Maura Higgins and Pete Wicks have continued to furl romance rumoursThe Mega AgencyGettyMaura looked stunning at last night’s Pride of Britain Awards[/caption]
GettyIt’s reported she was spotted ‘kissing’ Pete at the after show party[/caption]
maurahiggins/TikTokThe pair are very close and have fuelled romance rumours[/caption]
The pair have always maintained they are “just friends”,
However, according to the Mail the pair were seen getting VERY close at the afterparty for the Pride of Britain Awards.
The outlet said a fan saw Maura “planting a kiss on Pete’s nose before the pair kissed on the lips”.
2 weeks agoNewsComments Off on Laura Woods left baffled and watches on confused as Rio Ferdinand and Martin Keown go full Gary Neville live on TNT
RIO FERDINAND and Martin Keown channelled their inner Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher to leave lonely Laura Woods all on her own.
The former centre-backs were on punditry duty at Villa Park on Tuesday night.
TNT SportsRio Ferdinand and Martin Keown walked off from Laura Woods live on TNT[/caption]
TNT SportsThe pair were doing a demonstration but left the presenter behind on her own[/caption]
https://twitter.com/footballontnt/status/1848839064054608114
Jhon Duran grabbed the hosts’ second goal, turning home in smart fashion to find the bottom corner.
And while analysing the finish, Ferdinand and Keown went full Neville and Carragher as they walked off from the TNT Sports pitchside table to do a demonstration.
Keown even put his microphone down before taking up the new position.
That left presenter Woods awkwardly lurking solo in the background – watching on from afar as the two ex-defenders talked through marking a physical striker.
It is unclear if she knew what was about to unfold.
But the popular host took a quick glance to someone off camera and smiled before diverting her gaze back to the pundits.
And the funny scene had a similar feel to the famous Sky Sports moment in 2019.
The incident went viral online – and even prompted Cates to hilariously recreate the moment as she got her revenge on the partners-in-punditry-crime duo.
John McGinn got Villa’s opener ten minutes into the second half before Duran found the net on 64 minutes.
That ensured Unai Emery’s side are the only side on a maximum nine points with three wins from three in their Champions League debut to sit top of the 36-team table ahead of Wednesday’s fixtures.
Like the Gunners, Villa are yet to concede – beating Bologna to back up their memorable wins over Young Boys and Bayern Munich.
TNT SportsWoods stood alone at the table[/caption]
TNT SportsThe two former centre-backs got handsy with each other[/caption]
TNT SportsThe duo returned to Woods after completing their practical demo[/caption]
GettyWoods hosted the show as Aston Villa went top of the Champions League league phase[/caption]
2 weeks agoNewsComments Off on Keir Starmer makes history by helping Poppy Appeal just as he was due to have a Cabinet meeting
SIR Keir Starmer made history yesterday — helping the Poppy Appeal just as he was due to have a Cabinet meeting.
For the first time since the veterans’ charity drive began in 1921, ministers put money in collecting tins and got out credit cards to make donations as they arrived at No10.
The Mega AgencySir Keir Starmer made history yesterday — helping the Poppy Appeal just as he was due to have a Cabinet meeting[/caption]
AlamyThe PM with paramedic student Zoe Salton and National Service veteran Michael Homer[/caption]
And even though the appeal officially launches tomorrow, the PM got his poppy yesterday so he could wear it to a Commonwealth summit in Samoa later this week.
Poppy-selling veteran Dr Jenny Hartley, 43, also got Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Defence Secretary John Healey to get theirs ahead of schedule.
Jenny said: “Selling poppies in the High Street is a bit less glamorous than in Downing Street but it is important to help our veterans wherever you buy your poppy.”
She added: “Like a lot of people, I always thought the Legion is for older veterans and I don’t see myself as being in that group.”
The PM also met paramedic student Zoe Salton, 24, who has been a collector for ten years and National Service veteran Michael Homer, 80, who has been a poppy appeal organiser in Fareham, Hants, for 16 years.
