US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resemble Pinocchio, the fictional child who sneers as he lies, in a large art installation on a beach in Tel Aviv. It is organized by activists’ and captives’ families and calls for an end to Israel’s occupation of Gaza.
Published On 29 Sep 2025
British Airways hostess-turned-Love Island star Helena Ford has had a rollercoaster summer following her stint in the famous Mallorcan villa. Since returning to the “real world ”, as the Islanders call it, the 29-year-old says her life has been a whirlwind and that overnight fame is something nobody can prepare you for – although she’s taking it all in her stride.
“Life’s been crazy, so overwhelming. For the first couple of weeks, I was like, ‘Oh my God. Is this my new life? Is this actually me?’” she exclusively opens up to OK!. “But once you start settling into it, you start enjoying it more. It’s been so much fun. I’ve loved it.”
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Due to her heated arguments with Shakira Khan and her on-off romance with Harry Cooksley, Helena was at the forefront of a lot of the villa drama. She was also one of the show’s most contentious contestants at the time. However, she tells us in this exclusive conversation that the experience has opened her eyes and that she is now more than prepared to spend the night with a special someone.
When I left the villa, I kind of wanted to get rid of it all. She laughs, “I don’t want to talk to men ever again,” she said. She has, however, had a chance to reflect on both her love and her desires for a partner.
I feel like my ideals have been altered. I want a family-oriented individual. Being in the villa and refraining from going out before made me feel very much like a party girl. I simply want someone who is genuinely interested in settling down. I’m not going to say I want kids any time soon, but I do want someone who, in essence, wants to be a little “homebody.”
She continues, “Cuffing season is coming up, and I’m ready to get cuffed,” with a mischievous grin in reference to the time of year when singletons seek out short-term romances to keep them company during the colder months.
On a more serious note, she admits that her time on Love Island offered up some huge life lessons. “I’ve gained so much self-awareness,” she says. “I learned a hell of a lot about myself in that villa, things I don’t think I would know if I hadn’t done Love Island .”
She continues, “I’ve come to the realization that I’m a very avoidant attachment type in relationships.” I avoid things. I dislike sat down and discuss issues. I’ll reply, “Oh no, it’s done, I’m never speaking to you again.” But I now feel empowered to work on that.
Helena feels that the public didn’t necessarily see the real her, despite not having watched the entire series back. She claims, “I think I was incredibly misunderstood, which I detest.” They may have given the impression that I don’t care about anything, that I laugh everything off, and that I lack a backbone. I don’t take life too seriously, though, so that’s not to say.
Helena still has close friendships with Megan, Meg, Dejon, Emily, Alima, and Lauren despite the overwhelming support from her fellow Islanders. However, Harry is another name Helena hasn’t heard from since leaving the villa, and he’s not on that list.
She admits, “I think I anticipated a lot of change in the outside world after Love Island.” I had assumed we would all be meeting up, but Harry and I haven’t even spoken to each other.
Helena may not have had any contact with her old flame, but she has dipped her toe in the dating world again and has been on a few dates with the help of Breeze, which connects users for immediate, real-life dates by skipping the endless swiping and chatting that plague most dating apps.
She laughs, “I’ve been on a couple of dates over the past few weeks, and they’ve been really fun because I detest texting.”
“The guys weren’t for me, but we’re still going,” I said. I thought staying in a villa almost resembled speed dating. You are constantly grafting every day. So I’ve been like, “You know what?” since I’ve been out, then? I’ll just move things a little slower.
You can cut the chat and start planning your date directly with Breeze, a dating app, thanks to Helena’s partnership with the sparks. At breeze, learn more. social
Vernon Kay has heaped praise on Strictly Come Dancing, following a blunder during last weekend’s opening live show. On Saturday, all 15 celebrity couples stepped onto the dance floor to perform their routines in a bid to remain in the competition.
While the programme got off to a good start, trouble struck just before La Voix’s performance when a behind-the-scenes mishap occurred.
