Jedward are as famous for their huge blond quiffs as they are for their dodgy choreo, but now the loveable twin brothers have a whole new look going on.
The 28-year-olds are now both sporting buzz cuts after shaving each other’s famous locks off live on Irish TV on Friday night.
The siblings, who shot to fame on the 2009 series of The X Factor, were in surprisingly good spirits considering they were about to ditch their trademark look on RTE’s The Late Late Show.
It was all in the name of charity as John and Edward were raising money for the Irish Cancer Society’s Daffodil Day appeal.
STUNNING!
Fair play to @PlanetJedward for shaving off their famous quiffs for the Irish Cancer Society 👏👏👏
It’s a cause close to the brother’s heart after they lost their mum to cancer in 2019.
As John picked up the electric razor to free his brother of his quiff, Edward said: “We’ve had this hair for over 10 years. It’s part of our identity. I don’t think we’d be here today if we didn’t have the hair, but this is the first time we’re going to have our hair like this since the beginning of Jedward.”
The Eurovision star then joked that he’d be investing in hats and sunscreen – before hilariously catching his reflection and screaming “Jaysus! Jaysus!”
Jedward’s efforts helped raise €2.5million (£2.1m) for the Irish Cancer Society.
Earlier in the show, Jedward performed an acoustic rendition of Cyndi Lauper’s True Colours. They also shared that as well as their mum battling cancer, their grandad had previously been diagnosed with lung cancer and skin cancer.
The Talk has been off air while CBS investigated the incident and has now announced Sharon has left the programme.
It said her behaviour during the 10 March episode “did not align with our values for a respectful workplace”.
CBS Photo Archive via Getty ImagesSharon Osbourne on The Talk.
In a statement obtained by the PA news agency, it said: “Sharon Osbourne has decided to leave The Talk.
“The events of the March 10 broadcast were upsetting to everyone involved, including the audience watching at home.
“As part of our review, we concluded that Sharon’s behaviour toward her co-hosts during the March 10 episode did not align with our values for a respectful workplace.”
Responding to Sharon’s claims she had been set up by producers, CBS said: “We also did not find any evidence that CBS executives orchestrated the discussion or blindsided any of the hosts.”
However, CBS said it acknowledges the network, studio teams and producers are “accountable for what happened during that broadcast” because “it was clear the co-hosts were not properly prepared by the staff for a complex and sensitive discussion involving race”.
CBS Photo Archive via Getty ImagesL-R: Elaine Welteroth, Carrie Ann Inaba, Sharon Osbourne, Sheryl Underwood and Amanda Kloots, hosts of the CBS series THE TALK
CBS said during The Talk’s hiatus it will coordinate “workshops, listening sessions and training about equity, inclusion and cultural awareness for the hosts, producers and crew”.
It added: “Going forward, we are identifying plans to enhance the producing staff and producing procedures to better serve the hosts, the production and, ultimately, our viewers.”
The Talk is set to return to US screens on Monday 12 April.
The former X Factor judge has been contacted for comment.
He was criticised for saying he does not believe the duchess after she revealed she had suffered with her mental health and had suicidal thoughts.
CBS Photo Archive via Getty ImagesSheryl Underwood, host of the CBS series THE TALK
During a heated discussion, Sharon said: “I feel even like I’m about to be put in the electric chair because I have a friend who many people think is a racist so that makes me a racist.”
Sharon confronted co-host Sheryl, who is Black, and told her “don’t try and cry, because if anyone should be crying, it should be me”.
She added: “You tell me where you have heard him say, educate me, tell me when you have heard him say racist things.
“Educate me. Tell me.”
Sheryl said it was “not the exact words of racism” but “the implication and the reaction to it, to not want to address that because she is a Black woman and to try to dismiss it or to make it seem less than what it is, that’s what makes it racist”.
She gave an interview to Entertainment Tonight and alleged she had not been sufficiently prepared for the conversation by producers.
Sharon said her co-hosts “had preparation, they had written questions for them” but she was only approached eight minutes before filming began and was asked if she was OK with discussing Piers.
She told ET she felt she had been “set up,” adding: “My anger was like, I cannot believe this, I’m your sacrificial lamb.”
Seth Rogen has clarified reports about Emma Watson walking off the set of This Is The End, due to the outrageous content of one of its scenes.
In 2013, Seth co-directed and co-wrote the star-studded disaster comedy, which sees a number of celebrities playing themselves as they deal with the end of the world.
The Harry Potter star was supposed to have been involved in a scene that featured Channing Tatum being led around on a dog leash while sporting a thong, while Danny McBride led a group of cannibals.
