Welsh Fire’s Jonny Bairstow gives Jamie Smith a reprieve after dropping a “goober” of a catch to leave the London Spirit batsman at the crease in the Men’s Hundred at Sophia Gardens.
FOLLOW LIVE: Men’s Hundred – Welsh Fire v London Spirit
Less than three months ago, newlyweds Isabel Hodgins and her husband Adam Whitehead told us, “Having a family is definitely our next step,” when we caught up with them following their fairy-tale wedding in Manchester. It was a stylish affair attended by Isabel’s Emmerdale co-stars Danny Miller, Mark Jordon, Laura Norton, Jeff Hordley and Zoë Henry.
And the happy couple, neither of whom can stop smiling as OK! sits down with them for an exclusive chat, tell us they already have some very exciting news to share. Since the wedding, they have discovered they are expecting their first child. A glowing Isabel beams, “It’s something that we wanted to happen, but now it actually has, it’s weird… it’s still sinking in!”
As we ask the actress, who has played Victoria Sugden on the ITV soap since she was 12 years old, how she broke the joyous news to her husband, she laughs, “He actually told me!” It comes after Liam Neeson’s son reacts to his dad’s romance with Pamela Anderson.
READ MORE: David Beckham ditches iconic tiny trunks on yacht trip with Gordon Ramsay’s familyREAD MORE: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry set for new ‘goldmine’ offer – but could face issue
“Isabel was late by a few days, so she did a test. But then, she just threw it on the floor and it was upside down just lying there,” explains 28-year-old Adam before Isabel, 31, adds, “I didn’t want to look at it, as I felt it would make time go slower to stare. But Mr Impatient comes along to look at it and sees that it’s positive.
“But I thought, ‘Surely we can’t trust it because it’s been upside down, so it might have impacted the result.’ We rushed to Boots to buy three more, and they were all positive too, so we thought it must be right!” says Isabel, who is almost four months into her pregnancy journey now.
Adam, who works as a PE teacher, met Isabel in the gym, and the pair have been together for three years. And, though they were trying to start a family, the couple – who are on cloud nine having just had a look at their little one during a baby scan — admit it has all happened faster than they could have imagined.
“It’s exciting but also scary, because it has happened so fast and it’s our first time,” explains Isabel. “Originally, we booked a wedding for 2026, but then I realised I didn’t want to wait that long to start a family. But I also wanted to be married first, so I kept changing the goal posts, but this was always the plan!”
It’s not been the easiest first trimester for Isabel, who admits she’s feeling “pretty knackered”. “It’s hard to know how to feel because you’re so excited, but also, for me there’s been so much fatigue. So I’m like, ‘I’m so happy but please let me nap!’
“I didn’t know what to expect, but I think it has been tougher than I thought because it’s been a bit of a roller-coaster. But luckily, I haven’t been very sick, so that’s a plus,” she smiles. “I’ve been cooking the tea and helping out around the house as much as I can,” confirms Adam, as Isabel jumps in, “And dealing with my mood swings!” Adam laughs, “Yeah, that’s been tough.”
The couple are already hard at work designing their little one’s nursery, and are sticking to a neutral colour scheme as they have decided not to find out the baby’s gender until giving birth. “Adam is going to believe for nine months that it’s a boy,” jokes Isabel, who says she’d be happy with a boy or girl, but can also picture herself with a son. And when it comes to choosing that all-important name, Isabel and Adam joke that they’re going to leave that decision down to their baby.
“We’ve been struggling with names, especially girls’ names. We think of one and then we’re like, ‘No, our child wouldn’t suit that,’ and start overthinking it,” says Adam. “I was talking to someone and they had three names for a boy and they asked the baby the names — on a particular name the baby smiled and they were like, ‘There you go, he named himself!’” laughs Isabel.
While Adam and Isabel only met a few years ago, their story actually goes way back to when they were both newborns. After beginning their relationship, the couple discovered, incredibly, that they were actually born in the same hospital and even went to the same school — but due to their three-year age gap, they didn’t know one another.
Sadly, their baby won’t be born in the same hospital they were, as Isabel says it no longer has a maternity ward, but she confirms that the pregnancy does feel like a “full circle” moment. “It’s a weird story to tell people, the fact that we went to all these places and never knew each other until further down the line. It’s something nice to tell the kids,” smiles Isabel.
Isabel and Adam admit that their nearest and dearest weren’t shocked at their exciting news. “My mum just cried straight away, my parents both got emotional and gave me a hug,” says Adam. Isabel nods, saying, “Yeah, my parents were really cute, too. It wasn’t a surprise because everyone knew we wanted kids, so it was more about when it would happen.”
