The Towie star was faced with accusations he had cheated on the EastEnders actress – with whom he shares two daughters – with Alexandra Cane.
He has since fiercely denied claims he kissed the Love Island star on a night out in Manchester.
But the dad-of-three has ignored all the drama as he arrived at their home to spend the day with his little ones.
Dan took daughters Mia and Ella out for the day amid the drama (Picture: Splash)
The 27-year-old was spotted carrying baby daughter Mia on the day out, while little Ella ran alongside them.
He kept his head down as he took the pair out, opting for a bright blue, long-sleeved t-shirt and jogging bottoms.
This marks Dan’s first appearance since rumours came to light that he got a little too close to Alexandra on a night out.
An insider recently claimed the pair kissed while partying in Manchester, surrounded by other Love Island stars.
Dan has vowed he is just friends with Alexandra Cane (Picture: Getty)
Alleging he was ‘putting his hands all on her and grinding against her’, they told The Sun: ‘He’s a married man so it was pretty shocking. She didn’t seem that into it but she laughed it off.’
‘Everyone was talking about how he was acting.
‘There were loads of women there but he was only interested in Alexandra. They left together in a taxi with a couple of friends when the party was over.’
‘Absolutely nothing happened with Alex – Dan has been friends for a while with her after working together,’ reps for the reality stars told Metro.co.uk.
‘They all met up with friends and enjoyed a great night out like friends do.’
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You can imagine Rick’s response to all this…(Picture: NASA and Rick and Morty)
Rick and Morty’s infamous roller coaster, which they dubbed the ‘Whirly Dirly’, was officially put in the scientific lexicon after a recent planetary discovery was named after it.
Writing on imgur, an astrophysicist revealed he found a calculation which confirmed that Mercury – not Venus, as has been widely believed – is Earth’s closest neighbour.
‘I just thought y’all might like to see I made a fun little discovery in the field of orbital mechanics and decided to name it after a roller coaster in Rick and Morty called the Whirly Dirly (the concentric circles remind me of orbits),’ they said.
The closest planetary neighbour to Earth is not Venus, it turns out (Picture: Rick and Morty)
‘That work was just published in Physics Today, the flagship publication for the American Institute of Physics. A Rick and Morty reference deserves no less :)’
The Whirly Dirly was introduced in season three’s fifth episode, when Rick and Jerry travel to a resort where everyone is immortal.
Things go awry when Jerry meets some old acquaintances of Rick’s who want payback – and they attempt to get them killed whilst they ride the roller coaster.
In a less nefarious discovery, scientists Tom Stockman, Gabriel Monroe and Samuel Cordner calculated that although most literature will tell us that Venus is our ‘closest planetary neighbour,’ in actuality, that planet is Mercury.
They created a mathematical method to determine which planet is, on average closer, by looking at its orbit pattern.
Soulja Boy has been arrested (Picture: Getty Images)
Soulja Boy has been arrested for violating terms of probation one month after police found ammunition in his home.
Soulja Boy has been placed under arrest for violating the terms of his probation during a meeting with his probation officer.
The Cut Dat Check rapper was apprehended on Friday morning in the San Fernando Valley area of Southern California, according to TMZ.
The rapper was arrested in his home (Picture: Getty Images)
This comes a month after police reportedly found ammunition in his home during a search in February.
The terms of his probation, which were made after a 2014 firearms charge, strictly prohibited the artist from possessing any guns or ammunition.
The 28-year-old, whose real name is DeAndre Cortez Way, was put in custody in Van Nuys, California before being released soon after.
He is set to appear in front of a judge later on Friday.
The Pretty Boy Swag rapper was found with ammunition one month ago when the cops searched his residence in response to a woman who claimed he had held her hostage in his garage.
However, the arrest was delayed for his probation meeting.
Soulja Boy has been released already (Picture: The Breakfast Club)
Less than two hours before his reported arrest, he shared two shots of himself relaxing and smoking a blunt, one captioned ‘Blessed’ while the other was captioned: ‘Stay focused!’
The rapper was also expected to perform at a Clipper’s basketball game on 15 March but it’s unclear whether or not he will be there or not.
The Speakers Going Hammer rapper’s legal complications go all the way back to a 2014 conviction for carrying a loaded firearm in public.
He was sentenced for 24 months probation and in 2016, was arrested for violating the agreement.
Just a month after was charged with an additional two felonies and one misdemeanor crime.
After being convicted for one felony, he was sentenced to another five years of probation.
Metro.co.uk has contacted reps of Soulja Boy for a comment.
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Stacey Dooley’s visit to Uganda was aired on Comic Relief 2019 after she was criticised for allegedly perpetuating a ‘white saviour’ narrative.
The film saw Stacey visit children diagnosed with malaria, as the broadcaster opened up about her own experiences with the disease.
‘I got malaria probably eight or nine years ago now,’ Stacey said. ‘I was in west Africa at the time. Clearly it was a very different story for me, I was hugely privileged and we were able to get on top of it.