They were joined at No10 by Deen Maan, 25, who sells poppies in Finchley and Mill Hill, north London.
The Royal British Legion hopes to raise £53million this year to help ex-soldiers.
2 weeks agoNewsComments Off on Trump campaign files complaint against Labour for ‘foreign interference’ in US election over support for Kamala Harris
DONALD Trump’s presidential campaign has accused Labour of “foreign interference” in the US election.
The Republican chief’s team filed a complaint accusing the “far-Left” party of inspiring Kamala Harris‘ “dangerously liberal policies”.
APDonald Trump’s presidential campaign has accused Labour of ‘foreign interference’[/caption]
AlamySir Keir Starmer met with Mr Trump during a trip to New York last month[/caption]
AFPThe Republican chief’s team filed a complaint accusing the party of inspiring Kamala Harris[/caption]
A statement on DonaldJTrump.com on Tuesday night said: “The Trump-Vance Campaign has filed a Federal Election Commission (FEC) complaint against the Harris-Walz Campaign and the Labour Party of the United Kingdom for illegal foreign campaign contributions and interference in our elections.”
The linked complaint refers to reports by The Telegraph newspaper with regards to people associated with Labour going to the US to campaign for Kamala.
It claims that reporting “surrounding the relationship between the Harris campaign and the Labour Party create a reasonable inference that the Labour Party has made”.
It added “the Harris campaign has accepted, illegal foreign national contributions”.
The letter refers to a report in the Washington Post which claims that advice has been offered between the Labour Party and Ms Harris’ campaign.
It mentions other reporting regarding meetings between senior Labour staff and the Democratic campaign.
The complaint also references a social media post which now appears to have been deleted.
A Labour staff member appeared to have said there were “nearly 100 Labour Party staff (current and former) going to the US in the next few weeks” to swing states.
It is understood that trips have been organised in a personal capacity and accommodation has been arranged by volunteers for the Democrats.
Sir Keir Starmer met with Mr Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, during a trip to New York last month.
The Prime Minister visited Trump Tower for talks ahead of the US election.
Sir Keir said he wanted to meet Mr Trump face-to-face because “I’m a great believer in personal relationships on the world stage”.
BackGridMyleene Klass hits the right notes in a Barbie-pink gown as she presents Classic FM Live at the Royal Albert Hall[/caption]
BackGridMyleene wore this plunging dress with gold platform heels to host the London event[/caption]
Afterwards she posted online: “Classical music, OG (original gangster).
“Thank you to everyone that came to @classicfm Live.”
“I’ve known her 20 years and to see her powering through at this time, she’s incredible.”
Myleene then said Lauren would “kill me” for growing emotional on television.
She added: “The fact that you get to see what an incredible woman she is using this platform to say get tested.
“If you’ve got any niggling feeling or worry just go and get checked. And your loved ones as well.”
BackGridAfterwards Myleene posted online: ‘Classical music, OG (original gangster)’[/caption]
NextMyleene shows off her curves in this white bikini[/caption]
2 weeks agoNewsComments Off on I’m a broke student & my weekly food shop cost £35 in Aldi – so I swapped to M&S, it’s the same price with a huge upside
A BROKE student looking to switch up her food shop to save money has revealed her verdict on which supermarket is the best.
Nicole, a university student from the UK, took to social media, revealing she was ditching her usual Aldi food shop for Marks & Spencer.
Tiktok/@nikiolo1Nicole ditched Aldi to try M&S for her weekly food shop[/caption]
Tiktok/@nikiolo1She was left seriously impressed by one key detail[/caption]
She said: “(I’m) Doing my weekly food shop in M&S might sound really bizarre to you, but if I’m being honest, I’ve been spending £35 to £40 in Aldi and I was like I might as well shift this money to M&S since the food quality is apparently better.”