Reports after the film was released claimed the sequence proved too much for Emma, who decided she couldn’t be involved and walked off set, although she did appear in other scenes and helped promote the film when it was released.
Danielle Levitt/British GQSeth Rogen in his GQ photo-shoot
Asked about the rumours during an interview with GQ magazine, Seth said: “I don’t look back on that and think: ‘How dare she do that?’ You know? I think sometimes when you read something, when it comes to life it doesn’t seem to be what you thought it was.
“But it was not some terrible ending to our relationship. She came back the next day to say goodbye. She helped promote the film.
“No hard feelings, and I couldn’t be happier with how the film turned out in the end.”
“She was probably right,” Seth added. “It was probably funnier the way we ended up doing it.”
Paul Bruinooge via Getty ImagesEmma Watson at the premiere of Little Women in 2019
HuffPost UK has contacted Emma Watson’s publicist for comment.
He said: “The movie is a comedy, but it’s kind of an outrageous one, and this actress—I won’t say who, but she had a smaller role in the film—walked off the movie in the middle of a scene.”
James continued: “I’ll admit that the scene we were doing was pretty crazy. There’s not any nudity, but it is pretty outrageous. It’s not as if the scene wasn’t in the script, though.
“In any case, I didn’t see any of this go down, but I guess she basically went up to the directors, Seth and Evan [Goldberg], and said, ‘I don’t think I can do this’. She, by the way, didn’t have to do anything crazy in the scene. But what was going on around her was, I guess, too extreme for her.
“So Seth was like, ‘Well, what can we do to fix it?’. And she said, ‘There’s nothing you can do to fix it. It’s just everything’. And he said, ‘Well, let’s just shoot it and I promise you can come to the editing room, and, if you don’t like what we’ve cut together, then we will not put it in the movie’. And she said, ‘No, that’s still not good. I just can’t do this. I can’t be here’. And he said, ‘Do you want to leave?’. And she said, ‘Yeah, I’ve got to leave’.”
Read Seth’s interview in full in the May issue of British GQ available via digital download and on newsstands Thursday 1st April.
An appearance from Miriam Margolyes on This Morning usually means something outrageous is afoot, and we’re pleased to say she didn’t let us down during Thursday’s show.
Throughout her interview with presenters Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, Miriam made it clear that she was deliberately acting on her best behaviour, while she promoted the new family film H Is For Happiness.
“What’s happened to you and where is Miriam Margolyes?” Phillip joked early on, to which the former Harry Potter star responded: “Well, bursting to get out, actually.”
As it turned out, it didn’t take long, and when the conversation turned to the actor’s past voiceover work, the Miriam we know and love soon crept out.
ITVMiriam Margolyes speaking from her home in Tuscany
When asked how she’s been whiling away her hours during lockdown in Tuscany, Miriam explained: “I’m doing voice work. I’ve got a little studio rigged up in the back stable, out of five Ikea curtain rails and five Ikea duvets, and I’m crouching under the duvet and doing Wallace And Gromit, so I’ve got something on my mind.”
She then disclosed that she can currently be heard in an ad for “a haemorrhoid suppository”, at which point Phillip asked about her past work with Cadbury.
“I was the original Cadbury Caramel bunny,” Miriam recalled. “I remember they kept saying ‘make it sexier’, ‘make it sexier’. And, you know, first thing in the morning, it’s not what’s on your mind, really.”
A mischievous Phillip then asked: “Didn’t you possibly get that job out of a couple of other tapes that you might have done before that were slightly less family orientated?”
“I thought I was supposed to very careful this morning on this show, your chap told me, now don’t say anything nasty,” Miriam claimed, with Holly joking that her co-host was “poking you with a big stick” and trying to lead her astray.
ITVAs always, Miriam had the This Morning team howling with her revelations.
It didn’t take much for her to spill the beans, though, with Miriam then declaring: “I did a couple of sex tapes. Sexy Sonia: Leaves From My Schoolgirl Diary, that was one of them.
“But I have to stress, they were audio tapes. They were not visual. And they were very exhausting, because when you’re simulating orgasm, as all of you out there know, it’s tiring, and you get a headache. It’s not a question of having a headache at the beginning, you get a headache at the end.
“So I haven’t done them again. I did the Cadbury bunny instead, and made a lot more money – because I only got paid £300 in those days.”
“It was at the Ann Summers sex shop,” she told the pair. “I expect you know it well. That’s where I auditioned.”
Speaking to Apple Music 1′s Zane Lowe, she said: “She was very involved in the creative and everything that we were doing in the show. And I think she really found it difficult.
“That first night, when the pictures were beamed all over the world, it was hard for her. And we’re hoping it was hard enough to bring her back. It’s so hard, and I feel for her.