‘But for the children here, those under five particularly, it must be the most frightening thing in the world. Because malaria is still a big problem for children under five in many parts of Uganda.’
Stacey’s post angered many (Picture: Instagram)
The documentary maker caused a commotion after posting a photo with a young boy from her visit to Uganda for the charity, captioned with the word ‘obsessed’.
Stacey faced criticism online and from MP David Lammy, who tweeted: ‘The world does not need any more white saviours.
‘As I’ve said before, this perpetuates tired and unhelpful stereotypes. Let’s instead promote voices from across the continent of Africa and have serious debate.’
Comic Relief responded to the criticism in a statement, writing: ‘We are really grateful that Stacey Dooley, an award winning and internationally acclaimed documentary maker, agreed to go to Uganda to discover more about projects the British people have funded there and make no apologies for this.
Stacey Dooley’s filmed was aired on Comic Relief (Picture: BBC)
‘She has filmed and reported on challenging issues all over the world, helping to put a much-needed spotlight on issues that affect people’s lives daily. In her film, people working with or supported by Comic Relief projects tell their own stories in their own words.’
Stacey also stood by her film in wake of Lammy’s comments, stating in response: ‘David is the issue with me being white? (Genuine question)… because if that’s the case, you could always go over there and try raise awareness?
‘Comic relief have raised over 1 billion pounds since they started. I saw projects that were saving lives with the money. Kids lives [sic].’
It all began when the Hulk actor decided to lift Thor’s actual hammer – the one he used in Marvel’s Avengers 2: Age of Ultron – from his co-star’s trailer.
The hammer was special not only because it was forged in a dying star, but also because it had been signed by the entire cast of Avengers: Endgame.
This guy is pure trouble (Picture: NBC)
He stole it, and in a video to his millions of followers, revealed it will be used as a fundraiser for the Stella Adler Conservatory, where he went to school.
‘In my backpack I have Chris Hemsworth’s Thor hammer,’ he told fans. ‘I’m trying to get away. I stole it from his trailer. We’re going to use it for a fundraiser for the Stella Adler Conservatory where I went to school.
‘We’re gonna fly you and a friend out, we’re gonna put you up in a hotel, we’re gonna invite you to come to the party, and at the end of this amazing, incredible experience we are gonna give you Thor’s hammer.’
Mark, how very dare you? (Picture: Rex Features)
He added: ‘I may end up doing a little piece of time for it, but it’s worth it. I’m sorry, Chris. I love you man but it’s for a good cause.’
It wasn’t long before Thor clocked the robbery, and he allowed it because it was for charity – for the most part. He did however take issue with his pillow being taken…
‘Firslty,’ he tweeted,’ ‘@MarkRuffalo if it’s for charity then I’ll forgive you. Secondly, you also stole my pillow…which was kinda weird. Are you auctioning that off as well or just for your personal use?’
Valid question.
And then Hawkeye got involved (Picture: Marvel)
‘There were so many nice things laying around,’ Mark sassed back. ‘We left the life-size Hulk plushie, I thought it would have been wrong to take it.’
Uh, Hulk plushie? Pics or it didn’t happen, Mark. We need proof.
But alas, it turns out Mark did not the pillow take. The culprit was none other than Jeremy Renner, AKA Hawkeye.
Wading into the confrontation, he cheekily admitted that he had taken Thor’s pillow. “Ah @chrishemsworth I grabbed that pillow brother and a toothbrush…. but for personal use.
‘Thanks @MarkRuffalo for the distraction.’
Mark laughed along with his partner-in-crime, and took a jab at Thor’s smile: ‘.@Renner4Real Ha ha ha @chrishemsworth didn’t notice you took the pillow and toothbrush!’
‘He doesn’t brush his teeth that often anyway,’ he cheekily added.
Simon and Derrina started dating last tear (Picture: Backgrid)
Simon, 46, covered up against the cold in a light grey coat, and smart blue trousers.
While his girlfriend went for a black dress and knee-high tan boots, coupled with a matching hat.
The TV star has had a tough few years, after wife Gemma lost her battle with acute myeloid leukaemia, in November 2017.
Speaking about her death, he later admitted the ‘loneliness was brutal’ as he took care of their son alone.
‘Right from the early stages – she had this empathy towards me. She’s Christian as well and that’s important to me as a man of faith,’ he explained during an appearance on Radio 5 Live.
Simon’s late wife Gemma passed away in 2017 (Picture: Rex)
‘She’s been an incredible support for me. She was the only person who would always pick up the phone.
‘What I saw in her, I saw in Gemma. When she said my phone is always on, she meant it.’
The 45-year-old explained he was starting to fall in love again, but struggled with describing their relationship as ‘moving on’.
‘I’m getting there, yeah. It’s in many ways strange to feel that way again.
‘I don’t think you ever really do move on from what’s happened. That hole that a loved one leaves doesn’t shrink over time. Life begins to grow around it. You begin to deal with some of the challenges grief throws up, being a single parent throws up.
‘I’ve got two choices. Give up – I can’t do that, I don’t want to do that, I’ve got a boy to bring up, I promised Gemma. The only other choice then is you walk.
