Naga’s words were sufficient to merit a partial uphold of the complaint around the comments she made.’
‘Racism is racism and the BBC is not impartial on the topic. There was never a finding against Naga for what she said about the President’s tweet.’
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Countdown was thrown into chaos once again after a contestant spelled out ‘orgies’ on the board, leaving Rachel Riley red-faced.
Paul Nixon took part in yesterday’s instalment of the show, when he was given the letters SEORJGSIE to make a word out of.
And he looked seriously pleased with himself as he confirmed he had a six-letter word for the Channel 4 gang, before spelling out ‘orgies’.
Well, when life hands you lemons and all that…
Letting absolutely nothing slip, host Nick Hewer simply repeated the word back to him, making sure he’d heard correctly.
While Susie Dent confirmed the term was ‘definitely’ in there, Pam Ayres suggested a less awkward term he could’ve gone for.
Paul Nixon looked pretty pleased with himself… (Picture: Channel 4)
Offering up ‘rejigs’, she added that she had ‘nothing more exciting’ for us all.
Well, compared with ‘orgies’, how much more exciting can you get?
Rachel was tasked with putting his suggestion up on the board, and looked red-faced as she posed beside the word.
But this isn’t the first time the 33-year-old has spelled out a smutty phrase on the competition – with regular viewers knowing it actually happens quite a lot.
Rachel Riley was left red-faced by the whole thing (Picture: Channel 4)
Journalist Scott Bryan recently shared a compilation of some of her funniest moments, in which she innocently picked out ‘nude’, ‘semis’ and ‘git’ from the vowels and consonants, and had to spell out ‘orgasmic’, ‘erection’, ‘horniest’, ‘perverts’ and even ‘fannies’.
He questioned: ‘All of these rude words have appeared on Countdown in the last year. What on earth is going on over there?’
Laughing off all the smut, Rachel – who joined Countdown way back in 2009 – replied: ‘Shhhh! I know we’re total filth but we’ve been getting away with it this whole time!’
Never change, Countdown.
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