Nicole explained that she was feeling bad about how expensive her shop was until she realised many students had parents paying for most of their food.
As she headed to the store she revealed that M&S was just £5 more expensive then her Aldi one and was well worth it for a simple reason.
She revealed that the fresh produce in M&S seemed to be much better quality and last way longer when she got it home.
Her haul included satsumas, plums, apples, limes, lemons, green beans and spinach.
Nicole added: “My fruit and my veg has lasted so much longer from M&S compared to Aldi.
“Usually I give my veg like a good 2 to 3 days and then it already starts going off.”
“But my M&S fruit and veg has been good.”
She was also pleasantly surprised that the meat wasn’t more pricey than Aldi as she showed a pack of chicken legs for just £1.50.
Nicole said it just showed how bad the cost of living crisis was that M&S and Aldi were basically the same price.
The clip went viral on her TikTok account @nikiolo1 with over 315k views and 27k likes.
People were quick to take to the comments admitting M&S was their go-to shop.
One person wrote: “People thought I was bougie for doing my uni shops in M&S.”
“Honestly but it’s acc giving same price point as Aldi,” said Nicole.
What is the UK's cheapest supermarket?
WE'RE all looking for ways to save on our supermarket shops. But which store should you go to if you're on a strict budget?
According to Which?, who compare thousands of prices at the top eight UK supermarkets – Aldi, Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose – every month, there’s one place that outweighs the rest in terms of being budget-friendly.
In April 2024, Aldi was at the top of the list, with Which? comparing 67 popular groceries costing an average of £112.90.
Lidl isn’t far behind, at £115.23, followed by Asda in third place with a bill of £126.98.
Tesco was next, at £128.17, while Sainsbury’s rounded out the top five with £131.02.
Another commented: “M&S is top tier. Thank youuuuuu.”
“I do most of my shop at M&S. It’s so much worth it for the quality you get,” penned a third.
Meanwhile a fourth said: “Nah genuinely cause I spent £50 in Aldi the other day and I was being STRICT.”
“I’ve been saying M&S fruit and veg is better quality and stays fresh way longer! And a lot of their essential items are the same price as Aldi/Asda,” claimed a fifth.
Someone else added: “The quality is unmatched.”
Fabulous will pay for your exclusive stories. Just email: fabulousdigital@the-sun.co.uk and pop EXCLUSIVE in the subject line.
2 weeks agoNewsComments Off on Britain’s biggest ‘buy now, pay later’ firm ‘saves customers nearly half a billion in interest’
KLARNA, Britain’s biggest “buy now, pay later” firm, says it has saved customers nearly half a billion pounds in interest since its UK launch in 2014.
Around 10million — more than a third of households — have used Klarna to buy goods in the past year.
GettyRoughly 10million shoppers have used Klarna to buy goods in the past year[/caption]
PA:Press AssociationTulip Siddiq, economic secretary to the Treasury, confirmed rules would come in next year to legislate the ‘buy now, pay later’ sector[/caption]
And the boom in “buy now, pay later” has prompted the Government to say it will legislate the sector to protect shoppers.
Last week Tulip Siddiq, economic secretary to the Treasury, confirmed rules would come in next year.
And Klarna co-founder and CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski welcomed the move.
He said: “We are in favour of regulation — I’m not an anarchist that doesn’t believe in rules.
“The main thing I’m worried about is if it will reduce competition against the banks who are raking in profits from customers.”
Klarna said that during its decade in the UK, the banks and traditional credit card firms such as American Express have made £160billion from customer interest charges.
The Swedish firm, co-founded by Mr Siemiatkowski in 2005, lets customers buy goods and split payments over three months without interest.
It made almost £1billion in revenues in the first half of this year from ads and charging retailers commission.
Klarna charges people who miss a payment a maximum £5 late fee.
However, it says its default rates are 30 per cent lower than traditional lenders’.