‘Right from the start I felt, I’ve got to find life again.’
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Bodyguard staged a Line Of Duty crossover for a special Comic Relief episode, which teased the return of Julia Montague (Keeley Hawes).
Richard Madden reprised his role as David Budd for the one-off special, which saw him encounter Sanjeev Bhaskar as he was assigned to protect Joanna Lumley.
Echoing Budd’s affair with Julia, the pair exchanged flirty banter as she insisted on driving with her new bodyguard.
As Lumley sits down in the car, Budd says: ‘Do you require any assistance with your box ma’am?’
David Budd and Joanna Lumley flirted up a storm (Picture: BBC)
‘Thank you David. Maybe later,’ Lumley replied.
Things kicked up a notch when Line Of Duty’s Ted Hastings appears at the window, representing a crossover between creator Jed Mercurio’s two big shows.
‘There’s only one thing I’m interested in and one thing only, and that’s bent coppers,’ Hastings remarks.
Line Of Duty’s Ted Hastings also appeared (Picture: BBC)
As he drifts over to David Budd’s boot, he opens it up to find Julia Montague (Keely Hawes) stashed inside, who later shoves Joanna Lumley out the car.
Speaking to Budd, Julia asks: ‘Do you know if I’m in series two?’
After Budd states ‘your dead’, Julia replies: ‘Am I?’
Keely Hawes made a late game appearance too as Julia Montague (Picture: BBC)
Keeley’s character was dramatically killed off in the first season, with many believing she’s actually still alive and it was all a cover-up.
So could this sneak tease be a hint for the upcoming series two? We’ll have to wait and see.
Comic Relief’s sequel to Four Weddings And A Funeral added one more wedding to the count, as Alicia Vikander and Lily James walked down the aisle.
Charles (Hugh Grant) returned alongside Carrie (Andie MacDowell) for the charity sequel, which saw the pair’s daughter Miranda, played by Lily James, get married to Faith played by Alicia Vikander.
The highlight came when Father Gerald (Rowan Atkinson) returned to officiate the wedding, stumbling over his words at the idea of marrying a gay couple.
‘Well this is a bit of a first time for me actually… but wonderful,’ Gerald remarked.
Lily James and Alicia Vikander (Picture: BBC)
The pair exchanged their vows, while flashing to other characters like Matthew (John Hannah), Fiona (Kristin Scott Thomas), and Lydia (Sophie Thompson).
The second part of the sequel, after a random appearance from Sam Smith, took place at the wedding party, where Charles gave a speech about his daughter.
David (David Bower) was on hand to give him some encouragement through the speech. Charles said: ‘I have to say it’s so nice to see so many friends here.
Hugh Grant was back as Charles (Picture: BBC)
‘I wish I had some newer friends but alas no such luck, same old bunch.’
‘It’s a very nice job I’ve got and I just hope it won’t matter that I’ve lost the notes I’ve made because I put them in my other suit, and what I thought was my speech turned out to be an insurance form. So I’m going to make this up on the hoof.’
Hugh Grant, Andie MacDowell, John Hannah and the crew came together once again, to celebrate a wedding between Alicia Vikander and Lily James.
However, while we got serious nostalgic vibes from the whole thing, viewers at home were a little more divided over the scenes.
In fact, many flocked to Twitter to brand the sketch a ‘cringe fest’.
‘#FourWeddingsAndAFuneral and #comicrelief2019 just a general cringe fest. Time to get rid of Richard Curtis,’ one fumed.
‘Wow, so they got the entire Four Weddings cast back for that absolute turd of a sketch #comicrelief2019,’ another posted.
‘How absolutely appalling and trite, not entertaining and not in the slightest bit funny.’
While a viewer tweeted: ‘Didn’t think it could get worse but part 2 of Four Weddings is appalling and so not funny. Disappointed doesn’t cover it #comicrelief2019.’
But it wasn’t all bad, as many more rushed to praise the reunion – as well as the hilarious storyline.
‘I literally fucking love Lily James AND Alicia Vikander AND Four Weddings and a Funeral AND Hugh Grant omg I love my life #comicrelief2019,’ an impressed fan said.
‘LOVE LOVE Hugh Grant. #FourWeddingsAndAFuneral part 2 was fab. Poor Fi still in love with Charles #comicrelief2019,’ a Twitter user commented.
Alicia Vikander and Lily James tied the knot – in front of Rowan Atkinson (Picture: BBC)
Not everyone loved the Four Weddings reunion (Picture: BBC)
A fan added: ‘Loved the #FourWeddingsAndAFuneral reunion for #comicrelief2019.’
The scenes showed the gang back together again, thrown together at – you guessed it – a wedding.
Discussing the scenes, he told Radio Times: ‘It is actually meant to be a continuation of the film – not just a sketch – and on a couple of occasions there was genuine emotion and passion and even romance in the room.’
Andie, who played Carrie in the original, also spoke about her relationship with Hugh Grant, adding: ‘He’s very sweet and funny, and we both feel deeply connected to Four Weddings.’
