Tony Adams Withdraws From Strictly Come Dancing Ahead Of Tyler West Dance-Off

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Tony Adams has decided to withdraw from Strictly Come Dancing after sustaining an injury.

The BBC ballroom show had to cancel its latest elimination after the former footballer sustained an injury ahead of having to perform in the dance-off.

Tony and his partner Katya Jones had landed in the bottom two alongside Tyler West and Dianne Buswell during Sunday night’s results show.

Host Tess Daly explained to viewers: “Due to an injury sustained on Saturday night, Tony is unable to take part in the dance-off and has decided to withdraw from the competition. This means there will be no dance-off tonight and Tyler and Dianne are through to Blackpool.”

Tony later said of his time on the show: “It’s been emotional guys, I cried for the first month. I came in here with one message, if you’ve got an issue with mental health then please don’t suffer in silence and reach out for help.

“Little did I know that I was going to learn a lot about myself in the process. I thought this ‘journey’ rubbish was nonsense, but my god the rollercoaster of emotion. I’ve got to be honest, it’s tough, physically it’s really tough out there, but dancing is really fantastic for you. Go out there and enjoy it and pick up new skills and explore. I suppose I had better mention this one [Katya] hadn’t I, she is an exceptional human being, she really is.”

Tony and Katya performed a Jive on Saturday's live show
Tony and Katya performed a Jive on Saturday’s live show

BBC/Guy Levy

Katya was then asked if she had any words for her partner.

“Tony Adams, I will be forever grateful that I was partnered up with you, do you know what I loved? I loved us, I loved that we didn’t care what people thought, we did every single dance our way!” she said.

“You have come here with a message, you led by example, and put yourself out there, and showed everyone you can do anything. And everyone deserves love and to be loved! I love you.”

Head judge Shirley Ballas added: “On behalf of the judges, we’ve enjoyed watching every second, you are truly what this show is all about, and we can only wish you the very best as you move forward. Please carry on dancing, carry on entertaining people, because you are a star.”

The remaining eight couples will take to the dancefloor next when Strictly Come Dancing returns to the Blackpool on Saturday 19 November at 7.45pm, with the results show following on Sunday at 7:20pm on BBC One.

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Jeremy Hunt Denies Brexit Has Made The UK Poorer And People Are Making The Same Point

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Jeremy Hunt has denied that Brexit has made the UK poorer – despite the government’s own Office for Budget Responsibility saying it has.

The chancellor – who campaigned for Remain in the 2016 referendum – insisted the UK can make a “tremendous success” of leaving the EU.

He said it is important to consider the effects of Brexit “in the round”, and that Brexit brings both “costs” and “opportunities”.

Hunt told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg that he would set out “some of the ways that I think we can make a success of it” in Thursday’s autumn statement.

Asked if he denies Brexit has slowed the UK’s economic growth at home, Hunt said: “What I don’t accept is the premise that Brexit will make us poorer.

“I don’t deny there are costs to a decision like Brexit, but there are also opportunities, and you have to see it in the round.

“Literally within months of formally leaving the EU we had a once-in-a-century pandemic, which has meant the process of outlining what the opportunities are has taken longer, but I think we need to do that now.”

But Twitter users pointed out that the chairman of the OBR, Richard Hughes, last year said that Brexit would reduce the UK’s potential gross domestic product by 4% in the long term.

Last week, former Bank of England governor Mark Carney doubled down on his claims the move has taken a toll on the pound, suggesting the decision to leave the EU continues to play a part in the UK’s financial woes.

Downing Street has suggested Rishi Sunak is no longer dwelling on the “clear decision” made by the British people six years ago.

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Boy George Reveals He Apologised To Victoria Beckham Over Plane Tweet

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Boy George has revealed he apologised to Victoria Beckham after mistakenly tweeting she’d received preferential treatment on a flight they were both on.

The singer had tweeted back in June: “Nice touch for @britishairways to leave everyone in first class waiting for steps while Victoria Beckham’s car picks her up at the aircraft. Proper going to avoid flying BA for a while!”