During this moment, presenter Claudia Winkleman was in conversation with EastEnders actress Balvinder Sopal when she attempted to pass back to Tess Daly.
Claudia quickly improvised and began chatting awkwardly with the soap star once more when it became clear that her co-presenter wasn’t ready for the cameras as planned.
She received the cue to return to Tess just as it was happening.
Later, it was discovered that Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club’s American Smooth routine didn’t go as planned.
The RuPaul’s Drag Race star started her dance while seated on a pony and was supposed to descend to the floor before going down.
Speaking about the programme during his live mid-morning BBC Radio 2 programme, in conversation with Sara Cox, Vernon, 51, remarked: “We’ve done our fair share of live tele, and live tele is really difficult because anything can go wrong at any time.
“And I’m not just saying this because I feel connected to the show, but the one thing that always amazes me about Strictly Come Dancing is, touch wood, it never goes wrong.”
Sara asked, “Are you talking about La Voix as well on Saturday night?,” while mentioning the incident. The pony from La Voix had a problem; she was supposed to be slowly lowered and descended from the ceiling.
Nobody would have known anything else until someone said, “Oh the pony was supposed to go up,” according to Vernon.
Claudia returned to Tess and was like, “Oh no, hang on a minute, in a minute,” Sara continued, praising the presenters.
Although not all viewers shared the thoughts, Vernon’s spouse Tess’ replacement host, Scott Mills, also had heartfelt words for the audience that evening.
One poster demanded that Tess be replaced as host of the series next year on platform X.
Another reaffirmed that Tess presenting in 2026 needs to be replaced by La Voix. #Strictly is what I said when I said it.
A third person criticized the presenter, saying, “I think Tess Daly gets a really bad rap on #StrictlyComeDancing. She always makes the contestants at ease, in my opinion, and is lovely. She makes a fantastic opponent for judges, especially Craig.
Tess is always so cruel to everyone, a fourth person remarked, “She’s just trying her best.”
According to data released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), over 6.2 million Nigerians have completed their online pre-registration for the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).
Between September 22 and October 28, 2025, a total of 6, 232, 673 people were pre-registered as pre-registrants according to the data released on INEC’s X page.
READ MORE: CVR: INEC Alerts Against Underage and Multiple Registration
From the number, 3, 250, 338 (52.15 per cent) were females, while 2, 982, 335 (47.85 per cent) were males.
The data showed that 4, 230, 715 Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 34 were youths, 1, 565, 824 were students, and 137, 865 were people with disabilities.
According to INEC, 1, 004 Nigerians registered either physically or online between September 22 and September 26, 2025.
537, 743 people completed their registration online, and 466, 389 people completed theirs physically.
The number of females was 555, 077 (55.28 per cent), the number of males were 449, 055 (44.72 per cent), youths from the ages of 18 to 34 were 742, 379, students were 354, 406, and people with disabilities were 13, 987.
In response to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s efforts to stop illegal immigration and lessen the apparent threat from the populist Reform UK party, the British government announced last week that all employees will be required to carry a digital identity card.
Addressing the Global Progress Action Summit on Friday – alongside leaders from Canada, Australia and Iceland – Starmer said his left-leaning Labour government had been overly “squeamish” about discussing voters ‘ concerns on immigration.
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That, he added, has allowed parties such as Reform UK – which campaigns on a strongly anti-immigrant ticket – to gain popularity. Polling organizations have predicted that Reform, led by Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, will likely face Labour’s main challenger in the upcoming election, which will take place in 2029.
He said, “I am announcing today that this government will require the use of a new, free digital ID for the right to work by the end of this parliament.”
But Starmer’s move has led to a civil liberties row in the United Kingdom, where the concept of national identity cards has traditionally been unpopular. What we are aware of is this.
“There’s a battle for the soul of this country now as to what sort of country we want to be”, Starmer told a conference of left-wing and liberal Western leaders on September 26. That’s why I want to see this as a direct conflict between Reform and Labour.