Anyone else desperate for a full length reunion now?
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Demi Lovato has opened up about her sobriety struggles (Picture: FilmMagic)
Demi Lovato has marked what would have been her seventh year sober while reflecting on her overdose last year that left her hospitalised.
The 26-year-old was seen getting real about her sobriety struggles on Instagram on Friday and in an honest post admitted she ‘doesn’t regret going out’ – events that led to her relapse – because she ‘needed to make those mistakes’.
Demi explained: ‘Today I would’ve had seven years sober. I don’t regret going out because I needed to make those mistakes, but I must never forget that’s exactly what they were: mistakes.
‘Grateful that AA/NA never shuts the door on you no matter how many times you have to start your time over.
‘I didn’t lose six years; I’ll always have that experience but now I just get to add to that time with a new journey and time count.’
She then reached out to fans, encouraging them to always seek help if they are struggling. Demi said: ‘If you’ve relapsed and are afraid to get help again, just know it’s possible to that step towards recovery.
‘If you’re alive today, you can make it back. You’re worth it.’
Previously speaking about her recovery, Demi has said: ‘Someday I’ll tell the world what exactly happened, why it happened and what my life is like today.
‘But until I’m ready to share that with people please stop prying and making up sh*t that you know nothing about. I still need space and time to heal..’
Sources said: ‘[Demi] has not relapsed since she overdosed. She did recently go to a facility, but it was her own decision. It was one trip to a treatment facility for a few weeks outside of Los Angeles.’
They added that Demi is now back home ‘taking care of herself’ and is in a ‘positive place’, thanks to working out and getting back in the studio to work on new music.
It came after she was targeted by trolls online who made vile comments about her addiction struggles, after she was seen laughing at a meme about rapper 21 Savage.
He was arrested – and has since been released – by ICE officials, after it came to light he is a UK citizen and had overstayed his visa.
Demi stressed she had been laughing at the fact nobody knew 21 was actually British, not the fact he had faced deportation.
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She was released on and released on a $250k bond (Picture: Rex)
Felicity Huffman has deleted her Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages, as well as her parenting website, after she was arrested for allegedly taking part in a college admissions fraud.
The 54-year-old actress, who is facing charges of fraud, removed her website, What the Flicka? three days after she was arrested, and later released on a $250,000 (£187,898) bond.
One of her last posts before she scrubbed her online presence was, ironically, a picture of her husband William H Macy and their oldest daughter Sofia Grace visiting college campuses on 13 December 2017.
Her husband has not been implicated (Picture: Trae Patton/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank)
The post read: ‘Visiting colleges with our 17 year old. Makes me nostalgic… WHILE IT’S HAPPENING!’
The Oscar nominee also shared a photo visiting college campuses one month earlier. ‘Another college visit,’ she had written at the time. ‘Like the standards these young people are keeping.’
It comes as she faces accusations that she conspired to pay $15,000 (£11k) to a company that planned to organise her daughter cheating on her SAT exam, by having a proctor correct her answers.
Felicity and Lori were both indicted on fraud charges (Picture: Rex)
Yale and Georgetown had been some of the universities targeted by such a scheme, and it is thought some children had not been in on the alleged plan.
Huffman has been charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud.
The actress said: ‘To bring the college situation into the mix, that to me is so sad because I feel from an outsider that it says a little bit, “I don’ have enough faith in you.”’
‘From the kind of childhood I had, I raised my kids now, I don’t want them to have to have some of the struggles I had,’ she explained.
‘But at the same time, you do need to know how to make your bed and how to do your laundry and how to be able to make one meal, these are important life skills.’
Huffman has not yet publicly addressed the charges.
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Ed Balls gave his very own rendition of Little Mix’s hit Shout Out To My Ex live on Comic Relief and fans can’t get enough of it.
We’ve all fallen a little bit in love with the politician ever since his stint on Strictly Come Dancing and he managed to dance his way back into our hearts all over again on Friday – only this time with his vocal… we would say talents, but is that pushing it?
He might not be no Justin Timberlake, but after his performance we have a lot of time for Ed Balls and so does the rest of Twitter.
He said: ‘I’ve always wanted to be a backing singer and I’ve been auditioning for Little Mix for a few weeks – I’ve not yet got the nod.’
Naturally, it sent Twitter into overdrive and fans went wild for Ed, branding his impromptu singalong as the highlight of Comic Relief.
One viewer tweeted: ‘Watching #RedNoseDay2019 was worth it just to hear Ed Balls himself singing Little Mix.’
Another said: ‘@edballs singing @LittleMix live on Children In Need. That’s all I need to see to pick up my phone and donate.’
‘Ed Balls singing on live tv is hands down the best and worst things I’ve ever seen,’ one more wrote.
What a man.
Ed bonded with the Little Mix girls while they were climbing Kilimanjaro (Picture: WENN)
Comic Relief as always brought out a slew of stars helping drum up donations and this year’s Red Nose Day kicked things off with David Beckham sharing a bath with James Corden, before finally airing that Four Weddings and a Funeral reunion we’d all been waiting for.