Clearly over the moon to become parents, Adam believes his other half was born to be a mum. “You’re just a natural with kids,” he tells her. “You just seem to gravitate to them and you want to mother them — even when they’re not yours!”
“For me, I knew I wanted kids at some point but it wasn’t until I met Isabel that I knew it would happen soon. Because I’m a teacher, I’m quite used to being around them and so I think it’ll come quite naturally. Well, I’m hoping one baby is easier than 750 teenagers!” he laughs.
While they may not be worrying too much about their parenting abilities, losing their current routine is something Adam and Isabel confess that they’re feeling a little nervous about. The couple are big gym-lovers and they’re both focused on their careers, so becoming mum and dad will be quite a change of pace for them.
Taking a step back from Emmerdale for maternity leave, though, is something Isabel is prepared for, albeit with mixed feelings. “I will miss it. I love the people there, but I’ve worked there for 19 years, so I feel like I’ve done what I’ve wanted to do and been selfish with my career. Now, it’s time to devote my life to being a mum, that feels right to me. But there’s still FaceTime, so they won’t forget me!”
So, what are the couple looking forward to most in this exciting new chapter? “I think, seeing what we’ve created and meeting this little person,” says Isabel. “Creating them into hopefully a respectable little person,” Adam says, as Isabel adds, “Fingers crossed!”
As Israel’s war on Gaza rages, chances of normalising ties with its neighbours are fading.
Nearly every state in the Middle East has condemned Israel’s war on Gaza.
Saudi Arabia says normalising relations with Israel hinges on a Palestinian state.
Jordan, Egypt and some Gulf nations have diplomatic ties with Israel, but have criticised it publicly.
In Europe, a growing number of countries are recognising Palestine and the EU is reviewing economic relations with Israel.
But are words enough to make Israel stop killing and starving Palestinians?
And what would it take for countries to cut ties with Israel?
Presenter: James Bays
Guests:
Daniel Levy – President of the US/Middle East Project and a former Israeli negotiator
James Moran – Former European Union ambassador to Egypt and Jordan
The international community must “shoulder its responsibility” and take action against Israel’s genocide in Gaza, the Palestinian foreign affairs minister has told Al Jazeera before an emergency United Nations Security Council session.
In an interview on Saturday, Varsen Aghabekian Shahin said the 15-member council must uphold international law when it convenes at UN headquarters in New York on Sunday to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip.
The meeting was organised in response to Israel’s newly announced plan to seize Gaza City, which has drawn widespread condemnation from world leaders.
“I expect that the international community stands for international law and international humanitarian law,” Aghabekian Shahin told Al Jazeera.
“What has been going in Palestine for the last 22 months is nothing but a genocide, and it’s part and parcel of Israel’s expansionist ideology that wants to take over the entirety of the occupied State of Palestine.”
The Israeli security cabinet approved plans this week to seize Gaza City, forcibly displacing nearly one million Palestinians to concentration zones in the south of the bombarded coastal enclave.
Palestinians have rejected the Israeli push to force them out of the city while human rights groups and the UN have warned that the plan will worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza and lead to further mass casualties.
Israel has pledged to push ahead with its plans despite the growing criticism, saying that it wants to “free Gaza from Hamas”.
The country’s top global ally, the United States, has not commented directly on the plan to seize Gaza City. But US President Donald Trump suggested earlier this week that he would not block an Israeli push to take over all of Gaza.
Aghabekian Shahin told Al Jazeera that if Trump – whose administration continues to provide unwavering diplomatic and military support to Israel – wants to reach a solution, Palestinian rights must be taken into account.
“There will be no peace in Israel-Palestine, or the region for that matter, or even the world at large, if the rights of the Palestinians are not respected,” she said, noting that this means a Palestinian state must be established.
The minister also slammed recent remarks from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the future governance of Gaza.
In a social media post on Friday, Netanyahu said he wants “a peaceful civilian administration” to be established in the enclave, “one that is not the Palestinian Authority, not Hamas, and not any other terrorist organization”.
But Aghabekian Shahin said it’s up to Palestinians to decide who should govern them.
“The one that has the legal and the political authority on Gaza today is the PLO,” she said, referring to the Palestine Liberation Organization.
“If Gaza wants to come back to the core, which is the entirety of the Palestinian land, then it has to become under the control and governance of the Palestinian Authority, the PLO.”
Aghabekian Shahin also condemned the international community for failing to act as Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have faced a surge in Israeli military and settler attacks in the shadow of the country’s war on Gaza.