Mr Siemiatkowski, who started his working life flipping burgers at Burger King, told Sun Business: “We’ve saved consumers nearly half a billion pounds in interest — that’s real money in their pockets, not lining the banks’ coffers.
“We’ve proven that paying for everything — from flights to garden tools and getting your boiler fixed — doesn’t have to mean being gouged by high interest rates.”
Debt charities have argued that Klarna encourages people to buy things they can’t afford.
But Mr Siemiatkowski said: “Having fixed payment instalments without interest is a lot better than racking up credit card debt.”
HSBC to be split in two
Georges Elhedery, HSBC’s former finance chief, is now the company’s new boss
HSBC has announced a big shake-up that will split its UK and Hong Kong business into separate divisions.
The overhaul comes six weeks after Georges Elhedery, the bank’s former finance chief, was promoted to the top job.
HSBC also named Pam Kaur as its first female finance chief as part of its restructuring.
The bank said the overhaul is along geographic lines of “Eastern” markets and “Western”, which will include UK high street branches.
HSBC, founded in Hong Kong in 1865, has been in the middle of rising geopolitical and trade tensions between Beijing and the US and UK.
Its biggest investor, Chinese insurer Ping An, had tried unsuccessfully to agitate for a break-up of the company last year.
Mr Elhedery, who replaced Noel Quinn, said the revamp will result in “a simpler, more dynamic and agile organisation”.
Big buys 'delayed'
CONSUMERS are still nervous about making big purchases, figures from DIY retailer Wickes and Halfords show.
Wickes yesterday reported that sales of its bathroom and kitchens had fallen by 13 per cent in the last quarter as customers put off big projects.
Meanwhile, car parts to bikes retailer Halfords reported a 0.1 per cent slip in sales.
Boss Graham Stapleton said shoppers’ confidence was dented “by uncertainty around the contents of the Budget”.
In San Francisco today you can take a ride with a Waymo self-driving car.
At KLARNA, we have seen how our AI customer service agents help to resolve problems in just two minutes, compared to 12 minutes before.
Our lives and the way we work are already changing and it will affect jobs at an accelerating pace.
Governments need to stop dragging their feet.
While we need smart regulations to keep AI in check, we can’t afford to strangle it with red tape.
The looming threat is that if our governments dither too much we will fall behind less democratic countries who do not share our values.
The answer has to be to promote progress while also offering an answer to those people impacted by the changes.
AI is already shaking up the job market — and we’ve already paused hiring more staff because of AI efficiencies.
Some jobs will change, new roles will emerge and some will disappear. Some firms talk about retraining and upskilling but can we really expect a 55-year-old translator to magically become a TikTok star or influencer?
That’s why governments need to wake up and step up.
While AI is driving progress, they must ensure that it benefits society as a whole, not just a select few.
Mulberry hush
MULBERRY has branded Mike Ashley’s £111million takeover “untenable”, as it swatted away a sweetened approach.
Mr Ashley’s Frasers Group already owns 37 per cent of the luxury handbag maker.
However, its second attempt to grab the business stalled after Mulberry’s biggest investor rejected it.
Challice — controlled by Singaporean billionaire Christina Ong and her husband — own a majority 56 per cent stake and can block any deal.
Shares fell by almost 10 per cent, valuing it at £81million.
Failure of duty
THE VIRGIN WINES boss has attacked government plans to hike alcohol duty as “ill-thought through and amateurishly executed policies”.
Jay Wright, chief exec of the online wine seller, said the drinks industry had been “battered beyond belief” in recent years by people with “no understanding of the effects”.
Another duty hike is feared in next week’s Budget.
Mr Wright still toasted £1.7million of profits, after a loss of £700,000 in the year to the end of June.
A cost-cutting drive saved £1.4million.
THE new Minister for Investment, Poppy Gustafsson, is launching a scheme to attract more funding into women’s sport.
She will say today that women’s sport, including football, rugby, tennis and netball, could be worth over £1billion this year alone.