The mini-film bought back all the nostalgia as Hugh Grant, Andie MacDowell, John Hannah and the crew came together once again to see Alicia Vikander and Lily James tie the knot – even if it did cause a bit of a divide among fans.
Viewers also saw Stacey Dooley visit Uganda, in a trip she made after winning Strictly Come Dancing last year, where she visited children suffering from malaria.
Stacey visited children with malaria in Uganda (Picture: BBC)
The documentary-maker revealed she had contracted the disease a few years back, but was able to get on top, unlike many of the children she had visited.
She said: ‘I got malaria probably eight or nine years ago now. I was in west Africa at the time. Clearly it was a very different story for me, I was hugely privileged and we were able to get on top of it.
‘But for the children here, those under five particularly, it must be the most frightening thing in the world. Because malaria is still a big problem for children under five in many parts of Uganda.’
You can catch Comic Relief on BBC One.
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Katheryn Winnick posts throwback that proves she’s a hero (Picture: Instagram and History channel)
Katheryn Winnick is a badass both onscreen – as the awesome Queen Lagertha – and offscreen.
And the 41-year-old, who plays the historical leader, shared an epic throwback to prove she’s always been fierce.
Taking to Instagram, she posted a picture of herself kitted out in her taekwondo gear as a teenager.
‘Always kicking butt, #flashbackfriday’ she proudly wrote. She’s wearing a black belt which pretty much means master level no matter what discipline – karate or taekwondo – we’re looking at.
It would explain why she can play the queen so effortlessly. She slays IRL.
Striking a karate-kid style pose, the actress showed the world her unequivocal heroine status, and her followers showered her with praise.
‘Fighting sexism every day,’ one remarked.
A fan talked about how much her three year old daughter idolised the actress. ‘My daughter is 3….she has pics of you on her wall. She’s jumping into BJJ soon…..excited for her to grow up knowing how to handle herself and have a genuine and true strength to her, like the energy you radiate!’
She’s a warrior on and off screen (Picture History)
The Canadian actress talked to Entertainment Tonight about her martial arts history, and revealed she started taekwondo aged 16.
Not only that, but she’s also been teaching her female Vikings co-stars self-defence crash courses in what is the epitome of woman power.
‘I have a strong need to teach women self-defence,’ the star told the publication. ‘I want to give women all the tools they need, based on knowledge, to get out of situations.’
She added: ‘I think a lot of girls and women around the world can relate to being in a situation where their voices are not as strong, but hopefully they will have the courage and the confidence to be able to get out of the situation, and become even stronger, just as Lagertha did.’
Mr Wednesday is still pulling the strings in the mystical series – but will he continue into season 3? (Picture: Starz)
Hot off the heels of season two, American Gods has been renewed for a third season, and will bring with it a brand new showrunner.
The television series, based on the book of the same name by Neil Gaiman has officially been slated for a third season and Charles ‘Chic’ Eglee is to lead the season as executive producer.
It is likely the show will take a darker turn, as Eglee’s credits include Hemlock Grove, The Walking Dead, Dexter and The Shield.
Season two was a ride (Picture: Starz)
Eglee will be the third showrunner for the series; Bryan Fuller and Michael Green were on board for season one, but budget disputes with Fremantle and the creative direction of the show saw them depart.
Jesse Alexander was next in through the door, but had, according to the Hollywood Reporter, been edged out due to ‘ongoing friction between Starz and Fremantle as well as efforts by author [Neil] Gaiman to assert greater control over the drama, as the core sources of tension’ – despite coming in as ‘Gaiman’s choice.’
Third time seems to be the charm for the fantasy show.
‘I’m thrilled American Gods has been renewed for a third season, and even more thrilled that I’m getting to work on it with Chic Eglee,’ Gaiman said.
The complicated world already has a loop hole in its midst (Picture: Amazon/Starz)
‘Chic is the best partner-in-crime. We’ve been working for weeks now on the shape of the season and I’m delighted that he gets to carry the American Gods torch on to glory.
‘Thank you to Fremantle, Starz and Amazon for having faith in the series, to Bryan, Michael and Jesse for bringing it this far, to all the cast and crew, and most of all to the viewers. It’s their love of the characters that took us to this point, and will take us on to the next chapter.’
Ricky Whittle, Ian McShane and Yetide Badaki are just some of the stars attached to the show, but it is yet unclear who will be returning for a third season.
‘Audiences continue to worship at the altar of American Gods and we are excited to be able to announce to all the true believers that there is more of this fantastical series to come,’ said Carmi Zlotnik, president of programming for Starz.
‘With Chic at the helm, the invaluable insight and contributions of Neil Gaiman and the undeniable talent of this dedicated cast and crew, we know that the show will continue to deliver on the vision and promise laid out in the novel.’
The night was hosted by a number of duo presenters, including Emma Willis and Paddy McGuinness, Zoe Ball and David Tennant, and Alesha Dixon and Romesh Ranganathan.