However, he later found out that Posh had apparently paid a lot extra to alight the plane first.

Discussing his hasty tweet with his fellow I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! campmates, Boy George revealed: “You know when you’ve been on a long flight and you wake up and you’re in a grumpy mood and you’re trying to get off the plane and they take Posh Spice off before you…

“I was like ‘Why are we having to wait? She’s just walked off the plane, I could have gone with her.’

“I do that a lot when I tweet something and then I think, ‘Why did I tweet that?!’, so I said to my friend who knows her, I said: ‘Just tell her I’m so sorry, I didn’t realise that she’d paid extra for concierge service, it was nothing to do with me!’”

Shortly after finding out he’d been mistaken about Posh’s exit from the plan, George confessed his error on Twitter.

“I’m an impulse tweeter but I get over it faster than most!” he tweeted back in June.

“Myself and @britishairways are back in love. Now I know it costs 6,000 to get off the plane before everyone else.”

I’m A Celebrity airs nightly at 9pm on ITV.

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Have I dodged Covid and what does it mean?

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Why have some people never had Covid and can that lead to better vaccines?

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Emma Thompson Says Hugh Grant Was ‘So Cross’ Over Her Crying Scene In Sense And Sensibility

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The actor starred as Elinor Dashwood, who is secretly in love with Hugh’s character Edward Ferrars, in the 1995 big-screen adaptation of Jane Austin’s novel.

In a scene near the end of the film, Emma’s character is overcome with emotion when Edward reveals to her he did not get married to the woman he’d been engaged to.

Speaking to the New Yorker, Emma revealed that Hugh was not exactly impressed when she decided to cry over his character’s monologue.

“She was not aware of what was inside her, and it suddenly emerges,” she said, previously writing in her diary, “I was trying to make it as involuntary as possible. A case of the diaphragm taking over.”

She continued: “Hugh Grant was so cross. He said, ‘You’re going to cry all the way through my speech?’ I said, ‘Hugh, I’ve got to. That’s the gag. It’s funny.’ And he says, ‘Yeah, but I’m speaking.’ I said, ‘I know.’”

Watch the scene in question below…

Emma and Hugh have maintained a friendship over the years since first becoming co-stars, and reunited on screen in 2003 festive favourite Love Actually.

Back in 2018, Hugh hailed Emma as “a genius” in an interview with People, but quipped that she is “not remotely sane”.

“She’s nuttier and nuttier as the years go,” he said.

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Prue Leith Addresses Response To ‘Traumatic’ Kitten Drowning Admission From Memoir

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Prue Leith has addressed the response to a “traumatic” story in her autobiography, in which she admitted to drowning a litter of kittens as a child on the instructions of her mother.

The Great British Bake Off judge had written of how she was plagued by the memory of her mum forcing her to kill the bag of newborn cats just hours after their birth when she was just 11-years-old.

As a result of her sharing the story, some people called for Prue to be removed as a judge from Bake Off, with her now revealing how the criticism affected her in an interview with People.

Sharing that she felt like “public enemy No.1”, Prue said: “They don’t read the story and they feed off each other. Somebody says, ‘My God! That woman drowns kittens!’ And it just spiralled from there.

“I can’t bear the thought that people on Twitter really think that I would want to drown kittens.”

She continued: “It was so awful because people were saying things like, ‘I’ll never watch Bake Off again.’ I mean, what’s it got to do with Bake Off? Bake Off is the kindest, most inclusive, most friendly show in the world. They wouldn’t have me on if they thought I was a kitten drowner.”

Prue had written in her memoir I’ll Try Anything Once: “My mother and I, then 11, had just drowned some kittens… and for weeks I imagined those poor dead creatures.

“Too many kittens was a frequent occurrence and there had come a day when my mother, unable to find homes for yet another litter, decided to drown the latest batch.”

Prue said she tried to persuade her mother against it, but her protests “were met with a firm, ‘Darling, it has to be done. They are only a few hours old. They will hardly know it’s happening’”.