RexLeandro Trossard missed from the penalty spot[/caption]
RexFans slammed the spot kick as Trossard was left with his head in his hands[/caption]
https://twitter.com/primevideosport/status/1848825911640039429
But Arsenal had the chance to wrap the game up with 15 minutes to go after Valeriy Bondar handled in the box.
Following a VAR check, referee Benoit Bastien pointed to the spot.
Bukayo Saka is Arsenal’s chief penalty taker but the England winger was ruled out with a hamstring injury.
Havertz has taken a penalty for the Gunners before and has missed only once from 12 yards in his career.
But still it was Trossard who was given responsibility – for the first time in an Arsenal shirt.
And his effort was saved by the legs of Riznyk to make up for his earlier mistake.
It left Gooners fuming as one said: “Havertz has scored 20 of the 21 penalties he’s taken in his career. Why was Trossard taking it?”
Another added: “You get a penalty and give it to Trossard yet your best penalty taker (Havertz) is on pitch.
“We can really take risks and that’s not acceptable.”
One raged: “Havertz is way too nice too. Should have snatched the ball straight away from Trossard.”
Another fumed: “Why didn’t Havertz take the pen? Of the 11 on the field, he is the logical penalty taker for Arsenal. Horrible penalty from Trossard.”
Fortunately for Trossard, Arsenal held onto their 1-0 lead to win the game but Arteta said it was not his decision for the Belgian to take the penalty.
He said: “I dunno the conversation as he [Havertz] is one of the takers, Leo decided to take it, okay he missed it unfortunately.”
2 weeks agoNewsComments Off on Watch moment MAFS’ Holly LEAVES show and begs bosses to ‘get her out’ after husband Alex’s shock outburst
MARRIED At First Sight star Holly Ditchfield decided to quit the show tonight after struggling with her husband Alex Henry’s behaviour.
Upset Holly begged producers to ‘get her out of here’ and headed home to be with her family following a huge row.
Holly makes the decision to leave the showShe was struggling to get on with Alex
Alex erupted during the last commitment ceremony and lashed out at a number of the girls – leaving Holly furious.
And when she tried to talk to Alex about what had happened, he rejected how she was feeling.
Speaking to Lacey about what had gone on, Holly said: “After the commitment ceremony we had a major argument because I just didn’t’ like the way you were spoken to.
“What upset the most is after, he said ‘what’s wrong with you?’ and I said ‘I’m really missing my children’ and he just said ‘f*** this, I can’t be ar*** with this’ and he just walked off.”
She continued: “I am going home today. I need to have some time to think and then I will be coming back. It’s just got really bad now. I am not myself.”
Speaking on camera, Holly added: “Me and Alex are just not getting on. I need some space, get me out of here.”
Alex’s relationship with Holly has been very up and down throughout the series but the pair were on track.
Those watching at home are pleased that Holly decided to take a break from the process.
One person commented: “You just know that even though Holly isn’t saying it – Alex has been horrid with her because if he can speak to the girls like that, imagine what it’s like behind closed doors.”
While a second said: “Holly has matured during this process – It’s a shame that Alex hasn’t.”
And a third added: “Alex should’ve been taken off the show by now, you can tell he sees any woman as below him – the disrespect is INSANE and im glad the girls are sticking up for themselves.”
And Women’s Aid condemned his involvement in a lengthy statement, saying the decision to feature him is both “disappointing and concerning.
Alex’s behaviour has sparked concern with viewers throughout the seriesThe pair have been very up and down
Which of the MAFS UK 2024 couples are still together?
AS per the NDA’s attached with the show, brides and grooms are banned from revealing anything about the current status of their relationships.
However, there have been a few things let slip, which have acted as spoilers for viewers of the show.
It was recently revealed that Ross McCarthy, who had been a favourite alongside wife Sacha Jones, had dumped his blonde wife just two weeks after filming, leaving her blindsided in the process.