Which is probably good because their couple name definitely needs some work…
As well as all the romance rumours, Kourt has got a lot on her mind at the moment, as she is set to launch her very own business.
And she stripped completely naked in the bathroom to promote her latest venture, Poosh, proving she’s not the least interesting one in the family to look at.
In fact, the comedian took it upon herself to imitate the snap, clutching a bottle of wine as she posed naked in her bathroom.
‘When you’re flat out trying to keep the world interested in your talent,’ she captioned the shot.
Way harsh, hun.
But Kourtney wasn’t taking the barb lying down, and may have got some tips from sister Kim’s clapbacking ways.
Hitting back, she replied: ‘When you’ve got so much talent, might as well share it.’
Honestly, so much yes in just a few words.
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Little Mix were told they weren’t allowed to speak up about feminism (Picture: PA)
Little Mix have become known for their feisty, feel-good, all for girl power hits, but there was a time when they were pretty much forbidden to speak out about feminism.
The girls have long been empowering women with their sassy numbers, including the likes of Shout Out To My Ex, Woman Like Me and Strip, but when they first started out they were told to steer clear of the word ‘feminist’ as it could be deemed ‘too controversial’.
Leigh-Anne Pinnock revealed that it wasn’t as easy for the girls to spread their message in the early days of being in Little Mix and actually producers didn’t want to put them through on the X Factor.
In a new interview with Glamour magazine, Leigh-Anne said: ‘At the beginning we didn’t use the word feminist. We were actually told not to just in case it was too controversial.
‘To be fair, we were really young. I don’t think we were as clued-up as we are now on things. Now we’re proud to say we’re feminists.’
She continued: ‘We are a lot wiser, things that happened back then really make sense now. At the beginning, when we were on X-Factor, we were told, “girl bands didn’t do well,” and we were nearly not going to get through.
‘The producers didn’t want to put us through… Tulisa actually stood up for us and we proved them wrong, right? We won the bloody show!’
Leigh-Anne said: ‘You can’t put all women in a box like that… it is these things that made us realise we need to speak up more and speak about what happened back then.’
Little Mix won The X Factor back in 2011 on the show’s eighth series. The girls, Leigh-Anne, Perrie, Jesy and Jade had all initially auditioned as solo artists but were put together at the boot camp stage.
Since then the girl band has gone on to have huge success, with Little Mix recently scooping up a Brit Award for Best Video for their collaboration with Nicki Minaj for Woman Like Me.
Fans recently saw Leigh-Anne and her bandmate Jade on Comic Relief, as the girls had climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, along with Ed Balls and Love Island’s Dani Dyer, to drum up donations for the charity’s 2019 campaign.
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we were told, ‘girl bands didn’t do well!’ and we were nearly not going to get through. The producers didn’t want to put us through because they were saying, ‘what’s the point, they’re not going to achieve anything, they’re not going to do well, they are a girl band!’ But Tulisa actually stood up for us and we proved them wrong, right? We won the bloody show! We proved them wrong. At the time, we didn’t think too much into it but now we realise how bad that was. You can’t put all women in a box like that. Who’s to say we weren’t going to win? Who’s to say we weren’t going to do well? It is these things that made us realise we need to speak up more and speak about what happened to us then.
What exactly are Goggle going to unveil next week?
A reader tries to predict what Google has got planned for its secret video game reveal next week, and its rumoured new console.
By the end of this month we’re likely going to have to add Google’s name to the list of video game format owners, alongside Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. Whether they’re making an actual console or just running a streaming service probably doesn’t matter at this point because they’re a huge company that could probably buy all the others in the industry, bar Microsoft, without blinking. And if the rumours are true they could soon be joined by Amazon and Apple, who are just as powerful.
There’s been a lot of discussion lately of what exactly they’d bring to the table that’s new, as they have no experience making games and graphics technology has pretty much plateaued – or at least is at position where nobody has any major advantage over anyone else. Google clearly has some advanced streaming tech, as their Project Stream experiment last year showed, but so do Microsoft. Sony has also long been experimenting in that area and even Nintendo has, a little bit, in Japan.
Google could’ve entered the video game business at any time in the last two decades but beyond their smartphone app store they’ve showed no interest in doing so. So if you want to try and guess what their big annoucement is going to be on Tuesday you have to ask yourself what has changed in the last five years or so (assuming that’s how long it takes to set-up something like this) that would’ve caught their interest.
Streaming itself is obviously one thing, but as we’ve already seen that’s not tech that’s unique to them and it’s a concept that has been around for a long time. It’s not even something that a software or hardware company has full control of anyway, as it’s all dependent on a country’s broadband connection as to how viable it is.
Cloud-computing is often lumped in as the same thing but it’s quite different, as it adds to the computing power of the game you’re playing rather than just allowing you to run it remotely from a computer elsewhere. As we saw with Crackdown 3 current cloud-computing tech seems very limited, so if Google have found a way to greatly improve the boost it gives to game then that could be a factor. Although there’ve been no rumours about this, which makes it something of an outside chance.