Despite her mother’s assurances, the TV personality said the kittens “fought like the devil for life”.

Prue has been a judge on Bake Off since 2017
Prue has been a judge on Bake Off since 2017

Channel 4/Mark Bourdillon

Prue previously explained to HuffPost why she decided to include this story in her new memoir.

“This happened in the early 1940′s, when I was 11 years old, being brought up on a farm in South Africa,” she wrote in an emailed statement.

“I wrote about it honestly in my book, as an 11 year old it was an extremely traumatic experience, not one I would forget, however it is what happened 70 years ago.”

She also advocated neutering and spaying pets.

“Thankfully today in the UK we have the choice of neutering our cats and have more options to home kittens, although sadly in some parts of the world it is still an issue.”

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The Crown’s Dominic West And Olivia Williams Respond To Comments They’re ‘Too Hot’ To Play Charles And Camilla

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The Crown stars Dominic West and Olivia Williams have addressed comments that they’re “too hot” to play King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla in the new series of the Netflix show.

The fifth season of the royal drama dropped on the streaming service earlier this week and sees the two actors take over the roles of the now-married couple from predecessors Josh O’Connor and Emerald Fennell.

In a new interview with Variety, Dominic and Olivia were posed with comments from some social media users labelling them “too hot” for their characters, who are depicted in the 90s, when the then-Prince Charles was still married to Diana, Princess Of Wales.

“Well I think there’s something in that, you know. I’ve had worse,” Dominic joked.

Olivia continued: ”[The producers] will just have to try and suppress how very deeply hot we are for season six.”

The King and Queen Consort pictured earlier this week
The King and Queen Consort pictured earlier this week

JAMES GLOSSOP via Getty Images

She added that she was not taking much feedback on board as she has an “astonishing ability to ignore all press”, unlike Dominic, who said he “reads every single” review.

He continued: “Because I always find if you don’t read it and then you go in – I remember doing a play on Broadway once and I thought, ‘Well, I’m not gonna read the reviews.’ And I came into the theatre and it was like a morgue. Everyone looked at me as if my dog had just died.

“And from then on I’ve read reviews. I think what’s obvious is this season, probably more than previous ones, has stirred up a lot of controversy, partly because the Queen has died. And also because it’s about probably the most tumultuous time of their lives and over a time that more people remember than ever before.”

Reviews for the new season of The Crown dropped earlier this week, and critics couldn’t seem to agree about the award-winning drama’s latest outing.

While many have said it is a strong start for its third cast – led by Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II – others have absolutely torn it to sheds.

It was described in different reviews as “boring”, “dull”, “tawdry” and “addictive”, with some referring to it as a low-point for The Crown, while others hail it as strong as ever.

Meanwhile, one headline claims The Crown is “struggling to stay relevant”, while another states the new series proves the show is “as relevant as ever”.

Take a look at all the reviews here.

The Crown is available to stream on Netflix now.

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Boris Johnson Could Be PM Again In 10 Months, Says Nadine Dorries

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Boris Johnson could return as prime minister in under a year, his close ally Nadine Dorries has said.

The former culture secretary said the mood amongst Johnson’s supporters had been “upbeat” after he abandoned his comeback bid last month.

“He will be back. I don’t know when, I don’t know how, I don’t know whether it will be 10 years or 10 months,” Dorries told The House magazine.

When Liz Truss resigned as PM last month, Johnson flew back to London to challenge Rishi Sunak for the party leadership.

But he dropped out of the contest after conceding Sunak was the overwhelming choice of Tory MPs.

Dorries said there was a “general air in the room” at a party thrown by Johnson to thank his supporters of “people saying he will be back”.

She said Johnson was using his time out of No.10 to “recoup” money spent while in office.

“I used to say that to be a prime minister you need to be rich because it costs you a lot of money,” Dorries said.

“It is part of the role to invite people to Chequers, but you have to pay for every cup of tea served out of your own pocket.”