“I have to say, I feel like she’s coming around. So we’ll keep working on her. But just between you and me.”
Hugh Grant has shared a graphic memory of being struck down with some pretty alarming stomach issues while filming one of his earliest films.
Back in the late 1980s, Hugh appeared in The Bengali Night, opposite John Hurt Supriya Pathak, which required him to spend three months filming in Calcutta.
In a recent interview on the podcast WTF With Marc Maron, the Bafta-winning star revealed he became ill “on day three” of filming, with a debilitating (and “explosive”) case of food poisoning that never really got any better as the weeks went on.
He recalled: “On that film, I was there for three months and I didn’t leave the lavatory except to shoot my scenes – and then I had to go back to continue with my explosive diarrhoea.”
Arnaud BORREL via Gamma-Rapho via Getty ImagesHugh Grant on the set of The Bengali Night in 1988
During the same interview, Hugh also discussed a day he found himself stuck in traffic in Calcutta, only to discover his car was “next to a dead body on a stretcher”.
“It started as just a very strange syndrome where I kept breaking into a terrible sweat. It was like a poncho of sweat, embarrassing really,” Hugh said.
“Then my eyeballs felt about three sizes too big and this feeling as though an enormous man was sitting on my chest – Harvey Weinstein or someone. I thought, ‘I don’t know what this is’.”
Vera Anderson/WireImageHugh at a press event for The Undoing in March 2020
Hugh continued: “Then I was walking down the street one day and I thought, ‘I can’t smell a damn thing’. And you start to panic – by then, people were just starting to talk about this as a symptom.
“I started sniffing flowers, nothing. And you get more and more desperate. I started sniffing in garbage cans. You know, you want to sniff strangers’ armpits because you just can’t smell anything.
“I eventually went home and I sprayed my wife’s Chanel No. 5 directly into my face. Couldn’t smell a thing, but I did go blind.”
Listen to Hugh Grant’s full interview on WTF With Marc Maron here.
More than three months after his coming out captured global attention, Elliot Page has opened up further about his journey to embracing his authentic self.
In the interview, Elliot said that while reactions to his announcement have been widely mixed, “letting myself fully become who I am” has been worth the scrutiny he has had to endure.
“What I was anticipating was a lot of support and love and a massive amount of hatred and transphobia,” Elliot explained. “That’s essentially what happened.”
Still, at a time when hate crimes against transgender people and transphobic rhetoric are on the rise, the 34-year-old felt a deep responsibility to serve as a visible advocate for that community.
“My privilege has allowed me to have resources to get through and to be where I am today, and of course I want to use that privilege and platform to help in the ways I can,” he added.
“Extremely influential people are spreading these myths and damaging rhetoric — every day you’re seeing our existence debated. Transgender people are so very real.”
Rich Polk via Getty Images for IMDbRich Polk/Getty Images for IMDbElliot Page
Elsewhere in the interview, Elliot touched on his recent divorce from his ex-wife Emma Portner ― the couple actually separated last summer but only formalised the split in January ― as well as how his mother, the daughter of a minister, reacted to her son’s gender identity.
He also said his time spent in isolation during the Covid-19 pandemic had affected his decision to come out.
“I had a lot of time on my own to really focus on things that I think, in so many ways, unconsciously, I was avoiding,” he said, naming Janet Mock and Laverne Cox as two of his personal inspirations.
One thing Elliot said he needn’t have been concerned about was the impact that living his truth would have on his career.
The actor’s team has seen a renewal of interest in his work, including offers to direct and produce, as well as some “dude roles,” presumably referring to opportunities to play cisgender men.
“I’m really excited to act, now that I’m fully who I am, in this body,” he said. “No matter the challenges and difficult moments of this, nothing amounts to getting to feel how I feel now.”
This article originally appeared on the US edition of HuffPost.
Useful websites and helplines:
The Gender Trust supports anyone affected by gender identity | 01527 894 838
Mermaids offers information, support, friendship and shared experiences for young people with gender identity issues | 0208 1234819
LGBT Youth Scotland is the largest youth and community-based organisation for LGBT people in Scotland. Text 07786 202 370
Gires provides information for trans people, their families and professionals who care for them | 01372 801554
Depend provides support, advice and information for anyone who knows, or is related to, a transsexual person in the UK
On Tuesday morning, the two GMB stars were involved in a heated exchange live on air about Meghan Markle, in which Alex called out Piers’ comments about the Duchess of Sussex made the previous day.
Following the news that Piers has now left the show permanently, Alex has shared his thoughts on Twitter.
ITV/ShutterstockAlex Beresford
“There is so much that could be said,” he wrote, insisting that “Piers’ departure sincerely wasn’t the conclusion I was hoping for”.