The main factor, I think, is the games themselves and the way they’re consumed nowadays. YouTube and Twitch have transformed the industry, and of course Google owns YouTube. People watch other people play every type of game imaginable but the biggest games at the moment, and for years really, have been online-only multiplayer games that range from the likes of League Of Legends and Dota 2 to current favourites Fortnite and Apex Legends.
These games are free-to-play, giving them an instant, massive audience (just think how quickly Apex Legends became a massive hit) and make huge amounts of profit from microtransactions that buy in-game items that are not at all necessary to enjoy the game (and come across as a lot more ‘fair’ than something like FIFA Ultimate Team).
I think it is these three factors that have attracted Google and it’s what we’ll see become the focus of their annoucement next week. I suspect there will still be a few Sony style single-player games thrown in to show they’re operating a broad church – Uncharted creator Amy Hennig’s name has come up a few times in rumours – and probably also something Nintendo-esque to show they’re approaching this from all angles. But it’s the Fortnite money that I suspect is driving their plans.
The thing I’ll be most curious to see is how much money they spend on buying other companies or exclusives, versus founding their own studios and making their own games. Since we’ve not heard many rumours I suspect it’ll be most home-grown stuff, as the only hint there has been of what’s going on is Jade Raymond’s appointment – a person that’s spent the last decade or so doing nothing but setting up new (and very large) development studios.
The clues are there, I think, as to what’s going on but there’s little enough detail that I could still be way off base. We’ll have to wait till Tuesday to know for sure, I guess, but I have a feeling that next week is going to be a very momentous one for the games industry.
By reader Royston
The reader’s feature does not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. As always, email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk and follow us on Twitter.
Red Dead Redemption II – it’s not just the graphics that are good
GameCentral readers discuss the best video game music of the current gen, from NieR:Automata to God Of War.
The subject for this week’s Hot Topic was suggested by reader Ishi, who wanted to know what you think has been the best video game soundtrack for the modern formats? What do you think of current trends in video game music and do you think this generation has been better or worse than previous ones?
We had so many different suggestions that there wasn’t really a clear winner – which seems a very healthy sign – although Red Dead Redemption II, Celeste, and Persona 5 did come up multiple times.
Unshaken but stirred
I think a lot of people have started to see Red Dead Redemption II in a much more negative light in the months after it’s release. It’s still a great game but the flaws are pretty obvious in hindsight and I don’t consider it to be as good as the original or a classic in its own right… except when it comes to the soundtrack.
The original game’s soundtrack was basically cut and paste from every Western film made ever, with lots of tunes that were so close as to be identical to famous tunes that already existed. The sequel though has an identity of its own and although there’s a lot of variety the more authentic period tunes are like a perfect mix of old and new.
The real standouts though are the songs with lyrics of which there are more than one. Unshaken is my favourite but they’re all great and they’re all used extremely well to heighten the drama of what’s happening on screen. It’s rare for games to do that but Rockstar pulls it off perfectly. Watson
Noticeably good
For me The Messenger hands down has the best music of any game I have played this generation. Although it is heavily inspired by retro games it manages to stand out with its relative simplicity and elegance. An honourable mention also goes to the Wooded Kingdom level in Super Mario Odyssey.
To be honest I do not pay that much attention to the music in games (or films) unless they are licensed tracks. I am usually so focused on the gameplay, visuals and following the dialogue that I tend to block out the music unless the cinematography purposely directs you to it. So for me to notice it normally requires it to be very distinctive.
I acknowledge that there is some very impressive sound work going on and Square Enix in particular are very good. Whilst playing Final Fantasy XV I did spend a bit of time listening to the classic music tracks and was very impressed by some of them. A particular highlight was Final Fantasy XIII’s score which was excellent, yet this passed me by entirely when I played XIII. PazJohnMitch
Killer track
I really have to say Killer Instinct’s soundtrack is awesome! Especially when Celldweller got involved with season 3.
My fave is the Battletoads song remix. Starts off retro then gets heavy pretty quickly. Check it out!
How this game was not a console seller I will never know. Let’s hope for some Inbox magic and get Killer Instinct 4 for the next gen! Lee Smith (Changingtheorys – gamertag/Changingtheories – PSN ID)
I suppose it has to be Super Smash Bros. on the Wii U for me. So many classic tracks hidden away in one game.
I love it so much I even bought the CD, which gets played all the time at work via my iPod. Pac-Man (club mix), Super Mario medley, Guerudo Valley, Trophy Rush, Ashley ‘s song, Kapp’n’s song, Kongo Jungle… the list goes on.
Off course Smash Bros. Ultimate allows you to use your switch as an iPod and has even more great gaming tunes, but it’s predecessor is my choice.
Goodness gracious I nearly forgot how much I love the Zelda: Breath Of The Wild soundtrack but that is more of an ambient thing whilst playing. So Smash Bros. Wii U is as close to gaming tune nirvana as you can get for me. Chopsworth
Interactive soundtrack
My first thought for this topic was Dark Souls III as the boss fight music in it is consistently good and really adds to the intimidation your lowly character feels when fighting them.