In what will be seen as a pop at Sunak, the close ally of Johnson added: “So unless you are a multimillionaire, it is a problem.”

As prime minister, Johnson earned £161,401 per year.

During that time he accepted a £15,000 gift of a Caribbean holiday from a Conservative donor who co-founded Carphone Warehouse.

The Downing Street flat was also refurbished at a cost of £200,000, paid for by Tory donor Lord Brownlow.

Since standing down, he has accepted £50,000 in from the family of Tory donor Lord Bamford.

In early October he earned £135,000 for giving a speech in the United States to insurance brokers.

In a recent interview with Sky News, Johnson – who remains an MP – would not be drawn on his future plans, saying only he was “happy doing what I’m doing”.

Earlier this week he delivered a speech at the Cop27 climate change summit in Egypt.

His decision to attend the gathering was widely seen as forcing Sunak to U-turn and also fly to the meeting.

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Chris Moyles Calls Out Matt Hancock’s Plea For ‘Forgiveness’ On I’m A Celebrity

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Matt Hancock has been called out by Chris Moyles after the ex-health secretary explained he is “looking for a bit of forgiveness” by appearing on I’m A Celebrity.

The MP made the plea after being confronted by fellow campmates as he admitted he made a “mistake” and regrets the actions that led to his resignation.

Journalist Charlene White passionately explained how a relative died during the first coronavirus wave, and that his excuse “doesn’t really cut it” for many affected families.

Hancock broke coronavirus social distancing rules during the pandemic by having an affair in his ministerial office with aide Gina Coladangelo, and has said it was caused by the fact he “fell in love”.

While his explanation drew sympathy from some in the jungle, radio star Moyles was more cynical. “Forgiveness for what, Matt?,” he said away from Hancock. “What are you sorry for?”

It came as the sitting MP faced eating camel’s penis, sheep’s vagina and cow’s anus during Friday’s episode.

After the challenge, Hancock was questioned by his campmates about his affair.

Hancock, who resigned as health secretary in June 2021, said: “It was a mistake, because I fell in love with somebody. That’s why I apologised for it.”

TV presenter and property expert Scarlette Douglas said: “It’s that kind of, you just do it and then afterwards it’s like, ‘Oh I’m sorry, I’m sorry’.”

Hancock replied: “No, because it’s bigger than that.”

Loose Women star White said: “It’s massively bigger than that. My aunt died from Covid in the first wave.

“So, we couldn’t go to the hospital to go and visit her. I had to sit by myself in the church at her funeral. We couldn’t hug each other because we were following guidance.

“And I get that you fell in love, I understand all of those things, but sorry for a lot of families like mine doesn’t really cut it.”

Hancock replied: “Yeah. Well, there you go. That’s one of the reasons that I regret it as much as I do.”

Speaking to White, he added: “Do you know what it is actually, what I’m really looking for is a bit of forgiveness, that’s what I’m really looking for.”

Douglas said: “I nearly cried then.”

Hancock replied: “So did I. We all make mistakes. I made a pretty big one.”

The exchange prompted both White and Coronation Street star Sue Cleaver to give him a hug, to which the actress added: “That took balls Matt to say that.”

But in a scene where Moyles and Douglas were talking one-on-one, he said: “Forgiveness for what, Matt? What are you sorry for? Are you sorry for being caught? Sorry for having an affair? Sorry for making bad decisions? Sorry for lying? What?”

He added: “If you’re going to be real. I’m trying to be as real as I can. When I think he’s not being real, it’s bugging me, I don’t know why. We’ve all made mistakes. You put your hands up. You’re honest. If you’re at that point where you genuinely feel that bad, you go, I’m sorry. You take it. I’m sorry. And he’s trying to portray that he’s being totally honest. It’s eating away at me.”

The MP joined the cast on Wednesday after facing much criticism over his decision from the public and fellow politicians.

The public voted for Hancock and Culture Club’s Boy George to take part in the Bushtucker trial, marking the politician’s third consecutive challenge since arriving in camp on Wednesday with comedian Seann Walsh.