Alex explained: “Over the lat few years, Piers and I have had a lively, cheeky on-air relationship.
“We both wanted to be on the show on Tuesday morning, and from our very public conversations on Twitter, we both knew how strongly our opinions differed on the treatment of Harry and Meghan pre and post the interview that has split the world.
“I hoped we could reach a place of understanding. It’s sad that we weren’t able to get there, but challenging this opinion was not an outrage. On this occasion, we have to agree to disagree.”
He added: “I didn’t want him to quit, but I did want him to listen. Personally, Piers has always supported my growth. He’s given me advice on several occasions and for that I am grateful. I wish him well!”
Alex previously tweeted, after his on-air exchange with Piers: “I wish I had the privilege to sit on the fence. In order for me to do that I would have to strip myself of my identity and that’s not something I can do.
“It’s not any of our places to pick apart claims of racism in order to make us to feel more comfortable.”
I wish I had the privilege to sit on the fence. In order for me to do that I would have to strip myself of my identity and that’s not something I can do. It’s not any of our places to pick apart claims of racism in order to make us to feel more comfortable. ❤️
“I’m sorry, I don’t believe a word she says,” Piers said. “I wouldn’t believe her if she read me a weather report, and the fact that she’s fired up this onslaught against our royal family, I think is contemptible.”
“I don’t believe almost anything that comes out of her mouth and I think the damage she’s done to the British monarchy and to the Queen at a time when Prince Philip is lying in hospital is enormous and frankly contemptible.
“If I have to fall on my sword for expressing an honestly-held opinion about Meghan Markle and that diatribe of bilge that she came out with in that interview, so be it.”
Drag Race UK queen A’Whora has revealed the real reason why part of her stand-up comedy routine on the latest episode of the BBC Three show was bleeped out.
The quarter-final of the drag competition saw the five remaining queens competing in a stand-up challenge, in which they had to impress RuPaul, Michelle Visage, Alan Carr and guest panellist Dawn French with their comedy chops.
However, A’Whora’s off-colour material left the judges stunned, with BBC bosses bleeping out one joke about her nan, leaving many fans wondering what on earth it was she’d said (you can find exactly what here).
During an interview on Attitude’s Tea Time, the 24-year-old revealed it was actually her nan who insisted the joke was bleeped out and not the BBC.
Asked whether her raunchy comedy routine had received the seal of approval from her grandmother, A’Whora admitted: “That’s the reason they beeped it!
“My nan called them up and said ‘I don’t want those jokes going out on air’.
“Obviously production have to authorise things with people, just if you’re mentioning their name and stuff, so she said ’Look, these things didn’t happen so I don’t want them on there!”
She added: “She said ‘I will sue!’”
BBCA’Whora
Ultimately, A’Whora’s routine wasn’t enough to save her from being sent home after she wound up in the bottom two, lip syncing against close friend Tayce.
Following her elimination, A’Whora also insisted she did not harbour ill feeling towards fellow contestant Ellie Diamond, following a row between them in this week’s episode.
BBCA’Whora cracked an X-rated joke during her Drag Race UK comedy routine
She tweeted: “Oh and just to confirm, me and @elliediamond101 held hands in untucked as she cried and we talked it though, we FaceTime nearly every single day! There’s no beef, we are weirdly now best-friends and take shits on camera together lol.”
RuPaul’s Drag Race continues next Thursday, with the new episode available to stream on BBC Three from 7pm.
A NHS medical director has criticised Gwyneth Paltrow after she revealed her methods for tackling the long Covid symptoms she has been suffering from since contracting the disease last year.
She went on to disclose that she had been left with “long-tail fatigue and brain fog” and “high levels of inflammation” in her body.
The 48-year-old has since embarked on a “keto and plant-based” regime, with no sugar and alcohol, and fasts until 11am every day.
But Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director for the NHS in England, said that “serious science” should be applied and “influencers” have a responsibility after name-checking Gwyneth.
“Like the virus, misinformation carries across borders and it mutates and it evolves,” he told PA.
“So I think YouTube and other social media platforms have a real responsibility and opportunity here.
“In the last few days I see Gwyneth Paltrow is unfortunately suffering from the effects of Covid.
“We wish her well, but some of the solutions she’s recommending are really not the solutions we’d recommend in the NHS.
“We need to take long Covid seriously and apply serious science. All influencers who use social media have a duty of responsibility and a duty of care around that.”
Writing on her blog on her Goop website last month, the Hollywood star wrote: “So I turned to one of the smartest experts I know in this space, the functional medicine practitioner Dr. Will Cole. After he saw all my labs, he explained that this was a case where the road to healing was going to be longer than usual.”