However, then I remembered I had just started re-playing The Sexy Brutale again and how much I love the jaunty jazz of the main casino theme. The way they integrate the music with what is happening in the game is what truly separates it apart though; when you realise the changes in tempo, volume and style correspond directly to events that are occurring elsewhere in the level that you haven’t discovered yet. SuoTempore (PSN ID)
A good year for music
At first I thought that this was going to be an easy decision: Persona 5. The soundtrack is incredible. From the thrilling, Ocean’s Eleven-style Life will Change when it’s time to get serious with the current dungeon boss to the moving Swear to my Bones that you first hear when you help Futaba get her persona. And to the downright silly stuff that’s played for the maid cafe and crane machine game.
But there is a more correct answer. A game that almost got lost in the flood of high quality that was 2017: Night In The Woods. My particular favourites are the Astral levels but the piece Climb, which comes at a very symbolic time for protagonist Mae, is really beautiful and left a lump in my throat.
NieR:Automata is pretty good, too – but when has Square Enix made a game with a bad soundtrack?
A special mention must go to Shantae: Half-Genie Hero. It kind of reminded me of Rocket Knight Adventures – always a positive thing. It’s just how a platformer ought to sound. Pure, primary-coloured joy. I even love the theme song!
‘They say we live in the darkness, they say there’s trouble ahead…’ DMR
There have been many immense soundtracks this generation; from the sweeping orchestras of your God Of Wars and Horizon Zero Dawns, to the wild jazz of the more recent Ape Out.
But I want to give some kudos to Drool’s Thumper. A perfect marriage of audio-visual stimulus that made the game feel so dark and intense (I’m sure it helped that I was playing in VR)! This from someone more used to listening to Pink Floyd than some of your more modern stuff! Paddy Hill
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A reader names the classic Capcom games he’d love to see get remade or rebooted, from Ghosts ‘N Goblins to Dino Crisis.
It wasn’t very long ago that Capcom were looking like a company in terminal decline. They hadn’t had a hit in years, even the fantastic Resident Evil 7 didn’t seem to sell as much as it should and Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite turned out to be a sad joke. But after Monster Hunter: World they suddenly found their mojo again and this year’s Resident Evil 2 and Devil May Cry 5 have been easily my favourite games of the year so far.
Given the success of those it seems natural that they’ll try and revive other of their old series and these are the ones I most want to come back. I’ll also say that I’d love the rumours of Marvel Vs. Capcom 4 to be true as well, if it’s the big budget sequel with new and up-to-date characters that we were actually hoping for from Infinite.
1. Ghosts ‘N Goblins
The last time we saw this franchise it was in sort-of spin-off Maximo, which although not great showed the game could work perfectly well in 3D. All they need to do to revive it is go for nostalgia overload with all the old music and enemies and update the graphics so that it’s a proper platformer again. I’d be tempted to go with a 2.5D effect and to make the graphics as beautiful as possible, I’m thinking kind of like Trine. Just don’t make it so hard it puts off normal people, I don’t think being stupidly hard is what anyone really liked about the originals.
2. Bionic Commando
The old games were so great and yet the only modern one we’ve had is the terrible Xbox 360 reboot. Again, they want to go for some old school charm but I would keep this one 3D and make it a cross between Marvel’s Spider-Man and a standard third person shooter. The main problem Spider-Man had was the boring New York setting, but Bionic Commando could make things much more varied in terms of landscape and enemies.
3. Final Fight
It is long overdue that someone update the old scrolling beat ‘em-up formula and where better to start than this Capcom classic. Games like Devil May Cry already halfway there, so what you need to do is simplify the combat a little, add co-op, and make it more about using the environment and picking up weapons. So half Devil May Cry and half the fighting from Yakuza. Keeping it 2D is not the way to go for this I’d say, you’ve got to update it to be totally modern.
4. Dino Crisis
The one everyone’s been waiting for, I like to think, and hopefully it is already on Capcom’s to-do list for a full Resi style remake. Resident Evil with dinosaurs is such a basic Idea it’s got to be done (again) and I always felt the original was badly under appreciated in terms of survival horror games. This thing could be as scary, if not more so, than Resident Evil and I’d love to see modern graphics do all the dinos justice. I just wouldn’t pay too much attention to the sequels.
5. Onimusha
I think this one is the most likely of all the games because the recent remaster shows that Capcom are already interested in it. Plus, they’d be able to reuse the graphics engine from Resident Evil 2 as it’s already a similar type of game. The main change here needs to be improving the combat to make it deeper and I’d also up the horror element a bit, which should be easy with graphics this good.
6. Power Stone
The one I know GC are most excited about, as they apparently ask Capcom about it every time they see them, and good for them. The game seems perfect-made for the Switch and I’d love to see it happen. My only concern is that people don’t really know the series anymore and it might be a hard sell. But give out a free demo and there’d be no problem I think. The game is pure fun and the whole beat ’em-up in 3D is still really unique and it’s a crime it hasn’t been seen more since.
By reader Molton
The reader’s feature does not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. As always, email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk and follow us on Twitter.