In light of rising concerns about immigration into the UK, which are fueled by record-breaking numbers of illegal small-boat crossings from France to the UK this year, Reform UK, led by the right-wing populist Farage, has surpassed Labour in polls of opinion.
In an effort to assuage right-wing voters concerned about immigration, Starmer wrote in an article in the conservative Telegraph newspaper on September 25: “There is no doubt that for years, left-wing parties, including my own, did shy away from people’s concerns around illegal immigration”.
In a general election, Reform would most likely win 311 seats in the British Parliament, which is significantly higher than the 5 seats it currently holds, while Labour would drop to 144 from 399 at the moment.
The UK House of Commons has 650 seats in total. To win a majority, a single party must win more than half, 326 seats.
Reform has pledged to deport undocumented immigrants in large numbers if it wins the next election.
The UK government’s website says: “The new digital ID scheme will make it easier for people across the UK to use vital government services”.
According to the website, it will “improve access to public services like social benefits” by making it simpler for everyone to quickly and easily prove their identity. It will also be used to verify your identity when you cast ballots, and it will help to stop identity theft by minimizing the personal information you provide.
However, Starmer told attendees at the Global Progress Action Summit that digital IDs would also “make it tougher to work illegally in this country, making our borders more secure” as it would make it much harder for people without permission to be in the country to find a job.
According to Starmer, “digital ID presents a significant opportunity for the UK.”
According to the ministers, one of the main draws on undocumented immigrants to the UK is the relatively low prevalence of ID cards in Europe, where they are more prevalent, because of the relative ease of finding work without a visa.
Germany, France, Greece, Spain and Italy require citizens and residents to hold them, and last weekend, Switzerland narrowly approved a plan to introduce voluntary electronic ID cards as well.
The Labour Together think tank, which has a close relationship with the ruling party, has suggested the concept of a digital “Brit Card.” In June, it published a paper which put forward the concept of a free digital ID, stored on a person’s smartphone using a planned “gov. “uk Wallet” app
It is understood that a holder’s name, birthdate, nationality, and photo will all be listed along with their residency status. The card could then be presented to employers, immigration officials and banks to verify a person’s legal status in the country.
To demonstrate their identity when applying for jobs or services such as banking, UK citizens are currently required to present a passport or driving license. However, the government claims that 93% of adults are smartphone owners, and that 10% of UK citizens have never held a passport.
Though Starmer’s proposal has not been fully fleshed out yet, the digital ID would be held by all UK citizens and legal residents. Uncertain whether self-employed people would need a digital ID to work, or whether unemployed people would need one unless they were looking for work.
Users could also gain access to services like tax records, child care, and social welfare benefits with the ID over time.
According to the UK government’s website: “You will need just one ID in one secure place on your phone. Without disclosing your physical passport, birth certificate, or driving license, as well as your various utility bills and council tax letters, this will make it simpler to access some services.
Instead of waiting for manual checks and paperwork, it will instantly establish who you are. That means you can get faster service across government departments.
By verifying your identity in seconds rather than days or weeks, it will save you time from filling out forms and scanning documents.
More than half of Brits now support a national identity card scheme, according to Ipsos polls conducted in July, despite their previous opposition to national ID cards.
The Labour Party attempted to introduce an identity card when it was in power in the 2000s under then-Prime Minister Tony Blair, but the plan was dropped because of civil liberty concerns.
Although Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the government had “no intention of pursuing a dystopian mess”, civil liberty groups say they are concerned about privacy issues as people would be required to provide personal information to be stored on a government app.
There is still a lot of resistance to the idea, according to Tony Travers, a professor in the government department at the London School of Economics, despite the fact that more people are favoring national digital ID today than they were in the past.
“Digital ID cards are a significant cultural and political impediment in the UK.” Many people feel they are one short step from authoritarianism and state control”, he told Al Jazeera.
More than 1.6 million people have already signed a petition on the website of the UK Parliament to stop the use of digital ID cards. Submissions exceeding 100 000 signatures must be taken into account for Parliamentary debate.