“It is the inaction that has emboldened the Israelis, including the settlers, to do whatever they are doing for the last six decades, since day one of the 1967 occupation,” she said.
Kerry Katona compared herself to Britney Spears during an Instagram Live on Saturday afternoon. The Celebs Go Dating star, 44, has just jetted off abroad with her children for her family holiday, and gave fans a glimpse into her luxury getaway,
Opting for a pink two-piece, Kerry lay down on a sofa and while one fan claimed she resembled former Coronation Street actress Michelle Keegan, another told her she looked like pop star Britney. In response, Kerry said: “I look like Britney Spears? Am I acting like her as well? I used to get called the British version of Britney Spears.”
As fans of the pop megastar will know, Britney regained control of her multimillion dollar fortune and various aspects of her life when a conservatorship that had been governed by her immediate family was terminated in November 2021. Since then, she has admitted that she has no plans to return to the music industry but has become known for sharing her sultry snaps to her millions of Instagram followers. It comes after pictures emerged of inside Stacey Solomon and Joe Swash’s luxurious £30k family holiday at ‘second home’.
READ MORE: Britney Spears’ holiday with creepily lifelike plastic doll branded ‘oddest thing’READ MORE: Kerry Katona ‘moves in with new boyfriend’ just months after Celebs Go Dating romance
Kerry, who shot to fame around the same time as Britney, 43, when she joined the girl group Atomic Kitten in the late 1990s, has previously been vocal about the Baby One More Time songstress. She noted in her new! magazine column: “I think it’s awful what’s going on with Britney Spears. I wish we wouldn’t make people like her fall further after what they’ve been through. Saying that, she is quite erratic and it’s hard to tell what is actually going on. I think she is really struggling.”
Just months later, Britney went viral when she danced around with knives on Instagram, and Kerry shared her concern for the pop legend then, as she said: “The Instagram videos she’s been posting recently are worrying, especially as she did one dancing with knives last month. I’m not one to judge, but it is concerning. I see all these conspiracy theories on TikTok and they make me wonder if it’s the real Britney in these videos.”
Prior to that, Kerry, who has famously made more than £1 million through her profile on OnlyFans, previously suggested to Britney that she should join her in selling her racy snaps on the adults-only platform rather than giving them away for free on social media.
Meanwhile, Kerry, who is mother to Molly, 23, and Lilly-Sue, 22, with former Westlife star Brian McFadden, Max, 18, and 17-year-old Heidi with Mark Croft as well as daughter DJ, eight, with the late George Kay, also told her fans of the calamity that ensued once she arrived in the foreign location and was temporarily locked out.
She said: “So, gets in the car, gets to the apartment. got no key. I have got no bloody key! What time did we get here, Heidi, about 1? We’ve just got here and we can have a bloody barbecue!”
What’s more, the TV favourite also seemed to have forgotten to sort out a hire car for herself, so was left without the inability to stock up on food so had to rely on takeaway delivery services. She added: “I’ve got no car because I’m a n**head. I am a n**, that’s what I am.
“So I’ve done JustEats because we’re all exhausted. There’s [a little bit] of sun left on the balcony, and our Heidi has took it. So now, I’ve got to stand in t’bloody shade. But it is really, really nice here. I’m not showing anyone the views or anything though.”
For Kerry, the family getaway comes just months after she split from former fiance Ryan Mahoney. In an effort to move on from Ryan, Kerry has stepped back out into the dating pool as has grown close to personal trainer Paolo Margaglione. She signed up to Celebs Go Dating in an effort to find her perfect match.
However, it seemed the pair may have faced some bumps in the road already after snaps of the pair in Ibiza seemed to show them in a tense exchange. A source claimed that, while they’re totally “smitten” with each other, Kerry is nervous about putting yet another relationship in the public eye.
“Kerry is being very cautious with this romance,” they told the Mirror. “She has been very wary about going public with Paolo and it impacting their relationship.
“She’s been down the route of high-profile, public relationships before and she doesn’t want anything to ruin things this time.” Kerry and father-of-two Paolo, 33, are thought to have met during the new series of Celebs Go Dating.
However, Kerry has remained resolutely tight-lipped on her new relationship. The source added: “Kerry’s worries have caused some tense moments as she doesn’t want any exterior drama getting in the way.
“But Paolo isn’t overthinking it – he’s just really happy to be with her. He doesn’t see the problem and is telling her not to worry, they’re great together and should just enjoy what they’ve got.”
Watch the highlights of Will Jacks and Tawanda Muyeye’s 114-run partnership as the Oval Invincibles triumph over Manchester Originals 43 balls later in the series.
MATCH REPORT: The Imperious Invincibles outsmart the originals