Sitting opposite each other at a Mexican-themed jungle cafe called La Cucaracha Cafe, meaning The Cockroach Cafe in English, Hancock first faced a fish-eye taco which he said tasted “very fishy”.

Hancock had to drink an entire glass of blended meal worms accompanied with a witchetty grub garnish – which he described as “absolutely disgusting” branding the texture “horrible”.

The Tory MP said eating the tip of a camel’s penis was “soft and crunchy”, and described the thought of eating a sheep’s vagina as “disgusting”.

After being served a cow’s anus, he added: “The texture’s terrible and all the time you’re thinking about what you’re eating. I don’t recommend it as a main course.”

Co-host Ant McPartlin joked: “We’ll take it off the menu, thank you for that.”

For the final star, Hancock had to eat a cockroaches and blended cockroach dip.

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Probiotic ‘backpacks’ show promise for treating inflammatory bowel diseases

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Like elite firefighters headed into the wilderness to combat an uncontrolled blaze, probiotic bacteria do a better job quelling gut inflammation when they’re equipped with the best gear.

A new study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison demonstrates just how much promise some well-equipped gut-friendly bacteria hold for improving treatments of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

Led by Quanyin Hu, a biomedical engineer and professor in the UW-Madison School of Pharmacy, the research builds on technology the team had previously designed. That prior technology encases beneficial bacteria within a very thin protective shell to help them survive an onslaught of stomach acids and competing microbes long enough to establish and multiply in the guts of mice.

While the technology makes orally administered probiotics more effective, IBD is a complex disease that usually involves more than gut microbial communities that are out of whack.

“IBD is a complicated disease, and you need to attack it at different angles,” says Hu.

So, Hu and his colleagues devised specialized nanoparticles to neutralize molecules implicated in IBD. They’ve also figured out a way of attaching these nanoparticle “backpacks” to beneficial bacteria after encasing them in the protective coating.

Combined with the probiotics themselves, these nanoparticle backpacks could significantly improve — and simplify — IBD treatments.

While the root causes of IBD are complex and still being studied, one culprit involves the overproduction of molecules known as reactive oxygen species. These molecules are crucial for certain human body functions, but too many of them in the gut can fuel damaging inflammation along the lining of intestines.

Enter the nanoparticle backpacks. The tiny particles are part sulfide and part hyaluronic acid. The acid is powerfully anti-inflammatory, and the sulfide directly targets the reactive oxygen species.

Conducted in mice, Hu’s latest research shows that probiotic bacteria Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 encased in a protective shell and outfitted with the nanoparticle backpacks are significantly better at relieving IBD symptoms than their counterparts without the additional gear. The findings were reported Nov. 11 in the journal Science Advances.

The researchers estimated the effects of the treatments in two ways: by measuring changes in weight and changes in the colon length of mice with IBD that did and did not receive the treatment.

Like humans, mice with IBD commonly experience weight loss and colon shortening as the disease progresses. Hu and his colleagues found that mice that received the full treatment experienced the least amount of weight loss and much less colon shortening than their counterparts that received partial or no treatments.

Current treatment options depend on the stage and severity of disease, whereas Hu and his colleagues say they have sought a more holistic treatment that could be effective at any stage.

“That’s the most exciting part of this research for me,” says Hu. “We didn’t want to target a specific IBD stage. We wanted to select the most important factors that contribute to curing or treating the disease at whatever stage.”

Additionally, the treatment is administered orally, which could make it a palatable alternative to other more invasive forms of IBD treatment such as partial or complete remove of the colon.

While the results are promising, it will be some time before the treatments are tested in humans.

Next in Hu’s sights is testing whether the nanoparticle backpacks work well with other probiotic bacteria species and documenting whether the treatment has any unwelcome side effects. Simplifying the process of creating and attaching the nano-backpacks will also be crucial for making the treatments clinically feasible.

Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Wisconsin-Madison. Original written by Will Cushman. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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