The Liberal Democrats party has also said it will not support mandatory ID cards. People would be “forced to turn over their private data just to go about their daily lives,” according to party spokesperson Victoria Collins last week.
Elsewhere, some research groups have suggested that digital IDs could create additional barriers for people already living on the margins, and exacerbate the risks of exploitation, social exclusion and poverty for undocumented migrants.
A non-partisan civil liberties organization called Big Brother Watch has written to the prime minister to urge him to abandon the plan, saying it will “push unauthorised migrants further into the shadows.”
The leader of the Conservative Party, which governed the UK till last year, Kemi Badenoch, dismissed the plans for a digital ID as a “gimmick that will do nothing to stop the boats”.
Reform UK, in contrast, referred to the plans as a “cynical ploy” intended to “fool” voters into believing immigration policies are being implemented.
Farage stated in a statement in the right-wing Daily Express newspaper last week that “the Labour government’s plan to impose digital ID cards on all adults will not help combat undocumented immigration. But it will give the state more power to control the British people”.
Tony Travers disagrees that Starmer’s proposal will actually do nothing to stop illegal immigration. One of a number of proposals made in response to the problem is present.
Strictly Come Dancing’s leaderboard has already got fans talking – just one week in.
Chris Robshaw’s wife Camilla Kerslake has addressed the difference in experience between contestants on the show after her hubby first took to the dancefloor.
Chris, 39, and his dance partner Nadiya Bychkova, 36, were the first couple to perform during the first live show, which aired on Saturday. They danced a samba that earned them a score of 14 from the judges, which left them second from the bottom of the leaderboard at the end of the night.
Camilla, 37, his wife Camilla, 37, accompanied him in the audience. She has since commented on his performance and claimed that there is a “absolutely wild” difference in the contestants’ levels of dance proficiency.
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Classical singer Camilla shared photos and videos related to the live show on Instagram yesterday. She wrote: “Proud forever. Up against people with years of experience when you’ve never even done a 2 step, opening the whole season and starting with one of the hardest dances going.
“They tested you HARD. You and [Nadiya] blew me, and the crowd away. Definitely some lessons for next week but you were absolutely astonishing. I couldn’t hold it together at all. We love you [Chris]. Team #SeeQuins. Let’s GOOOOOO #Strictly #StrictlyComeDancing. Slide 5 of my first time meeting [Vicky Pattison] is something special.”
Fans shared supportive messages about Chris’ performance in the comments section. Whilst Love Island winner Amber Gill reacted to the post: “Unpopular opinion: I think having people with so much dance experience is unfair.” Camilla responded to the reality TV star by writing: “The experience differences are absolutely wild. Definitely [thinking emojis].”
It comes after some contestants attracted attention over their apparent experience. Lewis Cope, 30, has admitted to having some dance experience and Amber Davies, 28, has acknowledged her background in the performing arts. The pair, who were both last minute additions to this year’s line-up, aren’t thought to have any Latin or Ballroom training.
Asked if she has any experience, Amber said in a VT shown in the episode: “I’m in musical theatre.” Her dance partner Nikita Kuzmin, 27, said that was “great,” but she added: “However, I have never done Ballroom. Never done Latin.”
Similarly, Lewis’ dance partner Katya Jones, 36, said: “When Lewis was younger, he did do some hip hop dancing [but it’s] not helping the natural swing of the jive.” Previously, in the launch show, Lewis said: “I haven’t danced now for about 12 years so I’m really excited to get going with that again.”
Strictly judge Anton Du Beke, 59, addressed contestants having varied dance experience in an interview with the Mirror ahead of the launch. He told us: “Some people might have done some dancing but it wont have been fox trots and cha-chas. It will be mainly musical theatre or commercial.”
He continued, “It will help them a little.” Really, it has a small advantage. However, I have not seen many of the people who actually won. Your choice is always yours. You can tell when they are really good in week one, and in week ten they are a little bit the same. They haven’t greatly improved.